What did Aura do this weekend?

Instead of my usual Sunday activity of family brunch, laundry and a nap, I spent 12 hours in Seattle at a photo studio next to the Seattle PI building.

Why would I do this, you ask?  For a friend.  I know.  You didn’t think I had friends, but I have a few.  (Criteria for being my friend: you must be able and willing to pretend my house is clean when you come over, and leave before I fall asleep.)

You may remember that last year I helped this same friend at his photo shoot.  He does this to enter a competition among hairdressers.  I am not interested in competing, but I don’t mind helping out.

I attend these events in a “jack-of-all-trades” capacity.  I might be doing hair, I might be holding lace for a makeup artist (this makeup was airbrushed) or I might be standing on set making sure that the model’s hair looks perfect even if the photographer has her jumping in the air.  It is almost non-stop for the entire day (for everyone except the models who do a lot of waiting.)

One thing that makes me nuts is when a client comes in with a magazine photo and says “Why can’t my hair look like this?”  Well, you see, that model has a bunch of additional hair added, she might have a piece of mesh on the back of her head pushing all the hair forward, and there is someone standing just out of the frame making a thousand little adjustments between flashes.

These are the tools I have with me while on the set.  If a hair sticks up, I try to smooth it down, but if it won’t go, I snip it.  In my back pocket is a wide toothed tail comb and a can of hairspray.  The process is anything but glamorous!

You can see more of my backstage photos on Flickr.

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