Wigs and Things...

Now.. I've worked with wigs before, but I could never say that I'd cut/styled a wig for a photoshoot.  Now I have!

Model: Kari Shannon
Hair Stylist: Thomas Stoops
MUA: Filigree Artistry
Styling: Kari Shannon and Scott Miron
Copyright 2011 Scott Miron

 

 

Photoshoot Work Continues!!

Beauty photoshoots are nice, but lets be honest.  Unless you spice things up and do different things, they all start to look the same.  Lucky for me, the photographer, makeup artist, model and I never seem to run out of ideas. :)

Photographer: Fels Andermathes Photography

Model: Vanessa

Make-Up Artist: Filigree Artistry

Hair Stylist: Thomas Stoops

The next step for our work together was to venture away from all of the head shots.  Fels, the photographer, got a paper roll, something similar to a pull-down projector screen.  This way, we could start experimenting with 3/4 body shots and full body shots.

Photographer: Fels Andermathes Photography

Model: Lara V

Make-Up Artist: Filigree Artistry

Hair Stylist: Thomas Stoops



Model Mayhem

After the photoshoot with Mark Peterson Photography, Meghan Smith, Paul Kasal, Mary Roudabush, and the 5 models; I joined a website called Model Mayhem.  I would describe this website as a mixture of Craigslist and Facebook.  It is an industry exculsive website for models, photographers, make-up artists, hair stylists, wardrobe stylists, and picture retouchers to connect and show their work.

On this website, I met a local photographer, Fels Andermathes Photography.  This photographer wasn't just any photographer, she also did stellar make-up and worked in modeling as well.  Our first collaboration was in early February.  The set-up was fairly simple, but the skills of all involved took the pictures to another level.

Photography: Fels Andermathes Photography

Make-up: Filigree Artistry

Hair: Thomas Stoops

Model: Kaorie

I knew at this point that we would have a good thing going, and could produce some beautiful art together.

The pictures to come would affirm my prediction!



Photography: Fels Andermathes Photography

Make-up: Filigree Artistry

Hair: Thomas Stoops

Model: Priya Pillai



Chronological Oops

So, I forgot to run through the second hairshow that I was involved in during cosmetology school.

This shoot took place a few months before I graduated.  I worked very closely with one of the educators, Jesse Bielenberg, to coordinate this show and put it all together.  The name of the show was "Tune In and Style Up", and each team of stylists was assigned a different genre of music to inspire their models' looks.

I headed up the team of models for the dance/techno music genre.  I chose Dance/Techno because I love the uptempo beats, and the bright colors.  I knew the models would be able to rock whatever looks we created for them when they are strutting their stuff to some upbeat and modern music.

For this show, the Techno group also teamed up with a body paint artist named Emily Svec.

Here's a look into how the day went:

This model, Raelynn, walked the runway with my pomeranian, Edward, who wanted in on the fun too!

Okay, so I kinda forgot to mention a little something.  Okay, so you guys have heard of America's Next Top Model, right?  Through another student of the school, Amanda and Michele Babin (twins who were on cycle 7 of the show)  agreed to fly in from California to be models for us!  It was very cool to meet them in person, and they were very nice.  We even got the local television stations coming up to advertise for free for us and featured the twosome in commercials for us!

In this last picture here, I am wearing boots with an inch heel, and the girls took their heels off and were barefoot.  It's crazy how tall and skinny they were, but what stood out most were their personalities.  Very kind, caring, and funny.  What a great day!

First Photoshoot

After being behind the chair at a salon for a little over a year, I knew that I had gained a lot of experience, but I wanted more.  I wasn't quite sure how to break into the fashion/photoshoot styling industry, so I just posted an advertisement on Craigslist.

I teamed up with the esthetician from our salon, Meghan Smith; and a photographer by the name of Mark Peterson from Ames, Iowa.  None of us had really done much beauty or fashion work before, so we set a goal of five models.  We wanted to do two looks on each model, and we booked the studio for five hours.

Of course, as life goes.. we learned that trying to get hair, makeup, and wardrobe styling worked out for ten different looks in five hours is impossible.  We did the best with what we had, and got some pretty cool shots out of it, and I knew I wanted to do more.

This is my niece-in-law Jayme.  About two hours before this picture was taken we had colored her hair fairly dark, and consequently stained a little bit of her skin around her hairline. :)  Luckily, it was only a semi-demi-permanent color, so it didn't stain for long.  This was also the first shoot that Jayme had done since her senior pictures.  I still need to get Jayme to Des Moines one of these weekends to get her another photoshoot.

This is Jessica.  She got a little bit more of a "crazy" style.. (if you want to call it that), than any of the other girls.  I did this look on Jessica because her hair was pretty much see-through white, which is very difficult to acheive without making your hair break off.  Her's, however, was very healthy and shiny. 

Here's a group shot of the models with their first looks:

 Of this set, I styled (from left) the third, fourth, and fifth model: Joanna, Jayme, and Jessica.

Here's set two:

Of this set I styled Jayme, Jessica, and helped style Joanna.

It was a great experience and helped me learn and understand what works and what doesn't work with photography and hair.  It helped me to learn how to shape the hair in an aesthetically pleasing way, and also how to look at the void of space, as well as what space is filled.

Cosmo School

After years of flipping through fashion magazines, I realized that I entered this career to get on those pages.  High fashion, couture, and the avant-guarde have always given me inspiration and guidance.  I don't want to be the hair stylist in the small town chop shop doing the same haircut and haircolor for the rest of my career.  I want to create the bold and the edgy, and here was my start:

I started cosmo school in May of 2008.  In June, the school held a hairshow.  As it turns out, teenage girls often tend to be slightly less responsible and reliable than your average shmo.  Three weeks into my schooling, before I had even touched a manequin, I replaced another student as the head of a design team of ten models.  Luckily, even though I didn't really know how to do hair, things didn't go too badly. :)

After all the long hours and anxiety attacks were all over, I knew I was hooked.  For no more than 40 minutes, the weeks upon weeks of prep work were completely worth it.

Intro

I'm sure this blog will change directions many times based on what my needs for it are at the time.

However, I am starting this blog to keep all my goals, thoughts, work, and growth as a professional.


A little about me:

My name is Thomas Stoops, and I am a cosmetologist and a Certified PureOlogist currently designing looks in the Des Moines metro area.  I entered the industry in 2008, attaining my license in 2009.

My goal is to become a PureArtist with PureOlogy and travel the nation educating and inspiring people.



So... I have a little bit of catching up to do with everyone from cosmetology school until now, so the first few posts will be a crash course..  let's do it to it!