In our opinion, Will Ozanne AKA “Gang Colours” was one of the best artist’s to play 2012′s Great Escape in Brighton this year. One thing’s for sure, he’s one of the nicest guys we’ve ever had the chance to work with.

If you haven’t already heard it, have a listen to Gang Colours debut album The Keychain Collection. The album swaps frenetic UK garage for something softer and more personal, the title alluding to how different keychains conjure childhood memories.

Here’s one of our favourite tracks from the album

Photo – Olly Hearsey @ Unitarian Church, Brighton

www.lionworksstudios.co.uk

They say it’s not what you know, but who you know. In the age of Digital and Social Media it can feel like you know just about everything about everybody that ever was. But what if they don’t know about you? In this months Studio Club, social networking guru Simon Mark Smith will be covering the importance of social networking for photographers…

To book your spot please confirm via email… info@lionworksstudios.co.uk

The Studio Club – Social Networking talk
May 14th – 6pm – 8pm @ Lion Works Studios, Eastbourne.
£5

The curtains were back lit at dusk with natural sunlight and we made her face and hair “pop” with a couple of snoots and a reflector.

We shot some new promo photos for musician, Mirna Stanich who fronts Brighton based  “Minor Sounds”.

The title track “The Humming” has already featured on Fat Cat Record’s sampler and on BBC introducing (watch a video here). The album was made in her bedroom, so we thought it would be fitting that we did the same for the images too.

Shot against the bedroom door with the same light setup

To find out more about Minor Sounds and to listen to or purchase “The Humming”, click here.

Our favourite track is “Everything you need” but to be honest they’re ALL bloody amazing!
Expect big things from this young lady…

Photo/Lighting – Olly Hearsey
Makeup – Xoe Kingsley
www.lionworksstudios.co.uk

This isn’t live music photography; this is studio photography with studio lights, mini-set and a team of creatives making it work in a fast, low scale and low budget environment.

We’re after assistants and collaborators to get involved. If you have experience and you’d like to be considered, send us your online portfolio (or links to examples of your work) – info@lionworksstudios.co.uk

Thanks,
www.lionworksstudios.co.uk

Lion Work Studios, will now be bringing in industry models who will present a number of workshops to help get you started.

They will detail how they got into the modeling industry and offer tips and practical advice that they’ve learned as their career has developed. Advice will cover How To Sell Yourself & some of the key things you Should and Shouldn’t Do on the path to becoming a professional model.

After the initial sit down, We will demonstrate and teach Posing Techniques,  followed by a live photoshoot. (We will only be teaching up to lingere level. We WILL NOT be shooting nude or topless work).

These workshops are all about giving you the confidence you need to springboard into the industry. You will be encouraged to take part in the photoshoot yourself, with step by step posing advice as the shoot goes on. At the end of the session, the images will be reviewed with our critique.

You will receive one professionally edited image from the class to start your portfolio off!

• Introduction
• Modeling Advice (Model release forms, picking a good photographer and spotting the rotten apples, marketing yourself, working out your rates, agency advice)
• Clothing & Makeup suggestions
• Photoshoot with Lion Works head photographer
• Posing tuition
• Review images
• 1 print quality image of yourself  for your portfolio

For details on when the next Modelling school will be, please be in touch – info@lionworksstudios.co.uk
or call 01323 735280

The Lion Works Team
www.lionworksstudios.co.uk

Looking to shoot in the studio but not up to scratch with your lighting?
Throughout April 2012 we will be running studio hire with a FREE lighting tech for photographers. We will work with you to help you achieve to light setup you have in mind.

Have a quick read below for more details on what we’re offering…

You Get…
Studio space
*Equipment
Lighting Tech
Separate styling station/changing room
Internet
Spotify /ipod hook up
Refreshments

*We’re always adding to equipment at the studio but here’s a list of the bulk of our lighting equipment below.

7 x Bowens Geminis 500’s
4x Pulsar Radio Triggers
1 x Manfrotto Super Boom
1 x Manfrotto Combi Boom
1x Bowens 40 Degree Sunlite Reflector
1x Bowens Super Soft 600 Diffuser
1 x High Key Reflector
3x Bowens snoots
1 x Barn doors
1 x Beauty Dish with Honeycombe grid
1 x large round softbox
3 x 100 x 100 softboxes
Honeycombes 1/8″ (3.175mm), 3/8″ (9.525mm), and 1/4″ (6.35mm) hole sizes
Gold,silver,white reflector
Silver,white umbrellas
Full range of coloured gels
Colourama backgrounds white, black, storm grey, champagne, rose pink, spruce Green, yellow and blue
Colourama colourgrad backdrop (graduated tone from white to black for product photography)

Send us an email info@lionworksstudios.co.uk or give us a call 01323 735280 if you’d like to make a booking.

www.lionworksstudios.co.uk

Details and examples are now up on The Studio Club facebook page if you fancy seeing what we were up to.

