This December I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit Toronto, Canada to teach two fashion photography workshops at Pikto Studios, based in the picturesque Distillery District.

Pikto Studios was the perfect place to host an event: bright, spacious; flooded with natural light and the space had a clean, modern layout. The backdrop of the studio location reminded me of my hometown and the abandoned/urban spaces I used for the backdrops in my starting photo shoots, which I think I was so drawn to using it when I first set my eyes upon the images of it! … and not to mention the space! The open layout enabled my styling team, models and the attendees to interact and collaborate freely throughout the day.

As usual, my workshops opened many opportunities for me to meet some fantastic and inspiring people from all over Canada. If it’s one thing I love about teaching workshops – it’s the networking! It was great to see how many of the attendees and my styling team started to network with one another.

A big thank you to my styling team Shawnna & Tasha & models on the day Marta & Michie. Also a big thank you to Spot 6 Management & Peggi Le Page model scout and finally Kim Akrigg, Tawni Bannister & Cammy Jones for your assistance!

In addition to being a fantastic studio/event space – Pikto studios is also well known for its photo books. I managed to pick up my own photo book whilst working in the space and I’m very happy with the outcome so I thought I’d share my two cents on the Pikto photo book Experience!

We all know the feeling: we share our work online, viewing them on digital screens and applications – but what we would really like to see is a finished product. There’s nothing like seeing your work in print and printing a photo book is a great way achieving this. With a photo book you can tell a story, share a journey, or share your experiences with friends and family! A photo book is also a great format to use to create a unique portfolio to share with potential clients.

To get to the final product, users must first download an easy-to-use application called ‘Pikto BOOKit’. The application’s layout is extremely easy for any user to figure out as well as to upload your photographs with. I found that the best way to upload was to re-name and organize all of my files into one single folder (in order I want them to appear in the book). The other great thing about ‘BOOKit’ is the ability to choose between creating a book from a template or entirely from scratch.

The book featured above is the Pikto 11×14″ portrait Hardcover leatherette option with an embossed ‘silver’ name print on the cover.

 The choice of options for the book is fantastic – Pikto offers nine layout sizes (ranging from 5×7″, 8.5×11″ to 12×12″), a page count option (between 20 up to 90 pages) and various book cover materials (from leather, leatherette to linen) to “give you the look of a traditionally printed coffee table art book” – and that’s exactly what it is, each book tells a story and you can custom each part to make it your own. There are also further presentation options, such as text embossing on the cover and spine in a variety of colors – perfect if you’re using the book for presenting, or if you want to add a custom title option for a client.

Visual print quality is complimentary to the ‘real’ image and works extremely well on colorful and lighter images. On my particular images, the dark tones were slightly darker, but this isn’t that noticeable (or so it wouldn’t be to someone that didn’t thoroughly know my work). The paper is hard-wearing and heavy, and the binding is done by a ‘floating’ spine enforcing the ‘quality’ you get from Pikto overall – they do not cut any corners with any of the book options.

Let’s take a closer look at the book…

Pricewise – Pikto is neither inexpensive nor expensive, they charge an acceptable amount for the quality and options they offer. The usual turnaround time from submission is just one week (they got mine finished within two days!), and you can have your book mailed to you, or you can pick it up yourself from their Toronto store.

Overall, I think Pikto offers a very satisfying service to the general public and working photographer alike – their range of options make it easy to chose a book that’s unique to the individual and the customer service I received upon my order was impeccable (which of course was great since I am prone to making mistakes upon orders, sorry Pikto!)

For more information on Pikto and to view their services, visit the official website: www.pikto.com

2011 has been an incredible year for me.

Most important of all, I finally made the move from my hometown in England to New York City after many visits the previous year. The change of location has been refreshing for me and I’ve been able to pick up the pace of my work life and also settle down personally. I believe that surrounding yourself with an inspiring environment (especially as an artist) and with other creatives helps encourage you in your career path without you even knowing it! I live and breathe what I do, so I need to be around like-minded people and in a city that never sleeps.

This year has also opened many doors to travel opportunities  – I have been honoured to be able to visit some beautiful locations this year, Hawaii (twice), Toronto and of course re-visiting London and exploring New York which have all been productive and eye-opening. Seasoned travellers will understand me on this one – I feel like I now have the travel bug! In 2012, travel destinations already include a workshop in Australia and possible trips in the US and in parts of Europe. I have decided to give myself a unique travel destination every year and find new experiences.

Work-wise, I found an incredibly supportive London agent, Balcony Jump who have encouraged my personal and commercial work within Europe, and I’ve also developed my editorial portfolio extensively – working closely with my new New York and London connections and challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone and shoot more stories in the studio.

