Trash the dress, a new type of wedding photo-shoot that has recently gained more popularity, has taken the bridal world by storm. Many new brides are looking for something unique and different and something to add to that special day. 

When we think of wedding photography things like formal pictures of brides and groom and the family come to mind. Pretty pictures of the bride looking like a princess on her special day. The highlights of the event like the kiss, ring exchange, cake cutting, and the bouquet toss. All those shots are necessary, but wouldn’t it be great to have something a bit more original?

Some women book their trash the dress shoot a few days after their wedding. They add it to their wedding experience and never look back. Others keep their dress in the closet for years, forgetting all about it until the idea them. What’s the point of keeping it watching it yellow with age? It’s only a silent reminder of younger years, crazy experiences and pounds since gained. Would it not better serve its purpose by giving you one more memory? One more exciting experience to be had! A boost of self-confidence and most of all another day of crazy fun! 

To illustrate my interpretation of the trash the dress shoots I had Brandy in the studio had her bring her old wedding dress and borrowed another dress from my friend Jen.  I had been inspired by a few other really good trash the dress shoots by Lindsay Adler and Karen Loudon photography both of which are just amazingly talented ladies! 

Ladies before I forget I wanted to get a word in from Ashley of  Make-Up Your Mind artistry: In addition to working with Oni Studio, I also do a lot of bridal makeup. I originally started my business with the idea of bridal work as my main focus. However, upon meeting Victoria and Travis and working with so many of their awesome clients, I have switched my focus to a more boudoir and pin up style. Now that wedding season is upon us and is in full swing, I really wanted to show off my ability to rock and conquer the bridal world. Victoria and I have been talking for quite some time about a bridal shoot, so to see the finished product is beyond gratifying!

We started the shoot with a more natural look, something that would be perfect for a day time summer or spring wedding. Peach cheeks, a subtle lip and brown eyeliner smudged into the lash line just to enhance eye shape and lashes. Natural and fresh is perfect for day time weddings. We then moved into a more dramatic look, for evening, fall and winter weddings, also with our “trash the dress” shoot in mind. I smoked out her eyes with a little muted black and grey, followed up with wedged black eyeliner to make her eyes stand out and pop. Once we got out to the site for our dress trashing fun, I applied a darker lip color for more of an edgy look. Over all I couldn’t be happier with the way it all turned out! I shouldn’t be too surprised though, because everything Oni Studio does comes out amazing! -Thanks Ashley! 

 

So stop saving that dress hoping one day your daughter might wear it. Stop looking at it in longing, screw sentimental value! Get it out of the closet and let’s burn it! 

Like I posted in my last entry I purchased an awesome new background from Serendipity Backgrounds, as you can see from the shots I used here with the trash the dress shoot it looks amazing! Can’t wait to get another one! 

You all may have also noticed a slight change in the design of our blog, this is all thanks to The Album Cafe, our one stop shop for designs! if you have a quick minute stop on by and check out their wares! 

That’s it for now dear constant reader, we’ll be back soon with an exciting entry on how Oni Studio went to Greece and all the sexiness that followed! Until then, keep up with our new projects, ideas and fun photo shoots by becoming a fan on our Facebook page!

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Film Noir, the name brings to mind the romantic look and feel of the films of Yesteryear. The film noir look is mainly a term from the classic Hollywood cinema days depicting old crime dramas with plenty of sex, intrigue, murder, and many other elements that came from the depression era of the United States.

Ever since seeing Humphrey Bogart, Marlene Dietrich, and other classic famous actors and actresses in these classic noir films I have wanted to try and recreate the look. I still feel I have yet to come up with the perfect noir technique, but  as you all have seen from my previous blog entry here, it is fast becoming a favorite of mine! If your wondering about the background behind Miss D, it came from Serendipity Backgrounds, in fact it was my first order with them, it came very quickly, and was quick and simple to set up, and I love how it photographs, I highly recommend getting one of your own! 

I hope you all enjoy these images and make sure to share your love to the model, Miss D, who was kind enough to let me share these with you all, not only is she  multi-talented singer and photographer, but sexy as hell!!! 

Gotta admit, I love girls with tattoos! 

This was one of my absolute favorites of Miss D’s images, when it comes to projecting raw sexual power this girl can bring it!

Straight forward and to the point, well said Miss D!

