I met Nicole Pace first on Model Mayhem, a really talented hair and make-up artist who wanted to collaborate – I was thrilled! It took us about 6 months for us to finally get together – she had some amazing ideas. I thought it would be fun to work with a fashion designer as well as to showcase Nicole’s work. I met Alejandra Valiant for Ale G Design who had some beautiful clothing and was on board for the shoot at Orange Studio in downtown Orlando. Tying up the perfect day was gorgeous model Julia Vivian who made all our work look so lovely! So much fun to play all day and bring out my favorite passion of all things fashion. Thank you so much Nicole, Ale and Julia for making this happen. Can’t wait for our next shoot! xo
Orlando Fashion Design and Photography by The Canovas Photography
We had the great opportunity to photograph the invitation-only seminar by Parisian perfumer Francis Kurkdjian at Neiman Marcus at the Mall of Millenia!
October 10, 2013|By Victor Ocasio, Orlando Sentinel It's not every day that one can attend a master class taught by a perfumer so prominent he's known simply as "The Nose.'' "Every day I have to wear a perfume," said Beatrice Schindler of Orlando, a collector of perfumes. "I know a lot of brands, but for a perfumer to explain the process — it's like an artist about to do a painting. "She and about 30 people attended an invitation-only seminar by Parisian Francis Kurkdjian held at the Neiman Marcus at Orlando's Mall at Millenia.In fact, Kurkdjian's process is like that of many artists. A spark of inspiration soon leads to a product that not only smells good, but more importantly, tells a story, he told the champagne-sipping group. After his lecture, the attendees sniffed individual scents from one of his creations. Kurkdjian, 44, who started his perfuming career when he was 20 years old, is one of the biggest names in the industry. Having created dozens of best-selling fragrances, including a commission to re-create the favorite perfume of Marie Antoinette, his work has earned him numerous awards and an exclusive partnership with Neiman Marcus. "I have a nose like everyone here," Kurkdjian said. "There's only one difference: My head is capable of envisioning smells and scents that don't exist." The master perfumer says that the entire process of creating a new scent takes roughly 18 months from conception to sale and distribution. Kurkdjian rejects the idea that fragrance making is a haphazard process of mixing random scents. "I create a perfume because I have an idea," he said. "There is real thinking that goes into it and without a story, there is no perfume." That comes at a price — signature scents made at the perfumer's Paris-based boutique, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, range anywhere from $150 for off the shelf products to $15,000 for custom-made perfumes. That might be out of most people's price range. But in general, as the U.S. economy has healed, the sales of fragrances have perked up. U.S. sales of personal-fragrance products went from about $2.7 billion in 2008 down to $2.4 billion in 2009, according to market-research company the NDP Group. Industry sales bounced back to $2.9 billion in 2012. "During the recession the fragrance industry took a big hit," said Karen Grant, vice president and Global Beauty Industry Analyst for NDP. "Since the recession, the growth has been very strong. This year we're seeing even more designers coming into the marketplace."
Francis Kurkdjian discribing the three cords that build a great perfume.
I was lucky enough to have Carla and Natalia find me on Facebook and ask me to do a model shoot for them. Two beautiful sisters The Gonzalez Girls were amazing to work with – smart, funny and willing to try anything for a great photo. They have since moved farther south and I will miss them – Thank you both for such a fun shoot!
I asked Carla to tell me a little about herself and her sister:
Carla is 15 and is Sophomore Class President at Winter Springs High School. She is Cuban-American and born in Miami before moving to Winter Springs, FL. She has 3 younger sisters and enjoys doing community service. Carla is a leading team captain for the annual Winter Springs Relay for Life. She is on the girl's varsity golf team and is very outgoing. Carla is an outstanding student, taking part in many clubs at her school.
Natalia is 14 and like Carla, she is in student government and also services the community as a Relay for Life team captain. Born and raised alongside her older sister, she has always matched Carla in academics and club activities, yet she plays lacrosse rather than golf.
Carla and Natalia have been modeling for a little over a year. A friend introduced these sisters into modeling. They began modeling as a pair because of their similar appearances and eagerness to help each other learn to pose. They are not only Irish twins, but also best friends.
Carla and Natalia love to model because they love seeing themselves change in front of the camera . The two fancy the artistic aspect of modeling. Carla and Natalia both enjoy photography and the collaboration of creative ideas that go along with every shoot they do. They use modeling as an outlet to express themselves.
Carla and Natalia are always looking for new photographers to meet and work with. That so happens to be why they discovered Kelly Canova Photography on Facebook. The sisters hope to be in print one day! They look forward to showing girls that you don't have to be the perfect stereotypical model figure to get into modeling.
Most people do not know that way back when, I went to school in Miami for fashion design and illustration. I have so loved the fashion world since I can remember, pouring through Vogue and W, inch by inch hoping to absorb each page full of beauty. Back then I finally realized that though I loved the fashion and design, I hated to sew. Ahh! I really struggled with that…not so good if you want to be a fashion designer. I ended up at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, much better suited for illustration, color and design.
But I never lost my love for fashion, still devouring the fashion magazines and watching Project Runway (OK… America's Top Model too… ) Though my passion is photographing weddings, I can't give up my love affair with photographing models, beauty, fashion. How lucky for me to be able to combine my loves into my Bridal Fashion photos shoots. Hope you enjoy one of my favorites.
I loved taking photos of Meredith – That hair! Those eyes! Beautiful AND sweet, Meredith is 22 and goes to UCF as an Interpersonal/Organizational Communications major and wanted to update her portfolio. So happy to be able to take these photos and can't wait to photograph this model again – next we are going to do a bridal fashion shoot with amazing hair – updos, flowers, lots of flowing tresses… stay tuned!
Thank you Meredith and to amazing Make up artist Linh Nguyen.
I photographed Jordan over the summer (See Jordan's album on my facebook page) and was lucky enough to update her modelling portfolio again. She is a graphic design student at UCF and a beautiful model that did an amazing job and was up for anything – including darkness, cold weather and mosquito bites with ease and grace. Thank you Jordan! Special thanks to make up artist Shannon Daugherty del Campofor her lovely and professional work and to my mentee from Ovideo High School Austin for assisting.
