Rain, rain, rain

Taking photos outside in the Autumn or Winter can be quite the impossible task, as it was proven this past weekend ! My street style shoot was scheduled for saturday but it rained (more like poured) all day ! 

I miss shooting, I really do ! 


Meanwhile you can visit my Facebook page or my Website (will be updated soon), if you haven't already !

Street Style Inspired

I believe this photo was taken by Scott Schuman from The Sartorialist blog.

 

I am planning a shoot inspired by street style, both styling and way of photographing. Street Style photos became really popular these days, and I am specially drawn to fashion week's photos and those incredible stylish people who wear eccentric outfits.

 

I miss shooting so I'm really excited about this.

Pattern Skin - missing photo

Another one from August 2012 , from this shoot. 

Photography and post-processing: Mariana Madeira

Model: Khristina Budzak

Better late than ever

This picture was taken in August, this year. 

Photography, post-processing and styling: Mariana Madeira

Model and MUA: Khristina Budzak

© Mariana Madeira

Iceland

Iceland - A Photographer's Paradise

" Iceland is a landscape photographers paradise and playground, and should be number 1 on every photographers must visit list. Iceland during the Midnight Sun is in sort of a permanent state of sunset. The sun never full sets and travels horizontally across the horizon throughout the night." 

                                                                                                    in video's description by Scientifantastic

Click on the image to watch this beautiful video and to read the rest of the description.

Enjoy !

Inspiration or lack of it

I am trying to go in a different direction with my photography but I am so uninspired lately... I am trying to stay away from fashion magazines because I believe that the more you are inspired by the work of others the more your own works loses authenticity.

I love pinterest, tumblr and vimeo when it comes to find inspiration but right now i need something more ... any tips?Where can I find new and interesting imagery?What works for you when you feel unispired?

Vermelho de Longa Exposição

Long exposure Red 

Fotografia e edição por Mariana Madeira

Modelo: Khristina Budzak

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Photography and post-processing: Mariana Madeira

Model: Khristina Budzak

Fashion Photography 101 Review

There are 3 things that i look for when I am buying a book:

-          Clean and simple layout

-          Easy content organization within the pages and the book itself

-          Most important of all- CONTENT – Great, new and insightful information, that I can’t find online.

Fashion Photography 101 approaches the business and technical side of fashion photography (Big plus).

In my opinion there are 3 different types of consumer/photographer that will buy this book:

-          Fans of Lara Jade’s Work

-          Fashion photographers (beginners) who want to know more about the industry

-          Professional photographers from other fields who want to pick up some new tips or want to expand their businesses

Who will benefit more from this will be, of course, new fashion photographers, but there are enough content to please (almost) everyone.

The layout of the book is clean, simple and well organized (Main chapters: equipment, preparation, the creative team, shooting, scenarios, working photographer, organization, retouching and marketing).

I have to admit though that some information is common sense, like the Creative team part, for example. Anyone that reads fashion photography magazines is familiar with hairstylists, stylists, make-up artists and so on, and with their role on  a photoshoot.

With this, I am not saying this is a bad thing, because I think Lara wrote this book with every kind of photographer in mind. Let’s face it, there are a lot of people who want to be fashion photographers but they don’t have a clue about important and fundamental things until they do some research on the subject themselves.

I wish Lara has talked about this or included this:

-          Never before seen images (there are indeed a couple of photos that I haven’t seen before but that’s it);

-          More personal experience when it comes to mistakes and what she learned with that;

-          More in-depth information about “The importance of social media”.

What I loved the most:

-          How to choose the "right "shot

-          How she uses adobe lightroom to organize her files

-          The chapter “Scenarios”

-          Lighting setups – very useful ! – I just wished the photos would have been taken by Lara

-          Personal assignments - Lara suggests that you should set personal assignments and goals for yourself when it comes to personal work. I just love this because it makes your work harder, practice and have an objective look on your own work, in order to evolve and grow.

Last but not least, this is going to seem like I am getting paid by Lara to say nice things (I am NOT), this book alongside with her CREATIVElive three day course it is the most inexpensive fashion photography course that you will ever come across – incredibly useful and worth it!

 

I felt very inspired by this book, and most importantly, as it was referred innumerous times at CREATIVElive course, you don’t need to have the best camera/equipment and a professional studio to produce great images, you just need to work hard, be passionate about what you do, have an excellent work ethic and learn from your mistakes.

 

For those of you who don’t have the patience to read such a long post, I answered this key question for you – remember this is just my honest opinion:

Is this book worth it?

Yes it is !!! This book approaches both sides of fashion photography – business and technical side, which is a big plus, it even covers social media channels and how to use them to promote your work, all based on Lara’s personal experience.

Even if you aren’t a fashion photographer you will be pleased with the amount of content and the wide variety of topics that are mentioned on the book. If you are new to this type of photography then this book – I believe – will become your bible, and 10£ for such a useful and precious book is very affordable.

Photography Inspiration 1#

There is something so timeless about black and white photos

Warm breeze

Estas fotografias são de uma sessão que se realizou no mês passado - em primeira mão aqui para o blog !

A edição foi simples e consistiu apenas em correcções de cor, branco e preto, e uma espécie de sépia. 

Fotografia e edição: Mariana Madeira

Modelo, MUA e guarda-roupa: Rita C.

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These photos are from last September - an exclusive for the blog !

Post-processing was simple, just a few colour corrections and black&white. 

Photography and post-processing: Mariana Madeira

Model, MUA and Styling: Rita C.