The World's Most Prolific Tinkerer

This holiday season I was able to experience The Edison Ford Museum which has hundreds of Edison's inventions and artifacts. From Movie Projectors, to record players, to the light bulb, it's awesome to consider his contributions to the photo and film industry.  Thank you Thomas Edison! This got me thinking about my role in the creative industry and about people stepping out of the norm to create something new.  I loved that he really didn't pay attention in school and it appeared like he was not intelligent in that way, but went on to be an amazing inventor.

The Edison Ford Museum has hundreds of inventions, artifacts and special exhibits. - See more at: http://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/#sthash.0b4z8enn.dpuf

The Edison Ford Museum has hundreds of inventions, artifacts and special exhibits. - See more at: http://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/#sthash.0b4z8enn.dpuf

 

 The winter home of Thomas Edison, is poised along the Caloosahatchee River. In 1885, Thomas Edison first visited Florida. He purchased property along the Caloosahatchee River and built a vacation home. The vernacular structure, completed in 1886 and dubbed "Seminole Lodge" by the Edisons, served as a winter retreat and work place for the prolific inventor until his death in 1931. The home, designed by Mr. Edison, was built in sections in Fairfield, Maine in 1885. The sections were then transported to Fort Myers by four sailing schooners and erected in 1886.

Behind the Scenes for YMCA

Our prop stylist getting outfits ready 


 On November 15th (this past Friday) I had the opportunity to be the photographer on an incredibly fun photo shoot for the YMCA. These images are some behind the scenes photos from the day.

                                Look at all the shoe options! 

                          

                                                                                    

                         
              

Production Packet and set 

Our lovely producer Barbara 

Having fun on set with the client! 

On a ladder getting some great shots!

The shoot was fantastic! I had a great time, my crew was amazing and the talent was exceptional!

Special thanks to studio and crew: 

Studio // studio 2255 
First Assistants // Donte Tatum & Mark Doddato 
Digital Tech //  Brian Schilling 
Second Assistant // Anastasia Page  
Behind the scenes // James foster

Spotlight on Prolific Fashion Photographer Helmut Newton

Last night, while I was thumbing through Helmut Newton's book, I realized many emerging photographers may have no clue who Helmut Newton was. After considering this, I felt compelled to share some of his more well known pieces (that are safe for work).

This is predominantly work from Vogue magazine, more of his work can be found online and I highly suggest everyone take a moment and get inspired.

Parisian Modern Classic Photos

These are a few finals from the post I made in October about the shoot I was working on. Hope everyone likes looking at them as much as I liked shooting them!

Social Media Tips for the Creative Professional

Being a creative professional in today's industry is no easy task, it requires a large assortment of skills and a colossal amount of time. I wish there was more than 24 hours in a day to get everything I needed finished, I bet that's a familiar statement to most creatives out there!

Our day-to-day is often jam packed with conference calls, interns, editing and shooting it's understandable that social media often takes a backseat on our list of priorities. 

In an effort to aid my fellow creatives I've decided to use today's blog post to share a few tips and tricks to enhance your social media.

1. Determine your Social Media Goals 

Before beginning your online journey to get as many followers as possible stop, and ask yourself "what's my direction and how am I going to get there?"  Every plan, even a social media plan, needs a little thought. Do you really need every app, will you consistently update more than one social media outlet a day? 

2. It's All About SEO 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is more than just keywording appropriately it's about getting your online presence performing at it's best. Understanding how to do this requires a little studying, my tip is to check out Fstoppers article about SEO for photographers.    

4. Give and Receive 

The internet is a great place for information and content sharing. One of my favorite tips is 'Give and Receive' it means avoid being a provider of narcissistic content. Think of the things online that you love to follow, I doubt it's bloggers or Facebook users asking you to 'like' or share something every second. Share content with your audience that you enjoy, engage them in online conversation and you'll receive more followers and organic visitors.  

5. Have Fun 

An audience can tell when you're posting because you're suppose to, stop that! You're audience will expand if your content is interesting, engaging and good; the best way to achieve that is to have fun with it.  

