NYC Photo shoot

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I’m actually enjoying catching up on old TV episodes and sleeping. I have finally finished the Lili St. Cyr biography I have been reading as well (read all about it in a future post).

Back in NYC, I teamed up with my friends from Flytographer to shoot in the streets of Soho. This time, the fabulous Mayleen was behind the camera and we had a lot of fun. She schooled me all about Miami, shooting notable clients and how to be fearless in a “coat that looks like a shag bear that didn’t stand a chance.” Here are some shots with hair and makeup by Bianca and Anthony. As you can see, I’m a fan of the profile shot;)

ELENA:)

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NYC in December

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I can’t believe that there is 5 days until Christmas!!!

I used the last of my vacation time to venture off to NYC in early December and I thought you might want to know a little about my adventures. This is a short summary with more details to follow!

TUESDAY: Checked into The Renwick, (a cool new boutique hotel on east 40th in between Park and Lex) and went to visit my friend Nizim from Labeling Men and had dinner at Bill’s Food & Drink on 54th. Bill’s Food and Drink is one of Chef John Delucie’s restaurant. Bedford & Co is his latest venture at the Renwick which is slated to open very very soon! (Comment: Actually it’s not going to open until spring 2016) Things to note – my room had a lovely floral arrangement from Uprooted Flower Truck (NYC’s first flower truck) to brighten my stay and I got to snack on some yummy ginger people made by Sweets by Olivia (which only lasted a night!).IMG_8612IMG_8602

WEDNESDAY: Hair and makeup with Anthony and Bianca for a Flytographer shoot in Soho. I got to wear my new Christmas/Birthday present to myself, a Proenza Schouler cashmere coat which I love. (More photos in a future post). Uber was crashed when I needed to rush to an important meeting at the Surrey Hotel but I managed to get there eventually after walking 20 blocks in heels and paying $30 for car service. Sheesh. Dinner at Marta with a friend from BluBird Vancouver.

THURSDAY: A breakfast meeting at Le Pain Quotidien followed by an amazing tour of Ciner manufacturing (future post coming up) was on the schedule. In the evening, I surprised the creative fashion illustrator Elaine Biss at her French Connection event. After, I got to meet Alexis Bittar at his holiday meet and greet. Then finally, to my trainers delight, I got to eat a chicken burger at Fuku.

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FRIDAY: A breakfast meeting at The Smith (I totally recommend) and a stop in with Editor-In -Chief, Courtenay C. Hall from Bella New York Magazine. I made a pit stop at Century 21 of course and had a few moments uptown to take some photos of beautiful Bergdorf window displays before heading downtown to dinner at Hundred Acres.

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SATURDAY: A stop into Creeds Collective Pop Up Shop which was conveniently located across the street from the brunch spot Santina under the High Line.  I managed to pick up some salt water taffy from Salty Road from Brooklyn. With an hour to spare to leave to airport, I went to & Other Stories new 5th avenue spot and bought a pair of booties.

ELENA:)

Photo shoot with Joey Armstrong

To end off the summer, I wanted to do a photo shoot incorporating all the products I have blogged about this summer for pure fun. Why not? I enlisted Joey Armstrong – a fabulous lifestyle photographer here in Vancouver (along with her awesome assistant Alison Page – who is a photographer herself) who helped me create a wonderful photo shoot that was placed products organically and featured yours truly. I think that the pictures turned out wonderfully and its always cool to see how different photographers work their magic and really get you to shine. Thanks Joey, Alison and Diana (makeup artist) for the fun shoot and fabulous pics!

ELENA:)

5 Minutes 5 Questions: Jen Reiher (Flytographer)

These are my two favourite Flytographer shots. The first is from my Paris Flytographer shoot with Pierre Torset from February. The second picture is from Johnny Wolf in New York in April.

I decided I had to interview with Jen Reiher, who is the shoot concierge for Flytographer. Totally organized and personable – you are definitely in great hands when you book a shoot. I should know 😉

Here is 5 minutes/ 5 questions with the lovely Jen Reiher.

1) How long have you lived in Victoria?
My entire life – minus a GAP year spent volunteering in the UK. It’s hard to imagine leaving Victoria! It’s the perfect size, has an amazing food scene and the weather is the best in Canada!
2) What are your top three favourite cities in the world to visit?
So far? Budapest, Hungary; Seoul, Korea & Portland, Oregon. However… since starting to work for Flytographer the top 3 places on my ‘to visit’ list are Placencia, Belize; Lisbon, Portugal & Cancun, Mexico!
3) What is your must need travel accessory?
A very timely question… I’m travelling to Vegas for the first time in a few weeks and just starting to pack my bags and the one thing I need to find still is a great hat…! It’s a super important accessory for fashion as well as practicality for sunny destinations, but in winter a toque is a pretty classic Canadian accessory, too.
4) What’s the best part of reviewing all the pictures from all the photographers around the world?
Just how many authentically magical moments our photographers capture! I always get a little bit chocked up when I’m uploading the photo sets because the personalities and emotions just leap out of the screen. I think this is because we are capturing such meaningful moments and connections between people and places like anniversaries, honeymoons (or second honeymoons!), engagements, birthdays & bucket list trips.
5) Name three characteristics on your Love List? (Qualities that you look for in a potential mate/or your mate has already)
This was basically the gist of my wedding vows…

  1. Nerdiness: My husband and I started talking because we are both Mac nerds, and we’ve never stopped sharing geekery with each other.
  2. Adaptability: openness to change, and the ability to grow together is so key to me to long-term happiness in relationships! I am definitely not the same as I was when I met my husband 10 years ago, and neither is he, but we have definitely grown together and changed each other in small ways for the better.
  3. Compatibility yet independence : My husband and I are a great team, but we are not inseparable… it is so important to have passions to pursue outside of each other! It gives us things to talk about together if nothing else… 🙂

ELENA:)

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