Yesterday I spent an enjoyable day at the Great British Tattoo Show at Olympia, put on by Skin Deep group of publications.

Alongside a host of great tattoo artists, there were stalls aplenty featuring alternative clothing, jewellery and lingerie, so even if your primary reason for attending was not to add another design to your skin, there were plenty of high quality diversions and entertainment to occupy you.  Rather than boring you with a ‘what I did today’ account,  here’s a little pictorial impression of the day.

Graffiti Life - for when a body is just not a big enough canvas!

The Graffiti Life team were working away for the entire time I was there, creating an amazing and massive mural…it did make me wonder what would become of the work of art once the weekend drew to a close.

Box Jump - high flying BMX bikes

These guys were shooting up ramps and “high jumping” over a beam which must have been ten feet or more above the ramp.

One over over 120 tattoo artists, hard at work

Fashion show with Spirit Models

Beatrix Von Bourbon - seductive burlesque diva

Deciding where the next tattoo should go

Body painting with Retro Beauty

Compere Paul Sweeney

Lingerie with Spirit

The lingerie show - grand finale

The sensational Millie Dollar

Engineers of Desire - fashion show finale

Stempunk, whips, fire…Engineers of Desire had it all (including, I noticed, a guy standing beside the stage with Fire, Health and Safety emblazoned on his back!)

Engineers of Desire - can you smell something burning?

Engineers of Desire - yep, definitely can smell burning!

Bye bye blue screen!

I’ve enjoyed one too many Billy Gates bluescreen experiences recently. The issue that tipped the balance was finding my PC Windows had ‘updated’ overnight and from that point refused to boot up. So I’ve taken the plunge and am now a newbie Mac user.  I spent a fair few hours in the Apple store, before making my decision.  The very knowledgeable guy even loaded up Photoshop, then stood aside so I could see how it compared for speed. Well, having grown up on Windows, and never having experienced a Magic Trackpad, all I could do, was to make Photoshop speedily vanish with a flourish…pretty magical to me! It felt like the first time I’d been in front of a computer…a little embarrassing really.  I did not have a clue about making Photoshop do anything…and I’ve been using the program since version 3!

However now, after a week I am falling in love with it, although have had a few hairy moments working out the implications of using spreadsheets over the network, and  getting my head around aliases that forget where they are pointing!

A large RAID is on order so soon I should for the first time have access to my entire library, without having to rely on a pile of hard drives!

Shooting along…

The studio has been hopping lately.

In no particular order, here’s some of the output…

Aisling Grace, on Tattoo Revolution magazine

Congratulations to Aisling, who shot this for Tattoo Revolution Magazine shortly before leaving for Australia.

I enjoyed a very productive shoot with Portia Victoria, a multi-talented young lady, shooting some amazing outfits by the UK latex couture company Westward Bound.  This was one from a set for a cover of an online lifestyle magazine from Thailand.

Portia - Westward Bound

Below Portia models an extravagant outfit from London based Kaori’s Latex Dreams…

Portia in Kaori Latex

Sticking with the latex theme (bad choice of words?), Torture Garden have published images from my recent shoot with Marnie Scarlet who will be performing at their forthcoming Fetish Boat Party:

sailor Marnie Scarlet performs at the Torture Garden Fetish party

And now for something completely different…

Just about as far away from the previous photography, it is lovely to see the beautiful Acid Doll gracing the cover of the new Vintage Life.  This was taken during the Brighton shoot at the Pelirocco Hotel.

Acid Doll on Vintage Life

For some while Laura from Hot Rockin Belle has championed outfits for those who are above stick-thin!  So I was delighted to help her prove that rockabilly dresses actually do look better on girls with curves.  We shot some catalogue shots and some editorial shots…the latter will remain ‘under wraps’ until publication.  Anyway, if you have curves, now you know where to visit to find a treasure trove of fun fashions that really flatter.

Hot Rockin Belles

These three Hot Rockin Belles above are (L to R)  Sarahanne Hall, Lea Blakey Miller and Amanda Coban.

finishing the round-up of images from a few recent shoot we have model Chipfox, modelling an outfit by Rubber Monkey – and this is by no means a random choice of image, for this talented model is also the driving force behind Retro Beauty…and she was the make-up artist and hair stylist for our trio above.

