In the Loupe: Where our guy, Mike Schinnerer magnifies Upstate NY’s fashion and beauty scene. Each month his trained eye will focus on some of the industry’s highlights and deliver them to you.

Hey y’all. It’s good to bring the loupe back. When I began editing photography back in 1995 for Sports Illustrated, there were no digital images. We used a loupe (magnifying device) to sort through hundreds, maybe thousands of slides and film. For 2 years in 2014-15, I had a local to Upstate website named In the Loupe. On the site, I broke down the hundreds of photography submissions, showcased the winners, cast original shoots, and kept everybody in the loop on future collaborations and events. That was for all photography categories:
wedding, newborn, fashion, beauty, portrait, landscape, and even composites.

In 2021, I revisit many of the same concepts with this column but concentrate on fashion and beauty under my Stitched brand. So let’s dive right into the eye-catching stuff that these five professional photographers produced
over the past couple months.

1. Tyler Ki-Re
I met Tyler walking the runway for Stitched in Hudson, NY. I rang her up and asked if she’s ready for an editorial photo shoot? She asked, “model or photographer?” Tyler Ki-Re is a newbie on the scene, but her images don’t look like it. I see her dark tones creating a moody vibe and her exploring some really cool angles. You’ll see her again in a fashion film feature next month on Stitched through the eyes of Video Director T.M. Williams. Model, Aniah Rose.

2. Julia Rabkin
Julia makes a second consecutive appearance on ITL. She resides out in Rochester, which is as far west as I’ve worked fashion collaborations and covered for ITL. I met Julia at CNYFW (Central NY Fashion Week), which is a better commute, but I’d be willing to drive the 4 hours to collaborate with her. This month she worked with Caroline, one of our Stitched models on the Valentine’s feature and a new face to me in Grace. Epic stuff.

3. YTK Photography
There are not many photographers in the Capital Region I am more familiar with than Katherine Wright of YTK. We have done many projects together, most notably the Capital Masquerade. Here she took a muted and elegant approach to this boudoir session with our friend Larissa. Katherine is always thorough and on point.

4. Shannon Greer Photography
I always have my eyes on the happenings of friends of Stitched, Designer Marine Penvern, and this time we found a new photographer @mistergreer on IG. I love how he showcased the flow of the fabric in this set. If you want to sell the clothes, show the ladies the movement! He did that.

5. Brightly Photography
Rob Brightly “made it out” to the fashion side of the photography world. I’ve seen Rob’s stuff prior for weddings, families, etc. but never for the fashion beauty stuff. That changed when I stumbled upon Stitched model Quantez Lewis’s recent photo shoot. Rob really used interesting backgrounds for this, and let’s give a shout out to local streetwear designers Made It Out for the apparel.

6. Abel Honor New York
I know I usually use this column to point out local photographer’s work, but this is a brand that always creates cool imagery. I know Kate Wasserbach is in NYC now, when she’s not boating in Lake George, but I’m a fan of the local girl who’s doing big things with her brand. Always a hip vibe!

7. Jessica Montgomery
I love how your follows of fellow team members, models, stylists and others lead you to new creatives. In this case, model Nasrene and makeup artist Marcela lead me back to Jessica Montgomery. I’ve seen her stuff before with our own Mell Meus, and other models Keyanna, Blazin’ Becc, Gala, John and more. So yeah, we are in the same circle. I’m used to some bright color pops when seeing Jessica’s work, but this shoot here still has an edge t0 it and super dope accessories.

8. Natalie Cartz
Now, I’ve seen Natalie’s work for a long time now, ever since we were all fighting over time with Chelsie Aryn Miller. I’ve seen the quality of her work grow over the years. Here, she used fellow Stitched model Jysian for a fun series. Not many models hotter on the scene right now than 15-year-old Jysian, who has been super busy. You’ll see more of her in a Stitched feature on March 15th. But a solid editorial indeed by Natalie.

I’m assuming I’ll be seeing lots more from these artists in my loupe in 2021, because we are just getting going again. That goes for you photographers reading this March entry as well, let’s get inspired and get busy producing epic work. Until next time…

*Submissions are once again welcome! But I will be keeping my eye on the scene and screen grabbing away when I see something inspiring. Hopefully you will find your work on ITL on the 1st of every month. Photo submissions must be within the last two months, because we don’t want to see old or resurfaced stuff no matter how good it is. Submit to mikeschinnerer@mac.com. If you are a designer, stylist, makeup artist or hair stylist and your work appears here minus a credit, chances are I didn’t have your information at the time of publishing. Please feel free to tag yourself in our social media posts and introduce yourself for future collaborations.