Serenity Fashion Editoral

Serenity.
The state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.
"an oasis of serenity amidst the bustling city"

Serenity, The state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled. Being a free spirit and one with nature allows a feeling of pure unrivalled piece and calm. Mixing the pureness and simplicity of a white dress, in the fantastic picturesque location of the mine, Glendalough Co. Wicklow, Ireland, helps to create this serene mood.

I started by sketching some ideas, then I creating a mood board with the concept of the shoot in mind. With the Ideas and feeling of the shoot set in my head, I then went out on a location scout. I have wanted to shoot in Glendalough for some time, so this made my choice of location much easier. The feeling of calmness there really suited the ideas I had. I then contacted the model and stylist, sending on the mood board, and then began to source a dress, the make up look we would use and simple jewellery to complement the dress and location.

I decide early on that I was going to shoot film on this occasion. I began to research different film stocks and deciding if I should shoot in colour or black and white. After doing a large amount of research and testing out a range of films I decided that Kodak Portra 160 colour film would give the look and I was working towards. The next choice I had to make was whether to shoot square or rectangular format. I choose to shoot square format, as it isn't seen as much and would help the photographs to stand out.

Dress: Forever 21 kimono - €32
Foundation: luminous silk foundation number 5.5 from Giorgio Armani
EyeShadow: Estée Lauder pure colour eyeshadow palette using 'Sugar Biscuit' (no.60) 'Riviera Rose' (no.11) 'Ivory Slipper' (no.10) and 'Hot Cinnamon' (no.35)
Jewellery: Hand crafted by designer Heather Marie Baldwin

Location: Glendalough Upper lake and Mine, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Photographer: Conor Palin-Stewart - website
Assistant Photographer: Colin Tonge, Mark Finn
Model/MUA: Loren-Katie Logan
Stylist: Naiose Jo - Facebook
Assistant Stylist: Jessica Brennan

Dalkey Vintage Fashion - Revist

Looking back through my photo I realised that after this made it to publication in Ondine magazine, I never released my own blog of the editorial. So nearly a year later here it is. For this shoot I shot both Analog and Digital, Make sure to have a look down the end where the Analog shots are, Which were taken using a Mamyia M645 with 80mm ƒ2.8 Sekor lens on Ilford Delta 100ASA film. 

Dalkey is an area of Dublin that I have always found to be very picturesque Whether it’s castles, sea side scenery, theatre or markets, Dalkey  seems to give a moment to capture and scenery that takes your breath away. That’s why I have always wanted to incorporate the area into one of my shoots and took this opportunity to do so. Especially the striking rock faces of the near by quarry that tell a simple but magical story of their own. With the help of the talented Carina from Cherie Styling Studio, we were able to make this vision became a reality. With the amazing scenery we decided a vintage inspired shoot would be most fitting to capture the raw beauty of Dalkey.

For this first look, we decided to go for more of a traditional luxury winter feel. With Tweeds, wools and hats that glimmer with vintage glamour, with a just touch of antique fur that emphasises the feel of luxury. In this first look, colours such as camels greys, browns and creams were used to enhance the raw beauty of Dalkey, making the outfit and scenery compliment one another. With such colours, one knows that they will forever stay fashionable and bring that touch of class to any outfit, for any age, for any gender.

The second look, we decided to have a little fun with, we wanted a fight to happen with the colours the models were wearing and the natural colours of the scenery. One might say battle to be noticed. This look is more of a raw and edgy one compared to our first look. . To do this we used classic black and white  houndstooth. This holds an ageless quality and has the ability to always looks fantastic when mixed with shades of reds, blacks and whites! We used red pain tent ankle boots and fur trimmed ankle boots, to tie in our luxury vintage feel, with the addition of hats from Rosemary Keating helped to finish the outfits giving it more class and definition. Timeless fashion captured in an Iconic Location.

Models: Ally Archbold, Ben O'Beirne and Síofra Ní Chléirigh.
Styling and Clothing by Carina Cunningham, Cherie Styling Studio.
Hats Supplied by milliner Rosemary Keating.
Assistant Photographer: Lauren Thomas.
Videographer: Colin Tonge and Assistant Mark Crabbe.

Portrait of an Artist - Paul Flynn (PtII) , A Film Shoot

I mentioned in my last blog It was a pleasure to work with Paul in his studio for this shoot, and a little surprise in this blog, as I'm sure you have guessed for the title, these are the analog film photographs from that day. 

