GOLD RUSH: Claudia Wilkinson @ IMG

dress by MAX MARA

On occasion when Melbourne Black Magazine contributing editor Justin Henry visits Sydney, we team up to shoot fresh imagery to inspire for the upcoming season.  With summer just around the corner, Coogee beach seemed the perfect backdrop to showcase the effortless beauty of Claudia Wilkinson from IMG.  Heather Cairns, editor of Tangent magazine, creates a summery allure with outfits and accessories from designers such as Alex Perry, Willow and Dinosaur Designs. Justin Henry created these salty exfoliated hair and makeup looks using Kevyn Aucoin The Sensual Skin Fluid Foundation and O & M hair products. Thank you to Ben Pyke for assistance on the day: feel free to click on the pictures to see them in detail! Here comes the summer sun!

dress by LEAH DA GLORIA

dress (worn back-to-front) by MAX MARA 

bangles by DINOSAUR DESIGNS

dress by ALEX PERRY

dress by WILLOW 

bracelet & bangle by DINOSAUR DESIGNS 

bra top (worn back-to-front) by SCANLAN & THEODORE 

pants by SPORTMAX 

necklace by DINOSAUR DESIGNS

bikini top by MARTHA REY 

bangle by DINOSAUR DESIGNS

top by BLESS'ED ARE THE MEEK 

briefs by BASIC INSTINCTS  

belt by SCANLAN & THEODORE 

rings by DINOSAUR DESIGNS 

swimsuit by AZZOLLINI 

bangles by DINOSAUR DESIGNS

SHOUT OUTS! - 2013 IN REVIEW: Flashback time!

2013 - that's a wrap! I thought I would do a quick post that features all the videos from the shoots I worked on this year!

As always it takes lot of people to make the magic so a massive shout out to (in no particular order) Dylan B, Amelia J Dowd, Justin Harrison, Kimberly Clarke, Tasha Tylee, Yasmin Suteja, & Ian Knight - thank you for helping me with all of these video projects and seeing it through to the final edit!

Also big props to the people who helped me in all forms this year from Chris Fatseas on shoots to Ben Scott and Daniel Sangermani for sharing their awesome studio spaces with me. Y'all gotta book their studios people!

Thank you to my wonderful editors of Black Magazine, Grant Fell and Rachael Churchward, whose determination and loyalty inspire me - and lots of gratitude to the incredible Justin Henry who continues to have a massively positive impact on me both personally and professionally! What a guy!

And a very big thank you to all of the designers, artists, models, creatives, bookers, agencies and clients I worked with this year (even the clients I didn't like) - I learnt from everyone! And thank you to my agency Independent for looking after me in what has been a massive year of accomplishments and evolution.

The end of 2013 was a monster of adventure - so many amazing things coming out in the next couple of months with big personalities! Stay tuned lovers! 2014 here we come! Feel free to explore the video gallery below - I love these videos!

CALLING ALL OCCUPANTS OF INTERPLANETARY CRAFT: Thom Kerr & Justin Henry vs. Marthe Wiggers

Thom Kerr & Justin Henry Beauty capture Marthe Wiggers

Those who know me personally understand my obsession with deep space and unexplained mysteries - one of my favourite topics being the existence of UFO's. The inspiration behind this story in the latest issue of Black magazine started when I discovered a series of allegedly true photographs of UFO's taken in a famous case called The Billy Meier Contacts. It got me thinking about how most ufo pictures are taken from a distance and usually somewhat distorted so I thought it would be fun to create a story incorporating that idea - almost a Where's Wally type effect - in which the reader would have to slow down to examine the picture to see if they could spot the craft. Just to see who would notice and if they noticed one, would they go back and scan the other images. Often I star gaze late at night and wonder if anyone is looking down at me... so I thought I would split the story into two - the girl who watches inside the craft and the girl who lives her daily life dreaming of something bigger... Beauty by Justin Henry - Styling by Katrina Sheiles - Art Direction by Lindsay Rose - featuring Marthe Wiggers from IMG models. Click the pictures to spot the flying craft!

