Guest post from Alexandra: The Alice in Wonderland shoot

Hi there! My name is Alexandra, and I'm a photographer based out of northern-southern California. [Yes, northern-southern; like, I'm close to Los Angeles, but not *too* close.] I spend many weekends photographing weddings, but I recently had the chance to spend a weekend on one of my very favorite things - a styled shoot! Fashion portraiture is a passion of mine, and this time around, I decided to mix in a well-known theme: Alice in Wonderland! I asked some friends of mine [who double as exceptional models] to join me for the day in a little town called Los Alamos, and after close to four hours of hair, make-up and wardrobe in a parking lot, we had our own little slice of Wonderland! Now, I'm someone who likes to dream big. When I first came up with this concept, I had it planned down to matching Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dums, floating cats and a great desire to find a German Giant hare. Unfortunately, this would be a lot to wrangle for one Saturday, so I narrowed my cast of characters to three essentials: the Mad Hatter, the Red Queen, and, of course, Alice! And lucky for me, I had a team of hair and make-up stylists that were more than willing to work with my "the more over-the-top, the better!" tastes. For the Hatter, I  knew I wanted his eyes to be the main draw. My make-up artist Alex [she is the bees knees, and you can see some of her work right here] dove in, and started with giving his eyes a smokey, red shadow. Nothing says 'crazy' like red eye make-up. And after some short mulling-over, we decided fake lashes were necessary. Taylor put up with wearing them like a pro, and I think they were the perfect touch.

Next up to transform, was our Red Queen. The possibilities were pretty endless for which direction we could go in, but I decided that I wanted our Queen to have a sharp edge. My lovely friend Michelle played the part, and had the perfect outfit put together; the only previous request I had made was that she bring her pair of Jeffery Campbell spiked boots - they were too perfect! My hair stylist for the day, Ana, also weaved in some red ribbon and a red rose I had brought for the occasion, and they tied the look together perfectly.

And, lastly, we had to create an Alice! I was just fortunate enough to have the two perfect ingredients; my friend Seisha, and a pal with a blue Betsey Johnson dress. Seisha's make-up was on the softer side, with pink lips and cheeks, and her blue eyes were a natural pop of color. We had a wonderful collection of props as well from our pooled resources, including old books, a picnic basket, and a little 'Drink Me' bottle I DIY-ed the morning of!

Overall, I am still so happy with how this came together. And! Credit must be given where it is due: MUA: Alex Evans [Mad Hatter, The Red Queen] & Alicia Hathaway [Alice] Hair: Ana Cheadle Models: Taylor Landry, Michelle Roller, and Seisha Eve You can find my other shoots on my Facebook page, or you can visit me at my blog! :)

Thanks so much for visiting us today Alexandra! And for sharing your lovely work :) Be sure to check out her photography and blog to see more inspirational images.