Princess Temper

New work from an un-released fashion series!!

// Model: Casey Lee Lyons – @casey.lee.lyons
// HMUA: Jyoti Chandra – @jyotichandra
// Designer: Marnie Ayres

Published In Solstice UK

Very excited to see my work published in issue 3 of Solstice magazine in the UK. This series is called ‘Colour Is Cure,’ and features some stunning Antidote activewear made by Aussie designer Lara Ulasowski.

PHOTOG || Me
MODEL || Peggy Ford @ Scene
HMUA || Jyoti Chandra
ASSIST || Bella Plush

If you want to hold my work in your hands, the MagCloud link for purchasing the issue is here

Campaign Shoot For Reson8

It’s been months since I shot for Melbourne label Reson8, but I felt it was worth a blog (also this tab has been sitting open on my laptop since March.) I really like working with designers, but this shoot was even more exciting because I had been hired because of my aesthetic and ideas. The more I shoot fashion, the more I want to shoot creatively. My goal is to be hired to shoot my conceptual style, but for actual money. One day.

In any case, we had many meetings about the shoot beforehand. How it would run, where we would do it, and what it would look and feel like. Models and a crew were sorted out, and ideas relayed back and forth. The initial idea was to shoot on a beach, but we eventually settled on the studio. The look was modern, but with a bit of a rock feel. I had worked with the male mode, Tom, before, and we also had a female model on board to, to mix things up a bit and have a sense of a story with the work. Being menswear, Tom was the star of the shoot. And he could turn it on! He seemed a lot more comfortable shooting in this style, in comparison with the frilly garments we worked with together before.

It was a long day, but the team worked really well together and we powered through the shot list and the garments. Chris, the designer, had a clear idea in his head, and we were able to work towards his vision. Glynnis, who had never modelled before, did a stunning job and looked amazing.

By the end of shoot everyone was exhausted, but the shots looked great. I’m really excited to see them being used in promotional campaigns and look books. Keep your eyes peeled!

 

CLIENT || RESON8
MODEL || Thomas Brennan @ Scene
MODEL || Glynnis Quin
HMUA || Love Hawkridge
STYLIST || Rebecca Durham
ART DIRECTION || Christopher Kirsner
PHOTOG || Steph Doran

Check it: www.reson8clothing.com

Marionettes and Students Visit

Oops, haven’t blogged in a while (yes, same excuse as always…) I have so much to share. If you’re a subscriber, prepare to be bombarded with new posts. If you’re not a follower… why not click that button?

Anyway, after the great wrist incident of 2015 (aka when I broke it on day 4 of a 2.5 month overseas trip) I had to stop working for a while. Photography does require a certain level of wrist and arm fitness, due to putting up and down equipment and holding cameras. I usually work 7 days a week (and love it) so after two days of resting I was going insane. I am more functional now, but still not 100% normal. But luckily able to shoot!

Last week, the final year students at Photography Studies College visited my studio. I used to be a student at PSC, and this studio visit has become a yearly occurrence. Basically, the students come to see me, a “professional photographer” (note: hahahaha) in my natural environment. To make it more interesting, I set up a lighting demonstration or little fashion shoot. This year, I decided to shoot a marionette and puppet inspired editorial shoot.

I had an amazing team on board for this shoot, and was so excited that I came in the day before to set up the lighting. My model was Thea from Scene, I had Marlene Olsson doing hair and makeup, and my partner in crime Kat Menze styling both set and wardrobe.

We got in early, drank copious amounts of coffee, and knocked off two looks before the students even arrived. When they did, my team took a rest and I had to stand up in front of the beady-eyed students and talk about my career path. I tried to be funny- sometimes it worked. Then I let them all have a go with my medium format camera (most were too scared of breaking it to even look at it!) and we had a little q&a session. Then the students left, and it was back to work.

I had told Marlene to get creative with the hair and makeup, and do whatever she wanted or felt like. She did not disappoint! Thea’s hair transformed to a ball of curls and ringlets about three times its normal size, and her face looked like a beautiful doll, with shiny gold rims around the eyes, and delicate gold ‘tears.’

Kat also blew me away with the set. We have wanted to incorporate set styling into our collaborations, but have never seemed to get around to it. What started with just a brown backdrop with the end of the roll showing developed into a simple ‘attic/workshop’ inspired space that could be moved around and changed easily. We pulled in some boxes and random bits of panelling form around the studio, and Kat decorated with stuffing, tulle, and other lengths of fabric. But the biggest innovation for me was using an old messy drop sheet as the base on the floor to cover the bright white cyc. It not only added texture and interest, but it saved me hours retouching. Thanks drop sheet.

The shoot ran super quickly, with Kat matching outfits at lightning speed, and Thea just looking brilliant in every frame (sorting through and choosing even one to retouch has been both a nightmare and a dream because they all look amazing!) Davey (my assistant for the day) and I moved the lighting and set elements around to create different scenes for each look. I think this really helped to stop the series looking stale or repetitive.

We wrapped at 3:30, in time for Thea to get to her classes at uni (she is not only beautiful, but very smart!) I wasn’t even tired, despite having been up since 6, because the shoot had gone so well. I couldn’t wait to retouch some shots, but there was a whole studio to pack down, as well as bags of Lincraft stuffing and fabric petals to sweep up.

Keep an eye out for these shots in print soon!!

TEAM
PHOTOG || Steph Doran
MODEL || Thea A @ Scene
HMUA || Marlene Olsson
STYLIST || Kat Menze
ASSISTANT || Davey Biasi

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