Saturday, April 7, 2012

Latest Photoshoot: Harper's Bazaar India @ Zighy Bay, Oman


Living and working in the United Arab Emirates I feel really blessed in terms of beautiful photo shoot locations ... however, driving over to Oman and staying at the incredibly beautiful Six Senses Zighy Bay Resort must rank at the top of my favorites list. I love that place and the Zighy team is amazingly supportive every time we shoot there. It's so beautiful, very versatile in terms of possible shoots and moods ... but moreover it has a really magical feel to it. The resort is set right at the beach but in the midst of the dramatic Omani mountains.


Just after New Years I worked on 2 editorials for Harper's Bazaar India in Zighy Bay together with the amazing photographer Candy Kennedy. We shot a swimwear story with Indian beauty Erika P @ Anima Creatives and a trend story with the lovely Toni C @ bareface.




and here one behind the scenes with Candy Kennedy



Harper's Bazaar India March 2012
Spring Summer Trend Story





Thanks Team Zighy and Harper's Bazaar India!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Latest Photoshoot: L'Officiel - L'Air de Temps for Dior

We have been so lucky recently to welcome model Albe Hamiti to Dubai, what exceptional beauty, rising star and amazing person! Inside and out just beautiful!
Last month I had the pleasure to shoot with the incredibly talented photographer Tina Patni for a L'Officiel Dior editorial with Albe being our model. Having received the brief from L'Officiel's Fashion Director extra-ordinaire Stuart a couple of days before, I was left sleepless the night before the shoot ... a modern interpretation of finger waves was the hair brief ... certainly not the easiest thing in the world ;)


We started at 8am in the morning with Hair & Makeup in L'Officiel's inhouse studio. Of course, the makeup room was packed with a bunch of great hair stylists working on other shoots and there I was, a completely self trained hair stylist, combing finger waves under their watchful eyes. Made me slightly nervous but even more determined to succeed :)-
With Albe's help holding down each combed section carefully with all her strength it turned out fabulous.



To create the eye makeup I used a stunning new eyeshadow palette from Dior's Summer 2012 Collection called Aurora, definitely a new favorite in my kit! It's a mix of yellows, oranges and browns, absolutely gorgeous!
Starting with the orange as a base all around the eye I then started defining the eye with the brown shadow, enhancing Albe's already nostalgic eye shape. The eyebrows were bleached and the lips were kept in soft tones.


Arriving at Jumeirah Beach in Dubai, Stuart magically created this dreamy 1920s Dior set. Some of those chairs are actually his own :)
Despite summer having started in Dubai and battling with temperatures of up to 40 degrees celsius regularly, it was freezing cold and so windy on this day. Most of the time Albe was shaking uncontrollably due to the cold, but like a real pro she did not complain even once.




HAIR NOTES:
I wet the hair completely and then sectioned the hair into 4 sections (2 front and 2 back just behind the ear). Then I pulled the back sections into ponytails finishing off with little buns on each side.
I combed a handful of Redken Hardwear gel into the two front sections and combed ....and combed and combed ... finger waves into the face and down the ear securing the remaining hair into the bun at the back.
Albe's beautiful red hair is only slightly visible because the strong gel used to hold the finger waves in place made it appear darker.