Smoke, Swords, & Kimonos

The idle mind is dangerous they say. While the creative mind is rarely idle, I’d venture to say that inactivity is akin to the idle mind….include crazy, weird, and cool into that.

This series was born of boredom and inactivity. Funny that the idea that came together like the perfect storm. I was having a conversation with a good friend, assistant, stylist, and makeup artist- Nira Wolffe. (Yes, all one person) and she mentioned that she’d like to have some images done to display her makeup and styling artistry. Nira’s been assisting me and styling my shoots for about a year, and I was happy to oblige. All we needed was some pretty faces. “Yanno, I have a kimono I’ve been wanting to shoot, maybe we could kill 2 birds with one stone?” says Nira. Yup, can do. Phone rings and it’s my brother- wants to come into town and hang out for a bit. At that point a light bulb went off in my head. Quick back story- My brother has been practicing Martial Arts for the better part of 40 years. I think he has a black belt in a dozen or more styles. As photographers hoard gear over the years, the same rings true for the martial artist- a quick conversation added an assortment of swords and knives to use as props. Since the idea born of thin air suddenly had an Asian theme, who better to call than Nicki to put a pretty Asian face to the story?

Our studio session started like most others- Me obsessing over lights while Nira obsessed over makeup and styling. (We make a pretty good team.) As I was adjusting the lights and checking things over, Freeze Frame (Bossman at Pixel Studios and awesome photographer) popped his head around the corner and said, “Why not throw in a little smoke in your theme?”

Why not indeed.

Thanks to Nira for the makeup & styling, Nicki for bringing the idea to life, and Freeze Frame for his lighting & efffects expertise.

What started as idle minds chatting, turned into this in the span of 24 hours.

 

Dominika1 Dominika1-2 Dominika1-3 Nicki1

Kevin

About Kevin

Kevin Maurice is a published, Bridal, High School Senior, and Lifestyle portrait photographer based in Charleston, South Carolina. Enjoy more of his photography, art, and writing at www.kevinmaurice.com. You can also connect with Kevin via Facebook and Twitter
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One Response to Smoke, Swords, & Kimonos

  1. love the blog bro and wonderful work!

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