Even though we felt this way about last years show, we decided we would try again this year. Fortunately we could use the fact that we are the lead photographers for Sky’s Angels Magazine to get press passes and a couple of VIP tickets for the catwalk show. So at least we didn’t have to pay this year

To view pictures from last years show check out our Facebook Page.

We arrived at Excel and made our way to the press office, which from the emails we were sent was supposed to be at S9.

Well this was not the case. The “press office” was actually a roped off area by N10 with one of those portable display stands they use in supermarkets as a desk. First impressions and all that – this was not a good start!

Anyway, we were given our passes and my ticket to the catwalk show; because we were early we had to wait for our guest, which was Mr Demitri Jones from ITV2′s Models, Misfits & Mayhem. Demitri is the head of hair and make-up for the show and has been a writer for our magazine – Sky’s Angels Magazine - from the very beginning.

As soon as Demitri arrived we went back over to the press office to get his pass and ticket for the catwalk show. Then we discovered the next little problem – the seating number on his ticket and mine were about 20 seats apart! We weren’t even seated next to each other.
Seriously!? These tickets were sorted out at the same time so surely we would have seats together? Well at least they were VIP tickets.

Now it was almost time for the doors to open and to get some pictures of the girls from the show. In the press pack they called this a photo call – it was more like a nightmare. Everyone pushing and shoving to get to the front. I had no chance, mainly because I’m short and could not see a bloody thing. Ross managed to get a few shots by holding his camera in the air and hoping and praying.

After Ross had got some shots, Demitri grabbed my hand and rescued me from the crowd, what a sweet guy.

Last year I missed out on getting pampered, so this year I went straight to The Powder Room. Luckily because we were early there was not much of a wait. I was going to have just my make-up done and Demitri was going to have his nails and make-up done.

On the website for BINTM live show they say that in the powder room you will be “pampered to within an inch of perfection”.

This was certainly NOT the case for me and I don’t know if the MUA I had was still early on in her training, or if it was just the incredibly poor lighting or just the plain fact she was not provided with the correct tools she needed to do her job.

Because I already had make-up on the MUA had to remove this. Ok, she had some eye make-up remover, but no cotton wool. So she had to use a tissue which is not the most ideal thing to use on the eye area. She was very gentle, but she missed some bits which I thought she’d notice eventually … but she didn’t. I didn’t have the heart to tell and it is actually her job to notice.

She then applied foundation. She didn’t remove the foundation I already had on even though I had told her I already had full make-up on. I think what didn’t help matters was the lighting in the hall. It was not ideal for putting make-up on, but she still should of noticed that I had foundation on before putting new foundation on.
However the foundation she used was not a bad match considering she didn’t have the complete collection (only 3 colours).

After the foundation was applied we talked about what sort of eye shadow colours I usually use, which is earthy colours, golds, browns, greens … and for whatever reason she put a lilac shade on me. Does that count as earthy!?

Also after she’d finished I had to tell her to reblend in the colour on my right lid because it looked like it was done by a child. This is not good, she should have noticed that it had not blended properly, she’s meant to be the MUA, not me.

After my eyes where done, she jumped straight to doing my lips rather than my cheeks. The product she was going to use was still in it’s packaging so I had to sit there while she tried to open it. When it was unpackaged I noticed it was the Just Bitten Lip Stain.
This is like a felt-tip pen that is normally applied directly to the lips. But obviously this couldn’t be done at a show like this for hygiene reasons. So it had to be applied with a lip brush … which simply did not work well at all. She eventually got it looking ok, but they should really have thought about what products could be used easily given the situation.

Almost done with my Powder Room experience, the MUA almost let me leave without any blusher on and I had to point out to that she hadn’t done it. Seriously she would of let me walk out of there without any if I hadn’t said anything.

My next stop was going to be the Adee Phelan hair station. I have naturally curly hair and I’ve yet to meet a hairdresser that can deal with it properly.
But after the Powder Room experience I was totally put off the idea of having my hair done, so this left us with loads of time to kill – which we did by just wandering round. Apart from the Powder room and hair stand, there was really very little of any interest. Some old shoes on sale at overly extortionate prices, some naff clothes, tacky jewellry, loads of chocolate and sweets (really good for aspiring models!) and a drinks company claiming that their soft drink will make you burn 200 calories! Really, I think the organisers should be more responsable than letting this sort of rubbish into a show that attracts thousands of young, impressionable, wannabie models.