As some of you may know, I just released a collaboration DVD ‘Lara Jade Vs Joey L: Photographer Shoot Off’ with my arch-nemesis Joey L which had been in development over the past two years – it felt great to finally release something after such a long production cycle, and Joey and I are very happy with the outcome. Teaching and sharing knowledge is still new to me (since I only started teaching workshops last December), but I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge!

It’s still under wraps, but I’ve been working on a new fashion photography guidance book through UK publisher ILEX Press. I am pleased to say it is FINALLY finished and it’s nice to know that all those weeks of writing have not gone to waste. I feel like the whole process of writing it and researching was like going back to school and re-visiting my much-loved two year photography programme. Not to say it will be all educational-based, it’s going to be jam-packed with my photography and my personal knowledge as well as technical information for an all you need-to-know photography hand-book. Unfortunately (as I know some people will ask to order) I don’t have any details on the publishing date just yet, but I will let you all know as soon as I have the details!

To all of you reading this now, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for your continued support of my work – your comments/messages/faves/emails/likes etc. are ALL appreciated. Even if I don’t get time to respond to all of your messages, you should know I do try and read them all.All the best in the new year, 2012 will be a productive one!

LJ xo

I am going to leave you with some of those ‘special’ 2011 moments, those oh-no-you-didn’t-I-caught-it-on-camera moments and some special highlights for fun and giggles. Thank you to everyone that works with me for making my working year a blast!

The creation of the beach shoot for Material Girl Magazine. It’s amazing how easy it is to brighten a dull day by entertaining yourself with childhood activities… and yes, I thoroughly enjoyed making those sandcastles. Photos by Oscar May.

The creative team on set at the beach in South England. Photo by Oscar May.

The beautiful Diana R on set for the cemetery shoot in London. Photo by Oscar May.

Hair stylist Tomo and wardrobe stylist Krishan making magic. Photo by Oscar May.

The Maui, Hawaii Workshop Team & Attendees – loved this two day workshop in paradise!

Mr Matthew Alvarado & Mr Kevin Garrison – my two right hand men on my Maui April Workshop

NY Workshop – all I remember this day is how bad I felt for everyone with the heat! That rooftop was like working upon a giant baking tray! Note to self: don’t book workshops on rooftops in the summer again.

The creation of the ‘Velveteen Rabbit’ editorial shoot. Me & the creative team on set. Photo by Nicole De Waal.

Shooting the ‘Velveteen Rabbit’ in the studio. If it’s one thing I love about shooting editorials, it’s bringing long term shoot ideas to life! Photo by Nicole De Waal.

Deborah, Me & Nicole on set at a Brooklyn beach in October. A cold but picture-perfect day!

On set: If it’s one thing everyone knows about me, it’s the way I treat the models – here I am encouraging the model to go into the water at a beach in October (I’m joking, but she did it!) Photo by Nicole De Waal.

Deborah Altizio is a woman of many talents, she isn’t just known for her excellent make up artistry – she is also a bird whisperer. Photo by Nicole De Waal.

Maui the second-time around, except thirteen people less than before (phew). Me & the team looking out over the North Shore. Photo by Megan Jolie Photography.

On top of Haleakala Mountain, Maui at too-early-oclock. Also, don’t look twice – this is the only time you’ll ever, and I mean ever see me in such awful attire again. I think the last time I wore sweatpants was when I was half my age now. My excuse (as always) is that I thought the top of the mountain would be warmer and Valerie came to the rescue.

Editorial Magazine shoot in Brooklyn. I love this team & I love these kind of shoots! Ally, you still need to take me to yoga, don’t let me say no. Photo by Chris Davis.

Shooting for clothing brand The Fold in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Photo by Kait Robinson.

Just because we always need a group photo at the end of every workshop! This is my Toronto workshop team (day 2) – incredibly nice to teach. You make my job easy! Photo by Cammy Jones.

…and it’s amazing how quick a second changes a group of people? Why, just because! Work isn’t work.. it’s fun. Photo by Cammy Jones.

So, finally we can announce the official release of ‘Lara Jade VS Joey L: Photographer Shoot Off’ – our workshop-on-a-disc extravaganza that took us a whole two years in the making – blood, sweat, tears, dirty lenses and racking our brains trying to figure out how we were going to make this collaboration work!

“Lara Jade VS Joey L: Photographer Shoot Off” will offer guidance and knowledge to every level of photographer and ultimately inspire to find your own style. We invite you to step inside of our vision and observe as we compete head to head in photo shoot challenges around the world. So, whether you’re a photographer just starting out or you are a professional working within your chosen industry this tutorial DVD is the tool you need to inspire you to find your own journey and vision!