Chipfox in Rubber Monkey latex

Lately there seem to be less hours in the day and less days in the week!  I keep trying to find time to update this blog, but shooting and retouching leaves me less and less time.  Anyway, burning the midnight oil here to give a brief overview. The next posting, which will follow very soon, will be an all-picture one!

Kristina Labahn - see below

An interesting case

First,  an embarrassing confession.

It soon becomes apparent,when working with models, that they always turn up with a large case  in inverse proportion to their size…a petite model will always arrive lugging a huge beast of a trunk behind them.  The other thing that is evident is that whereas,  without makeup, one would probably pass a model without a second glance,  once made up she will have all heads swinging round!

Anyway, as is my custom, I offer to collect models from the local station to ferry them to the studio.  Last week, I waited at the barrier.  A large case appeared, along with a diminutive model. She struggled up to the barrier with her case, and realised it was not going to go through easily.  I was standing the other side of the barrier and managed to catch the eye of the attendant in the ticket booth; I gestured about the luggage issue taking place.  He nodded,  pressed his button and opened the large side gate which she made her way through.

I gave her a welcoming smile, said hello and proffered my hand, offering to carry her bag.  At this point it fleetingly crossed my mind that I had asked her to come with most of her make-up done, and irritatingly, she had evidently ignored this recommendation.  She seemed to return my welcome with a curious little half smile,  all but ignored my hand, then bustled straight past me, and on towards the exit.  And at that point, who should be coming around the corner towards the ticket barrier,  pulling a large case, but a stunning model, fully made-up – my model!     Oops!

I spent the remainder of the shoot wondering what on earth the first lady had made of the strange guy, who apparently hanging around station exits trying to pick up young girls…or at least their luggage!

People have said…

I am not very pro-active when it comes to promoting the studio, believing that the images should speak for themselves.  However a very good friend of mine, now sadly deceased, lived by the mantra ‘if you don’t blow your own trumpet, who else will!’

So although I will let you be the judge of my work, I can tell you that I do plenty of shoots with those who have never been in a studio before.  Sometimes the shoot is purchased as a gift by friends or family, sometimes it is the model herself who simply wishes to achieve some images to be able to show her children and grandchildren well into the future.

What sort of shoots?  Well, that is entirely the decision of each client.  I have shot anything to cheesecake pin-up, to art-nude…and even pregnant ladies wishing to be immortalised a la Demi Moore.    Images can be as demure or risque as you wish.  Being able to call on the services of professional make-up artists and hair stylists is so important for such shoots – it really makes a huge difference.  The make-up artist/hair stylist discusses what you want from the images and will create a style to help you achieve your dream images.

If you read the blog you will already know I often shoot for performers.  I am also called on to shoot for model portfolios,  so rather than blow my own trumpet I will conclude with a couple of unsolicited testimonials that have come along in the past couple of weeks:

“An absolutely huge thank you for today! It was a huge pleasure meeting you and I had a whale of a time. I certainly enjoyed working and conversing with you a great deal and would be thrilled to have you shoot me again in the near future.

I have looked through the images and an absolutely thrilled beyond words. You have done me a real justice, I am floored by how many I simply adore. I can’t thank you enough. “ – Kristelle O’Chocolat

“My shoot with Retrophotostudios was incredible. Terry is very easy to work with, and made me feel very comfortable. He gives outstanding direction, and knows exactly how to achieve superb images. I am so impressed with every image I have seen so far. Highly recommended. Cannot wait to shoot again.” – Kristina Labahn

There have been so many shoots going on this month that I have been somewhat remiss in keeping the blog updated!  So this entry is going to be a brief overview of just some of what has been happening at the studio (as time permits I will blog separately about some of the other interesting shoots this month).

I’ve sponsored the Burlesque Idol competition for some years. The winner from each heat enjoys a free shoot at the studio. Burlesque Idol is the brainchild of House of Burlesque, and when looking to find a link for this blog happened across Tempest Rose’s HOB blog, which quite made me blush…so thank you kindly!This month it was the turn of the delightful Peggy de Lune. It is always great working with trained actors – providing a variety of facial expressions is second nature (to them…not me!), and Peggy was no exception. She has such an infectious sense of humour it was difficult to get serious shots with all the laughter going on! Anyway, she is a huge fan of Betty Grable, so we recreated the iconic image. Expect to see more results from this shoot in forthcoming Vintage Life magazines.

