Ivory Underworld

Regeneration

2012-01-25T13:20:00.023Z

Some nudes by the lovely Tim Pile, who I have had some fantastic shoots with over the last year or so, and more to post from our collaborations together soon.
These were taken looking down from the mezzanine of a gorgeous quaint cottage. It's very liberating posing on the floor and being able to stretch out and arch in different ways not possible when standing, similar to when modelling underwater, there's a beautiful freedom. I really love the tones and lighting on these, my pale skin against the textured flooring, and the poses and closed eyes give these a quality I think works so well.

I'm feeling much better this week after finishing my tax return, and then getting up to date with this years records too, it can be such a stress to have hanging over you, so I'm really gonna try and make sure I finish 2011-2011's records in April so I am ahead of myself, and keep up with them often thereon. If there's any of you self employed peeps still struggling through yours, my spirit is with you, rise above the guilt of not doing it sooner and there is light at the end of the tunnel, just do it piece by piece :-) It proves the notion you hear so often though, that starting something is always the hardest part. Whenever you have a daunting task ahead of you it's so easy to try to avoid it altogther but just sitting down and forcing yourself to start, no matter how much you're battling not to, it is true that the rest just flows. Maybe not without hard work, but so much easier than you had imagined. As one of the things I have pinned on the big montage I have above my desk reads...

'Most obstacles melt away when we make up our minds to walk boldly through them' (Orison Swett Marden)

I guess tax isn't the deepest thing in life that can apply to but it's a good place to start.

I'm looking forward to my first modelling trip of the year this weekend... up to Chester via Birmingham, for a few days, then over to the Peak District, then Chesterfield. One of the hotels I'm staying in has a pool which will be good as I've been getting into swimming lengths again recently. It has a steam room too, love those :-) (and a very good price too despite sounding quite posh)

I also have trips planned to the Northwest (1st-5th March), Gloucestershire & Wiltshire (9th-11th March) and Scotland (23rd March - 2nd April)... and 2 bookings abroad - Portugal, and possibly Spain also. Exciting times!! So get in touch if you're in those places, or fancy a shoot in general... other trips will be created :-)

Included are a few Studio Days (keep your eye on my travels tab at the top of my blog for new ones too)

Immortal Eye Studio, Aylesbury - Sat 25th February
Hallam Mill Studios, Stockport - Sun 4th March
Film Photo Studios (new bigger place!) Cheltenham - Sat 10th March
Elgin Studio, Scotland - Sat 24th March
Pavillion Studios, Bathgate, Scotland - Sat 31st March

I just recently heard some more music by artist Lana Del Rey, since she was in the news because of her apparent bad performance on Saturday Night Live in the US (I personally didn't think it was that bad considering her whole style and the mood of the lyrics) but basically it made me download her new song, and I really love the video too. That building featured is incredible and I love her styling and lofty attitude. It's all quite unsettling but so evocative and hauntingly beautiful.

Spirit Dance

2012-01-20T13:31:00.009Z

Beautiful abstract nudes using red fabric and experimenting with double exposures and slow shutter speeds... captured by the lovely Keith Cooper from a brilliant full day shoot at KV Media Studios. I wouldn't usually post as many images but I just love so many here, the fiery colours and flowing effects of the movement around my swirling figure are so mesmerizing. Thank you Keith :-)

Babe in the Wood

2012-01-14T14:07:00.003Z

Sharing these beautiful images taken by Mark Liddell last year. I really adore how these turned out. Mark had sent me inspiration images for ideas about colours and clothing, including many images of british supermodel Lily Cole, and that dreamy, doll-like, fairytale kind of feel in a natural woodland setting. I was completely in charge of my make-up, outfits and styling, and am so pleased with the look and mood captured in the results. Mark did a brilliant job, and especially with the beautiful lighting (a mixture of natural light & portable powerpacks) really setting off the details.
The outfit I put together here, includes my powder blue corset by Sparklewren, lace bustle by LoveChild Boudoir, tulle skirt, hooped petticoat, sheer blouse, necklace and blue flowers in my hair, from my modelling wardrobe.
These images are my favourite, but there are some more lovely shots on Mark's blog here - www.liddellphoto.com/blog

P.S - I was one of the 'Babes in the Wood' from a little production when I was at playschool, me & my friend Amanda; we wore sweet peach silk dresses and had to pretend to be asleep. You see, I have always been a dreamy princess :-)

The Studio Bizarre

2012-01-13T15:10:00.006Z

So I was booked with a photographer at Gregory Brown's Loft Studio in London in December, and me & Greg managed to squeeze in about 45 mins of shooting beforehand. Wacky and fun as ever, props are literally shoved at you to 'do something interesting' with, with not much time to stop and think... giant propeller, rocking chair, prosthetic arm, just the usual. This was majorly productive for such a quick shoot.
(Think I look pretty cool in those sunnies though if I do say so myself :-P haha)

(P.S Also just noticed Greg has a new book out with John Evans of amazing pictures from their latest Spain trip 'Moorish Nudes' - incredible work!!)

Harmony of Two

2012-01-09T19:31:00.003Z

Some images I didn't blog yet from quite a while ago...Taken by Phine Ka, featuring Madame Bink from our Harmony of Two studio day last year at Light Spot Studio.

Contemplation

2012-01-08T14:43:00.001Z

More images from a shoot with Barrie Spence last year on my Scotland trip. We had a great full day shooting together, creating the gorgeous 'Minotaur's House' images, and also these in the studio and out on location... soft boudoir, lens baby nudes, frolicking in yellow fields and colourful gypsy fashion against photoliscious textures! The one with the green doors and peeling paint is so fantastically vivid. I'd bought that dress with this kind of image in mind, and I'm so pleased how it shows off the graduating tones. I also adore the last picture; love the composition, colour and detail. Beautiful!

And for anyone interested I'm thinking I will be coming up to Scotland for a week or so in late March... I'll keep you posted with dates and more info :-)

Progress

2012-01-05T22:43:00.018Z

Looking at my increased blog stats for the last 3/4 days, I think people must be catching up with internet life after xmas and having a nosy at what everyone's up to, so I better update with some new posts! Thank you for visiting :-) I put together a whopping 71 blog entries last year! Though down from 84 the year before, so will do my best to keep up and top that in 2012 with images, thoughts & experiences from my shoots & travels. Your feedback is always helpful & appreciated, I once read that 'comments are the lifeblood of a blog', and although I don't post stuff here specifically for a reaction, I'm always pleased to hear when certain images grab you or inspire you, plus the photographers who kindly send me pictures to share I think will be grateful to be able to view any comments too.

And of course, if images here and the way I work inspires you, please don't just sit and watch - book me for a shoot! :-) I may not be able to get to all parts of the world, but certainly anywhere in the UK, Scotland, Ireland, Europe... and possibly further. I can recommend studios around England as well as locally to me, and regularly travel around but if you don't let me know you want to work with me, I might come to your area without you knowing... so EMAIL ME! :-D Directly to holly@ivoryflame.co.uk with your name, location, a link to your work, an introduction about your situation, aims or constraints, and we can discuss possibilities.

And the same for any other models you want to work with. There's such a great selection of creative, unique & stunning professional models out there right now, who have worked hard to build experience, skill and inspiration for creating great imagery, but modelling as a full time living is not without it's hard times, difficulties & frustrations as well as it's perks. So if you like their style, with whatever you can afford - support them in their work. They will be able to help you capture your visions, listen to your ideas, have patience with your experiments, take the quality to the next level and probably go off on a brilliant tangent or two, and if you're feeling unsure about styles or concepts, be always happy to help out with suggestions.

This may sound like a big sell, but I'm trying to be more assertive this year rather than leaving a lot of communications open-ended. I'm always worried about sounding too pushy, but I realise sometimes everyone needs a bit of well-meant encouragement in these busy times. Having not done as much of my own photography in the last year or so, I understand how easy it can be to put things off, not feel confident enough, not have enough 'spare' money or to be vague about plans. But I realise this gets me nowhere and I want to progress - stop thinking so much and start doing. So I'm certainly gonna be booking in with some of my favourite models and making shoots happen.

I'm leaving you with a selection of some of my favourite images that I blogged in 2011... a bit of an epic task since I adore the pics in EVERY blog, but I think this is a nice representation of my year! The links to each blog with more detail and where it was taken are below each image.
Thank you to everyone that booked me as their model this last year, I gratefully appreciate it... the new photographers that booked me for their first shoots, the people that booked me whilst travelling to the UK, the painters, sculptors and designers who used me for their projects, those that helped organise workshops and studio days, everyone that booked me on my own travel trips, and those who booked me again and again for continued collaboration.
I look forward so much to what I can be involved in next! May 2012 hold much creativity, reward and enjoyment in your art for you all! :-)

Eric Kellerman, from 'Moonscape', Holland

Willie Nash, from 'The Sweet Sickness', London

Karen Jones, from 'Firefly', KV Media Studio, Chesham

Garry Harris, from 'Northwest Results Part 1', Tally Ho Studio

Kwame Asiaw, from 'Northwest Results Part 1', Tally Ho Studio

Raluca S, from 'Raven Child', Aylesbury

Vlastimil Busek, from 'Quiet from the Constant', Dublin, Ireland.

India Hobson, from 'Through my Reflection', Sheffield

Adam Robertson, alongside Madame Bink, from 'Fashion Adventures', Oxfordshire

Holmax, from 'Here comes the Rain', Hull

Nigel Johnson, from 'Of Flesh & Bone', KV Media Studios, Chesham

India Hobson, from 'Alone with the Lens', Sheffield

Eric Kellerman, from 'Box Nudes', Holland

Louis Smith, from 'Portrait Awards Shortlist Unveiled', London

Pierus, from 'Sunshine', Cambridge

Brian Martin, from 'Secret Garden', Fife, Scotland

Javi Miqueleiz, from 'Porcelain Souls', Brighton

Catherine Barrow, from 'Lost', London

Nigel Johnson, from 'Aura', KV Media Studios, Chesham

Allan Schaap, from 'Once Upon a Time in Spring', Holland

Lee H, from 'Once Upon a Time in Spring', Holland

Sean Elliot, modelling Sparklewren Corsets, from 'Adorned', London

Britalicus, from 'I Make Shapes', Scotland

Helen Matthews, from 'Land of Amazing Locations', Elgin Studio, Scotland

Tintin007, from 'Autumn Magic', Ashridge Forest, Buckinghamshire

Dave Mansi, from 'A Rose in the Arches', Sussex

Barrie Spence, from 'The Minotaur's House', Scotland

Paul Bartholemew, from 'Window Light', Hallam Mill, Stockport

Aaron Storry, from 'Wedding Storry', Bedfordshire

Neil Attard, from 'Bold, Funky & Beautiful', KV Media Studios, Chesham

Karen Jones, from 'Winter Wonderland', KV Media Studios, Chesham

Eric Kellerman, from 'Slope & Curve', Holland

Terry Joslin, from 'Metamorphosis', KV Media Studios, Chesham.

