JULIANA FASHION SHOOT ll ON LOCATION

THE PROBLEM WITH INSTAGRAM

Interesting topic right?? I have been using Instagram for over 4 years... I used to use it for health and fitness and then it became my photography. It was cool in the beginning. Posting photos of my travels, doing the hashtags, working with top bloggers in Germany and also having a free holiday around Europe being an Insta famous Bloggers Photographer. Free breakfasts, free hotels and incredible experiences. I used to spend over 2 hour's on Instagram a day. Worrying about how many like's a photo would get, if my followers were going up at a good pace and if my videos were getting enough views. If not, i would just delete it and try again at a later time of the day..

I was speaking to a friend who models, and she said she is over Instagram. She was doing what I did. Spending hours a day making sure posts "looked good" and how many likes and followers she got. She said she could feel how bad it was for her health! Instagram is so amazing, how we are able to watch people so closely. I love all the fitness girls I follow and able to see what workouts they do and then do the same when I go to gym. They also inspire me so much with the photos of food they post. Now i know that you can post whatever you want but I feel that some of the fitness girls are more real..posting photos slouched over,food babies and their " imperfections". People now have the opportunity to be seen more than ever and people are using Instagram more than Facebook and Twitter now. No one is posting feeling sad or lonely or cleaning their house or about the low times of their lives...which we all have. Its all about an illusion that people are creating! You see people buying their 10th car and you like i just budgeted my groceries for the week this is so sad.... 

What is the end goal with Instagram? I was excited when i got 10k followers and then 15k , 20k and then 25k followers. What is the final goal? It will never end. I had family down from Israel and for a lot of the lunch i was on my phone. I can tell you right now on your death bed you will never wish you had more followers or were more popular on Instagram.. It always seems like everyone else is doing better than you when everyone posts the best parts of their lives. I am guilty of looking at others Instagram pages and thinking why does everyone else seem to be having an amazing time when you have no idea what is going on in their lives. Alexis Ren once had a live video where she was crying saying that she is a human being too who gets sad and she missed her mother and people must realise that we are all human and we all have ups and downs.

Sure I still use Instagram but Instagram was making me actually sad and mostly frustrated.. Seeing photographers in Europe shooting and then wanting to be there too.. Seeing photographers posting work and then hating my own work and of course the banging fit bodies of girls who have had stuff removed and surgery to look like that..unrealistic right??

I want to spend more of my time talking to my friends and family, going for walks and reading a book. Everyone is trying to prove something. Whether that is having money, having fun or eating at a restaurant..

The fact that social media cause's depression is proven scientifically. The mechanism is very simple on Facebook, Instagram, etc., people tend to post only the highlights of their lives. Everyone is posting picture of fun times, vacations, good times with friends etc., while no one is posting the miserable aspects of everyday life. . Life is complex, everyone's life is rich of sad and happy moments. Some big moments, a lot of minor, less important moments.

So if you take a platform where anyone can self promote himself and post only the highlights of his life, do you understand what kind of distorted reality such a platform can depict?

There are more important things to spend your time on in the day and waking up and just having breakfast instead of taking in everyones posts every day. So give up being on Instagram so much and see family and friends or take a walk outside. Even make a list of the things you are grateful for. Remember that you are unique!No one is YOU! And stop comparing yourself to other's and cheer yourself on! Cut social media out and boom...cut out stress , anxiety and sadness..  Focus on your own success... Focus on the things that make you a better person..Focus on where you are going! Focus on the people in your life!

Big hugs!! 

NATURAL LIGHT SHOOT l With Shiela Ho

Video from my photo-shoot in Hamburg with Richard Wilkinson

Take a look at our video behind the scenes and how i retouched a photo from this shoot.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JiJt_OUtFw

A final image from our photo-shoot in Hamburg

I shot with my Canon 5D mark 2 - really considering changing to Nikon, need a new camera soon 

Richard doing what he does best!

Watch how i take this photo from the left to the right in my video of me retouching sped up.

How beautiful is she?? She looked so amazing even from natural make up to a smokey eye.

Behind the Shoot for Sand Copenhagen and The Book Magazine

This is an Editorial for The Book Magazine with all clothing by Sand Copenhagen.

I was in Copenhagen for two weeks with my dear friend Lena Lademann (blogger from Hamburg- http://lenalademann.com/) and between the fashion week schedule i thought i would squeeze a fashion shoot in. 

