Sparkography

I’ve had lots of shoots on recently which is why it’s been a little while since my last post, so apologies for that. But hopefully you’ve been following my Project 365 which is constantly updated!

Last week was particularly busy as I started shooting as a contributing photographer to Sydney fashion blog http://www.2threads.com/. I probably couldn’t have picked a busier time to start as RAFW (Rosemount Australian Fashion Week) is on next week and so lots of other designers and fashion accessory companies piggyback this time of heightened style awareness to make their presence known. And hence I had three events to shoot in three days.

The first shoot was a cocktail party for the holy grail of hair straighteners, ghd.

20th Apr: ghd cocktails and canapes

They have strong associations with some of the leading stylists who will be bringing RAFW to life and so were throwing a pre-event to wish them well. It was a small and intimate affair, “select” some would say, held at the dark and moody Eau de Vie bar in the stylish Kirketon boutique hotel. Cocktails were mixed and canapé trays waltzed their way around the fashionista crowd. The MD of ghd was also there to give a short speech.

The next night was a lot more buzzy for the launch of Smashbox Cosmetics in Australia.

21st Apr: Smashbox Cosmetics launch

The brand, started by Dean and Davis Factor (grandsons of none other than make up legend Max Factor), has been established for the good part of 20 years in the US but is only just arriving Down Under where it is being distributed through Kit Cosmetics stores. So this launch event was held at Kit’s bright and white Paddington store on Oxford Street. Davis Factor, who is also an established celebrity fashion photographer, was in store to give a speech and chat with the loyal Kit customers who had been specially invited a whole day ahead of the media launch. There was a good, fun vibe in the store, created by the customers, staff and PR girls, who insisted I partake in the champagne that was being flowing like it was going out of fashion (god forbid).

Night three escalated in scale dramatically as I was covering the Being Born Again couture fashion show at the Cell Block Theatre in Darlinghurst.

22nd Apr: Being Born Again couture

This event was created by the two girls behind a new fashion label, D&Em, Davina Reichman and Emily Fitzgerald. They had forged a collection of ten unique outfits by pairing ten leading Australian fashion designers with ten Australian artists to collaborate on ways to express their art. The resulting catwalk show was amazing, and enhanced further by the dramatic surroundings of the sandstone theatre.

Luckily I managed to find myself a great spot for shooting. The traditional end of the catwalk was full of photographers who had staked their spots since the doors opened, and as I turned up a bit later and was also moving around taking my usual event documentary shots, I found myself at the back of the pack struggling to see over the four deep crowd of photogs in front of me. Then I realised I could simply position myself at the other end of the catwalk, which was completely empty, and shoot the models on their way back! Lateral thinking worked a treat and I was really happy with the results. And so was Davina who has since circulated my shots around the media and invited me to shoot her next show!

So three evenings on the trot equals a whole heap of post processing! The events themselves probably only took up 6 hours of shooting, but my ancient MacBook kept me indoors all weekend, just doing simple adjustments! This meant I missed the ANZAC Day celebrations of beer and 2 Up, but the resulting photos are great additions for my portfolio!