I like taking pictures.

Going to the chapel..

2011-09-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

A few shots from the Pineda/Higgins wedding and the Aruda/Meads wedding.

more more more

2011-04-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

"Do you know, I always thought unicorns were fabulous monsters, too? I never saw one alive before!"

Well, now that we have seen each other," said the unicorn, "if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you."

*Makeup/hair/design/styling done by the students at The School of Make Up Art. If anyone is interested in working with any of these students, please do not hesitate to contact me to do so. They are great individuals, I would definitely work with them again.

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

2011-02-15T18:21:00.001-08:00

Ladies and gentlemen. I introduce to you, Katie Rawding.
When I lived in Nova Scotia I was pretty good friends with this girl. She recently moved to Toronto and we have been reunited again! I thought it was necessary to have a photo day with her. Katie has been putting a portfolio together and if anyone is interested in working with her please feel free to contact me. She is amazing to work with, and better yet, follows direction very well.

Hair and make up done by me in all of Katie's shots.

...the view from here

2011-01-10T17:57:00.000-08:00

This is why I love my balcony so much. Can't beat this view. It's hard to believe in April, I would have lived in Toronto for 5 years. Half a decade. Time really does fly, when you're having fun.

These were taken when Dad and I zipped to the cottage on the plane.

5,000 kilometers with John.

2010-12-03T07:36:00.001-08:00

Recently, John and I decided to take a road trip from Toronto to Nova Scotia. We had 10 days to go where ever we wanted. We mainly stayed with my mom in a small town called Antigonish. We got to spend a night in Cape Breton, and enjoy the outdoors. Probably would have been a little better if we went in the summer, it was incredibly cold the one night we tried to be adventurous. We live in an urban city, what can we say. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the road trip. Some were taken in Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
Enjoy!

\

Oh, I thought you were a life sized paper doll.

2010-12-02T11:18:00.000-08:00

I put to the pro in procrastinate. It's something I'm working on.

I'm shooting for The school of make up art. It's going well. I love being able to work there, they have some incredibly talented students backed by an amazing team of teachers. If you ever have any questions about working with any of these students please feel to contact me directly at info@jessiallen.com. Or contact the school at 416.340.1300.

Some of the brilliant teachers there are Sheilagh Mcgrory and Matthew DeWilde. These two the dynamic duo, I tell you. They run the special effects and prosthetics department. I was lucky enough to be taught by Sheilagh, I will never have enough kind words about this lady. She has done so much to help me and everyone around her. One of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and working with. With many years experience under her belt she breaks down exactly how you need to act, and react under pressure. She has a true knack for explaining things to you, how you need them to be explained. As for Matt, he is one giant cornucopia of knowledge with a passion to teach. These two work together, and live together. They have an incredible relationship, oozing with raw talent.
Veronica Aillo was my instructor for the beauty portion of the program. Backed up with being film sets as a child with her mother, she posses years of experience in the field. Having someone like Veronica as a teacher for beauty gave you a first hand glimpse of life on sets and on location. She guides her students through mock scenarios to prepare for the working world, and how to deal with fast paced situations. On top of teaching at SOMA she runs her own bridal business called Unbridled Images.

These next photos are a few photos from some recent shoots I have done for SOMA. Again, feel free to contact me directly to get in touch with one the these make up artists. You won't be let down.

Life is swell.

2010-08-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, a long while.
Last year, I attended the school of make up art in Toronto last year for a 6 month intensive training program. I have been working as a photographer for that school this year on and off. It's a pretty sweet gig to be honest. The teachers there are absolutely amazing and it allows me to work with some incredibly talent people. I always get excited when I they book me. This is some of the more recent work I've done for the school. I'm going to put up some of the older ones soon. If anyone is looking to contact one of these talented ladies to work with, please feel free to email me and I can direct you to them. They are highly motivated individuals, you will be impressed!

Make up artist - Karine Khachakjian

Make up artist - Amber Lafortune

Make up artist - Carolyn McLeod

Prosthetic design - Matthew DeWilde
Applied by - Tanya

Make up artist - Oriana Rossi:

Make up artist - Amanda Banks:

Make up artist - Misty Fox:

Make up artist - Arielle King:

Make up artist - Fatima Shabir:

*ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY ME

jump start.

2010-06-18T16:51:00.000-07:00

Do you know what really makes me smile?

Facial muscles.

