View through my Third Eye by Katriena Emmanuel

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR - 2012!

2012-01-23T00:26:00.000-08:00

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!!

It's meant to be the Year of the Water Dragon according to the Chinese Calendar, with the new year beginning on Monday 23 January, 2012.

I love second chances, for me having the Chinese New Year after the 1 January, is like getting a second chance to begin your year and turn around your luck, hopefully.

So here is a little photo I thought appropriate to ring in Chinese New Year, its from a fun little shoot I did last week with one of the coolest teams, Gemma Elaine of http://www.embellishedmakeup.com.au/ and international model, Paige Craswell, who's currently back in Australia after her stint in Asia.

Will post on website soon for better pixel quality.

I dedicate this photo to Gemma's burned hands, poor thing burned them while lighting the starlights for the shoot & she didn't stop for it - she's my hero. So glad I wasn't the one lighting them and holding them, cause I'm such a wuss sometimes.

PS, can you just guess what song I was editing this photo to? Fireworks by Katy Perry was only too appropriate! hahaha

Tips for Organising a Fashion Shoot

2012-01-16T20:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, so over the past 2 and half years I've worked with literally hundreds of people, probably taken thousands of photos and from every one of them I've learned something new. So at the beginning of the year I started to think about summarising what I thought, in my experience, were key elements needed for organising a fashion photoshoot.

Some will argue that their style lends itself to spontaneity and by planning or conceptualising a shoot, would remove the spontaneity, the vibe or emotion contained within the images. But in my opinion, some amount of planning is required, whether its from charging up your batteries & packing your bags to go about shooting something spontaneous, to coordinating with a third party on a time or place to meet to shoot. That's called planning and at the same time I have opened myself to the fact that despite as much planning and organising that goes into a shoot, that the unexpected is always expected. Whether its unco-operative weather elements, someone failing to show up on the day, a shoe busting, running late and of course, when all the elements magically line up and all the personalities on the day hit it off and the shoot goes off on a tangent, in a different direction to the original idea and yes you can still create spontaneous magic despite having planned a shoot down to the last full stop.

So here are some of my thoughts in what goes into making a successful fashion shoot. Notice I have specified the nature of the shoot as being "fashion" related, to differentiate from portrait, wedding or any other kind.

1 ORGANISATION

As mentioned before, not everyone will agree that a fashion shoot has to be organised to the very last detail, that it can just evolve from something organic. However, that said, personally, I like some form of organisation, as I feel more confident about what is expected of me on the day, even if its just a vague guideline that I can build upon & work towards. For me it all begins with a single idea for there to be evolution. And of course, there will be shoots in which a client has certain expectations such as the budget, the time schedule, casting of the model to suit the brand or purpose of the shoot, and ultimately the expectant result or outcome of the shoot - the images.....the product of all the hardwork culminated. And you will be expected to meet the client's expectations, so probably best to be able to work within the confines of "organisation".

For me, the easiest method when I am personally organising or heading a shoot, is the setting up of a mood board, or what some refer to as a story board. Anyone who has worked with me on one of my personal projects, can vouch for the detail that goes into my mood boards. I am constantly researching and compiling all into a mood board can sometimes take me hours to lay out.

So at this stage, you may be asking, what are the basics that go into a mood board. Basically, a mood board sets out the storyline of the shoot, kinda like a synopsis if you may. Structurally, everyone may lay theirs out differently, but usually I like to set out each person's role in the team, including their contact details, the location, a time sheet or schedule of the times designated to each task, the brief which is a paragraph or two explaining the objective of the shoot, the purpose (whether it be a look book, campaign, beauty or editorial), the narrative of the shoot and a description of the artistic direction. Following this outline, I'll then itemise any specific guidelines for the artistic direction of the makeup, hair, wardrobe styling, model's/ character's direction (emotion & posture) inclusive of reference photos I may find that closely depict the vision.

An essential aspect of organising any shoot, is giving substantial notice to all parties of the details, such as time, place etc. Personally, following initial contact with everyone on the basics of the shoot such as date, time, and location. I then like to provide the mood board between one or two weeks before the shoot date, so everyone has the specifics and have had a chance to peruse it and get the overall expectation of the shoot.

In contrast, I've been involved in shoots organised by other third parties, whereby days before a shoot, nobody has a clue what the shoot is about, what start time or where is the location and in fact, only the night before I'd receive an email or worse yet a facebook message with the details. The danger is not only in the late notification, but the method of delivery. Leaving it to last minute, I would not personally risk notification by email or facebook message as there is no guarantee the person would have been online the night before or even the morning of, to read it. My suggestion if leaving it to the last minute, is to call the person or if you must, text message them with the details, but calling is best as that way you can guarantee they have received the details from you.

2 COMMUNICATION

Another crucial element to having a successful photoshoot outcome is COMMUNICATION. Sometimes personalities will clash but its important to always maintain professionalism, focusing on the end goal and looking past personal differences in such situations.

Communicating ideas is not always easy for everyone. Some may express it in words, others use reference images and some will draw or sketch the concept or use a combination of all methods. As mentioned previously, mood boarding or story boarding is one of my preferred methods of communicating before the shoot. However, you prefer to communicate the idea/ concept, it is also important that you keep an open mind and get feedback or input from the other parties involved, after all everyone is specialised in their particular areas and you sometimes you may not understand the feasibility of doing something without getting the opinion/ advice from lets say the makeup artist or the photographer etc. For instance, find out how long the hairstylist needs to create that particular look, so you can factor that into the time on the day, or whether the model cast has suitable hair or facial features to carry the particular look you envisioned. You show the photographer a reference picture of what or houw you want the shoot to be executed, check with the photographer on what they need to execute it, for example, do they need natural light, a particular time of day that is best suited to shooting, a studio, a particular prop, fabric or shiny jewellry etc etc. Once you know and understand what the photographer needs, then they can communicate that to the stylist as well who may also be required to help source appropriate accessories, props, or location scout.

Likewise be clear on the words or terminology you use to describe things. For instance, you may brief the photographer that you want the overall "edgy" and "urban" look and then tell the stylist that the shoot is "punk rock". Firstly, understand the terminology that is used in fashion and styling to some degree and then express the idea coherently to all parties, don't express it one way to one person and then describe it a different way to another team member. That's when it all gets muddled and confusing.

3 HAVE ALL THE CONTACT INFORMATION

Sounds silly, me highlighting this as a key tip, you may think its a given in organising a shoot, but you'd be surprised how many people organising a shoot forget to ask for direct contact details of all parties involved. Then comes the day of the shoot and someone is either running late or a no show and nobody has heard from the person nor has their contact details to speak to them urgently. Contacting them via Facebook, Twitter, Model Mayhem or whatever or even via email is not sufficient for when you need to contact a person instantly. So part of being organised, is obtaining everyone's contact details as mobile, email or if you have to pick up someone (their address details).

4 COURTESY

Well the expression goes "common courtesy" ain't so common after all. And I've seen first hand this happen all to often, not only in photoshoots, but in every day life. I have either been waiting for people to arrive at a location they told me to be at for a particular time and they don't show up until 2 hours later with not so much as a phone call or text message in this day when everyone seems to be plugged into their mobile phones. In fact, in that instance, I had to call them after giving them an hour to only be provided with a lame excuse that they were running late because of so and so.... I wondered how long before they would have contacted me to tell me that, if I had not contacted them after an hour. I thought to myself "Thanks for letting me know cause you know I'm a Psychic and I can read your mind.

I'd like to stress we are not mind readers nor do we all own our very own crystal ball. Call or text the person in charge of the shoot or at least any member you can get hold of to let them know you are running late, or just not going to show up. Time is precious on shoots, don't waste other people's time. If they at least know you're going to be late, they could organise to do something else while they wait on your arrival. It's called TIME MANAGEMENT.

If you are not going to attend a shoot, where possible, at least have the decency to notify someone on the team. Emergencies do happen and while our crystal ball might me out of service, it would be nice if you can take a minute to call and advise of your non-attendance. Remember, this industry is a lot smaller than you think, especially with social media and word gets out and reputations are easily created in people's minds if this is the first or last impression you leave with people. If you possibly know you can't attend a shoot in advance, notify the team leader as soon as possible to give them a choice at least to either postpone the shoot or re-cast someone else for the task.

If you weren't ever planning on making it to the shoot, then simply DON'T MAKE PROMISES YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T OR AREN'T GOING TO KEEP. People will quickly get tired of you being a "time waister" and label you "unreliable" and such is the nature of the business. You don't know who's friends with who and who's gonna talk about you next.

5 HYDRATION & SUSTANCE

Even on paid jobs, there is often food and drink catered but I think the same should also be provided on trade based shoots, after all who ever is organising and leading the shoot, should at least look after the people recruited for their time, skills and tools of the trade for free with at least some nibblies and water, if take-away can't be organised on the shoe string budget. Shoots can unpredictably go longer than a few hours and yes, contrary to popular belief, MODELS DO EAT FOOD and if you'd especially like that your model performs on the day, at least hydrate him/her and nourish them with some nibblies to give them energy.

Personally, its a rule of my own, that when I organise personal projects of my own, it's my way of appreciating and thanking everyone involved with some nibblies, finger food and drinks and I'll usually check with everyone before the shoot on whether they have any particular dietry requirements to hopefully cater for them specially. Maybe that's just my Caribbean hospitality coming through but if this is not your way of doing things, then at least notify the team members to bring their own food and drink on the shoot, so they don't turn up to a remote location with no food packed & nothing in close proximity.

Everyone is different and works differently, some will provide snacks and drinks, others will give you a parting trinket or gift as their way of saying thank you for their contribution. And I think its always nice when you feel appreciated for your time and efforts especially when there is no monetary benefit. If you do that, you won't ever have a problem finding people wanting to collaborate with youon your personal projects. But heck that is just me, its not any mandatory "rule" that you must feed and water your team.

6 CASTING THE CREATIVE TEAM

Over the years I've learned patience in executing my personal photoshoot projects/ concepts and not just settling for everyone and anyone who is available because if you want to create anything with a particular vision, it takes the assembly of the right team to realise it. You'll discover this applies particularly to commissioned magazine editorials and client based shoots.
It's not simply casting the right model suited to the brief, but having the confidence in the abilities of the photographer to get the job done, or the makeup artist, the stylist or hairstylist. If you've not worked with the person before, ask to see samples of their portfolio in order to make a judgement on whether they can achieve what you envision. I've learned even a portfolio of work can be deceiving of someone's abilities, as some creatives go to the extent of "poaching" other people's images claiming it as their work or they've worked with some "amazing retouchers" and the quality of their work is all smoking mirrors.

So my advice is cast the team of creatives you know can guarantee you the job well done, meets the brief or otherwise hold off on execution until you've assembled the team you want, rather than settling for someone you know nothing about or feel "ify" about testing their skills on a big project. That's what testing is all about right? Experimenting with a model, or a makeup artist etc to determine later on if they'd be suited to a project down the track. It's better to wait and postpone and get it right the first time, than just doing it "for the sake of getting it "done & dusted" and it falls below expectations and everyone involved is disappointed in the outcome.

7 AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST - ATTENTION TO DETAIL

Lately, when someone tells me "Awww you can fix that in photoshop right" it makes me cringe and I want to scream "No! I'd rather correct now if we can, than have to spend hours tampering with it in photoshop and potentially compromising the pixel quality of the image". Sure, at the beginning when I was learning more about photography and photoshop, I was careless myself and would learn to fix my mistakes in photoshop, which I guess in hindsight was a good way at learning how to use photoshop by taking bad photos & trying to turn them into something better. But now with more experience and having heard so many times from other photographers "GET IT RIGHT IN CAMERA FIRST" that it saves you heaps of work in post processing and that means time, quality and money in this industry.

Attention to detail doesn't just pertain to the photographers, to ensure all the other elements in the scene are in order such as the hair falling in place, no fly aways, no stuck lashes or misbehaving eyebrows, bra straps showing, chipped nail polish and the clothes falling how they are meant to be worn. It takes a team to get all these elements right in the first place and the photographer's job to compose and capture it all. From the model's fingers to his/her toes, everything means something and so should be considered in the final production. The onus mainly falls on the photographer to see through the view finder that all the elements in the composition in order, in addition to having all the camera & lighting elements just right. But it also helps when the stylist is at hand to cast a second eye, as the stylist probably gets the whole picture more than anyone, or at least pays more attention to the wardrobe and accessories and how they feature. I like to involve everyone, so I want the haristylist to jump in and fix the hair or the makeup artist to stop me and say, "Wait, let me touch up the lips, or put a coat of fresh nail polish".

I confess, in my early days, I'd be a quick shooters, just snapping sometimes (unconsciously is probably best way to describe it) and my only real focus would be on what the model was doing, her face and the composition of the background. Now I take fewer shots, cause I take more time in getting it right in camera and getting the few shots I need, unless we're having so much fun we lose control or its for a client that I'd spend more time giving them a variety of takes on the model, from which to choose.

Attention to detail doesn't just apply to the composing of the image by the photographer, but also the stylist or makeup artist as previously explained. From the choice of nail polish coordinating with the makeup if its a beauty shoot, to hair bands on wrists or stud earings forgotten to be removed from the model, to the layout of the props in the scenery.

EVERYTHING MATTERS AND EVER THING MAKES AN IMPACT ON GETTING IT RIGHT OR MISSING THE MARK ALTOGETHER!

This is why it takes a "creative team" to create beautiful images with impact, its true the photographer might be the glue-factor in pulling together all the elements but it takes the passion, support, communication and creative flare of the whole team to produce a MASTERPIECE!

Sorry about the very lengthy read, some of it you could say - were things I had to get off my chest, but I hope it was helpful or reminded you of little aspects to keep in mind for when organising your next photoshoot.

Word Pictures to inspire for 2012

2012-01-02T21:02:00.000-08:00

Have been saving away picture quotes I find all over the net, to compile into this one big blog full of words of inspiration (with a few cute pics thrown into the mix). Thought what's a more appropriate time to share than the beginning of a new year. Here's to 2012! Make it your year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO MY READERS, FRIENDS, FAMILY & CO-COLLABORTORS!

This is dedicated to you and me!

Behind the Scenes of Le Jardin Secret editorial shoot

2011-12-13T20:27:00.000-08:00

So recently I posted the published photos of the fashion editorial titled "Le Jardrin Secret" which got featured in Dutch magazine, f.ART (Yes you read correctly!, pretty sure the english word "fart" is not the same translated in Dutch). Its actually a magazine dedicated to fashion and art.

Anyway, pretty sure contrary to the French title "Le Jardin Secret" (The Secret Garden) that its no secret for the location of this shoot - yes! you guess it - it was the Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens in Brisbane. This shoot met with some delays, as the original date we all set out to shoot very early one morning, we got to Mt Cootha and the rain clouds had followed us there, that we had to pack up and go and re-schedule for two weeks time. I think we were all a bit devastated the first time around, as we all got up bright and early and made the trek to the Botanical Gardens, only to be let down by the pouring rain. We finally shot it the second time around in the first week of Spring, how appropriate I thought.

Sheri applying makeup to Eliza for the first look

Sheri Vegas, the makeup artist, was instrumental in organising this shoot, she briefed us on her inspiration for the makeup - makeup that was inspired by the texture, lines, colour and blending of shades of particular plants which she drew her inspiration in designing her face charts. They were inspired mainly by the rose, the fern and the orchid. She wanted the models submerged in a natural habitat and the wardrobe styling to also reflect on another level, the texture, patterns, shape, flow and colour of the flowers and plants she drew inspiration from. It was Briana's job, as the stylist, to put together this floaty, frilly and sometimes colourful wardrobe to compliment the colours of the makeup. While I was tasked with the job of framing all the looks against the beautiful backdrops of the diverse natural enviroment established in the Botanical Gardens and hopefully create a dreamy atmosphere that takes you beyond the confines of the Gardens.

All shots were taken just using natural available light and sometimes the help of a reflector.

Both Sheri and Megan working on Eliza at the same time

Me shooting Eliza up the tree

To the say the least, it was a long day, with 6 wardrobe changes, two models, each sporting a new makeup and hairstyle - so Sheri and Megan were constantly busy turning over the models to me to shoot alongside Briana with her sharp eye for styling detail.

Sheri applying Eliza's last look for the day

We're off to find a pretty spot to shoot Eliza's last look

It was a collaborative project, with each of us communicating easily and sharing ideas on how to put together the overall look of the editorial. The models on the other hand, made my job VERY HARD!!! Eliza and Bridget gave us so much variety, they were amazing to photograph, getting just as excited as us in the process of modelling the clothes against such beautiful gardens. Eliza, probably the most enthusiatic when she jumped at my suggestion to drape herself over a hedge and then when we spotted this beautiful tree, she was like "I can climb that", I think we were all at first startled and we look to Eliza's Mum and she's like "She does this all the time, put nothing past her" and then we all unanimously were like, go for it then! Funny part though, was Eliza had not exactly worked out the coming down part of the tree, and there we were yelling for random male strangers to come help her down and by the time help came, Eliza managed to find a way down the tree safely, all the while carefully protecting the garment.

Get in there Eliza and hide amongst the bushes!

Unfortunately, the only behind the scenes shots we had from the day were all of Eliza, as her Mom was behind the scenes with us, snapping shots with her mobile. Have to say thankfully we had Eliza's Mom to take some snaps behind the scenes, wish we had done the same for when Bridget was being photographed by me, as often on my shoots, I hardly remember myself to take some behind the scenes.

So thank you to Mrs Hall for the lovely behind the scene shots.

I love this shot Eliza's Mum took of her, on their drive back home, Eliza obviously exhausted from climbing trees, jumping in bushes and hoping onto rocks in the pond alongside some bearded dragons.

Finally, narrowing down shots to edit for the collection, was my hardest job, as I said before, the models gave soooo much variety and the backdrops all so beautiful, in the end I like narrowed it down to 32 shots which I've edited and there are still more photos that are calling out to me to do.

So here are the shots that were chosen for f.ART's publication

And here are some other shots I couldn't resist.

Eliza lying across a hedge, pretty sure the gardeners would have been pissed off if they say us squashing their plants

thanks for checking it out / reading my blog

And GO TEAM!

The Making of.....The Power of Faith

2011-12-01T20:44:00.000-08:00

Here is a look at some of the behind the scenes photos and the making of my latest beauty editorial series "The Power of Faith".

