Good Ballerina Gone Bad

I did a shoot a few months ago with Jyllian (Photographer) and finally got my cd from her during the weekend. I really enjoyed working on this shoot. It is probably one of the most fun shoots I've ever done.

The Concept:
Jyllian came to me with this concept that she had - "Good Ballerina Gone Bad". She wanted to capture a dreamy, organic, whimsical feeling through the images. Which would be the good ballerina. This concept was shot in the morning time for natural light. The good ballerina concept is then contrast with an edgy ballerina look which is dark and mysterious. This would be the bad ballerina. This concept was shot at night.

The Shoot:
We shot this all in one day. I did my own hair and make-up for both sessions. Both Jyll and I worked together leading towards the shoot on wardrobe. Since the first part of the shoot was to be shot in the morning in natural light outdoors, the weather was paramount. We were really worried about the weather. But it turned out great! ^_^

The Good Ballerina Concept:
We met early in the morning and headed off to our first location. It was just a little piece of land covered in tall grass by the side of the road. People who were driving were stopping and trying to catch a glimpse. Must've been weird seeing someone dressed in a white tutu dancing about amongst the grass LOL.

I look so serious here haha

Different color version ^_^

After shooting at this location for sometime, we headed off to our second location at Nakagusuku Castle for the rest of our shoot.

Each image reminded me of a dream as I would frolic through the grassy fields. I was in another world...all dreamy...embracing nature, my surroundings and my character...

We tried the 'blow the dandelion into the wind' concept that you always see in photos and movies LOL gosh it is much harder to capture than they make it. They always make it look sooo easy...but we tried for sometime...didn't really work haha

It was so hard standing on this tree...it was sooo slippery and I kept slipping down.

We finished shooting the first session by the afternoon and I headed home to rest and get ready for the second session in the evening.

The Bad Ballerina Concept:
I went over to Jyll's house to shoot the second session. We started off in her living room.

Black & White version

After that we headed outside her house to a back street by her house and finished the rest of the shoot there on the street.

I love this shot. It's so cool! The light is actually coming from the headlights of a passing car.

Jyll and I both agreed that it brought back memories of when we were young wanting to be ballerinas. I definitely enjoyed playing one for the day! ^_^

For more info on Jyllian and her work check out her website:

..:: Jyllian's Website ::..

Trash Bag Couture & Ryubo

Ok, part of this post is more catered towards girls hehe - great contrast from my last post about cars but hey I gotta balance it out right? Keep it fair :p

I've been doing a few photoshoots here in Japan. I was really fortunate enough to work with a talented American photographer Eboh Ajeroh last month. I absolutely adore his work and hopefully I'll get to work with him again sometime this year.

When I was back in Australia doing photoshoots, I usually had make-up artists/hair stylists doing my hair and make-up for me. It was much easier back home as I knew where to find and look for them. However when I moved over here to Okinawa, Japan I don't really know anyone that does hair or make-up. There just aren't many MUAs (make-up artist) on the island. Maybe there are heaps of Japanese MUAs but I just need to network more and get more connections. Anyways for this reason, I had to rely on myself to do all my hair and makeup for all my shoots.

I use makeup all the time but never really did anything fancy or crazy, it was just always simple basic makeup. So I started experimenting with the different colors that I had and tried to create different looks and thanks to the internet and Youtube I was able to learn heaps of makeup tips. Youtube is a great resource for how-to videos.

NOTE: Please click on images for a better view

The result from the shoot
Hair & Make-up by me ^_^

Trash Bag Couture

The outfit that I'm wearing here is actually made from trash bags! The top is just a clear trash bag over a black bra and the bottom skirt is a black trash bag stuck together with sticky tape. It was so much fun and was really interesting! Oh and the white wig I've got on kinda reminds me of Lady Gaga...

What do you think?

Lady Gaga

More pics...

Since I was starting to do my own makeup for my shoots I had to start shopping for some different colors to add to my collection. In particular I was trying to look for deep red lipstick which was required for another shoot (I'll post up an entry about it once I get all my pics from the photographer). I was just browsing through all the makeup section in the Japanese stores like Jusco and San A and observed that they didn't really have dark colors. Most of the colors for eye shadows and lipsticks were more towards light bright colors with lots of shimmer ^_^

So I was talking to my friend/tutor Akane and told her what I was looking for and she said that Japanese people prefer bright natural colors that's why I wasn't able to find what I was looking for. However if I wanted to buy darker colors I would have to buy it from Western cosmetic brands. Unfortunately the Japanese stores here in Okinawa do not stock high-end western cosmetic brands - the only ones available are brands like Maybelline, Revlon, Rimmel (brands that you usually find at the chemist). But even so, with those brands, the range of colors are still catered towards the Japanese taste.

So for you girls that ever move here to Okinawa and need to find western cosmetic brands, head over to Ryubo department store located in Naha city ^_^ Brands available there are Chanel, Christian Dior, Anna Sui, Clinique, Estee Lauder, Shiseido, Shu Uemura (Japanese brand but not available in other Japanese stores here on the island). Very limited I know...but it's better than nothing. There just aren't much options here in Okinawa it's a different story in mainland Japan though. Just make sure you stock up all your makeup supplies before you head over here if you prefer western cosmetic brands.

I found my red lipstick at Dior ^_^
I'm glad I learned the word 'akai' (red) from my tutor the week before. Made communicating with the sales assistant much easier LOL

Also bought myself some nail polish from Anna Sui - gahhhh!! I wanna collect all the different nail polish colors from Anna Sui!! Love how it smells

I'll be going to Fukuoka on the 16th-19th of April! So excited can't wait! I heard that Fukuoka is well known for Ramen so yeah stay tuned. I'll definitely write an entry or two regarding my trip to Fukuoka when I get back.

Also, my next entry will be about Food :p so do check back for it ;)