Monday 31 March 2014

"When The Model Doesn't Show Up and You Make It Work" by Alexandra Gunnoe


I knew the first shoot went too well.  Everyone was professional, friendly and on time.  It set up my expectations for smooth sailing from there on out, but now I know better.  Don’t get me wrong, this 1940’s inspired shoot ended up great.  But I damn near had a nervous breakdown when I first heard the news.

First off, I know there are stereotypes about models being flaky.  I’ve had the fortune to experience mostly otherwise in my past.  I feel like if you create an excitement about the shoot and have a genuine bond with those you’re working with (as well as call and/or email them neurotically the week of), they will show up, right?  Apparently not.  Now remember, the location is in the country, and most models are coming from Bristol or London.  So when the model emailed me an hour before the shoot I didn’t have a lot to work with.  My fabulous MUA and hair-stylist, Nina Spinks, came all the way from London and she had already arrived to the location when I found out the bad news.  So I obviously couldn’t cancel, that would be messed up.

Let me also mention that I had just returned from Seattle the night before.  It took me 21 hours to get home and I wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders.  My first instinct was panic.  I sat with that for a few minutes while I listened to suggestions like shoot myself, acting as photographer and model.  Can you imagine?  I hadn’t worked with Nina before and she might think she came all the way from London for me to shoot my own vanity project, getting my hair and makeup done, dressing up and running around posing and composing like a crazy person.
  
 Luckily my amazing stylist, Kate Sly at Fashion Farmer is 5’10, has beautiful, classic features and was willing to jump in and act as the model.  Not only did she pick out amazing clothes from Vintage Tramp and Hay Does Vintage, she also fit the look I was going for perfectly.  Check out some of the photos we achieved below.  And a big thank you to Candace Penter, who is a student at Exeter College.  She came to shadow makeup and hair (and will be working with us on a future shoot), as well as assisted me on the photography side of things.  Also, thank you to Dan Shears, who is the proprietor of the West of England Transportation Collection.  Without his support none of this would be possible.

So what should I do in the future?  Probably book two models, but I’m hesitant to do that for every shoot.  My strategy right now is to email and call my models in a way that borders on harassment, though I feel like I might be setting myself up for failure that way.  I’ll have to have a long think about it.  No time now, the next shoot is this Saturday.  But it’s comforting to know Kate will be there for each one.  I will be sure to let you know how it goes.  And if you have any thoughts, suggestions are happily welcomed.  

alexandragunnoe.com





Thursday 27 March 2014

Behind-the-Scenes on our 60's Inspired Vintage Fashion Shoot by Alexandra Gunnoe

This is behind-the-scenes footage from our 60's Inspired Vintage Bus Shoot shot in early March 2014 by Alexandra Gunnoe at the West of England Transportation Collection in Winkleigh, Devon (UK).  This was the first in a series of 11 Vintage Fashion shoots featuring these gorgeous old buses from the 40's, 50's and 60's, beautifully restored and provided by Dan Shears, Proprieter at the WETC.  This particular bus is a 1959 Leyland PD3, Weymann body double decker. 

Please click on the link to view the footage.

60's Vintage Fashion Shoot (Behind-the-Scenes)









For more information on "The Vintage Bus Project", please read previous posts in my blog.

CREDITS:

Stylist:  Kate Sly @ Fashion Farmer
Model:  Morgan Dun-Campbell
MUA:  Nicola Redman
Hair Stylist:  Trude Bosence
Proprieter at the WETC:  Dan Shears
Wardrobe provided by:  Hay Does Vintage & Vintage Tramp
Photographer:  Alexandra Gunnoe at Alexandra Gunnoe Photography

AlexandraGunnoe.com

Tuesday 25 March 2014

The Vintage Bus Project: 1960's Fashion Shoot_Day 1, Part 2 (The Outcome) by Alexandra Gunnoe


My last post about this 1960’s- inspired fashion shoot was quite text heavy so for all the dirty details, please revisit it here.

Since you have most of the back story I will let the photos do the talking this time.


Model: MorganDun-Campbell
Stylist: Fashion Farmer (Kate Sly)
Wardrobe Provided by:  Vintage Tramp & Hay Does Vintage
MUA: Nicola Redman
Artistic/BUS Coordinator: Dan Shears
Hair Stylist: Trude Bosence








 Alexandra Gunnoe Photography

Wednesday 19 March 2014

The Vintage Bus Project: 1960's Fashion Shoot_Day 1, Part 1 by Alexandra Gunnoe Reviews


Quite unexpectedly I had to make a mad dash from England to Seattle the morning after our 60's fashion shoot.  I’m relatively new to blogging and I’m not sure how much personal information is appropriate to share.  Until I decide, I will purposely keep this part vague.  As I develop my voice, perhaps I will open up more but for now let’s keep things focused on the shoot. 

This was the first in a series of 11 Vintage Fashion shoots featuring these gorgeous old buses  from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, beautifully restored and provided by Dan Shears at the West of England Transportation Collection.  For more information on “The Vintage Bus Project”, please read my previous post about it here.  And to take a glance at the mood board for the inspiration behind this shoot, please read my post about “Preparing for a Fashion Shoot and the Importance of Mood Boards”. 

I will be expanding on this 60’s inspired shoot next week, once I am back in the UK and working from my desktop computer, uploading the behind-the-scenes footage and editing the photos properly in Lightroom and Photoshop.  So while I hesitate to give away too much right now, in the meantime I can offer this teaser image and a brief description about our experience.  And following, I will post a few photos from various people's phones.








First off, everyone showed up with smiley, positive attitudes.  And get this… every single person was EARLY (and the good kind of early too… just a few minutes ahead of time, allowing for pleasant introductions and small talk… not the uncomfortable kind of early where you’re still scrambling around like a mad woman while everyone secretly watches you as they pretend to look at their shoes and discuss the weather).  The sun was shining, everyone was getting along well, and we had a brief pre-production meeting discussing the goals of the day.  I could just tell it was going to be a fantastic shoot. 

