Stephanie contacted me recently to assemble a comp card for some upcoming competitions she’s participating in. The task at hand: Keep it real and keep it sexy. Um, easiest gig ever?

Up top is the front of the finished product, and above is the backside of the card. Below are some outtakes from the session.

I have no disillusion that anybody cares to read anything I write in this post, because, well… there’s these pictures to look at. So, in between each photo, I’ll just paste some lyrics from Paul Westerberg. Enjoy. Let’s start off with this gem: “I’ll give you my jacket if you give me your glamour/Gimme that racket, gimme that clamor.”

“Meet me any place or anywhere at any time now I don’t care/Meet me tonight/If you will dare, I will dare.” I Will Dare

“The ones who love us best are the ones we’ll lay to rest/And visit their graves on holidays at best/The ones who love us least are the ones we’ll die to please/If it’s any consolation, I don’t begin to understand them” Bastards of Young

“When we were young/We never played/Out in the street/We’d only run/where we felt safe” Meet Me Down The Alley

OK, I’ll stop posting lyrics here. I did want you to know that when you see the amount of effort and skill it takes for someone like Stephanie to look like this, it definitely changes your perspective. There’s natural beauty, but there’s also presentation. She’s an amazing stylist and make-up artist, she is on top of the fashion trends, and believe it or not, she’s a new mom. That’s right, these shots of her are after she recently had a baby. She’s been busting her ass at the gym and dieting to get into competition shape and I was very happy to be the photographer that she chose to capture her amazing work. Be sure to check out her progress and antics on her Instagram. You can see more of her work on her business website SwashbuckleAndRow.com.