Nice Crisp Images
After what feels like ages, it’s nice to focus a bit of attention on one of my latest big commercial jobs.
It was July when I first took a call about the booking, and October by the time we got in the studio, though finally, last week, the new Jonathan Crisp packaging was launched to the world.
And I’m pleased to say it was well worth the wait.
Capturing little slices of quirky British charm, with a nod to René Magritte, the shots see the eponymous Jonathan in various scenarios – picking apples with the aid of his brolly, sitting atop a five bar gate, in a deck chair under the shade of his umbrella and posing with a butcher’s bike and apron.
While we discussed it briefly, it was never really an option to shoot these on location – not only was the season against us, but the clean cut-out style didn’t warrant it. Any photographer will tell you that the more you can control the better, so, if you’re the type that likes to watch the making-ofs on your DVDs, you’ll be fascinated to discover that our stand-in apple tree consisted of a couple of well-chosen branches nailed to a post. However it was digitally enhanced in post production, George Lucas-style.
The gate was the real deal though.
Rather than build a prop gate from scratch it worked out cheaper to buy one from an architectural salvage yard and luckily my prop guys from V2 Display Solutions were on-hand to hoist it up to my second storey studio.
And I was really quite taken with that bike. I could see myself on one of those with little Cecil the poodle riding up front in the basket. It’s a Pashley Delibike and made just down the road from me in Stratford-upon-Avon, which all adds to that quintessentially British vibe.
The shoot went really smoothly. It’s always valuable to have clients in the room to give the nod as we go, so it was great that Suzy Broughton from Tayto could come along on the day. It was also a joy to work with Jump To, the creative agency behind the packaging redesign, and especially the delightful and charismatic Mark Glynne-Jones – who was on hand to art direct the shoot. As an agency, they do some really interesting stuff with artisan food and drink companies and their Food Funnel initiative is well worth a look if you are from that world.
I really love this finished product, I’m very proud to have played a role in it and think the stage is certainly set for lots more adventures and potential flavours for Mr Crisp.
The packs perfectly capture the ‘keep calm and eat crisps’ spirit of the age and if they’re not a big hit at Jubilee street parties this summer, I’ll eat my bowler hat.
RS x
The Low Down on My Logo
Last week my husband took delivery of a parcel from America and excitedly waved the contents under my nose. It was my logo in a fancy-pants design book.
How cool is that?
Craig then proceeded to bounce off and put together an entry on his own little blog. Bless him.
Yes, its true.
Not only do we both each own a pair of Clarks polyveldts, we now have ‘his and hers’ matching blogs, though his is more of a look back at bits of work he has done over the years.
So anyway, he has compiled a sweet history of stuff he has done for me, of which this is a highlight…
So if you’re into that kind of thing, he goes into much more detail here.
Tell him I sent you.
RS x
Vanessa Reece 1975 – 2012
Today I heard that my dear friend Vanessa has died.
One of the most talented make-up artists I have ever worked with, she never failed to make a model feel at ease and full of confidence.
And behind the scenes, her positivity was always doing the same for me.
Vanessa had been ill and talked openly online about her recent experiences of memory loss and being hospitalised with an undiagnosed condition, though only this week she’d received encouraging results from her latest brain scan and was looking forward to coming off her medication in time for a birthday drink.
This news has come only three days after the sudden death of my Dad, and it’s fair to say that these few words have taken some stringing together.
My thoughts are with Vanessa’s lovely Granny and my heart goes out to her 15-year-old son, Louis.
I feel privileged and proud to have counted V as one of my closest friends. I will really, really miss her.
RS x
Go Pro With Your Profile
For the last year or so I have been involved with a secret society of business ladies in Warwickshire and next month I am hooking up with them to help raise the profile of a few entrepreneurs.
And a bit of money for charity too.
Blogging, tweeting, and all the rest of it, are great ways low-cost ways for a small or start-up business to get its name out there, start talking to customers and meet like-minded professionals and new suppliers.
Heck, it’s worked for me.
But with that particular media’s emphasis on ‘social’, it’s often a good idea to show people who they are talking to.
Put a ‘face’ on the ‘book’, as it were.
So in conjunction with a recent Scary Women event on just that very subject, I am throwing open the doors of the studio on Wednesday 29th February and offering professional-quality head and shoulders shots for a minimum £10 donation to Kids Company.
They will be quick 20 minutes sessions, either on a plain studio background or in a naturally lit room set, and you’ll get a couple of images emailed straight to your inbox all ready to upload.
The ‘Scaries’ have had first dibs on the slots, so they are filling up fast, but if you’re running a small business in Warwickshire and would like to book a place, please drop Lisa a line at lisa@scarywomen.co.uk
Hope to see you there
RS x
Angel Rouge
I recently had the pleasure of working with burlesque starlet, Miss Von Vamp who also agreed to be the angel on my Christmas card this year.
Apologies if you haven’t received one, the chances are I don’t know your old-fashioned postal address, but please feel free to print out this blog entry and stick it on top of your mantelpiece.
It’s another of Mr Spivey’s creations and beautifully works in the two Rs of the Raquel Rouge logo while the Vamp makes for a suitably sassy Christmas angel.
