Fashion at Burleigh - Francesca Grisentil

Yesterday Aurora (http://patreon.com/PoeticMinx) and I travelled down to the Gold Coast to catch up with Francesca. We’re currently in Brisbane for Aurora’s modelling tour here. The three of us drive south to Burleigh Heads on a beautifully warm Autumn day to shoot some fashion.

We ended up at the beach in bright midday sun. A quick scope resulted in walking all of 100 metres to the big white building at the south end of the main beach. It had a kind of Mediterranean feel to it which was the perfect unAustralian thing.

Aurora had selected the wardrobe that Fran would wear. All I chose was a black dress (of course).

I shot first and took Fran to the row of windows that span the long white wall with the shoreline in the background. Lots of photographers seemingly shy away from bright midday sun, but I’ve never understood why. Shadows are almost back with this kind of light and can be used to great effect if composition is carefully thought out. Cheek bones and facial structure can be highlighted very easily by simply making sure the model’s head is orientated in the right direction. The most simple orientation gives the common ‘butterfly‘ light configuration. 

I shot some frames using the open windows to best effect and then asked the owners of the restaurant whether we could shoot inside. Luckily they were cool with it and I shot in from outside while Fran sat herself at one of the tables. The reflections showed the ocean and the deep blue of the sky. It took some manoeuvring to get everything composed right.

The final shots I took with Fran sitting on a chair looking out to sea, again, shot through a large window.

Inlcuded here are a few of the shots I took. All up I think I only shot about 20 frames. Aurora shot a lot more and she also shot Fran in an alley at the back of shops at Burleigh. Tune in to her photographer Instagram for those images.

Model: Francesca Grisenti - @francescagrisenti__

Aurora’s photography: @shotbyminx