We have been busy buying our new ranges for Big Love Style www.biglovestyle.com and its amazing to see them hitting the site as we get them. Pippin has been immortalised in an IPhone 5 Case – straight from LA to London. The new shop in rural Lincolnshire is nearing completion and we are so excited to get stuck in there with setting up and hanging up the Open sign. Will post some pics later this week to whet the appetite! Meetings next week with new suppliers and most exciting of all,  The Manufacturers. Cannot wait. Do get in touch with us if you have any questions or to send us your product to add to our site. We would love to hear from you. More updates to follow …….

Aside from the lighting, type of camera and the photographer himself, another thing that will make a photo shoot perfect is the model. The perfect models, they say, can be found when doing shoots concerning fashion. Fashion photography is commonly used when showcasing the latest season trends or must-haves. Think Cosmo, Elle, Vanity Fair or Vogue. Notice how the pictures highlight the clothes, bags, cosmetics, shoes and accessories instead of the model’s physique? Professional models and the people behind every fashion photography session are trained to accentuate the product instead of the endorser, just like in ramp modelling. Check out the works of renowned photographers like Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton or Horst P. Horst to see what we mean.

Everything has to be prepped and ready to go before a shoot. We all want a seamless session so time will not be wasted. Fashionphotographyblog.com advised aspiring photographers to initially visualize each shot before the actual shoot, suggesting to “think before you shoot. Think about the final image you want before you get to the studio or the set. That way you can direct your lighting and models to formulate the final look.” So first off, do the make-up. This may be applied even while the models wear their Steve Madden heels, as long as the clothes are not yet donned because they might get wrinkled. This will be bad, especially if the wardrobe is the one being modelled. After cosmetics, bring out the fashion jewellery from 77 Diamonds to complete the ensemble. When the model’s prepared, the set should already be geared up as well. Of course, minor adjustments on the lights and angles to achieve the desired effect are allowed. After that, grab your camera and have a go at it.

Fashion photography requires precision, balance and a natural love for aesthetics. You don’t have to be a genius to master all three. Talent in shooting photos is honed with constant practice. If it’s your passion, live it and you’re guaranteed to have a fabulous time.

The Grey House auction on Saturday 21st July was such a success, they have announced a second event taking place at Grey Space Studios in Liverpool on the 3rd of August from 4pm. That means more fabulous vintage and new season designer must-haves, beautiful artwork, jewelery and accessories are going under the hammer for all fashionistas to get their hands on.

Bidders from as far afield as Australia tuned in to the auction to make their offers on a fabulous selection of lots, from rabbit fur Burberry coats, to vintage Prada, YSL, Chanel and much much more. Champagne was flowing for the fashion pack who turned up to bid in person, and the uber-glam auctioneer Keeley Conner added a touch of Ab-Fab to the proceedings! Beautiful David Hockney and Frank Martin art pieces were snapped up in seconds, and you just needed to blink to miss the vintage Chanel sunglasses! By all accounts a wonderful time was had by all, and we can’t wait for the next one!

The catalogue is available to view online now at biglovestyle.com, the-saleroom.com and zaragrey.com

The Grey House Auction in association with BigLoveStyle, from 4pm on Friday 3rd August at Grey Space Studios, Liverpool.

”

You and the amazing team at Zara Grey have been so supportive, reactionary and upbeat at every juncture of the project,
I can’t thank you enough x
The ‘Workhorse’ team where without doubt, the best team I’ve worked with and will take a lot to beat.

Klas is Class. Incredible shots, lovely man, Sexy Swede.
Sarah was brilliant and supportive, nothing was too much hassle. Her laugh is dirty and her driving dirtier!
Michael AKA, Mikey Make-up, MG, Mr Gray was ‘fab’ His skills, positivity and sense of humor kept us all laughing even in
a sweaty rainy camper van!
Lisa is a light. Attentive, watchful and warm, with a superb eye for detail.
Harry is a real gent. Lovely to be around and I wish I was cool enough to be his mate!
Liam – worked his ginger ass off. Funny, solid and committed to getting the job done, whatever the time!
Simon – Kept us safe, made us hot drinks and had our back all week!

A truly great team. Can’t wait to work with all of them again x

”

- Brian O’ Hanlon – Freelance Art Director

Check out the Bench Kids shoot with Klas Strom here.

And check out the behind the scenes on Art Attack – the background artwork for the shoot by Moot here.

We are now on Pinterest!