She's a killer, queen.

2010-05-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

"I beg your pardon?" said Alice.
"It isn't respectable to beg," said the King.

*I also did the hair and make up in these photos.
Model: The lovely, Jennifer Carino.

What a spectacle.

2010-05-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. "Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?" he asked.
"Begin at the beginning," the King said gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop."

* hair and make up also done by me.

Eyes like a shutter, mind like a lens.

2010-05-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?

....get it?

...side note

2010-03-04T16:58:00.000-08:00

You're a great friend but if the zombies chase us, I'm tripping you..

Zombie make up on Melody Moss done by the ridiculously talented, Matthew Dewilde.

Smooth sailing

2010-02-21T18:57:00.000-08:00

The mug shot series is going really well. Thanks to everyone has helped me during the shoots!

...lots and lots more to come!

The start of the beginning.

2010-02-07T05:25:00.000-08:00

This could be the start of something really good...first photos of a new mugshot series I'm working on.

More will be coming up soon!

The start of the beginning.

2010-01-20T08:14:00.000-08:00

demons, zombies, and vampires...oh my!

2010-01-11T11:32:00.000-08:00

*All photos on this blog have been taken by me

These next photos I took during my special effects course for film and television. All these make ups have been designed, made, and applied by me, unless otherwise stated. Closer to the end make up on Armenag was done by Amanda Casagrande.

Thanks for looking!

Make up on Victoria Wheeler applied by me.

Make up (facial prosthetic, horns, fangs) on Giovanni Spataro (below) made and applied by me.

Make up (facial prosthetic and fangs) on Armenag Vanayan (below) made and applied by the very talented Amanda Casagrande.

so random, so great.

2010-01-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

The Unicorn looked dreamily at Alice, and said “Talk, child.”
Alice could not help her lips curling up into a smile as she began: “Do you know, I always thought Unicorns were fabulous monsters, too? I never saw one alive before!”
“Well, now that we have seen each other,” said the Unicorn, “if you’ll believe in me, I’ll believe in you."

Obsessed fan.

2009-11-07T00:50:00.000-08:00

Concept:

Obsessed Heath Ledger fan takes it too far. Dresses up like him and cuts herself with glass.

Hair/Make up/Photo done by me.

I didn't forget about you.

2009-11-06T04:51:00.000-08:00

Being in a photography program and a make up program is a truly amazing experience. Being surrounded by so much talent is a great feeling. The make ups in these next photos were done by some of the girls at SOMA. All photos done by me.

MUA- Andrea Pike

MUA - Amanda Casagrange

Some like it hot, I like it random.

2009-09-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

Good advice.

If I listened earlier, I wouldn't be here. But that's just the trouble with me. I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it.

...it's geting better all the time

2009-09-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them. It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary.

Elliot Erwitt/David Baily - the best of the best.

1920's

2009-08-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

more, more, MORE.

...1920's themed photos done by me. This photo shoot was a part of the "time period" portion of the course I took for film and television make-up. So, I also did hair and make up for these photos.

Enjoy!

Sunrise, sunset.

2009-08-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

Some sunrise/sunsetish photos. Some are taken from recent travels to Florida and Nova Scotia.

The photos of the CN Tower and Rogers Center are taken from my balcony in Toronto!

The sunrise, sunset, go home to your apartment..put the cassette in the tape deck, and let that fever play..

Although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend.

2009-07-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

This is my friend Trevor...again.
He has mad skills, mad like hatter.
Please, watch him jump.

A photograph is usually looked at...seldom looked into.

2009-07-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

So, you may or may not have seen these photos. These were the first photos I did, and to this day, my favorite. All of them were shot in my place, the day after I got my slr camera.

Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

2009-06-25T18:57:00.001-07:00

Okay, I got the film in the thingy, the thingy is closed, but what do I do with that? And what is this? Oh, wait, I get it now, that thing goes in here, this thing goes in there, and that…..that goes…um, how about we just put in back in the package and hope for the best! Okay, now I have to set the shutter speed to work with the amount of light coming through the windows. How do I do that again? Or do I change the f-stop? Or are they the same thing? Oh no wait, I have to change the aperture. Um…aperture, what is that again? I’m pretty sure it has to do with light. Hmm, or the shutter is light? Yes! Shutter is light. No, that doesn’t make sense. The shutter can’t very well be light, it can have something to do with light, yes. But it certainly cannot be light. Well now I’m in a mess. I’m lost in a world of shutters, apertures, and f-stops. All I wanted to do was put this film in this camera and take a photo of her. But now that film is over here, around that, under there, and even in this...

