CocoaNymph – a Sweet Find Just in Time for Valentine’s Day

By Guest-writer Hannah Willetts

Most of us, I’m sure, have had some good and bad experiences with having our pictures taken. As serendipity would have its way, I threw caution to the wind and decided to do a shoot with the lovely people of Dark Stars Photo. Let’s just say that my experiences in the past with professional photo-shoots have never been as enjoyable as this one. While working our of a humble basement studio in Delta, I walked into, literally, a boy’s room. You know when you are in a boy’s room, there’s candy, clothes on the floor, maybe an arrant pizza box, and of course, posters of beautiful women on the walls?

Guess what, our photographer took those pictures and created those posters. Impressive, no? Neither artist talked that much about their work (do they have to? It speaks for itself), they let the model lead them in theme, attire choices and general direction of the shoot. They just take your idea and bring it to life.

The evening began with makeup, applied by the lovely Joanna Bylo, a trained make-up artist. We proceeded to the other room, their studio, filled with costumes provided which have been either purchased or made by Joanna herself. Lighting set up, with Chris the photographer behind the camera, the photos themselves kind of just roll out, as talking to them is both easy and re-assuring. Joanna is there when you need help to do up your top, or to wheedle you in and out of you Latex, if that’s the direction you choose to take.

Overall, the pictures are both well done and artistic, which gives anyone with a penchant for comic books, sci-fi, goth , burlesque or otherwise something to wish for. Packages start out at $160, which includes makeup, and elaborate from there depending on your theme and difficulty level. Who wouldn’t like the picture on your boyfriend’s wall, as opposed to being of Giselle Bunchen, to be of you? If you’re looking to surprise your significant other for V-Day, or to create a piece of art you will be proud of, I would defiantly check these guys out! See www.darkstarsphoto.com for more details!