 The content of the DVD covers everything how to work in a variety of shoot environments and situations giving you first-hand perspective on how we compose our shoots from start to finish – from direction, lighting and finally – the photo editing.

Get your copy today!

Feel free to visit our exclusive store [www.larajadevsjoeyl.com] for more information and to grab yourself a copy! We are currently offering the DVD at a holiday promo price at just $199 until Jan 1st 2012 (usually $250!).

One-Liner Contest

As we are in the mood for the holidays and with the content of the DVD being the rivalry between two photographers we are also announcing a little contest to help spread the word of the DVD. The contest is called “the one-liner contest”. To enter you need to think of a photography or Photoshop related one-liner joke and post it on twitter – make sure to include a link to our official website http://www.larajadevsjoeyl.com and the hashtag #LJVSJLso we can track all of your submissions!

Remember – this is light-hearted fun so get thinking of the most insulting things you can use! Here’s a few of our own examples:

“It’d only be a “beauty dish” if you wore it over your face.” #LJVSJL http://www.larajadevsjoeyl.com

“The clone tool was invented for people like you!” #LJVSJL http://www.larajadevsjoeyl.com

 So what’s in it for the winners? The top 3 best one-liners are chosen by me & Joey and will receive an amazing prize! Me & Joey will be providing a limited edition signed print and B&H Photo are giving one of the winners a fabulous $100 gift card to spend in their store!

 Me & Joey are extremely proud of this project and hope you are just as excited as us to see our work come to light!

LJ & JL.

Me and photographer Joey L are finally excited to announce the release of our upcoming tutorial DVD “Photographer Shoot-Off: Lara Jade VS Joey L” that will be released on December 1st!

This unique comprehensive tutorial DVD features vision from my both sides of the photography industry – combining personal vs commissioned work as well as each of our individual shoot styles.

The basic concept: Joey L, rising from the advertising scene and Lara Jade – working within the fashion industry. Both photographer’s once living on other sides of the Atlantic and coming from entirely different backgrounds.

So what ties them together? The rivalry of course! Way back in 2007 on one of Joey’s first trips to England we met with the intention of collaborating on a shoot together. After shooting, we were surprised to notice that even with the same set-up and model on location we produced completely different final shots. If anything, one thing was very clear that day – photography style is entirely driven on the vision of the photographer, no two photographer’s are the same.

With this collaborative project, we decided to re-visit our roots and document the idea of a photographer’s vision. The DVD content features exclusive behind-the-scenes shoots with interviews, technical information, in-depth Photoshop lessons and also business  tips within the fashion and advertising industry. Our main goal throughout the two years of building the content was to create an educational DVD that will leave you wanting to try our our techniques in your own shoots.

So for now, please feel free to spread the word! The purchase of the DVD will be available through a brand new website on December 1st (with a surprise for the holidays, too!) Unfortunately we are not accepting pre-orders at this time but be sure to check back on the release date for more information!

LJ & JL

Ever since becoming photographer I have admired several photographers for their ability to capture beautiful subjects underwater in a timeless, romantic way. With this being said, I would have never had imagined how hard it is to capture such a subject and how difficult an underwater shoot is when you’re working against every element possible! Whilst I was in Hawaii for my two day workshop I met an amazing girl called Valerie and it just turns out that her dad worked at a snorkelling/diving centre – she offered for me to go out on the boat to go and have fun… if it’s one thing people close to me know about me, it’s that I am ALWAYS thinking photography. How could I pass such an amazing opportunity to try out some underwater photography?

I rented an SPL underwater camera housing for my Canon 5dmkII from Maui Photographics and without much thought into it – off we went out to sea. Bear in mind I had underwater photographic knowledge and my experience with snorkelling went as far as Discovery Cove in Florida back in around 2003 you could say I was jumping into it a little quick but I always find by throwing myself into situations I learn how to do things quicker than reading from the book. A few things I picked up during my shoot were that LIGHT is the most important element, without light the shots look incredibly flat. If you’re shooting in the sea stay close to the surface and shoot when the sun is at it’s highest – in Hawaii the water is clear so this is why the rays shine through, this made for an interesting effect with the theme I was going for..

Valerie was an amazingly patient and hardworking model for this.. with her family their for support and her dad being a free diver we were able to take a range of shots even in just under thirty minutes. Despite me getting sea sick half way through the course and dealing with changes of light I don’t think I did too badly! I am really interested to pursue underwater photography further. I am re-visiting Hawaii (Oahu and Maui) this October so I’m hoping to try various different themes throughout my stay…!

Thank you to stylist Polly for the beautiful dress, Valerie & your family for your patience and kindness and Kevin for your assistance!

BEHIND THE SCENES

Me & Valerie testing out the water.. photo by Kevin Garrison.

