DSM Girl Gang: Behind the Scenes /  by Liz Brown

candid BTS

candid BTS

About a week ago, I was asked to shoot for a local publication. I brought my camera bag full of film and lenses and my Klean Kanteen full of black coffee and my laptop full of Justin Bieber. All you need, really. While I'm keeping most of the details of the shoot on the down-low, after the "official" shoot was over, the gals and I took some more portraits in the studio in our "normal" clothes. Basically we all wore black and gray. Here are some of my favourite moments.

This is Tia. She makes the most adorable cookies and has a killer profile.

This is Alex. She's started knitting and is great at it, and she works angles in front of the camera better than anyone I've ever met.

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This is Meanz. She is the most all-around creative person I've ever met. I say that not because I don't have anything to say, but rather because she's good at graphic design, at photography, at clothing design, at too many things to list all in one post. And beautiful, too. 

Sundays are my favourite. Days  to laugh and slow down and sometimes work, but mostly catch up--on editing and with people. Today has been the best of those worlds.

David /  by Liz Brown

David and I became Instagram friends before we became "real life" friends. To back up a couple years, in 2013 I began working at a thrift store. As it turns out, my first day was also Sara's first day. She talked to me during lunch, and from that day forward, she became one of my dearest friends. She and her roommate Kari hosted dinners at their 2-story apartment on Sunday nights, and they invited me. Their living room because such a safe beautiful place that we all desperately needed our first couple years out of college. We longed to be understood, and we found it in that apartment, on couches and floors, over meals and episodes of Downtown Abbey and Once Upon a Time. Over the past year, I saw a couple photo series of Sara and our friend Alex posted online. Beautiful portraits. So I began following the photographer on Instagram. 

About a month ago, I got a message from the same photographer. He was going to be in town: was I free to grab coffee? As it turns out, I'd taken the afternoon off work, which never happens, and I met him at Scenic Route Bakery a few hours later. Yes, you guessed it: the photographer was David. I'm thankful for people who leap over the social media to in-person barrier because you make some great friends that way: just leaping in.

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David is from Kanas City, so collaborating has to be intentional. This week he was in town for Thanksgiving, so we spent the afternoon exploring the Art Center and taking photos. He taught me some double exposure tricks, I taught him to free lens, and we played around with a prism. 

The Art Center closed at 4, so despite the rain, we ventured behind the building, and I daresay I got some of my favourite shots of the day during that walk. All in all, it was a swell afternoon.

Moon Honey: 8.15.15 /  by Liz Brown

My friend Evelyn invited me to a show last night. I had only heard of one of the bands, but I'm so glad I went. Not only was it fun to hang out, but I was surprised by the magical Moon Honey. I nearly always have my camera on me, so when I saw their outfits and their colorful projections, I had to take a few shots.

I knew once I saw these two that I wanted to take a portrait. They were super sweet and stepped outside with me and we got a few shots. These darling people. These spectacular outfits. I can't get enough. Can I dress like this everyday?

Evelyn: 7.3.15 /  by Liz Brown

I met Evelyn through my friend Justin. She's in a local band Field Division (they're lovely--check 'em out), and I helped with their upcoming music video. (Shoutout to Justin and Israel for asking me to assist.) Evenlyn and I became friends over our mutual love of shooting (not only is she a musician, but she's also a photographer), and I got a few shots of her that day. When she had a show downtown a few weeks later, I got a few more portraits of her. She's a sweet soul and I love her ethereal style.

Alex : 8.9.15 /  by Liz Brown

Alex is a gem of a human. We instagram met a couple months ago, then met in person more recently. Yesterday we explored Saylorville Lake and took some photos. We learned that we grew up minutes from each other and we probably went to the same shows and the same grocery store and maybe even  crossed paths years ago, before each of us knew who the other was. 

Not only is Alex great in front of the camera, but she shoots, too! She's got a rad collection of digital images, and she brought a new film camera to our adventure. I'm excited to see how the photos turn out! 

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On our way back from adventuring, the half of the sky was dark. Alex found a cool spot for us to pull over and get a few shots. I love the moodiness of summer skies.

#desmorningshoot /  by Liz Brown

Sarah and Alyssa and I met on morning shoots over the past 6 months. However, in the past month, we've begun shooting much more than we ever have together. I've shot several times with Alyssa and over a dozen times with Sarah. We've seen both our shooting and editing skills grow and it's so exciting!

At the beginning of the year, one of my goals was to invest in female creative community in Des Moines, not at the exclusion of men, but rather with the purpose of developing an atmosphere of encouragement among lady creatives. I didn't know how this would look, but it turns out it looks a lot like these two ladies and a few others who have been coming and shooting with us.

Yesterday, we met at Starbucks early in the morning and sped to Saylorville to catch the sunrise. There's a spot under a bridge on the lake where you get a clear view. The morning was rather overcast, but that lends itself to pretty rad portraits. These are a few of my favourites.