The open catwalk was generally boring, with some untalented bands and the enevitable token TOWIE guest (so sick of that rubbish, especially Amy “professional” Childs).

The best bit of the day so far was Demitri constantly being stopped by teenage girls and asked if they could have their picture taken with him. Ross was finding the double takes from the girls hilarious and I found it quite amusing too. I think by the end of the day Demitri was exhausted from the smiling. The poor guy was just trying to have a day out! – but this happens when you’re on TV.

The Catwalk Show
When we arrived in the morning we were told to go to the VIP lounge for 1:30pm. We were told all the press would then be taken into the hall. So at 1:30pm we made our way to the VIP Lounge which was basically a roped off area in the corner, overcrowded and completely packed with all the general public, not very VIP if you ask me.

Instead of the press being taken into the hall we were herded into a corner and had to wait until the public had gone in. Me and Demitri gave up and just went in and made our way to the hall.
Ross however had to wait. Once everyone else had been let in, the press were herded into the narrow gap between the seating stands. As always the video and photographers forced their way to the front, desperate to get the best positions against the gates that had been added.
At which point the security guards then asked “who has tickets for seats”? and then attempted to get the seated reporters through and past the massed sea of video and photography guys and all the equipment, tripods, etc.

Then a guard came up behind them and said a second “press pit” was available for 6 people (press pit?? We hadn’t even seen the first press pit yet! Oh hang on, they were actually calling the gap between the stands the Press Pit – what idiot thought that one up!?).

So Ross and a few others were taken out of the hall made to walk al the way around the outside to the otherside of the hall – where they were promptly told “sorry you can’t be here”. So, they had to come all the way back to the original corridor between the stands, which now meant they were at the back with zero chance of even seeing any of the stage. Then another guard said “we have another area”. So off they went again. The lights went out and the show started before they got half way!

This time they were taken to a small gap between the side of the hall and the first set of stands right by the main screen. So when all the dancers and models came out all any of them could see was their backs! Ross spent the show jammed up against the side railings of the seating stands, unable to move anywhere – but he still managed to pull off some great shots.

A complete fiasco! At last years show it was a proper catwalk stage with a proper press pit at the end of the runway. Whoever put this together this year didn’t have a clue.

As Ross was still being herded when the show started, he texted to tell me to start shooting. I hadn’t originally intended to shoot from the stands because of all the heads, but luckily I’d changed my mind and was already shooting.

Overall the show was ok, but not a patch on last years. The lighting was not as good, the dance choreography was no where near as good and the general stage layout with models and dancers coming from both ends just didn’t work. Viewers were unsure where to look and things happening at one end were missed because you were distracted by something happening at the other.
The the clothing, etc, and the music performers were also not a patch on last years catwalk show.

I’ve got to say I was very disappointed with the catwalk show this year. I had hoped that they would have taken the success of last year’s and built on it, correcting the minor mistakes and enhancing what they had … But alas this was not the case. The whole thing was very badly thought out and arranged. Last years was a lot better.

In fact the entire experience was very disappointing, not just the catwalk show, there were no “better” points at all in comparison to last years. I’d really hoped this year was going to be bigger and better, but really the majority was worse and they just crammed in more rubbish stands full of tat.

Will we return next year? Probably not. I certainly wouldn’t pay for a ticket!

The best bit of the day for me was getting to hang out with our friend Demitri Jones.
Check out Demitri’s Facebook Page.

To see more of our pics from the day go to our Facebook Page and check out the BINTM albums.

When Luc originaly approached us the new shoot was going to be specifically for Versatile Apparel. However this changed to being a shoot for several other things which included possibly using one of the images for the cover of Luc’s new single and a cover shot for SA Mag’s November issue.

The day of the shoot soon arrived; an early start as always, plus a long drive into London. When we arrived at Luc’s we got a warm welcome from him and his lovely girlfriend Kay. After having a much needed drink we then went on to discuss some ideas for the shoot and looked at some locations. We would have usually already of done this but on this occasion we had to do it on the day of the shoot. It kept us all on our toes

Once we had all finished our drinks we all piled into our car and drove to the 1st location, the 606 jazz club, which is one of lucs favourite places.