The last bit I’d like to share is the publication of our images in issue nine, June edition of Cat’s Meow Magazine! I can’t think of a better way to start the day than to wake up, check my email and have a message from a magazine editor telling me they have published not one, but two of my images!! Thank you Bri and Miss A, I couldn’t have done it without you!

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Legends and fairy tales. The appeal to this genre may seem strange to some, but for me this has been a theme I’ve visited many times with my art and photography. For me fairytales hold appeal because they represent a break from the hum-drum many of us experience with our daily lives. When we were young fairytales seemed to be within easy reach and becoming a princess or astronaut seemed as sure as our morning cereal. As we get older the reality sits in and those childhood dreams seem about as possible as pole vaulting to the moon. This is why I always seek to break away from traditional photography and use different techniques and products that will give my clients a piece of fairytale they can have forever. 

I draw inspiration for my fairytale images from many different places. The largest being the work of other great artist such as Natalie Shau in Lithuania, Dorian Cleavenger in Pennsylvania, Lindsay Adler, (with whom I just finished a very awesome class over at creativeLIVE) and many more I’d love to list, but don’t think I’d have the room!

Another reason for fairytale type photography was to set ourselves apart. When we first started Oni Studio we had no idea how many of other photographers there were in the area, and how much competition there was in this industry. Although at that time we were so amateur we couldn’t really call ourselves competition, lol! Once we really got to looking, we found seven other photographers in five mile radius of us. Many of these photographers had been in business for quite a while, were very established and producing very good quality images. It was an intimidating prospect and for a long time we just practiced with our camera trying to see if this was something we really wanted to get heavily invested in. We realized very early in the game that if we wanted to stand out amongst our peers and become successful in the photography industry we would have to produce not only high quality images, but images that would instantly be recognized as our style.  Since I had always been interested in dark fantasy and fairytales I wanted to incorporate it into my photography.  I want people to look at a photograph and right away recognize it and say, “that’s Oni Studio’s work!”.

One of the things I have always been interested in is incorporating fantastic props into our pictures. I didn’t want it to come across as tacky or gimmicky, I wanted the props to add to the image, not be the focus of it, and this is always tricky to pull off. One day while I was browsing Etsy I came across a seller named “Posh Fairytale Couture”, which featured some of the most beautiful photo props I have ever seen. I spent about thirty minutes on her page just in awe of her work. After talking with Rachel, the owner of the company, I discovered she was not only a talented creator, but a very beautiful and nice person, and she was also a military spouse like me!  I cannot recommend Rachel and her company enough. When I was buying the props from her she kept me updated throughout the construction and sent me instragrams of my head dress. Now I know where I’m getting my props from for the next couple of years!

It’s strange, but during the edit the piece began looking familiar to me, and then I realized what I was doing, making it look like “Lily” from the movie “Legend”, (at least subconsciously). I’m sure many of you have never seen this 1986 sleeper film starring Tom Cruise and directed by Ridley Scott, but if you have kids or you like fantasy film it’s a great one to pick up.

The last, (and maybe most exciting!) bit we would like to share with you is the publication of one of my favorite images I did in Essere Magazine! Although the image is one of our older ones it’s still one of my favorites.

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Welcome friends!

Today I would like to introduce our new rewards program and Miss K. was gracious enough to be one of our first participants.  She came in for her very first Boudoir photo shoot few weeks back and now would like to share some of her photos with friends and fans. We hope you enjoy the photos and get to know Miss K. a little. For every individual comment posted on this blog Miss K will receive a FREE 5X7 print from her photo shoot and get a chance to receive a beautiful Image Folio. So the more comments the better!

ONI: What was your favorite part about this shoot?

Miss K.: I liked having my hair and make-up done, it felt like big girl dress up and was really fun.

ONI: We love powerful women. What badass babe do you identify most with?

Miss K.: I know a lot of people do not like Sarah Palin but I think she is really driven and has a strong personality.

ONI: What do you have that other girls don’t?

Miss K.: I was pretty lucky to have a lot of my grandma’s influence growing up!

ONI: When are you happiest?

Miss K.: I am pretty happy right now. My career is good and I am engaged to be married to the love of my life!

ONI: What do you like most about yourself?

Miss K.: My teeth. I had adult braces for two years. The payoff was worth it!

ONI: What’s the best or most creative pick-up line you’ve ever heard?

Miss K.: Was your daddy a thief? Because I could swear he stole the stars of the sky and put them in your eyes!

Keep up with our new projects, ideas and fun photo shoots by becoming a fan on our Facebook page.

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