Walid Azami: How he did Ashley's photoshoot

Photographer Walid Azami, who photographed Ashley for her new website, made an interesting Tumblr post explaining how he did the photoshoot and what their goal was. Read up on it below:

How we did it: Ashley Roberts (PCD)

As you’re probably well aware, Ashley was one of the 5 members of the Pussy Cat Dolls. They ruled the world and she’s about to with her solo effort.
I wanted something new for her image and (for this one, other pics released soon) we wanted soft, ethereal, and natural. With PCD we had latex, leather, loud, sparkles, and in your face. When I met her, she was quite the opposite. In fact she’s quite deep, reflective but you can see why she was in the Pussy Cat Dolls. Ashley lights up the place and I wanted to keep that element there.

Goal: Do not lose her sex appeal, but add to it. Show the public the different side of her not yet published. We went out to the desert to grab that first morning sun. Generally the AM sun is a whiter light than the setting sun. I thought white is pure, it’s new start, and wanted to get that first thing.

How we did it: I made sure our stylist (Kyle Blackmon) gave us something sheer, sexy, but mature. I wanted the sun to go through the material and her hair, because that elevates that ethereal mood.
I wanted the sun to wrap around Ashley’s body. For that reason we had her back-lit with natural lighting (the sun) and let that almost blow everything out. It was almost a dance between her and I, because if the sun peaked out too much we’d lose her head. If it was behind her head we’d get this boring flat light. I remember moving my body perhaps 1/3 inch here or there to adjust to the quick rising sun.
We used a large white bounce to reflect some of the sunlight back on her face. By doing that she also glowed with the sun. I made sure my bounce was an even white board, not silver or gold. I feel a white board bounces a softer but more even light. There you have it! The beautiful sunlight and simple white board, a $2.00 purchase from Rite-Aid.

Of course we had an amazing hair, make-up, and wardrobe team to help build this image. 

There you have it, the how’s and why’s of this photograph with Ashley Roberts.