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Skyla Arts by Elizabeth Chang is serving the Bay Area and strives to provide makeup and photography that satisfies the client 100%!

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Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Alex | Lifestyle {photography by Sasha Gulish}



Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang
Photography: Sasha Gulish
Styling: Peggi Jeung
Model: Alex @ Stars Model Management

On a warm sunny day...All I wanna do is lay on the grass and lounge around.  Meet Alex - she has a really beautiful smile and a sweet personality! Her southern accent is adorable! ;)  Immediately upon starting her makeup, I was like: "Doesn't she look like Alexis Bledel?!" After the first few looks, I knew the plan was to do a picnic theme, so then...I kept pushing for the red lips - knowing how gorgeous it looks on Alexis and how it will pop from the lush green colors of the grass.  Unfortunately I had to leave the shoot early to make another appointment.  Sasha thought maybe they would switch into a more neutral lip for the picnic, so I handed them a wipe and a empty jar with a tiny bit of lipstick. 

When I got the photos back, I was ecstatic to find that they decided to keep the red lips towards the end and I loved the results. There were many other favorites from this shoot, but I selected 5 of my favorites! Out of the five, my favorite is the first one above! It's such a happy photo...and I love the polka dots against the grassy fields! One of my photography friends pointed out that I seem to be fond of back-lit images - YES it's true!! I like it when the subject looks like they are glowing! ^.~

Peanut, the cute dog featured, belongs to Peggi. As I was doing Alex's hair, Peanut was pacing around the apartment {a very cute studio apartment that Alex was renting out for the duration of her stay in SF} - and Peggi said: "Peanut! Come back! You are in the hair spray zone!"  lol...and Peanut obediently marched back to the safety of the other side of the studio. that was my favorite quote of the day.

I hope everyone is having a good day/good week so far!



Thursday, July 19, 2012

From runway makeup & hair (A/W 2012) into wearable looks! {+Behind the Scenes with Matt Edge Photography!}


Hello ya'all! Time for an annual makeup & hair trend report.  It's been nearly a year since my last trend report! yikes!!  I try to be more diligent but honestly...I'm kind of a Fall/Winter gal to begin with (Born in September!) so naturally I enjoy the looks that extend from summer to the fall the most.  Enough babbling and onward with the post!

It was such a pleasure to work again with L.A. based fashion photographer Matt Edge and his beautiful and talented sidekick, Allison Edge! The shoot was styled by Allison with our minimal input (my Tory Burch sunglasses made an appearance!) I snapped all of these behind the scene images with my iPhone and then used photoshop curves to portray the colors I want! I've been really into Instagram but in the end, the photoshop curves give you more flexibility and fun (albeit more time consuming)

Meet Sara J. from Scout SF and Conrad from Stars SF! It was so cool when Matt & I agreed on our top choice of models! I always feel invigorated and inspired to work with professionals that share a passion for the art, and then we work together towards executing the vision!

Similar to last year, I've gone through some of the shows, and decided to pick-up and hone into a few of the looks I've selected to shape the type of look that I'm going for...The huge difference is...I put the looks together and presented it, with the help of my wonderful summer intern, Anna! The ones I've selected will be featured after the Behind the Scenes photos! Scroll down! :) 

I selected one to two elements per look to feature:

Look 1 had the pin-curl classic waves that frames the face. The makeup is similar to the Dior/Ralph Lauren look - I incorporated the flirty but still natural looking false lashes! 














Look 2 really focused on the messy french twist.  I thought about doing the side swept thing in the front, but decided in the end to sweep it back for a more natural volume! I wish I got a photo of the back, but for now you can see it below from a side view. I loved the Vespa scene!!!! Conrad commutes around the city in his Vespa, and it was a perfect (and unexpected) prop for the scene! They looked super cute together! 








Look 3, I emphasize the wing liner slightly, but I mostly wanted to focus on the red lips.  I was inspired to leave it half down - so ended up with this look! My goal was to make Sarah elegant and polished!

We'll see how the photos turn out in a few weeks! :) Scroll down to see the Fall looks summarized.


