Human Canvas

Something that often raises its head in my mind is the topic of personal insecurity. Not in the financial or physical sense, but more in the way of a mindset or mentality. Being a photographer, my work is a visual medium, and therefore every job has infinite possible resolutions and outcomes (rather than one ‘correct’ answer). That makes it highly subjective, and very open to interpretation. I think that many artists are a little insecure about their work deep down, and I am not a stranger to doubting my own abilities or artistic vision. So when someone approaches me with praise for my style, I get very very excited (if not a little “aww shucks” esque.)

One such kind soul was Alex Nixon, a student studying makeup. Alex had seen my work online and asked me to document one of her projects, which involved body painting. She sent me some references, and noted that she wanted to create a piece that was inspired by Chinese and Japanese traditional paintings. This was, of course, right up my alley, so I agreed straight away. We organised a date and time, as well as a gorgeous model – Chervil Tan from Vivien’s.

On shoot day, Alex pre-painted Chervil’s back before arriving at the studio. The references she sent me had been quite well-lit, with a pale grey background, so that is what I started off with. I wanted to ensure that I documented Alex’s work clearly, so that you could see the brushstrokes and fine details.

But after that, I wanted to have some fun of my own.

I thought that the concept and subject would really suit some darker, more moody lighting. So once we had the lighter shots captured, I changed the lighting to something more directional, to really accentuate texture and form. I love the way that the light falls on the body (in the image above), as the physical 3D nature of the back and shoulders blends with the painted landscape. I was also careful to keep the face in shadow, so that the emphasis was still on the painting, and the image had a sense of anonymity about it.

Of course, I took some portraits as well, and some shots to show the makeup on Chervil’s face (not just her back!) How gorgeous is the kimono? Alex whipped it up herself the night before. So much skill! The colours were also really gorgeous, especially against the hues of the cheeks.

I wanted to capture a quiet, almost still mood for these images, and I think they came out well. Alex was absolutely stoked with the shots, which I was really pleased about. All the best with the folio Alex!

Stunning Dayana

Can we just pause a moment and look at how beautiful this girl is?

I might have a new model crush haha. A while ago now, I did a test with Jimmy Ford, and his girlfriend Dayana came along too. She had only been signed to GTR a few days before, and this was to be her second shoot. As usual, I spent some time at H&M gathering garments for the shoot, but this time I decided to get a hair and makeup artist on board too, to add that extra polish to the images. Que my go-to MUA and super-bro Jyoti Chandra.

I photographed Jimmy whilst Jyoti worked on Dayana’s makeup. Then we got shooting. Dayana was fantastic, especially for being inexperienced. She wasn’t stiff, and kept moving, experimenting with poses and expressions. We worked through the outfits really quickly, continuing to change garments and lighting.

I will not be surprised if this face becomes world-famous one day. Dayana was really fun to work with, and I was overwhelmed with how many great frames I had to choose from. Good luck in your career Dayana!

Oh and don’t forget to check out some more of Jyoti’s work too. Clicky click.

 

 

 

Testing With Lara de Koster

I love working with new talent, and testing with new faces is one way that I get to constantly do this. Often, the photography and style of images needs to be quite simple, as the model will need images that show them with minimal makeup and styling. This makes expression and posing very important.

A few weeks ago I was asked to shoot Lara de Koster, who had only moved down to Melbourne a few days before. Lara is a musician too, but is aiming to break into Melbourne’s modelling scene. She had such a sweet look, and was a little shy at first, but she quickly opened up in front of the camera.

I had Marlene Olsson as my hair and makeup artist. She is brilliant at what she does, so I was glad to have her on board. Marlene agreed to start off with a more natural look, but then wanted to experiment a little later on once we had the basic shots in the bag. I think its important to let your team experiment when testing, so that everyone gets something out of the shoot. So of course I was more than happy to let her experiment too!

Our second look was more of a wet hair look. Here, we focused on expression and conveying a bit more attitude. Lara is such a sweet girl, so this was a challenge for her. But I think she did really well, and by the end of the shoot she let loose a bit more and was able to convey more of an attitude through her face and posing.

Finally, Marlene wanted to experiment with braiding the hair for one last look. I was amazed at how quickly she put this look together. The braiding was incredible! For this look, we wanted to focus on the textures in the hair, but a strong expression was also important.

I’m looking forward to seeing where Lara’s career in Melbourne takes her.

Snap Snap Braid

Behind the scenes of a test with Lara de Koster. This amazing hair was done by the ever-talented Marlene Olsson. What did we do with this look? You’ll have to wait and see :)

S xx

Shooting With Lorin

Last week I had the pleasure of capturing some new head shots for model/actress Lorin Kauffeld. The aim was to capture some portraits that actually looked like Lorin, so that when she went into castings, she resembled her head shot. Makeup, lighting, and even lens choice can greatly affect how a person is depicted in a photograph, so we paid special attention to detail to make sure that the shots were flattering, but still true to life. Luckily, Lorin is a gorgeous girl (both in terms of looks and personality), so that outcome wasn’t too difficult to achieve.

We tried a few different looks, to give variety, and to offer a range of appearances. I kept my lighting very simple, and not too shadowy, so as to show the features of the face well. I think that the final shots look great, so hopefully they result in some auditions and gigs for Loren. She’s going to be super famous some day soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

Need a new headshot?

Whether its for your comp card, model book, or just LinkedIn, don’t be afraid to get in touch. I love receiving emails from blog readers :)

S xx