Thom Kerr & Justin Henry Beauty capture Marthe Wiggers

HURRICANE LEILA: A preview of my new beauty series...

Hello lovers! Those of you who have known me for a while know that traditionally I haven't done much beauty work in the past. Over the last year though, thanks in part to my co-australian editor of Black Justin Henry, I've been really discovering the genre. To the point now where I've had my first beauty cover for Black featuring Ruby Jean Wilson - you can check it out on Frockwriter if you missed it - and I keep getting approached by different creative directors from beauty brands... fun times!

Leila @ Chic

I think in the past I had been resistant to shooting beauty because I thought a lot of it looked pretty average - same composition, same idea, same lighting etc. However, having now dabbled I'm finding new ways to create magic and discovering how to put the Thom Kerr drama into the genre! I love my beauty story that I shot for Blacklog - I also wanted to share these two setups that I adore that we shot later in the day. Justin and I have shot a body of exquisite beauty work which we're dying to share with y'all! But you'll just have to be patient for the time being! So enjoy! Hair and makeup by Justin Henry modelled by Leila Goldkuhl @ Chic and shot at Studio 501. Studio 501 is located in Surry Hills and super groovy - you should book the space!

Leila @ Chic

JUSTIN HENRY BEAUTY: A little background behind the other Australian editor of Black Magazine...

Annabel Moore wears dress by Rachel Gilbert

Many of you would be aware by now that outside of taking fabulous pictures I am one of the Australian editors for Black magazine. For those of you who don't know, Black is a beautiful glossy publication that has an international team of top notch contributors. All of the content is assembled together and published from the New Zealand capital of Auckland then distributed around the world. I love working with Black as I'm always learning more about the business of fashion - not just the process of creating the pictures themselves. The photos I'm sharing with you now are outtakes from a beauty story I shot with the super lovely Melbourne based stylist Sophie Barker and my fellow Black Australian editor Justin Henry. We shot this story before our featured beauty editorial 'Is Anybody Out There?' which you can see in all it's glory in the latest issue of Black #19 - starring the lovely Annabel Moore.

Annabel Moore wears jacket by Manning Cartell

THAT'S A WRAP 2012: The year that was!

Adventures ahoy!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years darlings! I thought I'd kick the year off by sharing some pictures of Taren Cunningham - a talented artist and musician who mused for some of the biggest names in fashion including Tim Walker and Steven Klein. She is one amazing woman and a delight to shoot! Have a listen to one of her latest projects here - her music sounds like a magic spell. I think that's why the pictures turned out the way they did! Goodness gracious... so much got crushed right into the end of the year there! I've been state hopping as usual. Had a lot of fun, shot a lot of pictures! December saw me visit Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. By the time I got in to see my family I was well and truly ready to sleep for a thousand years. I had a really fun New Years Eve with my pals Sarah Birchley and Jovita Lee hanging out by a lake behind Noosa in a place called... Ccccooooorrrrrooooyyy... I can never pronounce it properly - but it was a good time! I woke up to sunrise in a field wrapped up in a picnic blanket! What a way to welcome in the new year!

The wonderful Taren Cunningham channels some magic

KIMBRA KRAFT TIME: Designing the Backdrop for her 2012 headline USA tour...

Backdrop Illustration by Jose Vigers

Earlier in the year, whilst on Kimbra's video set for her single Come Into My Head, I was asked whether or not I could help collaborate on something visual to add another stage dimension for her US tour. Always up for a fresh challenge I gladly accepted! We needed to create something with colour, depth, imagination but also practicality. It would have to be packed up every evening and because each venue had different stage measurements we had to have some flexibility. Detailed, durable and easy to compact. So it was decided that we would create a beautiful backdrop to extend upon the world created by Kimbra and her band. They're all pretty stellar musicians, so I felt the pressure to do something cool!

'Stay Hard' - Jose Vigers