1. Pyrotechnics
2. Porn
3. Politicians

That’s because it used to be the only place in Australia that you could buy fireworks and X-rated nasty. But back in 2009 they banned the sale of fireworks, so Canberra doesn’t have much going for it, or so I thought!  The Human brochure broke canberra down into 4 categories:

1. Food & Wine
2. Family Fun
3. Art’s & Culture
4. Action & Adventure

We were selected for the Art’s and Culture group, they flew us over, put us up in an AMAZING hotel, fed me some of the best food I have ever had, planned 3 days worth of activities for us to enjoy and all they asked for in return was for us to tag things with #HumanBrochure! I can do that! Everything that got tagged was then put up on the website humanbrochure.com.au so even if you didn’t get to come, you could enjoy it through our lenses. Ok, I think that’s enough of an introduction, Let’s get into the trip!!!

I’m trying to eat healthier, so I appreciated the healthy snack, but this was a morning flight, give me a damn breakfast!

I am a big fan of Hotels. I have done quite a bit of travelling in my young life (I’m young, shut up!) and along with travel comes hotels. My absolute favorite hotel I ever stayed in was in Paris when I was 13. They had these couches made out of various guitar, violin and other  instrument cases with huge red velvety cushions so it was both comfy and awesome. The room had 6 rooms in it and it was HUGE. Since then I haven’t been overly impressed with many hotels, but the East Hotel was pretty damn cool. I don’t know if it was just because I figured they were paying for us to do all these things, so the accommodation would be sub-par and I had low expectations but East was excellent. Just when you walk in they have a giant projector that scrolls through images on a wall two floors high, vintage bikes that you can borrow for free, three jars of free candy, two different types of water, art everywhere! Apparently it had only been finished in the last 6 months so it’s really dark, modern and clean which I love. Plus it was only 10 minutes drive from the airport!

Then we got up into the room and were happy to see that it was just the lobby that was impressive! We had one of the apartment suites so there was a full kitchen complete with oven, stove and dishwasher.

The art on the walls had been purchased from Redbubble, which is cool because it goes directly to the artist. Even I sell on redbubble, so who knows, maybe at some point they’ll be buying from me!

They had a newsletter that they put out done up to welcome us “humans” and after about 15 minutes they greeted us with handmade chocolates, fancy notebooks and a little giftbag full of canberra info!

Since I have been living in Melbourne for over two years now I figured I should build a tolerance for coffee. I have been starting with $1 coffee’s from 711 and they are pretty good with 3 sugars and a tbsp of hot coco powder, but when I saw this Nesspresso machine I became intrigued. Then when I read that it was complimentary I really became interested! There were instructions and it said the red one was decaf, but I still had no idea what the other flavours were or how to set it to cappuccino or what cup size to use, so I winged it. It…didn’t go well.

We had about 4 hours to kill between checking in and going to our first and only event for the day which was the War Memorial, so we got some McDonalds and then Violet took a nap while I watched cartoons =) Then we met up infront of the hotel, got on a bus and were given the arm bands that we would be wearing for the next 3 days!

The Memorial was amazing.

They had dressed their usual tour guides in period-correct uniforms and they were all really knowledgable and fun! Not really a word that you would usually associate with a war memorial, but they did a great job!

My great grandfathers’ name is on the wall of those who died for our country, but I couldn’t find him in the limited amount of time before the tours began. I later found out that there is a locating feature on their website but the memorial wall had been locked up =( His name is Percy Watson and he died in France during WWI, I never got to meet him but I’m still very proud of him.

After a quick tour of two or three exhibits we were ushered into a a grand hall with some more exhibits and LOTS of food. I will now commence a rant about one of the best pieces of meat I have ever had. So there where caterers walking around with various plates of food, but me being allergic to veggies couldn’t have much of what was going around. Normally I can just pick the green off and be on my way, but there weren’t any plates and we were standing so I could dispose of the plant matter. Some mini burgers and sushi went by. Apparently it was all really good, but I couldn’t try it =( Then, during a short movie about pilots I smelt them. I couldn’t see any caterers with them at first, only picking up a delicious smell of smoked meat and seeing the occasional bone left on a table. The lights came up and it looked like half the room had rib! Not fair! I started looking around, finally I made eye contact with a lovely lady who had some left! I started making my way over to her but them a swarm! She was ambushed and by the time I got there she was fresh out. Defeated I slunk back to Violet and started mingling again. But then, a miracle! She got a fresh plate and had come looking for me! I turned to see a plate full of delicious looking morsels laid out before me. I had heard someone say lamb chops, others said pork, all I know is that it was smoked and seasoned to perfection! They had some kind of white sauce to dip it in and it literally melted in my mouth. It. Was. Amazing. By the time I had stripped every last bit of meat off the bone they were gone. That’s when they announced the desert table was open and I couldn’t find any more caterers with the delicious mystery meat product =(

The desert table was pretty freaking epic though, so that helped lift my spirits. Cheese, fruits, cakes, puddings, tarts, crackers, printed cupcakes, I sampled a little bit of everything and it was amazing. All the food on this whole trip was soooooo good, but you’ll see more when we get to it! That capped off day 1, we went back to the hotel and crashed! Stay tuned for day 2!

