Here are some of my favourite portraits taken in that year including those that I have not been shown before.

Tim Wetzel, Kuala Lumpur

Thomas Pullar, Melbourne

Natascha Verkaik, Melbourne

David Maher, Melbourne

Rhiannon Hough, Melbourne

Elke Bonner, Brisbane

Sharon Smith, Brisbane

Annalyn King, Singapore

Vishnu Bala, Singapore

Rokshana Aitken, Melbourne

David Paris, Sydney

Brendan Maclean, Sydney

I never took notice of Georgia’s collarbones till now. Gosh.

Prepping in Samantha’s studio.

We shot by the cliffside close to Bondi Beach near the houses and featured a blue Porsche convertible. It was a lot of fun riding down Bondi with the top down, wind in my hair, sun in sky, well you get the picture. Note to self: buy a convertible when I start rolling in the big ka-chings $$.

Samantha, our stylist.

I really love that you can get such clear skies and blue seas in a major city like Sydney. The weather was gorgeous until it decided to turn its back on us in the middle of the shoot. The clouds rolled  in with strong winds and the threat of a major storm happening. Poor Georgia actually goose-bumped all over, she has not an inch of fat on that body of hers. I have to admit, the change of weather did add a little extra to the photos. You’ll see what I mean

And then we felt drops of water falling on us….

With Samantha, Georgia, Me and Danielle.

The first of my three espresso shots that morning, courtesy of Samantha’s machine.

I enjoyed my previous trip to Sydney so much that I decided to extend my trip in Australia by a month just so that I could spend more time there. During that time I managed to do three shoots with Samantha Denise, the stylist. Our model was Janneke Thurlow and hair and makeup was done by Eddy and Lisa from Sleek Hairspace (Bondi Junction). For some reason, Samantha and I always run into problems locating models but usually are lucky enough to find them just at the last minute.

Check out Eddy’s fabulous makeup kit.

Early morning prep.

Quick touch ups before we start shooting.

It was an early Sunday morning, the streets were quiet so I decided to shoot in the garage next to Samantha’s studio. The light there was gorgeous and good thing it was not opened for business or we would’ve ran into a lot of… distractions. Of course I had to make the model suffer a little by putting her in direct sunlight, heat, dirt and grime but hey, it was worth it.

By the end of the shoot I was so high on caffeine and bouncing on my toes even though we were all so exhausted. Still, thank goodness for the constant coffee breaks. And then it was time to start preparing for the next shoot….

Eddy, Lisa, me, Samantha and Janneke.

Flashes of memory for the day includes, Chris’ illegal parking ticket (sorry Chris!), a wedding shoot across from us (bread basket, classic car and all), and a lot of chattering teeth. It was a good day.

Making another huge mess of the apartment. Chris is bored to death.

Who doesn’t love getting their hair done?

“What did I get myself into?”

We like getting in your face.

Notice the human light stands? That’s right, human.

After a long, long, long, time waiting and probably almost getting pneumonia (whoops), here are the photos. Sort of a ‘Friend to Foe, Day to Night’ kind of progression, don’t you reckon?

I seem to have a thing for super-hero style photos. Rhiannon and Tanarra are definitely going to be very highly demanded in the industry. Thanks again to everyone for sticking it out one full day and doing a great job. Much love xx.

Monique, Rhiannon, Moi, Eleanor, Tanarra and Christopher.

10 more days, and then some…

His girlfriend Eleanor Seymour (sorry ladies) is also a part-time photographer and was on hand to assist on the shoot. These two were a great team to work with, funny and entertaining. David had another session right after ours so we didn’t have much time to shoot, but we did manage to get some great shots. Talk about being dedicated!

I miss the street art in so many of Melbourne’s alleys.

Clark Kent!

Our rendition of James Dean.

On another note, have you ever noticed how some people like to use random shopping carts in their photos? I never understood why they would steal a shopping cart and put it in the middle of nowhere just as an odd prop. Guess what? There was a lone shopping cart stranded at where we were shooting and we couldn’t resist the urge, so…

Group shot featuring the runaway shopping cart.

This shoot was focused more on portraits simply because I love the look that Natascha gives the camera.

One always needs a reflection shot.

Bringing out the sinister and narcissistic.

The sexiest red mailboxes I have ever seen <3.

Still on the dark and sinister theme.

Love the cat-eye effect the tube lights give.

As always, a classic portrait.

Thanks lovelies.

I loved the messy black gloss eye makeup Phoebe did on Natascha but it was funny when she had trouble keeping her eye lids from sticking though it was definitely worth it (Right, right, right?).

