livebooks blog

Dorit Thies specializes in beauty, hair, fashion and celebrity photography and is known for creating powerful imagery ranging from international magazine covers to compelling photos captured in exotic destinations around the world. To see more of her work, visit her liveBooks8 website: www.doritthies.com

When I moved to the US from Europe, I had established myself as a professional hair and make-up artist, working in the commercial world. I was always intrigued with the art form of photography and I started shooting my personal fine art work for a few years when establishing my life in the US.

I am completely self-taught.

My work at the time was driven by my personal connections such as dancers, actors, musicians, and my inspiration came from photographers and painters like Georgia O’Keefe, Tina Modotti, Leonora Carrington, Irvin Penn, and Helmut Newton. I was all about developing my personal style.

Over a period of four years, I created a large body of fine art work, shooting only black and white film. I had success quickly and my work was shown in several galleries in Los Angeles, in Santa Fe, New Mexico and The Katonah Museum of Art, Upstate New York.

When I began to shoot commercially, I decided to specialize in health and fitness photography. My very first commercial client was Men’s Health Magazine in Germany. I was lucky and shot their covers for several years. In the last six years I started to specialize in Beauty/Fashion & Celebrity Photography. I am now balancing the art of shooting conceptual beauty and fashion layouts for magazines such as Marie Claire, Modeliste, L’Officiel with some of my favorite artists while focusing on commercial campaigns.

Q: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

DT: Bold, Intriguing, Layered

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

DT: Every 2 weeks or whenever I have new work, which is usually a few times a month.

Q: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

DT: I love colorful images, technically flawless, artistically strong, surprising, unexpected and I try to mix it up, showing my clients my versatility.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

DT: I can post unlimited images to the home page and link them to a particular portfolio, move them into a particular order within seconds. I love the fact that you can choose 3 different template layouts for each portfolio and view it in one click. It is super easy to understand.

Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

DT: Keep it simple.

Have a website you’d like us to feature? Email us at social@livebooks.com.

Michelle Coursey is a professional make-up artist based in New York City. Her work has appeared in national and international magazines, television shows, runways and the red carpet. She has a natural talent fro making women feel beautiful and a special gift for creating flawless, beautiful faces through make-up and airbrushing. She has worked alongside famous make-up artists such as Pat McGrath, Dick Page, Tom Pecheux, and Charlotte Tilbury at New York and Paris Fashion Weeks and the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. To see more of Michelle’s work, visit her liveBooks8 website: www.michellecoursey.com.

I’m originally from Oregon and came to NYC to study acting but quickly switched my focus to makeup after graduating from college. I didn’t want to sit behind a desk all day and wanted to be doing something creative and then stumbled across a book about the business side of make-up and decided that is what I wanted to do. I did a ton of test shoots and got my portfolio together and eventually got some regular clients and an agency. I’ve been full-time freelance for about 12 years now. I work on a combination of commercial, editorial, fashion runway and red carpet projects.

Q: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

MC: Clean, fast, striking!

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

MC: It really depends on how much new work I have coming in, but on average I’d say once a month.

Q: How do you choose the photos you display on your homepage?

MC: I choose the photos based on how much I love them and also which photos have gotten the best response in general. I like to choose a range of dramatic and natural looks so clients can see my range immediately.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

MC: Ease of updating and an easy backend. I love being able to see how design changes will look as I’m doing them.

Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

MC: Keep it as simple and impactful as possible. Most clients won’t look at every photo so make sure your best work is front and center.

Have a website you’d like us to feature? Email us at social@livebooks.com.

Elizabeth Craig is a Beauty, Boudoir, and Fashion Photographer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her work ranges from weddings to portrait photography. She specializes in boudoir photography – capturing ordinary women in extraordinary ways. During her photoshoots, women of all ages are made to feel like super models while having their hair and make-up done professionally. To see Elizabeth’s work, visit her liveBooks8 website: www.elizabethcraigintimates.com

I am a mother, wife and photographer. My husband taught me everything “photography” 12 years ago. We began shooting weddings together, which we still do today. About 7 years ago, I began photographing beauty and boudoir portraiture and fell in love. This is my primary focus now and I get to live everyday doing what I love.

Q: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website?

EC: Clean and simple. I wanted the focus to be on the photography and nothing else, which is why I hired liveBooks to custom-design my site for me.

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

EC: Usually about 4 to 5 times a year. Sometimes more.

Q: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

EC: The ones that get an immediate good reaction when seen for the first time. The ones that have a clear and powerful connection in the eyes and that are visually interesting.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

EC: Definitely that it has an HTML5 responsive platform and has a very user-friendly site editor. I like that I can get things changed on my site quickly so I can save time. That’s huge.

Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

EC: Keep it very simple and all about the photos. Doesn’t matter how awesome your logo is if your photos aren’t being displayed properly! It should be incredibly easy to navigate and clutter-free.

Have a website you’d like us to feature? Email us at social@livebooks.com.

Gustavo Paixão began his career in photography eight years ago while he was in college. The last five of those years were focused in the fashion industry. While growing up, he loved fashion and dreamed of becoming a fashion photographer. Fast-forward to today and he has now achieved his goal of becoming one of Brazil’s top fashion photographers. He truly enjoys seeing the idea of a great photoshoot running through his team. The combination of the clothes, makeup, photographic references, and the concept all coming together is a fabulous idea for him!

To see more of Gustavo Paixão’s work visit his liveBooks 8 website: www.gustavohpaixao.com

Q: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

GP: There are three key words that describe the style of my website: simple, easy, and fast. I was looking for something easily accessible for those who wanted to see my portfolio with a friendly and soft interface. After spending my time looking for web designers, I visited the liveBooks8 website, saw the templates and it was love at first sight. It had exactly what I wanted.

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

GP: As I’m busy with the photography workshops, I’m taking a break from the portfolio actualization. But normally, I update my portfolio monthly.

Q: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

GP: I’m a perfectionist when it come to my work. I choose the pictures that will go on my portfolio according to the quality of the makeup, clothes, retouch and the time they were taken. It’s not good to choose old pictures because a more experienced professional can note the difference in quality from one work to another. Believe me – your work quality may change a lot in 6 months!

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks 8?

GP: I love the full customization so much!

Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

GP: Pay attention to all the customization options. Although the templates look simple, all of them offer a lot of features to make your website look more professional!

Have a website you’d like us to feature? Email us at social@livebooks.com.