THE CONCEPT

Well firstly, the theme or concept had come about for a submission to a magazine, who's next issue theme was "Power" and open to how you'd interpret that theme in the context of fashion and beauty. As with most of my ideas for shoots, they come to me while I'm walking my dog through some nearby bush areas. It was one day while walking my dog, I was thinking of the theme and how would I interpret it, usually whatever first comes to my mind I ignore as no doubt, that is the first thing that would come to mind to everyone else. How to interpret POWER - wealth, lust, sex, politics, beauty, would all spring to mind, if considering it in a fashion context in showcasing clothing and beauty. Then I thought, politics and religion often went hand in hand and I started thinking of how a belief system can be so powerful in controlling our minds, to the point in history, we've had suicide bombers, holy wars, genocides, all because we disagreed with a particular group's belief system. Faith has a power to make you believe in the impossible and gives you hope, so I started considering about how I could represent the Power of Faith in a context that could translate into fashion without being "too cultural".

I thought I could represent the different faiths in a beauty series, incorporating mainstream beauty looks but styling them in a way, that each faith is clearly defined and set apart from the other, but at the same time there is a coherency, a similarity between the faiths I chose to represent. That was the next thing, which faiths to choose to identify with, well, it was easier than first imagined, as I walked through some bush areas with my dog, I started noticing vines hanging from trees, fallen brown leaves, thorns, miniature pine cones underneath some local firs and started envisioning using these raw materials, and how I could potentially use them to represent a particular faith. So that is how I ended up choosing the faiths I chose to represent in the end, it was purely logisitical in terms of what I could make from these natural sources.

Above pic - Carolina applying makeup for the first look - Buddhist)

And I wanted of course to give a unique interpretation to major world religion or faiths, it all stemed from "the Tree of Life", taking different organic aspects of a tree, such as the bark, the leaves, the vine with thorns, the seeds or pine cones, and the seed pods and using these organic materials I hoped to capture or create an identifiable look or aspect of that faith. I thought by using organic materials I would also be able to represent on a deeper level, how all faiths or religions originate from the same principle or source of life (hence tree of life being my Source) that despite their differences I can represent the core similarities they have, like the saying "cut from the same cloth". I also wanted to continue the earthy and textural styling with the accessories that I made from different plant matter, to also transfer into the wardrobe worn by the model.

THE PREPARATION

So I started working on making the different headpieces, neckpieces etc to be worn by the model and spray painted using 3 different colours an old cardboard box that a tv came in, to use as my background to shoot against, as I wanted to give a painterly effect in the background of the photos, like an old fresco. Then I started going through my closet to find pieces that I could use in the styling that would compliment the various organic pieces I constructed using a glue gun. Altogether it took me over a period of two weeks to collect the materials (each time I'd walk my dog, I'd be collecting pine cones, leaves etc) and construct them and spray paint the background.

Above pic: a snapshot of the individual pieces I made (missing is the pope like headpiece made from tree bark)

Above pic: The tv cardboard box I spray painted in three colours (black, gold and copper) to use as the backdrop.

Then the week before the shoot, I did a test shoot with myself, wearing the clothing pieces and pairing them off with the head or neck wear, and shot against the painted cardboard background, in order to (1) test out the lighting set up I'd use that would best produce the result I wanted; (2) to see how the clothing and headpieces photographed in studio light and against the painted background; and (3) to try on different clothing to see which matched best with the accessories.

In the end, I kept my lighting simple (which I usually do, mostly preferring to shoot with one light source) - using a soft box placed directly in front of the model (butterfly lighting set up) which allowed for some spill onto the background, keeping my model centrally lit and the main focus of the composition.

THE MAKEUP AND HAIR

After making the headpieces etc, I now had something to show the team and I put together a mood board with some sketches and inspiration photos I liked for makeup and hair and got some feedback from the makeup artist and hairstylist for the shoot, Carolina Rojas.

Above Pic - Carolina experimenting with drawing different "tikas" or as some like to call it the "Third Eye"
I wanted the choice of makeup to still be "fashionable" and at the same time identify with the culture of the particular faith. On the day itself, we changed or tweaked some of the ideas, like for instance, I initially had wanted "Christianity" (represented by the crown of thorns), to have this dishevelled hair, dark eyes and nude lips, and Carolina suggested, what about changing the lips to blood red to symbolise the blood of Christ. So we shot both looks and in the end we all fell in love with the red lips.

Above Pic - Carolina applying the makeup to Abbie - Got to have us some lollies for quick sugar fixes.

Above Pic - "oooooh!!" Carolina excited by the look of the red lip (we changed the original brief of a nude lip to blood red lips)

THE MUSE

Well, what can I say about Abbie Heath, recruited by Busy Models and a future face on Viviens modelling board. Abbie was a dream and the perfect muse for this shoot!. Carolina and I were like two kids in a toy store with Abbie, we both couldn't stop gushing compliments her way, as we both had this strong conviction that we were witnessing the birth of the next big modelling export of Australia. I swear, I get goosebumps everytime I talk about Abbie, we all had this gut feeling inside of us, that one day we'd all be able to say we'd worked with Abbie Heath when she just started out. There is no question in my mind that Abbie is a natural born model and destined for greatness.

Above Pic - a quick portrait of Abbie at the end of the shoot
This was only Abbie's third photoshoot and I literally had to do nothing, give no direction whatsoever to her, she just moved gracefully from pose to pose, giving me a range of expressions and poses. It made me more convinced that some people are just born with it, and it just comes naturally to them. But having said that, Abbie still works hard, she does her homework, she studies the top models in their editorials, observes how they work their angles and she has a real drive and passion for modelling and acting. She is so humble too and I hope she stays as grounded as she is. She'd even ask me just before shooting a particular look, what sort of emotion or story I had for the particular "faith", she was so vested in it. It just proved to me how dedicated and passionate she is about working in the industry.

THE END RESULT

Well it was a bloody long day that's for sure! With a 9am start, 5 different hair and makeup looks on one model - we didn't wrap up until close to 5.30pm and we were all FLAT EXHAUSTED by the end of it. But with an amazing and dedicated team, I felt we translated the initial vision into reality and I can't thank Carolina and Abbie enough for their collaboration and the contributions they made in their own special ways to this personal project of mine which is just as much theirs as it is mine.

In the end, we got some great publicity from the shoot, first run as an exclusive on Touch Puppet http://www.touchpuppet.com/2011/11/16/power-of-faith-by-katriena-emmanuel-for-touchpuppet/, then also picked up by other sites such as Trend Hunter (http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/power-of-faith ), Anne of Carversville ( http://www.anneofcarversville.com/style-photos/2011/11/22/abbie-heath-katriena-emmanuel-power-of-faith.html ) and on some private blogs.

So here are some of the final pics.....

The Team:
Makeup Artist & Hairstylist - Carolina Rojas
Model - Abbie Heath @ Busy Models & Viviens
Artistic Direction, Stylist & Photographer - Katriena Emmanuel

ILLUSTRATION EN VOGUE

2011-11-15T22:27:00.000-08:00

Last month I had the pleasure of collaborating with a local illustrator/ visual artist from Brisbane, Cynthia Howard ( http://www.cynthia-howard.com/ ) for a fashion meets photography meets illustration for her project in the Brisbane Emerging Arts Festival http://www.brisbaneemergingartfestival.com/home/

Illustration by Cynthia Howard

I've always had a fascination for visual art and more particularly illustration. The recent brainstorming and collaborating with Cynthia got me searching through some of my favourite illustrators and visual artists and I thought this would be perfect opportunity to reflect a bit of the historical relationship between fashion and illustration, besides the obvious (being fashion design).

A few months ago I started reading a book entitled "VOGUE FASHION - over 100 years of style by decade and designer in association with Vogue" by Linda Watson and I discovered that from as far back as 1892 when the Vogue publication was established, first as a weekly publication, that there were hardly, if any photos in the publication itself. In fact, its covers, articles on hats or the fashion of the day were all hand drawn. It was probably only later on in the early 1900's when Condé Montrose Nast bought Vogue that photographs appeared in the magazine. In fact, it was not until November, 1920 did Vogue feature its first fashion shoot, "A Group of Paris Frocks that Posed for Vogue". I was initially really surprised to learn how late fashion photography had appeared in such fashion publications, considering photography had been developed since the 1830's and that illustrators were the then "fashion documentors and photographers".

Its funny and probably really cliche to say, but fashion certainly repeats itself and comes full circle at times. And I have to say the same for the increasing emergence of fashion illustrators in today's major fashion publications. Once again illustration is making a big return. One of my favourite issues of Pepperming magazine (which had also featured one of my portrait shots for their interview article with Master Chef Contestant 2010 - Skye Craig) was a partially illustrative cover (by Kelly Thompson) and I thought it highly effective and beautiful.

Just look at Girlfriend magazine, its pages are littered with pretty illustrations and even the December issue of Vogue featured a tribal editorial shot in studio with illustration applied on the background and over the model as well. There seems to be this cross polination between photography and illustration and I personally think it creates something more spectacular, the combination of the two disciplines.

Even designers and brands like Billabong, Mambo, Sportsgirl, Mimco, and Lonely Hearts to name a few, are catching on and incorporating illustration into their look books, campaign ads and editorial features.

There are soooo many amazing fashion illustrators out there, but I thought for this blog, I'd concentrate on a few of the local talents in our hemisphere, that have been making their name with various brand associations in Australia and New Zealand.

KAREENA ZEREFOS http://art.kareenazerefos.com/

Above a sample of Kareena's work

SARAH HANKINSON http://sarahhankinson.tumblr.com/

Above some samples of Sarah's portfolio

KELLY THOMPSON http://www.kellythompson.co.nz/

Above are samples of Kelly Thompson's work

LOUISE BAKER http://www.louisebakerartist.com.au/

Some of my favourite international illustrators are:-

MEGAN HESS - who some may know from having illustrated all the book covers for Candace Bushnell and the infamous Sex and the City and some of her big clients include Chanel, Fendi and Tiffany & Co http://www.meganhess.com/

ARCHAN NAIR - I absolutely adore this guy, his vibrant colourful style is sooo my style, I LOVE COLOUR and this guy knows how to use colour in his illustrations! Some of his big name clients are Chris Brown (singer/artiste) Nike, ZU, Yahoo, Vogue and Canon http://archann.net/

And if you'd love to get your hands on some of the cover art/ illustrations that made the front cover of the Harper's Baazar back in the early 1920's, then get your hands on December issue of Harper's Bazaar (in stands now) that include a 10 pack of greeting cards featuring the covers of the December issues, they are so timelessly beautiful, I just love them.

DANG! Now this puts me in the mood to paint or draw. Either that, or maybe one day I'd get to work with some of the above favourite illustrators in collaborative venture.

If you know of any other great illustrators that you would like to tell me about, please do send me a link to their work to share their beauty with the rest of us.

Pretty Messy - a beauty shoot

2011-10-19T01:41:00.000-07:00

So the other day a model I had previously done some portfolio shots earlier this year, approached me about doing another portfolio shoot and this time she wanted to do some beauty shots and she sent me a picture of makeup look from a photoshoot of a past Next Top Model show which she wanted to re-create. The first shot above is almost an exact style crop of the original beauty shot she took inspiration from and then the rest we thought we might mix it up with some different expressions and hand gestures to make it her "own".

So for choice of a makeup artist, Jo-Anne Hardy (http://www.jo-annehardy.com.au/) sprung to mind, as she had done something similar (dusting the eyeshadow powder over the face) when we shot together last year the "Beached Beauty" editorial which appeared in Vestal magazine. I knew this particular makeup was delicate to achieve, it's meant to appear messy and uncontrolled when in fact you have to still apply control and precision as it walks a thin line of either being a pretty mess or turning into an ugly mess.

By the end of the shoot we decided to have some fun and smear some of the loose fine powder. For me this makeup look is almost tribal, I felt like the model, Tiarna was putting on her war face and gearing for battle.

To shoot this, I unfortunately didn't have anyone to take behind the scenes shots of me actually shooting this, as it was just me and the model by the end of it, but I used two soft boxes, one directed towards a white paper backdrop and the other placed high and directly in front of the model (butterfly lighting). I did however, take a few shots of the behind the scenes of the preparation / application of the makeup by Jo-Anne.

Hope you enjoyed our fun but messy beauty shoot.

I am my hair, you are your hair....

2011-09-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

The other day I photographed a model portfolio for a model, named Kiah (pronounced kayah NOT like the car), who was actually the Catwalk winner this year for the Tamblyns Model Search. But above that, she brought such an amazing spirit with her on the day of the shoot and she had incredibly amazing hair!.

Its times like that that remind me how much that saying is true, that true beauty comes from within and shines outwards and will reflect on the outside.

When I get into editing/ retouching photos, I look at each photo individualistically, what does it call out to me to do to it, hence why probably no more than two photos ever look the same in style. This is what I came up for one of her looks on the day of the shoot and it made me think so much about one of my favourite tracks on the Born This Way album by Lady Gaga - HAIR! that I just had to merge the images with some of the lyrics extracted from the song.
(listen to the audio below)

I just wanna be myself and I want you to love me
Me for who I am
I just wanna be myself and I want you to know
I AM MY HAIR

Sometimes I want some raccoon or red highlights
Just because I want my friends to think I am dynamite
I've got my bangs to hide that I don't stand a chance

I don't want to change
And I don't want to be ashamed
I'm the spirit of my hair
It's all the glory that I bear I'm my hair
I'm my hair/ I'm my hair/ I'm my hair

Model: Kiah @ Tamblyns
Makeup and Hair: Amy Stewart
Photography: Katriena Emmanuel

Scorching Hot Summer Prediction

2011-08-29T23:16:00.000-07:00

was just muckering around/ experimental editing the other day with some old photos from the We Are Handsome swimsuit Project shoot.

Model in this pic is Cassandra R @ Viviens

Hair was by Aleesha Darke

Makeup was by Sally Rutten

Wearing "the Protector" swimsuit by We Are Handsome

New Blood .... Young Blood

2011-08-24T22:32:00.001-07:00

Well a few weeks ago I managed to finally get my hands on two young models who are stand on the edge of glory. You may see their faces everywhere now, for two girls who are just 15 and 16 years old, Keely Thurecht of Viviens (Brisbane) and Yani Botha of Busy Models & Viviens (Brisbane) they will have a long modelling career ahead of them.

Unfortunately, I can't actually release just yet the photos I took of them that day, but I managed to edit a few pics from that day, completely apart to the actual concept of the shoot on the day. Yani and I had got to talking on the day about the HBO series, True Blood and there was one particular shot from our shoot together, which we did not end up using for the final series, which haunted me. There was no other way I could edit it but to emulate a character from True Blood series and Viola!

I couldn't exactly leave the beautiful Keely out of the loop, so decided to pick one of her photos that we did not end up using to also create a vampire headshot.

Makeup & hair by Emily Graham; Photography and retouch by Katriena Emmanuel

How appropriate I thought, both these girls are new blood, young blood in the industry and in my opinion they are fiercer than they appear and surely through some blood, sweat and tears, these girls will rise to the top of their industry.

Hope you like.

Can you not tell I am holding out for the next release of Twilight Series in November 2011, the next season of Vampire Diaries and the movie release of PRIEST and the next installment of Underworld with my gorgeous gal Kate Beckinsale.....so excited for that last one!

Until next time.......

Kat

DEJA VU

2011-08-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or is it just my mood talking out loud, but lately everything looks the same to me. In terms of photography, what's out on popular blogs, fashion sites and published in magazines all looks too similar in taste to me, and it seems like its all on the spin cycle. I know the old cliche of "Fashion repeats itself", but I've gone months without buying any magazines lately, because flipping through them nothing jumps out at me and makes me think "Wow! I'd never thought to have done that, or what an incredible image!" and just want to rip the pages out there and then to savour and keep forever and ever. In these tough economic times, its a fact magazines sales have gone down, cause average person doesn't have the spare cash for little luxuries like fashion magazines and there are VERY FEW that have captured my attention to make me go searching for my wallet to buy them.

I honestly find things boring lately, there just seems to be certain photography styles that everyone seems to be dishing out and while I can look at it and appreciate it for what its worth and say "yeah, this photo is well done and its a great shot", it's like I've seens it all before. Call it Deja Vu!

Its funny, lately even Hollywood is talking about all these remakes of movies, some of them were only done like 10 or 15 years ago and already they are planning remakes. So it seems this copy cat, "lets do over something someone else has done before" mentality and lets look like everyone else and take something old and re-do it cause it was so good the first time, its a surefire win win situation. It just makes me wonder, is the human race beginning to run out of fresh and new ideas, creativeness and inventiveness.

Back to the fashion photography world, its probably I just have high expectations to get me more impressed each time, but for me a great editorial story ticks all the boxes in terms, of model choice, location or studio set up, mood/ feeling of the story being told, styling has to be mind blowing and conjur up something you would not normally expect to be pulled together, the concept - there just has to be a concept I am a concept driven photographer so I always look into what was their concept for the shoot, the makeup, the hairstyling, the retouching and post production - its not just about being a great photographer who can take a great photo, its about being an IMAGE MAKER. It all has to be there to make me go "WOW" and be something I've never seen before. I'm sick of seeing the same "safe" makeup or hair done 50 times now and the same boring poses. Now its all beginning to make sense to me why some people comment that the models have boring expressions or none at all - its probably because they themselves are bored out of their minds with the kind of fashion photography that is going on lately.

It almost seems to me like we are afraid of the unknown, of thinking future forward, just look lately at how fashion in the 21st century has just recycled and reused almost every decade in the 20th century. What can we say or point to, or describe as a fashion trend or style that was purely evolved and representative of the 21st century? If you can answer that question, please tell me the answer, cause to me all the trends of this current century have been derived from past decades. I say bring back the Victorian era! Oh but wait! they've done that already. I mean I'm all for recyclying but if it means we are depleting innovation and stifling creativity because we are afraid of creating something that has not been done before, we are probably terrified that it will be misunderstood and not accepted for what it is, so we hold back.

Fear limits the possibilities.

So we play it safe and deliver what has been done before but we add our twist to it, fair enough.... but once the majority see something accepted or validated by the media/ magazine publication etc, then we feel its okay for us to say "yeah I like that design or I like that style of photography" but before we'd be too scared to share that opinion until some higher authority than us who knows what beauty is and what is art and fashion tells us its good or bad. So I guess we have to take that first leap into the unknown and hope and wish and pray its embraced and who knows, probably one day it will be the norm and will be copied and imitated by the rest.

So I'm all for leaders not followers.

On the other hand I try really hard to think up of new ideas to capture concepts that I've not seen done before, there are tons of ideas out there just floating around waiting for us to grab hold of them, but in the past I sometimes feel like an idiot when I explain an idea or concept I have with a fellow creative. I visualise in my head they are silently thinking "God she is crazy, can't see how that is going to work". They don't need to say anything, I can sometimes just see it in their eyes what they are thinking and it sometimes makes me feel so stupid or such a silly idea and my bubble thought deflated along with my dreams and visions. It frustrates me a times, cause I just want to create all sorts of things, but have to give up some of the control for much "safer" ideas.

