Vara P. Photography

just the snapshots

varapappas — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:55:04 +0000

It has been a long while since I updated this blog! A lot has happened since my last entry. As many have felt the crunch of the unstable economy they can understand seeking out new ways to tread water. I did this by re-locating from LA to Houston, TX. Since I’ve been here I have updated an all new website for myself, which combines my design and my photography. You can give it a peak at www.varapappas.com. In addition to this site, my entirely photo site is in the works! It’s all designed, and is currently being coded. I’m very excited for that as well.

Since the move I have yet to have the chance to shoot models. I don’t tend to take my extremely large professional cameras with me when I go out, but I do keep a wee pocket sized canon powershot in my purse. Occasionally I end up in locations with little gems. This weekend was one of those times.

Today I found myself wandering around Waxahachie. This is a small town in northern Texas, south of Dallas. I had little time there today, but poked about at some local curiosities.

Yesterday was a real feast for the eyes. I love all things Japan and China. I scope out every Japanese garden I can find in the states. While in San Francisco I spent as much time as I could in the Japanese gardens. Houston has it’s own gardens, but it was a huge disappointment. Fortunately, I have a boyfriend that shares my interests, and spoke of the Fort Worth Japanese gardens. It was far from disappointing.

All of these images are straight from my little pocket camera. I hope this inspires some to take whatever camera they have out for a spin. Sometimes you can end up with gold

I do think there will be more model images soon. I have been booking shoots. It’s just much more slow, as so many are shying away from it these days. I know it’s tough in these times, more than most. I hope that in spite of that you all have happy holidays; because it’s not about the shopping…it’s about spending time with those you love. Cheers.

Ms. Soto

varapappas — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:55:31 +0000

Sunday was a bit of an adventure. I took my friend Matt with me to meet model Lacy Soto. I couldn’t take another day hauling gear and moving furniture all by myself, so he was welcome company. Lacy knew what she wanted in the shoot from the get-go. She had the location set up.

Lacy primarily wanted to shoot outdoors. She wanted a pinup, meets fashion, meets goth, kind of look. I think the shots came out quite fun. Here’s a sample.

When I saw the interior, I knew I needed a few shots. Thankfully we had a light kit on us. The second I walked in the door, this is exactly what I wanted to capture:

I also took a shot that is very akin to what I used to shoot when I was around 18 and 19. At that age I’d only shoot b&w nudes in the studio. Otherwise, I had my camera around my neck at all times, and scoured Savannah snapping shots of people in their daily lives. This very much reminded me of that time, and I had the compulsion to take another shot like it…

Those are primarily all of the shots available online at the moment. There is one more, that I quite love, from the outdoor portion of the shoot. You can see it at deviantart. (click the image to see it in full size)

Luxuriate

varapappas — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:09:42 +0000

Saturday I spent with a model I knew in San Francisco, Lorraine. She relocated to LA at the same time I did. Sadly, this was the first time we’ve met up since our move, and I’m on my way out! It was lovely to see her again, and we captured a few moments.

See the rest on flickr or deviantart.

Spring days with LaurenWK

varapappas — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:00:49 +0000

Lucky for me, LaurenWK was back in Los Angeles to shoot some music videos these last two weeks. We had a great time doing girly things, like shopping for clothes and shoes. The day she left we finally got around to shooting. It was a gorgeous day, and a very fun shoot! Those of you that have never seen LA, you probably don’t realize how much the locals here LOVE their gardens. Almost everyone in this town has gardeners to keep their land tops. I wanted to take advantage of all of the lovely flowers in bloom, thanks to their meticulous labor.

Images are spread differently over the web this time. You will find the most images in one place, deviantart. The photos are also the largest on that site, as they don’t scale them down. (When on the image page, click the image to see full view). Of course, you can see some of the images on flickr, but they do compress images on that site.

Look for the lovely 12 photo set on Zivity in the near future!

Divinora set now live

varapappas — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:16:11 +0000

My full set of Divinora is now live on Zivity. Please give it a vote or 3!

*You have to be a Zivity member to see the set. You can get a 1 month free trial for signing up. 18+*

Self Portrait

varapappas — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:08:38 +0000

I didn’t have much to do today, and I woke up inspired. I had a new dress my mother purchased for me the last time she visited, and I thought it’d make for a great fashion shot. So, I used myself as the subject This is all natural light.

io

varapappas — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:07:32 +0000

This weekend sadly didn’t go as planned. 3 shoots turned into 1. At the very least, I got the best of the 3 My only wish would have been to have more time to have devoted to this shoot. It was very last minute, and ended up happening late at night. So, I had no time to location scout, and we were both dreadfully tired at the shoot.

I’ve been waiting a couple years to shoot io though. She’s as beautiful inside as she is out! And we share a lot of mutual friends in the fantastically warm state of GA. So, is she hotter than georgia asphalt? You bet!

The full 4 shot set can be seen on my flickr or DeviantArt.

Zivity set went live!

varapappas — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:42:13 +0000

“Sushi Love” has gone live on Zivity! Please give it a vote or 3 for us!

Pictures of me, and another new model site!

varapappas — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:39:23 +0000

I’ll start with the photos Being a photographer you tend to find yourself amongst other photographers frequently. You become friends, and then…you become test subjects to them. I find this works out well when the photographer is female, but when they’re male…it becomes a bit unfair. It’s rare a male photographer wants his picture taken! I spend a lot of time with one of these particular friends, James Christopher. All of my fellow photographer friends and I have different styles. I think his and mine are probably the furthest from eachother. He loves shooting me for whatever reason.

I had had some self portraits I wanted to take with my “new” Kodak Duaflex camera. He offered to do the shots for me. I agreed, under the condition that I could do the retouching. Here were the results with my retouches:

In his flickr, you can see a shot he chose, and edited himself. It’s interesting to see the difference in our styles, and which shots we choose.

Yes, I’ve found more new modeling sites! This one I actually quite like though. They approached me through Myspace, and asked me to sign up. When I initially went to their brand new site, I saw Jayla, of ANTM in their list of new models, and knew I had to sign up The site is altdiva.com. I find it to be a much friendlier atmosphere than the last modeling site I listed. It not only allows pages for photographers and models, but also stylists, retailers, and designers for both jewelry and fashion. This particular site is heavily focused on people who enjoy the alternative side to the craft, so typical models should avoid. My only complaint is a sometimes confusing UI. I frequently find myself wondering, “wait…how do I accept a friend on here?” Otherwise, I have no complaints. I hope they’ll get more to join soon! You can see me on altdiva.com at altdiva.com/vara.

Divinora in the evening

varapappas — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 01:15:56 +0000

My last recent shoot was with Divinora. We’ve been trying to collaborate for some time, and are hoping to shoot again in the near future. The shots, as always, can be found on my flickr and deviantart.

There will be a full set up on Zivity in the near future!