The weeks public vote has now finished. The votes have been counted and verified and we are excited to announce the winner of our Northamptonshire’s Next Teen Model 2012 is -

Contestant No. 10 - POLLY

The voting this year was fantastic and went to the wire. The first 24 hours of voting saw Polly ahead by 38 votes. Thereafter the top three positions continually changed between four girls, with Polly only regaining the first spot late on Sunday evening, finally winning by 16 votes. A huge WELL DONE to all of the contestants, all of whom were a delight to work with, unfortunately only one could win the first prize.

Polly was strong throughout her 30 minute shoot showing as solid technique and some confidence in her posing. Having said that, the image that Polly chose to be entered into the competition isn’t overly posy, just beautifully lit, creating a striking natural shot. Can’t wait to get Polly back into the studio for her 2 hour make-over fashion shoot, Sarah (my wife and our professional hairdresser and makeup artist) already has some great ideas for some styling options that will work well with Polly’s look. Here are some of Polly’s best bits from the 30 minute shoot, just imagine what we can achieve in 2 hours !!

Further reading: Northamptonshire Next Teen Model annual competition | East Midlands Portrait Shoots | Shoot Prices | Package Shoots | Party Shoots

Tags: Corby, Modelling, Competition, Northamptonshire Photography Studio, Corby Portrait studio, Kettering Photography Studio, Market Harborough photography

Modelling Competition - The Finalists

Three weeks ago we were photographing all of the would-be-models who had entered this years free modelling competition. All of the contestants were responsible for their own styling, hair & makeup, arriving to the studio ready for their 30 minute photographic session. The 30 minute session was broke down into three different lighting styles with minimum direction from the photographer allowing each girl to demonstrate their confidence and unique style in front of the lens. All of the contestants have returned to studio to view their shots and choose their favourite one to be entered into the judging.

Just as last year, the competition was fierce with some stunning looking girls, of varying age and experience, all looking to become this year’s ASC Photography Northamptonshire’s Next Teen Model, and here are the ten finalists. The lucky winner will return to the studio for a 2 hour make-over and fashion shoot in our Gretton Studio (nr Corby) with the images being presented in a 10”x8” portfolio.

HOW TO VOTE:

Have a look at the ten finalists and decide who you would like to vote for, you can only vote for each girl once. Once you know the number and name of the contestant please use the link below to complete the voting form and submit your vote to us.

Voting will finish on Sunday 18th @ 10pm.

PLACE YOUR VOTE HERE >>











PLACE YOUR VOTE HERE >>

Northamptonshire Modelling | Peterborough Photography Studio | Portrait photography Market Harborough

Tags: portraiture, portfolio, Northamptonshire Photography Studio, Corby, Competition

Welcome to our new Blog feature that will see us discuss our favourite photo of the month. You can understand how we created it and see how we feel that we could improve it (is there really such thing as a perfect image?)

This is a shot from a make-over shoot to produce images for a modelling portfolio. We had planned on four styles for the shoot -

• Plain Jane -no makeup or hair styling, au-naturale
• Fresh - hair straightened and vibrant fresh makeup
• Funky - hair was put-up with lots of texture and shape with makeup much more bold
• Grunge - basically messing up the Funky style and smudging the makeup to give real attitude

This shot was from the last style, Grunge, in-fact one of the last shots of the session. A dark moody shot with some real attitude and purpose to the lighting and pose.

The Techniques

We were looking for a harsh contrast across the models face (I love it when the short side of the face and eye is in partial shadow) to give real punch to the image. It would have been too easy to play safe and illuminate the whole face and body. This shot isn’t about seeing the detail in the clothing and bright fresh skin and eyes, the styling required far more attitude than that. You can see from the catchlight in the eye that the key light was placed to the models left, past the 45 degree mark, at about 60 degrees. This gave us full illumination on the long side and shadow past the nose. With just this single light we were not going to get a good separation of the model from the background, plus details, such as the texture of the hair on the short side, would not be there. Therefore we used a hard light behind the model to capture her messed up hair and to give a rim light to her right arm and back. The resulting shot instantly gave impact and interest. The shot was taken at f/5.6. This is my most used setting for portraits because at approx 1.5m from the model I will get a depth of field from the tip of the nose through to the ear, and the background will be out of focus which was 1.5m away from the model. (A point to note here, the most powerful studio lights are not always suitable. Many photographers will buy the most powerful lighting they can without any regard to the size of the studio. Buy wrong and you will struggle to get F/5.6, you will end up shooting at f/11, or more, which would have ruined this shot)

The Final Image

The almost expressionless face (I say almost because there is a meaningful stare at the camera and a slight look to the mouth) can’t help but get you looking into the eyes. The model is clearly going (or has been) to a party because of the little black dress, but her messed up hair and smudged makeup make you question the full story. Everyone who looks at this image would create their own story to fit the details, and thats the whole point. You subconsciously understand an image just by looking at it, a forgetful image is one that doesn’t require any thought, doesn’t evoke any emotion and doesn’t stand out from the crowd. Without doubt, when people view this image (and more importantly in this case model agencies), they will not forget it so quickly. Sure there will be some more traditional posed images in the portfolio, but also a few big impact shots to make the viewer stop and look, instead of just going through the motions and numbly flicking through all of the pages of yet another would-be models portfolio. I like the confidence in the pose, the rebel within, the strong hard line of the neck, the ‘don’t mess with me’ feel that the model is portraying (we joked whilst shooting this that we should get some vampire fangs). I am happy with the overall lighting effect and look to the image, even though I accept that it will not be to everyones liking. Details have been purposely left hard and edgy (not softened in photoshop) and I think the shot benefits from it - the model still looks beautiful. There is a time and a place for perfectly smooth skin and a healthy glow, but this is not a shot for those lighting styles and techniques.

What would I do next time

There are a couple of things that I would experiment with. Firstly I would be interested to see how the image would look without the triangular light patch on her right cheek. The rim light I like but a more full shadow may give the shot even more punch. Secondly I would also like to see the pose with the mouth just (and I mean just) open for a stronger pose.

What do you think? Do you like the shot, or is it not your thing. I would love to share your thoughts and ideas.

Tags: Northamptonshire Photographer, portraiture, portfolio, ASC Photography Solutions Ltd, Studio