Final RMS make-up still life

I got into the still life studio after it being closed for a week and was shocked to see a brand new table. My first worry was continuity, all my images have been shot on a matte table and the new table has a gloss finish. While I actually prefer this table my images will look different. At this stage of the project I don't have time to re-shoot, or the studio booking. 

Although I was thrown off with the new table I had a really good shoot. I felt I was getting the images I needed quickly but was by no means rushing the process. I was content with the lighting and felt at ease even though time is short. 

 The first set of images I took I noticed after that the stickers on the boxes looked distracting, so i turned them round and felt the image looked more professional and clean.

 I love the simplicity of the white boxes and don't think the images look to bare or empty. I feel I have achieved the minimal look. 

I think I will use one of these images as the feature image as I think its powerful but simple. 

Products

Looking at these images I can see my skills have improved, I enjoy looking at this image and the minimalism, before when I tried shooting the products I felt the images looked boring and lacked substance, but this image works for me. 

I then took pictures of the products together and separately to sort of warm up and make sure the lighting was good. 

 I added some opaline and aura quartz to the set up, I didn't want to use crystals with intense colours as it might have distracted from the colour of the product.

 I tried out adding in some cardboard shred, I realised I'd gone too far after taking a few images and returned to take images of what i'd already shot to make sure I had enough images as I do not have time to re-shoot.

Crystal Healing

I wanted to include a crystal of the week feature in my blog articles, this was something I had proposed in the early stages, but after attempting to shoot the crystals and feeling unsuccessful  this idea took a back seat. 

Here is an example of what I mean...

The images didn't work for me, they just look thrown together. I tired to create a mood around the crystal, for amethyst it is tranquil and aids sleep so i photographed it with the lavender but feel it was unsuccessful. 

After a meeting with Emma, she suggested creating moods through images of models, not marco shots. I tried out shooting the crystals again, but this time on a body. It made sense as the crystals are placed on the body for direct healing, so shooting them on a table wasn't the way to show this. 

I think the images look good because I used a model with such a small stomach, I would have preferred to have used a model that better represents my readers but i feel the image would have probably been criticised if I didn't pull the photography off. This image doesn't work for me personally because I feel I have seen images like this everywhere in general advertisement. But I trust emma judgement, I have showed a few of my peers the images and had positive feedback, so will be using one of these images to accompany my crystal healing post. 

DIY bath bar feature image

I arranged a photo-shoot with my friend phele after being inspired by this image by Maisie Cousins (I think she may be my favourite photographer-sorry Prue!). purple, especially lilac is my favourite colour, and when paired with black skin i think the colour looks even more beautiful. I wanted to create an image like this for my coconut and essential oil bath bar tutorial. 

Im really excited about the images I got today, I think they are so beautiful too look at (if i don't say so myself). I need to lighten the backdrop as it looks much darker than on the back of the camera, but I'm confident I can adjust that fine. 

 With a lot of images to chose from I am happy I have the feature image for my blog post.

RMS order 2

I have been looking at what make-up to chose for the RMS beauty shoot, I have a model ready and think she would look beautiful in and shade as her complexion is neutral and I have seen her model many different looks. 

After endless browsing I decided to get two eye polishes and a lip shine. 

Magnetic: Our biggest seller is this taupe/silver shadow with a hint of mauve.
Seduce: Sensuous earthy brown hue that can double as a contour.
Honest: A nude, dusty rose.

Skin 

Natural dewy glow, no sparkle or shimmer, just healthy glowing skin. This will be achieved with patting the living luminizer on the high point of the face. Dusty nude pink lip with lip shine in shade honest. Magnetic polish washed on the lids for a healthy look without too much shadow. 

Hair

The hair will be wet down completely and then coconut oil will be added to sooth down the hair into a slick, chic style. 

Social media

I have launched a Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram page for the blog. I will be posting teasers up until the launch of the blog. I have not use social media all that often this year, I've been too busy really and find it boring a lot go the time. I think I will find it hard to keep up with uploaded often, thats something i fell out of love with. If you do not post a picture every day on Instagram follows lose interest, you take a day off and before you know it you are yesterdays news. Hopefully i will stay determined...

Creating water droplets

I was thinking about what type of feature image i should have for my Jojoba oil post. While I like the close up of the bottle, flowers and crystals I feel there needs to be a feature image that shows how nourishing this product is. 

I like the idea of water droplets on the skin. It's something that looks really visually pleasing and I'd like to try out an idea i've had to imitate the effect. 

 An example of the desired effect. 

Trial

I am really happy with how this trial went! I love the effect of the glass pebbles and feel I've managed to create the desired effect. While this was meant to be a test I feel like I have usable images. I am so pleased with the lighting and clarity, it did take me a while to perfect the set-up and at times I wasn't really sure how it was looking but seeing the images on a computer screen is much different. 

Arabian Oil Feature Image

The mood I am trying to create with the Arabian oil article is fresh, clean and luxurious. I have been in the studio with a model and tried to encapsulate the scent. I used white petals and grass to create freshness and also purity. I feel like the shoot went well and I am pleased with the images. i love the wet look of the oil and how the body hair creates texture. My model was worried about me shooting her bod hair up so close, but I assured her this was what I was hoping to achieve. Body hair is pretty unacceptable and while there is a body hair don't care movement, it is very much something that is seen on Instagram but not so much out in the street. I want to promote natural beauty and think I have done this in todays shoot without showing armpits or pubic hair, so i think it adds rather than distracts from the perfume post.