Sandy

Another shoot from last weekend was with the lovely Sandy. Cheerful and bubbly and quick to laugh. You can tell by the smile in her eyes.

One thing I loved about this session was that she brought so many lovely clothes with her that she just never wears. 

You know, like that dress that doesn't quite fit but it's too good to throw away. 

Or that top that flatters your body so well but risks being too revealing. 

Or the fact you have three children under five and to wear nice clothes means having to clean nice clothes and it's easier to just not wear them in the first place. 

Or that beautiful dress you love but have never had a nice enough occasion to wear it to. I have a stunning red floor length dress that I bought in London. I've only ever worn it once - and that was to the Moulin Rouge in Paris. PARIS! Now that's hard to beat! When and where will I ever get a chance to wear that beautiful red dress again?? 

Well you know what? Those outfits you love but never wear? Bring them along to a shoot. Get dolled up with hair and makeup. Feel like a million dollars. Give that dress another chance to shine, then capture it in photos to keep forever. If I could step out of my body and photograph myself in that red dress, I would! *sigh*
A BIG thank you to Sandy for these photos. I loved working on them.

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Teagen

I am so in love with what I do!

This weekend I had the pleasure of meeting and shooting a young lady named Teagen, with Greek and Celtic ancestry and the most luscious head of hair you have ever seen. An aspiring art teacher, we found we had a few things in common (I'm an artist and a teacher!), including an appreciation for red hair and travel.

The shoot was awesome! Lighting was perfect (unlike my last shoot where it was such a cloudy day all my images came out very dark) and Teagen did a great job following direction. It's always funny when I ask my clients to pose in a really awkward way, but I always appreciate the trust between us that, despite the discomfort and awkwardness, it's all worth it in the end. 

There are a lot of black outfits in this shoot, which really brought out her fair skin, but she also brought a beautiful blue 'scarf' dress that had so much flow in it, I thought it would be perfect for a twirling sequence. I think we both felt a bit daggy shooting it, with me telling her to spin this way and that way and "laugh, we're laughing, haha" and her probably thinking "what on earth am I doing??" but I'm so happy with how they turned out. Her expression is genuine and the result is a series of images that I'm sure mum/the grandparents/future children will love. And hopefully she does too :)

I was telling Luke afterwards how strange it feels when my clients leave. I feel like, in the short time that we're together doing hair and makeup, we really open up about life and love and all sorts of personal things. Then we shoot, and then they're gone. I love that doing this gives me the opportunity to hear stories from women from all walks of life. It's a privilege to be offered a window into someone else's life story. But man it kinda leaves me feeling sad to see them leave!!

Anyway, thank you Teagen for these beautiful images and sharing your stories with me. You have an insight beyond your years and it was lovely to have met you!

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In the beginning...

I was going through some old photos and had a chuckle. My photography has evolved so much! Thank God! I look at where I was eight months ago and am amazed at the growth I've seen in myself in such a short time. I know I have a long way to go, but at least I can say, thankfully, that I am heading in the right direction. If I didn't believe it, I would quit right now.

I decided to get serious about photography in September last year. I had a studio set up in our spare room - black backdrop and a few soft boxes, with a white wall as an alternative to the black. I put up an ad online for anyone who might be interested in being my model. I had a good response!

Mary was the first to get in touch. She is pictured below. I can remember how nervous I felt preparing for this shoot. What if she hates my photos? What if it gets weird? What if she feels uncomfortable being shut away in a room and thinks I'm a pervert!!?? (Silly, I know, but it was my first time shooting a complete stranger and a HUGE privacy issue for me to overcome) I did not hesitate to tell her straight out: "I'm kinda packing my dacks right now." To which she laughed and replied, "Me too!"

So we shot away. I didn't know anything about directing, posing or general interaction with the client - nothing. Fortunately for me she was an aspiring model and did a bit of posing on her own. But the silence was so thick it was ridiculous. I just kept shooting. Mumbling and fumbling with equipment. I have about 10 pictures for each slight pose change resulting in 500 photos over three hours!! I laugh now... 500 photos of one person just standing there... Wow. It really didn't occur to me that I was allowed to tell her what to do and that, in fact, it was my obligation as the photographer to tell her how she would look her best in my photos. Didn't think of that.