And indeed it was.   

Dan was a real trooper, shuttling us back and forth from the prep area to the shooting area after every wardrobe / makeup / hair change, and in the very bus we were shooting in.  I’m happy I was able to grab a few seconds of footage from the journey, because it all felt quite funny and surreal.  Not once did Dan complain, and he drove us around the entire day with a laid-back attitude that matched his smile.  I can’t tell you how helpful it is to work with people who are so mellow, yet also manage to have a fantastic work-ethic and a cheeky sense of humour.

If it sounds like I’m gushing, I am.  Again, this is probably the opposite of what a professional should do, and I’m likely violating a rule in some blogging handbook, but whatever.  The infectious attitude of our team helped set the tone for the day and produced a work environment that was conducive to creating the kind of photographic magic I was hoping for. 

We had wide selection of fabulous clothing to choose from, thanks to Kate Sly at Fashion Farmer (pulling vintage clothes and props from Vintage Tramp and Hay Does Vintage).  And they fit our model, Morgan Dun-Campbell perfectly.  Almost every person on the creative team came up to me at some point in the day to mention how perfectly she fit the theme.  Just take a look at this photo I borrowed from her facebook page.  Those eyes!  You can see why I NEEDED to cast her in this 60’s shoot right away. 



I found Nicola Redman, our stellar makeup artist, about a month ago, and she definitely lived up to the work I had seen on her online portfolio.  She slowly built upon the makeup with each look until the very end when Morgan looked out of this world in the best way possible.  We all had a laugh at how she would have to ride the train home in these very bold Twiggy lashes that were so high fashion and out of place in a country setting.  I’m sure she received quite a bit of attention from curious passengers not used to seeing that kind of beauty riding a train in the middle of the nowhere back from Eggesford to Bristol. 

Then there was the hair situation.   Let me start by saying there was a bit of a hair crisis at the 11th hour and I had a slight moment of panic (which actually means “major moment of panic with a slight side of meltdown”, but in an effort to save face, I’ll downplay it here).  I’m used to living in LA, where if you need a substitute mua or hair stylist at the last minute, ten people are chomping at the bit, all ready to go by the time the figurative ink has dried on your casting call.  I’m sure it’s the same in London, but things are a little different in the country.  There are artists of great quality in the south west, but it takes some resourcefulness, time, luck and lots of digging to find them.  And at that point, time was definitely not on my side. 

My original hair stylist (who seemed incredibly enthused, trust-worthy and together when I booked her) ended up letting me down at the last minute by not responding to my emails and calls.  I won’t go too much into it except to say I am baffled, as she is the one who responded to my casting.  I did not seek her out specifically.  As time went on I saw that she was posting online publicly, and I realised I would just have to swallow my frustration, cut my losses and find someone new.  And fast. 

So what lesson did I learn?  Well, if possible, be sure to work with people you know and trust.  If that is not possible, work with those who have great references and who respond to your emails right away, even if you come off like a neurotic freak who needs constant reassurance they will turn up on time and understand the concept you are going for (hence the importance of mood boards). Though the hair stylist situation was a huge headache, I am actually grateful it happened because I was able to find a more qualified, creative and truly amazing hair stylist, Trude Bosence, at the last minute.  And now I have added another member to the creative team who I definitely plan to work with in the future. So for all the hassle and stress this bit of drama put me through, it was definitely all worth it.

As I said before, I will soon have the finished photos up and ready for you to view.  Thank you all for reading.  I look forward to sharing the final product with you next week.  Stay tuned!

Model and Muse Morgan Dun-Campbell

Styling by Kate Sly at Fashion Farmer

Clothing provided by Vintage Tramp and Hay Does Vintage

Hair Styling by Trude Bosence

Makeup Artistry by Nicola Redman

Photography by Alexandra Gunnoe at Alexandra Gunnoe Photography

alexandragunnoe.com

Sunday 2 March 2014

Preparing for a Fashion Shoot (and the Importance of Mood Boards) by Alexandra Gunnoe Reviews



Right now I’m in the middle of preparing for 11 separate fashion shoots featuring theses gorgeous vintage buses from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.  For more information on this project please read my previous blog “The Vintage Bus Project”.  It’s a lot of juggling, and in an effort to stay organised I’m trying to focus on a few shoots at a time so it doesn’t all catch up with me later.  

As of today, I have held castings for models, hair stylists and makeup artists for the first four shoots, and I am lucky to have found an amazing stylist, Kate Sly, of Fashion Farmer who is pulling looks for the entire project.   Most of my recent days have been spent emailing my creative team (soooo many emails), deciding on locations and trying to make sense of everything by creating excel sheets and mood boards.  I haven’t been the most organised person in my past and I’m trying out this system, which seems to be working for me so far.  I feel very, very busy but I’m not overwhelmed, which is a good place to be.

The first shoot will be a 60’s theme and we’ve built the concept around this beautiful 1959 yellow double-decker.  Hopefully you can see from my mood board what I want to get from the shoot.   My mood boards aren’t too fancy or elaborate in execution but they get the point across.  Our model, Morgan, fits the theme perfectly and the wardrobe Kate has pulled is more than amazing.  I now feel confident everyone involved is on the same page.


Here are two more mood boards for the 2nd and 3rd shoot, which are a 40’s and 50’s theme, respectively.    
 



And Kate’s efforts deserve their own photos, as I couldn’t be happier with what she has chosen for our first shoot.










Not long now, we start shooting in a week!




Alexandra Gunnoe at Alexandra Gunnoe Photography

alexandragunnoe.com