The Birth of Venus Inspired Editorial Shoot – Colorpop 2022

If you haven’t heard of our portfolio-building event COLORPOP for photographers – you’re missing out!!! I’m so excited to start blogging each of the 10 photo shoots we organized for our event as a way to share a little bit more of the planning and behind the scenes process. Plus, these shoots were so cool that they deserve to live somewhere other than Instagram.

Colorpop Portfolio Weekend 2022 took place July 22-24 and August 5-7; over these two weekends, 40 photographers of all skill levels and backgrounds traveled from around the world to Utah. This year, our event was more like a retreat – we all stayed together in a big house, ate together, had educational activities in the evenings, and made lifetime friends and connections. Honestly, it felt like summer camp for photographers – and as a retired camp counselor, it was totally my jam. 😉

For more information on our events, CLICK HERE. We’d love to have you attend one in the future! Now let’s get into this concept.

PHOTOGRAPHY & CREATIVE DIRECTION: MARINA WILLIAMS

ART DIRECTION & STYLING: ASHLEY ISENHOUR

SET DESIGN: AANIKA GUYMON

MAKEUP: AMY ADAMSON

MODELS: AVREY OVARD, TESSA ESPINOZA, TIFFANY HIGUCHI, BELLA CAROSELLO, KENDELLE MAPSTONE, TATIANA STEVENSON

EVENT: COLORPOP PORTFOLIO WEEKEND

This photo shoot concept was inspired by Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus. There are so many picturesque locations here in Utah, and one that both Ashley and I have never shot at is the part of the Great Salt Lake that turns pink in the summer months. We knew we wanted to put together a concept that felt dreamy and other-worldly, just like this location, and The Birth of Venus ticked all our boxes. Our set designer Aanika helped build the pleated shell part of our pedestal, and we cast three female models to bring the painting to life. Venus in the middle, and the other two women on either side of her. We brought in some pieces of fabric for Venus to play with in the wind, and asked models to do poses reaching towards her and leaning on each other. Towards the end of the shoot, we split the models up for individual shots and got creative.

It’s hard to choose an absolute favorite concept from our events this year, but this one might be it for me – check out my favorite shots (from both weekends) below!