Its so amazing to be away from home and plan a shoot as you have to find new locations where you would want to shoot. When i shoot at home in Cape Town i have "comfort zone locations" like the beach or on the streets but when going to Copenhagen i literally went onto Google Maps and went up and down all the streets and wrote down some street names. After being there for a few days i knew i would prefer to do the shoot inside as it was just way too cold and i would feel bad complaining about the cold in 3 jackets when the models would be in a suit with bare skin. I decided we would do the shoot at the hotel we were staying in as the room was modern with decent furniture.

One hour before the shoot i decided it would be a good idea to walk 2km to get the clothing from the Sand store instead of just going on the train..really a stupid idea. My hands were literally like claws from the cold. So i made my mission back to the hotel carrying all the clothing over my shoulders.

The team arrived and i put some music on and we got everything ready to start the shoot. Of course my external flash was not working, it would work about 30% of the time otherwise it wouldn't fire..the joys of technology.

I am happy with the results of the shoot but wish i picked out some more clothing to choose from as we were quite limited.. i think the 4km walk with claws for hands made me just get 4 outfits for each model and nothing more.

Photos from the shoot are now on my website www.tornevelk.com

TIPS l HOW TO SHOOT FEMALE MODELS IN BIKINI'S

This is a post about shooting female models on the beach and what issues i have faced. Like in my last post i mentioned the model is everything so if she is confident and has a rocking body this is 90% of the image.

When its just myself and the model and i have arranged styling then the photo-shoot will maximum take one hour to complete.

TIPS FOR SHOOTING FEMALE MODELS IN BIKINIS

• This is a given..but the model having a good body kinda makes the image so its more of a challenge when the model is not exercising or in shape. Now i am not saying that if you are not a model going to gym that you cant post in a bikini all I'm saying is that the model is the main focus of the image and it will be easier to shoot someone who is well defined/toned. If the model doesn't feel she is in shape then its probably better to have her shoot in a monokini as they are less revealing. 

• If the model is a bit shy/new its better to shoot a more commercial vibe than a ""hot/sexy" shoot because you will immediately see the model is not fully into the mood and cant pull off the look you want. 

• BODY OIL/BABY OIL/COCONUT OIL..ANY OIL.Oil is so important for shoots or a lotion that glows/shines as the sun will give a beautiful glow on the skin 

• We all know the good old "hand on the hip" pose.. now everyone does it because it really does the trick with making arms look more toned.. There are many ways to do this without that over done hand on hip pose. You can get the model to turn her hand around on her hip (like the image in this post). You can have one arm going out with her elbow on her hip and the other hand holding the arm. Usually when a model has her arms against her body it gives the impression that her arm is bigger than it is just because her arm is actually pushing against her body.  When using your arms you need to make sure when you hold your body that your hands are on your hips and have your body 3/4 to the camera. 

• Self tanner or bronzer as no one wants to hurt there eyes and plus.. a good tan makes any one look good ;)

• The light... I once did a photo-shoot at 10:30am because the model was 2 hours late (cant believe i waited). I cant even explain to you how bad the light will look on any model in this situation. The light is making black shows and this is very unflattering. You want light coming from the side which would mean a morning shoot or an afternoon shoot. I have done a shoot at midday with a stunning model named Lera but we couldn't just shoot at any angle on the beach, we would find shaded areas with a little bit of light hitting the back of her head.

• make sure there are no people walking behind the model as thats extra work and that being said.. find a beach that is more quiet. There is nothing worse than a packed beach trying to find a gap and people making childish comments and then the model feeling uncomfortable.

• Making the model standing on her toes to elongate her legs and shows muscle definition

• The models face should be more up than facing down because of shadows that will show under the eyes and no woman wants that!

• Having a swimsuit that fits is also a biggy! You dont want the model wearing a bikini that is 10 times too small and things going wild!

• Its never the best idea to shoot the model from above as you are making her look short and just..unflattering

• If the model is having issues looking towards the bright sun, have her look away, down or close her eyes every other shot or so, until she can get used to the brightness of the sun. The closer the sun is to the horizon, the easier it is for the model to look towards the light (not into the light directly mind you!)

• if you can take props with then that is also cool! Like a Coke bottle with a funky straw, a towel to wrap around her head or a cool watch.