Thinking about this blog kept taking me back to an interview I read ages ago with international fashion photographer, Glen Luchford and I'll quote him direct from that interview:-

GL "I think in my generation there were very few photographers wanting to be fashion photographers which a lot of them stayed, some went off and did other things. Now there are 100's of thousands of people that want to be a photographer. A friend of mine who teaches at the London School of Fashion said, in the late 90's early 2000's, everyone wanted to be a fashion designer and nobody wanted to be a photographer and now its the complete opposite. There is a bit of a chicken or the egg thing going on right now. Before, nobody was trying to do what was in the magazines, they were trying to do their own thing, whereas now you look at young photographer's books and it's their effort to imitate what is already in the magazines. So the question is, are the photographers forced into a situation by the magazines to deliver that sort of work otherwise they are not interesting? Or is it that everyone has decided that it's best to just try and imitate what is happening to see if they are able to break into it. It's a hard question to answer."

And that last part of what Glen Luchford said had really stuck with me.....are we all just trying to "fit in" to "break in" than just be ourselves and play with out creative limits and freedom and be recognised for that individuality or uniqueness. I remember a while back I had posted on Facebook a status update complaining about magazines declining my submissions because "it does not fit with the style of their magazine" and fair enough you can differentiate between certain magazines, cause of their distinct style, from the indie/ alternative style of photography that appears in Russh, Oyster and Yen contrasted against the quirky, dynamic and peculiar styling of i.D and Dazed & Confused to the avant and couture ends of Noi.se and Karen to the mainstream high fashion of Madison and Harper's Bazzaar. I've realised my style fits into none of those aforementioned, I'm stuck somewhere in the middle of being "too out there or too safe". But I learned something from posting that complaint on facebook, some contacts had commented that a magazines' style is often dictated by their marketing and advertising. If they are wanting to attract high end brands to advertise within their pages, hence they don't want images with models dressed in "Sportsgirl" clothes (I have nothing against Sportsgirl, love them to bits, its just an example) when they are advertisements for Gucci inside or the model choice is not appealing or connect to their target audience. And thus, the magazines often play to the audience that they think they are appealing to, based on the type of advertising that goes in them. It all comes back to the bloody corporate world, why do they have to interfer with the arts.

Seriously I just wish there was a magazine out there that defies what marketing analysts and advertisers dictate and just published art and photos that inspire you to dream like never before, to dream big and the impossible, that believes and promotes innovativeness, a point of difference and doesn't restrict creative freedom. I haven't found such a magazine yet but if you know of one that exists, please do share it with me.

If things don't change soon, I'm gonna seriously be tempted to start my own magazine that will cause a revolution on the way we think and view art, fashion and imagery.

Apologise in advance to anyone offended with my little rant, but its nothing personal, just the way I see the world at the moment. SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND BABY, RIGHT ROUND!

Which reminds me of a great little saying I spotted the other day "DON'T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY. NOTHING OTHER PEOPLE DO IS BECAUSE OF YOU. IT'S BECAUSE OF THEMSELVES.

IN SPIRATION

2011-07-31T03:56:00.000-07:00

hmmm, inspiration - it almost sounds like perspiration.

Well the last month of July I spent mostly troubled with some set backs, delays that all just frustrated me creatively. I'm beginning to figure out that not just talent and lots of hard work is required to become a professional fashion photographer, but it takes a lot of endurance as well. But thankfully things are looking up now, more in my favour on the cusp of a new month ahead and I feel really invagorated to get started on some projects I've been planning, testing out experimentally over the past few weeks.
So spotted some little words of inspiration written in the most of interesting of places, which I came across on one of my friend's/ model's inspiration albums she set up on facebook. Not sure where she found them all, but I thought to myself, need to save these for a rainy day when my eyes are awashed with tears and I need some motivation.

Lets toast to inspiration and enjoy the "posters" of motivational sayings

And finally.....

WHO ARE YOU?

2011-06-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, I just coincidently watched a re-run of the Oprah show today, while eating lunch, where she interviewed Hollywood Director, Tom Shadyac about his documentary movie entitled "I am" ( www.iamthedoc.com). If his name doesn't ring a bell, then I'm sure some of his movies sure do, like Ace Ventura, The Nutty Professor, Bruce Almighty and Liar Liar. Now I can't concentrate on anything else, but all these questions that his interview have stirred up in me once again and I'm compelled to stop everything I was about to do to write about it in this blog, you could say it sparked the conversation within me..... which brings me to the beginning.....

(before you read on my blog, you may want to take a look at the trailer for the documentary)

WHO ARE YOU?

How would you answer this question? Would you begin with "I am (insert your name)", or would you reply "I am a successful lawyer", or "I am a fat blonde who loves to watch reality tv shows".

I personally think it would be interesting how one would answer this question, if they stop themself after their statement, and analysed it, would it be a direct insight into one's mind, on how they perceive themself, or is their perception of themself, more a creation or perception of how they believe society would answer that question for them.

In case you missed it, the words that begin to state who you are, namely "I AM", is probably the most powerful phrase there is. I first took notice of the power of these words, when I read the book "The Secret" and they brought home to me the significance of those two little words

"I AM".

For some its synonymous with the Creator, but what it actually does, is summon creation by declaration. You are in essence, making a declaration of who you are. And that is very powerful and just as crucial. You say something negative, well then, you are pretty much sentencing yourself, limiting yourself to a negative frame of mind and perception about yourself and your potential.

I haven't yet watched the actual documentary of Tom Shadyac's, but from what he explained, the documentary is not to answer your own personal question, of who are you, but to stir the conversation of the global problems, what is wrong with this world and what can we do about it. He reached clarity in his life through a bike accident. He had it all - mansions, private jets, the lifestyle we all dream about and aspire to and he has given it up all for a lot simpler life.
As he explained, our current culture dictates to us what is success and if we don't fit into that definition, then we are a failure by definition, or not happy unless we have achieved society's definition of success - the big house, the expensive clothes, the profession, the extravagant lifestyle, 18 hour days working hard to make that "successful life" real.

I've written about it in past blogs, but our society and culture today is one of consumarism, constant wanting MORE MORE AND MORE and we just don't seem to be ever satisfied. We think the more stuff we have, the more gadgets that we surround ourselves, that it will fill us, satisfy us, make us happy. And we just don't seem to get it, when we can't stop consuming, that it is really not working. Its not the solution.

Another aspect of this consumarism, is another word that begins with "c" - celebritism. We seem so fascinated and crazily obssessed (if we actually defined it, it would be outright stalking) with the lives of celebrities. In the past a celebrity was someone who's talent or achievement was celebrated, now it seems anyone can become a celebrity, all you seem to need is your 15 minutes of fame, or to be on a reality tv series and viola! instant stardom. We as consumers feed this industry of manic celebrity worship and stalking, by the magazines, tabloids, blogs, newspapers, tv shows that we watch. We want to be them, we wish our lives were like theirs, we want their latest hairstyle or their latest handbag. It honestly makes me sick the way we obssess about other people's lives, and spend less time on our own life, becoming a better person, working on our "real life" relationships, rather than these "wanna be" relationships with celebrities.

Think about it, if you were to really dig deep and anaylse the things that make you happy in this world, its not all the "stuff" you own or want to own, its the relationships you have. Our relationships with people, animals and the environment is what brings wealth and authenticity to our life and who we are as a person. Its the laughter, the compassion, the support, the tears and the love that we feel, breathing meaning and purpose to our life. Take what you need to live out a beautiful, fruitful and meaningfull life.

Tom Shadyac, said in his interview "We don't need to take more than we need", and that it seems out of all the species on this planet, that we as humans always want more than we actually need. Think of it, the lion does not go out killing all the gazelles, it just kills one to feed it's hunger and live day to day. The gigantic tree in the rainforest doesn't absorb all the soil's nutrients, selfishly preventing the other trees and plants from growing. No! It just takes what it needs. St Augustine said "Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others".

More and more scientists are discovering that the basis of nature is cooperation and democracy. That we cannot live selfishly, but collectively. It seems the human species has yet to learn and apply this knowledge and instead applies a culture or value system on rivalry and competitiveness. You've all heard it, "its the survival of the fittest", "every man for himself". We've all seen the surge in bullying and bullies in the news. Its not like bullies never existed but we seem to have forgotton that bullies aren't born, but are nutured by society and the environment they are in and we all know now that all bullies ever wanted more than the rest of us, is to be accepted and loved.

LOVE - It always comes back to this word doesn't it.

The fact of the matter is, that every past civilisation that lived on that mentality of self-preservation to the point of selfishness, destroyed itself ultimately. The key to survival is actually a collective consciousness, of cooperation, sharing, democracy and balance. We are all connected, its a proven fact. One little act of today, has a ripple effect on tomorrow. Our lives are intricately interconnected. We may not see it like that, but in fact it is, what you say and do, will affect someone, probably someone you don't necessarily know or have seen, but it all goes full circle. Even more so, when you think about it, the Internet acts like a collective conscious in connecting millions of people from around the world.

And if you take this belief that we are all ONE, that we are all connected, then you know that we have the power to make change. Charles Haamel said "The real secret of power is consciousness of power". When we really realise and believe in the power that we each hold in our hands, to make a difference, to effect positive change, to affect the person next to us, then that is when you will really see the power of change in the world around us.

Just think back on all the natural disasters we've had in the world, the floods in Queensland, the fires in Victoria, the earthquakes in Chile, Japan and New Zealand, just to name a few. Think back of the images we saw of the devastation and the people's lives in danger, the animals and wildlife destroyed. Do you remember how those images on the newsfeed made you feel? Did you well up inside, did it make your eyes water, your heart ache, or you felt like screaming at outrage of the injustice and suffering? Well, if you felt something, anything at all, it prooves how much more we are connected to each other. Here you are looking at video or images of complete strangers in another part of the world, a different skin tone or culture from yours, and yet you felt something for them in their suffering or elation. Its this compassion that we describe as part of the human spirit and what it is to be human.

We are all related to each other, despite the different hair, eye colour or skin tone, culture or belief system. That is the plain fact. We are one big family and we should act more like a family. We should put aside what ever differences we have and let love reign supreme. Love is the essence of life, it is what keeps this planet alive. If we didn't have love, we would have all killed off each other by now and everything else on this planet, if we didn't have love. Perosnally, I think we just need more of it.

But some would say, if we are like one big family, then everyone knows that even families have wars and rivalry and yet still love each other. True, but love overcomes rivalry. If we truly loved each other unconditionally, we would accept each other for who we are, put aside our differences and let us exist...in harmony, in peace, because we would know and have faith, that nature has given us enough to live by to be happy, if we believe there is enough of everything for all of us, then we would not be fighting to have more of what the other has less of.

I think St Augustine was a lot wiser than most of us give him credit for, when he described what Love is.... "What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like."

So instead of buying into what society dictates makes us happy and successful.... Follow your heart's greatest desire. Only when your heart is happy, then you are happy and everything else will fall into place. I should know, I took a big leap of faith a few months ago, resigning my bread and butter job to pursue photography. Taking photos as simple as that sounds, makes me happy. Its the freedom to be creative that makes me most happy and to share it with the ones that love and support me. So far, to be honest, I'm barely making a living from it, but I'm still happy and I guess at some point in time, we just got to just go for it, take that leap in faith, that when we jump, we'll land on our feet. But retrospectively, I can say whether following my heart and my dreams, makes me a living from it, or ever eventuates anything more than just taking photos, by going in all for it, and letting go of all my fears and limitations, its teaching me more about myself, as a person, my strengths and limitations and what I want and what makes me happy. And trust me, its a struggle every day. Every day I am faced with my fears, fears of failure, fears of not being accepted, fears of my photography work not being good enough, fear of not making enough money to pay my debts off, and the biggest fear of all, is that I'll have to give it up and go "get a real job" like some would say.

So now it brings me back to the original question - "WHO ARE YOU?"

Now that we each know we have the power within ourselves to make ourselves happy and the power to make a positive change in the world around us, then I ask you - "Who are you and what mark of difference are you going to leave on the world"

And finally, remember, past experience does not dictate your future. Your past is only an excuse you use, when you are afraid to face the potential within you for a bright future.

Tree x Tree = Inspiration

2011-06-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

I'd have to say what inspires me most in life, is nature in itself, in all its glory. Its usually my walks through the nearby ravine, forest and parks with my dog that I get some of my most inspirational ideas and concepts for most of my past photography work to date, even the fashion and beauty photography, I draw inspiration from nature.So undoubtedly my short trip last month to Augusta, Western Australia, proved to be so inspirational for me as well. I felt like a child all over again, everything was wanderlust for me, the smells, the scenery, the touch, the texture of my surrounds. And during our road travel, I was particularly obssessed or infatuated, call it what you may, with the trees in Western Australia. There was something about their trees that captivated me like no other trees, not even the ones near where I live, had such power over me.

My hubby pretty much got sick of me always keeping the camera on my lap (my original SLR camera, my little baby Canon 400D) and constantly "oohhhing and ahhing" at the trees we'd swoosh by in the car and I'd try to snap them as we drove past and while we did, I'd think up of stories some of these trees would be a perfect setting for, some scary or macabre, some more joyful and fairytale like.
I thought to myself, even fashion can be inspired by trees, the texture and colour of their barks, the colour and shape of their leaves, the lines traced with their branches, the overall architectural shape and patterns of the trees.
They are just beautiful and to think as we drove past some of the Karri tree forests, some were over 150 years old, some perhaps even very very old and to think they survived longer than a human being, how much change they witnessed over that many years as they stood silently still and watched us.
(The ancient Karri trees above)
It kind of conjured up feelings of protectiveness towards the trees, to think so many are being bulldozed for construction and development, all in the name of "progress". It is such a delicate process to find the balance between progress and preservation. We need to weigh the costs of losing resources that take years and years to nuture and grow and some that can never be rekindled or recreated again. Once they are gone, that's it, there is nooo turning back.I hope some of these photos through the glass of my car window can conjur up a sense of wanderlust within you as well, and hopefully help us all see the beauty that surrounds us every day, on a daily basis. We sometimes forget to open our eyes and instead live with our eyes wide shut!Now I ask you to open your eyes and take in the beauty and inspiration from nature and help defend it when it needs a voice.The End

The Last Day on Earth

2011-06-21T02:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it was Saturday 21 May, 2011, the day some lunatics predicted was the end of the world. Well lucky for me I had a shoot that morning, so if the world did come to an end, well at least I was doing something I loved.

It was a strange week before the shoot, weather was playing games and I was praying, come Saturday morning the sun would come out to play. Well I woke up 4am that morning, sighed with relief that I was still alive on this morning that was predicted to be our last day on earth. And then I started praying for the rain to stop. I was meeting the model on the beach, and on the drive there, in that dark ungodly hour, when we are meant to be snug in our beds and our little eyes shut tight, it was pouring outside. The roads a shiny black and I could see the sun struggling to rise, against the thick clouds.

Just as both the model and I parked our cars at the meeting point, the rain had stopped, the sky now looking like itself was now waking up, but it was still a cloudy morning, which I didn't mind, as long as it didn't rain!

Well, I didn't get the perfect sunrise that morning, on the last day on earth, but it was still a beautiful start to a day. It's amazing to think I can actually get myself out of a bed that early for a photoshoot, but ask me for anything else and I'd probably be hitting snooze like 20 times.

So met the lovely Tahnee, who has done a bit of modelling before for friends, but in my opinion, she is a natural - modelling almost seemed like breathing for her and I've been wanting to do for sometime a more natural looking shoot. So we didn't do any makeup or hair, except for my lame attempt at putting some lilac shade of eye shadow on her lids which I could barely see in the light.

The weeks before the shoot I started putting together the wardrobe and accessories I wanted to style together on Tahnee. I wanted that white/ nudish look, which is so hot right now, lots of sheer shirts, slip dress/ nightie, with a bit of a castaway feel to it, sort of like she was a siren from the sea, all natural, with shells in her hair. So started going through my shell collection to make a crown of shells for her head, and then it was around the time Pirates of the Caribbean, On Stranger Tides was all the hype, and I thought, hmmmm, maybe a little pirate theme with the shirt, a nickers and some ugg boots and an eye patch, so then I found this perfect shell, with a tiny whole in one corner of it, which I placed over my eye and it fit perfect, so then I strung it up with some pearls, to be Tahnee's eye patch! hahaha

So here are some of the photos we did on that day, and towards the end we mixed it up with a crochet bikini I bought from the Cararra Markets. All the other clothing were bought at Op Shops for average of $2, so I think I did pretty well on a shoe string budget styling this shoot myself.

Hope you like, I was experimenting with different styles for each change of wardrobe in the shoot.

And thank you Tahnee for being such a beautiful model, you made it so effortless to shoot that morning even in the crisp cold.

(for better resolution quality, some are now up on my website - www.emmanuelphotography.com.au )

In a nutshell, one of the stories I used for this shoot is a romantic one, its from a song I love in spanish, not sure if I remember the translation very well, but its by the Mexican pop rock band, Mana (song is entitled En el Muelle de San Blas) and it goes something like this. She stood on the Muelle de San Blas, waving goodbye to her fiancee, who embarked out to sea on a fishing vessel. She waited there at the same time every day, dressed in white, with her veil, waiting for him to come home to her, the days grew into years, and word had come that the ship had crashed, sunk and there were no survivors. The years showed on her face, she had grown old now, waiting, waiting for her lover to return to her, until the day she uttered her last breath of life, she met him once again.

Hasta luego!

MADE IT - For aspiring Designers & Craftsmen

2011-06-17T00:59:00.000-07:00

Hey I just had to share this site, that I quite literally by accident stumbled across today while surfing the internet. MADEIT.COM.AU - really easy to remember too!

It's a local Australian Website where you can buy and sell online your handmade jewellery, garments, scarfs, childrens clothing, hats, nick nacks, frames, and vintage, you name it, whatever you can make, you can sell and put on this site. Likewise, you can also buy from it.

What I really liked about this site, was how user friendly and easy it was to navigate, with links to local stores, and even a Designer Spotlight, where they interview and showcase some of the local designers that sell their products via the site.

So be sure to check it out. Here is the link to the site http://www.madeit.com.au/

It's Not Sushimi - It's SUSHAIRME!

2011-06-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

Funny story really, last year I was inspired by my friend Emma B to invest in a sushi making kit and I just loved the process of making sushi, it relaxes me actually.

