Outcome

Here are some of the best images of Cerys from the creative studio shoot...

My favourite image from the set of Cerys' images is most definitely the image on the top right because of her pose and the shape that her right arm is forming with it being placed on her hip. With her eyes looking straight down the camera lens you are immediately drawn into the make up.

Tomorrow I am covering a local rugby match, photographing desserts in a hotel in the evening, and a sky dive on Sunday so I will hopefully have a lot to blog about this weekend. Keep a look out.

Creativity

The shoot went well! Hoorah. 

Yesterday morning myself, Alex, Harriet, and Jenny Davies, a Bristol based make up artist collaborated on a studio shoot.

From the beginning of the preparation for this shoot I knew that I wanted to use two make up artists in order to create two completely different and creative looks. I had so many ideas that I didn't know where to begin, but I started from the beginning with these two... with more shoots to follow.

Cerys

Harriet created an organic look on our model Cerys, using shades of grey and black. I wanted to keep all of the sequins a similar colour and size in order to keep the consistency throughout the image. I think the colours have complimented the model and pulled out the colour of her eyes. I kept her hair simple in order to emphasise the make up as it had taken Harriet around an hour and a half to produce.

Briony

Jenny created a very striking symmetrical look on our other model Briony. I was looking for a dramatic look using face lace on neutral make up. Face lace is an unusual type of make up that is not often seen or worn. With Briony's hair up, it emphasises the beauty, and originality of the make up.

I am really pleased with the outcome of this set of images as all of the focus is on the beauty of the make up. I like working with make up artists who have the ability to produce original make up and allow their creativity to flow through their work. Thank you to everyone who helped make these photographs work as well as I think they do; Alex for helping with the lighting, Harriet and Jenny for producing such amazing make up, and Cerys and Briony for modelling.

I love this set, but what do you think? More studio shoots to follow, one being the 13th February. I will hopefully be using Valentine's as my theme... watch this space.

Creative Shoot

Tomorrow morning Solex Photography are collaborating with Harriet Young, a South Wales based make up artist on a studio shoot. I personally enjoy working in studio environments as it gives me the ability to control the lighting set up and experiment until I am fully satisfied with the images that I am making.

During the preparation for this studio shoot, Alex Compton and I researched different types of make up using the internet and magazines. We were primarily looking for the 'wow factor', something very different and out of the ordinary, as well as the more natural look.

Here are some of our favourite photographs:

      

Photographer/make up artist of these images is unknown.

I really like these images. I like the way the make up artist has used just one colour to great effect in the image on the left. The image on the right is in contrast to this and is more precise using many colours. Both are quite striking.

During tomorrows shoot, myself and Alex are planning on producing similar images with Harriet's help. I am looking forward to watching another artist at work and to stimulate my creative side.

'Minnie's', Cabot Circus, Bristol

On the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd February 2013, The Only Way Is Essex cast members Sam and Billie Faiers and their family members, Sue Wells, mother and Libby Low, aunt, travelled 160 miles from Brentwood, Essex to open their 'Minnie's Pop Up Boutique' store in Cabot Circus, Bristol.

On the 1st February I was invited to attend the exclusive preview which gave the press, media and VIP guests the opportunity to see the store and all of the products in their glory before the store officially opened to the public the next day. With sixty invited guests expected to attend, the evening was very relaxed with champagne flowing throughout the night whilst Sam and Billie were mingling happily with their guests. Some guests even had the opportunity to receive a make over by the girls where they picked out clothes for them to try on. An interesting collection of fabulous cakes were available for all throughout the evening. Each cake was beautifully presented, and I couldn't resist photographing them.

Throughout the evening I enjoyed mingling with their guests, and meeting other bloggers and photographers. There were only three photographers present, a Rex Features photographer, the official Cabot Circus photographer, and myself. Both gentlemen were very welcoming and I enjoyed watching how they worked. I also met Tara, a Bristol blogger from The Style Rawr. We discussed how lovely and down to earth the sisters were, and Tara told me all about her travels. 

Note to self: MUST go travelling and explore the world.

If you have a passion for fashion, then I would definitely check out her blog: http://www.thestylerawr.com/ and I am pretty sure that Tara would not mind helping you out with any styling tips if you needed them.

Overall the evening was a wonderful success! There was so many beautiful products to photograph, and the girls were a delight. I even got a goody bag full of lovely fake bake products.

I went back to the official photo call for the public opening of the boutique on 2nd February. Sam and Billie posed for the paparazzi and additional media. One agency photographer even travelled down from Birmingham just for the event! It was an overwhelming, but amazing experience. The photographers had to be quick in order to make their shots as the sisters had a very busy schedule for the day.

                                                    

The Minnie's Boutique Crew

At 2pm that day the sisters' held a book signing in the centre of Cabot Circus. Members of the public started queuing at 12pm so you can only imagine what the queue was like, I have never seen Cabot Circus so busy. The girls happily signed autographs in Minnie's Boutique diaries, and books whilst meeting and having photographs with their fans. With an event like this I had to be able to think quickly in order to achieve the shots that I was looking for as I had to work around specific people.

Sam Faiers (Left) with sister Billie Faiers (Right)

Over the past couple of days I have been given numerous photography opportunities and met some amazing people so I am incredibly thankful. For more photographs please visit: http://sophieelbourn.4ormat.com/#1

Non of these photographs are for reuse. Copyright Sophie Elbourn.

Instagram

I thought that I would write a blog about my feelings towards Instagram. It is now 15:46 and nearly dark outside, Dave (my wonderful other half) left around two hours ago, and after spending two days with him, it is safe to say that I am feeling pretty lonely again. It's weird when you spend a few days with someone and then they have to leave, it is like there's something missing that should be there. There will be no more movie nights with popcorn, crisps and biscuits for a while now.