I also want to make a point that just because someone has the newest fanciest equipment, doesn't automatically make them a better photographer. I am still using the same basic DSLR and lens. I have Photoshopped the images a tad, but even so, you can't change the fact that her elbow dominates in the first image. Her hair is all over her face. Elastic on her wrist? Her expression in the second photo is pretty lifeless and the catchlights cover her pupils. (These were some of my favourite photos!) All things I had control over but didn't change because I didn't know I could. Now I will tell you how I want you to look, right down to your fingers, THEN take the shot. It's good fun.

Well, we all have to start somewhere. I have learnt so much these past eight months and am so grateful to all the beautiful women who have offered their time for me to practise and learn, even through the awkward silences. Can't wait to see where I'll be a year from now.

Kirsten

Last week I had the opportunity to practise more natural light photography with the lovely Kirsten. Even after a big night out she looked radiant and ready for some serious shooting. She arrived with a BIG suitcase full of clothes, shoes and accessories, and if there were ever a contest of who's brought the most clothing to a shoot, she'd win hands down! We picked a variety of colours and styles and created the following images. She did an amazing job, even if she felt a bit strange at times with the posing ("More booty Kirsten!" ;). 

It was so overcast outside, which meant the light was well-diffused with very little need to soften it further. It also meant however that as it got later in the day, the images became darker. I refused to up my ISO because I absolutely hate noise and try to avoid it when I can. The result (especially in the black backdrop images) creates a moody scene where her eyes and face pop out of the image, framed by soft dark curls.

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I was also very pleased to trial Alienskin-Exposure 4 with Kirsten's photos. All the pictures in this post have been modified using Exposure 4. It's a very cool plugin if you're after actions that mimic real film, from vintage film to light leaks to dark room effects. I personally love the vintage black and white films, they are amazing. There are dozens of presets, each of which can be modified, and even further so by adjusting layer opacity in Photoshop. You can trial it for 15 days so give it a try. I'm thinking of buying and seeing how my photos of Europe turn out :)

Left: Kodak Ektar 100 Holga 120 Right: Agfacolor Neu Dust & Scratches

Mother's Day

I love boudoir, but these past few weeks I have been busy learning about different styles and techniques to apply in my studio. In particular, natural light glamour portraiture. Now, when most people hear the words 'glamour photography' they think of this:

Epic. Although I wouldn't mind knowing how to get such big hair.

But some may be surprised to know it has evolved over the years. One woman in particular has completely revolutionised this particular genre: Sue Bryce. This woman is an absolute inspiration, not only to photographers but to anyone thinking of starting a business. She does more than address business, marketing, advertising, technique, ideas ideas and more ideas in her workshops, but also the personal obstacles holding anyone back from valuing themselves and just getting out there and getting started. She has become a household name (at least in this household). Luke has probably heard her name mentioned more than members of my own family (who I love xxxxooxx!!!!)

I have recently completed a 28 day challenge with Sue and will discuss more in a future post, because there is waaaay too much to go over in this little post, and seriously she has completely changed my whole mindset. So for now, rather than talk about it, I will show you my latest work, after watching 28 Days with Sue Bryce. (Be kind I'm still learning :)

So I needed someone to apply all this newfound knowledge on. And as much as I love practising on Luke, he wasn't all that keen on getting dolled up for a glamour shoot.

So that's when I heard from Teagan! I had the pleasure of meeting and shooting her the day before Mother's Day. Being a mother herself, it was a lovely way to celebrate motherhood and for her to take a little break, have her hair and makeup done and get photographed. Like a lot of mothers, she's not one to indulge or pamper herself often. This is normal when a mother puts her family first. She often comes last. And a photo shoot is probably out of the question when there are mouths to feed, bills to pay and a hundred other things to do. So I really enjoyed offering something a little different to this beautiful woman: an opportunity for a hard-working mum to feel a little bit glamorous for a day, and photos to treasure forever.

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Changes

I've been changing a few things. Mainly my mind. Boudoir or glam portraiture? Artificial or natural light? Photography or teaching? Melbourne or Sydney? That's the problem with choice: choosing!! 

