Why fast food looks so much better in the photos than real life:

A very special person came into the Make-Up Room! I think most of you will know who it is

Worked with the wonderful Edel Kenny again doing some more Burlesque Test Shots. The shots are to promote her new studio that will be opening in the New Year called Venus Boudoir Photography.

The studio will be based in George’s Street and will be an opportunity for real women to book their own professional photoshoot, with Make-Up & Hair provided by me! There will be an array of wonderful lingerie and and burlesque props for them to have fun with. Also Edel has set up the studio with Boudoir furniture and set. It will make for a really unique experience. I will post more information about it soon.

In the meantime the photos:

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Anna Pembroke
Make Up Artist: Anna Pembroke, Erica Stagg
Designer: Erica Stagg
Stylist: Tahnee Medina
Assistant: Erica Stagg, Tahnee Medina
Location: Milton Bowl, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 2 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Ok here are the shots from a very recent very out of the blue last minute shoot with designer and all round sweet heart Erica Stagg. Prior to the shoot I think we’d talked once I’d never seen the collection and had no idea what I was shooting and went out on a whim hoping the location was well, more than suitable and turns out it was more than adequate, so here are the shots from Erica Stagg’s 2009/2010 summer capsule range…

I know I say this all the time for a lot of the shoots I work on but Erica’s range is nothing far from amazing, the concept behind each piece is clear in plain sight and well executed, with each piece really speaking for itself, and Anna our model despite coming straight from a viewing and been dead tired pulled of every shot and let both herself and the garments equally as powerful frame after frame, and let’s just say wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty…

Big thanks to Erica for letting my concept to come through in the shots and having it been a little bit more collaborative than usual and letting me try some new techniques, regardless of how the shots looked these were shot in full daylight in the middle of the day and mid afternoon using a kind of light masking technique I’m trying much like they use in the twilight movies only a little different and my own creation…

Big thanks to all the girls for putting up with me as usual I know it’s a hard task and they did without complaint, so here are the shots enjoy…

and alternatively feel free to stalk my life THE BAKE HOUSE @ FLICKR

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Anna Pembroke
Make Up Artist: Anna Pembroke, Erica Stagg
Designer: Erica Stagg
Stylist: Tahnee Medina
Assistant: Erica Stagg, Tahnee Medina
Location: Milton Bowl, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 2 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Ok here are the shots from a very recent very out of the blue last minute shoot with designer and all round sweet heart Erica Stagg. Prior to the shoot I think we’d talked once I’d never seen the collection and had no idea what I was shooting and went out on a whim hoping the location was well, more than suitable and turns out it was more than adequate, so here are the shots from Erica Stagg’s 2009/2010 summer capsule range…

I know I say this all the time for a lot of the shoots I work on but Erica’s range is nothing far from amazing, the concept behind each piece is clear in plain sight and well executed, with each piece really speaking for itself, and Anna our model despite coming straight from a viewing and been dead tired pulled of every shot and let both herself and the garments equally as powerful frame after frame, and let’s just say wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty…

Big thanks to Erica for letting my concept to come through in the shots and having it been a little bit more collaborative than usual and letting me try some new techniques, regardless of how the shots looked these were shot in full daylight in the middle of the day and mid afternoon using a kind of light masking technique I’m trying much like they use in the twilight movies only a little different and my own creation…

Big thanks to all the girls for putting up with me as usual I know it’s a hard task and they did without complaint, so here are the shots enjoy…

and alternatively feel free to stalk my life THE BAKE HOUSE @ FLICKR

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Anna Pembroke
Make Up Artist: Anna Pembroke, Erica Stagg
Designer: Erica Stagg
Stylist: Tahnee Medina
Assistant: Erica Stagg, Tahnee Medina
Location: Milton Bowl, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 2 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Ok here are the shots from a very recent very out of the blue last minute shoot with designer and all round sweet heart Erica Stagg. Prior to the shoot I think we’d talked once I’d never seen the collection and had no idea what I was shooting and went out on a whim hoping the location was well, more than suitable and turns out it was more than adequate, so here are the shots from Erica Stagg’s 2009/2010 summer capsule range…

I know I say this all the time for a lot of the shoots I work on but Erica’s range is nothing far from amazing, the concept behind each piece is clear in plain sight and well executed, with each piece really speaking for itself, and Anna our model despite coming straight from a viewing and been dead tired pulled of every shot and let both herself and the garments equally as powerful frame after frame, and let’s just say wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty…

