One of the best compliments that any photographer can receive is a "referral" from a previous client. Word of mouth is probably the best method of advertising for any business. Either one of two things will happen: they will rave about their personal experience, intriguing the potential client to seek out your services and take a look at your work, OR the conversation will go terribly bad. Luckily for me, I haven't heard to many terribly bad things about me. LOL

Well folks, meet Melissa. Melissa was a referral from a client that I've worked with on multiple occasions. Actually, if I recall correctly she was referred to me by two clients (#WINNING). She recently moved to the area and has been wanting to get back into modeling. After asking around, she decided to give me a call. Fast forward. After several conversations, tossing around thoughts and ideas and of course booking IC BEAUTY for the hair/makeup, we finally narrowed down a shoot date. 

We decided to do a "pajama" themed shoot. Sooooo where do I begin? First off, I'm VERY selective about things that I shoot, as I don't want to fall into that MAXIM style photographer pool (no disrespect to those who are). I feel that to a degree your photography is just an extension of your thoughts. After all, it is your VISION...haha!! I really wanted to show that you can shoot certain things without it coming off as #RATCHET (www.urbandictionary.com) for those who don't understand the term. 

What did we use for this shoot?

• Photographer (me)...Thanks captain obvious...LOL
• Make-up/hair stylist: Donnie of ICBeauty (www.icbeautynu.com) Twitter: @BeautyIC Instagram: @ICBeautyNC
• Model: Melissa
• Location: DWP Studios
• Equipment: (1)Alienbee 800, (1)Fotodiox Octobox triggered with PocketWizards and a round Silver reflector (for fill), Air mattress, $10 Tan sheet set from Wal-Mart (pillow cases included and once again I find myself ironing).

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I asked Melissa to provide her feedback on her experience to share with you all. 

"Dimitri and Donnie both made me feel like part of the team, encouraging me to share ideas and express myself during the photo shoot. Both are professional, fun, and easy to work with. Definitely FIRST CLASS in the field of Beauty and Photography. I felt at home in my pajamas with them at the shoot, all that was missing was my own bed :) I can't say enough about the amazing talent they both have, not only behind the camera and make-up brushes but also with people and models like myself." Melissa