Me, myself and I

I love time before Christmas. I love gifts shopping, wrapping presents and watching Christmas movies. 

Of course I got a Christmas present for myself - a new lens! Here is my first photos taken with it. And my favorite model - never complains, always on time and does exactly what I want :)

Photo session with Olga

Let me introduce you the world traveller, Olga. She is smart, energetic and knows what she wants. Her favorite saying is "There is a will, there is a way", and, believe me, every time that works out for her.

I would like to thank Olga's friend Angela for allowing us to use her beautiful house. 

Let me introduce myself

So I decided that it's time to update my profile info. That's what I had until now:

"Hi, my name is Nadia. I am a portrait/conceptual photographer. I specialize in creative portraits, fashion, children portraits, weddings. Through my lens I am trying to capture the world around us, so that all cherished moments can be treasured and shared for years to come. Contact me to schedule a photo shoot at nadiaportfolio@gmail.com". Pretty lame, yea? I could switched my name with any other, like this "Hi, my name is Maria. I am a portrait/conceptual photographer. I specialize in creative portraits, fashion, children portraits, weddings. Through my lens I am trying to capture the world around us..." Bla bla bla

Nothing about my personality, my background, my style of shooting, my sense of humor, my passion and my inspirations, etc. 

So, let me introduce myself.

My name is Nadia. My last name is not Comaneci. And yes, I hear that joke way too often :)

My last name is Skopintseva, and I am Russian. I was born and raised in Russia, and I moved to America four years ago. I visited US couple times as a tourist before, but fell in love with american life and stayed... Long story short, I am graduating from Wilmington University in January 2012 with a Bachelors degree and looking forward to being a photographer full time. I also have a degree from Voronezh College of Art in Russia where I studied Ceramics and Painting. 

Fun facts:

I have a twin sister. She lives in Russia, but comes to US quite often to do shopping :)

I have a live size maneken in my house.

Out of all states in US, I picked the smallest one  to reside D-E-L-A-WHERE? (My Mom had a hard time finding it on the map)

One of my favorite quotes ever: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other as though everything is a miracle." Albert Einstein

Taking photographs makes me happy. And I hope there is at least one person in the world who enjoys viewing the images I take.

I am always looking for new ideas and I would love to work with creative people, models, designers, make up artists. If you have an interesting project in mind, shoot me an email at nadiaportfolio@gmail.com

Our vacation in Mexico.  More photos here.

My Scottish Andrew and I.

We just had a long discussion about color of his hair. Apparently, it's not ginger, it's auburn!

About how I learned English (while studying for a driving test)

I just found a notebook where I used to write down phrases while studying for a driving test four year ago. You know, those expressions that I thought I would use in everyday life. Here are some of them:
1) hit-and-run
2) feeble-minded
3) flee from a police officer
4) turfing
5) LMAO
The last one, obviously, was not from the driving test book, but it was in my dictionary with an explanation of what those letters stand for. Now,  I can really LMAO reading all that.
A very interesting selection for a person who learns how to drive, don't you think?
Here are some photos for you to enjoy. And please do not search for deep connection between these photos and my post above. There is no connection at all:) 

Fall

Here is my second photo shoot out of four for my Senior Project Class.

This one is called Fall, and I tried to recreate one of my paintings. 

If you are looking for more information on this project, please visit my other blog http://4seasonsproject.wordpress.com/ which I created only for that assignment.

Photographer: Nadia Skopinsteva

Model: Bethany Rees

MUA: Ronea Paden

Here is my painting on silk (on the right) that I tried to recreate with photography.

Emily

We planned this photo shoot with sunflowers and summer dresses and lots of light, sun and hot weather in July. We finally shot in October the day after first show. It was freezing cold, wet and gloomy at first, but Mr. Sunshine finally came out and made our day a little warmer. It seemed like even nature was not prepared for snow. We found some blooming flowers covered in snow.
I admire Emily for her ability to stand cold. Maybe she is the one who should have been born in Russia :) not me. I was wearing a sweater and a warm jacket. She was wearing summer dresses...

Irina

I've been very very busy lately. So busy, that I did not have time to post photographs from August. Shame on me, because I absolutely loved that mini-session with Irina. I did not plan on doing this photo shoot. We just had some free time and my camera.  It was spontaneous, easy and fun. I love all these photographs because they are full of sun, light and summer. I hope you will enjoy them too!