Become the Story

Pretty Muse?  Uh Huh!

This blog has been public for a mere 78 days so when the page counter rolled over 2,000 hits I got just a little excited guys.  Sheez!!  I never wanted to be a blogger, I just wanted to go back to shooting and be a photographer. They tell me I gotta blog if I want to get anywhere so that's how I become the very reluctant blogger in the Treasure Coast, Florida.  But now, I'm hooked, thank you for visiting!

www.prettymuse.com

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'Become the Story"?  

What does that mean?  It means Pretty Muse is a very new kind of photography business. That to be photographed by us means you become a character, maybe several and another chapter in the story. It's become evident that people are taking notice here in Stuart and want to know about the characters they read about in the blog and FB.

This week I stopped in the bakery, the shop owner started to tell me he read about the Asian Princess.  Whhhhaaaat?  I did a double take.  Really?  I think my expression with large eyes gave me away because his wife chimed right in and added, "I've seen all the videos.  Even the ones you didn't put on the page yet." Dear Bakery (who doesn't wish to become part of the story, yet). I so love you guys! You have no idea.  

Then, there's the Mojitoes Nail Bar girls again. Bekah and April are fans of the blog and have joined the ranks of 'being the story', they have their own chapter. What these girls did on Saturday totally made me feel as loved as any customer could possibly feel. Just check out their Facebook wall for Sunday, 10-16-2011 so you can see for yourself. <ohhh, feeling the love!>

So have a look at the latest video, "Become the Story", a scripted look at Pretty Muse Photography with model, Diana Cullen and Donna Devlin, HMUA. xoxoxo

Please keep checking in!  I promise to have lots and lots of pictures. (A slight retraction: One night with a glass of wine I boldly typed that I promise not to write more than the average internet attention span could handle and my formula would never be more words than pictures.  Uhhh, that was a slight mis-speak.)  :/

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Linifotto is becoming Pretty Muse over the next several months, whichever website you enter you'll be redirected to this blog until the website is completed.  If you are new, please read the prior post which features Diana Cullen in her Asian Princess inspired fantasy shoot. http://beautyandthebeachphotography.blogspot.com/2011/10/diana-asian-princess.html .  etc...

Links:
Diana Cullen:  www.cullen-arycreations.com
Donna Lynn Devlin:  www.donnadevlinhairandmakeup.com
Pretty Muse:  www.prettymuse.com

Mojitoes Nail Bar:  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001592487946

Keywords: linifotto, pretty muse, pretty muse photography, beauty and the beach photography, beauty & the beach photography, photography, Stuart, Stuart, Florida, treasure coast, martin county, florida, martin county florida, jensen beach, psl, port saint lucie, tradition, hutchinson island, beach,WPB, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, asian, fantasy portraiture, women in photography, new ideas for women in portraiture, fun portraiture, diana cullen, diana cullen-ary creations, donna devlin, donna lynn devlin, donna devlin hair and makeup, hmua, stylist, branding, promotional photography, new photography business, sari, bollywood, fantasy portraiture video

www.prettymuse.com

Diana, Asian Princess

If you were a Princess would you look like this?

What little girl hasn't dreamed of being a princess, a jungle queen or a geni in a bottle?  

Let's be honest, does it matter what age you are?  Nope.

You don't outgrow this stuff.  Whether you are 5 or 55 some things stay the same.  Girls crave dress up and the feeling of being someone else.  If we put on different clothing and accessories we are transported and feel like an entirely different being.

So what happens when we acknowledge our hidden princess and invite her out to play armed with the coolest accessories we could find?

We asked Diana Cullen to do just that and model in an Asian Princess inspired shoot.

Our hair and makeup artist, Donna Devlin, transformed Diana from a young Mom and chef who just dropped off her son at school, to a very fetching maiden. Diana was a good sport as we used everything on her; wigs, and pounds of jewelry, miles of fabric, several pairs of eyelashes, lots of eyeliner and if that weren't enough we stuck crystals and clamps on her and then we marched her outside....

And guess what happened?  

