Model: Munira Model
Music: Amongst Butterflies – Paul Weller
fashionshoot
Model: Munira Model
Music: Amongst Butterflies – Paul Weller
Coming close to the end of the month for a shoot we were blessed to have lovely Indian model Munira in the studio with us. This is our third shoot together and was based on inspiration from the Paul Weller song called 'Amongst Butterflies' which I hope you have just listened to on the slide show above. The butterflies are not real of course, but they are colourful and with hair and makeup by Shadrine at Kavour Beauty they look great. Thanks then to all there that day at The Boardroom Studio in Derby.. Munira will be back again in December for a two model fashion shoot with Mercybongo. Cant wait !!!
This month I went for a couple of hours for a shoot with lovely Asian model Sin Yu Chan who had popped up for a shoot at the Boardroom Studio in Derby. I had none of the team with me that day so it was a one man show. Originally from Hong Kong I believe, Sin Yu Chan was great, with some professional moves that set the shoot apart from just a simple stand and smile job. I would be happy to work with her again, and hope that she might come to a shoot at my parents house next Summer (If they permit it!!). So please enjoy these shots from our session together.
Can you believe it this is Mercybongos seventh shoot with us at the studio and this month we have a bit of an Audrey Hepburn and Janet Jackson feel to it. Taken at, and with thanks to the brilliant https://www.theboardroom.studio/ This shoot features Mercybongo in a different style than we have previously done. The model wears what I call her Naomi Campbell long straight wig with black trousers and a pair of fishnet tights with the feet cut off over her top half and bra. This is an old trick I picked up decades ago and it creates a very edgy and strong (Janet Jackson) look. Its also cheap as you can get a simple pair of fishnets from Primark for about four quid. Mercy is also wearing a long black dress with white collar. Her hair is up with a tiara in it and some fancy pants lighting behind her. This I hope gives a classic Audrey Hepburn 'Breakfast at Tiffanys' look. There is also a third more spanish inspired look that is light, bright and orange / yellow..Thanks then to Shadrine at https://www.facebook.com/Kavourbeauty/ for her hair and makeup. To Phil Lynam at https://www.theboardroom.studio/ and a nod to my lovely wife Amy for her help.
I hope you enjoy them?
ts Mercy time again.!!!!
This lovely model is now on her sixth shoot with us, with still more to come
She is a great model and so enjoyable to be around. Permanently positive and happy she makes working with her so easy. So on this shoot we have a bit of a 1920s 'flapper' look going on/ Black and golden dress on a yellow background to highlight the gold. Mercy looks the part. We also have some sporty type pictures with a hula-hoop. Those images have a Leni Riefenstahl feel to them I am not saying I agree with her politics (far from it), or the unpleasant company she kept. Rather her strong images of statuesque German Olympic sports personnel/ She was and still is, a controversial photographer, but she was good at what work she produced. That said it was not my intention to produce that kind of image, rather it just happened and turned out that way.
We also created some dreamy effect pictures using a Vaseline smeared UV filter on the lens and Mercy wrapped in a white mesh material.. I am happy with the results we obtained, even with the more tongue in cheek 'Cowgirl' styled pictures, just for the fun of it. So thank you Mercybongo for being a true star. Thanks also to Shadrine at Kavour Beauty. Phil Lynam at The Boardroom Studio in Derby and to Carl and Amy for their help on the day
We shall see you again soon Mercy x
Male model and studio owner Lee Henshaw asked me to do a shoot for him recently. So I agreed and scratched my head a bit thinking of interesting places to go. After some deliberation I called a local Art Gallery with huge ca vinous walls and ceiling if we could shoot in their place. Thankfully they said yes and the shoot went ahead. I think we got some decent stuff. There was no up close portraits you would find from a studio setting, but we made use of the minimalist surroundings in the gallery and outside the building as well. I hope you enjoy the images?
Welcome back to my little piece of the internet, the Lujon Rael Portfolio site. Your all welcome x
Its been a busy month this month culminating with a three model shoot in two studios, in two cities.
Firstly we were at The Boardroom Studio in Derby to photograph the extraordinary Izzy Holiday model. A model full of tattoos she was not like the other models I work with. I normally have a preference for non – tattooed models, but Izzy fitted the job description to a tee. Sadly I have not finished editing them, so I shall have to share them with you at a layer date.
