Styling assignment: Mock Editorial Spread for a fashion magazine

My styling workshop here in the Philippines has been full of inspiration and perspiration. I have so much appreciation for the class and our teacher Ms. Millet Arzaga because as far as being a student (again) I've never been so excited and exhausted from my homework assignments. Ms. Millet has really molded this class to be a full experience based class, the homework may be time consuming, but the end results are worth every minute of it.

For one of our assignments we were told to create a moodboard, which we will eventually present to a 'mock' fashion editor along with our fashion story that goes along with it. Well weeks of delays (due to guest speakers and location changes) in presenting our board, eventually turned the assignment into a full blown mock editorial shoot for a pretend fashion magazine! The stakes were suddenly raised on this assignment and we were informed a week before it was to be submitted :0/ Imagine my horror trying to figure out where to find a suitable location, model, team, etc., etc.!!!  But thankfully I work well under pressure (hence my habitual procrastination) and was able to think up a plan to execute this assignment the best possible way I can.

Using my only resources at arms length, I convinced my 15 year old cousin to be my model, my uncle (her dad) to assist along with his good friend Kuya Ogie (our drivers/lighting crew/body guards). Then I made TJ, my brother, take me around his university so I can find a suitable location. My story board would have originally been set on a shipwrecked island, or an old school yacht, but since resources were scarce...I made do with an abandoned park underneath a bridge (I know far from my original vision...but I think the message was still conveyed.

On shoot day, the heavens blessed us with clear blue skies and all the natural lighting the universe had to offer. So we woke up bright and early so I could start hair and makeup on my muse. Karla skipped the first half of school just to do me this great favor, but it meant I had to move fast so I would be able to get her back to class by lunch. No pressure.

With a whole lot of uncertainties, we set off for the shoot, and thankfully came out with an amazing photo set :0)

The first four above are the ones I submitted, it took me about 3 hours to narrow 103 shots to my top 4 (only supposed to have 3 shots...but couldn't let the fourth one go). Since it was a for a 'mock' editorial spread, we had to include credits for the clothing pieces (which were all taken from my closet and my cousin's) so I made up cool ones to make it all sound legit. Since I did all the hair, makeup, photography, and styling, I had to make up pseudo names for myself on the editorial team credits hehe.

The photos below are the others I equally liked, but couldn't include. But here there are no photo limits so I post them here for your visual enjoyment ;0)

Special shout out to my amateur model Ms. Karla Arriesgado! For being camera shy all the time...she sure can perform when needed ;0) Thank you for the wonderful job Kar!!!

This shoot really took a lot of work in a short period of time. A total of 1.5 hours was all it took for this shoot to be completed and having to style, art direct, and photograph all at the same time was the hardest part about it, but that's why the fruits of this labor are much more appreciated.

I'm really discovering a lot about my self and my capabilities while taking on this class, and I know I'm growing closer to that role I want to find myself in the near future.

I have a VERY BIG project coming up and I can't wait to blog about that experience. For now still on the "freaking out about it" stage of the production ...hehe.

Peace, Love & happy viewing friends!

A day with the Master

As I've mentioned before, I am currently taking some classes here in the Philippines, fashion workshops to be exact, and in my Styling class our generous instructor Millet Arzaga was too kind to invite the whole class to a private Q & A session with master photographer Mr. Jun De Leon. His name might not ring a bell for most, but lets be honest, how many famous photographers does  one person really know off the top of their heads, right? Well, it was definitely that case with me, my photographer vocabulary only consisted of a few, like Herb Ritts, Annie Leibovitz and....that's about it, I think. So of course the moment I heard his name I did a little Google-ing to get myself acquainted, there I quickly realized Jun De Leon is definitely a big name here in the Philippines and I would be learning from the 'master'.

Prior to arriving to class, I already had my assumptions as to how this session was going to go; since we were meeting at Mr. De Leon's studio, I figured we'd be getting pointers on how to work with a photographer, learn the ways around the studio and he'd simply answer our questions about what the do's and don't's are in a studio with a photographer. Boy, was I wrong! To be fair, our questions were answered for the most part, but I think we all didn't expect the candidness of the interview and the volume of wisdom  he would share with us.

Mr. Jun De Leon (I apologize for the blurry image...I feel bad taking pictures while he spoke so I took this very fast)

Here he is sitting on his 'directors' chair while the whole class sat and listened intently to everything he was saying. When I first saw him on that chair, smoking his cigarette, I just knew this man was an artist.

This photo really makes me smile because this is when he was trying to show us an image in a magazine, which he shot; he was so comfy in his environment, he preferred to be on the ground so all of us can see around him and the pictures he was showing. This moment took away some of the intimidated feeling I had towards him, actually...maybe just took it down a few notches since he is a VERY intimidating individual.

What really amazed me about Mr. De Leon was his passion for his craft. With decades of experience under his belt, you'd think he would be bragging about all the celebrities he's shot, covers he's done, and all the books he's had published. But no, the content of his lecture with us consisted more of inspiring words of wisdom. The man with all the bragging rights in the world simply shared with us his unending love for his craft and advised us all to always pursue things that "gives you a rush". Because in the end he says, "what's time if you don't use it to pursue what you dream of". I can go on and list all the inspiring quotes I've collected from this session, but it was a private session after all, meant for our class only, so I won't abuse that special opportunity given to me and my classmates by sharing it to the world as well ;0)

A photo of the gang that day with Mr. Jun De Leon in the center and Millet(wearing a white top and blue pants). Took us almost a half hour to configure this dynamic set up with our photographer..hehe.

That day was truly a wonderful opportunity and a great gift from our instructor, Millet. She was right to say that we are "very blessed" talaga (really), since we are exposed to so many things that not many stylist today got to experience when they were just learning/starting. So thankful I found this class, I'm loving every moment of it!



Peace, Love & go for the RUSH friends!!!