Out : LFW Round-Up

So London Fashion Week AW11 is over. It's back to normality... whatever that is! This season was my first attending every day. In all I did 30+ shows over the 6 days, and I can tell you I really enjoyed my bed last night!

Those who have been following my blog all week will have seen in my LFW Precursor that I wanted to shoot Fashion Week from my point of view, showing some of the things that are often not seen by the outside world. So every night after I finished with the shows, I trekked back to my studio to edit my images and get them uploaded... I had some very long days!

So what has my week entailed? Well day 1 started for me with Prophetik at Vauxhall Fashion Scout. They opened with the usual live music, but this time with a performance from acclaimed violinist Analiza Ching. From there, my week involved a lot of running between the various show venues at Somerset House, Covent Garden and beyond!

Out : LFW Day #6

Out : LFW Day #5

Out : LFW Day #4

Out : LFW Day #3

Out : LFW Day #2

Out : LFW Day #1

Out : London Fashion Week AW11 - A Precursor

So here we go for a hardcore week of fashion shows, networking and parties! I blogged about my first experience of London Fashion Week back in September, and thanks to Lois Waller, this year I'm attending even more shows across the entire week!

I've been thinking long and hard over the past couple of days about how to blog about the various shows I'm attending. I'm not a fashion writer, and my blog isn't a "fashion blog", although I am extremely interested in fashion and style... it helps to like what you take photos of!

So rather than just emulate every other fashion blog out there and write about the various collections, I thought I would be different and simply post up my photos. After all, I'm a photographer right, and I've never been one for standing at the end of a runway shooting the same images as the next guy.

The Printed Image

I love living in the digital age! It's amazing! We can do more than ever before, and especially in photographic terms, we don't have to worry about the time and cost of film processing. The trouble is, as result of not needing to print our images, we often don't. This is a shame, because printed images are so much nicer to look at, and not only that, they give the image more value than when it's just on screen. Especially since mobile devices are playing a bigger part in how we view the world. Images are not only very rarely printed anymore, they're also getting smaller!

Out : All Walks Beyond the Catwalk

The Fashion industry is often blamed for the body image and self esteem issues faced by young people today. All Walks Beyond the Catwalk is campaigning to get people in the fashion industry to debate these issues in an effort to initiate change.

Caryn Franklin started All Walks at London Fashion Week in September 2009, where 8 diverse models showcased the work of 8 emerging designers. Since then, the campaign has gathered pace and is now commanding the attention more people than ever.

"New London" for Who's Jack? Magazine

Recent images published in the February issue of Who's Jack? magazine for their "New London" feature, showcasing various new talents from the world of Fashion, Music and Film.

Amongst the 8 people I photographed that day were BAFTA Nominated director Luke Snellin, Grime artist Random Impulse, and Harry Potter star, Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy.

It was quite an epic day of shooting with 8 subject needing to be shot across 5 different locations on opposite sides of London, but we managed it with minimal fuss... it's all in the preparation! ;)

Click more to see tear sheets and the complete set of images, including some which didn't make it into the magazine.

Branding

In todays modern commercial society, branding is considered to play an ever increasing role in the success or failure of any business. You only have to walk down your local high street and you'll be bombarded with all manner of logos and identities from a wide spectrum of companies.

So what is a brand? Why is it important? Do we all need one? Well like it or not, you have a brand, and it is probably more important than you realise!

Before becoming a professional photographer, I was a graphic designer, I often worked on creating brand identities for a variety of companies, both large and small. During my 4 years of art college training, I learned about a lot of the things that are important to a brand, and what can make them successful. Upon finishing my degree, I went on to work as a designer, both in-house for large manufacturers, and as a freelancer at various agencies, where I was creating new identities for a range of companies.

Brands are much more than just a logo. Your brand is your clients, or potential clients opinion of you as well. It's your reputation, and the public image you project. I've had loads of photographers ask my opinion on their logo, or how they watermark their images, and they spend weeks fiddling with it to make sure it's "right", well you know what? It's almost irrelevant!