Well one day while making sushi and rolling up the bamboo mat, I got to thinking about sushi and how it could be interpreted in hairstyles. Afterall in my opinion sushi not only tastes yummy its quite esthetic too, the shapes, textures and colour of sushi when its all made up and I started coming up with ideas of how I thought someone could turn hair into sushi.

Meet Myke O'Halloran, hairstylist and hairdress at Pia Lane in Brisbane. Myke took my idea one step further and actually incorporated real ingredients in sushi making, less the actual rice. For rice, he used white hair spray, but the rest of it, the sea weed, the caviar, the raw salmon for sushimi was all real and very smelly.

Our poor models, Sarah Pritchard of Division and Chanel Olive Thomas of Viviens had no idea what they were in for, despite seeing the mood board.

For the brief of the mood board, I wanted to draw upon different cultural aspects of Japanese art and theatre. So with some researching, I referenced the Geisha, Kabuki and Samurai traditions in Japan and tried to fuse and interpret them in the makeup - the white painted faces, the strong, thick black brows and then ginger coloured lips and eyes which I referenced on the actual ginger slices served with sushi.

Form me personally, I view Japanese culture and art as very precise and minimalistic, down to even their architecture they use clean lines, their transport is always punctual and precise and their cities spotlessly clean.

So for me I interpreted the clean lines and precision with even lighting, some may call flat lighting, and very crisp white background - so nothing is to take away from the model wearing all that sushi in her hair. Everything in harmony or zen like - all melting together.

For the styling, I wanted to reinforce the culinary aspect of sushi, so I black lacquered a $2 fan and stuck rice onto it, to give a nice textural contrast. Then made a chocker out of chopsticks stuck into a bed of rice, a sea weed wrap chocker and I halved one of the bamboo mats used to roll the sushi and made it into another chocker for one of the looks.

Myke then incorporated as well the culinary esthetics of sushi, using chopsticks of course, and the bamboo rolling mats, sea weed and ingredients like the caviar and salmon.

VIOLA! You have just been SUSHAIRED!

I want to thank again my amazing models who were so enthusiastic and willing on the day to put up with the fishy smell and stick things in their mouth like caviar which they hated hahaha. Better them than me I say! hehehehe.

Cheers to a fantastic team with Makeup by Jenny Ockenden, Hairstyles by Myke O'Halloran and our lovely models Sarah and Chanel. And artistic direction, styling and photography by MUAH! GO TEAM!

And now to top it off with desert - WE GOT PUBLISHED IN IMAZINE DARIZINE - which is a Japanese fashion magazine SEE IT HERE ONLINE - http://www.darizine.com/fashion/fs037.html

I'm really pleased that for a Japanese publication they liked our interpretation of sushi on hair! As long as we were able to respect their culture and do a great job interpreting it, I am happy.

I must admit its been about nearly 2 months since that sushi shoot, and I somehow can't bring myself to eat sushi or make it - I think I was all sushi-ed out after that day of raw smelly ingredients and mopping up the caviar on the studio floor. But I'm kinda getting my sushi cravings again, so I think all will be well with the world again.

My Journey to Cloudland

2011-06-04T04:03:00.000-07:00

(above is a snap shot close to landing in Perth, hence the reduced speed of 621Kph)

So on 25 May, 2011, I flew out from the Gold Coast en route to Perth via Sydney on a sunrise flight. I don't know exactly how I came to feel this way, but from the onset of the trip and right to the end, it felt like I was on a spiritual journey, the whole experience during and now looking back on it, was as if I was reborn and seeing the world for the first time. Every little thing seemed to excite me and fascinate me, even developing a creepy obsession with trees (but more on that later in a whole blog I have planned on my tree infatuation).
The best part about having an early morning flight, is if you get a window seat like I did, you get to see the sun rise far above the land. Its a very different perspective when looking up from down on the ground. It was perhaps one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever remembered so far and fortunately I borrowed my hubby's HTC Desire mobile phone to capture those moments as the sun rose above the horizon. It reminded me a bit of that story or scene rather from Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End, when they had to flip the boat upside down just at the moment when the light flashed across the sky.It was a bit like that on the morning of the flight, the sky seemed an awash of yellow light into white light melting into the blue nothingness of the sky. It was as if someone was slowly painting a watercolour scene, the colours melting on the page or in this case the canvased sky.
And looking down below, as we flew over land travelling south to Sydney, I could make out the rivers and tributaries snaking across the land towards the coast and they made me think of the Aboriginal cave drawings and artwork. And then it got me thinking, how did these Aboriginees come to draw this landscape without having flown above it, at a time when flight was not possible for man. It was mesmerising as I pushed my face closer to the window, squishing my nose, trying to see more and more of the land beneath me to try and trace the patterns and shapes that the rivers carved out over the land.
Then I sat back and rested as eventually we were so high I could see nothing but white, blue and faint yellow light.
Arriving in Sydney was bumpy as we flew threw a storm and then boarding our next plane it began to rain. By the time we took off, we were travelling at such speeds, that it was practically impossible to try and capture the way the water droplets on the window's surface just swooshed across invisibly and like magic they were gone as we gained speed, even though it was still pouring rain on the outside.
Later on I got itchy fingers again to turn on the mobile and take more pics, as there were little icicles forming on the outside of the window and to again take some photos of the landscape of New South Wales as we flew over it. It reminded me of my first trip to Europe, where the landscape was a quilt-like patchwork of greens, browns, and reds, as we obviously were flying over farmlands. It looked like God was piecing together a masterful puzzle, sliding the pieces across the land and oceans.

And then as the light hit directionally, you can see the rise and fall of the dome shape mountain or hill tops more clearly.Soon the airscape changed from just blue nothingness to a white and blue landscape. I felt again like that moment in Pirates of the Caribbean, when the boat flipped, and up became down and down became the surface. It was as if one moment I was flying through the sky and the next moment I was like in Antartica where the land is coated in white and the only separation from land and sky is the blue of the horizon. The clouds formed a whole new landscape around us, at times engulfing the aircraft. It was like a sea of white foam.

It made me think, what if a whole other world existed in the stratosphere of the sky. Was it called Cloud Land? Was this actually the place where the Greek and Roman gods resided? Maybe there is some truth afterall to the likes of Zeus, Hera and Thor.

I just couldn't help reflect on how amazing this planet is, that if I ever doubted or questioned in the belief of some sort of Higher Order that created all this, that this was all coincidently by accident, well then, I was clearly not seeing properly. Who ever is responsbile for creating our planet and this universe, must be the greatest artist that ever existed, with its diverse beauty constantly unfolding. Perhaps Nature's beauty is preserved if its mystery is never solved.

This planet Earth is so amazing, I felt like I was seeing it for the first time, as exciting and new as it was for Jake Sully in his avatar body exploring Pandora.

I hope the photos have helped capture how I felt that morning flying in the sky over the land, seeing the world around me as it exists and celebrate how amazing life is, if you really look closely. Hopefully I can bring you a bit closer to how that flight made me feel.

I feel like my eyes are opened after my trip to Western Australia. I don't know how or what it was about Western Australia or perhaps it had nothing to do with the place at all, but I feel like I'm awake now.......everything feels, smells, looks and tastes different - Not sure if this is similar to a narcotic high, but having never taken narcotics before I can't compare it.

Life is more intense now, I can't stop thinking, seeing and imagining..........

My head is still in the clouds, yet my vision sharper and clearer than ever before. The irony in that!

Rainbows, Love and Weddings

2011-06-04T00:32:00.000-07:00

Well while the rest of the world was glued to their television sets for the Royal Wedding in London on 29 April, I had my own "royal" wedding to photograph in the picturesque countryside of the Sunshine Coast, in Montville.

The day awoke to brilliant sunshine, but the glorious sunshine did not stay the whole day - and they call it the "Sunshine Coast" - yeah right! Unfortunately, a lot of the picture taking of the scenery was limited due to the freakish rain storms intersperced with the sunshine on the day. But that only meant one thing, a Rainbow!.

It was spectacular, just as the bride walked down the isle, as I looked towards the groom waiting for his bride to be, in the sky lit background was a rainbow. I just smiled and thought "this marriage is going to be the pot of gold".

Its funny, but as the day went on and in the midst of little hiccups with the hair and veil falling out while the bride got dressed and the sun constantly playing peek a boo with the rain clouds, its times like these I often reflect on the wedding and marriage in itself. I'd like to think that how a couple handles their wedding day is testament to how ready they are to support that union for life. As the weather became unfavourable at times, I thought it was like a marriage weathering the tough times, seeing it through and at the end of it, they will be that rainbow.

As there is no rainbow without the rain and the sun coming together simultaneously. And to me marriage is like that, love brings the sunny smiles and the rainy tears. And to find love you are no doubt faced with challenges, but they are only challenges depending on how you look at them. The challenges can be all doom and gloom if you let them be that way, but carry those challenges with love in your heart, and they will mozey on by like the rain cloads floating by and they will just become another tale to tell to your grandkids. As I always say, it can't rain forever, the sun must come out to shine and give us that rainbow.

And so it is I would like to wish Mick and Kristen - may they always be blessed with enough sunshine and enough rain to make that perfect rainbow to find that pot of gold - LOVE.

Now for some of the photos taken on the day....(apologise in advance for the low resolution quality but it just makes uploading them that much faster)

A moment between the bride and mother in law to be...
Chillaxing with the fellas while the girls get their hair done
Cheers to the last few minutes until two become one...

One day when I grow up, I want to look like a princess bride like my Aunty Kristen.....

And the rainbow is to your right of the groom, but can't quite see it in this low resolution version herein.

dodging the rain - a couple of times
The moody romantic reception room
Who said cutting the cake couldn't be as romantic as exchanging the vows

And there you have it folks, the Princess Bride rode off in the sunset with Prince Charming

And this is just the beginning of life.....

Angels on Earth

2011-05-04T20:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this weekend is Mother's Day and I had a great honour this week to take photos of a 2 week new born baby boy for a first time Mother. I've not really done babies before, probably once before for a cousin of mine, so I looked for inspiration from world reknowned and Queensland born Anne Geddes - The Baby Photographer.

So here are a few photos of my attempt at baby photography.... Baby M was born in Autumn, so I thought it would be kinda cute to tie in the time he was born with the styling of the photos, so a few minutes before the family arrives, I was hand picking and washing some fallen dried leaves to commemorate the season of his birth!. I didn't know what the poor parents thought I was up too, I think they thought I was a tad crazy hahahaha, but they were so supportive of me just doing my thing, and that is always great to have that trust in me.

hope you enjoy.

And Happy Mother's Day to my Mummy and Granny and to all the mothers and mothers-to-be out there!

So I thought how appropriate with Mother's Day coming up, to show a few photos that we took on that day and then I came across this poem/ story, not sure the source as there was no mention of it when I stumbled across it, but I thought it convenient to go along with these pictures.

A newborns conversation with God:

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy." God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?" God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?" God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

Who will protect me?" God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."

But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore." God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."

God said, "You will simply call her, "Mom."

The Black Pearl

2011-04-13T01:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Nature gives birth to wild and exotic creatures

Its beauty as raw as it is rare.

Such is the beauty of the Black Pearl

They say she came from the Sea

It is said in ancient Rome, that the water that dropped from Venus’ body was so affected by her beauty and appeal that it ultimately formed into pearls.

Some call her the "Fairy of Water"

The Ancient Chinese considered natural black pearls as symbols of wisdom and thought them to be created in the brains of dragons. They believed that one had to kill the dragon to harvest the pearl, which was held safely between the dragon’s teeth.

While others thought pearls were the tears of mermaids, mymphs and angels.

But to me the Black Pearl will always be natural wonder prized for her mysterious origins and beauty.

These are a few shots from a test shoot with surfer/ new model Ashton Smith of the Gold Coast.

By the way, Did you know that 95% of the world's black pearls are from Tahiti.

Fabricated Tales - Part 2

2011-04-05T01:44:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember my last "Fabricated Tale" based on Snow White from last year June. Well after some searching for the perfect designer to collaborate with me to create a fashion fantasy inspired series - I have finally been able to continue the series. Meet fashion designer - Begitta Stolk (www.begitta.com) whose creations are all inspiring in themselves. I can't describe to you her gowns, they could very well be served up on the Oscar's Red Carpet or heck even dress the soon to be Princess of Wales.

Well in continuing the thread of the Fabricated Tales, I wanted to capture Sleeping Beauty incorporating this time the use of yarn. You may remember in Snow White, the common thread so to speak was the red ribbons from which the poisoned apples hung. In this fairytale story, Sleeping Beauty succumbs to a deep sleep after pricking her finger on a cursed spindle. So in my story, we have our Princess knitting on some yarn, but instead she is caught in a web of sleep through the seasons. I wanted to represent Sleeping Beauty almost like an ice queen, as for me the seasons of autumn and then winter are symbolic of hibernation, sleep and sometimes sleep is considered a state of death, so the seasons of autumn and winter often represent that in nature and I wanted to capture that in the scenery for the shoot.

(me playing Spider, trying to weave some white yarn in with the webbing)

(prepping the model with hair and makeup)

These ideas for the series have been stuck in my head for a while just waiting for the perfect location and the perfect dress to represent each fairytale. About two weeks ago I literally stumbled across this location walking my dog. In fact it seems to be habitual now that I have photographed the two fairytales so far in places I walk my dog on a regular basis. So I got so excited when I found this dry brambly stick location which I thought would be perfect to represent the death and decay of the forest as Sleeping Beauty lay there for years in comatose. In less than two weeks I was putting together the team, mainly getting everyone together on the same day with conflicting schedules before the gown went on loan interstate for a beauty competition.

(my sketch of the storyboard)

(behind the scenes courtesy of Begitta Stolk)

(behind the scenes - Brigid reflecting and Begitta shooting behind the scenes)

Unfortunately, one team member didn't get the memo, Weather Man that is. That's probably the trickiest part of planning shoots outdoors, is on the day it all depends on the weather. What started out as a brilliant sunny morning quickly changed into a drizzly overcast morning, but we prepped on hoping by the time we finished prepping, the sun would come out and I could shoot. That was not to be, but at least it stopped raining so we could dress the scene and get some shots in admist the biting mosquitos and who knows what other bugs were biting us out there. It was not my idea of the ideal weather condition to shoot this, but I was determined to get the shots I envisioned and make the most of the natural light I had available on the day than have wasted everyone's time, resources and efforts that morning in getting our model ready. The whole process of hair and makeup took almost 4 hours and we shot it all in about an hour.

So included in this blog was my story layout sketch and the behind the scene footage courtesy of Designer and Stylist - Begitta Stolk. Plus a few sneak peeks of the finished photos.

Team consisted of:
Photographer, Artistic Director & Stylist: Me
Designer and Assistant Stylist: Begitta Stolk
Hairstylist: Aleesha Darke
Makeup Artist: Brigid Davey
Model: Catie Allen of Dallys

Thank you again to my amazing team who helped me prep, spray paint, cobweb and the whole lot on the day and just their faith in me and the weather on that day.

And special thank you to my hubby who helped me whipper snipper a path to the shoot location, the day before.

Stay tuned for the next fairytale installment. I won't say which fairytale we'll do next, you'll just have to wait and see.

The Swan Princess

2011-03-18T00:14:00.001-07:00

ok I'm gonna be short and sweet and let the photos speak more for themselves.

So back on 6 February, 2011 I got together an amazing team to help me realise this concept I wanted to represent through fashion... the tale of the Swan Princess. If you read my earlier blog back in January, you'll understand that the movie Black Swan made quite an impact on me and some of my conspirators, like Shieltz Calamba, a recent fashion graduate who specifically designed an evening gown inspired by the Black Swan.

I assembled a team, some of which I had worked together on previous projects like the model, Amy Jarvis and designer Shieltiel Calamba and then it was first time working with hairstylist Katya Cox, makeup artist Emily Graham and designer and stylist Joshua Chex Hall. I always try to use these opportunities to meet and collaborate with new people, whilst not forgetting those creatives that worked with me in the early days.

This was for a magazine submission but unfortunately none took the bait with this storyline.

So in our interpretation of the Swan Princess, we wanted to take it more in the direction of fashion, using the lines and shapes, textures and fabrics to represent the shape of the Swan, the ballerina, and then once broken down, the duality,which fashion always has, the dark, black, strong, edgy, dangerous, seductive to the light, white, soft, naive, fragile, and innocence. So we showed this not only through the designs put together with the various accessories, most from Joshua Chex Hall's jewellery and accessory collection but also through the light and shade of the lighting and photography.

Every photo must have a story behind it, we hope we showed the many personalities of the Swan Princess as she struggles with her identity, with her sanity.

thank you again to my amazing team for helping me execute this.

To see the rest of the photos from this editorial series, you can check out my website, www.emmanuelphotography.com.au

Immortal Tales

2011-03-06T22:30:00.000-08:00

There are times I reflect on whether I'm on the path I want to be, to be clear on what both my head and my heart desire and so far that path has lead me to aspire to be a professional photographer. Not to sound cliche but since discovering photography two years ago, it has changed my life in so many ways. For example, it was the only real impetus for me to finally stop renewing my learner's licence for 5 years and finally take the driver's test, cause I needed to have that independence to drive to shoots etc. Besides my driver's licence, I got contact lenses and a new found self confidence in re-discovering myself, what I loved doing the most and the people I loved being around.

Often I ask myself why?, what exactly it is I love about photography....as much as I'd love to see my photos printed off and featured in the top magazines, what I think really draws me to photography are two things mainly.....

(1) To be creative, to imagine, to dream and to realise and experience that "high feeling" when you nail it in camera, when you see that vision materialise in front of you and you open your eyes and pinch yourself and realise this beauty and art is right in front of you, not in your head or in someone else's head.

(2) For me a photograph is the closest thing to achieving immortality in this world. It's about freezing that moment, that fleeting look of beauty, that emotion in time and space and its forever. So when our memory begins to fade, the impression and connection we have with that photo is preserved for all eternity. Photos don't fade like memories.

So for me to be a photographer and have that as my career is like having a voice that will echo for centuries through a valley that is constantly morphing. A photograph is frozen in time and what you had to say in that photograph lingers long after you've pressed the trigger. It speaks to you as it speaks to me. No translator is ever really needed to convey what a photograph can that words sometimes can do no justice. It's a never ending story to be retold like the myths and legends of old.

I strive each day to have that artistic voice in an ever growing digital world where everyone screams out "Look at me". I want to create beauty as I see it exists and narrate photographs that will be woven into the tapestry of life....like flickering glimpses into the soul and art of every living creature.

I don't think what I strive for is any different to what we all strive for and that is to find and know our purpose, to find our voice on this planet and have it be heard. We all want to be heard, we all want our stories told. I don't necessarily want to tell "my" story....I just want to be a storyteller of how I see and interpret things around me, things I hear, I feel, I experience and taste.

