The vision behind this editorial shoot was creating artful photographs to inspire a candid, fun, luxurious experience of getting-ready portraits, while showcasing clean natural hair and makeup with a classical glamour look. 

The editorial shoot was held at Shampoo Society, a luxury salon located in Whitby, Ontario. The elegant and detailed finishes of the interior architecture offer a variety of intimate spaces for stunning, timeless creativity. As well, it’s the perfect space for the bride and her bridal party to get ready. It offers a lovely luxury coffee and cocktail bar. 

The tall windows allowed me to work with abundant natural light. As well, the intimate spaces of the location inspired comfort for the model, Kate Lefymova. To showcase each look authentically, I decided to take the variety of the interior spaces to my advantage by using different rooms, mirrors, and soft, long curtains. As well, I wanted to play off the light, bringing it into my compositions to express more of a cinematic story while preserving soft, artful editorial poetic imagery. The natural light in the windows allowed my subject to stand out, give more depth into my compositions, and attract the viewer into the talent behind the hair and makeup creations. 

To make my model feel more comfortable and add more authentic soul into my images I wanted to ignite more movement in the photos. I placed the model in the corner and I had her play with the curtains. It created gorgeous depth. As well, it made the look more bridal, and it created an authentic backdrop for her. I also tried different angles to make the subject stand out even further, and let her natural beauty shine. 

For all these photographs I used my Canon R6 Mirrorless Camera with my 35mm canon prime lens, and for some portraits I used my Canon flash 600 EX-RT to add extra sharpness, light, and variety. I kept a similar range of aperture f2.8 and an ISO of 600-800, depending on if I used natural light or my flash. 

Andrea Alaracon is a destination wedding photographer based in London, Ontario. Follow her on Instagram.