Inside a fashion photo shoot with Madison Avenue Salon and Day Spa...

When Madison Avenue Salon and Spa in Phoenix tapped superstar photographer Paul Sebring to shoot its hot looks for fall—it was a match made in beauty heaven. Redken artistic director Devin Michael Fox styled the hair and Brittany Dailey, also a Redken artistic director, moonlighted as the makeup artist. “We love to show the community what we can do,” Fox says when talking about why he loves to style for fashion photography. “At the shoot, we were all just feeling it, we had a great time.”

Adds Paul, as one of the reasons the shoot went so well, “I’ve worked with all of the models before, so I helped book them—they’re all close friends—and we do lots of fashion and edit work together.” Though it’s not all easygoing, it’s not lost on Paul how finicky the fashion industry can be: “It boils down to the fact that we’re lucky enough to do what we do, it’s essentially playing dress up. What can I say? It’s a lot of fun to get to work with these cool people,” he says.

To give you an idea about just what goes down when the camera goes off, here’s a behind-the-scenes peek at the inspiration behind each of the model’s great fall/winer looks:

The photography: “Marla—who I’ve known since she was 16—has this amazing exotic look. I wanted to capture that emotion without distracting from her hair,” notes Paul. The vision: We want low-maintenance hair, says Devin. “The reality is, the economy is what it is right now. So we’re going to give people great, fun ideas without all the time and hassle. Braiding is easy, and adding some volume in back (by back-combing with a rattail comb), updates it and adds an edge.”

The photography: “Jessica has this pure, girl-next-door look that I love,” Paul says. The vision: “I incorporated a lot of texture into her hair,” Devin says. He cut the model’s hair in very long sections, which created a wispy texture with lots of movement. “You can really see this texture in this photo where the wind is blowing through her hair,” he says. “Finally, we finished up with some dry cutting to add softness.”

The photography: “Erika is a great model. She kind of fits in the middle of the other two: with a part-exotic, part-wholesome appearance. She’s stunning,” says Paul. The vision: “She has finer hair, so we went for a tousled, curled look—the idea was not to make it look so perfect. I backcombed her hair with my fingers before setting sections in curls, which imparts a great frothiness. Then, I transformed it into an up style by pulling the back sections into a pony and leaving the front pieces down. It has a soft, glamorous feel to it, one that you’re seeing a lot in fashion magazines these days.”

For more information on Paul Sebring, visit www.sebringphotography.com. And to learn about Madison Avenue Salon and Spa, visit www.spamadison.com.