Ever wondered how fashion photoshoots come together? We take you behind the scenes at this month’s Midnight Glitter shoot…
You wouldn’t know it looking at the finished photos from the shoot, but our beautiful sparkly Christmassy story was shot on a clear, sunny day; an early autumn stunner when the weather was still extraordinarily warm.
Normally we’d have been thrilled with the light, but trying to create Christmas when people were actually still mooching about on the beach?! Something of a challenge for photographer Erika Szostak and her lighting and photography assistant Dade Freeman, working out the best way to use the lighting in the spaces we had at the beautiful Grand Hotel in Brighton.
We ended up closing curtains and drapes, even in the bar whilst people were eating the Grand’s famous afternoon tea, but the guests were great sports, all interested in the shoot, asking who it was for and what was going on. Dade even managed to construct something resembling a lit-up Christmas tree using a standard lamp and a lot of fairy lights.
Stylist Igor Srzic Cartledge had been along to the venue the night before to drop off the clothing and accessories for the day, and they were all laid out on the bed, sparkling and glittering. As the models arrived and lovely makeup artist Charlene Howells started work transforming their faces, there was much consultation about the looks that would be created, matching items and accessories, choosing hairstyles to suit the looks.
[one_half]Although the shots have been used in a different order, the first part of the day was spent working with Lindsay Hills to create the first lot of looks, and Fresh Agents model Anthonette Angmark arrived at lunchtime for the second part of the day. Shooting the two models together was fun – there was a lot of laughter on the set.
We had a last minute panic when the hair stylist booked was struck down ill, and it looked like the models might have to put hats on or something, but Jean Yves Aubin from Uber Hairdressing was able to step in first thing and work his magic, until the lovely Yo from Cove took over halfway through the day. Amazing how many times the models’ hair was restyled – really interesting to see each new look emerge from top to toe each time. [/one_half]
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Working through our collective props – bags of Christmas decorations, strings of fairy lights and baubles, as well as lots of boxes for creating Christmas presents – was hilarious in October. Erika had actually created a Christmas music playlist on her laptop to play during the day. All in all it was a touch surreal, but great fun, and we were thrilled with the results.
Our Amazing Team
Photographer: Erika Szostak, www.erikaszostak.com
Photography assistant: Dade Freeman, www.dadefreeman.com
Fashion stylist: Igor Srzic Cartledge, www.dandylionstyle.co.uk
Makeup Artist: Charlene Howells, www.charlenehowells.com
Hair styling: Jean Yves Aubin, Uber Hairdressing Hove, 01273 747024
Hair styling: Ioanna Kruizenga, Cove Hairdressing Brighton, www.covehairbrighton.co.uk
Models: Anthonette Angmark from Fresh Agents Ltd, www.freshagents.co.uk
Models: Lindsay Katherine Hills, Mrs UK World
Assistants: Lili Harrington-Lowe and Morgan Clark, Shoreham Academy