Speaking of Vintage Life, the new issue has headshot of Miss Lula Mae from last year’s studio shoot, and a spring-cleaning shot of Miss Envy Greene– see below. If you are into the vintage lifestyle take yourself off to WHSmith and grab a copy!

On location for a clothing photoshoot

Early this month I enjoyed a shoot for ASOS Marketplace for Collectif at Camden market, featuring SINderella Rockafella.

This model visited the studio a few days later and we shot some interesting latex designs – the style below comes from Hellcat Latex.

Time for bed…in latex!

More recently models Juliette October and Anthony Brooking came to the studio for another latex shoot, this time featuring the new nightwear range from the talented people at Catalyst Latex. Their site is well worth a visit.

There have been a slew of other shoots, both for tattoo magazine covers and for clothing companies but I am keeping all those images under wraps until publication!

A new month and it is encouraging to see so many publications on the magazine racks  are now featuring photography from Retro Photostudio! As you will see, it is a really diverse cosmopolitan selection.

First up is the lovely Cherrie Mae on the cover of the USA magazine Skin Art.  We have subsequently had a further very productive shoot together…and you will definitely be seeing the results on a cover or two very soon!

Cherrie Mae modelling for skin & Ink

Acid Doll is on the cover of Milkcow Magazine from our Manhattan shoot.  She is modelling vintage lingerie from Sleek ‘n Chic.  Inside the magazine you can enjoy a two page spread from the same shoot, this time featuring some great latex outfits from Westward Bound.

Milkcow cover featuring Acid Doll

Acid Doll also features in Vintage Life magazine, shot recently in Brighton:

Acid Doll in Vintage Life

This versatile young lady is also in the new edition of Secret Magazine  (not pictured) – a beautifully produced black and white fetish magazine from Belgium.

The current edition of Vintage Life also has a Retro shot of my good friend Jaquie Gladden which we took several years ago, as well as Jessica Bella, whom I wish every success now she has returned to the USA.  Dawn at Candy Says kindly lent me this beautiful sixties outfit and several more specifically for this shoot.

Jessica Bella modelling Sixties

I’ve only just discovered that a recent edition of Pin-up Perfection showcased a shot from the very first shoot I had with Ruby Fortune:

Ruby Fortune - pin-up on the telephone

Finally, Australian hot-rod magazine Cruzin centrefold is devoted to Rayna Terror and Fae Raven:

Rayna Terror and Fae Raven - Cruzin'

If you are a magazine publisher and would like to feature Retro Photostudio photography do get in touch.

It was a delight to welcome Marnie Scarlet back to the studio. As well as being an extremely talented designer for Libidex latex, she is also a burlesque artist – with a difference!  Her act is almost as far as it is possible to get from “classical burlesque”, and she is high demand as an alternative performer in Europe and beyond.

The couple of images here give an idea of Marnie’s imaginative ideas.  Safe to say she is never knowingly understated! It was great to bounce creative ideas off each other again this time.

Marnie models her Vogue styled latex outfit at Retro photostudio

Marnie, merry matelot!

Marnie Scarlet - strike a pose

Miss Phoenix relaxes with two of her biggest fans

Shipwrecked

Shipwrecked - House of Burlesque

Last Friday we loaded the car down with retro props, camera and lighting gear and set out for Brighton.  Our destination – Hotel Pelirocco…the goal to get shots of the various strikingly different themed rooms, then to do a shoot with a number of talented models.

Fortunately we were based in the Bettie Page room which is only on the first floor – it proved easier to drag the bags of kit up the stairs rather than squeeze into the pint-sized lift!   Some of the rooms are perfect for shooting, although our room of choice had already been booked.  I won’t tell or show too much here as the images are slated for use in a couple of magazines.

Time would be tight, as new guests would be checking in mid-afternoon, but in the interim we were lucky to have been offered a window for shooting in an additional four rooms.  So as soon as each model was made-up and coiffed, it was a choice of outfits and off to one of the rooms.  After a day of climbing up and down four flights of narrow stairs, carrying lighting and cameras, my knees really started to let me know they were not happy!

