Beauxoxo Shoot, MDLM Interview and Buggered PC

Beauxoxo Shoot

For months and months Georgie of Beauxoxo, Stephanie and I have been trying to arrange a shoot together and last weekend we finally got everything together along with make-up artist Katherine Louise and Keely of Kee Boutique who provided the clothing.

We met up at a fantastic roof garden in the Kensington area of London and while the weather was surprisingly good in the morning it got a bit grey by the time we were ready to shoot and bloody cold too, but as luck would have it there was a perfect sheltered area that we could use.

We were shooting Georgie's spring/summer butterfly collection, here are a couple of behind the scenes photos and a few previews too! :)

Photo by Katherine Louise

Photo by Katherine Louise

Be sure to check out the wonderful team!

Model: Stephanie Linda Pause
Make-up: Katherine Louise
Accessories Designer: Georgie Beauxoxo
Clothing: Kee Boutique


MDLM Interview

The other week I was contacted by the lovely Alinde from MDLM about possibly doing an interview with me for her website having seen the photo from my Z-Mode shoot (see blog post here for that) the designer of which she interviewed previously, you can see Victoria's interview here.

I of course agreed and got to work writing my responses straight away! You can have a read by clicking here or on the image below. :)

Be sure to check out the rest of the website MDLM.info and follow Alinde on twitter too! :)



Buggered PC

And in other news... that makes it sound more lighthearted than the other stuff. It bloody wasn't. :P

My computer decided that it would commit suicide, as I was fiddling about on Photoshop when I heard a weird electrical bang and with it went my computer. On the up side it meant that a new one was required so off to the internet I went with a borrowed stack of cash and the ordering commenced. A few days later a pile of parts arrived and I got to work.

It was just a little less than a week without a proper computer but it felt like months haha, but now everything is in order and I'm ready to edit again. :D

Morning Light

Morning Light

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Vanessa Tait for a little test shoot around Brighton, you can see the blog post about the day here.

I just recently finished editing the photos are here are a few of them! :)

You can see more from Vanessa by following her on twitter and Model Mayhem . :)

The Wonders of 54mm Negatives

The Wonders of 54mm Negatives

Back in September of last year I had a test shoot with the beautiful Sara Grabek, you can see the blog posts about that shoot here and here. During the shoot I tested out a new back I recently got for my Bronica ETR-Si, the 135mm W back.

The unique thing about this back, other than what a pain it is to get your hands on is that it gives you 54x24mm negatives rather than the standard 36x24mm. The trouble with this was getting them scanned in properly, which is why they sat around in my house doing bugger all until I finally took them to a specialist shop and to them converted. 

I have tried using a light box (and when I say light box I mean an iMac... probably not recommended) and DSLR to get digital versions but it is quite laborious and sorting the colours out is rather annoying. I am going to get myself a proper one soon though and I will go into that when it arrives.

In the mean time however, here are some of the photos that we got on the day using the 135 W Back. :D

Be sure to check out Sara's modelling work on her facebook page here!

Test With Vanessa

Test With Vanessa

So today was my first shoot of the year and also my first shoot in over 9 weeks! It was great to get behind the camera again! 

Me and Vanessa had been trying to shoot together for a while but something seemed to get in the way every time until today. We met up outside the Royal Pavilion this morning and set to shooting! For our first look the sun... THE SUN came out, but when we went to the cemetery it all went grey, which was rather appropriate. :D

Here are a few previews from our shoot, obviously I haven't edited much because the shoot was a matter of hours ago and I am incredibly lazy. :P

Be sure to follow Vanessa on twitter and you can find her on Model Mayhem too. :)

I have some great shoots on the way so keep your eye on the blog in the coming months! Posts might not be as regular now that my Skeleton Project is over but hopefully I will either replace that with more tests or think up another project to do. :D

If you missed the show Skeleton thing you can see the project in it's entirety on my website here: www.tomsimmonds.com/skeletonproject

And you can see the stopmotion video I made to round off the project here: www.vimeo.com/55659376

Stories End

Stories End

So last week marked the end of my year long project! You can see the entire thing on my website here: www.tomsimmonds.com/skeletonproject or you can see them on tumblr here too.

During the course of the year while setting up the photos I also took some images for a video I wanted to create at the end. A couple of weeks ago I finally sat down to teach myself Premier Pro and make put the stop motion together.

And here is said video!

The music is by the very talented Chris Collins, go check out his stuff at the following places!

www.indiemusicbox.com
www.nonsensesociety.com
www.nonsensethoughts.com

Did you also notice how the title of the film ties in so nicely with it being the end of the year too? All part of the plan... :P

Photography wise this project has really helped me refine my skills and give me something to do even when I didn't have any photoshoots planned (which was the original point of the project)

This year is also kind of what I consider the start of photography for me, a lot of good things have happened and it's almost as though I am a "photographer" if you know what I mean haha, as I cringe while typing that. :D

Here are some pointless stats for me to beat next year, this might be interesting if you're boring like me. :D I managed to get my work published in 1 book and. 8 magazines I was featured on 19 websites and I had over 18 photoshoots. I shot for Brighton Fashion Week, I learnt studio lighting and created my own home studio for a shoot as well as shooting in a commercial studio for the first time. And lastly (I think) I completed my first year long project! :D

Next year one of the things I most want to do is to collaborate with designers and stylists to create more elaborate and bigger shoots for more magazines and such, so if you're reading this and interested in working with me get in touch! 

