All of the ladies that booked on the Makeover + Shoot Day held at the end of May have their chosen images so I can now share them with you all.

It was a really great day, the sun was shining (that mini heatwave that we had) and it was nice and cool in the studio. There’s nothing worse than having your hair and make up done and it all melts in the heat, especially with the added heat of the studio lighting. I got the lovely ladies at Vintage Patisserie make some delicious cupcakes with my awesome logo on as treats for everyone.

Don’t Didn’t they look swish?! Eaten in seconds!

My team and I (Ceri Cushen on hair and Amber Erlandsson on makeup) loved all of the ladies ideas and looks that were booked on the day. All very different. We had an Urban/Pop solo artist with a hint of Bollywood style, 2 Pin Up styles, lingerie and latex shoot and a high-fashion crazed asylum style shoot. SO much fun.

Here’s some of the pics from the day

Half of the ladies had never had a photo session before, ever! The feedback received was so nice.

One lady said to me “it was an awesome experience – the set, the atmosphere, hair & make-up and you are at total legend – you made me feel comfortable and confident, and I think that shows in the photos”.

I’m hoping to hold another Makeover + Shoot Day in September. Please look out for the advertising announcements soon. I hope to meet some more of you lovely ladies and get to take your pictures.

Mx

Maths was never my strongest subject at school – I’m more right brained than left.

One thing I do know is that this month, the bank balance took a hard hit when we celebrated 2 birthdays in our household. MegaBeth turned 13 at the beginning of the month and Jessica-Leigh had her very 1st birthday yesterday.

MegaBeth loves her art and music. She wants to be a tattoo artist and was very pleased with her ‘One Sketch-a-Day’ Journal, along with a new iPod complete with loads of her favourite albums.

Then 16 days later, Jessica-Leigh was ONE YEAR OLD!

In what feels the blink of an eye, a whole year has gone past!

The picture below I took when Jessica-Leigh was maybe just 10 minutes old. A very traumatic but precious time – something Glen & I will never forget.

It’s been a wonderful year and we are are amazed at how we can survive on such little sleep. The rewards are the best and make up for the sleepless nights for sure. I find that parents always say that and you think “yeah yeah…” but it’s true. Though I am secretly adding up how many years worth of sleep my girls owe me!

Jessica-Leigh in her 1st year has learned to do so many things. In the last couple of weeks she has just started to walk along whilst holding onto furniture.

Yesterday afternoon we had some of our family over to do the fastest 1st birthday celebration in the world. Her attention span and routine can’t cope with a long party, though I look forward to those in years to come. So it was just lots of wrapping paper and gifts flying everywhere!

I don’t think Jessica-Leigh knew what was going on, though she did take a big interest in her balloon

Grandma and Grandad bought a “This Little Piggy” puppet book which went down a treat

As did the DVD of Waybuloo. She wouldn’t put it down for the rest of the day.

Even I liked the little piggy book!

Some lovely clothing from friends and family too, along with a GREAT find – an AC/DC t-shirt

That got a big spontaneous applause after daddy gave his rendition of “Highway to Hell”

(I will be posting a baby rock clothing blog after some great finds!)

Appreciating grandads beard

After all the mayhem, a chilled out moment watching Waybuloo with a cute little smile on her face

I had to be quick with this picture as the champagne was consumed faster than the gifts were unwrapped

The June Birthday Girl’s together.

Cuddles with daddy along with tired face strokes after a very exciting day.

Mmmm cake! (Made by grandma)

Happy 1st Birthday Jessica -Leigh!

Tomorrow I will be showing you the awesome fun we had on the Makeover + Shoot Day!

Mx

Remember that really nice weather we had where the sun shone for a good few days before the nasty weather? It wasn’t a dream was it?

Anyway, it was a perfect outdoor photo shoot opportunity! Model Tristen and I decided escape to the woods this time. I posted a teaser pic on my Facebook page the next day and was pleased with the great response – thank you! The set was one of my recent favourites. Having shot with Tristen loads and loads of times now through various hair colours, (she’s now back to blonde) an outdoors shoot was one we hadn’t yet done. Here’s a couple of pics (you can click to view bigger of course).

A relaxed and chilled out setting with lovely sunny colours.

Just as well really as a few days later we moved home and chaos ensued!

Like this

Jessica-Leigh and Gibson tried to help with the packing

This was one of the tidier rooms being packed up

The move took ALL day. I posted this image on my Instagram – just 2 days later, these are just some of the boxes still packed and stashed in the garage.

Thank goodness for garages!

Hopefully a little more on track today. Someone please remind me why we move house again?

Mx

ESO have been teasing everyone for the past month or so with a name change (formerly esOterica), promo pictures, website re-vamp and music video trailers like this

All leading to a sold out Special Album Preview show last week that I was more than happy to attend on an extremely hot evening in Soho, London.

Everyone was very tightly packed together, including the gear on the tiny stage. Thank goodness the venue was air conditioned! A small LED sign fixed centre stage that read ‘ESO’ flickered sporadically before showtime – like a curtain call, enticing everyone to grab a drink and head for a good view.

They played for just over half an hour and showed the video for their new single. It’s hard to believe ESO haven’t played live in a year, it was evident they enjoyed being back on stage again. Reading all the feedback on their Facebook page from this show, it’s safe to say they have every one chomping at the bit.

Good job that yesterday they announced a UK tour for July!

Here’s a few pics from the launch show

Great to have you back again guys!

Mx

Rising rock band – Achilla – contacted me for a promo shoot recently. I must admit, I had never heard of them before. Checking out their website and doing a bit of research, I wondered how I hadn’t!

Acclaimed by journalist Malcolm Dome (Metal Hammer) and a host of other music media and radio, I was very excited for this shoot.

For some of the pictures they wanted to use something called ‘X-Ray Fabric’ as a backdrop. Very intriguing! This fabric was designed and made by woven textile designer Rita Parniczky, who had studied at the prestigious Central Saint Martins and, this fabric will become part of a permanent collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2013. You can imagine how excited I was to see  it!

Well, here it is.

The X-Ray Fabric.

Martamaria had part of her shoot involving this and then we did full band shots in other parts of the photo studio.

The shoot session was really enjoyable and I found the guys in the band to be so interesting – hailing from Greece, Italy and Hungary. A real mix of cultures and proof that music is the universal language.

Here’s one of the promos from the day. They wanted some simple shots to use for promotion and also for the forthcoming album.

Achilla are on tour with Swiss band November 7 this June & July around the UK. Be sure to check out their dates and catch a show in your area. Did I mention Martamaria holds the Guinness World Record for the widest vocal range?!

Amazing!

Mx