Photo Shoot: NLS Photgraphy 2013
Hello everyone. A few months ago, I had a photo shoot with NLS Photography of Buffalo NY. I'd never met Nate before, but one of the DJs I met at The Continental Reunion put us in touch with each other. He had taken some photos of the event. He had seen me there and wanted to talk to me, but it was so busy that he never came over. We got some great promotional shots for me to use for my DJing profiles, and various other profiles for my online presence.
It was an awesome shoot and took place in the creepiest basement I've ever been in. The house is at least 125 years old, located in Buffalo's historic Elmwood district, and the original owner must've been a carpenter of some kind because he had installed all kinds of neat devices and stations (which have deteriorated over time).
We experimented with dry ice. If you pour hot water over dry ice, it'll create non-toxic "smoke" (which was a little cold, but nothing too serious), but you need a constant flow of hot water or else the smoke will dissipate rather quickly. In order to achieve this special effect, the photographer's wife had to dump water on the ice, then blow really hard and jump out of the way quickly in order to get the shot. It was quite an endeavor, but we think it worked rather well. P.S.- If you ever work with dry ice, DO NOT touch it. It will "burn" you (it'll give you instant frostbite). Always wear some kind of protective gloves while handling it. I accidentally burned my fingers once when I was doing some temp work in a medical lab and believe me, it wasn't fun! It stings really bad!
Random ax! For this shoot, almost everything I'm wearing from the waist up was made by Sarah Viscera, of Plastic Viscera. I don't think her Etsy shop is up anymore, but she may be selling on Ebay and/or Facebook. **The sleeveless cage dress is hand cut and slashed, hand tied, bleached and forms a rib cage pattern in the front and trains in the back to cover your butt. **I'm wearing one black/bleached cowl and one gray/green micro scarf made by her as well. **Other than that, I have on pvc booty shorts that are brushed with liquid latex, (which I bought from Ebay and destroyed) and plain, black leggings I modified (I just slashed them and then bleach splattered them). **Other accessories include handmade arm bands, boot covers I made from the sleeves of an old shirt, a thin belt that is only one row of silver pyramid studs, a cool tan rope belt I found at a local thrift store and fabric sprayed, New Rock Neptuno boots (8 inch) and a HUGE spike leather collar I bought from Ebay.
I poured baby powder all over myself and rubbed it in slightly to give myself an ashy, dirty, grungy look. Apparently, you can do the same thing with a mixture of fireplace ashes and baking flour. Only problem is that you'll smell like a camp fire then! :P The baby powder does rub off eventually, unless you pour a ton on yourself, so keep that in mind if you try it out. I usually bring a small container of it and keep it with me in my bag or in the car. Only problem then is that if you spill it, people will think there's drugs all over the floor! :P
I didn't really do much with my hair for this shoot. I just teased my loose hair a bit and wore my dreads in low pigtails. Most people would say not to, but I use Got2B Glued Blasting Freeze Spray for getting my hair big. It definitely gives you volume, but it's basically hair glue in spray form, so your hair will get super crunchy, and if you use too much the weight of it will make your hair fall down. Be sure to only spray at the roots if you decide to try it out and clean the nozzle because it'll build up and stop spraying. The color I use for my hair is La Riche Directions in Poppy Red, which I bought from Ebay and comes in a tub (no gloves or brushes are provided).
My makeup was also pretty plain. Basically all I had on was red NYX eyeshadow, MAC's Carbon eyeshadow, MAC's Cinderfella eyeshadow, and cheap Wet N' Wild lipstick (which is very drying on the lips, you should put some Chapstick on before you put the lipstick on, or put some gloss over the top). I like to draw on my face with Almay liquid eyeliner. I have shaky hands so I can't use liquid eyeliners that have a long handle with a thin brush. I recommend Almay because it's very pigmented and it lasts a long time (on your eyes and in general). Just don't wear it on your water line (leave that for pencil eyeliner). I always read reviews of people putting liquid eyeliner on their water line and then complaining that it burns. DUH! Oh yes, and I have Manic Panic Dreamtone foundation on. I really like the foundation. It definitely gives you a great pale effect and you can wear it over concealer. It's better for pink undertones rather than yellow undertones. I just need to make sure that I wash it off as soon as I can because liquid foundations make me break out really badly. Generally, I use Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse in Porcelain, but it's still not pale enough on it's own.