I think these shots capture the mood and atmosphere in Paul's studio much better then my digital shots could have. To me the shots below feel much more alive and human. For those interested I shot these on my Mamyia M645with an 80mm ƒ2.8 lens using Kodak Tri-X film.  The grain and tonality of the film was perfect for capturing Paul at work. While the lighting was low and I had to compensate this with some slow shutter speeds, this gave another human element with the motion blur of his movements. Non the less while we chatted, we both worked away, Paul painting and working on a few of his paintings and me carefully taking shots. In the few shots below Paul is working on part of his 1916 set of paintings.

Forme et la forme - Portraits of a Ballerina

After working with two fantastic ballerinas back in late 2014, I decide it was time to revisit the idea and project to shoot with dancers. This time I wanted to be a bit more free with ideas, I went into this shoot thinking I'd like something more moment based and dynamic.

Choosing a location to suit this shoot was an easy task to do, this was because I wanted to continue a common theme through from my last shoot of. The area we chose to shoot in this time was Smithfield in Dublin city center.  I found that the city architecture in this area really helps contrast the many of the aspects of the clothing, along with the shape and form of the dancers poses and movements.

This time I also decided that I wanted the dancers to tell their stories and why they started to dance and what they love about it. I set out to capture their love for the art while showing how strong but elegant they looked at the same time.

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Caitríona:

 I first started ballet at the tender age of three in Myrtle Lambkin School of Dance. There I was trained in ballet, tap and jazz until the age of 19 when I completed my professional ballet grade with a distinction. It wasn't until I started college in DCU that I began choreographing both ballet and contemporary, the most recent success coming third in Ireland in 2015 after choreographing a piece with my contemporary squad.

Ballet, and dance in general, is a huge part of my life. It sounds so cliché, but it really is a form of escapism for me. When I dance, the music just takes over me and I'm able to express myself in the most personal way. For me, dancing isn't about showing off what you can do, but telling a story through calculated movements of your body. The strength of a great dancer not only has to do with physical aspects, but also the ability to tell a story while looking graceful and poised at all times. As the saying goes, it takes an athlete to dance, but an artist to be a dancer

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Loren Katie:

I started dancing at the age of 4 and was extremely lucky to have had Shawbrook School of Dance located right on my doorstep in Legan, Co.Longford. My dance teacher Anica Louw contributed largely to my love of Ballet, Dancing and Performance. She was amazing and offered her time to provide intense training to all of her students. We were always kept motivated to dance and all of her students were included in every production. We were taught never to compare ourselves to other dancers and to set personal goals instead of following others. This has stood to me both in dancing and my personal life to date.

Ballet has opened my doors for me and it continues to do so. It was through my love of dance that I happened to meet Conor, whose fantastic photography skills have helped to open a new avenue for me. By participating in Ballet photoshoots Conor has given me the opportunity to portray my love for Ballet through pictures.
Dancing provides you with a new context for meeting people which gives you an opportunity to make life-long friends. Dancing helps to keep me focused on goals. It is a great outlet which keeps my head clear and helps me stay healthy and keep fit. Dancing has provided me with a different way to express myself and it has improved my confidence immensely over time. Dancing is instrumental in relieving stress which is exactly what's needed after a long day at work or college. It helps build self esteem and provides a positive outlook on life.
If you're not a dancer you will never fully appreciate the hours of practice and dedication that go into one performance but it is always worth it when it's time to go on stage. I am delighted to be a member of the dance society in my college now too which has given me the opportunity to continue dancing and to have met new people from different walks of life through our mutual love of dance.
I could never thank my parents enough for sending me to dance classes from such a young age. It is an absolutely amazing, rewarding past time to have that has been a major influence in my life to date. I genuinely couldn't imagine my life without it.

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Follow @conor_stewart

Fashion On location with Designer Naoise

The underlying them of the shoot was an autumn winter theme to help shocks the pieces designed and hand made by Naoise. Shooting on location fashion always poses a challenge, for the look myself and Naoise were going for to show case her clothing designs created a few extra challenges. However using some amazing kit from Elinchrom these were over come.  The weather in Ireland at this time of year can be desperately poor, so shooting out doors would be a problem. With this in mind the location was chosen indoors, to give an urban feel and contrast with the clothing. 

