Both shoots took place on location in Epping Forest, and we all know I adore doing location shoots. The sheer excitement of setting up a 'base camp' for my suitcase, chasing after plastic bags being blown away and watching the models work my outfits with a killer backdrop is something that can never be replicated in a studio. Despite the difficulties of unpredictable weather and fighting with the wind for the ownership of my suitcase's contents, I would not trade location shoots for all the cups of tea, clothes rails and big sofas in the world.
The first shoot was a summery, feminine and floral shoot with the beautiful Anna @ Gingersnap models. The weather was glorious and we shot in the forest areas of Hollow Ponds before venturing off to hire a little boat to shoot in. My first experience in a boat taught me that I have absolutely no upper body strength, and two people should never, ever row a boat simultaneously. Between the wobbling of the boat and shrieks of fear from myself, some killer shots were born. Some of these will be used in the magazine I am designing at university, which makes me very proud and lucky to know a photographer like Faye; her editorials are wanted by every publication that sees them and I get to feature some in my own!
Photograph taken by Stuart as we frantically rowed back to return the boat by its deadline.
The second shoot on the weekend was much less relaxed and intimate, as Faye and I had been planning this one together since late January. There was a team of ten (10) people assembled for this shoot, which is the largest I have ever worked in, but it proved to be effective on the day. The team consisted of the photographer, three models, two MUAs, hairstylist, stylist and two assistants. The models were Ellen @ Profile, Isabel @ Confidence and Ollie @ AMCK. I am close friends with the hairstylist and we drove up to the shoot together which was brilliant because I had two suitcases and a huge bag to accommodate the wardrobe. This was the biggest wardrobe I had generated to date, consisting of roughly five looks per model with lots of extra material to work with. I was very lucky with the wardrobe for this, as the talented designer Arisa Fukumoto leant me three outfits to use, and boy did they steal the show. There was a slight hiccup at the start of the shoot when it began to pour with rain the minute we stepped out of our cars, but thankfully luck was on our side because the shower released a stream of sunshine that had been hiding behind the clouds, and the rest of the shoot went swimmingly well. The female models looked like beautiful angels wandering around in huge white dresses, and they definitely did the outfits justice.
Photograph taken by Hannah Elizabeth. Pictured: Isabel @ Confidence wearing Jones & Jones, Ellen @ Profile wearing Arisa Fukumoto.
I am already missing the excitement and anticipation of an upcoming shoot, but will most likely be found scampering around on various locations again in June. The next week will be fully dedicated to completing production of my university magazine; I have just under a week to nail the design, so the only friend I'll have this week is Adobe InDesign. The next post I make will probably feature some pages from the magazine, as well as the beautiful photography that Faye will be providing for some of the fashion features. The sleepless nights will definitely be worth it!
