It has been a dream of mine to have my very own studio for some time now. Working on location and from home is not easy to say the least, especially in the hot Florida sun. After pouring in a lot of blood, sweet and tears, along with the help of those that believe in me, I finally have achieved my dream. It’s still a work in progress as I make this place truly the way I always dreamed it would look. But for now, I want to share a little glimpse of my new studio. Do check back in soon as I will be posting some behind the scenes images of new backdrops I’ve painted by hand, as well as more updates to my studio, and all kinds of other goodies you won’t want to miss!
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Author Archives: kareen
Not every Portrait Session is about Beauty, Glamour, Woman, Seniors or Children
Once in awhile I do a photo session that isn’t exactly what I’d say I specialize in, like children, teens & woman portraiture.
Once in awhile I get a male client that just wants a simple headshot or portrait. You won’t find these photos in any of my portfolios or social media accounts, it’s not something I prefer to market for as it’s not what I specialize in.
To be honest, I rarely photograph men. It’s not that I don’t like to or can’t, it’s just that I never really built a portfolio for it, I don’t get clients for this genre often at all and never marketed for it. Personally I enjoy doing stylized sessions, usually inspired by beauty, glamour and fashion. Or even better, a complete conceptualized fantasy inspired photoshoot. After all, that is what I do happen to specialize in, because I love it! I love making my clients feel great about themselves. I love pampering them and making them feel like a model for the day, and giving them a beautiful portrait of themselves to remember forever.
But I also do enjoy getting out of my normal routine and shooting something, or should I say someone, different than what I normally photograph. This was no exception. This amazing client called & booked me, wanting just a few simple proffesional portraits. He was so fun to work with and so eager too, I was actually surprised I could have that much fun photographing a guy. Who knew! I’ve been so used to thinking only woman and young teens want to feel & look beautiful, and have their portraits done, I honestly never realized men feel the same way! This lovely man opened my eyes to that! It was such a pleasure to photograph him, in his own surroundings, in his own home.
He wanted to showcase and commemorate this moment of his life with a portrait session to remember it all, and I was happy to obliged.
Here’s to shooting out of the norm. To trying something different, and to opening my eyes that men want to look and feel great in portraits too! it’s not just a girl thing!
Cheers to this handsome fella!
.jpg "Portrait of a man by Kareen Rashelle Photography")
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I have to say this has been a journey for me. I’ve come a long way with my photographic career in the last 5 years, let alone the 20 some years of when I first picked up a camera and began my journey with the photographic arts. To challenge myself, learn more, better myself and grow, I had joined PPA (Professional Photographers of America) a few years ago. Recently I learned about a local chapter called PPSCF (Professional Photographers Society of Central Florida) which is like a smaller division of PPA. Very much like PPA, they run an annual Photographic Competition, judged on 12 elements to earn a merit image, as well as awards for 1st through 3rd place, which is a big deal for me. If I can pass and earn merits with the judges, than I know I’m closer to mastering & honing my skills. Earning Merits with PPA is also a way for me to earn my degree in Master of Photography and a degree as a Master Artist. I know this probably doesn’t mean much to most clients, they just want to know that I can take their photos… but it means a lot to me. It’s validation that I truly have what it takes to create beautiful photographic works of art. And as an artist, I honestly have to admit, I am always seeking validation. Who isn’t? It’s also what helps set me apart from the majority of photographers in my area. Lets face it, this market is extremely saturated with photographers, but how many of them truly have the experience, the skills the formal education & knowledge in this industry? How many of them are award winning photographic artists? This is my way of setting myself apart from the crowd and making a name for myself in this over saturated industry.
Now I haven’t entered with PPA in a while, mostly because I knew I wasn’t able to attend the Imaging USA conference & Awards, and well, I want to enter when I know I can go in person to see my submission! But since I did recently join the local group, the PPSCF, and just in the nick of time for their annual competition, I entered a couple of my images with them.
And… Wait for it… drum roll please…. One of my images got merited and I won 3rd place in the Portrait Category! WOW! I am beyond thrilled, thankful, excited and happy! This means the world to me! I’ve finally accomplished one of my goals. Now I just want to perfect it to earn a higher merited score through the annual International Photographic Competition held by PPA. This feeling of accomplishment is amazing. I just can not express how I feel right now. I’ve won many awards before for my photographic arts, both from contests that were “voter” based, and some that were judged professionally at Art Fairs, Exhibits and professional competitions. But this one truly sets all those others apart as the judging is so much more critical with PPSCF and PPA’s Imaging Competition. I truly feel blessed and Thankful, especially considering today is ThanksGiving!
So today I want to say Happy Thanksgiving to YOU and your family! May you all be blessed, may you strive to achieve a goal like I have achieved mine. I promise, the feeling of achievement is an amazing feeling of pure joy and happiness and most of all a sense of pride. Even if that goal is something small. It feels amazing to achieve it. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.
