summer fashion

when i think "summer" i think "color", "energy", "freedom". all these we tried to show in our summer 2009 fashion editorial with beautiful marija from major model management. the story was clean and edgy - with lots of movement and expression. dina yassin who was styling the shoot pulled vibrant, playful clothes from amazing designers - manish aurora, PORTS 1961, cerpico, yeholee, irregular choice, juju, among others. bright, three-dimensional make-up by anetta klemens complimented the look. marija's hair were pulled up in a sleek yet unusual style (by jamal hodges), with a twisted braid and excuisite moon-shape hair piece.

there was so much of positive energy in my studio during this shoot that we managed to finish all 9 looks within 6 hours! time always flies in a great company.

"kat woman" editorial feat. russian top-model & emerging fashion designer katerena alkhimova

it was definitely a fun shoot and dream come true! my team (dina yassin [wardrobe], aldys minaya [make-up], sato taeko [ hair]) and i were shooting beautiful katerena alkhimova (muse of john galliano; face of jil sander, versus, keneth cole; face you saw on the covers of vogue and l'officiel, as well as editorials by steven meisel, peter lindberg, paolo roversi - among others) for her cover feature in ROUGE magazine as a russian top model and emerging fashion designer.
katerena recently started her fashion line - kat basics [http://www.katbasics.com]; her first collection consisted of two simple yet irresistably sexy pieces - skin tight black dress and body suit with transparent stripes. we were using both pieces - combined with current FW2009 fashion - to create 6 unique fashion looks and show katerena's inner women: seductive, romantic, glamourous, edgy, boyish, extravagant, and fatal. it was incredible to see all the transformation live! it felt like doing 6 different stories with one incredible beauty - as a photographer i could hardly ask for more.

for now just a sneak pick of the polaroids; full story to come shortly.

ROUGE cover story kelly carlson ("nip/tuck")

when i received an email from ROUGE magazine asking me whether i am available to fly to LA and do a cover story with gorgeous kelly carlson from "nip/tuck" series, i was - to say the least - flattered. it was my first assignment from the magazine after 3 months of very productive collaboration (by then i already had 2 cover stories, 3 editorials, and one feature with them, but all was submission-based)

we had 2 intense weeks of production and on-going communication between NY, LA, and bulgaria. finally, location was chosen (thompson beverly hills hotel agreed to provide their elegant premises for our hollywood-style story) and the date of the shoot was set. on march 2nd my stylist dina yassin and i flew to LA to meet with kelly and her beauty team.

the shoot had 2 parts - we started at the rooftop pool and in the afternoon moved inside the beautiful suite provided by courteous stuff of thompson beverly hills. glamour was in the air and on dina's clothes racks with elegant gowns from famous designers: PRADA, georges chakra, gustavo cadile, rosa cha, among others. my assistant (barett sweger from smashbox studios) was irreplaceable and helping me a lot to handle various lighting conditions. it great to hear an acknowledgment from kelly: "you really know your lighting. i love the way i look on your pictures".

and still it was a challenge. working with celebrities you need to be flexible and efficient; time is important and so are the right clothes and its variety to be able to choose from in case smth doesn't work. i think we did our best and rocked it. 9 beautiful looks and 3 cover options - not bad at all for our first LA shoot! definitely looking forward for more.

april issue of ROUGE with kelly on the cover is out on the newstands.