To be continued... :-)

Metamorphosis

2011-12-31T12:14:00.016Z

Some fantastic, weeeird & wonderful images from yesterday's shoot - thanks to Terry Joslin! Taken at KV Media Studios, using the idea of light painting in his own way. He has already shot Madame Bink with this technique and wanted to try it out some more. Some of the images Terry did the lighting, others were a mixture of us both and some I was left to my own devices with the torch, which was great and allowed me to be so expressive with possible ideas for each exposure... but the beauty of it was the spontaneity and element of chance and surprise, as we waited whilst the large raw file 'developed' each shot to reveal it's magic.

It was like some strange representation of a soul or creature was being created every time, a glimpe into a psyche, my own or something else that crept in and materialised into the frame. I found it creepy and enthralling. They remind me so strongly of Francis Bacon's distorted paintings of blurred faces and strange twisted bodies, but also cyborgs, alien abduction, ghostly movies, split personality, identity... I bet people can see lots of different interpretations in them. Such a cool idea - thinking outside the box. The great thing about this job is the huge mix of styles I get to be a part of, but I do really love getting into the more conceptual ideas, involving movement, expression, spirit, emotion... it's a type of work you have to loosen yourself up for, to really let go and allow things to evolve, and is really rewarding to collaborate on. I hope I get to do lots more work of experimental themes in 2012. Very inspiring. Enjoy these!! Let me know what you think :-)

As 2011 draw to a close, I hope everyone can look forward to what 2012 brings. I know it's just another day, but I am definately in the clan of New Year fans and really enjoy the reflection and positivity it can represent. A few of my 'resolutions' as such are to keep up with some of the better habits I picked up on this year; enjoying more regular exercise, eating well & gloriously nutriously (like more yummy soups!!), trying new crafts and remembering to be 'present' and appreciative in each day and task.

I'm gonna TRY to keep up with a diary, but a simpler version... just writing 3 things each day (idea helped by Miss Ella Rose, Queen of resolutions!)...
Something I'm grateful for
Something I did that I didn't want to do,
& Something that inspired me.
Also do more of my own photography more often, and start a Tumblr page for a 366 day iPhone Photography type thingy :-)

And I've been fairly stationary the last 2 years, only modelling in the UK and a bit in Holland, so more travel for modelling and general seeing the wonderful world is needed - more of Europe that I haven't seen yet, since it's so damn close really, and beyond!! :-D
So well I suppose that's quite a few, I know they say it's better to focus on one thing, but I'm just not that kind of girl :-) and I think they are an achievable and rewarding list of ideas. Wooo! Exciting.

Have a fab New Year!! I will be merry & dancing at midnight I hope!! ;-)
and may it bring you all a great 2012!! xxx

Slope & Curve

2011-12-30T18:43:00.023Z

Some beautiful images from my last shoot with Eric Kellerman. As always the quality that his work has, especially the abstract bodyscapes, just blows me away. The last shot in particular, so structural, like a moulded clay sculpture, but so organic, always seemingly living and breathing through the picture. I just think they are so inspiring, to view the nude body as a form that can be captured so uniquely, when you really look and see and open your mind.
I have some more 'box nudes' to post too, and Eric sent me some postcards that advertise his new book that's coming out in 2012... more to come soon :-)

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-24T23:59:00.005Z

I'm festively sharing some beautiful new images by the wonderful Karen Jones, with a gorgeous icy look, taken at my Winter Wonderland studio day at KV Media Studios last week. We had so many ideas and once again took time to perfect the make-up, outfits and lighting to get the best pictures; snow queen, black swan, sleeping beauty, snow princess... we had loads of fun styling the shots together and I adore the images! Thank you so much Karen! :-)

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas! Have a wonderful time & see you in the New Year :-)

Holly xxx

Wedding Storry

2011-12-19T18:52:00.012Z

I had such an enjoyable day last month working with the delightful Aaron Storry shooting bridal fashion in the grounds of Paris House, an amazing restaurant located in the Woburn estate in Bedfordshire. It was right next to a deer park, so we got to see some beautiful white deer nearby too. Luckily it wasn't too cold, but the late November light was beautiful for unique & interesting shots.

I had a new full length wedding dress with gorgeous embroidery & a long train that I wanted to try out, and the bouquet was supplied by Daisy Chain Florists, which looks lovely especially with the orange belt on my other bridal dress and lace parasol. We had a good time trying out different make-up, props and accessories together, and I love the fresh, quirky and personal feel to the images, we really had fun shooting these :-)

Aaron is absolutely brilliant to work with, and if anyone is reading and needs a photographer for their own or a friend's wedding, seriously this guy is not only an extremely talented, imaginative and innovative, but also a lovely person to work with and to be around - so easy going and upbeat. He helped direct me with encouragement and genuine, infectious passion for his work, and I felt I could be 100% myself.

Check out more of his work on his website and blog! ~ www.aaron-photography.com

Bold, Funky & Colourful!

2011-12-17T02:01:00.012Z

A few weeks ago I organised a day of 1-to-1 timeslots at my local studio, KV Media in Chesham, the theme for which I decided to be 'Bold & Colourful' - anything eyecatching, edgy, cute & quirky! I love getting booked for my more romantic, classic looks but I also always enjoy doing something a bit different so this was an extra good excuse for me to go to town scouring ebay & the highstreet for new outfits, jewellery and accessories, as well as mix in some of the items in my wardrobe I hadn't had much chance to use yet. I gotta say it was one of the best modelling days ever - my 3 photographers were so much fun! The focus was more so on quality rather than quantity, discussing ideas and concepts beforehand and taking time to get the styling right, reviewing images together and perfecting the lighting... it was great collaborating and playing around with my make-up & hair styling :-) I really had such a blast, and left the studio totally buzzing at the end of the day! Here are some of the results, a mixture of fashion, nudes & beauty images - thank you to Gordon, Claire & Neil for sharing your brilliant work! :-)

By Gordon Fraser
Black feather attitude & pirate fashion!...

By Claire Steele
Alice in Wonderland...

Classic Nudes...
(ok so these are more my normal romantic style but still so nice!)

Golden Queen

By Neil Attard
Amber Feather Headshots...

Hair-flicking movement...

Sleek semi-nudes & beauty shots with my ponytail extensions...
I love this look!!

And some lovely soft, warm-toned portraits to finish!! :-)

What awesome results!!

I'm planning more studio days like this in the new year, including some on weekends as well as weekdays so keep your eyes peeled for events at the top of my blog, and make sure to 'like' my Facebook Page for news & updates... and of course please don't hesitate to email me directly if you're interested in booking me for a shoot! ~ holly@ivoryflame.co.uk

Brighton Beach Blues

2011-12-13T00:48:00.024Z

These lush shots are by the lovely Jeremy Howitt... we got to work together when I was down in Brighton, and did a shoot by the sea on a cool November afternoon. Luckily I was snuggy warm since the theme involved lots of furry & feathery coats! We wanted the look to be quite moody with a strong fashion feel, I love how they turned out! The low golden sun brought the colours out beautifully. Thanks for a fab shoot Jeremy :-)

Porcelain Red

2011-12-04T23:45:00.011Z

'Porcelain Red' - one of the names I was playing with before I decided on 'Ivory Flame' :-) But it describes this set so well, the contrast of the crimson backdrop with my pale white skin. Another couple of great images by Rayment Kirby, shot in his conservatory in natural light, even on a fairly dull November day, I love the mood and effect it creates, sort of classic and wistfully melacholic. I bought the necklace from a market on my holiday in Turkey with a shoot in mind and I'm glad I used it for these as it seems to finish off the look really nicely.

Also take a look at Rayment's 'Shapes & Fantasy' 2012 calender available on Red Bubble here featuring some beautiful sepia nudes of myself and fellow models Joceline, Rebecca Tun & Ella Rose :-)

A Rose in the Arches

2011-12-02T23:55:00.008Z

From a very chilly shoot at Balcombe Viaduct during my time down in Sussex a few weeks ago, with the lovely Dave Mansi, and friend Peter. Great location! Bbrr but blimey it was cold!
It's the beautiful undernealth of a railway bridge which takes the trains from Brighton to London and much photographed, but I was very glad to be captured with it's amazing structure, built in 1841, the huge arches of which are like stepping into mirrors within mirrors with the tunnel illusion they create. And I had another shoot there a few days after, with later time & lighting giving it a completely different look. Luckily both times we had a spotter to look out for walkers :-) It was strange & funny to be posing and hearing trains roaring past way up above me.

The Minotaur's House

2011-12-01T12:43:00.015Z

Today I'm sharing some photos that were recently revisited from my Scotland trip back in May, many thanks to Entropic Tendencies Barrie Spence doing a few more edits for me. We spent a whole day shooting some boudoir and other outdoor work, which I'll post soon, but these favourites I couldn't wait to show.

The abandoned mansion we went to is definately up there as one of the best locations I've ever been for modelling. Beautiful, ancient, errie and mysterious. Being a lover of all things enchanting, I'm lucky I get to visit many wonderful & fascinating places that get my mind whirring with narratives, my eyes wide as I take it all in to savour.

It was one of those places you step into and immediately feel a something, a magic and awe, excitement in your veins at the thrill and beauty of it. As you quietly wander from your photographer for a while, exploring each section, aquainting yourself with possibilities, your slow footsteps echo like droplets of water as you tread over rocks and around corners. Looking up from the passageways to broken arches above, black crows suddenly flap & ascend from the rafters, everything is damp and crumbling and delicious in texture.
The feeling of trespass, a resonance hanging in the air... wondering what happened here, how it got to this state and what stories lie within the walls.
At the lowest point of the building were dark doorways leading into underground rooms and corridors, maybe basements for servants or storage. I don't have any historical background to give you about this place, though I find sometimes facts can spoil the fantasy. Though on other occasions the truth can haunt you, so either way. Being a girl of easily enraptured imagination, I can't help but let my mind run away with visions of prisoners held captive, crimes hidden away, secret tunnels and underground labyrinths with something living inside...