This quiet and beguiling woman lit up the grounds.  A gust of wind whipped her thin veil into the air and it trailed behind her like a traffic sign reading, "Nobility ahead."  She clasped on one ankle bracelet after the next so when she walked the tiny bells chimed and when the sun hit the breast plate of jewels it nearly blinded the neighborhood. 

Yet unaware of her allure she went into character without missing a beat and slipped in and out of a zillion subtle poses that made our cameras cry. 

The cameras couldn't stay away from her.  

I won't tell you Diana's secret, but if her face looks familiar it's because you've probably seen it in a glossy magazine.  Yep, she's a card carrying certified hottie and certainly didn't need all this fanfare to draw attention to herself.

Some of these images make my heart ache.  They are just positively gorgeous and will go in my personal collection of all time favorites.

This one above, has a filter on it giving it a look of a finely sketched drawing. LOVE.

Here is a low resolution VIDEO (here) from the shoot.

For a higher res VIDEO (720p)  
click here --->  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THUSIE3aUOI

Thank you Diana, for being the graceful and alluring woman you are, we'll probably always think of you  as our Asian Princess. We loved having you model for us!  And Donna, magician that you are, we love having you work with us. You are a great asset to Pretty Muse.

Stealing makes me sad.  This work is protected under copyright law and no portion of our work may be used or reproduced without our written permission. All rights reserved. (c) 2011

Links:
Diana Cullen:  www.cullen-arycreations.com
Donna Lynn Devlin:  www.donnadevlinhairandmakeup.com
Pretty Muse:  www.prettymuse.com
Also find us on Facebook!

Please note:  Linifotto is becoming Pretty Muse, we are still the same company but felt this name represents our brand much better.  Feel free to visit both Facebook pages for more galleries of our work.  The Pretty Muse website is currently under construction and you will be re-directed to this blog until it's complete.

A word about the music. Cheb Khaled is a VERY famous singer on the other side of the planet. Sadly, most, ok, many, westerners know very little about music outside the US, so I'm very happy to share this song, Aicha. 
Here, the lyrics in English, translated from French.

As if I did not exist,
she passed me by
without a glance
Queen of Saba, I said
"Acha, take: all is for you".
Here the pearls, jewels,
Therefore gold around your neck,
the quite ripe fruits with the honey taste
My life, Acha, if you like me.
I will go where your breath carries us out
In the ebony and ivory countries.
I will erase your tears, your sorrows.
Nothing is too beautiful for one so beautiful.

Oooh, Acha, Acha, listen to me.
Acha, Acha, please do not go.
Acha, Acha, look at me.
Acha, Acha, answer me.

I will say the words of the poems.
I will play the musics of the sky.
I will take the rays of the sun to light the eyes of a queen.

Oooh! Acha, Acha, listen to me.
Acha, Acha, please don't go.





Keywords:
Keywords: linifotto, pretty muse, pretty muse photography, beauty and the beach photography, beauty & the beach photography, photography, Stuart, Stuart, Florida, treasure coast, martin county, florida, martin county florida, jensen beach, psl, port saint lucie, tradition, hutchinson island, beach, asian, fantasy portraiture, women in photography, new ideas for women in portraiture, fun portraiture, diana cullen, diana cullen-ary creations, donna devlin, donna lynn devlin, donna devlin hair and makeup, hmua, stylist, branding, promotional photography, new photography business, sari, bollywood, Aicha, khalid, cheb khalid, pop rai, fantasy portraiture video, 

Sneak Peek - Asian Princess Diana

Meet the lovely Diana Cullen who modeled and played the Asian Princess we asked her to portray for the Pretty Muse cameras. As soon as our stylist tied the first sari around her she seemingly stepped off into a land and time most of us have only dreamed of. But see for yourself in an upcoming post, soon!

I feel the need for incense...

Keywords: linifotto, pretty muse, pretty muse photography, beauty and the beach photography, beauty & the beach photography, photography, Stuart, Stuart, Florida, treasure coast, martin county, florida, martin county florida, jensen beach, psl, hutchinson island, beach, asian, fantasy portraiture, women in photography, new ideas for women in portraiture, fun portraiture, diana cullen, diana cullen-ary creations, donna devlin, hmua, stylist, branading, photography business, donna devlin hair and makeup artist

A Woman 2.0?

