Shadow Play @ Testing Grounds

Melbourne’s winter light is one of my favourite things to experiment with when it comes to model test shoots. Having such short days, and having the sun at such a low position in the sky really allows you to play with light and shadow. There is also a kind of haze that falls upon the city, giving everything a glow that is hard to put into words. You also don’t have to wait as long for the golden hour.

The downside is, its heckin’ cold!

It’s been a while since I tested with a female model, so I was excited to shoot with Annabelle Curtain from GTR. I absolutely went to town on the styling, sourcing lots of shiny things, pinks, skirts, and metallics- things that just aren’t in the menswear ranges this season. I wanted to shoot at Testing Grounds in Southbank, because I walk past it on an almost daily basis, but had never stepped foot inside. I love the textures of the concrete in there, as well as the pink and mint colour palette. I knew there were also lots of interesting areas and different pockets of texture to work with.

It had rained the day before, so the ground was still wet. This also added some reflection to a few shots, which I really loved. I was so excited to shoot a few jackets that I got from Nana Judy- nothing is better in a photo shoot than an overdose of sequins. Nothing.

I think the garments went really well with the location, as I had a rough colour palette in mind when I was sourcing everything. Annabelle was great to work with too. She took direction well, and didn’t complain about the winter cold at all, despite having the beginnings of a cold. What a trooper.

Thanks for a fun shoot Belle! x

 

Ichiko | 衣知子

I can’t believe I haven’t blogged this yet! Here are some shots I took of Ichiko in Tokyo last year. Ichiko is signed with Folio Management in Azabujuban, and she was great fun to work with! We shot in the streets surrounding the agency office, exploring the different textures that Tokyo’s suburban landscape has to offer.

お昨年、私は衣知子さんの写真を撮りました。衣知子さんはフォリオ マネジメントのモデルです。写真撮影とても楽しかったです。会社の近くところに撮りました。私たちは日本語だけが話しました。ちょっとチャレンジでしたけど良かった。どうもありがとう衣知子さん！！

We conducted the whole shoot in Japanese, and Ichiko was really easy to photograph. She didn’t need any warming up and was able to give off a range of expressions with ease. She also moved so well, creating great shaped with her body. I have to say I was really jealous of her hair- why can’t my hair grow that long!

We shot for about an hour before returning to the warmth of the Folio office. I love shooting in Tokyo and never tire of the landscape. I just feel very inspired by what is around me- probably because it isn’t the same as Melbourne. The light in Japan is also different; there is just something about it that excites me visually. On the day that Ichiko and I worked together, it was overcast and kind of dull, but that didn’t stop us.

Thank you so much Ichiko for being an amazing model <3

Ichiko is represented by Folio Management Tokyo

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.

 

 

 

Adventures in Shiba Park

After testing with some of the girls from Folio in Tokyo, I came back to the office to pack up and say goodbye. In the meantime, a young male model had dropped in and was chatting to the office staff. He explained that he was looking to do some testing, so I asked if he wanted to do a shoot the following day. He was thrilled, and so we organised to meet back at the office the next day.

Ty was such a friendly guy, and was in Tokyo to work. He usualy resides in Hawaii, so I had lots of questions to ask him about the differences in living in the two locations.

We decided to shoot in Shiba Park, which is near Tokyo Tower and not too far from the office. This time, it was just myself and Ty with no other staff. There were so many spots to shoot in- shrines, parks, streets- so we just walked around and every so often I asked Ty to stop in a patch of light, or lean against a random wall.

Ty’s folio had a lot of smiling, youthful shots, so I wanted to capture some more serious faces and different expressions. He took direction really well, and was so easy to get along with. He was also very comfortable in front of the camera and moved well.

We shot for only about an hour, but I got so many great shots, it was hard to choose which ones to retouch. Thanks Ty! Looking forward to shooting again next time I’m in Tokyo! :)

And a couple of my shots made it onto Ty’s comp card…

The Boy Next Door

I have been shooting a lot of tests lately, which has been brilliant for the soul! February has been off to a crazy crazy start, filled with corporates, retouching, teaching and events, so its been really nice to be able to shoot loosely and fluidly as well.

On Tuesday I worked with Thomas, who has newly been signed with Scene Model Management. This was his first studio shoot, and I was really impressed with how good he was! Having only ‘officially’ become a model a few days before, Tom was a little unsure at first, but he quickly warmed up and was nailing ‘the look’ in no time.

The beauty of working with fresh faces is that they don’t have a lot (if any) of images in their books yet, so there is a lot of creative freedom. I initially thought that Tom would look great with quite strong, structured images- bold posing, intense expressions, and well cut garments. This is the mood board that I made for the shoot…

We got started with studio lights, with a white shirt and some dark pants. It was when Tom put on the jacket that he started to stand more comfortably, and I noticed that he seemed to move better when he was feeling more comfortable. The next look, we went for overalls with no shirt underneath.

And bang!

Instant comfort zone.

From there, the shoot changed direction totally from the mood board. Because it was a test, it was totally fine for it to evolve and move fluidly, and I felt that the look and feel that we developed really worked for Thomas.

We also went outside, to my favourite ‘wasteland’ looking location. Unfortunately this place is going to be built up soon, so I’m trying to do as many tests there as I can whilst I can still get in. I love the metal structure and the random plants growing everywhere.

This is one of my favourite from the shoot, but I was torn between the left and the right image. Which one do you prefer?

Thomas was fabulous to work with, and a great guy too. He took on direction well, and I think he is going to be a big name in the industry soon!