fashion photography
Last week I had a shoot with my friend Sydney Dauter on Grosse Ile in Michigan. This is my first real shoot in a month or so and it felt great. I was feeling very uninspired the last few months and decided to do a shoot just for me. I wanted it to feel “dreamlike”.
This shoot has inspired a project called Dream Sequence which I will continue throughout the next year.
A few months ago Insta account @UOVirginia reached out to me and Tori Radday about a potential collaboration. Vanna from UO noticed Tori and I tagging her @UOVirginia account very regularly. She loved our work together and wanted us to create content for their Instagram.
After all expectations had been set, Tori and I met with Vanna at the UO in Shortpump a few days prior to the shoot to pick out three outfits. Vanna told us about some themes she would like to work off of and then let us free. From there Tori styled the outfits with her own accessories, while I planned out the locations.
The first outfit was my absolute favorite. I love clothing with texture and a bold pattern. Because of the complexity of this outfit, I wanted a plain urban/warehouse background. I actually have had this location picked out for a few months and was waiting for the right outfit. I also have been obsessed with these shiny wall hangings and wanted to use them for a shoot. Shoutout to Vanna for shaking them in the background while I shot.
For the second outfit we started with this green dress from Urban. One of the themes Vanna told us about was "cozy", so we grabbed this big sweater from Urban too. Since the outfit was focused around greens and shades of gold, I really wanted to go to the yellow wall in Carytown where Tori and I frequently shoot. Along the way we stopped at some white backgrounds. I also chose to quickly go to the overpass for the final location for this outfit to add some variety.
The third outfit was a cute, red dress that had a low cut back. The dress was more formal, so I really wanted it to feel like a holiday shoot. When I think New Year's Eve I think shiny, metallic, sequence, and anything along those lines. There is a metallic background in an alley near my house that I chose for the first location. Again, the goal of this shoot is to highlight the outfits, so I wanted the backgrounds to be simple, but with slight texture.
For the second location we wanted to the Byrd Theater in Carytown. It has a lot of old charm and Tori radiates vintage, so it was a great fit. The first challenge was that we were chasing the sun. The second challenge was shooting in Carytown on a Sunday around the holidays. So many people were out in the streets and it was very difficult to get a good shot. I bumped up the ISO and had to wait for my opportunity to shoot between crowds of people.
Overall the collab was very successful and a lot of fun. Big thanks to Vanna from Urban Outfitters for being a fantastic partner. She really let Tori and I take over creatively and offered assistance where ever she could. I love creating Instagram content and it was a dream come true to work with @UOVirginia. I would say that you can expect at least one more collaboration between us three.
BTS: I used my Canon 6D Markii and my 2.8 24-70mm lens. I kept my aperture at 2.8 for all of the photos.
Photographer: Me, Rachel Dwyer - Website - Instagram
Model: Tori Radday - Website - Instagram
Partner: Urban Outfitters Virginia - UO's website - Instagram
Best, Instagram Worthy Photo Locations for Fashion Bloggers in Richmond VA
Read MoreI finally took a break from editing all of my weddings and engagement images to do a shoot with Tori Radday. Tori and I have been working together for a while now and she is always one of my favorite people to photograph. As a blogger, you really should know the importance of good photography. If you want to make your blog look profession, it has to have quality images.
Tori and I work together once or twice a month doing about 2 or 3 outfits every time. This is a great way to optimize time and your money with a photographer. She also switches out different glasses for looks which really creates a nice diversity in her Instagram posts while wearing the same outfit.
This is one of my favorite looks she has done. It is such a retro and frankly, a much more sexy look, than I am used to shooting. She rocks it too. I always say my job would be too shoot for Free People or Urban... or really any female-based brand. I think these last few images really show that off.
Model/Stylist - Tori Radday
Photographer - Me! Rachel Dwyer
After my trip to Georgia and Michigan, I got together with Richmond's own Tori Radday. When she first sent me a picture of this dress, I immediately thought of this pink... I want to say barn door? but that's not right.. this big pink door, whatever its nature may be. After taking some full length shots at this location we just walked around Church Hill, RVA.
Pro tip for bloggers: Same outfit, different glasses or accessories. This can go a long way in creating diversity throughout your shoot, especially if you only get one outfit with the photographer. Photos are expensive, so make all of them count! This little bit of variety is great for Instagram feeds. They change just enough to make the photos new and interesting. Another great tip is to scout out a few different locations within walking distance. Changing the background and accessories can make it look like a whole new outfit or a completely different day in which you shot this "new" look.
Model: Tori Radday
Photographer: Me! Rachel Dwyer
On Memorial Day weekend I went home to visit my parents on Grosse Ile. I reached out to Alba (Instagram - @albaslyf) via Instagram to see if she wanted to collaborate on a shoot while I was there. She was down and we decided to meet up at my old high school. Lately I've been feeling very uninspired and feeling like my shoots have been very similar. The only images that I could find that I found interesting were at a tennis court. I'm not usually one for chainlink fences, but I'm very happy with the results.
I graduated from this high school in 2008 and I really haven't been to the property since. I'm happy to see that not much has changed and that I was able to remember where to go for these separate locations. With such a sporty location, we wanted to go for more a relaxed look. We did not want to use gym clothes, but we wanted the attire to look appropriate in the location. Alba woke up early and ran to Target and bought the clothes. She kept the tags on so she could return them after. LOL
I had originally planned the shoot to be around 9:30am, but it didn't start until about 11:00am. This made it extremely difficult to shoot. The light was almost directly above us so I had to make sure she was turned away from the light in a lot of the photos to get the right lighting. Always shoot in the morning or at night. Even 11:00am in late May is too harsh. (Yeah, I know, I can put the model in the shadows, but it's way more fun to play with the light)
I teamed up with Tori Radday from Fashion Trends & More to collaborate on a fashion inspired photoshoot. This was my first real shoot in Richmond, VA so I was very excited to see what Tori had in mind. She suggested that we meet up in Carytown. This was such a great idea. Carytown is filled with murals and colorful walls that make the perfect backdrop for any fashion shoot.
Tori was so great to work with and I'm so excited to work with her again on future shoots. She has such an inviting personality and feels very comfortable in front of the camera. I believe our styles blended perfectly together.
