Post No#100

This is my 100th post!

Im super busy this semester, having minimum 4 committements to prioritize at all time: Microsoft, MMSS (Monash Marketing Students Society), MPC (Monash Photography Club), and uni, naturally.

If you want to head straight to my rant on video games, its right at the bottom since i have no photos to accompany it.

But if youre here for my photos (the main point of my photoblog), then here is a series of photos that i managed to snap in the past weeks.

Brighton beach houses. Taken during MPC trip there. Nicky is my secretary on my MPC committee. She does a great job!

 I favour cold toned photos. Most of you who do photography with me, or are in my club would know this :P

 More cold tones. For a uni assignment we had to visit a farmers market freaking 2 hours out of melbourne to do research. It was absolutely freezing that early in the morning.

 I wore mustard chino's (not visible in this photo), a silk shirt (i love my silk shirts), a burgandy cardigan (burgundy is my favourite colour, ive got almost one of every item in burgundy), a leather jacket, and a scarf from the $2 shop (i love plaid scarves). Also wearing a mimco necklace that is supposedly gold plated, but who knows...

 This is from the MMSS Double Denim party. I recently became a part of the Monash Marketing Students Society, working on the MINDS team (Minds = Marketing Industry Development Scheme).

My good friend Sagie (above), is the president! We used to work together at Optus, so its good working with an old buddy again :) (He is pretty awesome).

 Some other cool MMSS committee people :) Jenny from Social, and Tara from Minds.

 Conor from Digital.

 Sam from Minds and the other guy is from social im pretty sure, but i cant remember his name!

 Microsoft were generous enough to send me this package :D I was so excited opening it, even though i knew what it was. I love opening presents.

 Photos for Microsoft - of me using my new headphones! (They are Beats Studio)

 This is at Lancefield Farmers Market. Strawberries are one of my favourite fruits, and the ones they sold here were DIVINE.

 Each bite = perfection.

 This was from ages ago! I did a shoot with a muso.

 My take on Gossip Girl! Next episode comes out this week.... ive been waiting like a month. Speaking of tv shows, alot of my favourite are finally returning! Revenge for one, is resuming this week again. So is Game of Thrones! (Been rewatching old episodes. Daenerys is my hero <3)

The dress was a present from my mum, and is from Asos. Was very expensive, and is made out of chiffon silk. And i love chiffon anything. Ive got soooo much chiffon its ridiculous!

 I got this top and skirt from Chadstone. Hint: Its not actually a skirt, its a skort! Which is fantastic cause i dont have to worry about the wind blowing it up and stuff...

Also lately ive been in the habit of wearing gothic style chokers, or really chunky statement necklaces. Pity the more complicated they get, the easier they break :(

 This was before the semester 1 MPC welcome party. I absolutely ADORE this pleated leather skirt. Leather was in fashion, like, start of last year. But it was so expensive, like $200 a piece, and i wasnt into leather then. I had to search high and low to obtain this skirt! (Cause its not in fashion anymore)

Its one of my favourite items of clothing, ever!! And it fits me like a glove :) Its got a pretty narrow waist... i was worried cause i bought it online!

 Top is from Asos. Features a pleated collar! I love pleated stuff.

Also, these photos are very few of the warmer toned photos i have...

One thing that is incredibly important to me in clothes, is the fit! So so so often i find clothes that dont fit me. They are always too big, or just not cut well (perhaps cause i shop cheap). Good cuts and well fitted clothing is sooo essential to looking good.

This cheap blazer is from supre of all places. But they make small sizes, like XXS and XXXS, so this blazer is the only one ive ever found that fit me well!

Lately ive been playing shitloads of xbox. Dance Central 2 for Kinect, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Skyrim, and Saints Row. Im super impressed with Kinect, it can detect up to 48 points on your body, and that means you REALLY ARE the controller! Its totally different to just using Wii, or PS Move!

Im about halfway through FF XIII-2, its taking me forever because im playing to 100% game completion, side quests and everything. Not to mention farming and grinding.

I started playing a bit of Skyrim, but havent progressed very far because i KNOW its going to be massively time consuming, and i dont want to get hooked right now cause itll affect all my other committments greatly!

I never considered Saints Row, untill a fellow xbox-er at this video games club i joined at uni lent it to me. Its fucking amazing. Like GTA but BETTER. I love being able to do as much shit as i want that i could never do in real life! My favourite thing is probably riding my pimped out motorcycle around town, with my very bad female asian driving skills. I really like motorbikes, and would love to ride one in real life, but for now, SR3 is good enough :3

SR3 is also a third person shooter. Which is really good cause i prefer third person games/rpgs. I started gaming 2 years ago on ff13, and that was third person, so i guess im used to it. Im also terrible at shooting, so SR3 was really the first time i had a decent attempt at it. Im proud to say im actually not toooooo terrible. Im probably a worse driver than i am shooter. In third person that is. If it was fps, id be absolutely fucked. And also. I HATE dem brutes. So fucking hard to kill. At least my health regenrates incredibly fast.

Games on the "to get" list:

Batman: Arkham city. Another third person rpg kinda. Also NO SHOOTING thank fuck! Lotsa melee :)

LA Noire. Ive heard good things about this game. I also like that 50's set in the past theme.

