Royal Wedding

Well I'm currently on a train to Hersham to work a half day with Peter Beardow, modelling some new designer lingerie for him again.
So happy it's another lovely day as I have been able to wear my new short summer dress with my red heels.
Yesterday Robert & I spent the day with his family and some close friends, watching the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton with a BBQ and what a wonderful occasion it was. Humble and beautiful, it made me so proud to be British and I'm not particularly patriotic.
Kate looked gorgeous in a dress designed by the late Alexander McQueen; she was radiant and the service was simple and touching. Diana would be so proud.
Could not understand the ill feeling expressed by people in the run-up to the big day. Most of you employees had a day off work and it was a huge part of British history.
This picture from today's paper makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, and brings back all the memories of my very special wedding day to my own prince charming!

Hope you all have a lovely long weekend whatever you are doing. Smile and enjoy x

The thought process of a varied four hours in the studio

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of working a half day with multi-talented photographer, Lee Brown. We had met before at a group photo session at Harwood House in October 2010, but it's always great to work with a photographer on a one-to-one basis as not only do you build up a rapport more easily, essential for creating a comfortable atmosphere for shooting, but you can confide thoughts to each other and go off on productive tangents, bouncing ideas off one another and not necessarily stick to the original first draft plans!
Well that's what we did anyway and we are both hugely pleased with the results. All these photographs were taken on the same day, in the space of four hours.

 

So we started on a look that basically meant hardly any change in what I looked like when I arrived - it's a look I think 'looks like me,' if that makes any sense at all. Quite a few people have asked what my natural look is.. well, my skin is usually very slightly olive and my hair is loose, dark and usually an organised(!) mess of curls.

I've been going through a phase of buying loads of both dark and light sheer floaty tops recently, one of which I'm wearing above. I love how the light plays on it and how you can see the shape of my figure through the fabric. Also - when a photographer hands you strings and strings of beads and you have no idea which one to wear, throw them all round your neck!

I love the colour palette in this photo, above; all those gorgeous creams and browns, soft peachy pink and a hint of navy blue. It helps add to the elegance of the pose and expression. So the hair gets pulled up into a loose bun under a hat and we do all the nude work first before any clothes are worn and leave unsightly marks on bare skin.

Of course when the hat comes off and my hair is uncoiled, it is even curlier than before, so I brush in my fringe, add a dark red lip-liner and lipstick and try a few erotic poses on the staircase in very directional light, before moving back to the studio.

 

The image below is probably my favourite from the day. I just love everything about it - my expression, the hat, (which incidentally is supposed to look like a new hairstyle - I think it looks like grass but whatever, I'm loving the abstract feel) how my elbows are not in focus to bring the focal point to my face, the character lines on my face, (you'll never catch me saying that again!) the fact that the scene is not set.. I could be anywhere, with anyone, reacting to anything. Why am I semi/naked? Am I in pain? Am I angry, exasperated, just being silly? And why have I suddenly lost my sight in that last one?

Sorry, I have no postcards..

 

Hope you enjoyed these. I just have to say I thoroughly enjoyed working with Lee and hope there will be another opportunity to do so.

That's probably it from me for today as I have to get a train to Kent later this afternoon. I have two shoots booked for tomorrow - the morning in Sittingbourne with Michael Brew, (who I'm also working with on May 7th) and the afternoon with Andy B in Rochester. Andy has the sweetest little dog, Molly but we might be getting out of his home studio if the weather holds out. Fingers crossed.

Hope all my UK readers enjoy the Royal wedding & the long weekend!

These pants are too big!

Haha, they're not really pants. It was a bit of stretchy old rag found in Mick Waghorne's Westbury (Wiltshire) studio when I worked with him again earlier this month.
It's amazing what you can do with a bit of stretchy old rag.

We enjoyed this second shoot April 4th, three years after we first worked together and the pictures from 2008 can be found in 'A few past memories' if anyone's interested, and yes it was another Doors session going on as background music.

Anyway, a few days later, I received an exciting-looking parcel through the post which Robert handed to me at the front door. I was even more excited to discover it was an Amazon box and....wait, who could have possibly bought me a pair of shoes!
But it turned out they were my black heels I'd left in his studio..... haha.

Art Érotique

One of my absolute favourite genres of modelling, if not my favourite is erotica. Most of my inspiration comes from other erotic artists, not forgetting unconventional sources like Burlesque shows, risqué music videos and the Madonna SEX book. But the list is endless.
When people ask me what erotica is from a photographic point of view, my answer is simple - sexually suggestive art nude. But there is a whole lot more to it than that. Erotica is a work of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deals substantively with sexually stimulating or arousing descriptions.
So how this is different to pornography first of all depends on your definition of pornography, but the term 'erotica' is a modern word that describes the portrayal of the human anatomy and sexuality with high-art aspirations, differentiating such work from commercial pornography.
Erotica should arouse a quick, intense emotional reaction, whereas pornography's objective is the graphic depiction of sexually explicit scenes.
Where a photographer's concerned, lighting used plays a huge part in the differentiation, and a model's expression will undoubtedly switch the style dramatically.

So based on this, photographer Mark Holmes (no website as yet) and I worked on a series of shots on January 5th in Brighton using light, shadows, props and made-up naughty storylines. We actually spent the first half an hour 'playing' scrabble. (Just rearranging the board to get the letters right, to relieve all those worried faces!)
I had shot with Mark before at my home; he is a lovely guy - have since done a shoot with him very recently in London, so there will be more pictures from us to come soon.

"Porn is just a picture; it takes well-conceived erotica to tell a story."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fashion at Southampton City Walls

So carrying on from my previous post, 'Group boudoir session with the Porters' my next encounter with Julian and Sue Porter almost two weeks ago on 24th March was for something slightly different. Not boudoir for a start, and outside on location on a gorgeous sunny day in Southampton.. doing... commercial fashion!

Photographers are constantly taught to avoid the dreaded midday sun as it causes harsh shadows on faces, sharp contrast and is generally a less-than-flattering light. But with training, Julian shows it is possible to embrace the sun and take photos that look stunning when shot correctly.

Other things I like about these photos, the first set in particular is the general 'busy-ness.' Some would argue that wearing the floral top camouflages too much with the texture in that wall, but I rather like it, colour or b&w.

Definitely a severe lack of eyes in these photos, but I don't think that matters (it's cool to see reflections in the lenses in some shots) and the sun was blinding for March - I wish every day I shoot on location could be as sunny and warm!

Photographer in training was the lovely Stephano Beaumontski; all photos here are by him.
(Click on any image to view it larger)