Parisian Modern Classic

Autumn is here in Chicago and that means fall fashion, photo shoots and producing new work! I had been playing with the concept of using elegant style with modern clothing, a kind of contemporary Audrey Hepburn look, in the photo shoot. The concept was executed perfectly with help from my stylist Giselle and my model Bryn. 

We were going for a moody light, haute couture look which I believe we totally achieved (check back soon for final photos). 

A quick candid image taken before shooting 

Me on set with my helpful assistant James.

A big thank you to my model and crew for an amazing photo shoot.
Carley Martin     // Makeup artist
Bryn                  //  Model
Giselle Gatsby  // Stylist
James Foster    // Photo Assistant

Awesome Hair & Beauty Shoot

Really fantastic ad shoot for a hair salon chain this week.  One of those great shoots where you are happy because you can put it in your own portfolio.  The models beautiful, the light beautiful, hair and makeup and styling outstanding. 25+ people on the shoot and it went really smoothly. We had a preproduction meeting a couple weeks ago and nailed down exactly what we wanted the image for them to be.  The models from Factor were amazing (thank you Darren Jay!) Comments I hear often are how great my "team" is.  That makes me really happy-- that we work together so well to produce results that people notice. We love what we do! Crew included Brian Eaves, Mark Doddato, Anastasia Page, James Foster and Rianne Farris.

Thanks to James Foster for the behind the scenes shots! Please visit my website for more

www.sciascia.com

                   

Great Client recommendation from Geometry at Ogilvy!

I get so thrilled when clients are happy and tell me about it!  Here is a new client recommendation:


LinkedIn Recommendations
Kristin Howard has recommended your work as Owner at Sciascia Photography Inc..
Dear Lisa,
I've written this recommendation of your work to share with other LinkedIn users.

Details of the Recommendation: "Lisa and her entire crew were impressive to work with on our latest Kleenex brand shoot. Our full day on-set included two vibrant lifestyle shots that truly needed to capture our brand in the moment. She had great energy, proved to work well with the talent on-set, managed the day so that things fell on-time and most important the client went home at the end of the day earlier than expected and thrilled with what she saw captured. I hope we get the chance to work with Lisa and her crew again."
Service Category: Photographer
Year first hired: 2013
Top Qualities: Great Results, Expert, Creative

Crew shot from Flashes of Hope Photoshoot!

What a great day!  We shot 8 families of children with cancer.  It was was a great day to make them feel good and have a fun experience and give them something that will last forever... I was really amazed how brave they and their families were and how they dealt with the circumstances.  Awesome crew! (Left to right- Dominic and Brandon Trumfio, Anastasia Page, Dorothy Rosen, Lisa Sciascia)

Here is company website:  www.flashesofhope.org

I definitely had to adjust my approach to create happiness and energy for each child and family.  I was up for the challenge and enjoyed every minute of it.

Behind the scenes in downtown Chicago

Had a great shoot last week - small production - small crew but you would never know. We shot 4 different city locations. I had my full gear in the van but since it was such a beautiful day all we needed was a beautiful sun bounce reflector and camera. We shot to card for simplicity but pulled images up on laptop from time to time to view. The client wanted a candid lifestyle feel, capturing a woman about town with her stylish suit. She chose a real woman rather than a model to really capture reality. I just let the shooting flow on the first shot to make our subject feel really comfortable in front of the camera. I had awesome Flint Chaney assisting me working his own magic in making the shoot and subject feel really relaxed. Two awesome interns-recent Columbia grads- James Foster and Anastasia Page.

Marlene Atelier

September has arrived and as I mentioned in my earlier posts I am going to be one busy photographer. Tomorrow I’ll have the pleasure of working with Marlene Frank, a Chicago based business woman who makes custom-tailored professional women’s wear. During my shoot I’ll be posting some fun behind-the-scenes pictures and create a blog post about the days events and what it was like working with an independent entrepreneur.

Spontaneous photo of the week!

I always feel content out in nature

Free at the beach!

Reminiscing of great times in the summer, this shoot captures the feeling perfectly.  Free and fun at the beach.  I took a few girls out and just gave them a little direction and really worked on just capturing what happened.  It was me and my camera and 3 girls and some props.  We had great fun and captured some simple shots.  I ran into one of the girls this week and she asked if we could go out and do it again. I thought that was a true testament to a happy shoot!