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Introducing the new Image Folio Boxes! Each gorgeous 11″ x 14″ keepsake Folio Box holds up to 25 matted 7″ x 10″ (or 8″ x 12″) prints of your most cherished portraits from your session! I now offer a choice of either the traditional gorgeous distressed leather Folio box or the new signature series wooden Folio Box that comes with the view top window opening for displaying your favorite print, beautiful velvet lining inside and hinged lid opening with magnetic button closure. A Folio Box is included with all my print package options! Both the traditional Leather Folio Box and the Signature Series Folio box comes in your choice of either Black or White finish.
This is an unbelievably huge value added to your gorgeous matted photo package. I use the finest quality photo paper for every print and every matte is museum quality rag matte. As an Artists, I believe in quality craftsmanship so that your cherished images will last a lifetime, to pass down a family keepsake for generations to come. These Folio Box Image sets are truly a luxury keepsake package at an affordable price.
Visit the investment page or my contact page to learn more & book your next session!
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What do you do when your friend comes over with a pair of gorgeous red shoes, some accessories and an inspiring idea? You brew up some fun creative mischief! My dear friend and fellow Artist, Kate Hall wanted a Witch theme for a conceptual portrait. She had the gorgeous red shoes, red hat, and striped socks and we paired it with one of my corsets and a halloween cauldron prop and found the stick in the yard. Sometimes the most simplest of things, things we happen to have lying around, makes for the perfect props & scene. With the items we both had, and a little creative post processing, adding a few of my favorite textures and some smokey effects… I created the fine art portrait titled ” Something Wicked is Brewing”.
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Something Wicked is Brewing
I’m so happy you made it here!
Heck I’m happy I finally made it here! It’s been forever (or so it seems) that my entire website and blog has been under construction, getting completely redone, but it’s finally ready and working the way it should. I hope you join me here on my blog and follow along my journey of my photographic works. I have so much to catch up on, I honestly don’t know where to begin. I do know that I want this to be a place where I can share with you my creations of all my Photography works, like the creations of my Fine Art works with some behind the scenes details, along with my Portrait Photography. I’d like to show you previous portraits I’ve done so we can catch up, and any info of upcoming sessions and events. I’d love to also share with you about my artistic process and creations, as I grow as an Artist. When I look back to when I first started with Photography, I realize I truly have come a long way and have changed so much over the years.
A little back story…
I have been an Artist my whole life, I love to paint and draw, illustrate and create, from working with traditional materials to the digital arts, but photography has been my number one choice of medium as I get to create custom works of art for both myself and for my clients like you. I have a degree in Graphic Arts, Fine Arts & Photography and continue my Photographic education through my PPA membership along with workshops and online classes to grow with the ever changing technology. My goal is to master my craft, which I feel I have done well in some areas, but I know there is always so much more to learn, and I want to learn it all. I believe in experimenting and trying something new, and this is how my photographic work has evolved and changed over the years, through persistence, learning, trial and error, experimenting and mastering a technique.
I started with photography back in the good old film age, way before the dawn of digital photography, over 20 some years ago. I was about 8 years old when I got my very first camera to play with. It wasn’t anything special, just a simple Kodak camera that used the old 220 film roles. But it wasn’t until I was in high school, when I was about 15 years old, when I really got into photography. I had gotten a gift of a nice used Olympus OM10 fully manual SLR film camera, and started taking black & white photography classes both at my high school and my local art center in South Beach, Florida. I loved working in the dark room, and creating an image from start to finish. I was mostly shooting candid moments and street art with a journalistic style, whatever caught my eye really, and I entered many local competitions with my photographic works and won. That was just the beginning.
Fast forward about 15+ years later, while going back to college, that I decided to finally become a professional portrait photographer in addition to my fine art works. Honestly even before then, I didn’t ever dare call myself a professional, but rather an emerging artist. It wasn’t until a client pointed out to me, during one of my Art Exhibit shows, that I am a professional because I have sold my photographic art works and make a living out of it. He was right! So my professional journey began.
Where I am now…
I have evolved a lot as an artist though since then. When I started I was photographing street art & candid moments as I mentioned, but now my work is more intentional. I’ve learned to hone my skills, and combine my artistic talents to create conceptualized photographic portrait art. Creating an entire scene with props and backdrops that I hand make to hand made costumes and accessories and bringing my vision to life. I also absolutely love shooting modern styled beaut/ glamour portraits inspired by fashion as well as modern styled high school senior portrait sessions (also inspired by beauty & fashion). My favorite sessions are working with teens and women of all ages to show them how beautiful they truly are, and bringing out their personality in their images, but I do of course offer traditional portrait & lifestyle sessions that brings me back to my roots keeping that journalistic style of mine. Occasionally I do shoot sports and events. Those are fun too, I do enjoy a change every once in awhile.
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Modern Beauty Portraiture
photographyKareen Rashelle
PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTOGRAPHY901 E. Washington Ave.
Eustis, Florida 32726
(786)436-0271
