Three days of Lolita

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you've all had a lovely couple of days :)

Christmas eve

I spent with my family and it was a nice cozy evening ^^

I wore my Gryffindor dress, because it feels so christmassy, hehe, and the shoes I just bought recently from Miss Selfridge. I've been wanting a pair like that for so long, I love the straps and finally I found some. Well, I've been watching these for so long, waiting for them to go on sale, hehe. Unfortunately, while the fit is actually really good, they're extremely difficult to walk in. So I guess this pair will be reserved for photoshoots and occasions where there will be very little walking ;)

Outfit:
Dress: homemade
Blouse: Dear Celine
Tights: H&M
Shoes: Miss Selfridge
Hairaccessory: Rococo's Soul

I received lots of lovely gifts, but I'll make a separate post about that soon.


The 25thUsually I just spent this day hanging out at home, enjoying my presents, but Tenna had asked if we should do something that day, so we hung out and then went to the cinema to see Sherlock Holmes 2. It was really awesome :D 
My brother had given me two tickets for a movie and popcorn the day before, so we used those and then there was a mix up with the system and all reservations had been cancelled. Some people became really frustrated, so after the movie, the staff handed out one free ticket for each person. Yay, hehe. But yeah, the movie was really good and I just love Robert <3

Outfit:
Dress: Innocent World
Cardigan: H&M
Shoes: Deichmann
Flowers: Accessories
Necklace: Handmade (By girleverafter)

After the movie we went back to my place and had dinner while watching Sherlock Holmes 1 XD
The 26th

My family usually meet on this day for a Christmas lunch and then we just relax and watch a movie afterwards and this year was no different.

This is what I wore.

Outfit:
Dress: Baby the Stars Shine Bright
Blouse: H&M
Cardigan: Louise
Tights: H&M
Shoes: Miss Selfridge
Underskirt: Ebay
Bag: Dream of Lolita
Accessories: Accessorize and unknown.

The new Starlight issue is out

Since my last update, I've been super busy finishing things for my two shoots for Starlight Magazine. The latest issue was just released on the 14h and here is an excerpt of the shoot I did:

Doll shoot with Lone and Tenna

We did this shoot up in the attic in my building. It was really tricky to get a decent lighting,
but you can read more about this shoot here.

A ballerina and a soldier doll

Death and the Maiden shoot with Ariellah and Stine.

Ariellah as the Little Match Girl/Maiden

Stine as Death

Read about and see the whole the shoot here.

I was busy sewing for these two shoots. I made the soldier girl's skirt, the cape and maiden dress.

I couldn't find a suitable blouse, so I improvised by adding sleeves to the jumperskirt.

Death's cape - a big pain in the butt to sew. Just saying.

And my Scent of Rapunzel arrived a while back:

I hope you'll all have a nice christmas tomorrow :D

Choosing photos for your portfolio

I recently had some new prints made to update my portfolio. I haven’t added new photos to it since around April or May, so I thought it was time to get some new stuff in there.

The two first rows are my old portfolio. The two bottom rows are the photos I just had printed.

I put together a few tips for those of you who're updating your ports soon:

What to look for in your photos?

- Variety
You need to know your client. When you know whose attention you’re trying to get, choose your work based on that. If you’re looking to get into the fashion industry, choose only your best fashion photos, but show variety in terms of style. You don’t want them to think that you’re only capable of doing one type of work. Expand your range and more options will open up.
- Technical abilities
You want to show off your best craftsmanship, so choose photos that show your skill in terms of lighting and composition, but remember that you’ll also want to show that you’re capable of making your models look good, so people will know that you’re able to make a connection with whom you’re working and are able to instruct the person in front of your camera.

Newest work vs. older stuff?
Say you’re going through a creativity block and your newer stuff just doesn’t look as good as some of your older work, what should you choose to show in your port? You have to find that balance between showing your best work while keeping it current. So choose your best photos, but have a few recent photos also be part of your portfolio.

How many photos should you choose?
Only your absolute best! Remember your want your portfolio to reflect quality over quantity, so I would say somewhere between 10-20 photos.

Remember to be critical of your own work. You can still appreciate and love what you’ve done, but recognize where you need to improve to become a better photographer.

--

These are the photos I chose for my portfolio. Notice only one of my older photos made the cut, while I love all the other photos too, quality-wise the ones I ended up choosing were just better.

Personally, I find that few pieces in my collection are full body photos and I want change that. Portraits and photos of which the focus is the expression of the model are I what really love to do, but when I look at artists whose work I admire, I find myself wanting to do more shoots where the focus is the full body pose and the given surroundings. Also I want to work on my light setups, both in the studio as well as on location. When I brought my softbox with me on the Snow White shoot, I found that it created more options.

