Dodging Puddles

So much testing lately! But it keeps me on my toes so that’s a good thing. A few agencies have been keeping me busy with model portfolio updates, and I really enjoy working with different talent. I also love getting out on location to shoot- it gets me away from the studio and the computer for a while. Those who know me will also know that I hate looking at screens (yup, I’m in the wrong industry, I know!), but unfortunately there is so much back end and admin work when you freelance, that spending a long time in front of my computer is inevitable. So as I was saying, I embrace the opportunity to work with a model on location, especially if the natural light it working in my favour. Whilst I love my flash, sometimes I just want to streamline the process and not have to worry about positioning the light or deciding how I want to blend it with the ambient. It’s faster just to spin myself or my subject around, or find a great patch of golden sunlight to work with.

For this reason, I have been getting back to using natural light when doing test shoots on location. Aside from being quicker, I also allows me to work solo and not have to worry about an assistant or bringing a huge pile of gear. It also keeps me reactive, as I have to find the best light around, no matter what the weather is doing.

Shooting with Chloe, recently signed with GTR, provided a lighting challenge for me. We had planned to shoot on a Sunday, as Chloe is still studying, but the weather wasn’t looking the driest.. Huge clouds hung in the sky, and it would occasionally pour with rain. Still, I met Chloe and her mum at the meeting spot and hoped that the rain would hold off.

As you can probably see from the shots, the rain did subside, and the clouds acted as a huge softbox, which actually worked in our favour. I was really impressed with how Chloe moved, especially being so young. She didn’t need any warming up and just got straight into it. She seemed really aware of her body and the shapes she could make, and took direction well too.

I styled the shoot myself (something I have recently started doing, and that I am loving!) and I loved the colour palette of the garments I had chosen. I think they suited Chloe well too. The tough bit was not keeping everything, as some of the pieces were super cute (I’m looking at you blue and white shorts…)

When we were shooting our last shot, a friendly walker stopped to comment that “the model had arrived” (referring to himself.) I played along, asking him to get in the shot and pose, which he completely didn’t expect. I think he loved it though. Haha.

Thanks Chloe for a fabulous shoot, looking forward to working with you again soon!

Chloe is represented by GTR.

 

Welcome To Colour

A few years back, when I was still studying, my partner (who was interested in photography at the time) collaborated with an amazing makeup artist by the name of Jyoti Chandra. I loved her work, and her personality, and had wanted to work with her ever since. But I thought, she would never want to work with me. So when I replied to her casual facebook post “who wants to shoot?” and she said yes, I was really excited.

We had decided to do a colourful shoot. Something bright and fun and spontaneous. Just what I needed in my folio, which seems to have an aversion to colour at the moment. Jyoti turned up at the studio armed with props and garments, and bright paper backgrounds. We got talking straight away like we had seen each other only days ago, when in fact we had only spoken a handful of words to each other, three years prior.

It was going to be a great shoot!

Whilst hair and makeup was being done, I started testing out some lighting. I usually use a chair for this (which is not that accurate, as a chair has quite a different shape to a person’s face), but because the fabric began much higher than chair-level, I had to improvise.

Behold, my temporary model. She was very co-operative- didn’t complain or move once during my testing!

We had a few different ideas to play with, as well as a table full of accessories, props, and other fun things. We also had two models from Scene to work with- Olga and Stephanie. Olga arrived first, and we decided to start out bright. We used a piece of striped fabric as a background, and I light the set with my reflective parabolic, and flat lighting on the background. If you look at my folio, it is (in general) quite shadowy, with lots of blues, blacks, and neutral colour palettes. So it was very refreshing to shoot something bright and colourful. A little scary too?

Olga was fantastic. Moved well, and fit into the characters we created quite easily. Whilst Jyoti worked on Steph’s makeup, Olga and I shot through around 4 different outfits, playing with accessories and poses each time. I usually shoot quite quickly, and this was no exception. I know when we have got the shot, and I don’t like to keep models going on and on and on, because it wears them out too. Moving quickly keeps things fresh, in my opinion. Plus, my phase files are huge, and having to sort through so many can take even the harshest critic a week.

With Olga wrapped, we began on Steph’s set ups. Still using bright colours, but with more of a punky/graphic vibe.

Photo from Jyoti’s instagram

Steph was great to work with as well. Behind her tattoo’d, short haired exterior, she was very sweet and I wanted to keep her! She also knew how to emote, so pretty much every shot was strong. We had a few coloured wigs for Steph, which added a pop of colour to the images. I knew we had to watch out for the hair getting caught in the eyelashes, because it is a nightmare to retouch. So I ended up being a bit of a wig police.

We shot a heap of looks in a short space of time, even some without wigs. The final shot of the day brought us to a gold metal shoulder ‘accessory’ (I have no idea what to call it!) It looked sort of like dragonfly wings, and draped over the shoulder. There was something about those last shots that were special, and I can’t wait to have them retouched and ready to show the world. But I guess you will all have to wait and see what we created!

Photo from Jyoti’s instagram

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PHOTOGRAPHER || Steph Doran
HMUA + STYLIST || Jyoti Chandra
MODEL || Olga Gurkina @ Scene Melbourne
MODEL || Stephanie Hall @ Scene Melbourne