New website and updates

I have finally gotten myself an official website to showcase my work. It's lovely and I tinkered about it the whole day yesterday.

Click for official website

Featuring many new works from my latest shoots.
Thoughts and comments? All appreciated!

I've also uploaded a few photos (extras from the last weekend beauty shoot) onto Flickr, so there are some never before seen images!

Blue Summers

I did mention about writing more about photoshoots, I'm so behind! Since the weather is starting to become that dreary cold sleep sort, I'll write about a recent beach swimwear shoot. 

Locations shoots are rare for me, I do prefer the stability and blankness of a studio to create from. Outside I have to rely on the weather and the available light and the actual location itself. I'm actually quite anathema to doing location shoots because every time I venture outside it's sure to rain. Without fail. The original date set for this particular beach shoot had to be postponed because the weekend ended up pouring when I expected sunshine, no it was a definite no go. 

Why a swimwear shoot?

Well, I needed a swimwear look for my portfolio and then I came across Billy & Lola, a darling little swimwear line by Ruth Ziller. Ruth creates her bathers from vintage fabrics she finds in op shops and the designs are a throwback to old-fashioned styles which quite suits my aesthetic especially in an age where swimwear is as tiny, tight, and metallic as possible and leaves nothing to the imagination. Therefore her high-waisted pieces tied back with printed bows completely drew me in. Ruth is also part of the new generation of eco-aware and eco-friendly designers using recycled materials so that's quite exciting.

Prep

Model casting was difficult. I envisioned someone who was lovely and slightly dreamy with an old fashioned charm and long brown hair. Not quite sure why I was fixated on a brunette but I was. There were cancellations and rejections and unsuitable models when I remembered Rebecca, currently repped by Scene Management. I've worked with Rebecca previously on Ghost Story and she had the most amazing skin and soulful eyes...and she had brown hair. She was also a really great person to work with so I was happy when she agreed to model for this.

 A quick snap at the ocean, turned out to be one of my favourites.

Sarah Baxter was slotted in to do make up and hair. She had just started at the hair academy and was showing me cute braids and updos. We decided to get to her place for initial makeup and then drive down to the Great Ocean Road to find a suitable secluded beach. It was going to be an extremely long day and we were looking forward to it! We were originally going to work with a stylist but unfortunately it didn't happened so I picked up the bathers and packed up my bags, discovered I couldn't carry a reflector along with 3 bags I was already carrying so I thought stuff it and got on a train, then a bus, than waited for Sarah. 

My equipment of the day:-

The none too subtle Canon 1000D

50mm 1.8 lens (sweet little thing)

Available light

And two awesome people to go on a road-trip with

While Rebecca was in makeup, I played with Ozzie an overenthusiastic dog who blackmailed me for pats and Sarah's cute niece who insisted I colour a tree and I happily obliged. Then off we went with Rebecca driving.

I google scouted for possible locations prior to the shoot. Google Maps is great because sometimes photographers would leave landscape images and you can see what's in the area. The stretch of beach around Torquay to Lorne be nice to explore. 

The Shoot

We arrived in Torquay after a few hours and came to a surf beach, a little further than the town, spotting a secluded part that looked to be attached to stairs. In our enthusiasm we grabbed everything and trekked down several flights to discover it ends at a rather perilous stony outcrop with 'beware' signs everywhere. Not to be deterred as we were three determined young ladies, we climbed down the rocks.

 

 Sarah touching up the makeup. 

We stayed about half an hour shooting two looks, watching the surfers pass us with raised eyebrows which tells us we should perhaps look for a different location. It was all well and good but we hadn't realized how strenuously hot Melbourne summers actually were. Arriving at the foot of the stony outcrop rendered us in sighs of discontent and the next 4-6 flights of stairs had us collapsing in heart hammering exhaustion and delirious pants. 

 Me. Climbing up stairs. The flushed cheeks and near panic I was in cannot be seen but it's there. 

It was just the heat and bright unbroken sun weighing down relentlessly on our heads, and we didn't have enough shade or water so cue heat stroke and us hightailing it out of there to collapse in bliss in the air-conditioned room of McDonald's back at Torquay. After an hour we were ready to take on the challenge again so we drove through a winding track to somewhere near Lorne. On the way we were stopped by a police car, and got a ticket for using the brakes to keep clear of the car in front of us...........well, always remember to budget for random ticket violations.....