So I guess I have my work cut out for me, hehe.

On another, but related note, I just got a new camera which I'm really excited about, naturally, but I'll talk more about that once I've had time to do a test shoot with it :D

Shoot: Death and the Maiden (for Starlight Magazine)

My second shoot for the latest issue of Starlight Magazine. This shoot starts off along the lines of The Little Match Girl by H. C. Andersen and then tells the story of what can almost be considered the girl's marriage to death. Somehow both shoots ended up taking their inspiration from H. C. Andersen and both dance along the line of tragedy. I guess, I just didn't want to go too obvious on the Christmas theme :)

This time we, Tenna and I, brought in a fresh face along side one we haven't seen in a while.

Models:

Stine Holm Jensen

Ariellah Engel Salimanov

Assistant: Tenna Vinther Olesen

Photos & retouch: Me

Death and the Maiden

Bonus pics that weren't featured in the magazine.

Outfit
Dress: Handmade
Shoes: Bianco
Jewelry: Accessorize, offbrand.

Outfit
Cape: Handmade
Jacket: Vila (modified)
Everything else: offbrand, H&M 

Both Ariellah and Stine did so well despite the fact that it was absolutely freezing outside that day. The weather has been all over the place lately. In fact, we had to postpone the shoot because of it. 

We were supposed to do it a week before, but then there was this storm that spoiled everything. Luckily we all had time the following weekend. And then when the forecast started indicating that it would be stormy that weekend too, I nearly freaked, haha. Thankfully, the weather was okay the day we did the shoot, though it was a bit windy. Too windy to put up my light gear, so I had to make do with natural light and a reflector.

It was so nice, for once, to have an assistant, not just for the actual shoot, but also to help with hair and makeup. Thanks Tenna :D

As always a huge amount of preparation went into this shoot. I sewed Ariellah's dress and Stine cape and modified the wings.

I hadn't actually planned to sew a dress for this shoot, but I saw these two fabrics in the store and thought they would work so well for a maiden-like outfit. The fabric is this ivory tapestry thing and then there's a detachable lace overskirt, though it's not super visible in the pictures. ;)

The cape was an absolutely nightmare to sew. While it was actually a simple pattern, I messed up everything - I've only worked with patterns once before, so give me a break ;) So I spent forever recutting and redoing things. I ran out of fabric for the lining. Twice. It's ridiculous. And then the shop didn't have more of the same fabric, so the lining is made from three different fabrics. Oh, the books I could write about this cape. ;)

But in the end, I kind of love it. Even though it kept swallowing Stine's head, the hood is beautiful and also the reason why I chose this pattern. I kind of want one in red too.

The wings consists of two pairs of wings from ebay - one of the them, the upper pair, modified with a bunch of extra feathers to even out the proportions. They became really heavy and I was afraid they weren't going to last through the shoot in the wind, but somehow they got through it relatively unharmed. 

Stine put together her own outfit and she actually handstitched that black thread (and the buttons) on the front of the jacket. Pretty awesome, eh? 

Though, Ariellah brought the skull aka. Skeletor. :D

Also, we have this snazzy video from the shoot:

How did we get up there in the first place? It wasn't easy, let's just say that much. ;)

The location is an old church in downtown Copenhagen, which is now a Gallery of some sort. It was right next to a playground and when Stine was on the brick wall with the wings and Ariellah on the ground, the kids were all "Did he capture her? O_O". Lol, it was so cute. :D

Also there was this old-drunk-man-type-person that stopped and kept talking about drawing a horse. It was a little peculiar really :/

Don't forget to read the new issue of Starlight Magazine here!

Shoot: Doll Memories (For Starlight Magazine)

Once again it's time for the a new issue of Starlight Magazine and this time I did a shoot for them to go with the Christmas theme. I decided not to do a very literal interpretation of the theme, but rather just grab elements from the classic fairy tale by H. C. Andersen - "The Steadfast Tin Soldier". Well, basically, I just used the characters. So they're these two dolls in an attic full of forgotten memories and when no people are around, they come to life.

You can read the latest issue of Starlight Magazine here.

