Category Archives: Portrait Inspiration

Private Portrait Shoot – A Mediterranean Beauty and Her Cool Kids

Paris, April 9, 2013

I had the pleasure of photographing the heavenly Julie in Sydney this summer and there is nothing more I love than hanging out with great women, hearing their stories and creating beautiful photos together.

Julie is beautiful inside and out and what a treat to find another amazing woman and have the honour of photographing her.

We started off in these first images with a light eye and the accent on her beautiful mouth…

And as the afternoon wore on out came the smoky eye and the va va voom within!

At times when I looked through the lens I could see in Julie classic Mediterranean beauties like Monica Bellucci and Penelope Cruz. The camera and I adored her!

The beautiful Julie is also the talented owner/creator of Juniorbrands and for those that love fashion like Paul Smith and Jean Paul Gaultier, Juniorbrands is all of that and more for the little ones.
Carla Coulson private portrait shoot sydney paris

I also had the honour of photographing the fabulous Solei

And the ever so cool Flynn

If you love Jean Paul Gaultier, Paul Smith and Hugo Boss you are going to lurve Juniorbrands where you will find these labels for your kids, nephews and nieces and grandchildren.

Check out her fabulous site here or on Facebook here.

Eternal hugs and big thank you to Julie for allowing me to share these photos with you.

“There is no definition of beauty, but when you can see someone’s spirit coming through, something unexplainable, that’s beautiful to me.” Liv Tyler

Pin It

10 Comments

Backstage at a Portrait Shoot in Paris

Paris, April 5, 2013

The Wardrobe

I thought I would share a little of my morning yesterday in a beautiful room in Paris as I prepared for a shoot. There is nothing so exciting as waiting for the star to get ready!

The Sitting Room

The Accessories

The Bling

The Make-up

The Dress

The Shoes

The Bedroom

The Wallpaper

The Mystery Woman having her make-up done by Sebastien

I look forward to sharing this fab shoot with you in the coming weeks.

Have a great weekend full of love and inspiration.

“I love all insider memoirs. It doesn’t matter whether it’s truck-drivers or doctors. I think everybody likes to go backstage, find out what people think and what they talk about and what specialised job they have.” David Mamet

Pin It

38 Comments

What I learnt Shooting These Photos At The Moulin Rouge

Paris, March 28, 2013

Looking back through my archives of photos is like time travelling and these shots taking at the Moulin Rouge take me back to the beginning of my arrival in Paris. How very lucky I was to work with the fabulous dancers the Moulin Rouge and Le Lido de Paris, they taught me so much.

I remember when I finally had the go-ahead to shoot the girls on stage and it was up to me to decide what to shoot, how to shoot them and what mood to create I had to think about it a lot long before starting.

One of the greatest difficulties for us photographers is where to start especially when we have a smorgasboard of options, incredible costumes, beautiful girls and locations.

Here’s What I learnt shooting these pics:

1. Research some ideas and choose a theme that you would like to start with.

2. I wanted to create a portrait series of the dancers. I had seen lots of pics live on stage image so I wanted to take them out of that environment and create a timeless feeling.

3. I wanted something moody so the light selection was really important. I chose to use just one main light on the girls and surround them in darkness.

4. My pictures previously had been full of energy, movement and life and I decided to challenge myself and photograph ‘silence’! I asked the girls to always have their eyes down and not to look at me as though they were in a dream.

5. I wanted the slightest blur to give the feeling of a dream. Working on a shutter speed of 1/60th second I asked the girls to take the smallest steps forward and backward and this is how we created the blur.

6. Dancers are brilliant to photograph as they are aware of every movement their body makes and they are always striving for elegance and poise. But I didn’t want photos that were stiff so we worked together to use their form to create interesting portrait shapes and then relaxed the poses so they looked natural.

7. Having wonderful costumes is a dream, the same as adding fashion to a portrait shoot. The shoot takes on an entirely different feel and this is something I always incorporate into my portraits.

8. I gave the girls roles to play, asked them to think of a certain situation or moments to transport them and their mood and voila I took the pic.

You too can apply some of the above examples next time you shoot. Ask yourself what you want to achieve, what mood, feel and research before you start taking pics.

I will be teaching the way I work and how to create emotion in your photos and incorporate fashion into your portraits this summer in Paris at the Picture This Workshop !! I’d love you to join me.. For the full story check here.

I would love to hear if you thought this helpful..