And since im borrowing SR3 and Skyrim, ive gotta buy my own also, so i can play co op online. Hmmm i feel like im missing some? Dont know which though.

Others im looking at include: diablo 3, mass effect 3, dragonage and darksouls.

Also i just noticed sherlock holmes listed as an upcoming game. Gonna keep an eye on that one! I loved the films, and sherlock holmes is also set in a vintage theme like la noire :D Also i cant remember him using guns alot, so im hoping itll be mainly melee.

Far Cry 3 is also coming out soon. Matt is really pumped for that one.

Kinect star wars sounded promising untill i saw the trailer and gameplay..... eh i think id rather just play it with a controller.

Anyway, thinking about games is making me want to abandon my computer and uni work and head to my xbox so i can bash people up with a giganti purple dildo in saints row 3 Or drive over them with a tank. Or parachute from my penthouse. Or hijack a million cars and add them to my collection. Attempt to find every model of motorbike in SR3. Buy new clothes. Upgrade my weapons. Do side missions. Improve my driving and shooting skills. Attempt to pass my next mission without failing -_-

Wow i cannot believe i wrote that much! I guess it makes up for my > 1 month absense.

The shoot i promised was coming up....

Exams officially over! Let the shopping, photography, and baking craze begin... before i start my full time holiday job :(.

On Saturday i went the Brighton beach and although the weather was sunny (i was hoping for overcast), i still got some good shots with my new reflector. These are really cheap off ebay, and reflect natural light without it looking unnatural. 

All edtied. Model: Monica. Assistant: Eric. Thanks guys :)

 Really like this shot. Looks like im an admirer spying on her from behind a bush. 

 Not much editing here. 

 An Emanuella dress i bought of ebay and have never worn...

I got this maxi dress for $5 second hand awhile ago. If only i was tall enough to wear it... Oh well it looks great on Mon at least!

My notes: I was really hoping for an overcast day because i wanted to attempt a winter beach shoot. But the sky was completely clear and sunny. But i good quite a few good shots, so id say it was a successful shoot!

Coming up: Hair thingy. Photoshop before and after. Making macarons first attempt - this will be good!

Our usual Brighton

Ive been taking Matt out on photography trips to the beach, park, whatever, and showing him how to use my dslr! He is picking it up really quickly and has great natural composition!
I shall just mention that none of these are edited. Im fairly lazy, so i dont usually retouch photos, unless its for a shoot or something.

This is a photo i took of him trying to be cute.

And this is a photo he took of me. I thought it was funny.

Modellings tips, and another photoshoot

Emily is definitely new to modelling. I think in modelling, its really important to be confident and know yourself, and your surroundings well. When youre modelling everything move you make should be something artistic, elegant, and edgy (or whatever the photographer breifs you on). Here is the rundown if gave Emily, so she would be better prepared for future modelling shoots :).

Essentials that a model must study:
1. They must know the angles and contours of their face, body, etc. How their hair hangs, how their fringe looks from different angles, etc.
2. They should understand at least a little, about lighting. How the light hits the angles of thier face/body, and in every situation be able to look at the lighting at determine the best angle/posture. Im not sure how to explain this properley.
3. How thier clothes work. How it works with thier body. This is hard to explain. But for example, you need to be aware of how your clothes are sitting one you, when you move into different poses. If you wear an empire waistline, and you sit down, you need to pat down the below the waistline, or shift it into place.
4. Knowing thier surrounding and how to interact with it in a unique way. Or even interesting ways of angling your body so that new perspectives are created.
5. Point 4, also includes being aware of the photographer. Working with them, and sharing ideas. Communication is important.
6. Overall... BE PREPARED!!!! Think about the shoot, and location, your wardrobe. Don't just turn up without even having thought about it!! Not impressive.

I think the main thing you should do, is pretend there is a mirror infront of you, and think of what you would check up on yourself in the mirror. This might mean, adjust your garments, moving your hair, relaxing your facial expression. Its also important to note the lighting. This might mean you need to shift your head up or down, or change the angle of your body.

Ethereal edits

This is the original photo of Brittany i took. I decided to go all out and overly edit it into an awesome ETHEREAL look.



Here is the now edited version. As per usual, i took out all blemishes and evened skin tone/colour. Applied digital makeup. I made her eye sockets nice and dark. And applied a cool tone to the overall photo for an eerie glow :).

Brittany photoshoot

A couple days ago i photographed Brittany. We shot at Brighton Beach, and i wanted to edit the photos into a very glamorous, ethereal, magazine type look.

I should have photoshopped her legs into a mermaids tail...

Lost car keys!

Went to a new beach with Matt today, and someone kid stole my car keys and buried them somewhere. Parents not impressed. A new set of car keys cost $250! :/

This photo is of Matt trying to get used to the cold of the water! The very blue cause i chuck on a filter and i must have done something wrong :S

This is at Edithvale beach.

NYE at Brighton

Cotton candy clouds during the sun set of the last day of the year 2010!

My good friend Aidan.

An interesting angle makes Toms face look pink because of the light from the sunset!