A while ago I instagram’d this shot of Violet LeBeaux while we were doing a quick pin-up photoshoot. I have never done pin-up photography before, but have always been a fan when it’s done right. These shots were for an advertorial for a costume shop so it was more to show off the clothing than to lift the spirits of troops over seas, and the costume shop even sent me a costume for a video we have coming up, so I chucked in a self-portrait for good measure. The set up for it was actually very simple and you can see almost all of it in the instagram’d photo. You have your key (main) light to camera left which is a brollybox up high, then you have a bare flash on the floor at camera right shooting up at the wall. This is just to make the wall a bit whiter which makes cutting out the model a bit easier in post-production. Then lastly there is another bare flash diagonally oposite our key light with a flag attached to it. All the flag does is keep the flash from firing into the camera lens, while still putting a rim light on the model for some added depth. My flag is just made up of a piece of styrofoam that came with the delivery of our TV or fridge, I forget which but they are ridiculously helpful. I usually paint one side black so that you can use them for fill reflectors or to take light away. Once we were done I took them into photoshop and the hard work began! Anyway, enjoy the shots and if you have any questions leave them in the comments below, if you want to book me then get in touch via the Contact page!

Click the images to see the full sized versions!

Well when the shops start putting up their decorations and the adds for hamper king start showing up on TV you know it’s time to book your family photo for Christmas. If you’ve never sent out a family picture with your Christmas card, maybe you should consider it! Let’s be honest, you get the card, you say oh that’s nice, it’s up for about 30 or so days depending on how vigilant you are about taking down your decorations after Xmas (ours are usually up till Valentines day, but that’s ok, we have a pink tree) and then the card gets chucked in the bin. If you put a photo in with the card it’s like a little present! Your friends, family and loved ones can collect and trade them and then you become like baseball cards! Before you know it you’ll be at a reunion and off in the background you’ll hear “Do you have the ’09 Smith family? I’ll trade you my rare 2012 where Marg is blinking PLUS an ’08 and ’09 of rex the dog”. You’ll have to wear sunglasses and always carry a sharpie with you to sign autographs at any family-related event, maybe even take out some restraining orders against paparazzo uncles.

All that may or may not happen, but even if it doesn’t you will have a nice reminder of every year that you celebrate together as a family. You can watch how everyone grows up over the years and that is like a gift to your future self. While I will shoot whatever my clients ask for I much prefer not to take shots in front of a mottled backdrop where everyone is looking slightly to the left. Instead, how about taking a photo in a place that means something to you that will be looked back on with fond memories and maybe something a little creative. Matching sweaters optional.

That’s my family portrait this year. It was taken a month ago when our puppy was just 9 weeks and it’s amazing how much she’s already grown since then. She grew out of the puppy fat and is already looking like a small dog. All of my clients photos receive the same amount of attention to detail that I put into my own Christmas portrait.

I don’t like to put a starting from cost because every client has different needs and wants but if you’re in the Melbourne area and are thinking about getting a Christmas Family Portrait this year, why not get in touch via the Contact page and see what I can do for you. Happy holidays!

It’s almost time for halloween!!!!! Myself and 3 other YouTubers: Fables in Fashion, Surfaced Studio & Violet LeBeaux decided to team up for a zombie photo shoot for my favourite holiday. Fables did a make up tutorial, Surfaced did a short film, I did a photo shoot and Violet did a behind-the-scenes v-log and and outfit video (she’s all kinds of productive).
Short Film here
Make Up Tutorial here
Violet’s Outfit Video

]]> http://www.jimmyamerica.com/portfolio/zombie-photoshoot/feed/ 2 http://www.jimmyamerica.com/blog/photography/high-fashion-photoshoot-with-celina-of-fables-in-fashion/ http://www.jimmyamerica.com/blog/photography/high-fashion-photoshoot-with-celina-of-fables-in-fashion/#comments Mon, 10 Sep 2012 04:47:08 +0000 Jimmy America http://www.jimmyamerica.com/?p=2260 The other day we were invited out to assist with the a video shoot for Celina of Fables in Fashion. Just incase you haven’t heard of her, she is an amazing YouTuber who does really inspiring makeup how-to’s with a story behind each look. The location was the Port of Melbourne at the end of an old wooden pier and while they were finishing up and getting the last few shots they needed for the cinematic she had a big flowy piece of fabric that was going every which way in the wind. It looked just like an ad for Chanel, Vogue, Louis Vuitton, Prada or any top-end brand campaign, so I whipped out my camera and captured a few shots before we packed everything up for lunch! I love the way these turned out. I wish I had gotten a little more water in some of them and added some fill light or hard flash, but it was really spur of the moment and I know I’ll be working with Celina again, so next time! Her video from this shoot isn’t done yet, but I’ll be sure to link it when it’s published! Go check out her other videos anyway because they seriously rock.

I love this image. There will be some more from this photoshoot series uploaded shortly!