Photography is a field which is by no means easy to break into, like any other industry really, but what makes it worthwhile is when you love what you do, when you eat it, breath and bathe in it and finally, hopefully, one day you can bask in it in all the glory of your creations.

PS. The photos featured in this blog have no relation to the blog itself, its just some recent model portfolio shots I did with a lovely model 13 going on 14. Again its lovely to see people transform themselves in front of the camera.
Makeup Artist - Emily Graham
Styling by myself and Amy Stewart

Tips and Tricks for Models

2011-02-22T16:24:00.000-08:00

Well lately I've been doing a lot of test shoots for new modelling faces for their portfolios and its been fun, challenging and rewarding. Challenging cause you want to give each model a photo that is unique to anyone elses, a photo that speaks of who they are as well.

For model portfolio shoots, that is, photos that they want to use in their agency portfolios or to get them noticed by agencies to get in their books, you want photos that show off the model, its not about the hair or makeup or the wardrobe styling. Simple is always good, nothing too distracting in the styling to take away from showing the raw beauty of a model as well as her versatility. The agencies want to see YOU, not hidded behind eccentric makeup or loud fussy clothing.

Over the last two years I've shot with a lot of experienced agency models and they have taught me so much. Some have shared with me their little tricks or tips that they have learned along the way, and I find myself using them when coaching new young "green" models. Everyone in this industry has had different experiences and when you collaborate with new makeup artists, stylists or hairstylists, they all share their experiences and likewise also try to help me in guiding the model during the shoot, which I always appreciate.

Lately I've had some opportunities to shoot some undiscovered new faces, some young as 14 and with very little experience in the industry that I find myself coaching them a bit more through a shoot to bring out the best in them, their personality and their talent and it feels really exciting seeing them bloom in front of your eyes, come out of their shell and so I thought I'd share some tips with aspiring models.

Practice Practice

Yep, we've all heard it and this goes for all of us, whether photographers, makeup artists, models, you got to keep at it, keep practising. For models, you want to practice in front of the camera and catwalk. If the opportunity arises to do a shoot with a photographer friend or just with your friends taking some snap shots with a point and shoot camera, get in front of that camera and switch it on. Practise your walk (in the highest heels you can find) in front of friends, you need to feel comfortable walking in high heels in front of an audience. Watch the playback of runway shows and observe how the professional runway models walk, pose at the end of the catwalk and walk back.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

You will hear a lot of people say this, and I'll repeat it, stand in front of a mirror, really look at your facial features, try contorting your face in different expressions, see what those expressions look like. You always want to aim to look pretty even if doing an awkward expression. Don't be afraid of looking at yourself in a mirror, you need to develop confidence in yourself and the only way to really do that is to know yourself, body, mind and soul, inside and out. You need to know the limits of your body as well, what looks good and what just doesn't work. So get a mirror and practice different poses. Move your body and use the angles of your face. Everyone has a good side/ profile, so know what your angles are and then try memorising how your body felt or face felt in that position or pose, so that you can recall doing that pose/expression without the use of the mirror.

Dance like nobody is watching

Continuing on from practising in front of a mirror, I've always found that models with a dance background have a slight advantage, cause they know how their body works, its limits and what it can and cannot do and they are not afraid to try new movements and dance steps also add to your "vocabulary" of poses. Think of modelling as interpretative dance, you have to interpret sometimes the mood or idea a client wants you to convey through your photo. You are sometimes selling a piece of jewellery, or garment or a shoe, how do you use your body to connect with the audence to showoff what it is you are selling.

So join a dance class or just dance around to music, watch music videos and try to imitate the dance moves in front of a mirror. Have fun but at the same time take it serious as part of your modelling education.

The Silent Movie

I tell this everytime to a model at a shoot. Modelling is acting but without words, you only have your body and face to communicate through the lens what is the story of the editorial, or what you are trying to sell to the public. Modelling in my opinion is not as easy as it looks, for some models it might be easy as its just as natural to them as it is to breath, but for the majority, it takes a lot of effort and focus. If you find yourself struggling to convey more than one emotion or "look" through the lens, then I'd recommend taking an acting or drama class, learn some characters like anger, fear, joy, sadness. It honestly bores me to look through some models' portfolios and you'd be surprised they are even the "It" girl models at the moment and when you look closely at their face in every photo, nothing has changed, they have that blank, nonchallent, don't care look and they may get away with that one look for a while because they may have some hauntingly beautiful features, but I don't give them much longevity in the industry. You can't rely on having the "look of the moment" for very long. You need to have versatility as a model in my opinion and be able to transform each time you are on a job and take on the role that is expected of you. I love a model that can show me a range in her facial expressions, its not as easy to do, especially to keep that range of expressions all looking "pretty" for the camera.

I sometimes try and guide my models with a description of an emotion, or draw from any life experience or personal information I know of them and help draw out from them that emotion I want them to convey through a photo.

I also encourage the model to get in touch with the styling, what do the clothes make you feel like, who are you? are you a glamazon, a dominatrix, a countess, a rock star, a fragile dancer. Use that feeling that you get from the styling and bring it through your poses and the character you are pretending to be in the shoot. Look at yourself in the mirror with the hair and makeup done, you are no longer Jane, you can pretend to be something or someone you are not, its like that childhood game of dress up and pretend. Use the clothes, the makeup and hair to effect how you feel and transform yourself into someone you may not necessarily be every day. Think of how exciting this aspect of modelling is, you can explore so many personalities and characters, so jump in and have fun with it.

Study Hard

Yep, STUDY! Dig out magazines, rip the pages out of your favourite photos, whether you liked it for the pose, the styling or the icon. Keep a scrap book or make a mood board for your room with all your favourite photos. Study the photos, why do you like them? Try imitating the pose in front of the mirror.

And when you get photos back from your own photo shoot with a photographer, really look through all them, and critique them. Some of my best models are extra critical of themselves in photos, which is good to see as long as they don't take it too hard on themselves, but use it to grow from and correct themselves. Sometimes when I'm shooting I'll stop halfway and let the model look at the photos that I've taken so far on the lap top so she can see what she is doing - what she doesn't like, what is not translating well in front of the camera and what looks good and then we go at it again and correct ourselves.

So study your own photos in your portfolio, look at your eyes, mouth, down to your finger tips and toes, what are they doing? And learn from it.

Unleash your Personal Style

Sometimes it also helps to find an icon in the industry, whether it be a model or a style icon you look up too. As a model, it is just as important that you have a sense of style, or at least develop a sense of style. So find out who you are, what you like, what you feel like and dress to communicate who you are. Sometimes it helps to find someone you can identify with style wise, as was suggested the other day my stylists of Wardrobe Confidential when we worked together on a model's shoot. Jamie Stevenson and Natasha Darling recommended to the model to find a style icon, and develop her own senses of style as some models are sought after for the personal style that they ooze, they get the jobs they get because they portray really well that brand due to their own personal style, whether it be grunge, vintage, urban chic, rockabily or glamour. After all you always got to look professional when on a job or at a shoot. You got to look like you belong there.

Believe

And finally, believe in yourself. Take any criticism with a grain of sugar. You will have to learn to isolate what are constructive criticisms and what are downright nasty jealous remarks. Think about what was said about you and see if there is any truth in it, and if there was then work at improving. The only way you can identify what is truth and what is down right hurtful remarks sprewn out of jealousy, is if you know yourself, know your worth and know yourself and above all love yourself flaws and all, as after all even the most seemingly perfect model has her flaws, she just knows how to hide them and work the rest of what she's got to the best of her ability.

So respect models everyone, its a hard job, they work long hours, they spend money on their skin and bodies to maintain their image in perfect condition, and everyone feels its alright to slam dunk them with criticism of what they could do better, and nit pick at their flaws. It takes a thick skin to be a model, hence why I stress develop your confidence and self worth, not your ego!

If you are interested in booking a model portfolio shoot to update or start up your modelling portfolio, please contact me via email on info@emmanuelphotography.com.au or mobile 0434 361 862.

Good luck guys and gals.

Sun Kissed

2011-02-12T19:10:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share some quick edits of photos that I took yesterday morning on the beach for a test shoot with a new modelling face, Ashton Smith. For makeup, we kept it natural for a beachy look. Makeup was done by the very talented Julieanne Edwards.

Please note, no fake tans were hurt in this shoot, it is completely au naturale.

Ashton is a semi-pro surfer who is also part aboriginal, part European and has the type of energetic personality that is infectious. She doesn't take herself seriously but I think she should take modelling more seriously, because she has such a healthy toned curvy physique, bronze skin and eyes the colour of the ocean which she frequents as a surfer.

So guys so far she is unsigned with an agency, but hopefully that won't be for long.

This shoot sort of took me back to the early days of photography, when I did most of my work outdoors in natural light, it was just me, the model, no artificial lights, not even a reflector (as had nobody there this time to help me with that). And boy can I tell you, even thought it was only 7am sun, it was hot hot hot, I think by the end of it I started to stink up, as there was no breeze to cool the sweat dripping down you.

So enjoy the shots, will post more as they are heaps that I would love to post, but got heaps of editing to do for clients that I got to get out first. Hence, why I have not been able to show a lot of my latest shoots, as mostly for clients or mag submissions.

SIGHTJUMPING

2011-02-02T04:37:00.001-08:00

About almost 2 weeks ago I got this random email from a German based site called SIGHTJUMPING.COM complimenting me on my photography. Its a funny world we live in lately, so small really with social inter-networking but the founder of SIGHTJUMPING.COM had come across my portfolio via an Australian friend.

I checked out the site, and discovered that it had been founded by the thought of promoting artists from around the world in music, photography, video, art and all other forms of creativity. But not just to promote the individual artists themselves but also speak out for all artists in the industry, to give them a voice for fair representation and to negotiate fairer terms for all in the industry.

So I felt really blessed that they found my portfolio and above all liked it enough that they would promote me on their website amongst other talented artists from around the world in various styles of photography, music and art. I too through the site had been exposed to these other great artists, read their stories and sometimes identify with their journey of self discovery and in their evolution of their artform.

So check out their website at the link above and if you are interested in reading my interview together with some of my more recent photos from my portfolio, then check it out here

Thanks guys and thank you once again to SIGHTJUMPING.COM

You can also find them on facebook, they have a page created for SIGHTJUMPING.com

Finally, would just like to offer up my prayers and thoughts to Queensland (North) again as they brace themselves for what is expected to be a monster of a cyclone. I pray for a miracle!

Black Swan - my movie review

2011-01-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

How many artists suffer for their art?

How many times do we see life imitate art?

These questions simply sum up the movie, Black Swan.

I just saw this movie yesterda after long awaited anticipation. When I had first seen the movie trailer a few months ago, it looked to me like a riveting tale. Now having seen it, I can describe it in another breath as disturbingly beautiful. If you have not watched it yet, then you may want to stop reading from this point forward as I dissect the parts of the film that had the most impact on me.

The movie has a very voyeuristic feel to it, sometimes the camera is deliberately shaky and grainy, adding a very raw in your face and realistic dimension to it. As a viewer, I felt like I was spying on this ballerina’s life. It begins with our protagonist, Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina in a Dance Company who has just been promoted to the lead role in a new re-make of the ballet Swan Lake. We get an insight into the mind and emotions of Nina as she deals with the pressures to be the perfect Swan Queen, while dealing with an obsessive and possessive mother, bulimia, latent sexual urges and all the while fending off would-be rivals after her coveted role.

Of course, insecurity and paranoia sets in and all her obsessive compulsive disorders seem to raise their ugly heads all at once, as Nina struggles to embody the Black Swan.

To understand this movie, you have to really look for the symbolism – sometimes subtly and other times staring you right in the face. In the movie, the Dance Director/ Choreographer explains the ballet of Swan Lake, a tragic love story where a beautiful girl is put under a spell, transforming into a White Swan, trapped in its body. The only way to free herself from the spell is, love. Enter the Prince Charming. But her evil twin, the Black Swan thwarts the White Swan’s chances of winning the Prince’s heart and the White Swan kills herself in defeat and in death she is set free.

The story of Nina in this film parallels the story of the Swan Lake ballet. In Nina’s struggle for acceptance from her Dance Director to be the perfect Swan Queen who can embody both the pure, fragile, virginal White Swan and the dark, seductive and evil Black Swan, she falls more and more into a delusional psychotic spell, splitting herself into the two personas. This is where the movie takes you on this spiralling journey that questions what is real and what is not….what exists only in the mind of Nina and how she eventually confronts the reality of herself only to be literally consumed by the character role of the Black Swan. It’s too late when she realises the truth of her delusions and in death she is set free uttering her last words “it was perfect”. She literally drove herself mad in her quest for perfection and to be loved.

This made me question, to what lengths do we go to be perfect or just to be accepted, loved for who we are – starvation, a tortured soul, a mutilated body, all in the name of beauty. Especially in the dance world, you quickly learn that there is no beauty without pain and suffering and there grows to be this twisted and warped association of the two, and yes THERE IS beauty in the sacrifice of yourself for art, but how far do we go, how far to do we go in losing ourselves to it.

Besides the passionate dancing in this film, I loved too the metaphorical symbolism that creates this surreal, dreamlike state of mind contrasted against the very raw way this movie was shot. What symbolism you say, the film is saturated with symbolism, it’s a poetic work of scenes sewn together. But one that struck me the most was this scratch or rash that appeared on Nina’s shoulder blade, that we watch spread as the movie climaxes. At first you think it’s just self-infliction/ self-mutilation but to me it was too strategic a place as the shoulder blade, it instantly made me think it was like she was shedding her skin, and any minute, a wing would burst out from her shoulder blade and she’ll take flight.

More and more there are signs of her metamorphosis into the swan. Alongside this transformation flamed by her obsession to embody her ballet role, Nina seems to fixate on another ballerina by the name of Lily (Mila Kunis). Even in the opening scene when she is riding the subway, you see her catch a glimpse of Lily, and even the viewer can see a physical resemblance between the two ballerinas. Perhaps it is this similarity in appearances, or the insecurity of the threat that is Lily who appears to just ooze the sex appeal and effortlessness that Nina needs to be the Black Swan, or Nina’s pent up sexual desires that we see Nina’s transference of her other personality, the Black Swan onto Lily and the lines become blurred here….. what is real and what exists in her mind. Like the girl imprisoned in the swan’s body, Nina becomes a prisoner in her own mind, trapped in a maze of beliefs and illusions.

There is so much more that I could write in my analysis of this movie, but I think I’ll stop now and let you also form your own interpretations of this movie.

Like any good movie is meant to be – it is poetic – disturbingly beautiful, thought provoking and unleashing a myriad of interpretations.

All I can say is that this movie touched me very deeply both artistically and philosophically. I’ll leave you on this note…….everything is perception, how the world looks to you is how you create it in your mind and how it actually exists for you…..

FREE YOUR MIND AND TAKE FLIGHT AT THE ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES.

The Floods of Love

2011-01-14T00:46:00.000-08:00

I can't help but feel compelled to record something in writing of how I feel about the recent flood disasters in the Australian States of Queensland, New South Wales and now headed its way to Victoria. I am one of the fortunate ones to not live in the path of the flood waters but that's not to say that myself and others like me looking in from the rest of Australia, have not been touched or moved in some way from the images of the flood waters and the fact is nobody is really dry of the effects of this natural disaster.

If we really think about it, our entire economy, our stock market will be upset by the closure of some mines, destruction of entire crops and livestock, increases in unemployment, and the overall increase in the standard of living as a result of these shortages and increasing demand for imports that we cannot produce. On an environmental perspective, rich top soils have been washed away, fauna and flora uprooted, wildlife killed or displaced from their natural habitat and the inevitable destruction of our coastal reef system and fisheries as a result of the silting and debris now floating out to meet them. Nobody is untouched from the impact of this natural disaster. We as a nation, are all affected whether indirectly or directly through the loss of life, destruction of property and general upheaval of their livelihood. Thousands of people are now confronted with the process of rebuilding their lives from the ground up.

Now I don't want to dwell too much on the harsh reality and challenges coming from the flood crisis as I believe the media has done their job fantastically well in bringing round the clock updates on the event and inundating us with news and images of the suffering, hardship and now the stories of the many acts of kindness and heroism.

Hopefully the only floods to come are the floods of love - the beautiful displays of the human spirit, of compassion and camaraderie.

I would prefer to remember this event not as the destructive floods of Australia, that IT IS and will go down in history as, but as the "floods of love", the time in which a whole country unites, putting aside all differences and political allegiances and just rolled up our sleeves, put on the gumboots and dug into the road of recovery, step by step.

It is absolutely heart warming to see and hear of the many stories of the acts of heroism and mateship spring up amongst total strangers. Lets flood the States, the towns, the rural communities, the streets and neighbourhoods with love in the spirit of good will and fraternity. As one big family, lets do whatever little or however much we can, as a community, to donate money, food, clothing, construction material, tools or our time and skills to help rebuild those lives and livelihoods temporarily displaced.

For more information on donations or volunteering check out the following:-

TO DONATE

International donations

The account details international for donations are:

Account Name: Premiers Disaster Relief Appeal
BSB: 064 013
Account number: 1000 6800
SWIFT code: CTBAAU2S

Or donate in person at any of the major Banks or for more information on how to donate to the Queensland's Premier's Flood Appeal visit http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

Or contact your local Red Cross, Lifeline, Vinnies or local City Council to find out whether they are hosting any collections of donations for the flood relief appeal.

TO VOLUNTEER

Register with Volunteer Australia on 3002 7600 or via the website www.volunteeringaustralia.org

Tradespeople can telephone 1800 219 028 to register their interest in paid work, or go to the QBuild website, www.qbuild.qld.gov.au

Alternatively, you can contact your local City Council to register yourself on the list of volunteers.

Or just call a mate or relative who has been affected and rock up. Where possible, try car pooling to the clean up zones / areas.

What is done is done, now let the hard work begin, banded together like brothers and sisters in rebuilding stronger communities and an even brighter future than before.

Events like these help to remind us once again, of the truths of life, of what is most valuable in life.

Life is more precious than our earthly possessions and our true happiness is not measured by how much or how little that we own but by how much love we radiate from our hearts, spreading to others and then right back to us.

So let us all take this time to reflect what really matters in our life and re-assess our values.

I say "F F F" - "Family and Friendship First" and all else can take its place after that.

So lets heal these wounds inflicted on our country by flooding it with love.

May you all be blessed!

BOOM! BOOM! FIRE POWER!!!!

2010-12-31T01:54:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh, this has perhaps been the first time I've ever felt really, really excited for a new year. 2011 is definitely feeling like the year I am going to leave a mark.