When Barrie was taking the last shot, he was on the second level up, quite a distance and a walk around the whole house from me down at the bottom. I found it hard not feel that black open doorway breathing right behind me, tempted and waiting like any second it would envelope me into it's blackness, my little porcelain figure gone forever.

...

Autumn Magic

2011-11-29T17:09:00.020Z

Wow so December is almost here, I can't believe it! I'm so excited for Christmas as always, but want to make sure I'm ready; my mind has been so full & busy with more bookings to arrange, trips to organise for 2012 and lots of chores & loose ends to tie up, hopefully I can catch up with everything in time to relax fully over the twinkling season! :-)
And gosh doesn't food taste extra extra good this time of year? So comforting in the dark evenings as the cover of night draws in, making us all scamper in to our nests and be cosy with candles & blankets :-) I cooked a delicious roast pork dinner this weekend, with the crunchiest, most succulent crackling, goose fat covered potatoes, veg, gravy, and for pudding - caramelized ginger crème brûlée with creamy lime brûlée tart shells!
And this evening I'm making a butternut squash, pumpkin & nutmeg soup with my new blender... as well as a raspberry & blackberry meringue roulade (because I had to do something with the egg whites left over from making my brulees of course!). Okay so maybe I'll need to do a 'few' extra sit ups but talk about food for the soul! *swoon* Sooo worth it :-D

So as the last leaves blow blustering from the trees I feel lucky I managed to do a few autumnal shoots throughout my birthday month of November, including these lovely images taken by Clive at Ashridge Forest one beautiful sunlit morning...

It was an extra extra fantastical shoot because we TWICE (almost) got swept away by a 30 strong pack of deer! The first time I was posing in this sort of valley, and suddenly I could hear a rumbling sound and through the sunlight all these large creatures (bizarrely at first my mind thought they looked like giant rabbits) came marauding towards us across the field, Jurassic-Park-style, 'they're flocking this way!!' and I realised they were deer - amazing!! (but alas no funny man shouting 'Jesus Christ, Fenton!' behind)
And later on when shooting the red dress in the woods, again the whole herd raced by, antlers aplenty, less than 10 metres from us. Well I thought it was pretty incredible anyways, and Clive managed to get a quick snapshot in all the excitement... And yes; I'm that professional that even in close range of being trambled by wild stags I STILL pose, just incase it's the photo of the century! :-P
Well... it wasn't quite, as we were using narrow d.o.f and they were very fast, but it proves my story even if it doesn't show it quite as dramatically as it honestly really was :-) :-P

Last Glimpse of Summer

2011-11-25T12:21:00.002Z

Some lovely garden portraits in my chiffon green dress, taken by Peter Binnie on one of my visits to Kent this summer :-) Brilliant colours!

Window Light

2011-11-23T00:33:00.004Z

My faves from a second shoot with the talented Paul Bartholomew on my last visit to the deliciously awesome Hallam Mill studios in Stockport! What beautiful images you can get with natural daylight, I adore the mood and feel of these!

In the Imagination

2011-11-22T14:18:00.008Z

I recently travelled down to Sussex for shoots in Brighton and surrounding areas, including to the home & studio of Rayment Kirby (& lovely wife Pru) who I have worked with on quite a few occassions now. We captured some superb new images that I'll show off soon, but before that I still have pictures to post from our past shoots... with colourful silks, daylight nudes, poppy fields and indoor woodland!

Rayment is really innovative with his ideas but is a master of doing things on a budget, working with hand-made lights, 'found' props and creative editing techniques. There's a wealth of generous information available on his website...

www.raymentkirbyphotography.co.uk.

He also has a number of books available to buy which share his ideas and visions, including a revised edition of 'Photo Session' which helpfully shows how you can achieve many different results in one shoot without a large studio or lavish locations, featuring lighting diagrams, illustrations and useful technical information and LOTS of pictures of ME :-)

And his newest addition - 'Shadows & Shapes in the Imagination' - a wonderful collection of themed photographs featuring myself, as well 3 other incredible models - the stunningly elegant Joceline, beautiful Ella Rose & gorgeous Rebecca Tun.

So if any photographers reading need to give anyone Christmas ideas or fancy treating themselves - check out the links! :-)

Water Nymph

2011-11-21T14:13:00.009Z

After a very busy few weeks, today I had all day to sit down and blast through my emails, attack my 'to do' list and sort lots of pictures for blogging. I have done some REALLY fun shoots I can't wait to post the pictures from soon, so watch this space!
To start off here are some more images taken in Ireland, by the lovely Des Barry..... I love the elegance and classical feel of these, with the vivid colours captured so beautifully expecially in the first image. And yes that water was really freezing :-) Nothing like a refreshing naked dip in a mountain stream to get you buzzing for the day!

Encased

2011-11-08T20:50:00.015Z

More images from the amazing Sparklewren corset shoot, photographed by Sean Elliot... they have such a feminine, classic and sensual feel, with that beautiful lazy, hazy style. I loved posing and acting for these shots and thinking of underlying stories... it was like being in a dreamworld in that wondrous house all day with so much beauty everywhere. Featured here is the delicious Tessa (Holes-in-the-Sea) - no-one I'd rather stare smoulderingly through mirrors towards! (seriously she is one talented & gorgeous model!)

Corsetry: www.sparklewren.co.uk
Photography: www.seanelliot.com
Tessa: www.modelmayhem.com/holes_in_the_sea

Land of Amazing Locations

2011-10-31T17:32:00.035Z

At last I am updating to the rest of my Scottish trip, with a few more pictures from some of the fab photographers I worked with up there - another great time packed with loads of interesting things to see and experience.

So another week in Scotland began, after catching a very early taxi to the airport, grabbing some refreshing green tea and buying new books to read on my travels, I was feeling more awake by the time I landed in the crisp morning air of Inverness! I had a great start, enjoying a very fun shoot with the lovely Paul Hirst at a beautiful boutique hotel with pretty chandeliers and gorgeous furnishings - I love the rainbow velvet chairs - lush!

This place had great natural light to pose with by the windows for classic portraits and vampirey ball gown shots... we loved that scarlet-red patterned carpet matching my dress.

We then headed to lusciously mossy 'Randolph's Leap' for gypsy / pre-raphaelite fashions by the flowing river... beautiful location!

And then more fabric swirling the following day at Elgin Studio... Wow look at that gold!!

And one by Paul's lovely wife Sue...

After my Studio Day in Elgin, I headed on the train to visit my friend Alex Ingram, and we ended up having a lovely sightseeing day out to the Isle of Skye. The weather wasn't quite suitable for model pictures (super blustery!) but he took some great pictures of me around the island and on the Quirrang... thank you Alex!

(Had to hold onto my hat!!)

Lots of rainbows! :-)

Next up I have some pictures from my shoot with John McCairn who picked me up from my b&b in Dundee and took us to an old rail station location, where we could shoot inside the vintage carriages - so cool! They even had the segregated little train booths with sliding doors. So fun, and beautiful light captured by John.

These ones below are from my shoot with Sarah Takahashi & Mike Fraser up near Aberdeen. As if I hadn't been spoilt enough already working in such amazing locations, we snuck into an old derelict mansion (through a hole in the fence that was totally there already of course) full of broken staircases and textured walls. Then continued urban exploring (more naughty sneaking and climbing of walls) into an abandoned mill factory - so atmospheric and exciting! Broken glass windows letting in evening light, graffitti walls, burnt out floors, plants growing through the roof and threatening, open lift shafts looming with darkness. I can't believe some people go round these places for kicks at nighttime in the pitch black - they are creepy enough in the day!

(sneaky Flame)

And some pictures from a last minute organised shoot with Bob Falconer at the Bon Accord Photography Studio, before I got my flight home... some paintily, art inspired styles for moody portraits and nudes, and fresh flowers for pretty headshots. Hope you like! :-)

Firey Flame

2011-10-28T14:52:00.004+01:00

I adore these hot hot hot shots taken by Helen Matthews, joint owner at Elgin Studios in Scotland, from my Studio Day there in September. It's a fantastic studio I look forward to going back to next year! Thanks to both Helen & Geoff for organising the day with loads of great photographers. Lots of fun, and gorgeous results!! More from Scotland to come! :-)

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

2011-10-17T20:55:00.052+01:00

And ferries, and parachutes!!!... I've had a really busy time of travelling this last month, doing working trips to Ireland, Scotland, Devon & Wales, and jetting off to Turkey for a well needed holiday! I've really not had much time at home, let alone chance to sit down and blog, but this past week I've been catching up with my emails and sorting newly received pictures so I can do some serious updating to my little part of the interweb! :-)

So let's start with a month ago, I managed to cram everything I needed into my little cabin bag with all my working trip essentials, and caught my flight for a week in wonderful, gorgeous Ireland!!
Skirts, floaty clothes, lingerie, corset, jewellery, flower garland, my own fave teas, snack bars, book to read, beauty miniatures, hair tongs, mini hairdryer, pjs, sleep mask and lots of warm socks, it's all in there!! >>>

After a few fun-filled days in Dublin I got the train over to Galway for a quick shoot before embarking by ferry with Eamonn Farrell for a 2 day excursion on Inis Mór; of the mystical ARAN ISLANDS. It is such an strange and amazing place, very baron and isolated, only 3km wide, with the main transport in the form of bicycles and horse drawn carts, absolutely covered in intricately built stone walls, archaeological ruins teatering over the edge of dramatic cliffs and Gaelic being the everyday language of most of the inhabitants, some of them having never left the island...

The forecast for the days wasn't looking that great, and considering what a bone-chilling endurance my last 2 day nude location shoot with Eamonn was, I was a little apprehensive about modelling on this minimal landscape!! But thankfully the weather was mild albeit a little windy at times :-) We also very luckily managed to borrow an old banger of a car since somebody can't ride a bike (*blush*), so that helped us get around the island and was especially appreciated on the early morning shoots! We met lots of animals - horses, ponies, goats, fat furry caterpillars and a huge, mean-looking cow! This is an out-take from a set with me wearing one of the traditional Aran sweaters. That donkey was posing nicely nearby and then suddenly he had his head right in my lap! Talk about hogging the camera! :-D

After making the return ferry trip back to Connemara, we drove back to Eamonn's home in Kildare, with me then spending the following day in Dublin again before flying home late that evening. That day I worked with 4 great photographers, including the lovely Deirdre Marie Photography who organised make-up by Ciara Red; adorning me with unique, pearly make-up.

