Monday, June 30, 2014

Travel Photo Diary: Coron, Philippines

Coron captured on film. I can bang on all day about how amazing this place is. Coron is known for it's diving, notably, the 7 Japanese ships that sank during World War 2. It's pristine water and sea life is, in my opinion, the best in the Philippines. I stayed at Club Paradise Palawan and I liked how the rooms had no TVs. So there was a lot of swimming, eating, drinks at the bar and forced human interaction. As well as playing pool and table tennis - my sister is a machine at table tennis and I had no idea.

Coron Coron Coron Coron Coron Coron Coron Coron Coron Coron Coron Coron


Images Shot by me using a Ricoh 35mmZF

Friday, June 20, 2014

Life Advice

“In my opinion, life is all about experiences. The great part about photography is that it gives me a reason to get out of the house and see things which I might not normally see. Visiting waterfalls, going to parks, concerts, or just walking around town. I’ve experienced many things because of photography that I might not have experienced otherwise. My best life advice is explore: visit new places and try new things.”

— Day 253: Jonathan Eger, Award Winning Photographer, Two Time National Geographic Photography Contest Finalist


I found this quote on a sweet tumblr site 29years, 365days. The person who runs it asks people about their best life advice and posts a response every day. There are quite a few gems and the website is definitely worth checking out. You can see why I was drawn to this quote by Jonathan Eger.

Happy Friday!

Monday, June 16, 2014

Portrait Photography Mood Board



I've been thinking about portrait test shots lately. These are the images I seem to be referring to a lot for inspiration. On another note, if you are from Sydney and want to participate in some portrait test shots, hit me up on maria@raverria.com

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Back to Black: Test Shoot Part 2

Raver Ria x Moy

The second part of the test shoot was a black and white vibe- with structured styling and lace thrown in for a bit of cheeky femininity. I am a fan of black winged eyeliner and smokey eyes, so this was definitely my favourite make up look that Cay created. I threw in one coloured photo because Moy is out of control gorgeous. Am I right or am I right.

MUA: Cay Duque
Stylist: Lauren Boutros
Photographer: Maria Cruz aka Raver Ria
Model: Moy Hall

Monday, June 09, 2014

Faux Flora - Test Shoot Part 1

Hello Internet Pals,

To say that I was gone from blogger-land is a massive understatement! But I am back! A lot of changes has happened in my life since my last post, let's save that for another entry (maybe). The photography side of life has kept me busy. I've been assisting my work mate Seung Rok on test shoots, which has been great. I ask him a lot of questions and have been trying to broaden my knowledge - I just want to learn and get a better grasp of photography, I'm also trying to venture outside the norm of what I do at work. Anyhow, the test shots I assisted Seung are live on Vogue Italia Online - check it out here, here and here.

A few weeks back I hired one of the studios at work to do test shots of my own. I collaborated with a few friends who hit me up a month earlier. I tend to get anxious when I'm about to do a shoot - lack of confidence in my skills is what plays in my head (I really need to get over that). Luckily my work mate, Butler, was also shooting in the other studio and was more than happy to help me sort my sh*t out. Butler, thank you for all your help and encouragement :) I probably would have died if you weren't there!

The test shoot I did was for my mates make- up portfolio, as well as for my friend's floral business. So here are a few images from that wonderful and crazy fun day. Constructive criticism welcome!


Faux FloraFaux Flora Faux FloraFaux Flora

MUA - Cay Duque
Stylist - Lauren Boutros
Floral Head Pieces - Faux Flora 
Model - Harriet Hall
Photography - Yours Truly - Maria Cruz aka Raver Ria

Links:
http://fauxflora.squarespace.com