So… what next?

© Andrew Newson

The next Studio Club will cover Lightroom 4 on Monday 16th April at Lion Works.

We will be bringing in local photographer & Lightroom 4 expert Andrew Newson . Andrew will host the evening by giving a short talk about some of his work. We will then run through a demonstration in Photoshop Lightroom 4 to give you a basic understanding on how using this editing program can help to enhance your images.

Places are limited to 20 people, so to book into next months Studio Club please confirm by giving us a hola here – info@lionworksstudios.co.uk or on the Studio Club facebook page.

Hope to see you there!

THE STUDIO CLUB

Date – 16th April 2012
Time 6pm – 8pm
Location – Lion Works Studios
Cost – £5

We were sold on the idea, and the Lion Works team came on board to style, light and shoot the set (with professional model, Bethan) for the series of images.

In one of our out-takes below, you can see a bit of how we went about creating the look.

Xoe blocked out Bethan’s brows and applied a dewy, deep smoked eye. Bethan’s hair was set in a finger wave with ringlets, and her body was powdered for a matt finish.

We used a combination of gentle diffused (beauty dish) lighting to even out Bethan’s skin tone and direct (snoot) lighting to pick up the textures of the velvet background, gilt chair and heavily embellished headpiece. A low opacity paper texture was later applied, and the image was warmed up a bit, to kill off the black and bring out the sepia tones.

Photo/ Lighting – Olly Hearsey
Makeup and hair – Xoe Kingsley
Creative Designer – Lisa Baton
Model – Bethan Moyse

She really is one of our favourite Brighton designers, so we were thrilled to bits to get our hands on some of her more recent pieces for a test shoot we had.

This playsuit with plunging neckline, bold metallic paneling and delicate mesh overlay seems to channel 70′s roller disco and future noir at once. If you’re keen to get your hands on some of her bespoke work for yourself, visit her website. Sadly, she doesn’t sell hover-rollerskates yet.

Photo/ Lighting – Olly Hearsey
Makeup – Xoe Kingsley
Designer – Joy Williams
Model – Natalie

When Xoë (Lion Works MUA) first discussed the idea of creating a human / robot, I didn’t really anticipate the lengths to which her character development would touch. In fact, it wasn’t until we sat down to plan out some lighting that I was bamboozled with a stream of references from Blade Runner, Eiko Ishioka, Bjork videos, Japanese Virtual Girlfriends, the Hyper-Real appeal of Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga… and the Andrex Puppy. Whereas I had been picturing something a little steampunk like Tick Tock from Return To Oz, or even all sleek and sexy like Seb Janiak’s Naomi - Xoë had been picturing something altogether softer as she details here:

The not so far off future belongs to compassion companions and to LoveBots. I’m sure of it. When the world is numb to your “Having a bad day” social status updates, and your wake-commute-work-commute-sleep routine has left your social capital dwindling on bankrupt, they will be the unconditional friend by your side.

When you’ve stopped communicating face to face with other people – for fear of the next Animal Flu epidemic, when your face is grey and pale because you no longer get the Vitamin D you need from REAL sunlight, she will tell you that “You’re a wonderful, beautiful person”.

She is strong and she is soft, she is your armor and your pillow. “Cuddle?” she will offer.

One thing we really wanted from the shoot was very soft light. This was for two reasons – firstly, so that the natural contours of [our model] Chloe’s body didn’t cast shadow or interrupt the rendered shapes. Secondly, the robot was supposed to be approachable and kind of neutral. Any hard light mix could put a cold cast on the character.

We went with a mix of large softboxes and beauty dishes and eventually settled on a warm diffused gel on a grey backdrop (Colourama Granite). We’d tried a cool gel initially – really, to use established ideas of technology being kind of cold and clean (blue and green and grey and white), but it seemed a bit… sterile.

What do you think?

Makeup / art direction – Xoë Kingsley
Photo / lighting – Olly Hearsey
Model – Chloe

If you need a talented creative makeup artist in the South East Xoë is available for bookings…  xoe@lionworksstudios.co.uk