And lastly.. Stick your booty out to accentuate your curves. Be conscious of the 'S' shape you want to be producing. 

ROUGH TIDES- A PHOTO-SHOOT EDITORIAL

🌊 R O U G H T I D E S 🌊 

It may be cold, but Cape Town creatives are about their summer lives. Featuring a palette of neutrals from EVE Emporium, here's a story about taking it back to raw form. 

📸: Torné Velk Photography

Grooming: Sunel Carosini 

Hair: Zaan Ferreira 

Model: Adam Barnard at Boss Models South Africa

A link to A Fashion Friend is: http://afashionfriend.co.za/editorials

Loving this photo-shoot i did on the West-Coast.I arranged a make up artist and she arranged with a friend to do the hair. The model lived in Langebaan so knew i could do a nice shoot while staying at my mom for Christmas.

 Sometimes i find it a challenge to shoot with men as in my opinion, you are limited with what you can do. A female model can do all the poses and go from sexy to commercial while a male model is captured more "chilled". Its quite easy for a male's poses to be over done and for this shoot we really wanted to go for a more calm look. The photo-shoot was quite simple and took us about 1 hour to complete the shoot and head back home.

Its always important when shooting with a model to remember that the model is the most important part to the image so finding a good model makes a worlds difference. You could have top designer clothing but if the model is not feeling relaxed or not photogenic then this really effects the final image.

Its always easy to get a friend or a family member to model for you but its the best to try get a model from an agency and find out if your shoot with him/her is their first shoot or not.

Its also important to learn how to direct the model as this is a deal breaker. If you can get the model to feel relaxed with you then this really shows in the pictures. When you want the model to smile its good to just do something like laugh out loud so they have something to play along with.

I have done shoots with experienced models as well as brand new models who were very shy and it helps to be able to get the shot you need quickly and to keep talking to them. Nothing worse than an awkward silence while the model seems like she has never experienced another human before.

I also think its good to remind the model that you wont bite them as sometimes they seem almost scared and this will not help with posture and movement between shots.

I find it helps to keep talking and to not make them feel uncomfortable and to talk to him/her for a few minutes before you shoot so they get to know you. 

Its always super handy to take a big piece of material with you so you can hold this around the model if they need to get changed at a location with no place to get changed.  I have had a shoot where the model did not want to get changed in my car so she had to walk to a hotel between each outfit and that can add a lot of time onto the shoot.

One last tip is to get a good relationship with a model agency that you like so you can get their models and then after a couple of shoots ask for a more experienced model.

THE ISSUE OF FEELING THE NEED TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF

People pleasing... my biggest problem!

I so badly want to just say ," sorry i do not have the time at the moment." but instead,i will get into a 2 page letter as to why i cant right now and how sorry i am and what i am busy with at the moment and start going into my whole life history while Im at it.

A friend of mine told me something really special, he said that i am in control of what i do and say but how others react to what i do and say is none of my business. If i tell some one i dont have time (and i really dont) and then they are annoyed with me, that is not my problem. I will always try to make sure that when i dont have time for something that the person is also not annoyed with me and I'm sure you can imagine how time consuming that is and just ....pointless. People pleasing is an addiction that pleases no one! 

I am reading a book " The Art of Not Giving a Fu**" and also the TED Talk from the same author who says you need to put time and money into things that make you happy and fu** everything else that serves you no purpose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwRzjFQa_Og

When a model will ask me for photos from a shoot from 2 days ago i get so annoyed and again write a long message explaining why they wont be ready until next week and what i am currently busy with. After 5 years of sending the same messages to clients i finally realised its making me stressed and they will sometimes ask again in the next 24 hours. I have learnt that i was making myself  stress when i had the option to "ignore" or just say "hello, i will message you when they are nearly ready." Now when i say ignore i dont mean be an ass about it.. i just mean not spending 20 minutes of each day just replying to models about when their photos will be ready when there is no point of a daily update if the photos are not ready anyway.

I can be honest and say sometimes it has hit 2 or 3 months past the shoot and i am still not finished with the photos.. Photo-shoots are my only income so the paid photo-shoots will be done before the free photo-shoots..i need my gluten free sweet potato bread and kefir water.

I am trying to learn to be good to myself while being productive and NOT people pleasing.