This was a very interesting location and bit of a nightmare lighting wise. But as always we had brought along our mobile lighting system. Photography can be a strange thing, taking the pictures doesn’t take long, it the setting up of the lighting that can take what seems like forever. While Ross sorted the lighting out, Luc got changed into the 1st outfit of the day.

When the lighting was done it was time for Luc to do some posing, Ross had to give him some direction and correct his poses when needed – but at the end of the day Luc is not a model, he’s a singer/songwriter(!) so the guy was a bit out of his comfort zone. But he seemed to handle it well and Ross is great at dealing with people that don’t know how to pose properly. Just from watching Ross and Luc work together you could see there was a good relationship between the two of them and they made a good team.

While all this was going on I was getting some behind the scenes video footage, it’s been a while since I’d filmed anything but it still felt natural to me.

Before we all knew it, it was time to leave the club and get some food in us. Luc and Kay treated us to a burger and chips – very yummy

I teased Luc about the fact that his belly was going to look fat in the shots we were going to do later on. He took this in the nature it was intended and smiled and said we’ve done all the skinny shots!

For the next set of shots he would be wearing mainly jumpers and cardigans. For the jumper shots we went to the River Thames which was a great location for what Luc was wearing.

Once we got what we wanted from this location we moved on to the next, which was a footbridge over the Thames along the side of the train bridge. For this location Luc got changed into a cardigan and trousers. Ross got Luc climbing up the railings and leaning ove the side of the bridge looking out over the water. The sun was sitting low and shining through the bridge metalwork – great natural backlighting!

While Luc and Ross looked through some of the shots from the bridge location Luc saw some images that he may use for the cover of his new single, Don’t Give Up, which is released on November 13th and will be available to download from iTunes.

There was time for one more outfit change and location. These last few shots were going to be the fun shots and they sure were!

Ross got Luc jumping and stretching in strange ways and hanging over garden railings! All will make sense when you see the final pics.

These shots also turned out to be some of Luc’s and Ross’ favourites of the whole day.

Well that was a wrap. Luc and Kay took me and Ross out for a drink before we made our way home. I’ve got to say it was nice to just chill out with such lovely people, especially after such a long day. We also got a personal invite from Luc to the premier of his new film Darkness, which you can read about in issue 8 of Sky’s Angels Magazine and watch out for issue 9 which will have a big feature on Luc and of course the front cover!

Hope you enjoy the behind the scenes video, which features a remix of Don’t Give Up by Jnay.

If you haven’t already seen Stuart’s make-over video you can still view and it has a very special appearance by Ross Campbell.

You can also read about it in the July issue of Sky’s Angels Magazine with a few shots from the day.



To see a full selection of images from the day you can go to our Facebook page

After a great response to the article in Issue #6 of the magazine, Ross and I thought it would be great to do a full interview and photoshoot with Lisa.

We arranged to do the shoot on the 23rd July starting at home with Lisa in Leigh-on-sea to see her “away from modelling”. A few days before the shoot I noticed that the weather was not going to be great. So I messaged Lisa to see if she could do the shoot on the 24th instead. She was more than happy to rearrange it to the new date. I’m really glad we moved the shoot. Even when I dragged myself out of bed at 7:30am the sun was shinning and there were some nice fluffy clouds in the sky.

We arrived at Lisa and got straight to it. For the 1st part of the shoot we decided to get Lisa to dress as she would if she was just chilling at home and I gave the make-up and hair a natural look. This was because the 1st set of images would be showing Lisa at home, just chilling. It took a few hours to get the shots just right – we wanted them posed but not to look as if they were posed … and this can be harder to do than it sounds. Also the lighting had to be perfect as well, as some of you will know good photography requires good use of light and knowing how to control the lighting.



Once we got the 1st set of shots in the bag, it was time for a change of clothes and I wanted to just add a bit of colour to Lisa’s eyes. I put some black eyeliner on her as well and I checked to see if anything else make-up wise needing retouching and retouched where needed.



