Leila Jeffries Budgerigars

Finally the framed prints are home...

Can't wait to hang them.

Leila Jeffries Exhibits Budgerigars!!

Leila who I mentioned back in December '08, got in touch and told me she had exhibited a Budgie shot in a group show late last year through to January. 
I'm really happy for her to be exhibiting the shots she worked really hard to achieve. 
She has another showing coming up as part of the Head On photo festival at the Iain Dawson Gallery in Paddington, Sydney. 18-29 May 2010
Leila's Images can be found here and there
Oh, and look out for a solo show in December 2010. 
Congrats!!

Here's a photo of "Spencer"

Alissa Thomas - Stylist

Alissa Thomas a great stylist I worked with many times in Sydney for ACP magazines is now freelance and busy!  She found a great niche market working with kids.

Alissa's Blog link
Thanks for posting my still life shoots here and there

FOOD Book !!

An almost month long job, working on a food book-
Australian Women's Weekly - Healthy Babies: Food for healthy Babies and Toddlers
ACP Books

With about 110 pages to fill I decided that we should set up and run two sets. The white set was only used for all the extra insert/ deep etch shots but made everything more efficient on the days we had to shoot options.

Beautifully styled/ propped by Justine Osborne and food prepped by a tireless Amal Webster, it was a great, fun and challenging job to be involved in.

With really strong direction from the Art Directors Hieu Nguyen and Hannah Blackmore, it was amazing to see it all coming together on the BIG grid layout on the wall.

A detail of the wall below.

Below is the double set we had running. It was the easiest way to get through the options that we had to shoot including some shots on white that were going to be deep etched.

Thanks all involved, I really do hope we can all work together again soon.

Last days (weeks) in Sydney

My last weeks in Sydney apart from all the packing sorting moving and reducing have been catching up with many wonderful friends who I know I will miss dearly but am sure I will see again, not so soon but soon enough. 

A beer with Paul from Chefs Pencil fame at a roof top bar,

Karaoke with Lauren (twice in not so many months), 

down to the 3 farewell's I managed to glean.  

Will all be remembered fondly, cheers to you all.

Black Perspex/ Acrylic from late January

Two final Images from the Shop 'til you Drop,  Advertising feature I mentioned back in the end of January when i shot a self-portrait. 
Stylist - Elodie Feat. Elodie's website

Sophie Hansen stories for Australian Good Food

More great shoots before I leave Sydney. This job, a few days away, in Orange, NSW, a place putting itself on the food map and not so far away from Sydney to do a weekend or mid week sojourn. 
On our first night staying at the Black Sheep Inn, Stylist Kate Brown and myself were told a story by Ren Matthews, the Art Director at the magazine. She had stayed there previously and one morning on an early walk found herself a little worried in the middle of a small herd of very inquisitive cattle. Needless to say I found myself in exactly the same situation the following morning!  taking in the beautiful country side and getting some early morning shots in before breakfast. 

A shot we had to light was one in which seven girls were sitting around the lounge interacting with each other, similar to the dummy (which is me) below.

Magazine subscriptions here.

Everyone is liking dark sets

This time for Myer Emporium magazine, shooting various still life product on different sets predominately dark including black perspex/acrylic, laminex marble and black velvet. Photos of the full set and then when I can, the finished retouched final layout.

Black Acrylic Sheet is called Perspex in Australia

Shooting an advertising feature with Emma Gleeson for Shop til You Drop Magazine using black perspex/acrylic as a background although a challenge, was great fun. Styling by Elodie Feat but I can't post the pictures yet...
One out-take with its distorted perspective and the reality of what was happening, gave me the idea for the self portrait, below that is the perspex/acrylic just with the lighting and no props...

Great Still life Project

Jessica Hanson, stylist who works for  Australian House and Garden Magazine asked if I would collaborate on a project she is working on. Here are some of the images.

Just another day (or three) at the office

More beauty stills, with a slightly different lighting/ table top set up from a previous post.

I really believe it doesn't matter how many times you shoot anything you can always improve the way you do. Its all about tweaking.

Budgie Smugglers

Leila Jeffries, a friend whose personal project is to photograph birds, initially Budgerigars, called on me for advice with lighting and implementation. Leila used a box to photograph the birds in which after two shoots is still in revised prototype stage. The photo shows the beautiful birds in the box behind some Lee Diffusion. I'll post an entry when her exhibition is coming.

COMP Cards

when I didn't think I could fit in anything else to this fortnight before I fly to the US, I decided to get some comp cards printed..

With their fast turn around, i decided to put this task into the capable hands of morecreative soon to be www.carbon8.com.au based in Surry Hills, Sydney.

If you want digital small (or large) print runs done, be sure to contact them...

they do a really good job and you can have the cards Cellogazed (in Matt or gloss) which helps protect them 

below: the cards 2 different ones, show the basic layout front and back.

Art Director to new horizons,

or at least new page designs..

Danielle Rose who works for Shop til You Drop magazine (ACP magazines) is leaving and jumping on the Australian Glamour magazine start up staff....
Always a great person to work with, she will surely be missed at ACP... but I look forward to working with her in the future.
The two photos below are

• the beauty product line up for the next few days, all to be shot straight on with options and then many needing to have swatches shot too.
• just a simple table top beauty set-up which I have been perfecting over the last 5 years to help get through the product efficiently, especially good for editorial.