So goodbye 2010, it was my second year of photography and I loved every second of it, as I can look back on the past two years of the photos I've been taking and retouching and I can honestly say that I see such a huge growth and improvement for the better in my style and retouching. Things are coming together for me now.

So what are you doing to ring in the New Year?

I've heard of little customs along the way from friends and family, good luck charms or customs to bring good luck into a new year.

One is of course kissing your true love when the clock strikes midnight.

Another one I heard was from my dance instructor, Nalini Akal, she told us once to keep a gold coin wrapped in red tissue paper and keep it under your pillow on New Year's Eve.....gosh I think that is what she said, and you were to also write down 3 wishes on a piece of paper and tuck it under your pillow or bed as well.

Another story of making it a lucky year, was one I heard from my Venezuelan Aunt, she said it is a superstition to wear yellow underwear on New Year's Eve for it brings luck and if you want to do lots of travelling in the new year, then you must take an empty suitcase and run around the house at midnight and its supposed to somehow beckon travel overseas your direction!

I've also heard of the superstition of wearing white on New Year's Eve as a symbol of prosperity and good fortune. Here are some other customs or superstitions I researched that is practiced in different countries.

In Puerto Rico children enjoy throwing pails of water out the window at midnight. Some believe that this rids their home of any evil spirits!

In Spain when the clock strikes midnight the people eat 12 grapes. One grape for every stroke of the clock to represent each month in the year. Each grape is said to bring good luck in the new year.

Switzerland believes good luck comes from letting a drop of cream land on the floor New Years Day. While in France people eat a stack of pancakes for luck and good health. Belgium farmers wish their animals a Happy New Year for blessings.

Armenian women cook a special bread for their family. The bread is kneaded with luck and good wishes pressed into the dough before it is cooked.

In Northern Portugal children go caroling from home to home and are given treats and coins. They sing old songs or "Janeiro's" which is said to bring good luck.

Romanians had a tradition of listening to hear if the farm animals talked on New Years Day. If the animals talked it was considered bad luck so they are relived when they do not hear any talking animals.

In Bolivia families make beautiful little wood or straw dolls to hang outside their homes to bring good luck.

Well I am thinking 2011 is going to be certainly a lucky one, after all its the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese calender, but they don't celebrate their new year until February.

Well, as I am only hours away from midnight on Ole Year's Night, I would like to sincerely thank all the people who have come into my life and made it much more richer in their presence, their friendship, their support, their talented contributions and in all the little ways that count to me and wish everyone a very good 2011!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! 2011 !!!!

En garde for Avant Garde - Interview with Designer Shieltiel Calamba

2010-11-28T03:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, its been a long while and this blog has been on the backburner for a while, sorry for that, but I am very easily distracted and procrastinate.

Anyway, so back in October this year I had the chance to photography an up and coming designer, and we photographed his avant garde design that he did for his final year of Design School.

Now yes we don't all speak French and there is haute couture and avant garde and what the hell do these words mean and what's the difference. Avant garde is the French phrase literally translated "Advance Guard" or "Vanguard". It is used to describe the works of people who's thoughts, ideas or art is innovative, experimental, and advance for its time - pushing the boundaries of the norm.

So I would like to introduce to you Shieltiel (we'll call him Shieltz for short) and his final assignment in which he explored the cultural and religious ideology of Hinduism, in particular of the Lord Shiva and depicted it artistically through fashion.

Here are some photos that we took that day we shot his "Fire Dance of Lord Shiva" garment and the interview I subsequently had with him to get a bit inside of his head and how it works creatively.

Q: You were not always in fashion design, what were you doing before studying fashion?

A:

I was a Radiographer/ Radiotherapist in one of the tertiary hospitals of my home country which is Philippines. I also work as a part- time professor/lecturer in a medical college where I graduated.

Q: What was your motivation to make a complete 360 degree turn in career path from medicine to art and take the plunge into studying fashion design?

A:

Even during my high school, I really wanted to pursue my artistic aptitude and told my parents my interest on taking fine arts course when I reach college. But they had told me to be more practical and get a medical related course where I can find work overseas and can earn more money after I finish it. I did give way and continued to what they wanted me to do. I finished 4 years Radiography course and landed a local job straight away in a hospital after I graduated on 2003. And also, as I said, got a part-time job too as a teacher. I've spent 6 years doing those and I've realised that I'm not growing as a person anymore and I'm lacking passion in what I'm doing. I quit my job and been jobless for couple of months, stayed with my parents and it made me feel even sorry for myself. But when I reflected and started drawing again, playing violin, watching project runaway, make costumes for my friend, it did gave a spark to me that this is the kind of passion I've been waiting for. Soon, I did convince my parents that I have to pursue what I'm really passionate about and I don't want to waste anymore time and regret it in the future. My parents supported my decision and challenged me as well. I said, I want to get out of my country and have a fresh start. I told them that I want fashion designing as a career and I chose Australia. It takes really a lot of guts to tell those words to my parents. But it works!

Q: Where did you study fashion design? and how long have you been studying it?

A:

I studied Diploma on Fashion Design and Technology at Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE, Mount Gravatt Campus. I've studied it for two years.

Q: What inspires you ? and Who do you admire most in the fashion industry, local and/or international?

A:

Giorgio Armani. He inspires me because we have the same background. He started as a medical doctor student then gave it up and then pursued fashion. I like his humble beginnings too and genius creation. He's also very disciplined and has a strong will. He tried everything, tailoring, couture, fragrance, and even interior designing. Amazing person indeed!

Q: What challenges have you encountered in studing fashion?

A:

Well, I think it's the foreign culture and their fashion sense. It's more of an effort for me to understand the Australian fashion sense, their culture, and the fashion itself (since I'm new/learning in the fashion field). But my determination and passion is much stronger and overcome those challenges.

Q: Which style or field of fashion do you want to pursue professionally?

A:

I think Tailoring. Although I love a little bit of everything like couture, avant garde, bridal, and ready to wear, I think tailoring is much more realistic and stable kind of career for me. And not everyone has the patience and skills on creating complex and customised garments.

Q: How would you describe or define "avant garde" fashion and why do you think it is still important and relevant to the industry today?

A:

Avant garde for me is an emblem or a symbolic object used to proclaim the existence and importance of the fashion world and it inspires the people who live in it. Without avant garde, everyone will be doing the same thing and fashion becomes lifeless.

Q: For your creation, Fire Dance of Lord Shiva, why did you choose that particular Hindu God to portray? And tell us what it means to you?

A:

I chose Hinduism as an inspiration because of the spiritual contents of it. I'm not hindu or religous but I'm in touch with my spiritual being. I love deep meaning/ sense things. For this particular inspiration, it's a Hindu God called Shiva protrayed as a cosmic dancer Nataraja. Hindus beleive that he played a major role in the cylce of creation. He's responsible for the destruction of the weary universe to allow the birth of a new one. Using fire element with the divine dance, he destroys the stagnant ways of life and thinking to come up with a new realisation and start afresh. Because Hindus beleive that there can be no creation without destruction. For me, it inspires me in every aspect of my life. Like my personal interpretation, the description tells me that if I wanted to move on with life I have to shed off some of my past ones that keeps me from seeing the future. Something like that..

Q: When looking at clothing, what grabs your attention first, is it the colour, shape, texture, lines, fabric, design....?

A:

I think initially it's the shape, the silhoutte. Then my eyes quickly plays around to details, colour, and everything else.

Q: Have any of your design ideas/ creations come from dreams?

A:

I think so. I don't usually remember my dreams but I guess my unconcious mind contributed/ influenced my works. Sometimes, when I'm in a deep thinking state it just popped out. Can't explain logically actually.

Q: Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years time?

A:

Hmmm, difficult question. I won't say anything specific but I would confidently say that I will be strongly grounded and successful in whatever fashion career I have landed. I'm a hardworker and strongly determined, I think I can achieve that in 5 years time.

Q: If you could win a plane ticket to go one country in the world, where would you go and why?

A:

I think Japan. I can wear crazy clothing and hairstyle. I can make myself anime looking. I grew up in anime cartoons and been looking forward to be one. It will be a lot of fun!

And that's it my friends, Shieltz was a wonderful designer to work with, very warm, friendly and I could see his mind teeming with ideas. He is destined for a very colourful future ahead.

And thank you for the equally talented team we had that day to bring to life Shieltz' vision of the Fire Dance, we had the very skilled makeup artist and hairstylist, Aleisha Gannon (http://www.makemedutchess.com.au/) and very graceful and beautiful model, Tineeka Green of Division Model Management. And of course, photography and post production by me ; )

Introducing the i-human

2010-10-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

Is it me or does everything nowadays has the prefix "i" attached to it. It first started when Mac brought out their clever marketing strategy with the i-mac, then the i-pod, i-tunes, i-phone, i-pad, heck even Hyundai has the ix35 car and the list can go on and on.... Who knew that back in 2004 when they released the movie "i-robot" that there would now be this "i-revolution" in mainstream and pop culture.

However, I think this "i-revolution" goes beyond materialism and the latest gadgets as I believe it now permeates now only into our culture but into our mentalities.

Yes folks, some of us have mutated into "i-humans".

(photo by Katriena Emmanuel, Edit by Damion Emmanuel - Model is Kelly Hockey)

Now I am not necessarily trying to coin a new catch phrase to describe those "Mac-actics" who are constantly "plugged into the network" with their iphones, ipads, blah blah blah. No! I am referring to the narcissistic, selfish humans most of us are morphing into. Now I am not sure if this transformation is directly correlated to the i-tech revolution but it sure seems that with the way technology is progressing and "social networks" have grown astronomically, that we are perhaps resultingly becoming more and more self-centered, self-absorbed and detached from real, healthy social relationships. Or maybe it's just in the water!

Think of it, we have hundreds, some even thousands of Facebook "friends", Twitter "followers", 99% of which we have never met face to face and who we'll probably never really meet and know for real. Yet these "friends" and "followers" can tell what you had for breakfast today, when you just broke up with your boyfriend, and what you watched on Tv last night. The truth is they only know you on the surface, at least what you would like to share and portray of yourself, call it your "social online profile" of yourself. So we have now dozens of shallow, on the surface relationships.

But how many people really know the real you?, Do you even like and know the real you?. How many people do you think you really know?

It seems we all live our own reality version of the Glee Club or Gossip Girls and it's like we are all back at high school, in our little cliques and trying to be the most popular, all the attention on me, look at me, listen to me!

No it's not Me, Myself and Irene.....It's ME, ME, ME, I, I, I......

The point I am trying to make and yes we are all guilty of this in some form or the other, including myself, is yes! love yourself! but it's not always got to be about YOU!. In an era when we have endless possibilities to really connect on a global scale, let us not forget to really value "our reality" and not our "virtual realities" we seem to becoming so addicted to, that we have reached the point where our cell phones sleep next to us and heck we even take them with us to the bathroom. Sometimes I wonder if the trilogy movie, The Matrix is based on truth than on a fictional fantasy story.

So wake up and really look at the people around you and look at yourself. Make real connections with real people in your daily lives. Let us not loose our humanity and loose sight of what is the true meaning of our existence. Let us stop thinking about ourselves so much and start thinking of the footprints that we will one day leave upon this earth.

How would you be remembered? What would people say about you at your funeral?

Oops, sorry what I really meant to say was "What would people write on your Facebook Memorial Fan Page and comment on your Twitter page?"

Take control of your reality, now, as it happens, and don't let the virtual world control you and turn you into an i-human......

I'm New Talent in Capture Magazine

2010-09-26T02:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I am counting every blessing that comes my way and here is praying more will come in the near future.

I got a bit of a surprise two weeks ago when a facebook contact messaged me to tell me that they saw me in September - October 2010 issue of Capture Magazine and I was pleasantly surprised and now to find a newsagent that still had copies. Luckily I got a copy the next day from a newsagent just near my house, Score!

(front Cover of Sept-Oct Capture - cover pic by Peter Coulson)

So if you happen to see Capture in the newstands, pick up a copy and you will find me on page 8 under "New Talent", there is just a short bio on myself and the top pic done by me.

(page 8 of Sept-Oct Capture - I'm featured in New Talent)

I feel really honoured to be in Capture, as it means a lot for me for my body of work to be recognised by other fellow photographers, as Capture is all about photography. So thank you !

Its a really good issue this month too, featuring some great photography and interview with Peter Coulson who also happens to be AIPP winnder this year.

So take a read and look out for me!

Sorry about the scanned in copies of the front cover and page 8 of the magazine, my hubby scanned it in from his work quickly, but I still think you get the picture.

Toodles

Once Upon a Time in Mexico - en el dia de los muertos

2010-09-16T02:09:00.000-07:00

Well its almost that time of year again, one of my favourite holidays - Halloween!. Yes as you can tell I love any opportunity to dress up in disguises and masks and trick people hehee. In fact I met my hubby on Halloween, so it must be my lucky holiday time.

A few weeks ago I assembled a team of 6 models, 2 makeup artists and hairstylist to help me realise a vision I had for my interpretation of the Mexican festival "Dia de los muertos" - The Day of the Dead. I've been wanting to do this all year long, since the beginning of the year really, but only really started to put my ideas down on paper and sketch the concept out about 6 months ago.

(in pic: Lexi Carlin, Kelly Fraser, Aleesha Darke, Aleisha Gannon and Kelly Hockey)

This shoot was also intended for editorial submission, but unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in that venture. No mags applied to, seem to have any interest in running it.

Attached below is what I sketched out originally and then later set up the mood board of the hairstyles and makeup that I saw best depict each character I created.

The Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a spiritual festival celebrated in Mexico between 31 October to 2 November which coincide with the Christian calendar dates of “All Souls Day or All Saints Day”. The skeletons and skulls in Mexican folk art represent the duality that exists in life – primarily the duality of life and death but in my interpretation there is also a portrayal of beauty and decay, wealthy and poor, evil and good that all co-exist.

(in pic, Carla McKeever applying makeup to Cynthia Howard as the Witch/ Bruja)

The approach in my interpretation of this theme was to highlight the beauty of this iconic festival from a fashion perspective through its exploration of central characters that appear in Latin American culture, art and literature. These characters are La Novia/ La Madona (the bride, the virginal representation of all that is good and holy reminiscent of the Virgin Mary); La Bruja (the witch/ the seductress) who represents the fascination of the occult and gothic romanticism with its background in primitive practices; La Catrina (the rich upper class societal woman) usually represented by a black hat (hence the hair style chosen was intended to show the lines as if she is wearing a hat) and shows the frivolous nature of the upper class; La Campesina (the peasant woman or labourer) who represent the backbone of the economy and portrayed in a classic portrait style with the flowers in the hair in a messy up style); La Azteca – the indigenous people, the original Mexicans, who were a warrior tribe steep in superstition; and finally, a representation of the iconic Mexican artist renowned for her disturbing self-portraits, Frida Kahlo.

My approach to execution of the portrayal of this vision, was to represent these characters in their dead life form, as if they are materialising into reality, like an apparition materialises from thin air, hence my choice of lighting and editing technique to convey this spiritual materialisation. Also, in terms of the lighting, I wanted to create a deliberate shadow cast by the model, as the shadow effect reinforces for me the idea of the spirit world, we all have a shadow, we all cast one, yet we are alive, a shadow is probably for me the closest visual representation of a soul which is thought to be invisible, but perhaps we see it in our shadow – our other self. I kept the wardrobe styling to a minimum but yet using essential elements to convey each persona/ character represented. My choice of makeup was also strategic as well, some deviating from the usual representations of the Day of the Dead imagery and taking on more the elements of that persona/ character. The hair styles also tie in with each character’s personality yet they are still current and trendy styles used in the catwalks. Even in death, we are who we are. Even the Egyptians buried their dead with all the tools and elements of their past life, as they believed they would need it in the after life.

As to the wardrobe styling, I should explain that I have created them all myself from bits and pieces of Op Shop/ Thrift store bargains, old lace curtains, vintage dress and shawl, etc which to me also represent the recycling of the old, the unused and unloved instead of them decaying back to the earth. So although no designers have provided the wardrobe, the wardrobe is all recyclable materials which for me also helps reinforce this whole idea of duality and finding beauty in decay.
Despite the day this festival is celebrated, it is also very fashionable at present. Just this year alone, Givenchy has created a collection inspired by the Day of the Dead which looked more at the skeletal anatomy of the art inspired by this festival. The artist, Frida has become a muse in herself, and has inspired many designers, more recently Karl Largerfield for German Vogue with model Claudia Schiffer and then who can forget Laura Ponte’s editorial as Frida shot by Iris Brosch.

And now that I've explained the thought behind my process of execution, I couldn't have done it without the amazing team that helped me put it together and realise it.. each talented in their own unique ways. So all credit goes to makeup artist Aleisha Gannon who was responsible for the Bride/Novia, La Catrina and La Azteca characters, Aleesha Darke as the hairstylist and at times the wardrobe stylist! and Carla McKeever the makeup artist who created Frida, La Bruja/Witch and La Campesina characters.

Thank you to my beautiful models who were patient and professional during the process and for being mindful not to crack the makeup when we would all be cracking up at jokes. So thank you to the models Kelly Hockey (the bride), Kelly Fraser (the Aztec), Cynthia Howard (the Witch), Gabriela Andrade (Frida), Lexi Carlin (The Rich Woman)and Dominique Montford (The Farmer's Wife).

Hasta la proxima vez!

M B F F

2010-08-08T01:58:00.000-07:00

What a night out and a night full of fond memories. That is just about what sums up my first taste of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival in Brisbane.

I have to admit I was really excited and a bit freaked out as to what the hell does one wear to shows like this, even more bewildering being my first time too. But after getting some comforting advice from a little fashion birdie (you know who you are :-), who told me "be chic, be funky, be yourself and you don't have to go too formal or dressed up", that put my mind a bit at ease....for some reason I was thinking I was gonna have to be wearing a ball gown (but wait, there were some people in massive ball gowns, so I guess I would have been safe either way).

It was a chilly night but that did not stop the fashionistas from bearing it all, myself included, being a slave to fashion in my barely there thin blouse, but I think the warm wollen socks saved me, as long as the feet are nice and toasty, you have a better chance of surviving in the cold. (see below a snap shot of what I put together to wear on the night, mostly Op Shop bargains put together).

We were greeted with a snaking line as people waited to get inside the warm tent into their seats, but I could not help notice the sea of beauty that swirled around me, there were some beautiful people, really well put together, the shoes, the outfit, the accessories, some went for straight off the rack ensembles while others I could see injected their personality and expression into the way they dressed. At the end of the day anything went, from the alexander mcqueen inspired red ball gown dress to the stilleto boots, skinny jeans and lacey tops.

