fairy tale tower shoot: behind the scenes.

Another lovely, whimsical test shoot I recently worked on used up all of my granny's 1950's ball dresses. I've been trying to get them into a shoot for a while and they seemed to lend themselves to a shoot set up by photographer, friend and collaborator, Carly Wong.

Carly and Ali making a plan

Here are a few behind the scenes images, showing how we used multiple belts to cinch in Ali's already tiny wait to accentuate the voluminous skirt and broad shoulders of the coat, creating a fairytale hourglass figure. We shot at Cabot Tower on a blisteringly hot day in August.

assistand Jacob Boodrie holding the reflector/fan to prevent Ali from passing out in the heat of a winter coat in august

Mia Stronach created fantastic floating tresses, whilst I ransacked Carly's house and nicked some balloon ornaments that ended up as awesome handbags.

The red dress has more fabric that you can imagine, knowing the modern day cost of silk brocade...i may be able to use it as a deposit to buy a house. 

The hand painted taffeta gown was also one of granny's and I just about managed to squeeze into it for my 6th form ball all those years ago. I don't think vintage was even particularly cool back then, but you can't deny it's unique..I certainly didn't have the issue of picking a dress from Monsoon and considering it a result if less than 5 people had the same thing.

 Hold tight for the finished snaps...coming soon.

Food Styling

photo Carly Wong

 I got asked a little while back if I ever did any prop/food styling...Not as such, but I thought what a better excuse to get some very talented friends together and get some good food out of it at the end, that is if we hadn't varnished it or used any other horrifying food styling techniques.

Photo Carly Wong

 The flower petals in ice cubes was something I'd seen on that wonderful lifestyle porn site, Pinterest. I had to have a go.

Photo Carly Wong

Wonderful Carly Wong and Simon Withyman shot the food, cooked beautifully by Belle Mayo (who also salvaged a rather sorry looking thai green curry that I had attempted.)

Belle suggested some rather good looking dishes and ingredients. Those heritage carrots at the top were to die for!

Photo Carly Wong

I was interested in creating storied around the food and finding interesting table tops. Clifton Stone kindly lent me a piece of slate and limestone for the shoot. I also found a beautiful old board game board in a charity shop that suited this bright, vintage brands shoot above.

Photo Carly Wong

 The plates were an assortment of family bits and pieces that I have inherited as well as Mum's ever interesting stock.

Photo Carly Wong

Photo Carly Wong

I had been trying to find a reason to hold on to the dominoes for years. I'm so glad I did!

Play Hair

I've been working with the uber talented photographer Carly Wong rather a lot recently. A few months back she shot and I styled for a new Hair extensions company Play Hair, set up by stylist Mia Stronach.

Here are some of my favourite looks from the shoot; a young, playful image. Items from Miss Selfridge, Quiz and Oasis. Three highstreet shops I haven't been into for years, I was extremely pleasantly surprised!

Mia adding extensions to model Amy Burnett

 Here is a behind the scenes video of the shoot, made by the brilliant Joe Murphy

Ellements Magazine feature shoot - The Quetzlcoatl

Photography Carly Wong

A few weeks ago I traipsed down to Arnos Vale Cemetery with photographer Carly Wong, hair and makeup artist Sophia Cox and Model Ali Barclay to create a dark, whimsical fairytale with pieces from Anathema designs and Death and Glory Taxidermy.

Photography Carly Wong

Photography Carly Wong

Carly Managed to capture use beavering away behind the scenes, and the van even got a piece of the action.

Photography Carly Wong

The story of The Quetzlcoatl tells of a darkly romantic mythical character half bird, half snake. As the shots progressed Ali transformed in a Swan Lake manor from a frail innocent bird to a dark Crow-like serpent.

Photography Carly Wong

Photography Carly Wong

Photography Carly Wong

Photography Carly Wong

We had a great day with a great team, and to top it all off, Carly got the shots into Ellements Magazine's September Issue.

Behind the Scenes: Ellements Magazine Shoot

In stark contrast to the test shoot with Oyeth, Amanda and Jo, I had the pleasure of working with photographer Carly Wong (who was a few years above me at school, funnily enough).  We are both mad fans of Tim Walker and were full of darkly whimsical ideas for some incredible jewellry and milinnery pieces that had been loaned to Carly.  Jo Shears (another CHS alumnus) of Death and Glory Taxidermy had created a Crow headpiece, and Anathema Designs had some chunky gold and black feather pieces that complimented the rest of the look.

The weekend after the shoot, Carly heard the brilliant news that the shoot is to be featured in Ellements Magazine, in the issue released on the 25th September.

This was also the first outing for my beloved new van, a VW Caddy Maxi. I'll miss the old silver tin can but i've got to the point where I value still being able to feel my limbs after a long journey

We shot at Arnos Vale Cemetery

Hair and Makeup by Sophia Cox 

The Cemetery provided us with a fantastic natural backdrop 

Model Ali Barkley

Crow Headpiece by Death and Glory Taxidermy