Follow our boards here.

Happy pinning!

x

A week in Miami shooting the gorgeous Coleen Rooney for Littlewoods was always going to be an eventful affair. We just could never have predicted how eventful! As the crew gathered at Heathrow airport one wintery Sunday morning, talk was of sunny weather, shoot days at the beach, and whether or not there was any chance that Ryan Gosling may happen to check into the same resort as us (well, you never know). Little did we know the whirlwind of craziness that was to be our week away.

Touch down in Miami, we had to fight our way through the onslaught of paparazzi, eager to get a shot of Coleen and a story to go along with it. Coleen – used to the attention – managed to breeze through the unwanted attention with grace. The rest of us? Not so much. Blinded by the flashbulbs, if we weren’t tripping over each other we were knocking over everything and everyone with our luggage trolleys. Coleen – poised and collected. Us lot- a bunch of startled, semi-hysterical lemmings. Not our most glamorous moment that’s for sure! We finally managed to get through to our respective cars and, weighed down with Oreos, Peanut Butter M&Ms and the shame that we may be splashed across the UK tabloids looking like residents of the monkey enclosure at London Zoo, we set off for our two hour drive down the stunning Florida coastline to The Moorings, our paradise shoot location for the next week.

Shoot Day 1 – Oasis House
A fabulous location house on the beach owned by a lovely couple from Barcelona, who seemed highly amused when our eccentric bunch rocked up for the day full of excitement that we had found a Starbucks drive-thru less than five minutes away. Everyone quickly got to work. Coleens hair was beautifully tousled, her make-up fresh, and her collection of Spring/Summer dresses gorgeously floaty and feminine. Unfortunately, shooting was hindered by strong winds and a very persistent pap circling our area of the coastline on a speed boat. By lunchtime, we packed up and headed back to finish up the days shots against the idyllic backdrop of the Moorings beach.

Shoot Days 2 and 3– The Moorings
If we thought one paparazzi was bad, nothing could have prepared us for the circus of our second and third shoot days. If they weren’t hiding behind deck chairs, they were climbing trees, hiring canoes and even trying to hide in bins. We could not believe the extent they were going to just to get a snap. The shoot, however must go on, and anything they could do, we decided we could do better! The days were spent shielding the ever-professional Coleen as she modelled her gorgeous and exclusive range of Bikinis, using giant tarpaulins. We hammered them into the sand, tied them to palm trees, but most of the time used ourselves as human posts, running up and down the beach to protect each shot. By the end of the day, there wasn’t one set of arms or legs that wasn’t aching, so much for a glamorous fashion shoot in the sun! Spirits however remained at an all time high, mostly due to Production managing to fall over and having to be untangled from the ropes of two separate tarpaulins, and to the introduction on Gin as the primary hydrator of the crew.

Shoot day 4 – The Moorings Studio
Free from the pressure of paps, the whole crew could breath easy as photographer Michelle Holden snapped Coleen in the remainder of her fabulous collection. Girly dresses, sparkly tops and stylish heels – the staples of every Spring/Summer wardrobe were all there. Mrs Rooney certainly knows her fashion! At the end of the day, we officially wrapped the Coleen Rooney for Littlewoods shoot, and the crew headed over to the famous Morada Bay Café for a well deserved celebratory cocktail.

Fast forward 9 hours. We have salsa danced, coerced a bar full of revellers into singing a Beatles medley (along with instruments), eaten our body-weight in chips, pizza and every kind of seafood imaginable, and introduced the more mature members of the crew to the wonderful delights of an innocent beverage known as the Jaegarbomb. Somehow, unknown to most involved, we all managed to find our way to our respective beds to have our last sleep of the trip.

Day 5 – Homewood bound
Considering only a few hours earlier we had been leading a very raucous rendition of ‘Hey Jude’ in front of the bemused residents of Islamorda, everybody seemed pretty refreshed for our last day. We were lucky enough to be able to get a few hours relaxing on the beach but finally it was time to pack up, say our goodbyes, thank yous and apologies and begin our journey home, leaving the bewildered staff at the Moorings wondering what on earth had just happened over the last few days! The circus was most definitely leaving town! And with us taking a bunch of great memories, endless laughter and a selection of the most fantastic shots for Coleen Rooney’s stunning Spring/Summer collection for Littlewoods. Another shoot successfully and wonderfully done by a brilliantly talented crew and the main lady herself

Looking forward to next time girls!

x