And also a very productive time with Andrew Shahoff at his studio on Grafton Street and got a beautiful varied range of imagery from our 2 hour shoot, draping and swirling around with various shimmering and translucent materials.

I still have some pictures to add here including some results from Aran, so will update again soon! Thank you again to everyone from my trip to Ireland, as always such a fun & heart-warming time. I loved every shoot and appreciate the bookings so much, as well as the generous help with accomodation and transport. I will be back in Spring 2012 for sure!

Next post... Elegant mansions, derelict ruins, rivers and rolling hills of Scotland!! Until then, here's some snaps from my holiday in Turkey, where I went paragliding! Beautiful views floating so high over the moutains and sapphire ocean :-)

7 Days

2011-09-11T12:55:00.015+01:00

Just 1 week left to see the huuge painting of me; 'Holly' by Louis Smith, that was awarded second prize in the 2011 BP Portrait Exhibition, before it moves from London up to Wolverhampton (24 Sept - 1 Nov) & Aberdeen (12 Nov - 21 Jan 2012). I'll be there again on Thursday and probably Saturday too, showing some of my loved ones around the exhibition and having another look around the rest of the gallery.

Where: National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London!
Nearest Tubes: Leicester Square / Charing Cross
Open daily 10am-6pm (Thurs & Fri until 9pm) until Sun 18th Sept.

Adorned

2011-09-01T02:01:00.009+01:00

I have written before about Sparklewren - she is a bespoke, luxury corsetmaker. I own 2 of her beautiful pieces already; my powder blue underbust cincher and my lilac satin, silver encrusted, ribbon-laced overbust corset. I'm planning to get another one in the near future, they are just gorgeous; making you look sensational and feel divine. Her work is getting more and more creative, as she studies traditional, classical techniques and mixes them with modern, innovative and deluxe styling. As well as being such a hardworking, passionate, kind-hearted person, Jenni is super talented and already getting great acclaim for her designs. Her work was recently documented alongside top fashion designers such as Thierry Mugler, Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood in the blog - Burlesque Style: Top 20 Stunning Corset Designs I can see this lady going far and can't work to work more with her myself in the future.

The last shoot we had was a deliciously glamourous affair set in a beautifully elaborate London town house, with models such as mane-haired beauty Madame Bink, burlesque sweetheart Chrys Columbine, the gorgeous Samio Olowu and the awesome force of hotness that is Tessa (Holes in the Sea), running around half in and half out of luscious corseted creations, and adorned with sparkling diamontes, killer heels and smokey eyes (all photographed by the super cool Sean Elliot!).

Hope you enjoy these beauties, look out for more on Sparklewren's website, and I will post some other sets soon...

Once upon a time in Spring...

2011-08-31T20:59:00.030+01:00

Okay so, I've been a bit slack with the blogging of late, and being as September is set to be majorly busy I better try and catch up quick... and I might as well start with a blog that's long overdue, and prompted by an email from a photographer earlier today mentioning it (I did say I was going to blog about it) - my trip around Holland, earlier in... April! So, cast your minds back - imagine baby lambs, the warmth of spring, bees starting to buzz... mmm, lovely :-)

I'm still hoping to get few more edits from shoots I had over there to show, but I have some results I received, as well as my own iPhone hipstacaptures of my adventures! I gotta say, this trip turned out to be pretty awesome. Considering I had a last minute cancellation, therefore total change of travel route, and initial struggle to fill up bookings, I managed to arrange extra work in time, and was glad to keep 1 day free for a wander around Amsterdam, as I'd only been once before. I met some absolutely wonderful people, as well as cats, dogs and talking parrots, and saw a lot of beauty and colour. Starting with...

...Louis Vutton shop window, dripping gold and exploding butterflies, on the walk into town

Shots from the Museum of Contemporary Art & Design, with this gorgeous installation in the main hall. Reminded me how much I actually ♥ Minimalism. I love feeling a connection and/or an experience with the space. I really adore that kind of art... Flavin-esque, heavenly.

Abstract shot of a group of twisted bronze statues that were like deformed mermaid-devil-angels.

A beautiful... radiator!

Mmm beautiful flowers!!! On my last day I was in Amsterdam town centre quite early in the morning, and the warm spring air was so fresh and happy, a little crisp and cool, warming up slowly but surely. It was very peaceful, and I took my time to sit and eat my pastry on a park bench overlooking the canal, as bikes and trams jingled around nearby, then went for a mooch in the famous floating flower market. The quality of the flowers there is unreal, the array of unique colours and types; delicate and phenomenal. I spent a long time picking out tulip bulbs for my family, and then decided on a bunch of 50 yellowy-pink scrumtious lovelies to take back home for me :-)

Very hard to resist!!

Clogs outside the wooden guesthouse I stayed in, when working with amazing film photographer Rutger ten Broeke in the dutch countryside. At night I could hear all the wild animals out in the darkness!

A magnificant tree covered in amazing fungi.
I posed next to this for pictures... it was shot on film, I hope they came out well!

Driving to the next destination past rainbow fields!

Inside an old historic hotel I was lucky enough to shoot in (see Allan's pictures below!)

The bedcover throw in the hotel room we were based for the shoot, LOVED the colour and feel, so silky and beautiful

The sunset by the ocean and wind turbines - gorgeous golden, melting magenta; a beautiful sight.

And so... the shoots!!

The first one here was the day I arrived, in Amsterdam, after managing to confusedly but succcessfully get the right trains and trams from the airport to the city centre, I shot with the super talented Lee H in his friend's spare apartment. He got some very cool stuff...

And these below are from my time with the lovely Allan Schaap, around Lelystad, a part of Holland reclaimed from the sea. We worked outdoors at an incredible location in the morning - a white sandy desert in the middle of nowhere. I felt like I was in Planet of the Apes, walking across a long lost planet of dream-like wilderness. After a shoot in the woodland we then headed to the historic, luxury hotel and were allowed to shoot in quite a few rooms with some great features and props. There's more pictures to come, but here are some from the hotel room. It was a beautiful warm day, we had the paned glass windows open, letting in a pleasant breeze coming through the gently rustling trees outside, and some gorgeous sunlight. I was in a very lazy, hazy relaxed and sensual mood. Allan was so easy going and creative to work with, so I could just open up, we just carried on moving and shooting. I do like some direction on shoots, sometimes more so, as discussion and feedback are so important, but it's also nice to just be allowed to let go, and ebb & flow where the mood takes you. Hope you enjoy these and I look forward to sharing more in the future...

I Make Shapes

2011-08-30T14:38:00.015+01:00

By the awesome Britalicus, from my last trip to Scotland.

Wood Nymph

2011-08-23T18:12:00.002+01:00

More beautiful work by Pierus from my visit to Cambridge..

Lost

2011-08-17T10:26:00.007+01:00

Love this piece by Catherine Barrows, from her recent exhibition in Marylebone. Catherine is a very talented textile artist I worked with earlier this year; she takes photographs and then works on delicate fabrics like silk and japanese paper to create these beautiful images with evocative, ethereal feelings of memory, working with themes of identity, isolation and vulnerability.

See more her work here... www.catherinebarrows.co.uk

Sunshine

2011-08-03T11:20:00.005+01:00

Loving the lush weather!! Gotta say, England, you are giving us a good summer this year!! Well, at least in my area, so far we have had so many warm sunny days, compared to usual when we often have a heatwave around Easter and then nothing until a few days in September! But it was gorgeous this weekend especially. My boyfriend and I went to visit a couple of my wonderful friends in Kent, spending an afternoon having a picnic on the beach, mooching in all the pretty shops selling jewellery and ocean themed gifts, and eating icecream at the harbour. In the warm evening air we had a delicious bbq in their beautiful garden with slow roasted lamb, greek salad, wine, cold beer, and lots of laughs, and a lovely walk by the coast on Sunday as the white boat sails drifted along in the blue tranquil water. Awesome ♥

We booked a holiday too, at the end of September, to Turkey for a week! We are staying near a gorgeous beach and lagoon with amazing views, which you can go paragliding over, with ghost towns and ruins nearby, and both busier & quieter, traditional towns just a bus ride away. SO good to get a holiday in the diary, as we didn't have one last year. I bought the bikini I liked in the sale as well; £60 down to £20 - don't you love it when that happens - it was meant to be! :-P

I've been enjoying being able to get into a better fitness routine for the last month or so, I was so busy before with my massage course, exams and loads of travelling, I didn't get much time for anything. I've been especially loving going for my swims, it is so refreshing and relaxing getting into that pool! Have also been running again, once a week (not my favourite thing, but if only once a week, when I feel like it, I can actually enjoy it and run a lot better) and the fields around my house are full of tall plants, fluffy dandelions and long grasses that look gorgeous illuminted in the warm evening sunlight. And tonight I'm starting a new yoga class which I'm looking forward to. I keep buying giant bags full of fruit from the local market too, which always feels really summery. My blender broke though so I can't make smoothies. Think I might buy a juicer. Anyway.... :-)

These portraits are from a shoot I had when I went to Cambridge for a few days, and worked with the lovely Pierus again, this time out on location in the beautiful weather. I have more to post from this shoot soon, so many good ones!

Enjoy the sunshine :-)

Aura

2011-07-26T17:26:00.016+01:00

More images by the awesome Nigel Johnson, who did those cool funky weird images last time we worked together, added in my blog post 'Of Flesh & Bone'. Again we were working at White Space Studios and produced some more gorgeous results!

We used the brown backdrop again for a beautiful glow behind some statuesque, classical style shots with colourful, shimmering fabric, and then nudes on the box to concentrate on interesting and geometric shapes. These are some of my favourites...

We then tried some with me flinging my hair back, which is always fun but often tricky to capture. But I think these are pretty damn cool! :-)

Including the 'misfire' where the front flash didn't go off :-)

And here are some monochrome edits which I really love...

Would love to know what you think! As always, feel free to comment, all feedback is appreciated :-)

Enchanted

2011-07-20T14:08:00.009+01:00

I love this shot, taken by Rob Smith Arts at Hallam Mill in Stockport. So dreamy!