P.S. I can’t be bothered to write long rambling posts anymore so I’m making big cuts everywhere! The end.

Makeshift makeup station behind a car boot, very convenient.

We decided to drive up to the Gold Coast at the very last minute but also big thanks to Nelson for the ride and equipment! It’s a real pity that I couldn’t get to see the Gold Coast beyond the area that we were shooting at. Perhaps next time?

Very fascinated with Frankie’s battery-operated heated eyelash curler-brush.

The location was beautiful, from where we shot we could see the skyline of the city by the beach. It was so serene, mesmerising and exciting at the same time, with the waves crashing, seagulls flying and the wind blowing through our hair. The sun was close to setting so it lit the skyline from the back, washing out most of the details and making it look heaven-like.

Courtney making adjustment for how the skirt should flow. Yes, details!

I had to lie on the rocks very close to the water to get this shot and almost got wave-crashed on a few times but it was worth it.

It got dark very fast and the temperature dropped drastically. Merille, who only has about 1% fat on her body (!!) was great throughout the whole shoot though the poor girl was freezing to death, goose-bumps and all. We had to quickly wrap up the shoot but it certainly wasn’t easy with the equipment constantly being blown by the wind.

Nelson secretly wants to be in front of the camera instead

The last photo, featuring the painted man.

Big thanks to all of you for your work and contribution xx

A castle? What is a castle doing in the middle of Redcliffe?? – Elke Bonner

Turns out that it was actually a novelty fort built by the side of the beach. Pfft.

Check out all that stuff! Well it’s not that much considering that it was for 3 separate shoots.

Lots of people were coming up to us asking if the shoot was for a magazine. I guess it does make people curious having 8 people photographing with so many equipment and clothes around.

The area was gorgeous, especially with the late afternoon sun. We lost a lot of time looking for the location but managed to scramble until the very last minute when the sun set.

I really think she’s going to be the next big thing.

xoxo.

Up next, travels in Bangkok and how I manage to stay alive in the middle of a political war zone.

I was only there for a week so I didn’t have much time to work around and neither did I take any photos when I did my walkabout around the whole city in one day (I’m a terrible Asian tourist! Never photographing every new location I find myself in).

I stayed with Frankie Fong whom I’ve never met in person but was introduced by a mutual friend. He’s from Sabah (same state as I am) as well and one of the best make-up artists ever. No kidding! Check his work out. I think he’s becoming quite a big shot over in OZ land now Not only is the guy a talented make-up artist but he also photographs fantastic images. Yes we are all envious of such multi-talented species.

My model this time was Laura Marshall from Gold Coast and she has one of the hottest bodies around. Now that I envy! Fantastic to work with and has a very unique look. Some of images from the shoot:

I had to precariously balance my flash on a railing for this! Wish I had another light source coming from the left though.

Laura can testify to Brisbane late-afternoon sun as BLINDING.

Thanks Frankie for squeezing in the makeup session at such a tight schedule, and to Laura for taking the long journey all the way from Gold Coast to Brisbane!

No photo with Frankie here because he had to run off to a dental appointment

Half Swedish and platinum blonde, it certainly was different being around such a pretty… man! Sounds like an oxymoron, I know. To be completely honest, when I first met David and Lex (his friend who came along on the shoot), tall, skinny, blonde, and fully decked out in tight white clothing, I thought to myself, “Oh my, what have I got myself into?”. There I was, plain-faced Asian girl among all other Asians in Chinatown (our meeting point). The more I think about it, the more hilarious it gets because they were hovering over others and people were actually looking.

It was a bit like those outsider-scenes you get only in movies. Maybe I’m just being over dramatic here.

For this shoot I decided to make David look slightly more masculine than he usually does yet still keeping the whole androgynous attitude.

Photos courtesy of David Paris

We shot in Chinatown for the whole contrast between personalities thing, then moved on to Darling Harbour. Chinatown was small but extremely crowded, lots of curious bystanders watching as well as a throng of lion dancers coming into our frame. I was half expecting it to be deserted but forgot that it was the weekend!

Reminds me somewhat of an anime character, don’t you reckon?

One of my favourites from the whole shoot. I wish I had more lights for the photo on the right though.

David: Let’s shoot by the water!

Michele: You have something for the water, don’t you?

David: Can you tell?

David was also one of the few models who invited me to meet his friends and even took me to dinner at The Summit (Sydney’s fine dining revolving restaurant) before I left the city. <3

Envy us because we are hot stuff.

I had lots of fun and hope you like the photos David. Miss you and the boys so come visit me or buy me a ticket back to Sydney!