I had the pleasure of being asked to photograph a newly formed quartet. These fashionable young women had only just created the group and yet they were already producing incredible music.
They were understandably excited, here they were within days of forming, recording in a professional studio and having a photoshoot.
They took it all in the stride and continued to perform their songs beautifully.
Dust off the bikini and boardshorts the sun has reappeared here on the Gold Coast……………..
Pin up is one of my all time favorites.
Fun, classy and sexy has to be a winning combination.
The fantastic Naomi posed for us recently, and even though the weather ended the shoot early, we still managed to grab a couple of great images.
Many more too come.
This week has been really busy, and the variety of genres that I have shot made it all the more exciting.
The downside of all this activity has had nothing to do with late nights processing, nor has it been gear dramas (lets face it the Nikons just keep on keeping on..thanks Rolf)
No, the dramas this week have been the heavens, more specifically what the heavens have been dropping, rain …. and bucket loads of it.
The whole of Australia seems to have gone from drought to extreme flood.
Not good for location shoots.
Anyway, a fantastic model (who I shall feature soon) came down my way with two friends and a beautiful early 60’s Ford Falcon..they bought the rain.
Out came the sheets of plastic and the umbrellas ( held by my ever patient assistant..my beautiful wife) and we shot until we were too wet to continue.
At last I can post up some images of the shoot with Kristina that came together during fashion week.
The conversation went something like this.
“Only one show tomorrow, it would be good to a arrange a shoot”
” I’ll ask if anybody knows a model for a sunrise shot”
“Good Luck, that’s only 8 hours away”
Ten minutes later we had arranged thru the wonderful Abbi from Runway Express to shoot with Kristina.
In yesterday’s post, I talked about the guys from DreamSpace Productions, well here are some of my shots from the morning.
Kristina is natural, happy and helpful, she never complains, strikes poses seemingly effortlessly and with the instructions over the phone the night before to wear something flowing, she has impeccable style.
A few posts ago in featured a shoot that was done at the beach with the superb Kristina, she was just great in so many ways..a real professional model.
I went back and review a few shots of her today as is my habit and wondered whether or not some post production may enhance her portrait.
For portraits, head shots that is, I cheat sometimes and use the wonderful Portrait Professional. Most people who go thru this digital make over are amazed by both the result and speed that the process takes.
I put Kristina thru the process and for the first time ever since I started with this enhancement tool, I discovered that she just didn’t need it.
With PP.
After a great shoot with Kendall ( which I posted about yesterday ) I spent the day getting the post production done. I like to give the subjects their images while the memories of the shoot are still fresh.
I believe that it enhances the good times we have shooting and people can then share their excitement with family and friends.
I went thru about one hundred and thirty shots and ended up with about thirty for the model to show to agencies and the like.
There were all the great fashionable backlit dress shoots, bikinis and beach wear, but my favourite is this portrait.
I love the expression, and Kendalls eyes draw you in, wondering about the story behind the shot.
Let your mind wander, and image a shipwreck, a jilted lover out for a beach walk or even a James Bond Femme Fatale.
That is the great thing about the art of portraiture, it doesn’t tell the story it just opens the book .
Sometimes you know straight away that you are going to shoot a great model. This morning I was lucky enough to be shooting Kendall, this young model has everything it takes to go far.
Of course she is beautiful, and with a fit, lithe body, but she also possesses that something extra. Kendall wants to be good, she is prepared to lie on sharp rocks or perch on decidedly unstable branches to get the shot, but not only that, she actively looks for great posing locations and comes up with a lot of her own ideas.
She’s not afraid of cold water, bugs and doesn’t shrink away when the occasional bystander stops to admire her talent.
A real winner this one is and I hope to have the chance to work a great deal more with her, she makes my job soooooo easy !!
I have had a few people ask how these early morning shots were lit, so the easiest way is to use the marvellous (and free) Sylights lighting program.
The only thing I haven’t included is the fact that the speedlights were triggered via Phottix Atlas triggers, which I have spoken about before.
I had an umbrella on the high speedlight, but the little lights were struggling with the suns power by this stage.
This is really easy and add to the combination a dramatic sky and a beautiful model you can achieve great results.
andrewplacephotography 
Recycled canvas………
6 FebI remember hearing when I was younger how struggling artists in times gone by used to buy other artist paintings at markets or jumble sales and render their art over the existing work.
Yesterday I witnessed the modern equivalent, on a local graffiti wall. The lads had permission to use the wall and turned up on the weekend, painted over the existing work with a base coat and then applied their well conceived designs on to the wall.
When I approached the guys to ask if I could photograph them I was met with happy, proud artists that were taking genuine care with their work. One of the artists and I struck up a conversation and he told me that these blokes spend weeks thinking thru their next work and mulling over colour choices to emphasise particular aspects of the work.
In the past I have used graffiti walls as backdrops for photo shoots, mainly due to the colour and the underlying emotional currents that these scenes can trigger.
I firmly believe that this form of graffiti is in fact modern art, applied via modern means and relevant to a modern society, and the link to the recycled canvas only confirms this colourful addition to the urban landscape as art !!
Tags: Art, Beauty, Graffiti, Nikon, Photography, Queensland