Big thanks to Erica for letting my concept to come through in the shots and having it been a little bit more collaborative than usual and letting me try some new techniques, regardless of how the shots looked these were shot in full daylight in the middle of the day and mid afternoon using a kind of light masking technique I’m trying much like they use in the twilight movies only a little different and my own creation…

Big thanks to all the girls for putting up with me as usual I know it’s a hard task and they did without complaint, so here are the shots enjoy…

and alternatively feel free to stalk my life THE BAKE HOUSE @ FLICKR

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Anna Pembroke
Make Up Artist: Anna Pembroke, Erica Stagg
Designer: Erica Stagg
Stylist: Tahnee Medina
Assistant: Erica Stagg, Tahnee Medina
Location: Milton Bowl, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 2 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Ok here are the shots from a very recent very out of the blue last minute shoot with designer and all round sweet heart Erica Stagg. Prior to the shoot I think we’d talked once I’d never seen the collection and had no idea what I was shooting and went out on a whim hoping the location was well, more than suitable and turns out it was more than adequate, so here are the shots from Erica Stagg’s 2009/2010 summer capsule range…

I know I say this all the time for a lot of the shoots I work on but Erica’s range is nothing far from amazing, the concept behind each piece is clear in plain sight and well executed, with each piece really speaking for itself, and Anna our model despite coming straight from a viewing and been dead tired pulled of every shot and let both herself and the garments equally as powerful frame after frame, and let’s just say wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty…

Big thanks to Erica for letting my concept to come through in the shots and having it been a little bit more collaborative than usual and letting me try some new techniques, regardless of how the shots looked these were shot in full daylight in the middle of the day and mid afternoon using a kind of light masking technique I’m trying much like they use in the twilight movies only a little different and my own creation…

Big thanks to all the girls for putting up with me as usual I know it’s a hard task and they did without complaint, so here are the shots enjoy…

and alternatively feel free to stalk my life THE BAKE HOUSE @ FLICKR

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Anna Pembroke
Make Up Artist: Anna Pembroke, Erica Stagg
Designer: Erica Stagg
Stylist: Tahnee Medina
Assistant: Erica Stagg, Tahnee Medina
Location: Milton Bowl, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 2 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Ok here are the shots from a very recent very out of the blue last minute shoot with designer and all round sweet heart Erica Stagg. Prior to the shoot I think we’d talked once I’d never seen the collection and had no idea what I was shooting and went out on a whim hoping the location was well, more than suitable and turns out it was more than adequate, so here are the shots from Erica Stagg’s 2009/2010 summer capsule range…

I know I say this all the time for a lot of the shoots I work on but Erica’s range is nothing far from amazing, the concept behind each piece is clear in plain sight and well executed, with each piece really speaking for itself, and Anna our model despite coming straight from a viewing and been dead tired pulled of every shot and let both herself and the garments equally as powerful frame after frame, and let’s just say wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty…

Big thanks to Erica for letting my concept to come through in the shots and having it been a little bit more collaborative than usual and letting me try some new techniques, regardless of how the shots looked these were shot in full daylight in the middle of the day and mid afternoon using a kind of light masking technique I’m trying much like they use in the twilight movies only a little different and my own creation…

Big thanks to all the girls for putting up with me as usual I know it’s a hard task and they did without complaint, so here are the shots enjoy…

and alternatively feel free to stalk my life THE BAKE HOUSE @ FLICKR

I Recently had the chance to do another fixie or fixed gear bike shoot, with a good friend whom I’ve been promising to shoot since well, what seems like forever, we had bad weather and things got shuffled around a little but these are the results, more shots and a lot more info will pop up sooner rather than later…

So here are a few test shots, and setup shots from the days shoot enjoy while I sort through everything and get it up on my Flickr and here on the blog, there are many more shoots to edit and upload so keep your eyes peeled enjoy…

Photographer: Brendan Lyon
Make-Up: Me!
Model: Amanda Appleby

Of course the #1 online retailer, Market America, brought you the perfect line up of make-up that will save you money!

Men – this is the EASIEST way to holiday shop for the lovely ladies in your life.

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Especially for my customers that read this blog I WILL PAY YOUR SHIPPING!

~ Your welcome

I’ve been a practicing MUA for a while now. However it’s taken me a while to get my business side of things going the way I wanted to. I am still working on my website and I am well on my way now and little by little my plan for world domination is coming into fruition! lol! Not really but I am happy with my progress!

