If you go down to the woods today...

I have been visiting the woods on a very regular basis recently. I have been waiting for something...

Bluebells!!

At last they are here! Yes, rather not surprisingly, there will be a bluebell shoot coming soon!

Leanne: Fire Dancer

I had a bit of an unusual but very fun shoot the other day. I had been taking to a make up artist (Jessica Bailey) about shooting some portfolio updates for her. Jessica had, in turn, been talking to Leanne, a dancer from Huddersfield.

Leanne isn't any old dancer, it turned out that she did fire and stilt dancing!

Having recently been scouting for new locations, I suggested a derelict site on the edge of Leeds with plenty of graffiti and different structures. Having sent a few images, both Jessica & Leanne loved the look of the site so we set a shoot date. Jessica had expressed an interest for a street dance themed shoot and liaised with Leanne for wardrobe and make up ideas.

I have been wanting to experiment with off camera flash on location for some time now and this shoot gave me the perfect opportunity to do so. I had a radio trigger but also a second flash so I had the options of different set ups. I do need more practice with the strobes, but I think that they worked really well with the theme and style of the shoot.

Both Jessica and Leanne are really pleased with the images produced and I will post more feedback from them soon.

The full gallery can be seen on my website; Leanne's Gallery

Client Feedback

Following the beauty shoots with Kimberley Brook (makeup artist) earlier in April, the full galleries are now available and a couple of new testimonials.

Laura's Gallery

Helen's Gallery

"Elliye is a fantastic photographer, whom I would highly recommend to anyone looking to achieve professional photographs. As a makeup artist, Elliye understood exactly what I wanted to attain from the shoot and the results were of very high quality.

Professional and a pleasure to work with! Thank you Elliye!"

Kimberley Brook (Make Up Artist)

"Elliye was a pleasure to work with, the photographs are amazing and I hope to work with her again in the future.

Thank you!"

Laura Booty (Model)

Stacey in the woods

Here are a few images from my shoot with Stacey a couple of weeks ago. Stacey is new to modeling but she was enthusiastic and a very lovely, chatty person.

She was a pleasure to work with.

More images from the shot can be seen on my website in the gallery 'Stacey'.

New Packaging Presentation

I have finally decided that I am no longer going to use the same packaging and presentation for test shoots as I do for paid shoots. This is for a number of reasons but mainly because it is not cost effective especially when you consider all of the elements involved including; ink, dvd cases, labels, postal packaging and pricing etc etc.

I am still very conscious of the presentation of my work, so I have replaced the DVD boxes with plastic sleeves which only require a small insert rather than a full A4 printed cover. This also means that I no longer need to use a jiffy bag for postal packaging and I can send discs out as a standard first class packages. This means that discs still retain a personal touch - I don't want to loose this, as most models that I have worded with always comment on my presentation!

The original boxed presentation and packaging will remain on all paid shoots for the time being.

I would be interested to hear your comments on the changes in packaging. It will change again at some point - I am currently investigating recycled packaging that is more environmentally friendly.

Beauty Shoot Part 2: Kim & Helen

Helen was the second model of the day and we had planned 3 different looks for her.

Helen holds the current title of 'Miss Black Britain' as well as 2009's 'Miss York'.

The first look was the most complicated - a leopard print pattern across Helen's eyes.

The second look was a 'mac barbie' styled look, using bright pinks and greens.

Once again, the final look involved quite a lot of glitter so it was saved for last and the glitter ended up everywhere!

Helen was up for a bit of crazyness too...

So the shoot went well and everyone had a good laugh.

Both Kim and Helen love the images :)

Beauty Shoot Part 1: Kim & Laura

I have been chatting to Kim, a local makeup artist for some time now, discussing ideas for beauty shoots and fresh portfolio shots.

Kim is in her final year studying Make Up Artistry in Bradford. Kim specialises in Airbrushing and often provides make up for weddings as well as fashion models.

We eventually agreed a shoot date and found 2 local models who were willing to be painted up; Laura and Helen.

Laura was up first and had 2 different looks. This was the first, inspired by feathers (hence the feather lashes).

The second was a blue glitter look. This had to be done last as the glitter can get quite messy.

We then decided to add another punch of blue to Laura's lips and I used a completely different editing style for variation.

I was quite concerned that both Kim and Laura may not be too keen on this style, but to my surprise they both really liked it!

The shoot went really well, everyone got along amazingly and I hope to work with both Laura and Kim again soon :)

I will post Helen's images soon as I am still working on them :)