She knew exactly what she wanted to achieve when she hired me for her rebranding images.  Metamorphosing from Guest Blogging mentor for women writers and columnist for Huffington Post to author of an upcoming erotic crime thriller trilogy, she has ever-so boldly unleashed her inner vixen and empowers driven women to do the same.  She provides a kick ass (or an ass kick) pep talk via multiple social media groups daily.  This woman is on fire and I am thrilled to have captured her flame in photographs.

We first met to go over some inspiration material she collected and I knew right away that she had come to the right place.  She wanted seductive.  Powerful.  Alluring.  It was perfect.  I was stoked and so was she.

The day of the shoot she met Auzsha from A Perfect 10 Beauty and we all created a game plan for her hair and makeup.  Like all my other clients she fell in love with the setting– a Penthouse studio loft located in Gastown with a killer view of the city.  “Let’s shoot out on the balcony” she requested.  

And so we did.

We had fun, we laughed, and danced to Beyoncé.  After a few wardrobe changes, yoga-like poses and a bold red lip application, the shoot was over.  I started editing while she embarked on her three week trip to Britain.

Her being overseas never slowed her down.  She dealt with business and stayed connected with her following on social media.  With drastic change comes a drastic change in audience but she has shown that there’s no f*cks given and that she is staying true to her bold self.  There’s no stopping her.  It also served as further inspiration to me when editing and stylizing her images.  

We met again for her Reveal Session after she returned from her trip.  I had printed her images, matted each of them, along with a handmade archival folio box for her matted photographs.  I was finally about to present her stunning images before her and I couldn’t be any more excited.  When she entered the room and saw them, her reaction was priceless.  I’ve done my job.  I was satisfied.  Not only will she have these photographs of herself for many many years to come, she will also use one of these images for her book!

As a new fan of hers, I can hardly wait to get my hands on her novel, Angel Of the Night… and as her photographer, I can’t wait to see my work on the jacket cover!

“Collaborating with Marissa was an absolute blast from start to finish!

Heading into the process with a strong vision for our shoot, I met with Marissa and together we created a concept for the images. Marissa helped with styling and clothing before the shoot too and I felt supported at every stage. During the shoot itself, Marissa and her make-up artist Auzsha were my dream team! They worked tirelessly to obtain our desired shots and didn’t stop until we had it. I felt comfortable on set due to their contagious energy and positive spirit. We had a LOT of fun! And then the final images – would they live up to my initial vision? No. They SURPASSED it!

I am floored by Marissa and her team. If you need images, you need Marissa. Simples.”

- Cheryl Muir, Author (www.cherylmuir.com)

Find her on Facebook and Twitter as @cheryljmuir

My stomach hurt from laughing so much.  Photographing this gorgeous Kiwi was an absolute blast.  Like her smile and her contagious laugh, her bright bubbly personality leaves a mark in your soul.  Her LUXE Photoshoot started with her hair and makeup done by Artistry by Shell followed by her portrait and boudoir photoshoot with me.  I’m so fortunate to have photographed such a beautiful person.  Here are some of my favourite images from her shoot.

A few weeks after her photoshoot, I met up with her again to reveal to her her images and I’m happy to say that she came home with a whole bunch of these photographs to admire and fall in love with many times over for years to come!

Have you ever seen pictures from a cover of a magazine and wished that you can be photographed like that?  Miss J was pregnant with her third child when her hubby contacted me about my services.  It was his wife’s wish for their third (and perhaps last) pregnancy.  “How would you like to be photographed?” I then asked her.  In no time at all she immediately responded with several examples of what she wanted.  It was very obvious that she was wanting something very specific.  “I’ve wanted this style of maternity photos ever since I was pregnant with my first”.  Needless to say that I have never been more excited for a photoshoot as I knew that I was going to provide to this this remarkable woman the photographs of her dreams.  

Only a month or so left before the arrival of her baby, she arrived at the studio with a stroller full of outfits for herself and her family for the family portrait portion of her session.  She then sat in Auzsha’s makeup chair excited to get dolled up.  She opted for a dramatic look– she wanted her eyes to pop, she requested.  

After Auzsha finished with her, she was so amazed with what she saw in the mirror.  “My kids won’t even recognize me”.  We got down to business and began her dream shoot (Sorry folks, these images are for her eyes only, and the eyes of her husband’s).  We managed to bang it all out at a short span of time and managed to dedicate the other half of her shoot for some photographs with her husband and two kids.

After the shoot, her family surprised me with a birthday song sang by her whole family, hugs and kisses from her two adorable boys, and a delicious chocolate cake.  Such a sweet way to end a photoshoot!  A couple of weeks later (and many late nights) I then met with her again for her big photo reveal.  I laid in front of her 20 images from her photoshoot– beautifully printed and matted for her senses to feast on.  Her reaction to them was unforgettable.  They were better than she could ever imagine, she said.  The week after she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.  

This experience for me will forever be remembered as that time when I was able to make someone’s long-lived wish turn into reality.  It fills me up with so much joy knowing that as a hardworking wife and a mother of three boys, she will always have her gorgeous photographs of herself to admire for the rest of her life.