This isn't about never doing anything for anyone else again. Its when you genuinely want to do something for someone and not when you're doing something just because someone else wants you to or you want to manipulate the situation. Learning the difference will help you make better choices for yourself. 

You need to value your time and your energy and also set boundaries. If you just say "no" its much better than doing something you dont want to do just to people please. There is only so much you can do in one day and you need to be clever with your time or you could be retouching photos for someone the whole day being annoyed that the only reason you are doing these photos before others is because they nagged you, People can WAIT.

I once did a photo-shoot for a client where we shot 40/50 outfits in one day (i was told 20) ..they talked down to me and asked me to hurry up with importing the photos and the cherry on top was getting fingers snapped in my face to "chop chop and hurry up". At any point i really wish i just said "listen, you are not respecting my work process i think its better you find some one else to do this photo-shoot for you"..But i did not and at the end of this shoot they told me the images were "unusable and any photographer would agree with them". They then said they would not pay me because they could  not use the images even though they used about 20 of the images on their online clothing store.. This could have all been avoided if i just said sorry but you can find some one else and not.. people pleased.

Another issue is feeling the need to explain yourself and what you are doing in your life. Your journey is unique to you and others journey's are unique to them.
People will always give you their opinion on your choices, your work and pretty much anything! Always do what works for you. What someone else does may not work for you.


so.. realise you have a choice, you have control over your time and you dont need to feel bad doing what works for you. Consider if something is worth it before agreeing to do it and realise that you can’t be everything to everyone. Life is too short for spending time and energy on things you dont want to!

MY ADVICE TO BEGINNER PHOTOGRAPHERS

So this post is dedicated to talking about how i started and what I recommend for beginner photographers. 

I started taking photo's in my gran's back garden with two friends because we couldn't pay a photographer to do a "friendship" shoot for us. I used my brothers camera (which became my camera i used for 4 years until it literally broke) just taking pictures of my friends and then getting a make up artist and a local designer involved. From there i went into the modelling agencies where i would get the fresh/new models and sometimes if i was lucky i got a more experienced model (which makes a worlds difference).

After some time i was very excited to hear other more experienced photographers opinions and stories..but little did i know that asking them for advice would end up changing my work. I had some one tell me i did a great shoot but i shot at midday which was bad..so from then i never shot at midday ever again and even staying away from shooting in the sunlight. I had another photographer tell me what would make a good photo and what would make a bad photo and because i was so excited to learn and take better photos i would listen and think too hard about what i was told and made myself so confused.. i was listening to everyones opinions too much and not doing what worked for ME. Everyone has their own style and their own way of working and what works/worked best for them.

If i look at my photography when i started in 2011 and now i can really see how my work has changed of course but also i feel like my creativity changed too. Almost like now i am scared of being wrong.. scared of taking a bad photos that i would limit myself so much. Looking back i wish i didn't allow everyones opinions to effect me as much as i feel they did. I think it's important to take advice but not let it mould your style or way of seeing things.

I think i used to think too much on a shoot. I would think "what would be a good photo" and "what will others think of this shoot or photo".

Right now i am trying to meditate...yes, meditate to get my mind more calm on shoots and just..SHOOT.. shoot what i want and what i feel works. For so long i would shoot in fear and now i am trying to just shoot with my own creativity and no limits.

So... dont listen to everyones advice on your work and what is the "best photo" and DONT let anyone shut you down or make you feel like your work is not good enough.. Keep shooting with a strong mindset in the direction of success.

Also to forget what everyone else is doing and that this will take time. I can be very impatient but i learnt that over time all aspects of your photography start to improve. From understand your camera, to problem solving to post production to dealing with clients. When you are feeling down about your work, remember why you started in the first place and be your own support system..with some chocolate

BACK TO BASICS

Photo-shoot done off the West-Coast with Adam Barnard from Boss Models Cape Town for A Fashion Friend.

We started the shoot later than expected so i was struggling with where the sun was but we made it work. The shoot was meant to start at 7am but we started at 9:30am..

All clothing was from the fantastic Eve Emporium.

Photo-shoot was done with my 5D mark 2 with a 50mm lens

Im so happy we went to Italy for a few days. I really wanted to go to Greece or Italy this month and we decided to drive to Italy to Milan and Venice. Nothing better than good company, sunshine and a beautiful location.