Makeup

  • Clean semi-matte skin, full brows, lightly contoured eye shadow, a dust of peachy/pinky cheeks and a tiny bit of contouring for the cheeks, clean winged liner and naturally pinky-nude lip color {as seen in Ralph Lauren & Christian Dior - although I love that Dior added the false lashes, emphasizing the cat-eye shape} Lanvin & Anna Sui had a thicker and more dramatic winged liner, while it may be appropriate for parties, it may be harder to sport on the daily basis!
  • Bright Pop of lipstick - orange-red - even though it is also a great color for spring and summer with brighter colors, when paired with classic colors like black/gold/brown/nudes {Featured here in Dennis Basso, but also seen in Zac Posen and Marc by Marc Jacobs}  A brighter lipstick like a soft fuschia, goes really well with darker colors like black/gray and blues and purples, making it a beautiful and versatile color for fall wardrobes.
Hair

  • I am attracted to the classic shape of the pin-curl featured in Dior S/S Couture and Dennis Basso in Fall Ready-to-wear and how it frames the face.   Tuck it in for a faux bob, or let it down for a side pony.
  • Speaking of ponytails, my favorite is the Anna Sui one with a retro flair that is perfectly sleek. The volume in the ponytail for Ralph Lauren is placed low - you can make it sleek, or wear it textured and messy. The 'key' feature of the pony is that it's a low pony by the occipital bone (above the nape).
  • Lastly, I noted the french twists - my favorite would be the messy ones featured in Tory Burch. I was also very drawn to the different placements - in Donna Karen, the french twist is pushed all the way to one side, giving a dramatic asymmetry! But, comparatively I'm more drawn to the ones featured in Valentino - it looks very subtle and elegant in the front, but very dramatic from the side.  










*PHEW* that was a lot of photos to post! Hope you enjoyed it! ;) ;) You can find all the images on my Pinterest as well! ;) Follow me on Pinterest! ;D Until next time!

P.S. I will give brownie points to those that recognize a familiar face in the images above runway looks! The big clue is, she is from Stars Model Management in SF! ;) 

Friday, June 29, 2012

Diana - Beach Photoshoot!


Summer is here indeed!!

Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang
Photography: Sasha Gulish
Styling: Ali
Model: Diana @ Stars Model Management

As usual, I am posting out of chronological order! I figured the last post was wedding related, I shall mix it up with some fun in the sun! 

It wasn't actually that sunny that day out in Marin, but you wouldn't have known because Diana from Stars Model Management brought it with her! 

There were some other great ones, but these are the few that I loved for the blog/website! ;) Actually.....I had SUCH a hard time deciding what photos to use.  Even now as I'm looking at the photos that Sasha (the photographer) chose, the ones that Stars (Diana's agency) chose, and then look at the ones I chose, I'm like..Should I have picked a DIFFERENT one? Oh oh ...! I cannot go through this again! lol. Diana dances a lot in school, and it certainly shows! She moves so well in front of the camera, and just bangs out the poses - click after click it's a good shot.  I guess this has to be a good dilemma to have!!!!  Maybe next month I can post the other beach shoot I did...Actually, expect to see some great "fun in the sun" blogs (or you could take a peak at them on my website...? )

One of the challenges I had to face was doing the hair without the hot tools.  To create the stringy texture, I wanted the stickiness and stay-power, so I went with Aquage Working Spray in order to manipulate the hair without heat & work with her natural texture!


Always a pleasure to work with Team Sasha (which is Sasha and her studio manager, Kelsie) Enjoy some of the photos!



Monday, February 13, 2012

New Lifestyle! ;)

New Lifestyle work! I'm going to keep it brief because I need to go to sleep & wake up early!  This week is unusually crazy and I enjoyed every minute of it! :) I'm lucky that I love my job! This is my 3rd time working with Kris Jung @ Stars (Pure coincidence!) but I'm always happy to see her! She is so adorable! I had fun doing the messy bun look & putting the rollers in her hair! It was really lovely to meet Alyssa & Donyale! I loved loved these photos~!

Putting lotion on the model's exposed skin is one of the most important lessons I learnt when I showed my portfolio to veteran artists to ask for their critique. After putting a great lotion, skin is shinny & luminous, and also saves photographer retouching time.  It is so worth the effort!  Little did I know when I was a newbie, anything showing is apparently my responsibility (skin, nails...etc).