I have set up a studio in my home. We have a spare bedroom which I have blacked out for my boudoir studio. I have a few soft boxes that I like to work with because of the soft light (that's right, soft boxes create soft light dontchaknow) they create, which also give me the ability to control where light falls. It's pretty basic gear with very basic props (namely one drumming stool).

Then I get all inspired by natural light images and it's like, well I just spent all that money on my blacked out studio (back drop, lights, stands, not to mention all the boudoir accessories) when all this time I could've just used free light from the sun.

(Reading this over, there is nothing stopping me from shooting boudoir in natural light. I just invested a lot of time and money into a blacked out studio. I think I'm having a bit of a rant to be honest.)

So then I start to think have I made a mistake? 'Behind The Veil' is a play on what lies beneath the bridal veil. I wanted to target women who wanted to gift the men in their lives with something a little bit more risqué, revealing what lay 'behind the veil' and hence the whole boudoir thing. And now I'm thinking 'Behind the veil' probably doesn't suit, say a family portrait studio, for example. What if I decide to shoot babies one day, or young children? I'm hoping I haven't limited myself. But then I'm torn because my own name is impossible to pronounce. Grr! (That said, the other day I had a postal delivery from a young man who pronounced my name perfectly and I nearly cried. He was from Serbia - yay for Serbians!)

All I know is that I want to photograph women. You can ask anyone - family, friends, colleagues, old classmates - and they will tell you that I am a doodler. I love to draw. My books are full of sketches, but not just mindless scribbles; they're mainly girls. I don't know why, I'm just drawn to a woman's beauty, and I see it everywhere. I'm especially drawn to eyes. My books are full of eyes. If I find an old school book I will show you. It's kinda freaky. 

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Not a school book and not my best work but you get the idea. Eyes everywhere. This is where I contemplate reconsidering boudoir photography. Boudoir tends to be more body focused, and whilst I'm happy to do that, I think I'd rather spend my time editing faces and eyes than bums and boobs. It just makes sense!

Anyway, what a privilege it would be to capture that? To capture women the way I see them? And for them to be able to see themselves the way I see them? Perhaps there's no need to sweat the small stuff, like what type of lighting I use or where I choose to work. If I can make a woman feel beautiful, what else really matters?  

So I was thinking of perhaps changing my whole 'look' or brand, if you will. As you can see from the layout of this blog and also my website, I tend to lean more towards dark tones, mainly because of my darker images. But I am loving natural light! So below is just something I played around with, just to see. Different name too, which hopefully appeals to a wider market. I'm liking the white and the simplicity of the layout. What do you think?

She is a body of work

Last week I had the pleasure of shooting the lovely Miss W. She wanted some boudoir images for her boyfriend and has been kind enough to allow me to share some of those pictures with you.

The awesome thing about this girl, apart from being absolutely lovely, is that she is a body builder! I admire anyone who has the sheer determination, willpower and self-discipline to sculpt their body to how they want it to look, especially at a competitive level. I'm also starting to realise that physical strength in women is so important. I think we tend to focus so much on losing weight, being skinny, dieting, dropping a dress size, etc. etc. etc.... But how often do we strive towards having a strong body?

I tagged along to my boyfriend's personal training session one time, and somehow got talked into trying out some of the equipment. Despite my protests (No, no, thank you, I'm perfectly fine just sitting here on this yoga ball thing, watching him suffer and sweat it out. Please carry on. Oh alright then.) I started doing a few light reps. Oh the cracks in my back and shoulders as they strained under the (light) weights and started to actually work. 

After my light workout there was no pain, only a tingly warmth in my muscles. I felt great! I felt stronger. I believe that is what we should work towards when we drag ourselves to the gym at 5 in the morning, rather than focussing on losing x kilos and reaching an 'ideal' weight, etc. Each person is different. I believe when you respect your body and take care of it, give it the exercise and nourishment it needs, it's going to look good anyway. Not to mention the confidence that shines from within. 

Anyway, I massively digress! Back to my client. If you've got it, flaunt it. Being in such great shape, it wasn't hard to create stunning images of Miss W, playing with soft lighting and shadows to highlight her amazing figure. Here are some of my favourites.