Collaborating with other photographers, make up artists and stylists is a great way to grow your business and create something unique!  Mishelle Lamarand, of Mishelle Lamarand Photography and Aubri Graybeal teamed up together to create a concept shoot that was inspired by “Boho Glam.”  The two photographers enlisted the help of a local stylist, Lauren Kronberg of Stylink by Lauren and makeup artist Jillian Harrison to create the look they wanted.

“Aubri Graybeal and I have worked together previously for other projects and I consider her not only one of my best friends, but a colleague and inspiration as well,”  said Mishelle.  “It was natural for us to collaborate on a shoot such as this that falls in line with both of our personalities, genre and shooting styles.”

Check out this session below and read what else Mishelle had to say about collaborating and creating this Boho Glam session.  Thanks for sharing Mishelle.

What was your inspiration for this photo shoot?  The inspiration for this shoot was “Boho Glam” and we wanted to have a modern update to the Boho styles that we’ve seen previously.   We sent out a “Fresh Faces” casting call as a way to give our senior season a jump start, as it’s pretty slow here in Michigan during the winter months for natural light photographers.  We posted fliers locally as well as used Facebook, or blogs and Pinterest to spread the word.  We had junior and senior girls apply and choose 4 wonderful girls to work with for this shoot. We couldn’t have asked for more energetic and beautiful girls for this shoot!

Where did this photo shoot take place?  At a botanical garden located near Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Did you collaborate with this senior to come up with the clothing and/or concept for this shoot?  We collaborated with Lauren Kronberg, of Stylink by Lauren located in Ann Arbor. Let’s just say the girls were our muses and were up for just about anything we suggested!  I work very closely with Lauren for my senior shoots during my regular season and she is amazing at what she does! A 90 minute in-person consult are included in my senior packages and my seniors just love working with her.  She was in charge of styling this shoot and we put her skills to work creating the perfect “Boho Glam” looks for each of the girls.

What camera, lens or other equipment was used for this shoot?  This session was shot with my Canon 1Dx, 5D Mkii and favorite lenses.  Specifically, Canon 35mm 1.4L, Canon 85mm 1.2L and Canon 85mm 1.2L.  We also used a 42# reflector for bouncing light during sunset.

What time of day were these taken?  These were taken at sunset between 6-8pm

Can you share any post-processing techniques used when editing this session?  I try to keep my post processing to a minimum and let my camera, lenses and available light do most of the work for me.  I shoot manually in RAW 100% of the time, giving me the most control over the results. As far as finishing touches, I create and use all of my own actions and wanted to create a warmer and “grittier” action for these images so that I could bring out the brown tones, neutral colors and maximize the warm sunset that we had that night.

What is your favorite thing about this session?  My favorite part of this session was absolutely the girls!  From the moment they came in for hair, makeup and styling they were such a joy to work with.  On camera was even more magical.  Although they had only met earlier that day, they were open to our ideas on posing and how it translates for the camera.  They’re truly beautiful young women inside and out.

What do you want this session to convey about this senior and about your senior photography style?  This session is a great example of how fun it can be to group friends (or brand new friends in this case) to launch either a Senior Rep Program or a Friend Program.  

This session is also a good example that putting a little extra energy and effort with styling, location, hair  & makeup is entirely worth it.  Because of all of the hard work of the styling team, I was able to focus on shooting clean, beautiful images that is truly at the heart of my style.

What is one tip you can share with other photographers regarding photographing seniors?  The best advice I can give to other photographers who are either new or experienced with capturing seniors is to work as closely with them as possible on some of the key ingredients of a great shoot; wardrobe & styling, hair & makeup, choosing locations and of course taking the time to get to know a little more about them so that you can create images that show off their best features not only on the outside, but on the inside as well.  Taking a little extra time to make them comfortable and establishing a great relationship with them before the shoot will make the shoot that much more successful! 

What was the experience of collaborating with another photographer like for you?  It was quite an incredible experience, not only working with Aubri but also our stylist, models and makeup artist.  I also shoot weddings, so for me personally I am very comfortable shooting alongside other photographers.  It’s sort of a dance, if you will that with the right pace and timing works perfectly.  And it’s always great to feed off each other’s energy as well.

What was the reason behind this styled shoot?  The honest reason was to have fun and to shoot for ourselves, letting creativity be our guide!  But we also wanted to use this shoot as a “kickoff” to our senior season.  Sort of a new spin for us and something a little different than what we’ve seen with Senior Rep Campaigns.  

What do you think is the benefit to working with other creative artists such as photographers, makeup artists, etc?  I love working with other creatives, especially when the ideas are free flowing and without limitations.  There are certain people you work with where it feels so natural and your build off of each other’s ideas.  That’s exactly what happened for this shoot and it was hard work on everyone’s parts but truly worth all of the hard work and planning.   I never could have pulled off a shoot like this working by myself, so there is a real benefit in pulling together a few creative minds to make it happen.

What advise would you give to other photographers regarding collaborating on a styled session?  The best advice I could give to other photographers looking to do styled shoots is to pull together people that you already know and have worked with.  You have to remember that you’re working in their “space” for a styled shoot and everyone has to be comfortable to produce their very best work, whether it’s the photographers, videographers, stylists, or makeup artists. 

How would you suggest other photographers reach out to fellow photographers in their area to collaborate on shoots?  If you’re thinking of collaborating with other photographers in your area, I think it’s important to take into consideration their style of shooting before approaching them.  (ie.  natural light, studio, urban, etc.) because both photographers have to be comfortable with the final concept – and shooting it.  It’s also a good idea to delegate certain parts of the shoot to each person, such as looks and feel.  And of course respect each other’s visions before the concept becomes a reality.  We had a few meetings before our concepts were nailed down to make sure that we were both on the same page.  Again, this was one of two shoots and we had one photographer in charge of one shoot and the other in charge of the next.  It worked out really well, and Aubri & I are very proud of the images that we captured!

Behind the Scenes Photos –