We were blessed to have the opportunity to work with Bechan throughout the last few years as she built her work to reach her goals of being a signed agency model. We have done seven different photoshoots with Bechan, and she is always a complete delight to work with. Read more below about our story and history working together.
It’s an interesting story of how I met Bechan for the first time. I moved to Texas about 2.5 years ago now, which seems like just yesterday. When I first moved here I rented an apartment in Frisco Square. As I often do in new areas, I look for new people to work with through some facebook local groups, and Bechan and I started to talk about a possible photo shoot.
One day I am sitting by the pool at the apartments and later I get a message saying “did you enjoy the pool?” Huh? Was I being stalked? Nope. It turns out that Bechan and her husband Tony live in the same apartment building as me. What are the odds of that? With that, a new working relationship was born.
Her husband Tony owns and operates Studio 34 Seven which we have used before for a photoshoot. He has come along with many of the photos that you see below to help out as a lighting assistant and is also a great guy. Check them out if you need a rental space in Deep Ellum
So one of the first photoshoots that we did with Bechan is in these first set of photos. You probably recall seeing these on my website and my facebook account as these are pretty popular photos that we have done. The idea was to test some new Vanity Fair inspired lighting that was learned from some of the best lighting photographers in the world. Believe it or not, since these were photographed when I first moved to the area, they were photographed in my tiny apartment living room. A simple portable backdrop was all that was needed, plus our rather advanced lighting setup.
Bechan’s posing was perfection! And this was one of her first photo shoots as well. She has a very good ability to take direction. In these first photos, we were working on how to use elegant dancer like hands in photos. Hands are the second thing that most people see when looking at a photograph so they are very important.
The second series of photos above uses a really fun lighting technique of “dragging the shutter”. That is the process of leaving the camera shutter open longer to capture the movement in parts of the photo. These two dresses had a lot of beadwork on them, so it worked out perfectly to catch the light and spread it around the photo.
Another highlight photoshoot with Bechan is when we went to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden in Dallas Texas. An absolutely stunning place to visit. Each season of the year they change the look of the garden to always keep it fresh and new. It makes a great day trip for the family as well.
Tony came with us on this photoshoot as my lighting assistant. Bechan always has some fun dresses for us to work with and today was no exception. It was best to only have a loose plan when going to the Arboretum, so we set off in a direction and I created photos as we went along the way. The one above is at their reflecting pond area that leads out into a lake. With the skies we had that day, it became a great natural reflector and made it look like the reflecting pond flowed right into the lake.
Below I will comment a little under each photo from the Dallas Arboretum.
You can also see a teaser video we made at this photo shoot by going here.
We started in the area near the main gate that had these beautiful stone steps mixed in with shaped shrubs that were just shy of being out of the Edward Scissorhands movie. It was a perfect place to start.
One of the things I love about working with Bechan is that she is up for any idea that we think of. She will jump right in and give it a try. The arboretum had these really interesting rows of tall shrubs that I thought would be perfect to work in between. As you know, I love shadow and light and there were was some really interesting light during this part of the day.
With the photo on the left, you can see how the sun created additional patterns on her skin from hitting the leaves on the shrubs. I told her to close her eyes to avoid being blinded by the sun and just have fun posing with her hands separating the greenage.
The photo to the right is a wall that we found while walking to the next main area of the garden. It was a basic wall that had some ivy covering it. I thought it would be great for a few quick photos, and it turned out to be one of my favorites. Bechan’s pose here is great and shows you why the Campbell Agency decided to sign her.
The photo on the left might have been the hardest one to get of the day. I wanted to capture her reflection in the fish pond at the Dallas Arboretum. Sure, no problem. The problem is, how to get close enough to the water while also being able to somehow get the flash close enough to light her face. That is where Tony almost fell into the water as he also tried to get some fish to swim over.
I like this idea of her finger just tracing across the water and the ripple in the water created by her continuing to tap it. This gave us this effect and I think we pulled it off swimmingly. The photo on the right also had its challenges. Balancing on the rocks is when Bechan almost fell in, and where I almost dropped the Sony A7r3 that I was testing out during this photo shoot.
One of the higher sections of the garden is this awesome garden type maze that looks like it is straight out of Italy (I know because we were there and have the blog post about it to prove it). The lighting was perfect in this section of the park and was a good test of the dynamic range of the camera I was testing that day, the Sony A7r3. I like the dabbled light and the strong pose here by Bechan.
This last photo in the series from the Dallas Arboretum was one of those photos we almost didn’t take. I will often try a few ideas not having any idea how they will turn out or look later. This is similar to where the ivy wall was in the photo up top. In this photo, I wanted to use this big leafy foliage as a frame to put her in between. A nice leaning pose that matched the curves of the leaves fit perfectly.
In these next two photoshoots, Bechan came to me and told me that the Campbell Agency was considering her and they wanted to see if she could do these specific things in order to fill out her potential bookings. They wanted to see how she would do in something for a catalog look that you might see for the Gap, JC Penny or other similar brands.
So I came up with this idea of doing these mini mock campaign ads and what they would look like if photographed for these fictitious brands. This first one is all about Denim, obviously. Denim jackets have made a big come back and this was a chance to show that off.
By accident, as she was putting the jacket on and off and moving to the music, I saw this idea of how the jacket would fly around. I thought this would be a. really interesting way to show off the jacket. It worked great in being able to show the front and back of the jacket at the same time in a fun way with lots of. energy.
Below are two more similar ideas I did with a mock brand. One for a sunglass company, and one for a maker of handbags.
These were photographed at Tony’s studio in Deep Ellum, TX at Studio 34 Seven.
This next photo is a good transition into the last location photo shoot to talk about for today. In a continued effort to show Campbell Model Agency what Bechan could do in way of an Editorial feel and fashion campaign, we wanted to show an on location lifestyle photoshoot.
Thanks to Bonnie Ruth’s Bistro in Frisco Texas for letting us use their awesome and popular bistro before they opened for the day. The tiled floors and leather-backed booths gave it a. real European feel. Add in espresso and our set was made.
Definitely check out Bonnie Ruth’s and I hear they have an. amazing brunch buffet.
Congratulations again to Bechan and we wish her all the luck in the world as. she continues pursuing her passions in the modeling world. We know she will do great!
Thanks again to the following businesses that were involved in the locations of the above photoshoots. Definitely pay them a visit.
Click below to visit their sites
Studio 34 Seven (ask for Tony)
Bonnie Ruths Bistro – Frisco Texas
Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Garden
See Bechan’s modeling page at The Campbell Agency
Jeff Dietz Photography is an industry leader for Dallas Senior Pictures and Fashion Sports Portraits. We have been in business for nearly 18 years. We serve all of DFW including Prosper, McKinney, Frisco, Allen, Highland Park, Southlake, and more.
We would love for you to give us a call, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or send us an email. We can’t wait to get started!
All content on this website and it’s linked content is copyright Jeff Dietz Photography 2024. Do not copy or reproduce in any way without direct written consent.
Jeff Dietz Photography is an industry leader for Dallas Senior Pictures and Fashion Sports Portraits. We have been in business for nearly 18 years. We serve all of DFW including Prosper, McKinney, Frisco, Allen, Highland Park, Rockwall, and more.
We would love for you to give us a call, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or send us an email. We can’t wait to get started!
All content on this website and it’s linked content is copyright Jeff Dietz Photography 2024. Do not copy or reproduce in any way without direct written consent.