I first met with Miss Von Vamp when she came in and modeled at Pencils and Pin-ups in May, though rather than take a fee for her appearance she requested a shoot with me instead. It has taken a good while, and I hope she thinks her final set of images are worth the wait.
Once the easy shot for the Christmas card, (and a delightful team lunch) was out of the way, we found the time to take a few slightly more sensuous pictures away from the plain background. I’m really happy with the film noir look we managed to achieve. The black and whites look ace, but there’s also something nice about Von Vamp’s red hair against the red velvet curtains.
Miss Von Vamp is quite the rising star of the burlesque scene and manages to fill her diary with lots of appearances around the country alongside studying for degree. She’s a great gal – really positive about everything and lots of fun to be around – although we did go all out to create some moody images that lived up to her name.
She’s also a much more prolific blogger than I am and wrote about her experience in the boudoir here.
It’s nice to be winding down for Christmas now. I’m really looking forward to the break (although I do have a wedding on the 29th!) and having a bit of breathing space to reflect on the year just gone.
And plan for the next one.
To say 2011 has been hectic would be an understatement. I’ve done more weddings than ever and, although the burlesque scene has marched even further into the mainstream and brought more competition jumping on the bandwagon, the boudoir business has been as busy and enjoyable as it has always been. Even the commercial side of things has taken an upturn this year. Landing the Nokia job was great and I can’t wait to tell you about a some cool packaging work I have done with Jump To that will hit the shelves in the Spring.
Big love to everyone I have worked for and alongside this year. It’s been an absolute blast, though if you don’t mind I’m now going to retire with a glass of mulled wine and the telly remote.
Merry Christmas and all the best for the new year!
RS x
Hello Sailor!
All the nice girls love a sailor – some of the naughty ones do too – and I was thrilled to be commissioned recently to create some hot poster girl pics for Lucy – a real life forces sweetheart!
Lucy’s boyfriend Ben is a Leading Seaman and, in true pin-up tradition, she wanted to give him something special as a keepsake to take on his long tours away from her. Rather than hide them away in his bunk though, they’re so chuffed with the results, they’ve agreed to show them off here too.
I first met Lucy at one of the Garter Lounge shows at The Assembly and then again when the Evening of Burlesque came to the Royal Spa Centre last year. She’s a tattooist and recognised mine as a Valerie Vargas from across a crowded bar. We bonded while comparing ink and she swore she’d be back in touch. Sure enough she booked into the studio months in advance and used the lead time to plan her shots and collect together all of her outfits and accessories.
One key shot we wanted to attempt was inspired by the famous Gil Elvgren ‘Ankles Aweigh’ illustration. Nautical pin-ups don’t get more iconic than that. While old Gil is the go to guy for these kind of poses and there are plenty of talented people out there doing great photographic interpretations of his work, for me trying to recreate those images down to the finest detail just becomes a technical exercise, so, with a nod to his set-up, we went about creating the sort of hyper-real image that the Hollywood studios would release as publicity for their new Technicolour productions.
Ben has done tours of the Falklands and the Gulf and has served on HMS Edinburgh and more recently HMS Gloucester. His uniform cap teamed with a blue and white striped bikini and Lucy’s impressive tats just looked amazing. Vanessa, as always, did a top job on her make up and Sinead created her hair to work with and without the hat – but Lucy was a fab model – confident and happy to pose away while I clicked the shutter.
We took so many good shots it was hard to edit them down and, as Lucy gave us a free rein to be creative in post production, we got to try a few things out. With the whole Navy theme and her tattoos I figured it’d be cool to put her on the Sailor Jerry’s rum bottle…
Lucy put a lot of thought into her shoot and it really shows. As well as the white background shots, we did some richer, more sensuous ones – I love this one of her posing with one of the letters Ben sent her from his ship.
In the space of a few hours we did ‘cheeky’, ‘wistful’ ‘romantic’ and still found time to shoot this.
Sexiest. Pirate. Ever.
As well as collecting them, Lucy has been a qualified tattooist in her own right for around five years and is currently working at Passion and Pain in Leamington. She cites Jeff Gogue and Claudia De Sabe as her influences but, from what I have seen of her work, seems to be developing a nice style all of her own.
I’m so glad that Lucy and Ben are happy with their pics, they were a real joy to do, and if you are the wife or girlfriend of someone in the forces and fancy doing something similar, be sure to mention it to get a special rate on a shoot.
I know Lucy and Ben are looking forward to spending their first Christmas together in the same house after enduring a fair few apart. I wish them both the very best of the season and also hope that those men and women serving in the forces, who won’t get to be home with their loved ones, have an equally peaceful and merry time.
RS x
Burlesque Bible – My Life in Burlesque
After having one of my shots included in the first issue of Burlesque Bible, I’m over a giant crescent prop moon to have received a double page feature this time around.
It covers how I got into photography, the burlesque scene and how Raquel Rouge came about, but if you click the image below a couple of times it should magnify enough for you to read it yourself.
The real thing is available from WH Smiths or direct from them here. It’s a great magazine and I’m so glad that it is looking like it might be a regular thing.
Hats (and other things) off to them!
RS x