More Tips from The Novice

It is Tuesday the 3rd July 2018 not only orchid watering day but also the first tuesday in the month so it is feeding day!!!

My rescued one:

My Pride and Joy:

Tips on Expressions

Expressions

Everyone has a great smile finding it however is a different story, it can be anything from a broad one to the slight touch of an uplift of the lips.

Sometimes the transition gives a few quirks in the middle. Practise in front of a mirror.

Here are a few example all three come form one body pose:

Straight

tilt head use arms alter lips

head tilted opposite 

Orchid Tips from a Novice

Orchids

Yesterday I posted an image of my pride and joy a Moth Orchid which was bought from my local Garden Centre for a fiver.

there was such a lot of feedback along the lines of how did you manage it? I decided to post this blog.  Because I still am a novice (even after a couple of years), I asked for help from my cousin Cath who has successfully had these beautiful flowers for a long time. Her advice was pick a day and once a week on that day give your plants a spoonful of water allow it to drain away, place then in a good spot, feed them once a month and ignore them!

Now up until now my family have known me to be the devil incarnate with potted plants, and cut flowers have always had to short a lifefor me.  Orchids on the other hand seem to flower for ever!!

Today Tuesday is my designated orchid day.  I decided to have a go at this video lark to show off my collection and maybe help others with the orchids they have been given as presents!

Number One 

White Moon Orchid (Phalaenopsis amabilis)

Number Two

Pink Moon Orchid (Phalaenopsis Blume)

This was it when I rescued it.

Orchid number One Update

It has been a hectic last few months but getting settled again and have an update on my number one orchid. It has bloomed lost the blooms and is now back in bloom.  I re potted it as it had outgrown its 17cms pot and is now in a 19 cms one.  

Make Up Tips

Make Up Tips

A clear skin helps the photographer and the client who has commissioned the shoot as there is no need for post production.

If there is no designated make-up artist and you have not been given a brief, follow these tips:

Cleanse tone and moisturise

a flat foundation to match your skin tone, no shine or shimmer

Contour under your cheeks to give a faint shadow

Highlight the cheek bone to catch the light

Neutral blusher just under the highlighter on your cheekbones

Go over with a light powdering of flat powder

Mascara and false eyelashes to compliment your look

Whatever colour eyeshadow that looks natural with your colouring

Dark eyeshadow at eyeline lightening and merging towards eyebrows

Eyeliner again to compliment the look you are going for

lip liner, around lips keeps lipcolour from bleeding into the surrounding skin

add a little highlighter above the bow of your lips, adds a little younger look

fill in with your chosen colour of lipstick and gloss

There are some marvelous tips for makeup ideas from this link:
 Eddie Funkhouser Cosmetics


Also you might like to follow this young lady:
Katie Anne Westall

Posing Tips

Posing tips

General

Practise poses in front of a mirror
Never look straight onto the camera
Slightly move each time the flash goes off
Pull in tummy, head up, shoulders back, point hands and feet
Always pose everything even for a headshot, gives a better line
Chin up
If standing, one foot should always be in front of the other

Practise 5 different poses for each section:

Headshots
Plain looking at the camera slightly turned left

This one is your starting point, you can then for the next few slightly tilt your head, down or up

Turn opposit way round and do the same again.

3/4 Length

10 Tips to Improve your chances of a Great Photoshoot

You have decided that you would like some good photographs of yourself to either keep for posterity or you would like to show them to people who might let you do some modelling.  No worries we can help with that.  We have been taking photographs of all ages of people for many years.

Ladies First

Here are ten tips to improve your chances of good results.

1  Have an idea of the type of images you are after
2  Take a few items of clothing with you that you can mix and match
3  Also a couple of pairs of shoes High heels give a lovely line to the legs remember you won't need to walk in them!
4  Manicure and Pedicure. Well looked after nails finish off the line of the hands and feet, again it gives a far better finish to any pose.
5   Always be on time, to early they might not be ready for you, too late and they do not know if you are coming.
6   Use a matt foundation and powder, for makeup base.
7   Do Mascara or false eyelashes
8  Ask questions regarding the session ie Will there be a hairdresser or makeup artist.If there is not follow numbers 6 and 7.
9. Do your homework, work out some standard poses for head shots, 3/4 length, full length and practise them.
10. Work out what is your best expressions. your best smile can be any think from a quirk of the lips to a full set of teeth smile.  Find out yours.

Most important enjoy it!!!

Wiltshire Towns + Villages

We have often taken a drive out to one of the surrounding villages one of the best is Castle Coombe.

History of a Garden

At the begining of March 1973 Dave took possession of the keys to our present home, in Chippenham.  We were not gardeners.  My Dad had looked after our garden in Perth and had supplied us with fresh vegetables from his and my grandad's garden out at Luncarty.

I had done a bit of weeding but two small boys and the house took up most of my time.

So I moved down two or three weeks later and found this huge back garden.  At the bottom was an entrance into a lane across a ditch, the ditch was for the run off in wet winter weather from the field at the top of our road.  The boundary at the bottom ran left to right and consisted of a hedge of, we thought at the time, elder.

A concrete block path led from the side of the house down to the entrance into the lane.  In front of the back of the house was a grass patch a third of the way up the rest of the 60' was garden!

Weddings

Dave has been a Wedding photographer for a long time. In these days or as the phrase goes now back in the day, it was a far more complex way of working.

You started with a roll of film which only took 20 maximum black and white images.  You had to be extremely careful when you loaded it into the camera to avoid getting any light in.  In fact you used either a darkroom with red light or a changing bag.  You then took your pictures went back into the darkroom transferred the negative film onto a spool making sure the surfaces were not touching and loaded the film into a tank with a tight fitting lid, in the dark!  Mixing the chemicals was an art in itself, you were required to make sure you had both the ratio correct and the temperature. First the developer, pour away then rinse, and finally the fixer.  All to a strict timetable or you took the risk of over or under developing your film.  That took a few hours, you then had to wait for the negatives to dry.  

To get your pictures you again needed a dark room and equipment.  You carefully mixed your chemicals, developer, clear water and fixer in separate dishes at a set temperature.  Your paper was in a light proof black container and again you could only unwrap it in a darkroom with a red light.  The key to this procedure is knowing when the time was right to tke it our of the developer!! 

  One of Dave's early wedding images

Using wi-fi cards straight from your camera to the laptop in comparison is MAGIC!!