Porcelain Souls

2011-07-17T12:55:00.012+01:00

From a while back, but these pics are from a tuition day I did for awesome photographer Tom Hoops! I had adored his work for ages and been nagging for a shoot, and when he was in England last, over from Thailand, he asked if I could model for his workshop in Brighton. I was already majorly excited to work for him, then I found out the incredible and beautiful Martin Angerbauer was also going to be modelling on the day. Swoon! He has the most beautiful and enthralling look and was a great fit for some duo shots we did, with our pale skin and red hair. I was ridiculously in awe cuz he is, in my eyes, an absolute modelling legend. He was amazing and inspiring to watch too, so incredibly talented with his poses and expressions. You gotta go check out his portfolio here > > > www.martinangerbauer.com

It was brilliant to work with Tom, we were in this great old house in Brighton, with lovely natural light and lots of space, and also did some shots up on the roof and in the bath.

www.tomhoops.com

These shots below are by Javi Miqueleiz
www.efejotaphotography.com

And these ones are by Roberto Zambelli, some also featured in an article in Demur Magazine, and also on Vogue's photo website!
www.robertozambelli.co.uk

Secret Garden

2011-07-13T10:57:00.024+01:00

These images are from my shoot with the lovely Brian Martin on my last trip to Scotland... I worked at some awesome locations up there but this one was a real gem... it had such an enthralling feeling inside, quiet but buzzing with something. It reminded me of a bit from the film The Dark Crystal, where the Gelfling enter the ancient homes of their ancestors, with vines growing all over the walls and mystery everywhere. It really felt like their was magic inside those gates, with a presence in the air, memories lingering. The colours inside were beautiful, but I think the black & white edits capture the textures and atmosphere there. Brian was an absolute joy to work with and it was such a fun and productive shoot that I'll always remember.

Here are some iPhone captures I stole from the inside of the secret garden! We finished the shoot in the bluebell wood, so I've added some colour shots as well.

There had just been a short rain shower, and I'm gonna try and help you picture what it was like... the sun was glistening through the trees, and down onto the bluebells and ferns which were lush green, quenched by the fresh dew. You could almost hear the forest absorbing it all up in ceremony. Tiny winged insects were illuminated by the soft light, slowly rising above and glowing like floating fairies, beetles crawled through the undergrowth, the birds were singing all around. It was one of those moments where you feel honoured to be witnessing - the wonder of the hidden world of nature. It was just so pretty and so peaceful. It's shoots like that when being there, as a nude model, barefoot, bareskinned, is honestly such a sacred experience; the air on your skin feels amazing, and you get such a sense of awe from being part of something so quietly strong - living & breathing in it's graceful harmony.
I luckily get to work in these environments occassionally, but it's so important to remember to make time to surround ourselves with nature, when you get chance, away from busy jobs, the grey city, flashing televisions and the stress & sparkle of money. Entering the natural world reminds you what is real, and gives you time to just 'be' and feel serenity. You can observe it and sometimes it lets you in, and occassionally it majorly shows off how freakin gorgeous it is :-)

Golden Hour

2011-07-13T10:27:00.005+01:00

There are more to come from this shoot, but can't resist posting up this gorgeous image taken by BillPhoto, who travelled down from Chester to work with me around Oxford... we shot around the beautiful buildings and archways of the city, had a few hours in the nearby studio, then finished the day at Minster Lovell in the wild flower fields, river, forest and ruins with stunning light from the golden sunset - perfect! :-)

Summery Studio Shots

2011-07-12T10:44:00.015+01:00

These shots were taken by Tony Parker at a studio day up at Rowe Photographic Studios in Rotherham. I love the bright, summery feel with my colourful & floaty dresses and the warm background, we got a lovely range of styles in the short time we had to shoot. Thank you Tony!

Breathe

2011-07-02T17:30:00.013+01:00

Just a little quick post for today, as I have my massage exams this weekend and need to carry on revising and practising. I'm feeling nervous and excited for my results, and inspired for the possibilities of life ahead :-) I filled my lungs with a deep breath of air outside in the sunshine, and looked up to the sky and and felt all the life in my body, and reminded myself to not hold back. I hope everyone can find their own little bit of positivity too. Enjoy your days!

Forest Princess

2011-06-27T14:41:00.006+01:00

I just got back from a 4 day trip up in the Northwest last night, so will be posting more about that soon as well as catching up blogging tons of great pictures I have receieved from recent shoots over the last few months. I've been lucky enough to work in some truly stunning locations recently, including luxurious hotels, secret gardens, mansion ruins, an abandoned hospital and fantastic Victorian baths, as well as some awesome studios. I have most of this week off to revise for my massage exams at the weekend, so hopefully can also grab some of that time to update.

For now I will post some beautiful images by photographer & digital artist - the wonderful Rebecca Parker. I worked with her again for one of her workshops in Birmingham a few weeks ago but we also got to nip out beforehand and shoot in the woodland with some gorgeous headresses, including some made by the talented Moonmomma.

White Room Prints

2011-06-14T18:13:00.009+01:00

I worked with Manchester-based photographer Vincent Abbey a while ago and adored the beautiful high-key nudes we produced in his radiant 'White Room' setting. It was like being in a giant glowing soft box, with flattering natural light bouncing all around me, capturing my pale complexion and natural flame red hair.

Vincent has just put the results together as 'The White Room Collection' and I'm proud to say they are now available to order as beautiful prints! They come in ten different sizes and are available through Fine Art America - one of the largest, most respected and reasonably-priced giclee printing companies in the world.

You can see them all here: Fine Art America IVORY FLAME Prints

I think they're absolutely lovely, pure style nudes, each one showing a relaxed and intimate capture that has a wonderful sense of quietness and soft femininity in the light & airy atmosphere. If you like them please have a look at the website to purchase, and I'd love to hear what you think of them :-)

For this week only until Friday, this print in particular is on a special offer... Limited Time Promotion Print (there's a count down clock until the offer finishes so grab it whilst you can!!!)

If you have a different favourite, there may be some other offers coming up, so make sure to 'like' & keep your eye on my Facebook Page for updates!

If you're interested in purshasing 2, 3 or all 4 images from the collection, feel free to send Vincent a message for more information and discounts - vabbey@yahoo.com

I hope you like them!! :-)

Holly x

'Controversial' Holly

2011-06-12T18:48:00.005+01:00

My parents sent me this cool page clipping from The Times 'Travel' section, which advertises the Portrait Exhibition that opens to the public next Thursday 16th at the National Portrait Gallery in London. I wrote about before here. I don't know if it will win, but either way it will be so exciting for this painting of me to be displayed there. I will get to see it on Wednesday ;-) Good luck to Louis! :-)

Box Nudes

2011-06-12T16:02:00.013+01:00

And more images from my last 2 day shoot with the awesome Eric Kellerman, quite a while ago now, but we had some many great results from those sessions I still have tons to look at months later. I've worked with Eric 4/5 times now and I am always left exhausted and aching for days but it is always such a thrill and challenge to pose for his camera, and always really funny :-) I knew he'd been working on this project and felt a little under pressure to make some cool shapes. It was the first shoot of getting there, certainly an intense start to the morning, twisting and turning, pushing against and hanging off all sides of this wooden box!! I was blimmin knackered! I love the pictures, it's hard to choose a favourite as I like the whole set, so made a little montage too.

Check out his website for some of the awesome poses his other models have done..

www.erickellermanphotography.com/gallery-thebox

Eric also recently sent me a re-worked edit of one of our other favourites from this session. It's lovely! You can also view my past blog posts featuring my work with him by clicking the 'Eric Kellerman' label tab at the bottom of this post.

Elegance

2011-06-12T15:34:00.007+01:00

These are a few pictures by photographer and digital artist Joan Blease, taken whilst on my trip to the Northwest earlier this year. This was my second shoot with her and she is a joy to work with, with lots of interesting props and ideas to create classic, elegant and beautiful images.

More of Joan's work can be viewed on her website www.joanbleasephotography.co.uk and Purestorm profile.

Alone with the Lens

2011-06-07T21:06:00.017+01:00

So, these are from my shoot with India Hobson, that I already wrote quite a bit about already on a previous blog entry 'Through My Reflection'. These are the self portrait style shots, where India set the camera up on a tripod with a sync lead, and left me in the room on my own for 10 minutes or so, to just do whatever.

In my modelling work, posing for the camera and conveying a range of expressions, emotions and characters has become a pretty easy state of mind to switch into... whether more commercial or artistic... I enjoy it all, and feel safe and confident there. I have been modelling for over 5 years now, and have been earning my full time income from it for 4 years, and it's been a pretty big part of my life. It takes a lot of involved commitment and energy to make it all work, staying popular and in demand, and therefore of course it becomes very important and at times quite consuming. I certainly put a lot of myself into my poses, but for me, I find there is barrier that can start to build up. The way that, with most jobs, you put on a certain 'face', and after working hours, you leave that behind. But when your 'brand' image is also YOU, it can become hazy where the line of posing vs being 'natural' begins and ends

With people's obsession with beauty, in the modelling industry, and in regular life, we are judged each day by how we look. People are pressured, some are held back in certain ways. Someone more or less beautiful, can be at times considered more/less special and valuable, with good appearences often getting your further in certain situations. Having red hair, I am sometimes considered more 'rare' and 'unique', with people telling me how special and beautiful I am, but really, although on the surface I take it as a compliment, inside I just don't get it, and don't mean that ungratefully, but I am no more special than the next person because of the follicles of my hair, it's just an image.
I have also experienced, going out to the shops in very plain clothes and no make-up, and feeling treated completely differently to when I've been out dressed in something more attractive with more 'stereotypically beautiful' styling. Or like when we go to a party and feel we can't be ourself due to what we look like, our body, what we're wearing, or inabiliity to show our real character.

I see my face, and 'image', so much, in hundreds of pictures, and in the mirror as I prepare for shoots, and sometimes I want to remove myself from it, escape and see things in a different way. It makes me wonder what a world would be like if we were all just floating around as equal, featureless glowing orbs, and had a completely different system of recognition.
Don't worry by the way, I'm not having some kind of model breakdown. (Though I can totally imagine what might have made Britney Spears shave all her hair off!) It's just something I have grown increasingly fascinated and curious to explore. It's what I think of for clarity's sake as 'Image vs Faceless Self'.
Image is our outer shell; our physical looks - clothes, hair, skin, make-up, height, body shape, and the idea of ourselves that we project to the world. Faceless Self is our inner self, our soul / spirit, individual life energy seperate from physical identity. But when we have become so connected and accustomed to how we look, can we even imagine ourselves without our visual appearence? In my medium of photographic modelling, can I push through my image?