Anyway, Instagram is an application that smart phones and android phones such as Sony Erricson, and the iPhone have the ability to download if they are connected to the internet. It gives the owner of the phone the creativity to make photographs of anything and everything they see. However, you will be able to notice a huge difference in the quality of the images that both of these products produce. External from photographers, some people merely want to 'snap' away the things that they see daily, and are not bothered about the quality of the images. The ability to produce photographs using smart phones has defiantly seen a high increase recently due to the technology that is becoming available to all. According to statisticbrain.com during September 2012, the iPhone 5 sold 5,150,000 phones.

As a photographer, this figure might tell me that a large majority of the public have now started to use their phone as their primary camera. Some even class themselves as a 'photographer' after a few images of leaves, or cups of tea. It is becoming very hard to break into the industry with so many people claiming themselves to be photographers, and wanting experience when their portfolio is merely built on Instagram images. Instagram is dangerous in this respect as it is putting a huge demand on photographers as a whole unit. In exhibitions, you will probably see signs stating 'no photographs', however, these 'photographers' tend to ignore these signs and take images anyway. If a real photographer were to take their camera out of its bag, would they also get ignored making images? Or would they get told off as the security guard would be able to see their image making equipment plan in sight? However, Instagram also has its advantages, it is fun to experiment with the different filters that you can add to your images, but I believe that as a photographer, these photographs will not be taken as seriously as images that are made using a digital DSLR and will be taken no further than social networking sites. I believe that there is a time and a place to make Instagram images.

I thought that I would show you a few snaps...

The image on the left was taken by my boyfriend, Dave, of my hair yesterday when we went exploring in Newport. It was taken using an iPhone 5. I added the 'Rise' filter to this photograph. (Please ignore the bottles, and the fact that I was networking at the time of this image). The image on the right was taken around an hour ago using a Sony Erricson Xperia-Ray. I added the 'Amaro' filter to this image. I wanted to document the little note that my boyfriend had left for me just before he left this afternoon. It is the little things that make me smile, and seeing this note will always have that affect.

Newport, South Wales

So today my boyfriend and I decided to visit Newport in South Wales after I had received my grades from my latest university project. The main centre of Newport is around a fifteen minute bus journey on route 27 from Caerleon Campus. Caerleon is a very beautiful and peaceful village, and during recent visits from my boyfriend we have visited most of the attractions and things to see including the Roman Remains and the Amphitheatre.

Newport City is a very interesting place to visit, both for its positives, but also for its negatives. It is renowned for its variety of night clubs including 'Delilahs' and 'Revolution' which both supply cheap alcohol on a Wednesday night for students 'student night'. A few months ago Newport was the main subject of a television documentary program entitled "Bouncers" on Channel 4. The documentary showcased Newport's night life in a very negative, but also truthful manner. People drinking, being sick, and starting fights due to a different state of mind. However, on the other hand, Wales have produced a number of successful talents including Katherine Jenkins (Singer), Tom Jones (Singer), Catherine Zeta Jones (Actor), Newport County AFC (Blue Square Bet Premier League) and Newport Gwent Dragons (Rabo Direct Pro 12).

Anyway, we did a bit of window shopping and stopped for some lunch, and then went exploring. I soon picked up on the fact that a lot of shops have now closed down, gone into administration (HMV, Commercial Street) or gone into liquidation. I decided to document the numerous amount of shops that have received this treatment as a large majority of the shops everywhere are quickly disappearing so this is a matter that the public are now having to deal with on a daily basis.

The photograph to the left is the last remains presence of Internactionale, Commercial Street as the shop was empty. The shop is positioned to the left of Starbucks, a well known international coffee company.

The photograph to the right is Topman. The sign states that it will close on the 17th March, however the shop was already empty and abandoned.

The two photographs below are signs that were stuck to one of the Sports Direct windows. Sports Direct is positioned on Commercial Street around a five minute walk from the Kingsway Shopping Centre.

I enjoyed making these images, but it does make me question the position of the society that we live in today.

Business

So at the moment my life is a bit of a whirlwind. One minute it is up, and the next it's down. It's pretty hard to keep my head in the game, but I've got my goal in sight, and I know that good things come to those who wait. One project that I am going to start working on is 'Solex Photography'. The project is a collaboration between myself and a fellow class mate and photographer Alex Compton. Solex Photography will be offering reasonably priced studio shoots in Caerleon, Newport. Alongside this project I am also contemplating starting my own business as a self employed photographer 'Sophie Elbourn Photography'. I have already started throwing myself into the business world after my father kindly purchased some business books for me.

The BFP Freelance Photography Course (left) explains more about the practical side of photography, but it is useful. The Freelance Photographer's Market Handbook 2013 29th Edition (right) is a very interesting and useful book to have as a freelance photographer. It contains names, numbers, and addresses of a large majority of businesses ranging from fashion, to sports, to newspapers, to scientific. The format is easy to read, and if you know what you are looking for, then it is very easy to read.

I know that going into business will be hard due to the current economic climate and the increasing number of the public who have named themselves to be a photographer. This, I believe, is due to the invention of high definition cameras that have manufactured into smart phones such as the iPhone. The public now have the ability to photograph anything that they want too, and the invention of Instagram isn't helping either. The world of photography is a difficult nut to break, but I have so much drive to break it. I have the ability and skills needed to compete, and even though I acquire these things, I will forever be learning new techniques, and much more in the sports field. I have to form a plan of action consisting of a business plan, a large depth of knowledge involved in the business, each spread sheet, cash flow forecast, each little detail, but I'm prepared and willing to make this work.