Fab Grad… Leilani of Longleaf School of the Arts Class of 2017!!
Like Kylie, you’ve already learned all sorts about Leilani in her Fab Grad Spokesmodel Feature Blog last week. Now we go from our single themed cohesive group session to a personal session FULL of capturing who LEILANI is!
With all the variety & personality that Leilani’s life is filled with, it was no surprise that they opted to go all out on a VIP session! Our location itself was the first major important piece of her session though… they chose to capture this time in her life at the Raleigh Little Theatre & RLT Rose Gardens. She was a Mouse/Pony in Cinderella there when she was 8, as well as Little Inez in Hairspray and was also a TA there… lots of special memories building up to who she is today! Much like the location, each aspect was filled with tiny details of special-ness… We captured her love of music, plays & vinyl in casual images on the small outdoor stage… surrounded by her vinyl collection and playbills from shows she was in – lots & lots of them (but not even all of them!). Her hat is her Uncle Mike’s… she swiped it from him & has turned it into one of her signature everyday looks! She also had a tiny tiger in some of these images, a regular source of comfort for her as it was a gift from one of her friends during a trip to NYC with chorus last year. She & the tiger then moved over to a cute bench to capture some images with “Alexander”… her BIG teddy bear, a gift from her grandfather & one of her favorite things. This fabulous gal is a quadruple (or probably even more than that!) threat!! So… while still in her casual look, we captured her artist side, complete the art case her mom had her name burned into. She then had a simple change into a dance look, in which all her dance shoes from THIS year alone were displayed up the steps. We finished off that look with some jazzy chair shots… my addition to the special momentos. This is a chair I did in my Sr year of High School (yes, way back then) with an art teacher who was very dear to me & played a huge part in my life path, but sadly is no longer with us. It is very dear to me & I was so pleased for it to be a part of Leilani’s session! We captured Leilani’s singer side on stage inside the theatre… WHAT a treat to not only have the place to ourselves but to have a live acapella show in her amazing voice while we captured her! There were also some recent props just perfectly handy on the stage for her to do unexpected quick vintage sofa & VICTROLA shots!! (so cool!) The final look was the most stylized… a steampunk/time traveler look. This captured both her actress side & her ‘geek chic’ sci-fi loving side. The very detailed & elaborate outfit was loaned to us from our fabulous HMUA, Denise’s costume collection… all except for the hat. THAT was researched & hand made by her mom with lots of love!
When it was all said & done, Leilani had her own heart full of thanks to share… “I loved that both my parents helped with the shoot, Dad on the spotlight and Mom getting under my dress to pin it up (lol). In addition to having my parents there, I am so grateful that I have made such great relationships with Jen and Denise so, I felt loved and taken care of the entire shoot. Plus, I had my good friend Gabi there and Nola Grace to help out also. We had the vision of showing all sides of me and I felt comfortable showing all the sides of me. I am so lucky that RLT let me use their stage and that we had so many great locations within the Rose Garden.“
What a session of variety & creativity & personality. We hope you enjoy viewing the images as much as we enjoyed the session itself!…
Thanks so much to Denise Hutter of Images by Denise for Leilani’s Hair & Makeup! Nola Grace Brown & Gabi Perkins, for being such an awesome assistants & for capturing our behind the scenes! And SO much thanks to Leilani’s parents, Judy & Rocky – they are the rocks behind this shining star!
Check out Leilani’s session video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/H-3KUNA_Usk.