Portfolio, Behind The Scenes and The Skeleton Project Week 52

Portfolio

After getting a bunch of my photos printed for framing the other week I decided to update my portfolio, not only with new images but a new size too! I decided to get one of the Pampa Spiral Book and if you're looking to get a new portfolio too I highly recommend them, they are really well made and make photos look a bit better too. :P So far it's a little over half filled with images, looking forward to next year and filling up the rest of the pages with new shoots!

I also got a few new posters in the mail the other day too, things look extra nice in frames!

Behind The Scenes

This week Lucie (who was part of the behind the scenes video team on the Z-Mode shoot) released a promo video showing the shoot in progress. You can see it on her Vimeo channel here! Or just watch it below. :P

Credits for the video:
Cinematographers: Lucie, Michael
Editor: Lucie
Assistant: Beak

You can see the blog post for this shoot here.


The Skeleton Project

So here it is! Week 52 and the last photo for this project. I will be going into more detail on the project in my next post but for now enjoy the last photo!

Don't forget you can follow the project here.

Posters And The Skeleton Project Week 51

Posters

So last week I was going to go on about these but they didn't arrive... but they are here now so here goes. :P

As I said last week I am trying to get a lot more of my work off the computer and printed out. Not only because it it good to have some physical backup of my photos it's nice to actually see them! They sit on my website or in a file on my hard drive and I don't really look at them properly myself... probably because that leads to the big headed side, but I quite like the photos I took so they may as well go on my wall haha.

For the test run I got four prints done, the models are Abi Green, Sara Grabek and Stephanie Linda Pause. Here are a few photos of the framing/hanging process. :)

A bunch more are on their way! Next thing to do is print enough to fill my portfolio as A3 is clearly better than A4. :D



The Skeleton Project

Week 51 and the end is near.

Don't forget you can follow the project here.

Printed Things, Website Update And The Skeleton Project Week 50

Printed Things

I haven't shot in AGES so this (and probably the next few if I can't find something to do) is a random filler blog post... enjoy haha. 

I recently had a complete printed portfolio update and it was the first time I had seen my photos printed at that size, I thought I should start getting some even bigger prints done. So this week I ordered 4 12x16 prints to fill the frames I had knocking around from when I thought this would be a good idea last time haha. This time it is a good idea... probably! 

While I wait for them to arrive though something smaller fell through the letter box the other day brimming with prints of a different kind... new business cards! I ordered a whole range of various images to see what ones worked best on the cards, here they are:

Website Update

This week I also gave my website a bit of an update! Nothing much to do with the layout but I have added my latest published shoot 'Dreams of the Sisters' (blog post) as well as my 'Fall' shoot with Stephanie (blog post) and I have updated my Skeleton Project page and Analogue Box page.

www.tomsimmonds.com/dreamsofthesisters
www.tomsimmonds.com/fall
www.tomsimmonds.com/skeletonproject
www.tomsimmonds.com/analoguebox



The Skeleton Project

Week 50... they are eggs.

Don't forget you can follow the project here.

Dreams Of The Sisters, Atlas Magazine And The Skeleton Project Week 49

Dreams of the Sisters and ATLAS Magazine

Back in August I had a wonderful shoot with a fantastic team, you can see the blog post about the shoot here! 

Today this shoot was published in the seconds issue of the wonderful ATLAS Magazine! Here is a link to view the issue! You can find us on pages 138-147! :D

The idea of the shoot was based around two sisters as they begin their journey at their home alone together they look for a chance to bring their dreams and desires into reality, the symbolism for this being the gates of the garden. The forbidden boundary that has sparked their curiosity. 

While left alone they explore this garden and themselves. They start out as the innocent sisters and as the story progresses they mature towards the last phase of the shoot which is portrayed as an opposite to the beginning with a darker feel bringing the story to a close. 

Each stage shows a part of their imagination and dreams escaping into reality, in this case their outfits from the soft feminine fabrics of the beginning looks to the more metallic and goth-like feel towards the end.

(The first image from each look is digital and the second is analogue and the third is digital again)

Here are some links to the wonderful team, be sure to check out their stuff! :)

Models:
Stephanie Linda Pause
Sara Grabek

Make-up/hair:
Angela Amelia

Styling:
Maria Martin-Caro

Designers/Brands:
American Apparel
ASOS
Doctor Martens
Marina Qureshi
Miista
Nikita Karizma
Tamzin Lillywhite
Z-Mode

Photography:
Me!


The Skeleton Project

Week 49! I can't believe how close I am to completing this year long project! I think I might have to carry on as I have a few more ideas left than I do weeks. :P

Here is a little work in progress/behind the scenes type shot, it's surprising how much of a set you can make in such a tiny space!

And here is the final shot. This time the skeleton is sailing off! (One of the people reading this will know where to. :D )

Don't forget you can follow the project here.