I attended Group 3 showing which showcased various local designers such as Dogstar, Maiocchi, Nelson Molloy, Tulipani and above all the designer I went to support, George Wu. The show was overall a reflection of the eclectic mix of designers themselves, from the Grunge Emo look with dark green plaids, bulging skirts, suspenders and feathered arm bands and asymetrical feathered shoulder pads, to the more girly with a hint of the 50's in brightly coloured patterned knee length dresses, that I could have just imagined a girl eating an ice cream cone, to the brightly coloured dresses with almost peruvian like coloures and patterns to the tribal looking prints and geometrics.

However, the highlight for me was the gran finale, closed by George Wu's collection. His collection featured solid colours of black, white and red, the drape of the fabric was reminiscent of a roman goddess with some pieces adorned by diamond encrusted talismans linked by chains, almost gladiator like. The collection was strong in its shapes as in its use of colours yet feminine in the fluidity of the fabrics. The way some of the dresses moved, it was like watching petals falling from a flower, there was so much grace and beauty in the movement of the garments - it was simply regal!

(model above - Kirsten Algie of Viviens)

George Wu hopes to show at Rosemount Fashion Week, provided he gets sponsorship. So if you know of any corporate or otherwise sponsors who would love to stand by a local talent here in Brisbane, then contact George at www.georgewu.com.au

The night ended over good food and even better company and conversation. I was lucky enough to get to hang out with some emerging talents in the fashion scene, in particular Veronica Morland of Dallys, Michelle Lamont of Division, Eden (stylist from the Garden of Eden :-), Makeup artist Jenny Ockenden and designers Anna Peng and George Wu himself together with some of his closest friends and family for support on the night.

So cheers guys and to all the new people I met that night, thank you for making a memorable first time out to MBFF ! Good luck to all the other designers showcasing this week. The festival ends on Friday 13 August, 2010.

Pics are just some snap shots from the night's highlights for me personally.

Ooh Couture...

2010-07-30T04:15:00.000-07:00

(Givenchy)

Lately myself and others included have heard the word "haute couture" be wantanly abused as a phrase that falls out of loose lips to describe "one off pieces".

It seems a lot of designers out there don't actually have a grasp themselves of what haute couture means.

There are two basic definitions of what designers create and you will hear these terms on the annual catwalks every time "ready to wear" or "haute couture".

A simple point of difference between the two is ready to wear or off the rack is mass produced and as the name implies is ready to wear. Whereas couture is custom fitted and made for a client and way too costly to mass produce hence making it all the more exclusive.

(Alexander McQueen)

Couture is actually short for the French phrase "haute couture" (oat koo-TOOR) which literally translates as "high dressmaking". Nowadays the lines of pret a porter (off the rack) styles and couture have become blurred, perhaps deliberately so due to some fashion houses and designers seeking to exploit the exclusiveness of the term as a cheap marketing tool without the large expenditure and production that is part and parcel of what it is to produce couture. Or perhaps its just the designers preying on the man or rather the woman on the street' naivety of what it actually means to label something as couture.

Haute couture is a tradition that originated in the World Fashion Capital of France back in the mid 1800's and was exclusive to the high ranking socielites, nobles and royal family of the times. Much of this was shown in the recent film of Marie Antoinette showing her taste for the extravagant and remember it was a time when women in particular expressed their personality, sensuality and personal style with custom made garments using the finest materials, intricate detailing that most times took months to do by hand and costed a fortune. Couture is very much a work of art and is traded very similarly to prized fine art paintings that are collected by some of the most afluential people in the world.

Given this rich history of the artform, it is blasphemy to many classically trained designers and tailors to see this art form passed off as representative of someone who "just makes only one of a kind, one size fits all couture".

(Armani)

Haute couture is one fashion that has literally survived the transient rules and fickleness of the fashion industry for centuries, and this could perhaps be attributed to it being govern by strict guidelines governed under French law. To be considered couture, a garment must be produced by one of the members of the Chambre de commerce et d' industrie de Paris. Further more, the firm itself must maintain a workshop in Paris with French staff and present a collection during both annual fashion weeks.

In summary, the guidelines for classifying a garment as couture are as follows:-
1. is licensed from France
2. involves time consuming, intricate and labour intensive techniques and hand work.
3. be almost off the charts expensive, made from the most luxurious and expensive materials
4. It is tailor made for a private client often involving at least two fittings for that client and is designed to meet the client's need and body shape.

It is the abovementioned traits that make couture worthy of its assaulting price tags and throws the rest off the rack.

Respect

Kat

Diamonds on the Inside

2010-07-19T01:57:00.001-07:00

It's as essential as the air or water we need to live...it's the common thread that unites us, the one thing we all search for, desire, need and yearn for.....What is this "it" I speak of...... LOVE.

It's what drives our very existence. When you think about it, strip everything away, it all comes down to love. I'm referring to the love that encompasses everything.

Think about it, we all crave for love, to be desired, whether it be the attention, the adoration, the fame or that feeling of security of being loved by someone. And regardless of the reason or form it comes in, it simply boils down to us wanting to feel a part of something... accepted - belonging to someone or something.

But it's my personal belief that before you can find whatever kind of love you are searching for, it will never truly be complete or satisfying for you until you love yourself. As simple as that sounds, it can be intolerably hard for some of us to love ourselves.

I remember telling my girlfriends growing up, as we dreamed out loud of finding "Mr Right", and I used to advise them that before they can find another person to love and love them back unconditionally, and find this "Mr Right" of their dreams, they had to love themselves inside and out FIRST. Now please don't confuse narcissism and egotism with loving yourself for who you are as an individual. Love is not selfish, self-absorbed and conceited, in fact its the opposite, its embracing, generous and open minded.

For me personally, I always thought 'how can I completely give myself to another - mind, body and spirit, and share my self, my fears, my dreams, my everything with someone who loves me for me, IF I had hang ups about myself.'. Whether it was the way I looked, felt inside and out, if I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin, know myself completely and love myself for it, flaws and all, well then I couldn't honestly share and open myself up in a meaningful relationship without being completely honest with myself to myself. Because no matter how incredible that other person is, and how happy they make you feel, you cannot truly and completely be happy and satisfied until you are happy within and in yourself. You are in control of your personal happiness, do not depend on anyone else to make you happy, otherwise get used to disappointment. It is just like caring about what other people think of you and always trying to please them, you can never please them, you will always fail and you know why, because only they are in control of their own happiness, not you.

Until people start realising that it is unfair to expect another person to make you happy, and "complete your life" and that YOU are responsible and in control of your own personal happiness, then many of us will continue to fool ourselves with grand delussions of what is love, and what would "complete" them and make them happy and they will always seem to have this unquenched thirst.

Anyone who knows what it is to love themself for who they are will have the confidence, self worth and self-esteem in themself. And if you value yourself and have that self worth and love for yourself, then you'd never end up in an abusive relationship. Think of that for a moment. People who fall prey to abusive relationships were susceptible to begin with, because they themselves already held negative thoughts of themself, thoughts of not being good enough, not being pretty enough, smart enough, and not aware of who they are as a person and their self-value. And sometimes it produces the opposite effect, where we become the bullies, the perpetrators of the abuse over others, in an attempt to make ourselves feel better about ourself, by putting down another, we somehow think we raise ourself, Ha! I'm not going to get into the causes of how people have developed this low self-worth, as there are many contributing factors, but the causes don't matter, as YOU always have control over how you let things affect you or to NOT affect you.

I think love begins with one's self and how can someone who has self worth and love for themself, hurt or harm another person. Think of how much a better place this world would be, if each and every one of us, loved ourselves - we'd be more tolerable of other's differences and pecularities and faults, for if you love yourself, happy in your own skin, you show it outwardly and afterall happiness is contagious (hopefully!).

Love should raise you up and make you a better person, because love is pure and good energy and if you have that goodness in your heart and intentions, then how can you be mean and nasty to others.

You are personally responsible for your happiness, nobody can be held responsible for your state of happiness. It begins inside of you, and within your mind and it grows from the love and acceptance of yourself and who you are.

WE ARE ALL after all diamonds in the rough, but with a bit of faith, you can dig away the layers to reveal the diamond inside of you and in the words of Shakespeare "see how far that little candle throws its beam, so shines a good deed in a naughty world".

(model - Claire Bishop, Makeup - Monique of Hollywood Brides)

We all have greatness inside of us, we just have to believe in it, polish it and harness it and know our value.

And in the words of Madonna's song "Nothing really matters, Love is all we need, Everything I give you, all comes back to me....."

This is my gift to you folks, hopefully I have inspired some of you out there, who might have been feeling blue.

Kat

Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit Hare Hare Hare

2010-07-01T00:49:00.000-07:00

So its the first of the month, the first of the financial year of Australia.

And here is another peek at the Snow White shoot which I shot on Sunday. I am really happy with how the shoot came out, its the closest result to my visualisations that I've had so far in doing photography. Its pretty much how I imagined it would be, much better than my actual sketches/ drawings haha. We did both studio shots and location, but as usual I love location shots, cause you can move around and do so much more improvising from the scenery and the location.

Will be posting the full set on my website tonight when I update my site.

Enjoy

When visions materialise before you

2010-06-27T02:41:00.000-07:00

Well, another weekend with an amazing shoot. I have to be honest these shoots keep getting better and better as I go along and I swear I think I am enjoying them tremendously more and more, if that is even possible.

Today was an exciting day for me, hardly slept the night before, as today commenced shooting the first part to my fairytale series which to be honest I've had in my mind since last year Winter, but only in March this year did I begin sketching the ideas, putting them down on paper before I forget them and getting the little bits and pieces, like props etc.

Another reason why today will also be special and memorable day for me, was it was first time I got to use my lights on a model (if you don't count myself and my husband as models). It's been over a year now since I took up photography and although I really love love shooting in natural light, its all exciting and new for me to experiment with controlled lighting situations.

Again I worked with an amazing team, Kate McKenna (makeup artist - www.katemckenna.com.au), also a first for me to work with and she was brilliant, and of course my right hand gal Aleesha Darke (hairstylist - www.aleeshadarke.com)and the very talented model, Samantha Darke, who some might remember from the shoot we did last August, when we borrowed a wardrobe from the up and coming local designer, Melina Hollway.

So today, we did a bit of both, shooting in my home studio and then outdoors for some natural lighting shots.

So here is a sneak peek of my first instalment in my Fairytale Series, can you guess which Fairytale story this one is......wait till you see the rest, the best is yet to come, there is a real surprise in some of the shots, in how we executed the location.

The shot below is a studio shot, more to be used as a beauty shot than for the actual storyline plot, but hey its good to get a mix of both.

Anyway, I got to run, my head is buzzing either from hunger pains or confusion as to which photos I love the most to edit, there are literally so many good ones, thanks to an amazing model, too hard to choose.

Keep on the look out at the completed series.

Busted my shoes for you

2010-06-20T01:56:00.000-07:00

So you've heard, "busted my ass for you", well I busted both my shoes for my own personal shoot today. Yep, busted the straps off both my shoes whilst almost falling flat on my face, so it brings new personal meaning now to me when I hear someone say "I busted my shoe for you".

This is another personal project of mine.

Okay so here goes, this is the story of a shoot that I had been planning in my mind, sketching in my book all the little details for the styling since about March this year. So piece by piece I have been accumulating a bit of a styling wardrobe myself and finally pieced it all together in the photoshoot today. So I am proud to say that I have personally been able to supply the wardrobe and accessories for this shoot (except for the shoes which was the model's but were so perfect for the job) and had been planning this location for a while now. Most of the clothes I bought from Op Shops and vintage stores and some pieces from my own personal wardrobe from way back when. I have to thank my good friend and model, Brodie Fleming who taught me how to Op Shop, she amazes me and not just her luck in finding amazing pieces but how she can look past something and make something even more brilliant that it exists.

The location was a pretty cool venue (public but awesome nonetheless), haven't really seen it been used before locally and I wanted to do something different, as usual nah. Its fun, colourful and flirty and a contemporary take on a blast from the past.

So I've been cutting out little pics of hair and makeup that I liked and both Aleesha Darke (hairstylist) and Sally Rutten (makeup artist)put this little spin on things, you could say their own personal stamp and viola! You've got magic, all sewn together by a brilliant model, who was my first time working with, Kirsten A of Viviens.

So here is a little sneak peak of what us girls did today just to wet the apetite a bit.

More to come, once I can choose which photos I love best, really so hard when you have an amazing subject to photograph.

So thanks to my lovelies for making my vision a reality again!

For contact details for Aleesha Darke (who cuts, colours and styles hair) www.aleeshadarke.com

For contact details for Sally Rutten (makeup artist extraordinaire) www.sallyr.com.au

Stay tuned for more sneak peaks of this shoot, yet to be titled (still tossing up on names)

Wu-landering

2010-06-18T02:34:00.000-07:00

Well here is a bit of a preview of a fabulously fun shoot in Brisbane City on the Queen's Birthday. We were wu-landering through the city from the Wharf to the Bridge, walking dogs, balancing on floating pontoons with a pole dancing model (she was just having fun, its not really her day job) and screaming down telephones and pushing up and checking out each other's boobs.

Yep that described in a nutshell our day out on the shoot with only less than two hours of light to shoot on a cold windy day.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to be part of the vision of Jenny Ockenden (makeup artist) in collaboration with our very own local international designer, hailing from Brisbane, yes our very own George Wu. Jenny's inspiration was the very classic and elegant sophistication of Audrey Hepburn and we worked towards creating a very natural feel to the shoot, showcasing elegant dresses by two beautiful girls who could have very well been best friends on the day, because they sure acted like it.... and that was exactly what we wanted to show. Girls just having fun, seeking adventure and finding it around every turn and bend, while looking glamorous from start to end.

The team consisted of:- Jenny Ockenden, the makeup artists and the visionary stylist for the shoot (you could say she was the glue that held us all together), the very talented Lucie Grevell of Bella Brides with the assistance of her daughter- Brittany creating the fabulous hair looks chosen by Jenny and of course our two lovely models (Tatyana Kolesnichenko and the Dallys model - Veronica Morland) who transformed in front of the camera with my artistic / photographic direction.

But of course how can I forget to mention, the featured designer, George Wu and his latest winter collection - the Indistinct Messenger (www.georgewu.com.au)

So once again nothing is possible without team work... with all looking in the same direction.

I'd like to make this a habit now, featuring our local designer talents as well as beauty talents and rising models, so follow me on my journey to meet them and introduce them to you...

Goodbye Equals Change

2010-06-08T00:44:00.001-07:00

Goodbyes often signify new beginnings, a departure from one routine to face a new one - they are symbolic of change.

When you think about it, saying goodbye is a universal experience, one in which we will all face at some point in time during the course of our lives, in fact sometimes more than once a day. It's inevitable.

Now I am not referring to the expression of farewell that we say on a daily basis to each other, as we go our separate ways, off to school, off to work, to home etc. I am talking about goodbyes that represent the departure from a way or routine of life to embrace or resist against a new direction, a new and unfamiliar existence. You could say these are "life-changing goodbyes".

And we all have them:- growing up and leaving behind our "childish" ways of dependency; leaving school to enter higher level education; or join the ranks of the workforce; resigning a job and commencing a new one; retirement, leaving a bachelor/ette existence to embrace a committed relationship, marriage or parenthood; breaking up with a love of your life; divorce; the passing away of a loved one; moving house; or saying goodbye to your last drop of alcohol or giving up an addiction; or even saying goodbye to a close friend departing for overseas. All these "goodbyes" mark a new beginning for us, whether it spells starting over by ourselves - we come face to face with change.

Change - its possibly one of the most complex of experiences we'll ever confront. I know when I face changes in my life, I feel overwhelmed by a barrage of emotions:- fear of the unknown, worry, nervousness, excitement, hope and then I take a deep breath and find strength and courage.

Perhaps what makes change so hard for most of us, is our attachment to things or people. The human race is generally materialistic and sentimental. We often attach ourselves to objects, possessions, people or even a routine of life. Perhaps this is our way of feeling secure, having something constant in our lives until something or someone rips it away from us. Our security blanket gone, now what do we do, where do we begin?

It is probably this detachment that creates the separation anxiety we all face when we encounter these "life-changing goodbyes". But it's a way for us to find our legs again, stand on our own and embrace whatever life has to offer.

How we deal with goodbyes and ultimately the Changes, depends on our attitude. I can tell you now what the outcome of a particular change to a person will result in based on their attitude towards it. If they approach it with resistance, fear or hate, then the experience will be that more difficult, that more tedious, that more uncomfortable . Why? Because of their attitude. Sometimes it pays to look through rose coloured lenses.

One message my Granny always used to tell me and still tells me to this day, is "to put love into everything" . Don't fight it. Approach it with an attitude of love and you will see the differences immediately. Only in the last year, does this message truly ring home for me and I see how it works every day. Now when I hear the saying "Love makes the world go round", I realise how true this is. Love really is the key, the solution to everything in life. It's all we need, all we want, all we are meant to be - expressions of love.

Attitude is everything.

But what do we take away from this, Life is fleeting, in constant evolution - WE are constantly changing - our habits, our thoughts, our ways, our emotions - changing, growing. Evolving minds. We know change is inevitable, deep down inside we admit we expect it, so why fear it.

Don't take things too seriously, be light-hearted and open your mind to the ebb and flow of life. Don't resist it but move with it and you will find that you will enjoy the ride of your life.

So stop being afraid of Life, stop being afraid of living and LIVE your Life how you want it to be.

And always look for the silver lining in your gloomiest of hour.

Love to you all reading this....

Into the Light

2010-06-05T06:20:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't written in a while, its been a lot of procrastination and a bit of disillusionment on my part as well.

Been strange, I started the year with a bang, have all these amazing ideas for shoots in terms of the styling, location and concept, that I have been planning since last year, sketching all the ideas down, sometimes sleepless nights just thinking about it and then I don't really know....they just have not taken off, either just unmotivated to get off my butt to do new stuff (when I still have tons and tons of editing to get to people from past shoots) or its just been my timing has been wrong for co-ordinating with the people that I want to work with in realising my vision.

And now I've got back my mojo, I'm back baby and ready to get on bad!

I literally can see the light now and I am now finally putting my concepts and ideas into concrete, setting dates for shooting, making my props, sourcing the wardrobe and talent and I'm not gonna wait on anyone if I have to, I've just got to get these thoughts and ideas off the paper and onto film.

So here is a sneak peak of things to come......there will be more conceptual work and more incredible fashion editorial pieces and I plan on experimenting with some beauty shots in my home studio! Yes you heard it, I plan to have a fully functional studio by early next year......

