Here’s a sneak peek behind the scenes of my Halloween themed photoshoot which is based upon a gypsy fortune teller theme complete with crystals, spiders and lots of gold!
My makeup artist, stylist and photoshoot planner Jana Jurakova absolutely smashed this spooky brief and photographer Jonathan Tennant captured such incredible images – just wait until you see the red gels! I hope that you enjoy this exclusive look at what goes into creating my social media content and I’d love to know your thoughts on which look is your favourite…
I had so much fun unleashing my alter ego for this shoot as it seems that every time I follow a theme or wear fancy dress I feel like an entirely different person and I got such insanely fun Captain Jack Sparrow vibes from this layered, ruffled up and ragged look as a gypsy fortune teller.
As the shoot progressed we built up the colours, layers and complexity of my hair, makeup, styling and accessories; starting out with a smokey purple eyeshadow and vibrant red lips in a brown jumpsuit with yellow crop top we then added a gold coin headband and purple waist belt with coins.
Enhancing this look we then added a printed green skirt for contrast, switched to wedged heels and used an ornate gold jewelled glove to contrast and compliment with the makeup, drawing on the red of the lips to match the ruby coloured jewels and ruffling up my hair for a messy and wild mystical look.
We deepened the look even further by extending the smokey eyes down onto the face and wearing a nose chain which looked incredible against the bursts of light on a glittered curtain which photographer Jonathan surprised me with after having shot against a brick wall and the use of a chair.
My transition was finally complete with this beautiful mystical makeup which saw a rich purple colour taken down the face and a crescent moon detail drawn onto my forehead. The look was enriched by adding dots to my nose and chin as I wore a brunette wig and repurposed the purple waist belt and coins to become a headscarf. Together with a wide sleeved sage dress layered by a busy print mini, waist belt and even more gold jewellery I felt like a demonic enchantress!
Using red gels as I climbed a cobwebbed ladder and clutched crystals to refract the light, the purple toned atmosphere created in the images was so devilishly spooky and perfect for our theme! I must have said “wow” a hundred times in the space of ten minutes when I saw the previews on the back of the camera.
Photographer Jonathan says: “My camera was a mid range canon 6d , about 8 years old. I used two lenses; a 70-200 f2.8. The gold photos were shot on the 70-200 with the aperture wide open at f2.8, this blurs the background and also produces a nice bokeh effect. Lighting was two studio lights at 45 degrees with soft boxes. The creative lighting makeup shots with the plain background was again shot on the Canon 6d but with a 24-135 mm lens. It was lit by 2 flash guns at 45 degrees to the head with coloured gels and a third flashgun just above the camera with no coloured gels. The three flash guns cost £25 so these shots can be achieved on a budget. Lightroom was used for editing.”
I hope that sharing my transformation for this shoot has inspired you to think outside of the box this festive season and try something new when it comes to fancy dress and creative fashion. Wishing you all a Happy Halloween!
Feel free to visit photographer Jonathan Tennant and makeup artist Jana Jurakova to see more of of their wonderful work.