What we do have however is two sets from two models I shot with the team at the Zavod Studio in Sheffield. Zavod is owned by my friend a lovely model we have worked with before called Xenia. She is Russian (like Izzy Holiday) and has some strong opinions on the ongoing war in the Ukraine. Its safe to say she is not Vladimir Putins best buddy !! Anyway, Shadrine from Kavour Beauty did all the hair and makeup fro all three models, and we went for a very sophisticated look for both models at Zavod. The second model as a brilliant rising talent named Holly Whaling from Leeds. She reminded me of the young Jane Seymour actress, when she was in 'Live and let die' James Bond movie. Both models were oozing class and sophistication, which I do like in pictures. So please enjoy the the team and I created.
So that brings us to the ongoing disagreement with Parcel Farce as I like to call them. They paid £50 for my loss of the camera in their care. Yes they wiggled out of their customer responsibility and showed themselves to be a thoroughly bad player all round. And that is where I have left it. I was going to go after them and get my pound of flesh like Shylock, but that way leads to frustration and illness. I am reminded of the old Jamaican proverb … when you go after vengeance, be sure to dig two graves. I am also aware of the other adage, Dont waste your time flogging a dead horse? I have lost that camera. I will never see it or use it again. I am never going to get the money owed to me for its loss. But I will not get myself ill over it. Life really is too short for that. I have let it go. My only satisfaction is to let everyone know who is going to post a parcel, not to use the services of Parcel Farce from the Royal Mail..
Anyway enough of that BS here are this months photo offerings from the team I hope you all enjoy them and come back for more next month with a year ending shoot featuring the amazing Mercybongo.
Enjoy ...
Model: Xenia Model
Music: 'Bring On The Night' – The Police
This is our second shoot with Xenia Model and this time on her patch. We hired Xenia at her own studio in Sheffield, Zavod Studio. This being the second shoot of two Cities and two studios in one day. It exhausted me out, but worth it.
There are some specials for this part of the days work, but sadly at the time of publishing this blog for November, they were still not edited. I shall have to show you them with Izzt Holidays specials next month.
So thanks to all there. Xenia model. Amy and Shadrine from Kavour Beauty for her sterling work on makeup.
Also here is wishing Xenia a great wedding day this coming Saturday. All the best sweetheart x
Model: Holly Whaling
Music: 'Never Gonna Give Ya Up' – Barry White
Its always good to work with new people from time to time and Holly Whaling is a fresh new face on the block. Elegant and sophisticated for someone so young, she looked great in front of the camera. We shot again at Zavod Studio in Sheffield, as Holly and her Mum Emma had to travel down from further north. So it was like meet in the middle. Holly was lovely and brilliant to work with. I got some pleasing results and dearly hope to work with her again in the new year. Thank you goes out to Holly and Emma as well as my team, Shadrine from Kavour Beauty on makeup and Amy for assistance. A shout out also to Xenia Model for her studio and lighting.
Model: Mercybongo, Munira Model & Yoo Yoo
Music: 'Music sounds better with you' – Stardust
Model: Maryna Sedin
Music: 'Lowdown' – Boz Scaggs
Models: Mercybongo & Carl Tilson
Music: 'Shock The Monkey' – Peter Gabriel
This is Mercybongo's second shoot this year with us and there are still two more to come before the year is out. However, this shoot was based on the video of 'Shock the monkey,' by Peter Gabriel complete with tribal makeup and match suits for both her and her partner Carl. The idea was to make both models look androgynous in white clothing and white background. I have actually used the alternative blue versions here as I think they look better. Thanks then to Mercybongo and Carl for their input and assistance. To Shadrine, at Kavour Beauty for here great makeup. To Phil Lynam at the boardroom studio for his help and of course Amy for being there.
Model: Marie Jean Saxton
Music: 'You Get What You Give' – Charming Horses (featuring Grace Grundy)
Welcoming back the lovely Marie Jean Saxton for this unplanned two hour shoot at the Boardroom Studio in Derby this month. Most of the images were deliberately blurred and for another web site, but there was enough clear (normal ones) to go to print here on my site. It was lovely to work with Marie again in this simple stripped down, no thrills shoot.
Aasiya is a new model to me who contacted me through Instagram. A point to add here is that she is the first model to contact me through this platform that was an actual human and not a BOT created by a computer or a scammer in anyway, which makes a refreshing change on top of which she was lovely. She arranged to meet up with me and brought her Mum with her and we went out shooting in a few locations in town. Aasiya is a Muslim model and a hijab wearer, which was another first for me and we got some great pictures together.
I have asked if Aasiya would like to be my first model back in a February shoot next year at The Boardroom Studio on Derby with Shadrine my makeup artist from Kavour Beauty? She has agreed, so all looks good to go on that front.
I hope you enjoy our work together?