Shannon Sewell » models

‘its just that i am old school like that, roll that rap over soul loops like that’

SS — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:30:03 +0000

We are gearing up for the huge ZozoBugBaby Spring 2013 shoot in the morning so you know what that means? We can finally share the Fall 2012 shoot! What would fall be without a little schoolhouse influence? ;)

wardrobe: ZozoBugBaby

hair accessories: Maya’s Curls

hair: Michelle Elliott

prop styling: Kim Adams of The Prop Shop

models: Option Model & Media

‘two drifters off to see the world, there is such a lot of world to see’

SS — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:22:48 +0000

Where do I start? I am so excited to share this shoot with you. You remember my little Frida girl? Well, her big sister is a HUGE Audrey Hepburn fan. Just a couple of weeks ago I had mentioned it to my amazing cohort, Kim and (of course) she finds a whole slew of Audrey inspired goodies within a week. It just happened to coincide with Denise flying in from Japan for her mentoring day with me so… it was a date! Denise and I have been talking forever about getting together. The distance between here and Japan was a bit of a hurdle though so as soon as she found out they were moving back to the states we HAD to get it on the calendar (she will be moving to Vegas for anyone interested in a session with her!). So, we got our gorgeous model (I adore working with this family) and had an Audrey extravaganza! Didn’t Alyssa do an amazing job on hair/make-up? So perfectly Audrey :)

styling: kim adams

hair & make-up: alyssa underwood

vancouver | WA

PS… the winner of the Vol. 25 give away is Jessica from Refuge Photography!!! :)

‘just a girl, all pretty and petite’

SS — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 04:27:59 +0000

A lovely day with one of my favorite little models… we headed out for a few minutes to do product shot for Maya’s Curls (& to play at the playground of course) ;)

The Marah Flower Clip

The Rainbow Ruffles Flower Clip

hair: Michelle Elliott

hair accessories: Maya’s Curls

vancouver | WA

‘the world that has made us can no longer contain us’

SS — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 23:25:21 +0000

First, thank you so much for all of the wonderful & kind words about this issue of Dreamer. The emails and comments have been sweeter than we could have ever expected… to say that we appreciate the amazing support is an understatement!

I had one other feature in this issue I wanted to share. It was the finishing touch on another project I have been working on for the past several months.

I have been in business for 7+ years now… the girls that I work with have moved from sweet little girls to trendy tweens. Through the transition I have found it more and more a challenge to wardrobe & style the shoots with the options out there. There are a million choices for little girls and adults but getting that older (but not too old) look that these little ladies were wanting was frustrating. I love styling and you can regularly find me ‘altering’ pieces here and there, throwing unexpected items together and playing fashion designer in my own closet. So, when Lisa and I started chatting about this dilemma, a little idea sparked. Why not do up a line of our own? (Lisa actually went to school for fashion design making this crazy idea totally doable).

We asked our girls and I interviewed my clients. We found out what they liked and what they didn’t like. We designed a line that fits every function of their daily lives while still allowing them to look totally adorable & stylish (& stay super comfy, too). Every item has been tried and tested by our little ladies, tweaked until we got nothing but oooh’s & ahhh’s (the soft cotton used in these pieces actually had the girls commenting on the fabric… when do 10 yr olds do that?) All the pieces can be mixed & matched (which was another must on their list). I finally got what I had been searching for.

I was so excited when the line was completed just in time to incorporate in my shoot for Dreamer. I love working with this age group and with a little help from Jen (art director extraordinaire) & Michelle (my go-to hair stylist), this line allowed the shoot to come together beautifully.

Without further ado… our first Wander Clothing line. I hope you love it as much as I do!

clothing: wanderclothing.com

art director: jenifer johnston

hair: michelle elliott

portland | OR

“I am doll eyes, doll mouth, doll legs”

SS — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:29:39 +0000

I have tons of different interests, passions, directions I like to take things… this last week has been an accumulation of A LOT of them! I am not sure if I am creatively bursting or creatively spent… I can tell you that being able to see so many visions become reality is a pretty great feeling (whether it’s pure high or pure exhaustion). If you’ve ever chatted with me or been to one of my workshops you know I am BIG on opening up your world to everything that interests you. I don’t believe in not doing something just because you haven’t done it before or because it isn’t ‘you’. I say if it seems interesting- dive in! The worst that can happen is that you learn something new to can incorporate in your life. Best thing that can happen? You find what you were born to do.

