Rapunzel by Tracie Jean Photo Voted Cincinnati's Best Portrait Photographer

Inspirations often visit in the form of a gown, hairstyle, make-up look or even a color palette, song or verse of poetry. This particular inspiration was born of a fairy tale. Hidden identity, lonely existence, longing for roots all play deeply into the story of Rapunzel.

This shoot has been in my head for over a year. In my mind, I could see every portion of the concept only the pieces hadn’t yet come together. This is the story of their unfolding…

Piece 1: 10 months ago, we had a client in for a maternity shoot and asked if her makeup artist could come with her. We accommodated. That day, we met Sali Kamara, who would soon become one of our very favorite hair and makeup artists along with close friend and dream sister @makeupbysalik

Piece 2: 4 months ago, planning for a class I would be teaching, I reached out to my friends @Sewtrendyaccessories looking for whichever non-maternity gowns they would like featured for a lighting class. Amazingly, this gown was one of the choices sent my way with which to create!

Piece 3: 3 months ago, practicing for a pin-up live presentation for NYC, we had a model respond who waltzed right into our studio and stole our hearts from the very start. @Altermelon (Melissa Prantl), was perfect for this part, although at the time we were focused on other things so we didn’t even realize it.

As November rounded the corner, the leaves in Ohio finally began to offer their rusty oranges, deep reds and vivid yellows and the shoot begged me to make it happen. Choosing a location was interesting. We went to Spring Grove Cemetery and took a few shots on the first day of the shoot as my mind was stuck on castles. On day two, we decided to go a different route and made our way to the Mariemont Wall Park.

Ease. Ease is what it feels like when we know we’re onto something amazing! It all came together so perfectly. The sun was just right and the skies so blue!

Included you’ll see the behind the scenes for those interested in our lighting set-up.

Gear List:

#GetOlympus EM-1 Markii

M.Zuiko 7-14mm Pro f/2.8

M.Zuiko 45mm Pro f/1.2

M.Zuiko 25mm Pro f/1.2

M.Zuiko 17mm Pro f/1.2

#ProfotoUSA B-1X Location Kit, XL Silver Umbrella with Diffuser, Collapsible Beauty Dish