 Isn't this better. No rocks in sight and nothing to climb!

The next beach was so much better, beautiful clear waters and accessible from the road. There was a mob of young men having a barbie (barbeque in Australia) and they called out to us to join them for a spot of beach volley. Smilingly, we shook out heads and walked on by really quickly before bursting into laughter when we rounded into the next stretch.  And then we had two men approach where we were setting up. What a conundrum. With location shoots onlookers may sometimes be a problem, these in particular got the hint quickly so we were able to continue!

My theme for this story is inspired by lomo photography with those vibrant dashing colours and hazy light flares. Since I don't have a lomo camera, I'd do as much as I can and then adjust during post processing. Bright sunlight can be hard to work with, usually resulting in harsh shadows and squinted eyes. If one has strobes you can try to overpower the sun to highlight the model subject and darken the background among other techniques. What I wanted however was a smooth light with limited shadows and preferably some lens flare, I shot around 1/500 shutter speed and 5.6 f stop and mostly where there were breaks in between clouds. Ideally I should've brought that reflector but alas the lack of multiple arms. Shooting at the beach also has a few other problems- sand gets everywhere. Protect the camera and lens by shielding with your body and checking frequently and cover wardrobe with protective sheets or towels where possible. For wardrobe changes use walls of towels or areas away from the general public.

Shooting. Also remember to wear something comfortable and something you can wear to jump into the ocean with!

 Rebecca having a lark.

She always avoids the camera! Here we get a smile from Sarah.

 Rebecca posing with the teddy bear.

 Shooting. It's the last look and the end of the day, the light is great!

After multiple changes we gladly wrapped up to go home, but not before stopping for drinks and a spot of food so back to Maccas (McDonald's) for us.

 Team shot!

The day ended well regardless of the initial hiccup, I certainly had a lot of fun and it's always great when we get all the changes and looks we needed. A few things to keep in mind for future location or beach shoots- bring WATER and hats and preferably plan the shoot during autumn or spring.  

Prep

A shoot often begins long before call-time. It starts weeks or even months in advance with an idea  and then prep time starts. At the moment I am arranging a whole weekend shoot focusing on beauty work with Sarah Baxter when she emailed me a list of ideas she had. I'm such a fan of her work since the first day we met and she showed me what clean makeup and beauty actually was. She is now enrolled in a hair course so we'll be trying out some new looks!

Unlike a few other shoots, this weekend involved considerably less prep time than usual even though it's no less stressing. We've decided not to involve a stylist and keep it fairly casual. To start off with we emailed each other back and forth with ideas and descriptions and photo references and highlighted those which we were interested in and then we went away to research.

Research is so very important especially when creating an editorial story (double name here, an editorial -is- a story). I'm now focused on photographing both beauty and fashion stories which means I need to know that I can pull out 4-6-10 distinct, different and hopefully amazing images which has complementary themes and can convey a sense of a storyline. However research is still important in shoots not involving editorials. Occasionally I get very strong ideas about what I'm going to create, to the point that I can sit and sketch out the looks and the poses and lighting and setting, and other times the idea is vague so I build upon it. I go and peruse my favourite photographers' sites and images and books and music and magazines and everything that I like and am inspired by and draw together bits and pieces. A lot of times during research I also come across a particular photographic technique I'm not familiar with and if it suits the concept, it's a good time to try it =)

Then comes the practical prep, finding team members and models. I secured my assistant (with much reluctance on his part) and other times I'd usually also try to find hair and wardrobe stylists. For models I like using modelmayhem.com for castings or I'd call up agencies requesting models to test. Agencies are a whole story onto themselves.

It's important to find models with the right look for the concepts and to make sure everyone involved as part of the creative team are on the same page, hence more emails and narrowing down choices and finalizing details. Tonight, two days before the shoot I wrote out all the ideas and marked down the looks and who's doing what. This also helps in laying out the schedule for the day so we can make sure to fit everything in. 

Tomorrow I'll be checking out all the equipment (however meager they are), recharging batteries, grocery shopping, apartment cleaning, going through my notes for the umpteenth time and wait with eager anticipation for morning. My stomach is already rumbling with stress and excitement. How invigorating!