Make-up/Hair/Photography done by me!

1920's photos coming soon!

bobble here, bobble there...

2009-05-29T18:50:00.001-07:00

...keep clicking older posts for more photos.
More photos to come this weekend...enjoy.

Something in the way...

2009-05-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold, and she's buying the stairway to heaven. When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed, with a word she can get what she came for.
...and she's buying the stairway to heaven.

*Photos/hair/make-up done by me

We'll never be as young as we are tonight.

2009-05-07T16:22:00.001-07:00

More photos for cyberspace...

"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."
- Optimus Prime

White Rabbit

2009-03-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small.
And the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all.
Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall.
And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall.
Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call.
To call Alice, when she was just small.
When the men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go.
And you've just had some kind of mushroom, and your mind is moving low.
Go ask Alice, I think she'll know.
When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead,
And the white knight is talking backwards.
And the red queen's off with her head.
Remember what the dormouse said,
"feed your head".

- Don't forget at the bottom you can click older posts and see more photos!

3 keys to photography: The camera, lighting and... photoshop?

2009-03-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

So here are a few photos from last week. I have more to come. I'm trying to work on my photoshop skills, that's why I have different variations of the same photo. Enjoy!
...Oh, also, don't forget at the bottom of the page you can click older posts to see more photos.
Have a good weekend everyone.

Can spider man come out to play?

2009-03-18T02:12:00.000-07:00

Paul Simon is wrong...

2009-02-10T06:53:00.000-08:00

So, I know it's been a while since I actually sat down and wrote on this. I'm going to be honest. Once I'm done re sizing the photos and uploading them the last thing I want to do is sit down and write a short story. I also figured, I made this blog to show my photos right? Not to show off my amazing writing skills...or lack thereof.

...I really like black and white photos. I truly feel every photo looks good, if not better in black and white. I'm meeting more and more people however, who really just don't like black and white photos. I don't get it...I just don't get it.
These next photos are for you guys. No matter how much you hate black and white photos...they will always be around, and I shall always be happy.

Is this thing on?

2009-01-17T19:45:00.000-08:00

He says "It's pretty sweet what you can do if you press a lot of buttons on an slr camera.

...just get right in there.

My new motto in photography...if you can see it, press it"

She says "Er, how about we just play with the shutter and call it a day?"

I didn't invent the rainy day, man. I just own the best umbrella.

2009-01-15T19:57:00.001-08:00

Yesterday came suddenly...

2009-01-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

Awww, look at Jacki's cute little canon rebel in that picture, I often wish my camera weighed the same as hers.

So, I totally wanted the blog post underneath to be at the top.

Oh well.

These are some color photos from over the holidays.

Enjoy

Jessi

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.

2009-01-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

Photo of the first session of my tattoo.

Well, here we are again. The start of another year. Everybody making their new years resolutions, 75% of which will be forgotten of by the end of January. I find myself, in January of course, thinking how this month seems to be the same every year. Most people try to make changes and end up being cranky, everyone's broke from last minute Christmas shopping, or even complaining about how cold it is.

...Get over it

Here are some black and white photos I took over the holidays. I haven't updated the site in a while. Holidays are done however, and back to work we all go. Feel free to e-mail me with questions or comments.

jessi__allen@hotmail.com

..Yes, two underscores, not one. If you use one underscore and get a scary e-mail back from the girl with the e-mail address I want...I'm not sorry.

I warned you.

I don't think she likes all the e-mails from my family and friends she keeps getting.

...Okay, so maybe the multiple e-mails I sent her explaining the reasons why I should have that e-mail address pushed her over the edge.

Who can say really?

Enjoy!

Jessi

This is Trevor.

2008-11-26T21:45:00.001-08:00

This is my friend Trevor.

He likes having his picture taken, and I enjoy taking pictures.

....It was fate

Welcome to the Pub.

2008-11-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

This is groud control to major Tom.

2008-11-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

Hello all. I know it's been forever since I updated. ....But, I'm back. Here are a few pictures, and a few quotes to go with it..