FINAL SHOTS

I am honoured to be a part of this year’s ‘Wear It Pink’ UK campaign and wanted to share with you the behind the scenes of the day.

The shoot was shot at Big Sky studios in London and I have to say wasn’t one of the easiest settings with the weather working against us. The morning started with beautiful sunlit skies and passing clouds and after the first half of the shoot was done (the adult shot) the weather suddenly turned into grey skies and incredible winds – which of course working with a washing line of clothes was not easy. Luckily I had patient and helpful art directors from the ad agency on set and my incredible creative team working closely to make sure everything was running smoothly on set (and the clothes weren’t ‘flapping like a kipper’ as our stylist put it!)

As a young girl I remember every year Wear It Pink was one of the favoured educational days -with fun activities and the chance to wear a fun colour in contrast to the boring uniforms and all for such a worthy cause. So when my London agent called and told me I was on option to shoot for these guys I immediately said yes!

To be a part of the fantastic campaign this year visit the website at Wear It Pink and donate today.

Final Campaign Shots

Behind The Scenes

Group Shot. Photo Credit: © Ashley Smith

Last month in May I had the most incredible experience of being able to visit one of Hawaii’s most beautiful islands – Maui. I have always dreamed of being able to visit (let alone, work!) in such a beautiful and exotic location so when photographer Matthew Alvarado threw the subject at me of teaching a workshop there back in January I was a little skeptical at first with how I would organize everything so far from the location. However, I was overwhelmed with bookings and response immediately after placing up the location and dates on the website and all was set for me flying out!

The workshop was a two day on location ‘lighting’ workshop which covered everything from my knowledge from shooting in the studio with ‘soft light’, to using accessories to bounce and shape light outside, using pure natural light and also a brief introduction on creative lighting on location. I also gave a brief introduction to retouching techniques and advice and feedback to each atendee. Having a two day workshop really give me an insight into every photographer’s work and personality. With almost half of the 16 atendees having their home in Hawaii I was sure of a warm welcome on the island and the rest of the crew traveled in from locations such as Vancouver, New York City, Florida and Tennessee.

Photo Credit: © Ashley Smith

I just want to thank all of my hardworking team members who did an amazing job organizing, producing and styling the photo shoots (in no particular order); Matthew Alvarado, Kat Davis, Kevin Garrison, Polly, Ry-n, Valerie, Brittany, Uliani, Stephanie. You all played a big part in creating a wonderful atmosphere at the workshops! Also a big thank you to California Sunbounce who kindly sent over a few of their reflectors for our use on the workshops!

I will shortly be adding dates for Hawaii again; Maui and Oahu in October. Hope to see you there!

Lara Jade. xox

So my April started with a plunge into three days of photography workshops in London! I have to say, my highlight of the start of this year has been teaching workshops – I feel incredibly lucky to be able to pass on my knowledge, share experiences and help others when it comes to photography and my workshops are a way of me doing this and in return putting back into my own business.

The workshops pull people in from every corner of the globe – Dubai, India, Ireland, Germany, Italy, India, Canada.. it’s amazing how many people make the effort to travel to London for this and I have to say I enjoyed meeting you all! Thank you to my amazing creative team who I know worked incredibly hard on each day of the workshop even with the early AM start.

I wanted to share with you some behind the scenes from the three days so you can get a glimpse into what the workshops host and how everything works on the day.. hope you enjoy them! xo

My workshops are being taken to NYC, London location workshops & Australia this year – to see more details and dates visit my website at www.larajade.co.uk/workshops

TEAM SHOTS 9TH, 10TH 11TH APRIL.

BEHIND THE SCENES

So as I’m sitting here realizing tomorrow is the day I’m going to be leaving back to my hometown for a month I realize the last few months have been a success. I secured several great shoots whilst over in NYC and worked solely on personal shoots in my spare time. I am finally making the move to the US in May – hopefully the start of a new and exciting journey for me. I have met so many great people and contacts over the past few months and can’t wait to start a new life and new challenges that come my way.

This month I’ll be back in the UK, traveling between my hometown in the West Midlands to visit family and friends and in London for photo shoots, workshops and meetings and I’m looking forward to sharing with you upcoming shoots, new releases and future projects!

LJ.

Just to update you on some of my newest projects.. two books are now out featuring my work on the covers. Thanks to the wonderful people involved I had great fun getting these covers together! Entwined is now out at all good book stores and is a re-make of the Grimms’ 12 Dancing Princesses, I’m going to grab my copy later! The Girl Of Fire & Thorns is out later this year but you can still view the information online. The last one is BANISHED which has been out for a while but it features an older self-portrait I did, this is finally out on Amazon and most book stores.