 |
| Fiona, the Owner, and her 4 models at Work-Shop Makery |
A friend of mine invited me to attend a Fashion show at Work-Shop Makery. It's located at 106 Oxford Street Darlinghurst, just outside Sydney. My friend, Isy, is a Make Up Artist (MUA) wherein she's going to do the make up of four (4) beautiful ladies. I have collaborated with her before but we were exchanging ideas several times already in Facebook. I was tasked to capture beauty shots of the models. Isy will use these for her portfolio.
 |
| Isy (MUA, Make Up Artist) Doing Makeup to Victoria |
 |
| Victoria Reflection |
I've been doing portraits and weddings previously so I think I'll be ok. I also had a few fashion and beauty shoots recently that can help me do this. I prepared my gear before the day. I'll admit, I over packed. I even went to my MUA's place so I can drop my lightstand, lighting modifier, tripod and L-bracket. Yes, that's a lot of gear for someone who's not the main photographer. In my bag I also add a Nikon Nikkor 50mm and 70-200mm F/2.8. I was not sure so I brought both my Godox Witstro and SB-900. I also brought other accessories such as triggers, Black Rapid Strap, Magic Arm and spare batteries. It's a lot of gear but I was just trying to be prepared for anything and everything. Clay Blackmore prefers to take as much gear as he can. He says that it makes life more easier during the shoot.
 |
| The Kerry Pose |
 |
| Kerry Model |
I went there early. The place is interesting. It has a wide range of product varieties. It has fashion clothes, prints, posters, personal accessories, small quirky items and more! You could literally stumble on something you like, or you liked before. The items are also very unique. I haven't found something like this from other stores. A quick chat with Fiona, designer of Fairtale Fashion show at the Makery, said that artist could rent a space in their store, display their items with prices and have customers come in and buy the items. Each item has a business card so if you want more items, you can contact the artist. I even saw old, classic cameras put up as lamps. It's a unique business structure, but it works for them. The rent received from artist is enough to cover the employees and the rental space of Work-Shop Makery. They have a corner store at Oxford Street. I would expect pedestrian traffic would help grab customers.
Taking photos at this event is kinda different from my usual portrait sessions. I don't have the liberty of choosing the location, don't have enough room to shoot, don't have enough space to put a lightstand, a bit limited as to what gears to use and don't have an idea on sequence of events. I'm not the main photographer so I don't want to be standing in someone else's crosshair. It's an interesting challenge nonetheless.
 |
| Kiah Bokeh |
 |
| Kiah's Spring Dress |
With many challenges, I still managed to snatch a few keeper photos. The official photographer, Juni Ross, gave me leeway in shooting the models. She had the floor, but when she's finished, I tend to grab the model so that I can have a one on one photo session with them. There is no runaway. They arranged the furniture so that the models can walk through and that becomes the runaway. The lighting wasn't bad, but wasn't that good either for photography purposes. I can shoot with comfortable ISO, but the light is against me. I used my flash just so I can get a clear bright photo. I know I would destroy ambient lighting, but I believe I can get away during post process.
When I uploaded my photos and reviewed them, I noticed that they are more beauty shots than fashion. If you're going to a fashion shoot, the clothes are the heroes. They should be given more attention than anything else. But since I was there because of my MUA (who wants beauty shots for her portolio), I grabbed more beauty shots. But I should have taken that extra step and grab the fashion shots as well.
 |
| Victoria |
 |
| Victoria Pose |
I learned many valuable lessons during this shoot. Some of them may not be of use for landscape photography, but some are useful insights. I learned the following:
- You can't control everything - although I controlled my gears and had my way with models, I can't control the location, the time, the sequence of events, the entire photo shoot etc. I didn't get stressed about it.
- Look for opportunities to shoot - you won't recognise it but half of the photos I produced was at the bathroom. Although we had space, but that space is either controlled by the MUA or are filled with guests. Of course, Fiona doesn't want to see her model walking around before the event starts!
- Use Appropriate Gear - I had my Godox Witstro. It will produce better photos than my on board SB-900 because I'll mount it on my L-bracket, on a lightstand with a 60 inch octabox. Unfortunately, the lightstand is out of the picture due to space restrictions - so as my L-bracket, the 60 inch octabox and the Godox Witstro.
- Meet new people - This is one of my goals and I ticked it! I wanted to meet more models to hopefully have potential photo sessions with them. It's easier to work with someone you already worked before. It's also easier to put forward a project to someone you already know. Meeting them and doing a shoot with them breaks the wall of ice. Hopefully my photos deliver...
- Meet MORE People - we have potential people to talk to. But meeting other people in the same event is as precious as meeting the potential persons. Engaging, talking and have a few laughs with them breaks the awkwardness. You won't know when you're going to meet them again. But if that happens, then you're just be reconnecting.
- Enjoy the shoot - if all things fail, enjoy. There will always be a positive side in everything. There is such a thing as 'moral of the story'. Each event will have something to learn about. You just need to open your eyes for these easter eggs.
 |
| Melissa |
 |
| Pose by Melissa |
It's not only me who had a lesson. MUA had hers too. Isy learned the following:- Bring your own extension chord - believe it or not, the space where she was doing the make up doesn't have a power source. There is a power source outside but she could not do make up there. I think she needs to power her make up kit for the lights. (and eventually, an airbrush)
- Bring power socket / receptacle - you now have a power source but you need to plug 3 items to it. If the power chord has 3 ready sockets, that's fine. But usually, extensions only have 1 socket.
- Bring a splitter - so what if all power sources are being used? You can temporarily unplug one socket, bring in the splitter, then plug both (including the extension) in.
 |
| Juni Taking the Shot |
 |
| Kerry, Kiah, Melissa and Victoria |
Final Thoughts
I had a great time. I was just aiming to get the beauty shots that Isy wanted. But I ended up watching the whole show. I love shooting down the floor. It's a challenge to capture moving models :) At first, I wasn't shooting too much - I was kinda reserved. But after the show, I was shooting so much. It's fun to meet these people, talk to them and take photos. I also got photos with them, but I prefer the photo below.
- To Isy - thank you for inviting me. We'll do this again sometime. Let me know! Hope you can use the photos I have. Link is below
- To Fiona - thank you for letting me take some great shots, I hope you can use them and take part on your future fashion shows.
- To Kiah, Kerry, Melissa and Victoria - thank you for being very cooperative all the way! I hope we can work together again. Please enjoy the photos!
- To Juni - did you have some of my photos? I wanna see too. Thanks for the photography chat. I hope I can be your second shooter when you're doing weddings :)
Please find a link to many other photos not posted in here:
