I was lucky enough to work with an amazing new team on Monday for a photo shoot inspired by Lady Macbeth. Belle Morte supplied the beautiful wardrobe, Andrea Martini did the makeup, and the gorgeous Rachael Jean played our model/Lady Macbeth for the day.

We started our shoot at the abandoned pier (which I'm a little obsessed with at the moment!) as our backdrop for our own, Philadelphia 'castle'.
Just as we arrived, the sky was littered with light clouds, and the sun was casting a gorgeous warm tone over Rachael's skin. Perfect for some shots of Andrea's beautiful makeup work!

Then it was time to play out our Lady Macbeth concept.
our 'castle' Lady Macbeth's suicide.
Behind the Scenes:walking through the pier towards our 'castle'

We then headed over to a dilapidated building, with a huge pile of old car tires, for some slightly unrelated but still, very pretty pictures as the sun set over Philadelphia.

Finally, we headed back inside to finish up the shoot with some studio stuff that was more closely related to our original concept.
This idea was based off Act 5, Scene 5, where Macbeth hears the news of Lady Macbeth's suicide and a messenger tells him that the forest of Birnam is moving towards the castle.





It's been a while since I've done something so heavily concept based. Working with new people always sparks more creativity in me. It's got me thinking, and Michael and I are already brainstorming new ideas to shoot! Can't wait to make them a reality!Once again, thanks to everyone that made this shoot possible and to Andrea for taking some behind the scenes photographs! Can't wait to work with you all again in the future!

The fabulous elopement of Chris and Michelle (which I was lucky enough to shoot for them in October), was recently featured on rocknrollbride.com!

Congratulations to the both of you! It was a really beautiful day and you both deserve the recognition for an amazing event! Thanks again for letting us be a part of it.

Lambertville, NJ is a beautiful (seriously, beautiful!) town on the river which was the perfect backdrop for Chris and Melissa's engagement shoot today.

Chris is a bit of a beer enthusiast, so they decided to start our shoot at the River Horse Brewery, and with the blessing of the owner, we wondered through the facility and took a few shots.





After we'd exhausted the brewery, we headed out to see what else the town had to offer. We hurdled and hopped over a fence (which upon leaving, discovered you could simply push it to open it!), for some amazing shots by the glass-like water.




Don't you just love Melissa's attitude in that picture? When I asked for "attitude", she knew just what to give me! haha

We then headed down into the main part of town, meandered down some old train tracks towards an abandoned building, and discovered some awesome things hidden in the stables!







The location was amazing! I had such a blast there, it was just so beautiful!




Congratulations again to Chris and Melissa! You were a great couple to work with! Can't wait to hear what you have in store for your wedding!

When makeup artist, Carinn Kanaki approached me to do a shoot with her, I jumped at the chance, especially after she showed me the AMAZING dress that we would be working with (designed by Lara Cottingham).
After I'd seen that beauty, I knew exactly who I wanted to have do the hair for me - the always amazing hairstylist Bethany Bell, who I've had the pleasure of working with on numerous occasions (it seems as though our entire summer consisted of shooting together!).
I got busy scouting for a location, whilst Carinn managed to track down Patrice Newtown to model for us.

The shoot took place underneath an abandoned pier. The area was full of columns covered in graffitti and remnants of paint ball pellets, as well as trees creeping in and trying to claim back the land. There's an eerie but beautiful quality to it that I just loved! I'm so enthralled by the beauty of nature taking back it's place when buildings are abandoned and the way that artists claim their piece of something old by scribbling over it with spray paint. Basically, I love old abandoned stuff!

The area was dirty and urban, which I loved in juxtaposition to this elegant dress.

hair by Bethany Bell-


makeup by Carinn Kanaki-


Unfortunately, the sun set so quickly that we didn't have much time to shoot outside and I wasn't able to use as much of the location as I wanted.
Ah well, I think it's safe to say, that I'll be back!

I had an awesome afternoon, shooting Brian and Jennifer's engagement session amongst the hustle and bustle of the Sunday afternoon crowds around the Art Museum in Philadelphia.
They brought their adorable pooch named Bowie (named after David Bowie - cute, huh?!) along with them for the shoot. We may have to work on Bowie's modeling skills, but I'll forgive the wriggle worm, since he's such cutie!

We started around the Art Museum area, then super-assistant Michael maneuvered through traffic and created a make-shift parking spot, so we could end the session at Love Park.

Here are just a couple of pics from our fun shoot today -













Aren't they an adorable couple!?
Can't wait for their wedding later on next year!
I have loads more to edit, but Kingsley has brought me at least 7 toys in the process of me editing these, and I'm starting to suspect he's feeling a little neglected! haha.

On a side note, Brian made a good point as we were on our way towards Love Park, and I was jabbering on about how awesome Autumn is; Spring and Fall are the best seasons as far as nature's colors, but they don't last long enough!
Too true. I'll have to cook with lots more fall veggies, enjoy not wearing a heavy winter coat, and roll around in the colored leaves before the cold sets in and we're surrounded by white snow.

And on that note....I'm off to make some pumpkin soup and give thanks that I don't have to turn the heater on!

I must admit. I was really excited when Michelle emailed me and told me about her awesome idea for her wedding.
Chris and Michelle were ready to make the commitment to each other, just not overly thrilled by the big price tag that accompanies a big wedding. They opted to have an intimate, and personal ceremony for just the two of them and a fun photo shoot afterwards, and use the photographs to later share the experience with their family.

Michelle's idea for the photo shoot was to set up a cute dinner party with a vintage and eclectic theme. Luckily, since Michael and I collect weird, old things, an idea like this was right up our alley! We worked together on figuring out what to bring along for the shoot - candelabras, old picture frames, an old trunk, fall inspired decorations and some of my favorite old cameras were among the items we brought from home. Michelle found some cute tea cups, a cake holder, big letters for their initials and cupcakes, and Chris raided a nearby drama props room for some amazing, throne-like chairs to complete the setup.

Before we knew it, the wedding day (and awesome photo shoot) was upon us!
Here are a few of my favorites-

After the dinner party, we braved the weeds, headed out to an open field to shoot a couple more, intimate pictures, whilst the sunset.






I just loved the unique, DIY and personal approach that Michelle and Chris had to their wedding day. Congratulations again to Michelle and Chris! And thanks again for letting Mike and I be a part of your special day! You guys are awesome!
You can check out a bunch more of their photos (as well as their engagement shoot) at www.simmonevonsydney.com

My new website was launched today, which I'm incredibly excited about! Going through all the work I've done over the past few years was a daunting task but it brought back so many memories from all the awesome shoots I've done and some of the amazing people I've met. It also made me realize just how much I've learnt over the past few years. I'll admit, I still have a lot to learn, but looking through my progression so far has made me super excited about the future and what's to come.
I decided that with the launch of my new website, it was also a great time to start a blog so people could get to know me a little better and what goes on in my life but also so that I can share some of the stories behind the shoots and the amazing people I get to meet.
So here goes!

♥ My name is Simmone Bray and I grew up on the northern beaches in Sydney, Australia.

♥ I moved to America three years ago, and after a road trip across the states, I settled in Philadelphia, PA, where I now live with my amazing boyfriend Michael (who is also an awesome graphic designer, and my photography assistant) and my adorable miniature dachshund/personal lap warmer Kingsley.







happy family portrait taken by David Schrott

♥ My house has become a museum to old and interesting things. I collect vintage cameras, and Michael collects old typesettings as well as ship things for his own 'Ship Wall'. We also collect old bottles (our house seems to be littered with them!).











Anyway, that's just a little snippet and some random facts about me.
Stay tuned!