Models: 

Lone (Ballerina)

Tenna (Soldier girl)

Doll Memories 

Tenna
Jacket: H&M
Skirt:Homemade
Shirt: Dear Celine
Boots: Unknown
Tights: H&M
Jewelry: Accessorize
Hat: Asos

Lone
Dress: Homemade (two dresses from H&M combined)
Blouse: Asos
Shoes: Chinese Laundry (modified)
Jewelry: Miss Selfridge, Glitter, Homemade
Tights:: H&M
Hairaccessories: Accessorize

This shoot was very different from what I've done before in terms of location. This is up in the attic in my building. It was extremely difficult to light the rooms up there because of the dark wood everywhere and the lack of daylight. There are a few small windows, but the sun sets so early these days, so it was almost gone when we started shooting. It was definitely a challenge, but I tried to work with what I had and I like the result - They look so much like dolls :D

So I bought some stuff and went to a concert :3

Photo: Jacob Dinesen

So I had last week off from work and had a bunch of plans of things I wanted to get done. But of course I had to come down with the flu halfway through the week. Just great. So I didn't get to finish all of my sewing projects which is now stressing me out. A lot. So yeah.
But I did go to a concert before I got ill. I saw Within Temptation for the second time. They were just as amazing as last time I saw them in 2007. They just have so much energy, passion and gratitude. It's beautiful to watch. Sharon pretty much glows on stage. *__*

Triggerfinger was the support act and they rocked too. My friend and I met two of the guys afterwards and got their autographs. Yay :D So it was a super awesome evening altogether and it's been so long since I've been to a decent rock concert, haha. I really missed it. You know those times when the drums and the bass are so loud it feels as if your heartbeat has been replaced by them. That is probably what I love most about concerts =D

Here's a taste:

And on a more lolita related note: These are some of the things that I'm waiting to receive in the mail soon:

A faux fur coat. I'm just so in love with the whole bambi thing. I hope it'll fit me..otherwise I guess I can just use it for photoshoots.

And then:

Scent of Rapunzel JSK and matching headbow.
This print! :O I think it's one of AatP's best. I think the colours are so beautiful and not just in this colourway, but also the other ones in which this print was released. I can't wait for it to arrive. =D

And I'll say goodbye for now with one of my favourite songs from Within Temptation at the moment:

Pin Up Hairstyles

The punk revolution of the 80s brought in many style changes. The changes were noticeable in ones dressing, hairstyle, jewelry, and cosmetics. The “punks” as they were called would wear these bold styles with aplomb and throughout the 80s the punk fashion came to be associated with free spirit and independent thinking. Seeing a revival, the punk culture in its new avatar is bringing some of the

Finally in the frills again

Jsk: Baby the Stars Shine Bright
Blouse: Vila
Shoes: Deichmann
Collar: Kidsyoyo
Hair-thing: Rococo's Soul

Today Tenna and I met up to do a little location scouting for two shoots we're doing for the next issue of Starlight. We pretty much walked all over Copenhagen, so my feet are more than a bit sore now. I don't want to reveal too much about what we're planning, but I'm very excited about both shoots. They're for the December issue of Starlight and they're based on two classic Christmas fairy tales.

Speaking of Starlight Magazine, the 5th issue came out a couple of weeks ago. Read it here.
My photographic contributions can also be viewed at my photo blog: Flights of Fancy. I also have a FB fanpage now, if anyone should be interested in that ;)

It's been so long since I've updated this blog, I know. It's also been a really long time, since I wore my frills more than just a casual work outfit. So when I had the opportunity today, I took forever picking out my outfit and basically just hugging all of my dresses. ;)

I originally planned to wear my Red Rid(d)ing Hood jsk from Baby, but I have to be honest with myself, if fits me terribly, so I took it off again. It makes me so sad, because I absolutely love that dress. It's so gorgeous and it pains me that I don't wear it much. I think I need to consider selling it, even though I hate the thought. I've decided to sell my Atelier Pierrot skirt that I bought at the Lolitaloppis in May. It doesn't fit either and I don't dare to try to alter it. So that one's definitely up for grabs.

I have this upcoming week off from work. Yay. I needed a break so badly, especially before all the Christmas madness starts for real. I'm probably going to spend most of my vacation sewing. Yup. I have to sew so much for the Christmas shoots. A skirt, a dress, a cape and then I have to make some wings. It's going to be busy, that's for sure ^^

Oh yeah, I wrote guide to Casual Lolita for the latest issue of Starlight. I'd be happy to translate it, if anyone are interested. Then I'll post it here on the blog.

Shoot: The Queen's Revenge (For Starlight Magazine)

This is the other shoot I did for Starlight Magazine. I've been wanting to do a Snow White themed shoot for a long time and I thought it could be a cool opportunity to do for the Halloween issue and then mix it up a bit. 

My beautiful models are:

Snow White: Emilie

The Queen: Tenna

The Mirror: Lone

The Queen's Revenge

I think they all looked so amazing and all did so well portraying their characters. It was a lot of fun. And this time I didn't drag them out into some forest, but we went to the two nearest parks. Thankfully those parks are really old and one of them has this cool miniature temple which served as the background for our 'castle'.

Snow white's outfit is very much inspired by the outfit of the little Snow White girl in one of the Supernatural episodes.

I'll try to put up some extra shots as soon as possible. ^^

Also, if you haven't already, you can read the latest issue of Starlight here.