Calendar Girls: Miss March

Amazing lashes care of Vicki Clay

I was always excited about the idea for Miss March, but I had no idea it would turn out to be one of my favourite shoots ever, and make me fall in love with action shots.

Feminine yet strong

 Photographing Trudy from Kooralbyn Family Gym was just a beautiful experience, in so many ways.  Our inspiration was a romantic, breezy, shadowy image of a ballerina at the bar, so we knew we'd be doing a night shoot and playing with lighting.  With our ballerina also having a gym, we wanted to add some womanly strength to the mix as well.
Trudy was most happy to oblige our out-of-the-box creativity and played along from the moment we started getting ready.  I think this is part of the reason we had so much fun, and got so many good shots.  It's always fantastic when someone just goes along for the journey with us!

Beautiful hair by Vicki Clay

Vicki gave her a beautifully flowy, wavy, romantic hairstyle and then... we both gave each other that look.... The look that could only mean one thing....
We both remembered the lashes Vicki had stashed in her makeup case, with feathers on them!!!!  They were just the perfect, girly, flowery, romantic touch to the look.  Trudy was completely happy to go with it and oh my goodness she looked amazing with them!

The ahhh-mazing lashes!!!

RARGH!!!!  Bring on the calendar!

The look completed, we made our way into the dance studio, lights in arms.  The lovely shadowy light worked perfectly and we took some shots making use of the contrast of elegant loveliness that is the ballerina, with the strength of the gym weight.

That cheeky sideways look and grin!!

Thinking man, eat your heart out!!!

The shadow on the wall was perfect...

Soft and beautiful, yet strong

Then we went for some dance poses with the weights still in hand...

Such poise!

But then.... I said those magic words, "Just dance", and the glorious, amazingness that is Miss March was unleashed!  I couldn't stop clicking and, especially when we went into some great leaps, I had to go for sports mode and multiple shots!  Oh the action, the lights, the movement, my arty little heart was jumping for joy right along with our beautiful ballerina!!!

Calendar Girls: Miss February

Miss February

Vicki working her magic on Leigh's curls

Miss February was our first shoot, and my first test of skill.  There were a few of the calendar shoots which were going to test my mettle photographically, mostly because of lighting.  This one was probably the most challenging.

Leigh is one of those women I can relate to.  She has her fingers in pies, and is juggling those balls up in the air of all different shapes and sizes, yet somehow manages to keep it all together.  A very admirable trait!!  While she is just about to launch her eagerly awaited marketing business upon the world, she is also a consultant with Scentsy - a company which sells wax warmers & melts as well as other delicious smelling products.  Leigh was also amazing in volunteering her time to help organise myself, Vicki, all of our lovely models, and all of the advertisers for the calendar.  She did such a terriffic job, that I am keen to work with her on another project I have my hot little hands on ;)

Vicki's magic brushes!

To convey the subtle, sensory beauty of Leigh's Scensty business, we decided that her image would capture her looking soft and romantic, nestled amongst her products and lit only by candlelight.  People who have kept up with the Scarlet Harlotte blog would know just quite how accident prone I am.  So challenge number one was not to burn Leigh's house down!!!!

Putting on the final touches

Vicki worked her beautiful magic.  Firstly, the curls which I thought were pretty to start with, until Vicki got her hands on them after the makeup was done, and transformed them into the most gorgeous soft curls I have ever seen.  Ohhhh they were luscious!!!  Then the brooding smoky eyes, which were done to perfectly compliment the candlelight they were being shot in.  Soft lips, for that luxury pouty look.

Then it was on to the finale!  I really wasn't sure how I was going to go with the light levels.  As it turned out, just fine thank you very much!!  The candlelight was exactly the look I wanted, making it soft, beautiful and maybe even (don't kill me Leigh!) a little seductive.  I had to break out the trusty tripod  (30 bucks on ebay - I am far from a brand queen!) to keep things nice and steady with the long exposure required.  Leigh was the perfect model, making sure she didn't move until I said she could, and then being very subtle in her movement as I constantly asked her to put her chin down more, and more, and just a bit more.  It was a great shoot to get our hands dirty with, and two very lovely ladies to work with.  I even managed to get some cute shots of Leigh with her kids which just ended things on a great note!

Candlelit loveliness

Calendar Girls: Miss January

Miss January

Rock n Roll Miss January!

 There was no better introduction for the calendar, than Miss January.  When people opened the calendar, we really wanted to just say, "Hi Kooralbyn, here we are!!"  What better setting than the large Kooralbyn Valley sign we have at the turnoff from the highway, and what better woman to tend its garden, than our very own Paula from Tu'ua Yard Services.


Paula is always out and about in the community.  Whether it's organising, helping out or having her stall at the markets, tending or planting the many garden areas around the town, or her plethora of other activities, she always brings a smile and a hardy spirit to the task.  It was this spirit we really wanted to capture, and I think she really shined through.

Vicki's magic barber's chair.  Isn't it magnificent?!?!

The January shoot was only our second for the calendar.  We were still gaining our bearings, but Paula's easy attitude and willingness to give it a go helped tremendously.  This was our first pinup look, embracing the 1950s fantasy primped and preened housewife within the country feel of the valley.  It was also my first look at Vicki's amazing barber's chair where much of the magic was to take place!

The early morning light was just beautiful, and perfect for capturing Paula's transformation into our rock n roll country gardening gal.  The light playing with the colours and curls as Vicki worked her wonders on Paula's hair saw me clicking away, capturing all the glinted loveliness I could.

Vicki weaving her hair magic!

I loved the way the morning light played on those curls!

Transformation in progress

It was then that I witnessed an amazing transformation.  Paula became a bombshell!!!  Little was I to know, this would happen several times throughout, but nevertheless this was my first experience of it.  Just to add a little international flavour to the mix, I brought with me a bandanna to wear that I was given from my dear friend, Angel, in Kentucky.  Just a touch of that Southern Miss, which I think added a little sparkle to that magic wand of Vicki's.

Once she was revealed in all her glory, Paula and I headed out to the highway to stir up a January image, and stir up some stories, wolf whistles and lots of tooting horns in the process!!!  Though the sun was a bit harsh (especially with my burns), and we were beginning to melt fairly quickly, Paula brought her A-game and posed with poise.  She took all the attention from the road with grace, and strutted her stuff confidently. 

And so it was, that Paula came to us as the fun, cute, country and rock n roll (two of my favourite things!) inspired Miss January.

Paula at the Kooralbyn Valley sign - at the turnoff from the Mt Lindsay Highway.

Calendar Girls: Cover Girl Magic!

Vicki Clay for Hair & Makeup - Cover of the Kooralbyn Kollective 2015 Calendar

 

 I am quite convinced that Vicki Clay is magic.  Our calendar cover girl worked absolute wonders on all 14 shoots and had me constantly in awe of her extraordinary talent and skill.  Her cover image says it all really.  She is our fairy godmother, our magical transformation wizard, the chick with the wand and she's not afraid to use it!!

This is the only image I'm going to show from the actual calendar.  If you want to see the rest, you'll just have to buy one here.  Obviously, this is two images and a whole lot of merging and creative computer art, so there is really only this image to give an idea of how it all turned out.  For everyone else, there's plenty of shots to go around so the final image is being kept under wraps, for those who are supporting us in our mission to boost positivity and openness in our little community.

Beyonce, eat your heart out!!!

Vicki's shoot was one of the last we did.  It was shot in her salon which (you wouldn't know from the image) is still under construction.  This cool idea was her own vision, and I'm really quite chuffed I was able to bring it to fruition.  She was great to photograph because she's happy to play up for the camera which sometimes gets the best shots!  It's amazing what you think is over the top, is sometimes just right for a photo.  She's also now queen of the "shelf technique".  Anyone who has done a shoot with me will know what that means ;)

All in all, a magical experience :)