Editorial

Barbra Kolasinski Fashion Editorial

FASHION EDITORIAL WITH DESIGNER BARBRA Kolasinski

I’ve known designer Barbara Kolasinski for a few years now. We’ve collaborated on several occasions (here for example) and became friends along the way. Earlier this year I decided to carve out a day every month for personal, creative work where I invite various people to collaborate and take some photos just for fun. It allows me to experiment, and try things I don’t get to do with paid clients. It also gets me excited about photography again. Barbra’s been on the list of prospective collaborations for this and lucky for me she was up for having some photos taken. We shot a lot with hard light that day, something I’ve always been scared of but I am scared of it no more thanks to how this shoot turned out. We were going for retro vibes - some Old Hollywood, some 1980s. Have a look below.

Hair, Make Up & Styling: Michelle Watson
Studio: Basement49

GEAR
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filter
Profoto A1 x 2
Profoto B10
120cm Octabox
Softbox 3' Octa
Softgrid Octa
Reflector

Emma Dunlop

Editorial shoot with singer songwriter Emma Dunlop

I met Emma Dunlop when she came to the opening of my exhibition Women At COP26 last autumn but actually, as it turned out, I photographed her many years ago as part of The Kennedy Cupcakes dance troupe at a corporate event in Glasgow. We chatted very briefly at the launch and I remember thinking it would be great to photograph her at some point. We managed to make it happen last month when we spent a day in a studio with a small, yet brilliant team, trying different things and just having fun. We wanted a lot of shadows, shapes, androgyny, oversized suits and playing with the ideas of masculine and feminine. I never shoot with hard light, like ever, so this was something new for me to try as most set ups we prepared for this session were all about hard lighting. See our initial references below as well as a few of the final images.

Hair, Make Up & Styling: Michelle Watson
Assistance: Jack Thomson
Studio: Basement49

Visual References

Behind the Scenes (taken by Jack Thomson):

GEAR
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filter
Profoto B10
Profoto A1
Profoto OCF Softbox 3' Octa

Profoto OCF Beauty Dish White 2'

Neewer 120cm Octabox
Reflector

Guest Editorial

I love Barbra Kolasinski’s work and was delighted to be asked to photograph her new collection “Guest”. I don't shoot a lot of fashion for a variety of reasons (lack of budgets, unpleasant individuals, etc). Still, I’m super happy when the right opportunity with the right people presents itself. For this project, Barbra put together an absolutely stellar team of not only talented but also genuinely nice creatives (check credits below).

We shot this collection at The Pyramid, a brilliantly bonkers, Brutalist, B-listed building in the middle of Anderston which now serves as a community centre. Despite many people involved and a variety of clothes and looks to get through, the whole thing went super smoothly and was actually a lot of fun. Long hours and cold be damned if you’ve got a great team you’re working with! Barbra wanted something weird and not traditionally “pretty” - thus weird poses, setups and ambiguity. This turned out to be probably the biggest editorial I’ve done so far and I couldn’t be happier. Check it out below:

Clothes + Styling: Barbra Kolasinski
Model: Erin Lathangie / Colours
Make Up: Sara Hill
Hair: Rochelle Jolley
Set: Flowers Vermilion
Videographer: Bob Rafferty

Behind the scenes:

GEAR
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 50mm f1.4
Profoto A1 x 2
Profoto Air Remote TTL-N for Nikon
Neewer 120cm Octabox
Reflector

Eunice for Scottish Woman

I photographed model and broadcaster Eunice Olumide for the first time last year and we recently collaborated again when I was asked to photograph her for the cover of Scottish Woman Magazine. We shot it on a rather windy and chilly April afternoon on Portobello Beach in Edinburgh (although I really shouldn’t complain - I wasn’t the one running around barefoot in dresses!). Eunice put together a truly stellar team for this and you can check the results below:

Styling: Michelle Watson Creative + Daina Renton
Make Up: Sharon Cuthbert
Photo Assistance: Mary Scott

Behind the Scenes:

GEAR
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Profoto A1
RoundFlash Beauty Dish