See more of Valerie on her Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/valerieann_w/
Once in a while, a model comes along who, for whatever reason, radiates some sort of unique energy and aura that it's hard for me not to notice. Valerie is not only beautiful but she's traveled a long, difficult road, and I knew this not via conversation but by her eyes. There's something very alluring about a tragic beauty, because she is not perfect, that makes her even more... perfect.
She's got a sort of rebellious, maverick, anything goes type personality and she'd much rather give you a goofy grin than a fake, cliche modeling smile and I love that about her. I have been wanting to make a biopic short film about one of the models I have worked with and I think Valerie might just be the right one for that project. So stay tuned eh?
The warm summer weather starts early in the day here in sun valley, AKA El Paso, Texas, the morning light is tinted with orange and gold hues and is beautiful to shoot in. Valerie is a hard-working and motivated model, so she had no problem agreeing to a 7am call time so that we can start shooting in the early morning light, which is bright, but not too bright.
I opted to shoot her in color and black and white, in both digital (with my Sony A7RII) and in medium format film, (with my Mamiya 7). The one piece bathing suit I gifted Valerie lended itself perfectly for high contrast black and white images.
Hair and make up was expertly provided by Cynthia https://www.instagram.com/cynthiafu2/
who always does a great job for me.
My dog Oliver even got in front of the camera with Valerie for a few shots as well.
Enjoy the photos!
I like how by the end, she's sunburned lol
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