I've just realised that in the past few months I tried so hard not to be miserable when I was not doing creative photography as much (not including the wedding jobs), but now I realise its like air and water to me, if I don't get my dreams, thoughts and visions out from inside of me, then I will literally explode and I assure you it will be messy when that day happens.

So guys I am looking for you! fresh talent, models, dancers, makeup artists, hair stylists, designers and stylists to collaborate with me to help put my mind and soul at rest in expressing myself.

And of course, I will forever be loyal to my true friends and comrads that have been with me from my beginnings, who took the risk with me and have not only earned my respect for being amazing artists in their own rights, but also supportive and beautiful friends. You know who you are. Love you guys, I am nothing without you, because when you disect what is a great photo, you see all the amazing people that formed to create it.

A Life Sentence

2010-04-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been doing a bit more wedding photography, but still being a bit selective of the ones I'll choose to do, cause my primary focus is still to be a fashion photographer. And yet I've noticed every time I photograph someone's wedding, it actually makes me more appreciative of my marriage and my husband. We've been married 5 years (married young okay, so no remarks about age hahaa) and sometimes sadly I've seen some couples bicker and squabble on their day, letting their impatience or stress on the day build up and I'm just that awkward third wheel caught in the middle and its usually at that point that I think "wow I am so blessed I have Damion". And then there are the other weddings, where you start to feel all mushy again about your union when you come across couples, like my most recent wedding couple I photographed, Mr Stephen and Mrs Sarah Palisa, who mirror everything marriage should be.... and what its about.

They have been the most inspiring couple ever, cause they are creative people in their own rights. They appear so much alike to me in personality but still very much their own individuals. And that to me is the synoposis of what will make a good marriage, a good union....yes yes, two become one, but each part still has their identity, after all its their person that attracted us in the first place, so we can't totally loose that about ourselves.

Its like they say in Central America, "eres mi media naranja" - literally translated, "you are my half an orange". Now this is pretty deep if you ask me to anaylse this but I won't get into that now.

The Palisa wedding will no doubt be my most memorable and a highlight to me photographically speaking as well. I often work best when I am given free reign to do whatever I want and this couple inspired me to also go against the norm, not using flash at all in our night shots. It was so ironic too, driving to the Powerhouse that afternoon we were so worried about running out of natural light to take the photos, only to arrive and find there were like several other wedding couples there with their photographers taking photos at all the usual haunts, with their massive entourage of camera assistants, lights, flash guns, tripods, you name it they had it. And here is me with only my camera and nothing else (not even my tripod) - shows you don't need much tools to pull off an amazing photo but a great subject matter. And what the others didn't have which I had was a very unique couple, who didn't want their photo memories from the day to look like every other photo taken at the popular venue. And I have to say what we pulled off is also simultaneously a reflection of the couple themselves, just look at their photos and it tells you a lot about the couple themselves.

So we took a walk in and around the Powerhouse at night and came up with some hauntingly beautiful images, a bit grainy due to the ISO, but that is not always a bad thing, when you have a texture to a photo like that, just adds to the grittyness of the location and the electricity between this couple swirling around in this dark mystery of love.

All romances start with a kiss and so every wedding couple seals the deal with a kiss.

Some say marriage is an institution like a prison, well then I say marriage should be a life sentence together.

And finally, we should begin to see ourselves in the other person for the rest of ourlives. They become the mirrow of our souls.

I would just like to wish the happy couple eternal sunshine in Rockland.

PS, the bride's dress is a one of a kind couture design by Gold Coast designer, Rebecca Cobbing Couture.

Voodoo Dolls

2010-04-19T02:07:00.000-07:00

This is a bit of an insight behind my thinking when I did a series last year September entitled "Black Mamba". I had been planning it for some months and slowly but surely everything fell into place. For instance, I came across this article in the local papers about an art exhibition of a local jewellery designer, Kristy Morgan and her label, Ruby & Prankstar, who crafts her unique jewellery pieces cast from the molds of skulls and skeletal pieces of animals, mainly the cormorant bird using recyclable materials such as feathers, metal, silk threads and leather. And I thought perfect, this will add to the macabre look yet be cutting edge fashion. So I did some digging and got in touch with Kristy who was all in for the idea.

The topic of Voodoo is a very real and personable theme for me, as coming from the Caribbean, its very much part of society, its written about in our history books, is woven into our folkloric tales, sung about in our calypso ballards and even practiced on a daily basis. I am sure if you were born in the Caribbean, you would know of somebody or had some family member touched by the hand of voodoo. Its often a practice people in mainstream life resort to an obeah man or woman or witchdoctor to put a curse on someone they are envious or jealous of, get that boyfriend, or keep their marriage or relationship together, get that job, you name it, there is a spell for it. And its very real and its very dangerous and it has destroyed many lives and marriages, and this I say as a witness first hand of its destruction.

But as Alexander McQueen said "Beauty can come from the most strangest of places even the most disgusting places".

So this series was my exploration of a theme that is intricately woven into the fabric of Caribbean society, but I did not want to show it the quintessential way of exploring the theme with a model chopping up chicken feet into a boiling pot of herbs and other gory ingredients, cramped in a little hut tucked away in the bush somewhere. I wanted to still keep a sense of fashion and styling to the overall depiction. And I couldnt find much on the net that showed voodoo in a fashionable way. And here comes along a local Gold Coast courture designer, Rebecca Cobbing (www.rebeccacobbing.com) to the rescue. She designed this amazing dress after doing some research of her own she came up with this brilliant concept of using materials that evoked the sense of tribal and plantation history with the grass skirting juxtapositioned with bondage like corset. It was just the right mix and so unique like all of her creations.

I had wanted the makeup to be a mix of tribal but to also make it a bit more mainstream and therefore combined it with some emo and gothic style. Also, my model was a white woman which is not how voodoo is traditionally portrayed either. So I sketched some ideas for makeup and the hair, I wanted her to look like a Medusa's head, have that viper quality like her character's namesake "Black Mamba".

And thank you to a willing and able team of local talent, hair by Aleesha Darke (www.aleeshadarke.com) and makeup by Brigid Davey, the model, Jessica Alice was transformed into a white witch!. And Jessica was a brilliant model or rather actress in bringing her into life with an air of mistery, weighted by a heavy silence of the power behind her hypnotic eyes.

I still believe this first execution of Voodoo Series, was testing the waters for me on such a deep concept. There is a lot more I would have liked to do and could have done, but it was a good series for me to learn how to nut out the planning process and detail that goes into really styling a shoot overall. And when I refer to "styling", I am not just talking wardrobe and beauty, its from the location, placement of props, objects etc that all helps in telling the story.

You can check out more photos of the voodoo series on my website, some are in Conceptual gallery and a few in the Portraits gallery as well.

Hope you enjoyed my exploration of a topic and it brought a bit more awareness to you on a bit of my culture and some of the cultural and religious beliefs practiced in the world. Now you get why I am a big fan of the TV show, Supernatural, hahaha I believe in a lot of stuff, why not, anything and everything is possible

Thick Skin

2010-03-10T04:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I am just going to write straight from the top of my head, so I hope you can keep up cause I can be a bit manic jumping from thought to thought as I thread my way through this. But lately I've been itching to put something in writing about an issue in this fashion industry that we all revolve around and have links to whether we realise it or not.

We have a saying or an expression back in Trinidad (where I was born and grew up), that is "yea boy, she thick skinned" depending on the context mostly described someone who either pretending or just really is oblivious to everything around them, like they doh really care what others say or think about them. Now this may be a defense mechanism or just someone's nature and sometimes used intentionally to get their way, like another saying we have "play dead to catch corbeaux".

But anyhoo, I began reflecting on that expression and then seeing lately a lot of instances in this industry I am teething to break my way into, yes fashion, where you really need to have an armour of thick skin. I think its the only way to survive. And this applies to models, makeup artists, photographers, dancers or any form of artistry out there. As artists we all put ourselves out there to the world, and regretfully despite my teachers back in the day encouranging me to take up art as a subject for A'Level cambridge exams, there was one thing that bugged me about art. How does one grade art? What may look like crap to one person, may be a masterfully executed and thought provoking piece of art to another. And I thought, nah I can't put up with the unfairness of the marking in art, where I'd see people put blood and sweat into something that will blow my mind away and then the judges grade it as medioacre cause it was either not technical enough, not this or that, or just not that judge's particular taste or style. And that is it, we each have our own style, our own persuasion of art, what we like, what we don't like, what is passable in our eyes.

And so, I ended up not taking art as an examed subject in my high school years and I do regret it to a point, but its never too late right. I always stuck to art in some way or the other, still paint from time to time (you can count about 5 unfinished paintings sitting in my cupboard in my house now). I get easily distracted or I procrastinate a lot hahaha. But I think some people are natural born artists and others acquire it through learning and just through their sheer joy and love for it, but I will say this, I think once you have dipped your finger into paint (speaking figuratively here), it stains you for life. And even though I didn't end up formally studying art, I think I never stopped looking through those eyes, eyes that see things from an artistic point of view. I don't know how else to describe it, you just see things differently to someone who might not have a deeper sense of worth of art and its views. It goes deeper than just being something pretty to look at. And I think having that art background from since I was a little toddler, sitting on the floor drawing and colouring with my Granny, it has stretched this far to help me see art through the lens of a camera.

I remember once being told that my first series ever, the Goddess Series, where I interpreted Wind, Fire, Water and Earth through the female form body painted, that I would be looked at by the academics and critics as playing and exploiting the sexual form and all they would see was that I was doing something that was essentially nude. Now this brings me to my point of having thick skin, cause whether you are a model who is told your teeth are yellow, you need to shave off some inches from your hips, or your feet are too big, to a photographer, just be ready to receive criticism. Cause everyone, forget being in the fashion industry, everyone in this world period has an opinion and is entitled to an opinion, even more so in this day and age of the world wide web.

And I had a tough time dealing with criticism, to the point where you feel gutted and made to feel like you just took a photo of shit and its technically crap. I still get that to this day and funny enough I was told by someone on one of the photography forums I am a member of and post my work for comment, that I "always have an answer for something". I admit, when someone critiques my work and tears it apart, I will get fiery at times, I often don't know if these people are really being honest or just jealous and wanting to pull me down in the mud. Sometimes it does feel more malicious than it is constructive criticism. Now I will admit I am not a technical know how, people ask me all the time, what do you call this technique and that and how did you do that, I don't really get caught up too much in techniques, I know the functions on my camera inside out, know what all the symbols represent and I don't necessary know what is the name for this effect or that, but I will try it, experiment, find it and do it, but don't ask me what its called, okay. I just do what feels right, or looks right in my eyes. I try to see the light as if my eyes were the pin holes of the camera and interpret it from there.

So yes I do defend myself and why I shot something this way as opposed to that way, a lot of times I shoot with an intention, whether it be to capture an emotion, a colour or interpret something a bit outside of the norm. But I find a lot of technically driven photographers only see things in shades of black and white, if its grey well then its crap and they can't see the worth in it. But I like to think I see all the hues in the spectrum of light and I am very open minded. Sometimes it will be a blurry shot but right there on the left of it is a fly on the wall. But through the blur, the haze creates a mood, freezes time in a memory, in history. There is art in the imperfection and some great masterful photographers of the past, deliberately captured the imperfect moment, in a way that nowadays would probably be ridiculed as a bad shot, but these minds, had intention with every shot. From the quirky French street photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson to the masters of fashion back in the day like Richard Avedon and Guy Bourdin, to each his own and each had their own style and interpretation, like an artist's signature at the bottom of their masterpiece. People have to start looking deeper at a photo, try and interpret it, as its a work of art, open to interpretation and that is what makes it magical. Art and photography has the power to affect people in so many ways and why does it work that way, we all have different trends of thought, different tastes which we have gathered over time through our personal beliefs, life experiences, media persuasions, cutlural heritage, religious doctrine.

And now for me as usual to defend myself in the way I portrayed the Goddess Series. I did not look at it from the narrow point of view of sexual exploitation. There were many reasons I chose to use body paint. Firstly, cheaper than building elaborate costumes and secondly, I thought if I was representing a god, I want to show them as flesh and blood, if we God is made in our image then we should represent a god or goddess in the most vulnerable human form, and body paint was able to combine the form of the body at its thinnest layer without any clothes covering it, but at the same time, the artistic painting and intricate designs done on the bodies by body painters, Justine Rose and Tia Stephanou were meant in my vision, show these goddesses elemental representations, if she was a goddess of water, I wanted her body to be made in the image of water. If she was a goddess of fire, her body be in the image of the element that carved her out. I wanted the goddess to be part of their landscape, one with their element. And that was the basis of my representation of the elements through body paint. I did not do it from a point of view to attract attention by the use of beautiful female bodies clad in paint.

But to each his own.

So yes, if you want to be in this industry, get used to being ridiculed, criticised, pulled down just as much as you are praised and hailed as being the next best thing. Its a fickle world, you are on top today and tomorrow forgotten. And the only way to survive and keep your head above water, is to continuously believe in yourself, keep growing as an artist, never stop learning, exploring and studying art in its different forms as they all influence each other. Art is constantly in motion and evolving. And you got to evolve with it or you are left behind with last year's season.

So grow some thick skin, taken on board the criticisms, see the positive from them, be constructive, move on, but don't let them bog you down and feel sorry for youself.

So here I have opened myself a bit to some of the emotions and struggles I've had to go through, but I embrace the "struggles", if I can call them that, as they are learning curves for me and they will add character and longevitity to my career hopefully, as I carve my way through to plant a nice little niche for me in this big beautiful world.

So be yourself, embrace yourself, love yourself for who you are as a unique individual in this massive universe, smile with the world and they will be smiling with you and falling in love with your smile!

Love you guys and I am always grateful for all the people I have met along the way, all the wonderful forms of encouragement and likewise those who poke my fire by making me want to be better hahaha.

Fashion from the Trenches

2010-03-05T01:00:00.000-08:00

So I thought to myself, I love looking at fashion and even more so taking photos of it. And photography like fashion has trends, certain styles permeate into the media and I think in order to be a good fashion photographer, you got to know your product and the styling of a shoot in terms of wardrobe, hair, makeup and even choice of model can make or break a photo.

And I thought I’d take a bit of a look from time to time via my blog as to what is happening in the fashion world. And what better way to look at fashion trends than to get them straight from those who have the most expertise in wearing the trends themselves for the various runway shows and catalogue and editorial shoots for the leading fashion houses. You guessed it none other than the models themselves. On a side note, I truly appreciate a model’s hard work when it comes to fashion week, they are going between runway shows, fittings, editorial shoots and after parties, all to wake up bright and early the next morning to do it all over again, whilst having to be all fresh faced and well poised when they walk the walk.

And what better model but one of Australia’s top international exports, Allegra Carpenter. She reports from the trenches of fashion week in Paris and Milan. Allegra is a good e-buddy and friend of mine and I approached her about giving me a fashion wrap after her various shows while she is working overseas. She is a model of many talents and a versatile beauty, any photographer or designer’s dream and she has sent me some of the following scoops and photos.

The photos are taken by one of Europe’s most renowned runway photographer, Marcio Madeira but Allegra also wishes to point out to me, that she was there at times with Marcio in between the catwalk and backstage and he’d let her press the shutter button to take some shots for him, so some credit goes to Allegra (hehehe).

And here is Allegra’s take on Europe’s current looks at the moment, which will no doubt filter down to street fashion.

February 17th
"My fashion wrap for the week....
Well this spring, I have found that...
Unusual Heel Shapes and Details, cheeky cropped shorts, longer sheet skirts and extremely deep v cut tops to be hot and very popular at the moment.

February, 25th
Dresses at Calvin Klein Collection and Donna Karan billowed and frilled; there were feminine takes on tailoring at Yves Saint Laurent; and thanks to Michael Kors' cutouts and Hussein Chalayan's thigh-high slits, we showed lots of skin.

Pucci's Peter Dundas has combined business with pleasure, turning out sexy dresses; and Proenza Schouler has taken two well-worn references—surfing and skateboarding—and made them chicer than they have any right to be.

February, 26th
We had a military influence which was ubiquitous on and off the Spring runways (the flak jacket may even have replaced the leather bomber as the official outerwear of your MOD, a.k.a. model off duty). In fact, there's a danger of fatigue setting in before this trend even hits stores. One counter-strategy: Look for the more dressed-up takes on uniform dressing.

February, 27th
Raffia-embellished dresses, bell skirts worthy of Marie Antoinette at Le Petit Trianon, a literal romp in the hay—Karl Lagerfeld famously went country at Chanel. But he wasn't the only one. With gingham from Christopher Kane, pinafore dresses at Bottega Veneta, and homespun yet luxe embroideries courtesy of Oscar de la Renta, looking good this spring should be a picnic!"

In summary, there are several looks this Spring/Summer in Women's fashion appealing to a varied taste in style from hot pants and boy shorts, the knee high and over the knee socks and boots, brightly coloured patterned fabrics as seen in the patterned and printed pants, the futuristic look with sharp angular lines and shoulders, the warrior look (think chain mail detailing, metal plating and tribal motifs) and military influenced jackets with lots of buttons and straps, sheer and lingerie like garments worn outside instead of in (think D & G’s latest collection).

So folks, that's a wrap!

And in the words of Oleg Cassini
"Fashion anticipates, and elegance is a state of mind... a mirror of the time in which we live, a translation of the future, and should never be static."

entering the blogging world

2010-02-27T21:06:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this is just a short entry as to why I have decided to venture into the blogging world and the intention behind my blogging.

Firstly, I'd like to show a bit more of myself to the public, what makes me tick creatively and a bit of the behind the scenes as to my "night job" as a photographer. You see I work 5 days a week at a desk job as a paralegal in a law firm and at nights I spend hours on the computer editing photos from shoots I would have shot on the weekends.

Secondly,I strongly believe I am going to make it in this industry and for me this blog will be like a personal diary of the struggles, the heartache, the dissapointments, the excitement, the beauty, the thrill and the pure pleasure I experience trying to carve out a niche for myself in an already saturated industry as a photographer and in an even more complexly wild industry as fashion.

And finally, I have an opinion (who doesn't!) and I would like to voice my opinions at times, draw attention to certain issues from pertinent world issues that touch a cord for me to looking at trends in fashion and photography.

And of course sharing this journey with you, I am also sharing it with other amazing people, all rightfully talented in their own fields and sharing a bit of them to you and to the world.

I hope to invite guest bloggers, such as fellow models who I am friends with to give their takes on the fashion world, and report from the trenches of fashion week in Paris and New York.

And I'll end this first blog entry with a quote from Coco Chanel

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky; in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."