 Brighton early…

It was bright and early on the Saturday when we welcomed Verity and Gemma from The Vanity Box who were to look after the hair and make-up.  Space was at a premium, so the girls set up in the bathroom area.  I have to say that this team created some amazing retro looks, working from the most cramped area you can imagine.

Gemma attends to Acid doll (L) as Verity coiffes Miss Phoenix

 Dresses, lingerie and…

We were really lucky in our outfits as we had a wide selection for the girls to model: first there was a selection of vintage lingerie, corselettes, bras, girdles and vintage stockings from Sleek ‘n Chic.  You can view a couple of the outfits here.

Then we had rockabilly and retro dresses from Lady-K-Loves and Outerlimitz, and jewellery from Bow & Crossbones.

 The models…

By 8:30am Sam Huggins was undergoing her transformation as our first model.  This was Sam’s first vintage shoot, and I thought she did really well…although every time she caught sight of her reflection she could not believe it was really her!

Sam Huggins

From there on until 6:30pm was a blur of photography (maybe an inappropriate turn of phrase there!) as Miss Lula Mae arrived, followed by Acid Doll and Miss Phoenix.  I have shot with all three of these models before.

Acid Doll was over on a fleeting visit from Belgium, and has the pin-up style really sewn up.  She is a chameleon, always able to produce different looks and a consummate professional.  Lula Mae has a classical vintage look, and an amazing collection of vintage outfits…she could have stepped straight out of the pages of a fifties Vogue magazine!  Miss Phoenix is an up-and-coming burlesque artist with gorgeous red hair and great expressive eyes.

Miss Lula Mae in pensive mood, wearing one of her vintage dresses

Acid Doll, channelling Bettie Page, at the Pelirocco Hotel

Miss Phoenix modelling Bow & Crossbones jewellery and Lady-K-Loves dress

The technical stuff

For those interested in the photography side, my goal was to rely as much as possible on natural light, supplemented by either diffused flash or reflectors, just to fill in shadows.  I’ve always tried to shoot at low ASA to minimize grain, and today, on my Nikon D700 I worked between 200ASA and 800ASA.  This created a few issues, the primary one being the wide apertures and slow shutter speeds.  Often I found myself shooting with aperture wide open, and sometimes with shutter speeds as low as ¼ second, not the best recipe for sharp images!  To minimise camera shake I used a monopod, but there were a percentage of images where slight movement of the model gave unwanted motion blur. In the future I will have greater confidence in the camera’s higher ASA speeds!

The results…

It took quite a while to check and sort the results, but I am delighted to say there are several hundred really good shots which you should soon be able to enjoy on the stockists’ websites, and in various magazines too.  A big thank you to all involved, including my wife Debbie who helped style and ironed all the outfits too!

During our recent NYC trip,  after spending some hours walking the very chilly Manhattan streets, we decided on a coffee stop to warm up.  On the way in we were approached by a guy who asked if we could help him out with a coffee.  He looked far colder than we were so we invited him in to join us.

Over the coffee, Jack Crow entertained us with our very own personal close-up magic show – which was really impressive.  He then let us onto the secrets of how he had done the tricks…which was even more impressive, but I won’t share those with you!

Jack also related a little of his chequered career, which included travelling with a circus and a trip to England, where he did not manage to see anything apart from the inside of the airport;  the Border agencies held him, due to his lack of funds, before returning him the same day to the USA.  Despite the slightly precarious lifestyle he seemed very positive…outlining his plans to enrol to study recording techniques (he is also a musician).

He survives by performing his magic in the Manhattan streets and subway, spending nights sleeping rough in shop doorways – if you imagine temperatures around 7 degree Fahrenheit coupled with 20 mile an hour winds, that is one tough way to survive.

Photography – the technical background to the images

I shot Jack in the cafe, then suggested we shoot outside, his normal performance arena, to which he readily agreed. This was my first opportunity to put my Nikkor 14-24mm wide angle lens through it paces. By now it was dusk, so I racked the ASA up to 800 on the Nikon D700 and added fill-in flash. Even so I was shooting on F4.5.  The wide angle of the lens meant I needed to get within 3 feet of Jack to make him dominate the frame…I love the wide-angle distortions, which I feel adds impact.  The first image was taken with me crouching at knee level.

Jack Crow - magician NYC

Jack Crow - find the card