The brief was to get a series of high impact pictures to get
people along to this British-inspired event, which includes a collection of
mini fashion shows and pop-up shops, featuring the best in clothing, jewellery,
designer goods, accessories, food and homewares. As a commercial, wedding and portrait photographer based in the north east, I work
with everyone from professional models to people who need a photographer with a
relaxed, informal style to put them at their ease in front of the camera. When it comes to fashion photography, the
choice of model can really determine the feel of the pictures, so I was
delighted to find out I was working with new model Katherine Lees of
Tyne Tees Models. Katherine who lives in North Yorkshire is a new model on the books but knows exactly what to do at the super-fast agency, hair and make up changes, and she is great fun to
work with.
Fifty minutes was all it took for Katherine’s hair and make
up stylists, Rachel Hoskins and Lisa Devanny, to help her emerge looking
glamorous in a blonde hairpiece and a designer outfit in vibrant, bold colours matched
with a black and white striped waistband. Alex Hall from WeDo kindly acted as my assistant for the
day, and we set up the first shots against the simple, clean lines of the MIMA
art gallery. Working with the natural light and my reflectors, the rough
textured walls of the gallery really showed off the sharp lines of the clothes
to best effect and got the session off to a good start.
A change of outfit, hairstyle and location saw us at a well
known local landmark, a row of traditional red phone boxes outside the Empire
Theatre. These iconic British symbols
formed the perfect backdrop to Katherine’s buttercup yellow patterned dress and
red and white shoes. As a photographer, I’m busy constantly assessing the
lighting, the colours, the background and the model’s facial expression, so it
was great to have Alex and the stylists on hand to make sure the clothes were
hanging correctly and Katherine didn’t have a hair out of place.
The tunnel leading from Middlesbrough city centre to the
Riverside Football Stadium offered us some fantastic colours to work with. For this location I used a portable
flash system to pick up the contrast between the vibrancy of the tunnel’s wall art,
and Katherine’s beautiful 50s-themed cream textured dress. Katherine then changed into yet another set of clothes, this
time a raspberry pink pencil skirt and peplum top, while Rachel gave her a
sophisticated ‘updo’ hairstyle. A balcony
at the Ciac apartment building at Middlehaven gave us a good view of the Transporter
Bridge and a great background for our next shots. The steel globes we used as
props emphasised Middlesbrough’s ‘Steel River’ heritage and were the perfect
foil for reflecting the blue of the sky.
A few days before the fashion shoot (last 2 shots) I photographed two local
business in central Middlesbrough who have pledged their support for Fashion Rules; Psyche boss Steve Cochrane, and award-winning designer Kate Fearnley, who provided many of the
clothes for our shoot.
Some editing back in my studio over the weekend to meet deadlines, and the day’s pictures were
being used across WeDo’s online, print advertising and PR materials within a
couple of days. We hope they encourage
people along to support their local retailers, and play a big part in Fashion Rules’ success.