Each shot was taken using a single Elinchrom Ranger Quadra with a Portalite 56cm octabox for lighting. During the shoot we shoot Three looks most of which were shoot indoors at out first location in powers court shopping centre, while other were shot outside on the surrounding streets.

The first look was made up of a white shift dress with hand beaded japenese shibori detailing, a grey polo neck jumper under the dress, along with a pale pink fur scarf and the same shade pink swollen gloves. The neutral toned shoes were picked to finish the look but not detract away from the dress. 

The second look was made up of a custom hand printed puffball skirt and a matching quilted crop top with knitted details, the look was finished off with some suede boots.  This Look was a complete contrast of elements. The environment, the vibrant and intricate patterning on the dress and the hard, dishevelled walls of the building we were in really wok well together,  all these element really helped make the dress really stand out from the backdrop. 

For the third and final look we moved on to the streets.  For this we also decided to shoot with two models to show how the clothing can fit a verity of body shapes. This Look was consisted of a maroon wool V neck dress with handmade japanese shibori detail on the shoulder and a custom printed panel. Paired with lilac trousers with a maroon stripe detailing on the side.

Follow @conor_stewart

Escape

The escape project was a collective idea between myself and a few friends, It started off as a shoot in an abandon house in Howth Co, Dublin and developed into a story shoot. The story is of the escape of Red Riding hood from her inprisonment in an old run down, abandon house. 

A few days before the shoot we set out on a location scout and decided on two rough locations. One location an abandon house in a woods, the second a beach looking out onto the Irish Sea. 

The Costume was designed and created by our model and stylist for the shoot Maria.  The chosen costume was a white dress, with a bright red cape, and brown boots which would be hardly noticeable in the different shots. 

The lantern was a key symbol in the series, the model uses it to light her path,  the only time the it wasn't lit was when the model was asleep. 

The series show the progression of a cautious subject from the original location as she moves through the forest towards the sea.  

En Pointé - A Ballet Project

The En Pointé series started out as a fascination of the art of ballet. The complex but beautiful moves and positions have been something that I have wanted to capture for a long time.  

After deciding to undertake this project with fellow photographer Colin Tonge,  a few weeks of planning started to prepare for the shoot. With the help of Colin he put me in contact with two ballerinas Caitríona and Loren Katie. 

With the help of Colin, the two ballerinas and a lot of searching on social media and photo sharing sites, I came up with a shot and location list. ( which I was hoping to stick to, but in the end didn't) 

I decided that I wanted to under take this project as a pure monochrome series that both contrasts and complemts in different ways. I was going to achieve this by juxtaposing the modes in different lighting and locations. along with contrasting clothing. While Colin shot on 35mm film for the duration of the shoot which added another level to the shoot. 

The girls leotards were key to the shoot, as there needed to be a good contrast between them. To get the look I was after I asked that they wear black and white, or bright and dark colours so that they would contrast when the image were turned into monochrome. 

The day of the shoot, the weather was looking like it was going to be against us. it was grey and a bit windy. Lucky this helped the shots, giving a natural breeze and a beautiful soft light, with very few shadows to work in.  

To get accurate exposure my assistant Richie metered the light using a hand held light meter as the cameras built in  meter could not give em an accurate value due to the colour of the leotards. 

Working with Caitríona and Loren Katie was an absolute pleasure, they both helped out by giving input into the shots, and even spotting some locational shots that I would have missed. To check out the full series head on over to the series gallery. Please head over to Facebook and give me page a like and share  

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Stencilize

One of the biggest shoots I have taken part in to date, well not just taken part but planned from scratch, done the location scout and organised models to be exact. The shoot involved 3 days in studio working with models and capturing still life photos of the products.  Below are a selection of the studio shots working with models. 

Kym 

Richie

Richie

Kym 

Working with the products, due to the design of the prints I had a shot idea where i wanted them hanging on string with pegs, to give an interesting look that draws you into the products, along with creating classic product images for publishing.

Day four of the shoot was location day. a week earlier i had done a quick location scout around Dublin city, picking out locations that might work and even sketching out some possible shots. For this shoot I had 9 people modelling, doing a mix of individual and group shots at the various locations.  Want to see more then head over and check out the products over on Stencilize's website.

Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and 500px using the links below

Fashion

A verity of Fashion photography both in studio and on location in various styles such as low key and high key and event coverage. Kilkenny Based Photographer