Last week I finally got my business cards through. These have been in the works for about half a year. Why? I just couldn’t decide what I wanted on them. My brother did a few designs for me which I loved [I still might use them] And then I played around myself and came up with a few of my own. I did a fair amount of research into business cards but it’s suprising how little information there is out there about make-up artist business cards [not that I was expecting a plethora of info but hey its all good!] I know that I wanted something colourful but simple at the same time. I wanted it to be eyecatching but easy to read the information on there too. I think I achieved the desired effect!

I shall not be giving these out just yet until I have dvoradivine.com working properly. But that shouldnt be too long. Cannot wait!

The weekend is here lovelies!
God bless you abundantly!

1940’s Femmes Fatales, The Beaux and The Dandies, Sexy Vixens, Private Detectives, Hitchcock’s characters, ‘The Lady From Shangai’, ‘Gilda’, ‘Citizen Kane’, ‘Fallen Angel’ and Humphrey Bogart, Lana Turner, Veronica Lake and Robert Mitchum types – All gather together on the 28th of November for a dark, mysterious, dangerous and outmost desirable night at The Hobby Horse in Hoxton.

Tempting chocolate delights will be available to early comers. Show starts at 10:00pm.

Burlesque Starlets are: Daisy Coole, Chiqui, Kitten Von Strumpet, WORLDMISTRESS, Ginger Blush and Miss Katy.

And if that wasn’t enough fabulous news: TIGER LILY & VIKTORIA MODESTA are the new additions for the party on Saturday!

They are gorgeous and they both will be performing their last songs specially for Corset & Diamonds.

★★ http://www.tigerlillymusic.co.uk

Singer/songwriter Tiger Lilly is fast becoming music’s hottest new property, with fresh attitude, an amazing voice, and great lyrics, she is definitely the one to watch in 2010. She is currently holding No 1 in the UK’s top 40 unsigned charts.

★★ http://www.myspace.com/viktoriamodesta

She has been a recording singer/songwriter with reviews from Music Week and UK Music branding agencies for the last few year. Viktoria has mostly been known for being an Iconic Model and Muse, Celebrity Hostess, Stylist, Hair & Make-up Artist as well as a Fashionista. Some of the highlights inlcude appearing on the covers of the legendary subculture magazines BIZARRE and SKINTWO, National SAMSUNG compaign advert, Co-presenting KERRANG awards, regularly Hosting Londons best dressed night clus CIRCUS and working closely with the worlds most succesfull alternative brand TORTURE GARDEN as house model and fashion show stylist.

Entry is £10 before 10:30 and £15 after. Advance tickets are available now from the C & D website www.corsetanddiamonds.com – advance tickets ensure £10 all night.

Introducing the C & D membership -If you would like to purchase always cheaper tickets or even get free entry to the parties you can now become a Corset & Diamonds’ member.

Visit the website for more information.

Dress up in utter fabulousness ideally in Film Noir, Fetish or Burlesque styles or you will feel criminally outdone.

Ps- these events are for girls and their friends so every guy needs to be invited and accompanied by at least one female in order to gain entry.

Many women dream of becoming a TV news anchor. But how many of them realise the ordeals they must undergo before turning up on the screen.

Working as a news anchor is a fantastic job. You get such a great feeling every time you go on air. Every eye focuses on you, anticipating your professional performance.

And with full confidence, you breathe life into the scripts and deliver news to your audience, invisible behind the camera’s lens.

But that’s just during broadcast. There still exists a bunch of behind-the-scenes ordeals you’ve got to endure before the show begins.

Makeup

Every woman loves beauty. Nobody would say no to seven days of glamorous make-up the professional. But after becoming a news anchor, you might change your mind.

I used to host morning shows. Apart from struggling to get up at 4 o’clock, my morning routine also included lifting serum, anti-wrinkle day cream, and 50-SPF sunblock lotion before entering the make-up room. Otherwise, the spotlights in the studio will damage your skin and cause sunburn freckles.

And picture every single millimetre on your face covered with thick foundation, powder, lipstick, blusher, sticky mascara, eyeliner, and God knows how many shades of eyeshadow!

The result is gorgeous, of course. But  you’ve also got to be prepared for rash and pimple breakout, as well as early wrinkles!

Moreover, don’t forget that more than half of make-up artists nowadays are gay. They’re big blokes with muscular arms and the strength of a man. Worse, they show no mercy to your delicate skin.

