Rivoli Ball Room with Mariana Chuleva

This is by far my most organised shoot.  It all began at the beginning of the year when I wanted to step up my shooting style.  I wanted to shoot more fashion type images and to create much more bespoke images.  I prefer not to shoot against a plain background in a studio, so I am always on the lookout for shooting locations.  Rivoli Ball Room is an amazing location and I wanted to shoot there for a while.

Since I wanted to up my shooting style I set about getting a team of people together.  First to come on board was Robyn Skinner, a makeup artist I worked with before.  A casting call for designer was placed on Model Mayhem.  Luckily Timea Talian responded, she also suggested I contact Mariana Chuleva to model for us.  After some communications between us, Mariana came on board also.  I also need help with light setting up and general help during the shoot.  For this I asked Nick a work colleague and his wife Niha.  They also stood in for the model, while she was at makeup, so I can set up the lights as I wanted them.  I was ready to shoot as soon as the model was ready.

The next step was to have a clear version of the type of images I wanted out of this shoot.  I did a lot of image search on various fashion sites and settled on a few different looks, then set about to create mood boards, so everyone has a clear understanding of the goal.  This is the first time I created mood boards and I will carry on using them.  It does focus your mind and you do not forget your original aims.

Mariana was great as a model and she was excellent when it came to posing.  I only had to let her know the general idea of what I wanted, she was able to pull off many different looks and pose.  The difficult task came after the shoot, there are so many great images, it was hard to select the best images for retouching.  I am not into heavy photoshop as I like to get as much right in the actual shoot as possible.

All in all, an amazing experience and I came away with some great images.

Model: Mariana Chuleva

Hair and makeup: Robyn Skinner

Styling: Timea Talian

Clothing and accessories: Timea Talian Designs

Assisted by: Nick and Niha Brown


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