For the 2nd set of shots we took Lisa just outside. I assisted Ross by holding the reflector when required to do so and sorted out any wardrobe problems. Ross got some behind the scenes shots of me straightening jackets and flicking off bits of fluff/dirt, lol.



Once we got the shots we wanted we went back inside and got Lisa changed into another outfit. This outfit was one we originally did not think we would be able to do. For the look to be right we needed a denim jacket, which we didn’t have and neither did Lisa. But Lisa’s partner bought one while he was out and phoned to let us know he was on the way home! Thanks Cameron you’re a star. 10 minutes and a cup of coffee later we had the jacket.

So, outfit sorted, make-up checked and hair changed. We all got into our car and drove to the next location which was the woods.

While shooting in the woods I made friends with a very friendly red squirrel.



Once we got the shots we wanted to get here we all decided it was time for a break so we all had some refreshments and Lisa also got changed into her next outfit. We were then ready to go to our final location, the beach!

I was going to be shooting the 1st section at this location. It took a while to get the lighting right, but once it was it was worth the patience, even if it was only for a couple of shots.



Bugger! got to give the camera and Lisa back to Ross. But before I did, I changed the make-up for something slightly more dramatic, sleeked Lisa hair down with some water and we got her changed into a cardigan and nothing else.





Both Ross and Lisa thought these would be the last shots of the day, but just as we were finishing up I noticed a wall with paintings on it at the back of the beach. It looked great, so both me and Ross got a few shots of Lisa on the wall.

So that was a wrap. Time to get Lisa home and for me and Ross to drive back to Braintree. It was a long day, but we all had a good time and made some lovely images together.

To see a selection of images and read Lisa’s interview in issue #7, go to http://www.skysangelsmag.co.uk/

You can also view a full album of shots from the shoot on our Facebook page

For more information on our portfolio shoots, go to our website You never know, if you book a portfolio shoot with us you could also be in Sky’s Angels Magazine like Lisa!

Don’t forget to follow both Campbell Photographic and Sky’s Angels Magazine on twitter

Lisa is now signed with Vibe International Models and you can book her for shoots through their website.

On the 8th July we covered the Help for Heroes Fashion Show for Sky’s Angels Magazine, the event was Run & Organised by EssexH4HEvents / Gina Negus & Mica Seaby.

Before we knew it was time for all the models to start strutting their stuff, everyone involved with this event gave their time for free.

Bernice Beaumont
Natasha
Melanie Brown
Nikita Smith

Fran Turner
Stacy Alford
Melissa Kimber
Linda Cunningham
Georgia Shipley
Leanne Scotten
Beka Pritchards
Titi Talabi
Kay Hannington
Esther Adams
Katie Attwater
Jessica Love
Lisa Chenneour
Faith Nhemachena
Carla Boydell
Laura Ham
Jamie Bellamy
Tim Simpson
Alfie Thomson
Reis Floyd
Richard Martin
Laurence Owens

The designers on the night were:

Anoosh Naghibi
Kim Cannon
Red Butterflie
Amis Designs
Sinstar
Aaron Dowie
Chesca Smith
Nathan Slate
Fudia Heroe
Charlotte Negus

If you want more info on help for heroes go to http://www.essexh4hevents.com/ or check out http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/

To read a full article on this event you can go to http://www.skysangelsmag.co.uk/ and click on issue #6

After a big casting day at Stuart’s salon in Covent Garden, the girl was chosen. The lucky lady was Lisa Victoria Chenneour. The video was shot on the 3rd July and was photographed by the very talented Ross Campbell of Campbell Photographic.

It was a long day but worth it. Ross got some brilliant behind the scenes images.

Once the makeover was finished Ross got to do a proper shoot with Lisa. He got a good mixture of some indoor shots and some outside shots which had an urban edge to them.

BEFORE

With great fashion & photography articles, an exclusive interview with the amazing Simon William, our usual spattering of new faces, great photoshoots, fashion shows and interviews with top designers, photographers, musicians and models. Plus an introduction to our new model advisor, Emma Alicia and the one and only Ganjo!

And don’t forget to check out pages 80-83 for an exclusive interview with the Campbell Photographic Team.

Check it out now – Sky’s Angels Magazine

http://www.skysangelsmag.co.uk/