TRIBE

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First off, let me start by saying that I am SO excited about this shoot! About a month ago, I separated my fashion portfolios between Fashion Editorial and Fashion Lifestyle, and I realized that I had WAY more editorial, in studio work than lifestyle imagery. So, in an effort to pump up the lifestyle side, I have been putting together a few tests to bulk up that side of my work! Dreaming up a concept is so much fun and this past winter, I was introduced to Hackwith Design House...and ever since then, I have wanted so badly to use their clothing in a shoot! Through the power of twitter, I was also introduced to Chris Chookiatsirichai, who is an amazing tribal jewelery artist! Overall, we had SUCH an amazing team that brought this vision to life!

Enjoy!

 

CREDITS//

Photography: Eliesa Johnson

Clothing: Hackwith Design House

Jewelry: Chris Chookiatsirichai

Talent: Whitney of Ignite Models, Abe (independent)

Hair: Micah Savage

Makeup: Dayo

Assistants: Liz Hardt, Josh Anderson

 

 

 

 

 

Deserted Rebel // Test Shoot // Lifestyle Fashion

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Over the past few months, I have had several portfolio reviews and critiques on my book! I'm super happy to report that overall, I have received some amazingly positive feedback on the work we are producing, so that is super encouraging; however, I am a giant believer that there is always room for improvement! I'm clearly a person that is all about going big or going home, so I want to make sure that I am pumping out some stellar work - constantly. One big piece of advice that kept coming around was the idea of separating my Fashion Portfolio into two separate categories: Fashion Editorial and Fashion Lifestyle. I thought this was a BRILLIANT idea, and so the next couple of test shoots that you will see for me will be much more lifestyle based, than in-studio-editorial looking.

Test shoots are all about experimenting, and I most definitely used a different form of processing on these images than I ever have! I'm totally digging it for this series and am super happy with the way it turned out!

CREDITS//

Photographer: Eliesa Johnson

Talent: Tyler Goodling & Liz Hardt

Assisting / Dirt Throwing / Extra: Brandon Fox

 

 

 

From Winter to Spring // Test Shoot!

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I am SUPER excited to share these images from my latest test shoot with you! We are in this weird limbo phase in Minneapolis right now, where winter has not yet come to and end and spring has almost begun! I wanted to somehow convey that feeling - and if you live in Minnesota, you know what that feeling is - where you are just dying for things to change and brighten up! I wanted these images to be light and bright, pale, yet with some neutral color being introduced as the images went on. I wanted them to be soft, yet with a little bit of tension. I couldn't be more pleased with the way these turned out and I am super pumped to use them in my portfolio!

As always, I could not pull these shoots off, without an amazing team behind me!

CREDITS //

Photography: Eliesa Johnson

Hair & Makeup: Fatima Olive

Styling: Diana Colangelo

Talent: Gemma & Melissa, Ignite Models

Post Production: Liz Hardt

 

Free People Lace Dress // $98 // Nordstrom,  Scarf  // $28 // Urban Outfitters

BCBG Sheer Sleeve Dress // $78 // Bloomingdales,  Crochet Shawl // $39 // Urban Outfitters

Haute Blouse // $225 // Nordstrom,  Underwear // $16 // Urban Outfitters

Chiffon Maxi Skirt // $54 // Lace Bra // $16 // Urban Outfitters,  BCBGeneration Cutout Top // $88 // Bloomingdales

French Connection Crochet Dress // $288 // Bloomingdales,  French Connection Glitter Dress // $168 // Bloomingdales

 

 

March Issue // Metro Magazine // Men's Fashion

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The March Issue of Metro Magazine is FINALLY on news stands and I've been super excited to see the final product of a fashion piece I photographed for the magazine a couple of months ago! For this spread, we collaborated with an illustrator to bring in a little artistic flare to the project, which is the first time I have ever done this! It was so hard to hand over images, not knowing what they would turn out like! Our goal was to create a fashion editorial that showed great style, yet was light hearted and a TON of fun! Think well-dressed-men-being-boys. Lets face it, every single guy I have ever met has a boyhood dream of playing with guns! Shooting this spread was so much fun! Our models really got an incredible workout that day and our entire crew was phenomenal to work with! Make sure to pick up an issue to see this fun-ness on the glossy pages!

CREDIT//

Photographer: Eliesa Johnson

Styling: Erick DeLeon

Hair/Makeup: Fatima Olive

Talent: Thomas Sellwood, Wehmann Models & Talent and Orlando, Vision Management Group

Post Production: Liz Hardt

Assistants: Brandon Werth, Louisa Podlich

 

 

Women as Photographer: Documenting Life as a Woman // Exhibition!!!

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So, I have some super sweet news! I'm super happy to announce that one of my photographs will be a part of an amazing exhibition, called Women as Photographer, here in Minneapolis! The show is all about women photographers, documenting women! This was an International call, so photographers from all over the world were able to submit! I'm excited to be one of the women chosen - we are from 14 countries and 25 US States, which, I personally think is super cool!

The image of mine that was chosen is very near and dear to my heart! I took the photograph with my Holga camera, in Bend, Oregon, during my annual 'girls trip' with my Marfa Ladies. All of these women are absolutely incredible and our trips are meant to be a true relaxing adventure for us all! Our group of ladies are from all around the country, so these trips are one of the only times during the year that we really get to hang out with each other in person! I absolutely love this image, because it was late at night and we were ALL piled up on a bed, just talking about nothing. It was a moment when we truly all let our hair down. It was warm and cozy and everything you imagine when you think of a slumber party - complete with the girl talk! All of us women who go on these trips are strong, successful, inspiring, amazing individuals, so they fact that THIS image got chosen for this exhibition means quite a bit!

The show will be up March 11th - April 17th at the Minneapolis Photo Center, make sure to stop by and check it out!

The organization has also published a book of all the work in the exhibition (which I have previewed and it is AWESOME!)! This exhibit book is a 9”x9”, 123 page bound book, skillfully printed on 100 lb Chorus Art Silk paper, with each photographer featured on their own page, and retail for $39.95. If you would like to purchase a book, please e-mail me at // eliesa@eliesajohnson.com!

 

The Leave Behinds are Here!

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Wooo Hoooo!

I'm super pumped that our first round of leave-behinds have arrived!! We are currently stuffing the envelopes, printing out our address labels - this production is in full swing!

For those of you who do not know, a leave behind is a little sample of our work that is sent out to potential clients, usually in postcard form. It's best to keep these as simple possible, so when they arrive in the mail, my potential-client can clearly understand who I am, what my style is like and (hopefully) keep the card around for future hire!

A couple of tips to keep in mind, when designing a Leave Behind:

1) Keep it Simple - don't waste anyone's time by being too gimmick-y

2) Think about your mailing presentation - We will be sending all of our cards out in clear mailers, so people simply have to look at them. And I'm not going to lie, they look killer in their envelope.

3) Brand yourself accordingly - It's super important for my future clients to get to know ME, just as much as my work. Therefore, all of our cards will have my face on them, as well as the work!

We're about to begin pounding the pavement over here and I feel like SO much of our work this last year has been gearing up for this moment! I'm so excited to get my work in front of new people and get feedback...the good and the bad! This is one exciting journey!