Fashion on the beach – surprise!

My Commercial Photography tutor despaired of me. I know. I watched his shoulders droop every time I turned in an assessment.

He was, and is a GOOD tutor, I admire his work greatly and he was genuinely interested in passing his knowledge on. I just didn’t get what he had to say. His words of wisdom always seems to slip just out of my grasp every time I tried to apply them at a photo session. It honestly didn’t matter whether it was fashion, food, product or architecture. My images for his subject just sucked, and I could see that.

To be fair, my mind was a little closed. I have always seen myself as a portrait photographer, I love LOOKING at great photos of other genres, but never aspire to emulate them.

But after I finished that subject, something lit a fire underneath me, I was determined to be better at commercial photography. No, I was determined to be GOOD. I wanted to make Patrick proud, ok, maybe he would never be proud of me, but I didn’t want to think that he might be ashamed. So, I looked long and hard at my assessment images and decided that whenever the opportunity arose. I would try and improve my fashion photography. 

Yes, you did just read that last sentence. Weird, I know. I am SO anti fashion, believing that style and elegance are so much more important. But many fashion industry names also emphasise that style is ageless and that a woman who defines her own personal style is alway more empowered and confident. That attitude sits well with me. I practiced using models and friends, I cried, I despaired, and then I found things that worked, and I decided to start approaching people.

Enter Claire, of fashionsweetheart A lovely young fashion blogger with a great sense of style and a refreshing outlook on life. Claire was looking for a photographer for a shoot on St Kilda beach, featuring some of her latest finds.

Yes, on a beach. Me. Shooting fashion. On. A. Beach.

Pick yourself up off the floor and put your jaw back where it belongs, I can wait.

I asked a lovely student Makeup Artist (MUA) from my specialist diploma class and we made all the arrangements.

Well, Madeleine (@femfox_mua on instagram) had some amazing ideas, Claire (@fashionsweethart on instagram) had two gorgeous outfits, and when all was ready, we wandered down to St Kilda beach late one overcast afternoon.

These are some of the images. The other outfit will be shared when the Claire’s blog post for it is published.

I hope you enjoy. I know I had a BLAST. There was much laughter, lots of dancing, cries of “YES!! got that shot!” and generally a happy buzz, right from the get go.

So. If you want a more fashion styled shoot, it seems, I AM your photographer. Hit me up and let’s make exciting images.