Anyhow (if you're still with me), bearing in mind, these ideas of image, truth and reality had been floating around my head before and leading up to this shoot, with my tendancy to overthink and try to untangle, the intricacies of the mind and heart; the self portrait set-up was a strange situation to be in. As a model, when you are left to your own devices to photograph yourself... at first it appears you have no-one to perform to but a camera lens, but inevitably - you have a future audience also - India (who would look through the pictures on her camera) and most probably many more people, by way of sharing the results, they way I'm doing now. It felt like I was being handed an immense opportunity, a gift; to express myself completely truly and naturally, but somehow, it seemed so daunting and difficult. Can I liken it to an animal kept in captivity for years, and then suddenly having the door opened to walk free, and feeling... well, not quite sure about it really. Excited and bewildered, but also confused and exposed... uncertain and unprepared for the language and life of the free.

I've added quite a lot of the photos here, as I think it shows some of the emotions I was playing and battling with. Confusion, as I thought of 'what to do', and frustration in realising that the more I thought about what to do, the more contrived it would be. There is a struggle and attempts to break free, to look closer... looking into the black eye of the camera, and further, travelling forward through time, into the eyes of the people who would be viewing it. Including into the eyes of myself. Questioning. Searching. You will also see I didn't use my face for all my shots, which I think was certainly a conscious decision to try and move away from my image and express something different.

In these 'self portraits', I still felt like there was this layer of something, that I couldn't quite penetrate through. I don't know if people who don't model, can imagine what that's like. And maybe not all models get this either. It's hard to describe. I think I was trying to convey my 'being'. Could I photograph my spirit? I don't know... and to be honest I'm not really sure if I know what I'm bambling on about, so god knows if you do... but the results are interesting. This was really for India's project, but the whole shoot with her helped give me a really insightful start into my little journey of exploration, even if I found it a bit frustrating, it was a good experiment, and I have germinating ideas on how I can delve further into these themes. So it's a work in progress. Maybe you can tell me what you think?

www.indiahobsonphotography.co.uk

Of Flesh & Bone

2011-05-31T10:39:00.025+01:00

Here are some more photos by the same photographer who took the 'Golden Flame' images from yesterday's blog. Nigel Johnson was fairly new to working with models but has already been steaming ahead shooting with so many great people and creating some brilliant work. We had such an awesome first shoot and have another booked soon, again at White Space Studios, in Chesham (FYI, the gorgeous Madame Bink is doing a whole studio weekend there 18th and 19th June, so I'd recommend you book some time with her whilst she's in the area at such a cool setting).

These first ones were when we started experimenting with some luscious sidelighting. The brown backdrop helps seperate the figure from the backgroud, and adds that warm, chocolatey, sensual feel.

I made a little squeel when I saw the one of my collarbone. The way the light dances over the shape of the bone and texture of the skin, is just amazing. So we carried on with this effect of the light skimming over my body, and changed to a light from above.

Now... these next pictures are really something I adore. I don't think I've had any backshots of me taken quite like these. I am totally in love with their Geiger-like, statuesque look.
I've always enjoyed images that show the human form, and specifically - the structure and the strength of it as opposed to it just looking pretty. Of course it's great to show the lovely soft and feminine curves of the female figure, complimented with warm gentle light that wraps around all the nice bits and flatters any 'imperfections'. But I also love images that show the body in others ways - strange, mysterious, creature-like, bare and raw.

It won't surprise me if a few people think these are unflattering or that I look 'too skinny'. They are entitled to their opinion, and a healthy body image is important of course, and for the record just in case you hadn't noticed I am a completely healthy weight and size, but I also know plenty of people lighter and thinner than me who are just as healthy and happy as they are. It does bother me sometimes how the appearence of bones can be so quickly and wrongly associated with illness and emaciation. I think with modern media, 'beauty', airbrushing, 'image' etc, some people forget what we are made of. We are not perfect barbie dolls, we are live animals made of bones, and muscle, and fat, and veins and tubes and blood and cells. And it's ALL frickin awesome. I love my spine and ribs in these pictures, the strength and design of it all. Our skeleton and muscles are phenomenal. The form they create and what it allows us to do is a complete thing of beauty, a magnificant and complex shell growing with, supporting and protecting us through our life.

It's so cool how a change in lighting can make such a difference. We saw what an interesting effect it had and all I had to do was keep wiggling around, letting it hit and miss me at varying angles. The stark deep shadows and selected harsh highlights make the images almost abstract, like strange and wonderful ornaments, so elegant and intriguing. I love how it shows the texture of the skin and all the lumps and bumps and dents in places I didn't even know I had them. Less so the usual 'a celebration of the beauty of the female back' - these are more just an awesome capture of the curious structure, strength and mortal organicness of the human being. Equally as beautiful and incredible to look at as a softer, more glossy style. A work of art!

Golden Flame

2011-05-30T23:46:00.014+01:00

Sorry I haven't posted with updates sooner. Although I do this blog a lot for me, like a little memoir of my travels and shoots, of course it's fantastic that people are interested in what I'm doing. As I receive daily info of my blog statistics, I can view the ebb and flow of visitors according to my activity / website links etc. But even when I don't update as regularly there's still a load of people checking all the time, and coming from all parts of the world, which is brill! Unfortunately due to having a lot of work on recently, I haven't had loads of free time for sorting everything. I've just about caught up with going through loads of CD's and picture files, and am now excitedly waiting on some edits to be finalised. So although this post isn't a giant update, hopefully it serves as a little message of appreciation for everyone that is following. I admit I do get a bit impatient myself when some of my favourite blogs don't get any new posts for a while :-P So *thank you* for viewing mine and bear with me, you will be rewarded ;-)

These shots are by the lovely Nigel Johnson, taken at White Space Studios, I luuurrve how the fabric shimmers and almost looks alight. The perfect look with my fiery name ;-)

Beautiful Weird

2011-05-17T22:31:00.007+01:00

This one is a great illustration by Toroto based Jack McGuire, inspired by a photograph of me by Handsworth Photo. I think it's super funky! Check out the rest of Jack's work, a collection of surreal paintings and drawings, on his Red Bubble profile, it's very cool! Reminds me of Dali... all strange, twisted and dream-like... beautiful weirdness ♥

Here Comes The Rain

2011-05-17T21:27:00.004+01:00

These are from a while back when I was up in Hull visiting a friend and entwining some work into my travels, including a shoot with the lovely Holmax at his home studio, where he took these beautiful images through the patio window; the visuals, atmosphere and emotion of which I really love.

Storybook

2011-05-09T20:17:00.004+01:00

So I'm just on the train home on my way down from Scotland where I spent 5 days working around Edinburgh, with my last shoot in Fife this morning. The weather was surprisingly kind to me with my outdoor shoots, despite a few showers and forecasts for storms, there was some beautiful photographic light and it wasn't too cold at all, considering some of my more painful Scottish location experiences! :-P I worked in some absolutely stunning and enthralling locations, including mansion ruins, walled gardens and bluebell forests, as well as doing some great studio work; gorgeous boudoir in natural light and lots of dramatic twisty creature-like nudes.
I am such a lucky lucky girl to have a job that gives me opportunity to work in such great places and with so many talented, lovely and fun people :-) Will show some of the results soon! Could really do with buying myself a laptop to help keep up with blogging and project work when I'm travelling, another thing to save up for along with the hope of holidays and other wants.
I also have some pictures to show soon from my working trip to Holland a few weeks ago.

Until then, here are some lovely recent bookcovers I've featured on, including the 'Delilah' cover which people keep saying they've seen in Sainburies. *I think* it's my first UK cover (the rest I've known about have either been in other parts of Europe or the US). I love the 'Arcadia Falls' embossed detail too, so pretty... I love being on bookcovers!! The Delilah cover is by Michael Trevillion and the following two are both by Clayton Bastiani!

Fashion Adventures

2011-04-29T19:53:00.006+01:00

I got to appear in a fab publication for Cotswolds Life Magazine's May issue - 'Wild Beauties' fashion feature - modelling elegant Feva Designs clothing, photographed by Adam Robertson. I was working alongside my great friend Madame Bink, with hair styling by Jay Jessop and make-up by Sophia Chammings. The location was the incredible Aynhoe Park - an absolute adventure of mystery to explore - huge rooms topped with extravagent chandeliers, filled with giant furniture and elaborate, fascinating artefacts from roman statues to monkey skulls, and an amazing range of taxidermy including a lion, python and huge polar bear!

Photographer: Adam Robertson Photography (www.adamrobertson.co.uk)
Models: Madame Bink (www.madamebink.co.uk) & Ivory Flame (www.ivoryflame.co.uk)
MUA: Sophie Chamings (www.sophiechamings.co.uk)
Hair Stylist: Jay Jessop (www.jayjessop.com)
Assistants: Stefano Brunesci & Andy Doane
Clothing/Accessories: FEVA (www.fevadesigns.com)
Location: Aynhoe Park (www.aynhoepark.co.uk)

In between shooting I snuck off a few times around the rooms and corridors - quirky, weird and beautiful things around every corner. The creepy library was a cluttered mass of curious objects... intricate antiques, cases of jewels, jars of formaldehyde creatures. I pretended I was in an Indiana Jones movie, secretly looking for clues :-) There's some more 'Behind the Scenes' pictures and a video of one of the amazing bathroom's on my Facebook Page too.

Here are some more gorgeous images from the day, shot so well by Adam Roberston. I love my smooth hair in the first two especially. It was lovely to be styled so beautifully with such elegant outfits and accessories. The whole day was such an experience and I adore the images so much :-) Hope you like them!

Soft Light

2011-04-27T22:34:00.015+01:00

Some pretty nudes with beautiful soft lighting, taken by Ian Mears, at one of the cool 1-to-1 & workshop days that run at Light Spot Studio in East London. More updates soon! :-)

The Palms

2011-04-26T11:13:00.005+01:00

I got the chance to be involved in an exciting shoot a while ago arranged by awesome photographer Drew Gardner at a rainforrest-esque Palm House location. It would be slightly different to usual as Drew was going to be using a special type of infra red camera of which there are only 3 in Europe, plus there would also be some slithering accessories :-D

I was working alongside the beautiful Madame Bink and we also had the talented Jay Jessop doing our hair & make-up, as well as assistants Lucinda Marland, Jaraslaw Wieczorkiewicz, Imelda Demsy, Portia Birch, Adam Robertson and Hazel of 'Wrigglies'.