I drink your milshake, I drink it up!
-Daniel Day Lewis, There will be blood

You must be the change you want to see in the world.
- Mahatma Gandhi

All you need is love.
- John Lennon

An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have but that he, for some reason , thinks it would be a good idea to give them.
-Andy Warhol
It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times..
- Charles Dickens, Tale of two cities

If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there.
-Cheshire Car, Alice in Wonderland

Computer photography won't be photography as we know it. I think photography will always be chemical.
- Annie Leibovitz
But then, shall I never get any older than I am now? That'll be a comfort, one way, never to be an old woman. But then, always to have lessons to learn .
-Alice, Alice in Wonderland

Pictures and Rants

2008-10-07T16:40:00.000-07:00

Stellar, fall nights are back. Yes, I am still going on about fall. I really don't know what it is.

...Oh wait, I know exactly what is it. No more stupid tourists walking into everybody, no more vial b.o. smelling subways, no cars filled with hungover girls going on road trips driving in the fast lane when in fact, they're only going 75 km/h because the 2 revs and 1 shot of vanilla vodka was too much for them to handle. I can finally walk down the street to my giant green friend called Starbucks, grab my grande bundle of joy filled with 4 of the best damn shots of espresso Queens Quay has to offer without being asked where the ferry is to get to the island. I no longer have to worry about kids running in front of my car because their mother is to busy taking a picture of the CN Tower. The only 2 tiffs I have with fall is the subways are way to busy, slash filled with Toronto's stupidest people. One request people...wait until everybody else is off the subway before you get on. Seems simple enough...
Clearly it is not.

Yay, pretty flowers and a cool boat....I'm not crazy.

...And finally, my last "concern" you could call it about fall is simple video stores. I swear everybody hides inside their apartments and rents movies for 5 months. I got a weird idea to rent Drop Dead Fred the other day. I figured it would be nice and easy to rent.
Old movie right?, not many people really liked it once they grew up, mildly inappropriate for kids (don't you remember the best part "Mega Bitch"). So I came home from work stopped in at the video store in my building to rent it....figures the cheap hole in the wall video store doesn't carry it. So I left...movie-less. I went upstairs and called all over Toronto and not one god damn store had it in.
...Oh, they indeed had it. But their one single copy was "out at the moment".
They killed Jessi's 2 hours of classic comedy.
......You bastards.

To sum it up. Nobody rents movies in the summer, they wait until Jessi wants to rent it then flock to every video store in Toronto and budge their way to the front of the line. Then smirk at me on the way out.

...So, the last part I may have made up.

Anyway...I'm tired, I work at 5:30 am. So I will sign off with a few more "happy" pictures I took on Queens Quay, hopefully encourging everybody to believe I'm not crazy. JACKI.

I just think any picture you take is a good picture.

2008-09-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

Fall is here, summer is gone.

...and I seem to be the only person saying wohoo. Fall is great guys common. It's totally still sunny out, suck it up. Throw on a cardigan or something. JohnRay and I love going to the cottage in the fall, maybe even more so then the summer? I love the cottage in the fall because of the photo ops. Yes, I do realize the great photo ops in the summer. Something about the orange and reds of fall that get me though. I figured I would post a few cottage pictures. Maybe to prove that I don't just like taking photos of people..trashy photos of people.

Enjoy blog viewers.

Well we drank champagne and danced all night..

2008-09-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

Break out the pencil sharpeners, Jessi's back in school.

...I'm going to be as corny as I can be and open my first blog entry with the classic "I can remember line...."

But for real, I can remember last year my friend, who by the way is super cool, telling me about a blog site he joined. And started telling me how interesting blogging really was. I also remember me going on a 45 minute rant on how blogs are stupid shortly after. But here we are a year later and not only am I getting into the blogging world, I signed up for a website building class at Ryerson with my Photography program. Granted, I am not building my own website yet. I figured I would start with this and see where it takes me. I'm very new at this, and need to get start getting my name out on the internet....That's not facebook.

...Facebook is the devil.

I have a few(very small) goals to make out of this blog. I would really like a way to show people a bit about me and also show them some photos without using facebook, or email. I have more people asking me to do photo's for them, but have no way of seeing my work, or even know who I am. This could possibly be the best way. Feedback from everybody is always appreciated. The only way I know what to add/remove/improve etc, is by feedback. I'll post as much as I can...The good, the bad...and yes, even the ugly.

All photos on this site are taken and edited by me Jessi Allen unless otherwise stated.