Prayer, makeup primer, and piles of clothes was the scene before the start of the 2013 Miss Black & Gold Scholarship Pageant Sunday [2/10]. Pageant coordinator and choreographer Reginique Denton offered the contestants words of encouragement and thanks before sending them onto the stage to perform an Egyptian-themed dance routine they’d been learning for months.

“Miss Black and Gold on three. 1… 2… 3… Miss Black and Gold!”

While fashion photography is my favorite type of imagery to create candid, behind the scenes sorta shots are the ones I actually study and archive. To some it’s considered trivial and amateur but I find real beauty in capturing a moment that would’ve never been seen or otherwise forgotten altogether.

This year, the Kappa Eta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. asked me to photograph their annual scholarship pageant. Never missing an opportunity to expand my portfolio and learn more about the art form I fell in love with ages ago, I obliged. Though family, friends and the campus of The University of Memphis prepared themselves to see the essence of beauty offered by 10 young women I geared myself up to view all the pacing, practicing and preparation that went on backstage.