Doing the type of photography I do means I spend a lot of time with clothing designers, fashion blogs, graphic design… all of them inspire me and weave themselves into my work. I found myself being more and more drawn to these things so when Julie (Ms. ZozoBugBaby herself) and I kept bringing up how fun it would be to create a place where we could put all our ideas and interests, it became pretty apparent this was something that had to be done. Over the next few months Dreamer Journal began to take shape. There were a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of mistakes, a lot of re-do’s and start overs but, in the end, we did it. We created the place that we had dreamed of. It is with much pride & happiness (okay, there were some tears and curse words too) I share with you our second (woo-hoo) issue… the Spring issue of Dreamer Journal :)

clothing: Lisa’s Mini Mad Hattery

hair & make-up: Madeline Roosevelt

styling & photography: me

portland | OR

‘to greet every new day that may come like the first of spring’

SS — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:03:23 +0000

I’m a little behind on this one. It got lost in the oblivion of shoots done but can’t be shown. The good news is that this is all available right now! If you head over to Chooze Shoes and ZozoBugBaby you can get these cute little spring goodies just in time! (I know spring is right around the corner) ;) You’ll also notice the adorable hair pieces. Once again, Maya’s Curls knocked it out of the park (I think she and Zozo are a perfect match).

And not to make you wait any longer…

wardrobe: ZozoBugBaby

shoes: Chooze Shoes

hair accessories: Maya’s Curls, GracyLu Originals & Petal Patch Baby

hair stylist: Michelle Elliott

talent: Giselle of Option Model & Media

portland | OR

‘drop a heart and break a name’

SS — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:19:53 +0000

Just a quick pop in to show off another magazine project I worked on. It was a collaboration with Knuckleheads Clothing for Babiekins magazine. The issue turned out gorgeous. Some of my faves in there… very proud to be a part. Check out the whole issue in it’s awesomeness here.

wardrobe: Knuckleheads & Hula Mula Clothing

hair: Michelle Elliott

for Babiekins Magazine

portland | OR

‘the best is upon us. its a finicky muse with only potential’

SS — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:58:21 +0000

This is the second shoot of my mentoring day with Kristen and Kristi. Leading up to our day, Kristen and I were texting quite a bit back & forth… one night she was showing me her new website background. She was doing this amazing watercolor inspired color splash. I am a sucker for watercolor (see here) and Ritchie Rags had already sent me an amazing outfit so I was already on the ‘keeping it simple’ train of thought sooo… we grabbed some paint, some seamless, a couple of paintbrushes and went to town!

wardrobe: Ritchie Rags

accessories: Lisa’s Mini Mad Hattery

portland | OR

‘the time to hesitate is through, no time to wallow in the mire’

SS — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:45:08 +0000

I am an idea collector. I store them everywhere… my computer, my phone, post-its, binders, notebooks. I can’t remember the last time a day went by that I didn’t jot something down somewhere. Needless to say, I have a backlog of things that I would love to accomplish, do, shoot… most days I am just looking for the excuse (and time) to jump in. So when Kristen texted and asked about flying out and doing a couple of concept shoots together I was all over it.

We did two sets during our day. The first set was something that I had just been waiting for the time to do and the second was inspired by Kristen herself (I’ll show off that one in the next post) ;)

I have always been a fan of The Doors. Their music reminds me of my childhood (my mom was a fan)… I’ve always been drawn to musicians/poets (if I could pick a talent it would definitely be songwriter. amazing songwriter.) So when I happened upon their documentary on Netflix, I dug right in and the wheels started turning. I find Jim Morrison completely mesmerizing. He is beautiful… the way he speaks, moves his body… and there is something about an artistic genius that completely owns it that I find fascinating. I just kept thinking what a fantastic photographic subject he would be. So… what’s a girl to do but decide I would try to whip up my own little (more tame & lovable) Doors inspired shoot. I called up my friend that has both a daughter that knows how to channel her inner rock star and a mean talent with the sewing machine (why did everyone around me get that gene but I got skipped??) to collaborate with. We threw in some glitter (thank you Kristen) and some guitar (thank you Kristi) and had some fun in the studio…

portland | OR

’cause when you are gone, all the colors fade’

SS — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 07:40:24 +0000

It was a lovely, sunny morning in the studio shooting the second half of ZozoBugBaby‘s spring lookbook today. There is something about a group of giggly girls… hanging out in the studio, laughing over YouTube videos, dressing up, painting nails, jumping, joking… yep, sugar & spice and everything nice- that’s what my shoots are made of. ;)

portland | OR

wardrobe: ZozoBugBaby

hair accessories: Maya’s Curls

talent: Savannah at Option Model & Media

** PS: Also wanted to mention that I just opened registration for my Kansas City workshop on March 31st (you can find more info HERE). It will be my first one of the year. The new year. A new kind of workshop. The premise is staying the same but I am digging deeper this go round. I’m ready for more of a challenge so I’m going to ask you all to step up as well. The hosts are bringing amazing things to the table (which you already know if you know the Solars). It’ll be an amazing energy. We are going beyond the why’s and how’s of what I do and into the why’s and how’s of what you are doing, what you are capable of doing. It’s gonna be a good year… I can’t wait for you to be a part of it ;)

Happy weekend!