When the editors at Men’s Health contacted me about potentially using some of my Dad Time images in their feature this month I was thrilled. They had pulled some images they loved from my website and I shared some additional options with them to choose from. The result is a four spread feature of images to accompany a collection of stories about fatherhood. Its incredibly rewarding to find the perfect home for a personal project like this one. You can check out the rest of the package below.
New beauty work in studio
When one of my stylists, Jenna Baltes, reached out to shoot some new beauty work I jumped at the chance to do something a little different. I really wanted to shoot portraits that focused on beautiful skin and bring some much needed sunshine into the studio while we were waiting for spring to arrive. I put together three simple sets and used lighting inspired by daylight. Natural light comes in endless variations. Cloudy days look different than open shade. Sunlight can be either reflected or absorbed by endless surfaces outdoors. No matter what I’m shooting, I love to create light that feels like it could be found outside using various bounces and reflections combined with harder light sources. Take a peek at some of my favorite shots below.
Styling: Jenna Baltes
Production: Trevor Power
Assistant: Tom Michas
Talent (top row from left): Marijka Munoz (10 MNGMT), Molly Divane (Ford) & Mana Montage (Ford)
Woman's Day feature
I was recently asked to create a series of portraits in the studio for a Woman’s Day feature that just came out this week. I truly enjoy photographing people who are not normally in front of the camera, its a fun challenge to help them get relaxed outside of their comfort zone. The assignment was to include various blank white boards where the designer could insert copy. We got to hear some of their surprising stories of how they were creatively minimizing their debt. Huge thanks to the Woman’s Day editors for sending this my way and to Lauren Frenden on hair and makeup and to Tom Michas for assisting.
Living with Passion: Director's Cut
Can you imagine being 83 years old and pole vaulting? What about training five times a week at that age in track and field? Seems almost impossible. That’s what I thought until I met Flo Meiler, world record-breaking pole vaulter at 80 and track and field star with more than 750 medals. I was inspired by her physical strength and endurance, the way she took on hurdles, one after another with the grace and elegance of someone who had been training their entire life. Meiler only started at 60.
In a recent interview before heading off to Poland last month for the World Masters Athletics Championship Indoor, Meiler said she loves the challenges of the hurdles and pole vault events, and it got me thinking of the challenges that most inspire me. While I don’t foresee pole vaulting or jumping hurdles anytime soon, I realized I’m most inspired when bringing my creative vision to life in images. This doesn’t always happen easily, and it often takes a dedicated team of creative professionals at my side, but like a track star who trains five days a week, we are always in training too, jumping through hoops and getting over hurdles, never stopping until we’re sure my creative vision has been brought to life in images.
Meiler’s commitment to maintaining an active lifestyle and staying healthy is a blueprint in many ways to leading a life filled with passion and joy, and I hope you’ll enjoy watching Flo in action as much as I did.
Lifestyle Library for Optum
I’m excited to share this collection of lifestyle, clinical, and corporate images I created for Optum this past year. Trevor produced a three day shoot in Chicago and a one day shoot in Minneapolis to cover 21 scenarios. Four locations and 42 talent later we had a great start creating a custom image library for this client. It’s incredibly rewarding to work with a client who sets the stage for me to be able to make beautiful images within their shot list.
In order to bring subject matter experts and authenticity to our scenarios, we sought out three veterans to play our former military subjects and three nurses to administer care to our talent. We also added twenty extras to our corporate shoot in order to showcase some of the larger meeting spaces the client wanted to highlight.
Mom Time Magazine
My annual magazine is finally in print - this time featuring a project I have been working on all year.
I never imagined myself as a mother, but when my husband and I decided to have a child together, it really opened up a whole new path in life for me.
I began photographing my Dad Time series shortly after my second son was born in 2013. Since my husband really became a full time dad at that point, we both started seeing the world through the lens of fatherhood which informed much of the early images. I also enjoyed documenting and directing other dads in scenarios that spoke about their own particular styles of parenting. I was still at a comfortable distance as the observer.
When my third son was born in late 2016, my world was in minor chaos. Taking almost no time off to keep my business running smoothly, I was lucky to spend a few hours a day with the new baby, with any of my kids really. My husband was holding everything together; we would wave and smile as we passed in the night.
I finally felt compelled to explore motherhood visually. My point of view was now more firmly developed, I feel lesslike a foreinger, more like an expat giving directions.
Special Thanks to Lisa Itzkowitz for designing this print piece for us. Custom artwork courtesy of my 2-year-old, Shane.
Here's to more great projects in 2019!
New Mom Time motion project
Why do we do the things we do - what motivates us to try to be the best we can be?
I recently directed this short narrative piece - inspired by first hand experience. Our bodies go through so much change with pregnancy and childbirth. It can be overwhelming to try to put things back on course. Luckily we have little reminders of why we need to keep our bodies strong.
Huge thank you to this amazing team:
DOP - Chris Beauchesne
Editing - Mike Meier
Colorist - Clark Griffiths
Production - Trevor Power
Assisting - Tom Michas
Styling - Lavi Toma
Hair/Makeup - Alex Tatar
Main Talent - Joy Comerford
Child Talent - Bode Lohmeier
Mom Time
After photographing fathers for Dad Time, my last personal project, it seemed like a natural progression to move into my next subject matter: moms. The images are much more personal, I'm no longer an arms length away from my subject matter. Most of these moments are inspired by my experience as a mom of three, or my hopes for the kind of mom I could be. Visit my website here: callielipkin.com to view my full portfolio.
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