Who would think the make-up session can be really painful? But men holding an eyeliner pencil and lash curler is a scary combination. Many times, they got my eyelids instead of the lashes!

At the end of the day, mentally exhausted, all I wanted to do was to jump into bed. But I had to spend ages cleaning my face with a number of creams, oils, gels, and lotions before putting on another huge lot of night treatments. Believe me, it’s, simply, hell on earth.

Hairdo

Just as bad! Imagine every single day of extra-hard hair spray, mousse, gluey hair gel, and the fierce heat from hair curler and dryer that can literally burn your hair. You can even hear the sizzling and see the smoke coming out of your hair.

One of my colleagues even got her face burnt by the curler when her hairstylist enjoyed chatting too much and, accidentally, laid the scorching stick on her cheek.

Result? More foundation and red swollen wound!

The boring bit is that you’ve got to wash your hair everyday, no matter what time you get home or how exhausted you are. And with all those chemicals and heat, your hair can get damaged far too easily.

Work around the clock

We’re news junkies. But sometimes, too much information can be stressful.

I used to host a couple of shows per day, ranging from news bulletin too news talk. Most of them focused on politics and hard issues. And the number of information I had to digest was enormous.

Apart from tonnes of news scripts, I had to go through a big pile of newspapers everyday, watch other news channels whenever I could and listen to news reports on radio every time I was driving.

After finishing my shift, I wasn’t allowed to stop gulping down news. Information is the air we breathe. Whenever there’s a breaking story, every anchor must be able to cover it. And we can’t enter the studio with a blank head.

Despite all these burdens, I swear every presenter loves their job.

As soon as the music interlude begins, they would stop whatever they’re doing, arrange their posture, and put on the professional look.

After 5…4…3…2…1, the show is in their hands.

Portrait Lighting

 For this in-studio picture (Georges Merx Photography Studio in University Heights, San Diego), I used a Nikon SB-600 Flash, indirectly lighting the scene by flashing against an umbrella (from my behind-left), the Nikon D700-built-in flash with a diffuser (acting additionally as wireless commander for the SB-600), and two cheap Halogen shop lights (from the right). 

The results from this inexpensive setup are quite satisfying, don’t you think? …

(Note:  please visit our other blog:  click here!)

On Saturday I did the  ‘ Shaping lights ‘ Course organized & lead by Carlo Nicora .

This Photographic experience has had a profound effect on me.

I feel & believe that somethings have changed within my approach to taking pictures !

The image below is of  Zuzana Krempaska, a  great Makeup Artist currently working in London.

More Pictures

and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

I recently had yet another chance to travel to Sydney and stay for a while whilst working. Sydney’s weather didn’t treat me too well but apart from that, it was a good time had by all, I shopped, partied, hung out with friends and family, explored new places, met some amazing new friends, and set some awesome things up that you’ll see in the future. Aside from all that I got two days of shoots in for the lovely Asia Power’s 2009/2010 summer capsule range of which you’ll see the finals for within the next few days…

So here are a few test shots, and setup shots from the two days of shoots enjoy while I sort through everything and get it up on my Flickr and the blog, there are many more shoots to edit and upload so keep your eyes peeled enjoy…

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city I’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city I’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here

Photographer: Jason Paparoulas.
Model: Shara Gomez.
Make Up Artist: Allyce McDonald.
Designer and Stylist: Allyce McDonald.
Assistant: Allyce McDonald.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Strobist Info (this ordering may or may not have changed throughout the shoot):

- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot bare camera left behind
- 1 x Bowens Gemini Esprit 500WS – shot through softbox camera left
- 1 x Bowens Travelpacks – powering 2 x 500WS strobes each

- Canon 5D Mark II w/ BG-E6
- 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2.0
- Elinchrom Skyport Universal Triggers

Finally finished editing all the photos and work that has backed up from the last couple of months, it’s so easy to get distracted and work on other things and soon enough one thing after another isn’t finished.
Anyways, this is a little shoot I did for friend and designer Allyce McDonald she designs pretty amazing stuff, and you should definitely keep an eye out for her name and her stuff. Rest assured you will see more of her stuff up on my blog here, and flickr here in the coming month, as I am heading down to Sydney for more work which just might include a couple of shoots with her, and a couple of shoots from up and coming designers so keep your eyes peeled…

Cheers to the lovely girls Shara and Allyce, for modelling, stylising, make-up, and putting up with us for most of the day, and showing me a little bit of a good time in a city I’m not so used to anymore.

So check it out…
and alternatively feel free to stalk my life here