A small addition...(Rocker version video)
http://animoto.com/play/pSI3bWZMSRRn3HmwNc90jw

Thank you everyone for hitting this blog HARD guys!!!  Thank you!!  Check out the 'rocker' version of Donna Devlin on the link above.

Thumbnails in Aperture

A Woman

There is definitely something special about Donna Devlin. Not only do daisies sprout from her very toes as she walks, she's seems to have her engine finely tuned for just about anything. And she makes it all look effortless.

She's 42, lives in PSL, Florida and has a very full life.  One of the things I like about Donna is her 100% presence. When she's with you, she's with you. Yet, she's got 15 things going on at any given moment.

She joined us for the first time last month for our Petal shoot with Sami.  She did a great job as our HMUA and she fell into the shoot like a veteran. Instinctively she knew when to grab a reflector or eyeliner and keep running, equally she knew when to pause the shoot to fix a flaw that would mean hours later in post.

So when she told me she's never been photographed I couldn't help but invite her for a simple 'character' shoot. Its a shoot designed to show the person's personality. We get them to warm up to the cameras and show their personality. Easier said that done.  So, she packed her trunk for the shoot, as instructed with all kinds of stuff, and like Mary Poppins' she presented a 'billowy skirt', a 'cool pair of cowboy boots', a 'cozy sweater', an 'interesting piece of jewelry' all on command. Good job!

I'll risk making a tall statement and say that she is what most women want to be when they grow up.  She can juggle a full house with kids and school and sports and soccer games and a rocker husband, her own business or and even those P90X Workouts! (good grief woman!)

She's got the right mix of ambition, mischief, delivery, fairness, sensousness, strength, playfulness and curiousity all mixed together.  She's, she's...for lack of a better term, a woman, aged to perfection.

She delighted and charmed us with her energy and being so wonderfully comfortable in her own skin. Its refreshing to see someone happy to be who they are.

Later when I got home and went through the images I marveled at the ease with which she let us in.
We get a strong sense of who she is, we can see it written all over her. Yet, we don't have her all figured out.

Nope, not this woman. You'll never figure her out. Women will aspire to be more like her (have you seen her arms?) and men? Well, they'll aspire too.  :)

I'll paraphrase from 'Women who run with wolves'... you are just you for today, tomorrow and all it's tomorrowness is another day. You don't know where you'll be or who you'll be. But for today dance in the moment, revel in the pleasure of being you.  There is only one you.  No other creature has ever walked on this earth like you. No other woman walks like you, smells like you or smiles like you.  It would seem Donna wrote the book. :)

Be sure to check out the video.  :)

Please note Linifotto is going to be officially changing the name to Pretty Muse. Website and Facebook links are currently under construction.  So don't forget "Pretty Muse".  It's a better fit, right?


Links:
Linifotto on Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pretty-Muse-Photography/248423378531826?sk=wall
Pretty Muse on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pretty-Muse-Photography/248423378531826?sk=wall

Donna Devlin Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000944132998

Donna Devlin Hair and Makeup website  http://www.donnadevlinhairandmakeup.com/

keywords:  linifotto, linifotto photography, beauty and the beach photography, pretty muse, pretty muse photography, be the muse, model mayhem, stuart florida photography blogger, stuart florida, stuart, florida, treasure coast, treasure coast florida, martin country, martin county florida, stuart blogger, stuart blog, stuart florida blogger, stuart florida blog, treasure coast blogs, new blogs, fresh photography, girlie photography, new portraiture, stuart photographer, stuart photography blog, sami roth, samantha roth, mediary, kiss & makeup, port st. lucie makeup artists, MUA, HMUA, jensen beach, donna devlin, donna devlin hair and makeup

When a woman is a Woman

Some people are effervescent. Some just prance around life with an extra amount of zing. This one, Ms. Donna Devlin, yes the very same Donna who did that amazing makeup job on the Petal Look, got in front of our cameras to feel what it's like being the subject of all that attention.  She tells us she's never done this before.

Reeee-ally?!

She was looking extra fabulous, full of energy and it was all we could do to keep her feet from, well, er....you'll see.

The big video reveal on Wed, followed by a blog post of what its like working with this special woman. Yes, Donna you are definitely a rock star.