“I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” Steve jobs

PS: If you know a photographer who might like to learn more about combining fashion and portraiture please feel free to share..x

Pin It

18 Comments

Portrait Inspiration – Retro LA Style and Lighting Tips

Paris, March 25, 2013

All images of Model Angela Lindvall for Elle by photographer Nicholas Moore

I have always loved a little LA Style it kind of reminds me of Sydney. This shoot recalls as whole lot of things including the fab Julianne Moore in Tom Ford’s film A Single Man. Throw in some beautiful light, a wonderful caftan and I am gonsky. Just missing an up-do!

Lurving the styling and that beautiful hat, oh and put a pool in any photo and Carla’s in love. The model has her back to the sun and is creating her own shade. Wonderful trick to do in full sun.

Most magazine shoots are made up of a variety of shots. Environmental shots where the model is a part of the location but the environment is almost the hero, tighter full length shots of the model, plan Americain as they say in Paris which is a classic crop just below the navel of the model and then tighter portrait shots like this one..

Loving this environment pic. Just missing the gorgeous Colin Firth on the set of Single Man..

Now if you are around my age you will probably remember the ‘Banana Lounge” that beautiful model Angela Lindvall is reclining on. I see a ‘Banana Chair’ and I am a sixteen year old kid in a floral cotton bikini with sun streaks chatting with my best buddy.

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THIS SHOOT:

1. My guess is and I maybe wrong but this shoot was inspired by Tom Ford’s heavenly styled movie A Single Man.

2. I loved these sun flooded images. You really feel like you are on holidays looking at these pics and I love how the photographer hasn’t avoided the sun he has played with it.

3. I use this ‘get out of jail’ technique on bright sunny days. I turn my subjects back to the sun which creates their own shade. You then simply expose for the skin. You will notice the highlights are blown out on the left but the lighter shade part of the pool is also correctly exposed which is a similar exposure to the shade created on the skin.

4. Photo 4 has been taken in direct sunlight but in my opinion not at the hottest part of the day. Probably in the morning or in the afternoon judging from the shadows and the relative softness of the direct light. Always a great time to shoot people in direct light.

5. Love this last pic of the beautiful Angela smiling. This pic has been taken in open shade with a little mixed light probably because is this was taken in direct light as per the previous shot the white would have been bouncing off light and would have had too much flare.

“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.” Maori Proverb

I hope you enjoy these little tips. If you think they could help someone please feel free to share.

Pin It

6 Comments

Portrait Shoot – How to Pose Hands

Paris, March 20, 2013

One of the great dilemma’s when posing a portrait subject is where to put their hands. Now who would have thought that something so marvellous and useful as hands can become a problem in a photo. Us photographers are constantly asking ourselves what should we do with them?

Hands are the give-away when someone is uncomfortable, often we ball them into fists, splay them or hold them in ways that show our nerves.

Asking your subject to wrap their hands around themselves can create a wonderful portrait shape.

I recently shot this beautiful girl who instinctively had no fear of constantly changing and moving her hands. In the simplest of settings, with no props (only a chair), no backdrop and no movement she brilliantly created numerous different emotions with a turn of her body, by changing her facial expressions and using creative hand poses.

As it seems to be the challenge of so many photographers and their subjects I thought it would be fun to share these pics and hand poses with you to give you a little inspiration on your next shoot.

The important thing is to make sure the hands are never rigid, balled or open in a claw-like fashion or too close to the camera – they will look huge.

This chair gave her something to lean on and gives a totally different feel to this portrait.

Thanks to the lovely Anissa..All Photos Copyright Carla Coulson

And don’t forget to have fun!

TIPS WHEN POSING HANDS:

1. Ask your subject not to lean on their hands especially if underneath their chin.

2. Give your subject something to hold like a glass, a flower, an old fashioned telephone, a feather or a straw. Anything that will allow them to hold their hands naturally.

3. In photo 3 the way the model is holding her arms creates a beautiful shape.

4. In photos 2, 4, 5, 6 you will notice all hand placements are soft and the model is just lightly touching her face not leaning, pressing or pushing her skin.

5. If your subject is having difficulty or the hands are looking unnatural ask them to drop the pose and do it again.

6. Many women of a certain age tend to want to cover their neck with their hands. If this is the case I always prefer a beautiful scarf or a high collar instead of a hand pose that looks like ‘you are covering the neck’.

I hope you enjoyed this little visual hand posing moment!

“Hold a true friend with both hands.” African Proverb

PS: If you know anyone who might like this post please feel free to share..

Pin It

16 Comments