Occasionally we find ourselves on a set neither filming nor photographing.  Noctum is a Jeff Osman of Carpe Diem Films personal project.  Jeff asked if for this shoot I would be the Lighting Director, to which I happily agreed.  Jeff is quite a visionary and often you’ll hear me say he’s on steroids as his ideas can often be closer to extreme than merely grand.  Jeff hired part of an old hotel building in Mornington, Victoria.  A team of makeup and hair artists, behind the scenes photographer and videographer, as well as a grip were assembled as part of Jeff’s production crew.  Last but not least was the talent, four gorgeous ladies.  And how could I forget the fifth member of the talent pool, Diesel our 10 foot long python.

A beautiful location and local to the heart of the One Trick Pony Clothing – the Ballarat Botanical Gardens.  It was a cold winter day with passing showers the last time we shot here, making the shoot a little uncomfortable for the models.  As the sun came and went we quickly tried to get our shots before heading back to Melbourne.  The gardens were a great location for these designs from One Trick Pony Clothing, if only the temperature had been a little warmer – but as we know, shooting outdoors brings many variables and we just have to work with what we have on the day.  Be sure to check out One Trick Pony Clothing and Sheridan’s amazing designs.

Friday night in Geelong took us to the launch of fashion label NYATA. This new label is best described by the creator Amber Gwynn:

Nyata is a unique fashion label aimed at curvy women, created by Amber Gwynn, a plus size model for Life/Style Model Management. ‘Nyata’ standing for ‘real’ in Indonesian is aimed at real women with real curves. Nyata celebrates women in their original beauty and consistently aims to improve the positive representation of curvy women. It is a timeless and classic line with a modern edge, aimed at promoting confidence, allure and equality.

The night was well attended by friends and family of Amber, some who have been close supporters of her journey. For the NYATA models, this was all their first time and they were awesome to work with, vivacious and accomodating. They embraced the opportunity and looked like they thoroughly enjoyed being out there, showcasing the launch designs from NYATA.

Check out their web site for more details on the range and how to order. Here’s the video from the launch of NYATA:

Cosplay is awesome to shoot. (For those not in the know, cosplay is the dressing up or role play of a named character, according to Wikipedia, or better yet, check out this rather good doco on iTunes.)

For this particular shoot, model Cassandra Jane played the part of Shego (in the latex green) and model Genevieve Thomas played the part of Kim Impossible (the red head).  We wanted to shoot outdoors, so picked a suitable location, and aimed to make it an action scene, as the two characters are arch enemies. After several hours of makeup and preparation, we headed to the location. The weather – always a factor in outdoor shoots, but particularly important when one of the models is dressed in full latex – seemed to be holding up, and so we headed to the location, about a 25 min drive from the studio and a 5 min walk into the bush. I decided to take the Nikon CLS system using 3 x SB800 speedlites and the Nikon SU800 Commander for this shoot – ease of portability, having to carry everything myself, and being self powered, since forests don’t come with power outlets.

Another Code Red collaboration with Jeff Osman of Carpe Diem Films.  Again with a team of stylists, designers and hair and makeup shot at the Orchard Room, Red Spice restaurant  in Melbourne CBD.  Watch the credits to see everyone who was involved but our main lady was the lively Alia Milanio. Alia is a singer songwriter, performer and Marilyn Monroe impersonator.  Check her web site out for further details.

A month or two back I had the opportunity to shoot this wedding with my good friend Jeff Osman from Carpe Diem Films.  When shooting the formal photos of a wedding, having a unusual or different location is always a bonus.  Being given access to an Airport Tarmac is a visual bonus, especially when there are vintage cars and planes involved.  We must thank Essendon Airport Security staff for being patient and accommodating while we conducted the shoot with the bridal party.  While we may have dodged pending thunder storms we couldn’t escape winds of 15 knots plus, making it a little uncomfortable for the bride and her veil and the bridesmaids’ dresses. But we secured the images nonetheless – a successful shoot!

One Trick Pony Clothing, based in Ballarat Victoria, is owned by the fabulous Sheridan Bovell.  As a mother, designer, DJ, model and business owner she has her hands full creating her amazing and affordable designs.  In 2013 we headed out to the Perry Sandhills, Wentworth NSW – just about 30 kms from Mildura – to shoot some of her latest creations.  The late afternoons had temperatures passing 35 degrees and the early mornings a chilly 10 degs celsius.  The flies, the flies and more flies… gggrrrrr what can I say.  Even the tropical strength aeroguard did little to keep them away.  We also found some dry scrub bush land along the river in Mildura on the way back to shoot some of her Bridal Couture. 

Saturday night I found myself at an event called Fashion for the Unleashed.  A charity fund raiser for three of Melbourne’s Dog Rescue organisations.  The event was hosted by Sleep Couture and held at the Beach Comber, St Kilda.  Many of the models were Miss Humanity Australia finalists and had come from across the country to participate.  Before the parade several vendors displayed their products in a sea of models and make up artists getting ready.

Special appearance by Emmanuel Kelly, who sang two songs, one of which a soon to be released new single for Emmanuel.  Check him out at www.emmanuelkellyofficial.com.  Several fashion designers showcased their designs and it looked like a good night was had by all those who attended.  It was good to see a few familiar faces attending and all for a good cause.

A “Code Red” collaboration – you’ll be seeing a lot more of these projects.  So what is it?  It’s a collaboration between Jeff Osman of Carpe Diem Films and Mark Hudson of Mark Hudson Photography.  Jeff I would describe as psychotic visionary with extraordinary talent to pre-visualise and work with very little to deliver something greater.