When we gathered into our location at the start and Drew came close to whisper to us all that there were a few things he hadn't exactly told the people whom he had sought permission from to use the location... "They don't know there will be this many people here, they don't know there will be nudity, and...they don't know there will be snakes"....me & Bink exchanged a glance of panicked hilarity. But everything was fine just a few quick cover-ups needed now and then. Like squatting on the floor from passers by admiring the banana plants whilst trying to keep a rising snake head from appearing from under the same cover I was attempting to hide my naked bum cheeks with. Bit difficult. That snake was one curious and strong little dude!

The behind the scenes video is a great momento of the experience and fun to watch the process. The final photographs have a surreal and otherwordly feel of a strange and beautiful long lost Eden.

The Palms from drew gardner on Vimeo.

Through My Reflection

2011-04-23T01:05:00.042+01:00

On my trip to Manchester earlier this year I luckily got to shoot with the lovely, talented soul that is India Hobson. Check out her website www.indiahobsonphotography.co.uk for more of her work. I adore her photography style and it was such a great collaboration, wonderful to work with someone who thinks in such a similar way; we shared a lot of the same attitudes and thoughts. The natural light was very beautiful and it was a really creative and productive afternoon. It left me feeling both positively perplexed and inspired, keen to explore more into ideas of image and beauty and the 'face' we present to the world. I love the softness and quietness here though in these images which relates to a big part of my personality, and I like the space showing the room and air around me.

We has been talking about how the model acts as a muse for the photographer to express his/herself, and how in a way it's like using their body, inhabiting it as a vessel to visualise your inner feelings. I like the image in the set below where India holding her camera is actually visible reflected in the centre of my out of focus image. As I do photography myself I found I could relate to India's perspectives, as she has also modelled for her images, and it gave me good food for thought about my role as 'model'.

I wanted to try my best to be really natural on this shoot, not posing too much at all and trying to project my inner 'faceless' self rather than my physical 'shell'. I've tried not posing before and I do find it really challenging... as even 'natural' posing can be set up. It is hard to switch off that mode of performance no matter how subtle it may be. But isn't that the point of being a model? Modelling for the camera is something that has become so normal to me and it's almost like I've forgotten how NOT to pose, or at least I find it hazy where the line of posing vs being natural begins and ends. I've had some photographers attempt to capture me entirely without posing, caught unaware or not prepared for the shot, and it has at times made me feel really uncomfortable and more naked than any lack of clothing could. You give a lot of yourself as a model, especially with the freedom/request to be expressive, it is a great thing but sometimes you have to have limits. I can liken it to my massage work, where when giving holistic treatments and similar therapies, it is important to 'ground' yourself at the end of each session to seperate your energy from the client, rather than letting too much of yourself spill over into the other, and vice versa, to encourage equilibrium.

However I am interested into what I feel, in relation to what I look like, and what that makes me. I'm still contemplating about it and possibly not explaining myself very coherantly. so apologies if this just sounds like rambling self absorbtion. It seems it is often only models who can understand where I'm coming from. But most people have experienced that feeling of staring into a mirror so long that suddenly your face seems to change, or looking into your reflection and not recognising what you see, in relation to what you feel inside, for a split second your face seems like a stranger's. Saying your name over and over again until it seems to become detached from yourself, unbelonging to you and floating there meaningless, rather than the title to your whole being and identity.
Sometimes people say that getting models to pose in pictures is contrived and not real. They could be right. But I was there, in those moments of that day, living, breathing, as human and normal as the next person... I looked into the lens and tried to open, open myself to the shutter that was recording me in that millisecond of my life. I wonder if a photo on a shoot can ever be natural if the model knows it is being taken. I wonder if I can really show myself seperated from my outer physical shell or if there will always be a barrier between the skin and the soul that the camera can only look through a sheet of glass at. I wonder if it is possible to photograph a soul.

We also did some self portraits for a project of India's, where she set up the camera with a remote trigger and left the room for 10 minutes or so, allowing me to photograph myself however I liked. This felt like an even more interesting exploration. Suddenly being left in a room with no-one to perform to but myself... but; I would have a future audience - India would look through the set, and whoever went on to view the resulting published pictures. I'll hopefully get to show those soon, I think they turned out pretty interesting.

Portrait Award Shortlist Unveiled

2011-04-14T13:19:00.017+01:00

I had some great news recently that a painting of me by artist Louis Smith was accepted into the BP Portrait Awards, and brilliantly it was announced yesterday he is shortlisted along three other artists for the prize award!! You might have seen me write about it on my Facebook Page already... but here is a link to the article on the BBC news website http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13060213 (I have BBC news as my homepage and look at it almost everyday so to be on there is pretty freakin' awesome!) It has also been in last night's and today's newspapers (I am referred to in most as 'naked model Holly') and I've had lots of emails and messages of 'is this you?' and congratulations, as far as from Canada, Hawaii & New York! So thank you! I am very excited and can't wait to go see it when the exhibition opens on 16th June at the famous National Portrait Gallery in London!!

The man behind this is, of course, the artist; amazing Manchester based Louis Smith, classically trained and painting for all his life. You can read in his Bio his interesting struggle and development throughout his career, which lead to him deciding to fully commit to Classical Realism Art, going to Florence to study for three years, and since being shortlisted for the Threadneedle Prize as well as the BP Portrait Award.
You can see more of his work and read his thought process on his website www.paintaportrait.org (I'm going to use some extracts from his text to help tell you more about the painting too) There's also photos of the step by step process and set design, helped by the wonderful and talented Carmel Said.

The painting entitled 'Holly', which is Oil on canvas, shows the type of art Louis enjoys to do; portraits of people but in historical and mythical settings to add interest, as a kind of dramatic and theatrical scene where they are the star. It's a style called 'narrative portrait' that was used years ago for anicent nobels, where they would commission paintings depicting themselves as educated scholars, warrior type figures, athletes or mythological figures. Typicaly idealised in the nude or some state of undress, when the culture celebrated the human form as a higher aesthetic.

Louis writes... 'The stories from Ancient history and religion are a moral guide through the experiences of the human condition... usually dark tales with the hero emerging triumphant. We can all identify with the parts characters have played in these dramas. I would like to use narratives which the sitter can relate to as a personnel affirmation for the future.'

In the painting for the awards, the portrait of me is based on the allegory of Prometheus; but in female form. Prometheus was the champion of mankind from greek myth, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals. Zeus punished him for his crime by having him bound to a rock while a great eagle ate his liver every day only to have it grow back to be eaten again the next day. 'In this portrait Holly is looking into the face of the eagle with a calm resilience, accepting the fate that lies before her. It’s a heroic gesture of composure in the face of adversity.'

Donor portraits were common through Medieval and Renaissance times, where the person who had commissioned and paid for the painting would feature within it, usually shown kneeling to one side, smaller in the foreground of the image and late into the Renaissance, whole familes would be included. By the mid 15th century donors were shown integrated into the main scene, as bystanders and even participants.

I think the concept of themed portraits is brilliant and am already thinking of other scenes and stories I would love to be added into myself, the idea of being plucked and painted into another time/place conjures up amazing images of jumping from one part of history into another, like a fantasy timetravel or narnian magic (it sort of reminds me of when the little girl in Roald Dahl's 'The Witches' is transported into the painting and remains living there static, but with her position eerily changing from day to day) The thought of being immortalised in your chosen scene, giving whatever image and message you desire is a powerful and exciting thing.

Louis also teaches workshops and portrait courses and there's some videos on his website to demonstrate his painting technique, as well as all his contact details.

I hope that if anyone reading can get to London you will be able to go and visit the National Portrait Gallery to view the exhibition when it starts on 16th June, to see this piece up close alongside the other 50 of so artworks accepted into this years collection. It is a huge 12 x 8 feet and in a giant golden frame so you shouldn't miss it! Let me know what you think :-)

Finally a big congratulations to Louis again for being nominated for this superb award, I am very pleased he is getting great recognition for his skill and dedicated hard work, and a huge thank you to him for asking me to be part of this piece which is a fantastic experience for me :-) Best wishes Louis!

Raven Child

2011-04-08T23:54:00.015+01:00

I already worked with talented young photographer Raluca S earlier on in the year in Birmingham, on some gorgeous fresh & dreamy images. This time she travelled to me and we shot near my house in Aylesbury. It was lovely weather and we got loads done working around the fields and woodland. These were taken near the end of the day, as the light of the bright sunny afternoon was fading and dusk was setting in. After given an array of clothing choices from my wardrobe Raluca wanted to use my black feather cape, and found some blossom covered trees to use as a spiralling blurry backdrop. She has a great creative eye and superb ability to capture beautiful detail and mood. I just did a quick smokier make-up look to go with the styling and everything worked beautifully. I love how the selected focus picks out the colour of my eyes and texture of my hair, as well as the shimmering greeny-blues of the feathers against my light skin, and the frame of tiny flowers buds adding that air of magic and enchantment. You can click the images for a larger view :-)

Quiet from the Constant

2011-04-05T01:57:00.021+01:00

I have got really behind with my blogging and updating recently, I've got loads of galleries to browse through of pictures, and behind on a fair few emails too. I was discussing this with a model friends recently... it basically becomes impossible to keep up with the amount of emails you receive. As this is my full time income I need to put priority to the paid bookings, organising my travel trips and messages regarding plans for bookings in the immediate future... but I also try and give good post-shoot communication to photographers who've booked me, taking time to give feedback to images if requested, leaving references, sending links to other models they may like to work with etc. I also get a whole host of other emails from around the world, including messages of admiration, questions, comments, requests for critiques, requests for travel... so as hard as you try to keep up with them all and as late you stay up at night - realistically there comes a limit of what you can actually physically manage.
I know all the attention is fleeting and one day my inbox will be a lot quieter :-) I do appreciate it but admit I find it a little difficult to deal with sometimes. The problem is as I'm sure many people know, the internet communication can take over your life a little. For instance you are often expected to always reply immediately even if the matter is not urgent, and it's just not always possible. I do take days off and weekends off. Sometimes I do miss mails or mark them 'unread' and forget/take ages to get back to them. I'm no perfect email angel. I would have no life if I was and I'd be a pretty tired looking model! I spend a LOT of my own personal time on the internet and maintain my professionalim but recently I have come to accept I have to walk away from my computer sometimes, it is already tricky enough with the modelling bookings and travelling to fit in all the regular stuff like cooking, cleaning, doing the food shopping, calling your mum, catching up with friends, getting a decent amount of sleep etc, and you definately need quality free time to chill out and live life totally and completely switched off and AWAY from the internet too.

