Branding Session with Lexi Rodriguez

Meet Lexi Rodriquez, she’s a local San Diego spiritual coach and movement expert.  Her mission is to guide women towards deeper connection with their mind, body, and soul.

Not only is Lexi launching her Reconnect and Move 3.0 online coaching program, she also has free resources available for anyone looking to develop that deeper connection. From her confidence workshops where she teaches powerful breathwork practices, to teaching free yoga classes Saturday mornings in Del Mar - she is all about giving back to the community. In addition to that, she’s also a certified reiki practitioner and has some free powerful meditations up on her site as well - click HERE to get access to her free mediations. You can also follow her on Instagram @lexi.marie.rodriguez– she’s always sharing amazing content!

As you can see, this woman is a badass and provides her clients with so much value in so many ways. So for her branding session, we really wanted a lot of variety in order to show all these parts of herself and her brand. We decided to do our shoot at Balboa park because of the variety of looks we could do.

We started in the courtyard to get some lifestyle shots. Lexi brought layers which created some more variety - all while wearing one outfit.

A quick run to the car for an outfit change actually resulted in some of my favorite photos. You can’t even tell these are right by a parking lot!

The next location had great lighting with interesting architecture and a background of columns that fit her brand colors.

After another outfit change, we switched gears a little to really showcase her fitness side. We got some great detail shots for her fitness promos.

At this point we had gotten so much content, and we were only half finished. The next outfit was shot in the palm tree forest, and we used this location to show the strong, confident side that she encourages every woman to realize. The sun’s rays through the palms offered dramatic lighting perfectly suited for this purpose.

Finally, to highlight her spiritual work and reiki, we shot under a tree in a garden. She had brought her pendulum, cards, a journal and we were able to get some detail shots of those as well!

I’m so happy with the amount of variety we were able to get from this one branding session! Hope you enjoyed these images, and I hope you check out all the amazing things that Lexi has to offer!

Shining Light Candle Co.

I absolutely love working with and supporting small businesses, and Shining Light Candle Co. is a perfect example. It’s a woman veteran owned brand of hand poured candles, and it’s based in San Diego.

Abby Radford, the founder of Shining Light Candle Co., reached out to me for product shots of her candles. We set up a free consultation call, something I offer anyone interested in a photoshoot, to discuss her vision. We looked at some different inspiration photos together and both decided on a look we thought would be good for the brand.

Once we finished with the call - I went to scout one of my favorite areas: Del Mar. With Abby’s vision in mind, I shot some samples in a couple different locations I found and sent them to her so she could pick her favorite spot to shoot her candles.

The indoor portion was also really fun to shoot, We had to get creative and use the natural light that filled my apartment, and use a cozy white blanket to really accentuate the feeling her candles are meant to invoke in your home.

A bit more about the candles and brand: the candles are non-toxic, made with all-natural soy wax, and use phthalate- free fragrances.

Not only do these candles smell absolutely amazing and are non-toxic, but this is also a brand which has a bigger purpose. A portion of all the proceeds goes to the Mental Health America Organization.

Love this brand? Check out the website HERE and order some candles to support a great cause!

Wafeeqa's NYC Fashion Shoot

New York City is full of cool locations and hidden gems, and it’s always exciting stumbling across them while roaming around. Wafeeqa and I were doing an urban mini photoshoot, and instead of planning it all out, we decided we’d be spontaneous and go on a walk. Right as we started, we saw a (mostly empty) bus parked on the side of the road. Knowing that this bus was about to leave we ran to the bus and asked if we could use it for a couple photos. Thankfully the bus driver agreed, and we started shooting!

After that we walked to Columbus Circle and took some photos there as well. One of my favorite things about this location was the fact that it was both green and still urban. I usually shoot in nature so this was the perfect way to incorporate some nature into a city shoot. It was such a beautiful day, and I really love how the mall in the background creates a gorgeous backdrop

After this we walked around a bit more and decided to incorporate some of busy New York City into the background. The wind was blowing so perfectly and added such nice movement to the photos. Overall, I really feel like this mini shoot turned out amazing! We were both so happy with the outcome!

Diana's Studio Session

Diana was the winner of my annual photoshoot giveaway contest this year, and we finally had our shoot yesterday! Not only is this girl gorgeous, she's also incredibly smart. She's on a pre-med track in college majoring in biology, and also interning at a hospital. Diana and I have been wanting to shoot together for a while now and I'm so glad that our schedules aligned and we finally had the chance to do so! She told me about how she wanted an Audrey Hepburn styled shoot so we decided to do a vintage-fashion look in the studio. Despite it being pretty hot in Brooklyn (90 degrees) plus the studio lights, Diana powered through the shoot without breaking a sweat even while wearing that fur collar - what a trooper! 

Overall, it was a really fun shoot and I loved working with Diana. She and I spent a lot of time planning this shoot to make sure that it came out perfect, and I think that we both did a great job. Take a look for yourself!!