Gypsy In Paradise

I believe it was around October of last year I kept seeing a gypsy in my head. I didn't know why or understand what it meant but deep down I felt the urge to create what I saw. That's one of the beautiful things about being a creative in my opinion. I get to dream, then bring what's in my imagination to life and that excites me. I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project, from setting shoot dates with my friend Lenelle, to rescheduling at least 4 times to ordering the clothes, then finally locking in a date and last but not least, shooting. This isn't the first project Lenelle and I worked on together but from I knew I wanted to create a gypsy character, I couldn't imagine doing this with anyone else. As a dancer and fellow creative, she understands movement and getting into character. She was perfect for this project and I'd say our execution was divine.

If you've been following my other blog posts then you already know that I was once afraid of shooting with natural light. It's unpredictability and my inability to control it somewhat terrified me and it made me extremely uncomfortable. I wasn't confident in myself and that of course had an effect on my work. Needless to say I've been conquering my fears and I'm proud to say that I shot the majority of these photos using the sunlight and a reflector. However, I shot the sunset photos with a strobe because I knew I wanted to capture the true colours in the sky.

Believe it or not, this is my 8th year in photography but I told my mentor a few months ago that it feels like I'm starting all over again. I'm seeing with new eyes and looking at everything from a different perspective. I'm curious about the littlest things and as ideas cross my mind daily I can't help but wonder how they would look through my lens. How many elements can I bring together to tell a story through creative imagery?

I said this before and its slowly becoming one of my life's mantras - in a world filled with 'picture takers', my goal is to become a photographer. There's so much more to the art than just pointing and shooting and because we're artists, we get to tell powerful stories through a beautiful medium.

Enjoy.

Ray

Photographed By: RayAndra Nairn | Talent: Lenelle Michelle | MUA: Charlene Rolle | Grips: Cj Ferguson + Seven Thomas

BTS Video Of Gypsy In Paradise