I'm now also in the last couple of months of my massage course and have a lot of coursework and case studies, including revision for more exams so I'll be concentrating my time on putting lots of good energy into all that. I'm still taking my modelling bookings but for other messages please bear with me... I promise to keep up with my blog entries to share as much cool new work as possible! :-)

Recently I've had more messages from newer models asking for advice, so I really need to do a blog some time soon to address some frequently asked questions, so keep an eye out for that one, but as I always say; I can only speak of my own experience... different things work for different people, but hopefully I can pass on a few things that might be helpful to others.

For now I'm gonna post some photographs taken by Vlastimil Buzek, from my last trip to Dublin, Ireland. I have to say I just adore these images with their delicate blur, deep shadows and distortions. There is something about them that really draws me in as I think they really captured a feeling. They remind me of a lot of thoughts I have on image and what is real and what is an illusion. Really beautiful work. Please click for a closer look.

Firefly

2011-03-21T22:19:00.011Z

Congrats to the lovely Karen Jones who got another image accepted to 1x.com recently, taken on our last shoot at my local studio in Chesham - White Space Studios, of me in my Isis wings.

Click image to view full size

North West Results Part 2

2011-03-21T14:51:00.019Z

Here are some more results from my trip to the Manchester area in Feb. These shots were all taken at the amazing Hallam Mill Studio - True Definition, in Stockport. I had seen some images taken at this place and couldn't wait to work there, as I just adore natural light and this place is filled with it! Gorgeous textures, quirky odd props, big windows, ropes, lush old furniture. I was there over 2 days and was lucky enough to get some gorgeous clear sunsets where the warm lights glowed through the windows - golden hour!

Worked with some fantastic people and had such an enjoyable time, I left on a real high. Here are a couple of lovely references I got too which really made me happy...

'From her portfolio you already know how gorgeous and versatile Holly is. What the photos don't make as clear is just how much fun she is to work with. She bubbles with enthusiasm and suggestions to improve the shoot, and our 2 hour session today flew by. I'm thrilled with the pictures and already want to work with her again.'

'I have wanted to work with Holly for quite some time & finally got my chance yesturday. Wow! Holly is quite simply the 'Best of the Best'. You have the basis of an idea, vague & she completes it without being condesending. 'We could try this' or 'yes I know what you want/mean would this work with that?'...
Thank you Thank you. I cannot recommend this young lady highly enough.'

I've already got some dates booked in with the owner Jim, when I'm coming back to the North West for a sort trip in late June. Can't wait! Thank you to everyone who booked and for being so kind to let me show the pictures :-)

Richard Spurdens

Jonathon Frings

Paul Fuller

Dave Atkinson

North West Results Part 1

2011-03-10T00:35:00.022Z

I had such a fun working trip up to the North West a couple of weeks ago, the 4 days of work were so enjoyable, due to all the people I met being absolute pleasures to work with and everything going so smoothly. The days were pretty full on, with a couple of extra last minute bookings in the evenings too, but being booked into a great value b&b I got to chill out and recharge after work. And weirdly, without a computer around I probably get more rest and sleep than I do when I'm at home! Have a nice shower, give myself a pedicure, watch tv in bed. So I actually really like my mini trips :-)

I have more images to post soon but here are some results from a full day modelling at Tally Ho Studio, based in Wigan, where I worked with two photographers in the morning, and a group of about 8 photographers in the afternoon. Everyone was really friendly and it was a fab, bubbly atmosphere. In the afternoon session, lighting set-ups were changed every hour, with the photographers taking 5-10 mins each to take turns in photographing with me 1-to-1. It kept everyone on their toes but wasn't so fast and fleeting that you couldn't build a decent raport with each other. I probably wouldn't like every one of my shoots to be that format, but for every now and again, I find that the fast pace can be quite energising, and enjoyed altering my expressions and accessories for each photographer so everyone got slightly different and unique images. Here are a selection of the range of the results! Some utterly brilliant shots, and so much variation from the photographers in their shooting style and editing. Thank you so much everyone for sharing your images with me and to Sharon for hosting the day :-)
More shots to share soon from my work at the awesome Hallam Mill Studio in Stockport as well as other stuff!

Giant!

2011-03-09T10:30:00.012Z

After being pretty busy with work, travel and my massage course studies the last couple of weeks, when I got a bit of a cold / cough and headachey thing come on recently it really made me feel pretty rotten, and so unfortunately I didn't end up going along to the Focus Show at the Birmingham NEC like I'd wanted to, but I did get someone to take photos of my big face being printed out GIANT size on some hugenormous Canon printers! The pictures were shot by Andy @ Gothic Image a couple of months ago at WhiteSpaceStudios, and I was so excited to know they would be used to show off the the quality of the printing and ink at the show. Coool!! :-)

Garden Belle

2011-03-02T23:54:00.008Z

Here are some gorgeous headshots taken from a shoot at the end of January, another from my weekend trip to Birmingham, taken by the lovely Raluca S Photography at the Botanic Gardens, with cute flower accessories by Lilly Belle... and more will hopefully be in a magazine article soon!
On my way to this shoot, I actually had a blowout on the motorway, but still managed to make it to the location, albeit an hour late, whereas the make-up artist who lives in Birmingham - no-showed!! Tsk. But hell we did just fine. So the make-up is by me :-)

Work & Play

2011-03-01T18:29:00.030Z

Here is a really cool shot taken by Rob Southall at his studio, when I was over in Birmingham for a few days at the end of January; it was a really enjoyable shoot. I love the angles and reflection he captured, with all the resulting geometric shapes picked out in bold contrast to the dark shadows.

Wowee I have so many images to post from over the last month or so, I've been lucky to receive a few images from most of my shoots, I can hardly keep with them, but it's great! I've been a busy bee so far this year, and where on earth did February go? I know it's a few days shorter but already the year is whizzing by. It's March already!

I've been working lots but I've also done some fun stuff in my spare time. Last weekend I had the Sunday off and I drove with my boyfriend to Wimpole Farm, near Cambridge, to see their little baby piglets - awwwwww!!! I have serious affection for any animal with a snout, and piglets especially have a lot of love from me. Maybe it's from loving cute little Piglet from Winnie the Pooh when I was young. There were some giant rare breeds too, huge boars, a bit scary. The white piglets were just a week old, and so sweet, bouncing around like puppies in the yard, or snuggling under the heat lamp inside. There was a little pink runt who was really tiny - he had to clamber over the others to get a look in at feeding time - utterly adorable. It was cuteness heaven!!! ♥ They were so curious and came up to the side of the pen to stick their snouts through and snuffle your hand. There was a week old calf and little curly haired goats too. And I had green tea with lemon and scones with clotted cream in the cafe. So yeh that all made me very happy!!

I also had a lovely day in London last week... caught the train in, watched the world go by, read my book, went to a casting, then headed to the Natural History Museum to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition which I always try and visit. I had to queue a while because it was the school half term and all the kids were going to see the Dinosaur exhibition. But it was sunny weather and the bumblebees were buzzing in the flowerbeds so I didn't mind waiting and the show was so worth it. Awe-inspiring and as moving as always. Incredible images of this planet we are on and the creatures we share it with. So thankful these committed photographers capture it for us to see. Amazing nature. You forget how incredible it is, it floors you everytime! I love reading all the text, especially in the endangered and photojournalism categories, and the memorable experiences of the photographers, plus all the technical infomation - it made me wanna buy a new camera! :-)

These were my favourites...

Olivier Puccia - Sunset Moment

Category: Urban Wildlife

Squeezed out of their forest homes by deforestation and the spread of human habitation, overlooking Ramtek in Maharashtra, western India, Hanuman Langurs find the highest point from which to admire the sunset.

Sandra Bartocha - The Magical Forest
Category: Creative Visions of Nature

Gespensterwald (ghostly forest) is an old beech forest near Nienhagen, Germany. It is buffeted by winds from the Baltic Sea, and these have contributed to the lack of ground cover and the forest's reputation as a spooky place. For Sandra, however, the forest is 'utterly beautiful'. After a heavy snowfall in January, she spent the day alone in the forest. 'It was so silent,' she says, 'that I could hear my heart pounding.' But it was only when it started to get dark and the snow began to fall again that she had the chance to create the surreal composition she hoped for, with the trees disappearing into snow and a curtain of large, magical flakes falling in the foreground.

Floris van Breugel - Death Valley Dunes
Category: Wild Places

Sunrise bathes the Mesquite Sand Dunes in California's Death Valley National Park in pinks and oranges and creates the shadows that emphasize the wind-whipped dunescapes. To avoid any detail and a sense of scale, Floris stationed himself a good distance away, overlooking the valley, and used a telephoto lens. 'The sensual forms and ever-changing nature of sand dunes fascinate me more than any other landscape'.

Florian Schulz - Flight of the Rays
Category: Behaviour

This astonishing aerial view of a massive congregation of Munk's Devil Rays was taken over the Sea of Cortez, Baja California, Mexico. It's not unusual to see these smaller relatives of the manta ray somersault out of the water - locals call them tortillas because of the way they slap down into the water. 'When I first saw this wildlife phenomenon from the distance,' says Florian, 'I was not sure what I was looking at. The ocean was boiling. It was hard to tell how many rays there were, because the shoal must have been as thick as it was wide.' No one knows why the rays gather like this, whether to mate, herd prey or migrate or just for the sheer joy of being together.

Frédéric Demeuse - Ephemeral gGift
Category: In Praise of Plants

'I made the tiniest toadstool the subject of the composition, positioning it so that its shape was echoed by the central big one behind - a projection of what the little one would look like very soon. A gift from nature.'

So after buying, of course, some beloved postcards from the shop, I went and caught the tube to my job at Adrian Pini's Studio in Brent Cross. But it still felt more like play than work, as the shoot was with amazing textile artist Catherine Burrows, who takes photographs and then works on delicate fabrics like silk and japanese paper to create amazing images with evocative, ethereal feelings of memory. Here are some examples of her work... I look forward to seeing more from this lady! :-)

Porcelain Queen

2011-02-24T23:30:00.005Z

I'm finding it really hard to decide which of these amazing images I like most, they are by London based photographer Alex Lewis. Fantastic make-up by Sophie Medhurst, which made the most of my pale skin, fair features and red hair. This was so fun to shoot, with the queen like vibe and awesome soft & opulent styling... a mixture of corsets, flowing skirts, sparkling jewellery and soft creamy feathers - what luxury. I ♥ my job!

Moonscape

2011-02-20T03:33:00.014Z