What a beauty! This gorgeous girl was kind enough to lend her face again for a quick casual studio session. Anna- Rica is always up for test shoots which is brilliant or any creative collaboration - happy days!
Make-Up by Cay Duque
I thought I'd share this spread from Fantasticsmag. My work mate Sueng shot these gems a few months back. It was a nice surprise to see my name in the credits as 'Photography Assistant' it made my Saturday to be honest.
You know those girls who are born with flawless skin and beautiful freckles, well that's Jacquie for you. She braved Sydney winter winds and yet looks cool and collected despite Australia's version of sub zero temperatures.
MUA: Cay Duque and Stefanie Chen
Hair: Moy Hall
Stylist: Lauren Boutros
Photographer: Maria Cruz x Raver Ria
Test shoot with the beautiful Anna-Rica. The more you look at her the beautiful she gets, that shit is unfair really. I met her many moons ago and Sydney being a tiny place we have quite a few mutual friends. Anna- Rica has a killer personality, killer laugh, and is a killer dancer. Oh and she is off the market, sorry boys!
MUA: Cay Duque
Hair: Moy Hall
Stylist: Lauren Boutros
Flowers: Faux Flora
Photographer: Maria Cruz x Raver Ria
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.
“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.
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
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
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!
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
The place I grew up as a toddler, my Granddad's home. I've always had fond memories of this place- playing in the rain, buying lollies and dirty ice-creams at the tindahan (make shift shops in front of houses) It's not the type of place travellers would normally go to unless you are visiting with a local. It's the Philippines I know- rough around the edges, gritty and not what they show in tourism advertisements. We came from nothing and had the opportunity to have a new life in a new country that is Australia. Moral of the story- never forget your roots, never forget where you came from.
Images shot by me on a Ricoh 35zf with Kodak 400 colour film
I am back on the road again... travelling back to the motherland... you can catch my adventures on instagram because I don't think that I will be posting whilst away. See ya'll when I get back.