When I got an email asking about lifestyle portraits and headshots for a professional belly dancer, I have to admit I was intrigued. One of my childhood best friends was a belly dancer and I had spent many hours watching her and her mother practice and perform. So I knew this client would be comfortable with her body and performing for the camera. What I didn’t realize at the time is that this amazing client would be world-renowned fusion belly dancer, Rachel Brice!

If you aren’t familiar with Rachel Brice and her style of dance, you HAVE to check her out. She is amazing. Honestly. Google her name and see what I mean.

When Rachel Brice and I met for her session, she was just back from a European tour. She had been performing in multiple countries and was eager to do some new photos. I was excited to work with such a talented performer and artist.

Working with someone that is a professional dancer, model or actor really makes my job so easy. Like Rachel, they know their body, their expressions, their angles and their lines. They know how to make the camera sing.

What I loved about working with Rachel is that not only was she incredibly down-to-earth and easy in front of the camera, but she also understands how to build a story. By layering her clothing, her jewelry, textures and colors, you get this very beautiful interpretation of who Rachel is.

We spent about half of our session outdoors using the light and texture of the inner Southeast neighborhood. Then we went indoors to create some of my favorite photos from the session. Rachel Brice’s use of texture and color, combined with the environment we were shooting in, created some of the most beautiful images I’ve seen in a long time. They were almost reminiscent of a National Geographic photo essay. I was so proud to have Rachel feature them on her Instagram feed a couple weeks ago…