This is the first shoot I did with this AMAZING team - I can't wait to work with them again!!! Or share the other photos we did with you in the near future! I'm very proud of these! ;) Happy Monday!

Photography: Sasha Gulish Photography
Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang
Styling: Natalie
Models: Kris, Alyssa & Donyale from Stars Model Management

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Picnic! [Kids Photography]



Models: Casey & Kai @ JE Model Management SF
Makeup & Photography & Prop Styling: Elizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts)
Photography Assistant: Erik Leung
Hair: Erika Taniguchi
Wardrobe StylingAndrea Schultz Igreja

Yayyyy! This photo shoot finally happened! We had to reschedule twice due to the rain during spring time, and finally finally it came together!  While it's not my first time working with kids, it is my first time coming up with my own ideas, finding the locations, getting the props, shooting the photos, and putting together a team! I've done those tasks before, but not all at once. While there's still room for improvement (like always!! ^^), I am very happy with the results! We were blowing bubbles towards the end, and everyone was having fun!

I want to thank Shannon @ JE for being patient with us with the rescheduling..! And of course, my team members Andrea, Erika & Erik.  Casey & Kai are adorable, and are such troopers!  May-June 2011 has definitely been the craziest ... I need to organize my computer, and keep up with my blogging! I'm also super excited to share more photos from weddings/bridal clients when the photos come back! For now please enjoy super cuties Kai & Casey! :)





Friday, March 25, 2011

One more of Brittany!


Models: Brittany Ward @ Look
Makeup & Hair: Elizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts)
      Makeup & Hair Assistant: Melissa Yue
Photography: Novi Angelomio

An encore! ;D a smiling Brittany / Lifestyle! 

Monday, November 15, 2010

Radilina - Lifestyle/Commercial Photography



Model: Radilina (Cast Images)
Makeup, Hair & Photography: Elizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts)
Wardrobe Styling: Radilina

The image above was the shot that I had imagined before shooting this, and it's titled "Radilina in Retro Yellow."  I'm really bad at remembering whether or not I already blogged about this - and it turned out I haven't yet.  I guess I'm very bad at blogging about photographs that I took myself!!! What's up with that?! I'm very proud of these images because the concept was entirely my own - and Radilina and I had a blast doing this photo shoot.  I am also proud to share that Radilina printed these photos and took it to her agency and is now represented by Cast Images and they selected MY photos for the front of her composite card.  Yay TEAM!  At first Radilina was concerned about going inside the pool, but I was convinced that she was crazy (Look how gorgeous she is!!!) and we were able to get the shot that I wanted very quickly so that she didn't have to suffer the cold temperature in the pool. Radilina has great taste in clothes and brought everything, except the necklace which belonged to me and was my suggestion as it suited the outfit and theme more.  Over all, I am very proud of this photo shoot, and I hope you enjoy the photos too! :)


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

June & Gary - Lifestyle/Commercial


Models: June (City Models) & Gary
Men's Grooming, Makeup, Hair & Photography: Elizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts)
Wardrobe StylingElizabeth Chang (Skyla Arts) & June

Finally an update! The photo above looks so weird resized - it looks like there's something on her cheeks but there really isn't! GrrrRrrr! Please click on the photos to view the full version! After receiving feedback from the agency, I decided to take matters into my own hands (the matter of improving my portfolio!), and called up June to ask if she knew any male models to add to our already planned lifestyle shoot on Saturday, and June also took matters into her hands and found me 2 great candidates, found the location, and then we told Gary what to wear ;) I really don't have a background in fashion, but was really inspired by a yellow umbrella and we were hoping to find one, but we ended up with a yellow hat, and its complementary color, purple - and voila! Spring is here!  Grabbing Peet's Coffee was totally spontaneous (Gary's Idea), and it was a great prop! :) Here is June's before & after photo for hair and makeup! It took me 1 hr - I'm improving my speed, so I was super happy.


I started a new picasa Lifestyle/Commercial Gallery. You can sneak peak my other recent project! ;)