sonny photos

Tin City - The Finished Product

Gown by Aurelio Costarella, wedges by Zu
Strapless gown by Toni Maticevski
Alex Perry gown, latex gloves from Reactor
Gown J'Aton beaded, gladiator stilettos by Gucci
Skirt worn as gown by Jessie Hill, gloves by Dents, cuff by Elke Kramer
Dress by J'Aton, stilettos by Terry Biviano, gloves by Gucci
All shots appeared in Issue 8 of KAREN mag, on newsstands now ( hint, go buy it , support independent magazines )
Big big BIG thank you to Suzie from PIX to let me have Ben for the day, Michael Azzollini for finding time in his crazy, busy schedule and work with me on this shoot, Victoria Barron for making Simone look hotter than she already is , and also making sure all of us did not get too sunburnt, Travis Balcke for puttting all that gel in Simone's hair and keeping it schlick(mick), and not let the wind get a hand on loose bits flying in her face. Simone Kerr for dealing with the heat,Heather Cairns for keeping the sand out of the clothes, Jacqui Turner for documenting it all and sneaking in a kiss when no one was looking.
HUGE thanks to Robbie Crawford for letting me use his house and the people from Tin City.
Lastly Marian Simms, Editor in Chief and Publisher from KAREN for being a fan of my photos

Behind the scenes at Tin City

I think this is when we just arrived on location
Our location for the day
Travis starts on the hair and Victoria on the nailso fmodel du jour Simone Kerr
Michael Azzollini gets his rack of clothes organized always room for some more tulle
Me, patiently waiting while all involved to their bit to create the first image ( read : can't wait to start shooting )
I go over the gear with Ben from PIX

Getting Michael to stand in , so I can start thinking about the composition/lighting of the first shot
While inside Robbie's house Victoria is making sure Simone won't get burnt before she comes out for the 1st shot Here we go, first shot, let the fun begin
Love this shot, we arein the middle of 40 km stretch of sand dunes, nothing but sand for miles, but yet, here we are in this little oasis inside tin city. Simona waits inside while I'm out in the burning sun to set up the next shot
Next shot
Then we huddle inside to look at the shots on back of camera ( too bright in the sun to really be able to see it )
looks good ( melted ) chocolate sugar hit
And then master operator Ben from PIX , who has set himself up in the location van, starts processing the RAW files
And Azzo gets the Kerr in the next outfit
Oh yeah, I'm smiling alright, the sun is shining and I have a great team, so I know I will get great shots
I must be setting up the lights again outside , so Simone patiently waits out of the harsh sun light
If there is one thing I don't like in my shot when shooting in sand/dunes or even snow, is footsteps, so Ben steps in and starts sweeping away the footsteps, awesome
As I take a shot in the background of Simone walking to the location of the next shot
checking the composition of the next shot
Looking back at these shots now as I post these, I just want to go there again and do another shoot

Just as all was going smooth and well, the rangers come round to give me a bit of grilling. Shot here so many times before and there was never an issue with rangers before, but it turns out that the original owners of the land, the Worimi people, have handed control of the land over to the National Parks and Wildlife, and are now "policing" the dunes, and this only happend just recently, so I was not aware of any permits that were needed, and they are giving me a hard time. That smile I had a few shots back is starting to fade.
But the show must go on
Next shot
Time for a well deserved lunch
Come back in a few hours for some more shots After lunch different rangers come now, doing their job While I deal with that, Simone has a little lie down, heat is a bit much for her ( check out the RSL carpet , noice one Robbie :-) Hehehe, sorry Michael, just had to include this shot of you running from the dog Setting up for another shot, light will start to getter as the sun drops in the west Heels and sand dunes, difficult mix But Simone will give it a go for the photo Yes, shameless plug for PIX, as they are providing me with an awesome service You see, I was concerned about getting all the gear and people in here in one car, as it has to be a 4WD car, and I did not have a budget to rent more 4WD, but turns out their location van is 4WD also, perfect The sun's getting to Michael , he'sacting funny ( just kidding, he's always funny :-) Nice shot Jacs Robbie is back from work, straight into a coldie, and checking out what we've done with his place, not everyday you come home from work, and find a fashion shoot in your backyard that light is getting nice ! Travis, fixing the haor and taking another booking, I think Travis was the only one who was getting phone reception I love this location Oh yummy, nice shot Jacs, love a good sun flare Can you imagine living here ? Pretty special, and just 50meters from the ocean ( fresh fish ) The locals watch the "circus" should frame this one I reckon I got some colour today one more shot to go I'm telling Michael how much I'm going to love this shot with the light you should send me some of your shots Travis I reckon Robbie could get used to this You go girl Just love this light, so ready to shoot in this light again My companion for the day I think that's a wrap All pics by the lovely Jacqui Turner ( call me for bookings :-)

Jacqui's first article and pics published in KAREN

A behind the scenes look and story from the tin city shoot. More shots to follow
Here's the original text that accompanied the pictures ;

4am starts are not completely uncommon in the modelling world, but it’s not the greatest time of day to be heading off to work either. Many of us would have still have been languid under sheets by the time the crew met up with Ben at Anna Bay, some 200km north of Sydney.
Ben was in charge our fully equipped ‘Pix’ 4WD location van, as well as being Sonny’s assistant for the day. The Pix truck had an esky in it big enough to hide a body in (and by halfway through the day we would have had volunteers to try it out), though we just crammed it with water, water, water. Predictions were for a hot day, and we could feel it already. After loading people, clothes, make-up, cameras, lights and food into the 2 4WDs, we headed out onto Stockton Bight sand dunes. This 32km stretch of constantly moving sand is home to a unique cluster of houses known as ‘

Tin

City

’. The houses, made predominantly of tin, have been a part of the dune landscape since the Depression era, and were even used in the film Mad Max. They are home now to a select few long-term residents who are tenuously allowed to stay while waiting to reach an accord between National Parks and Wildlife, and the traditional owners of the land, the Worimi people.
One of those residents and a friend of Sonny’s, Robbie, had kindly allowed us the use of his house for the day, and had organised for his neighbour to look after his rather diligent guard dogs.
Before the sea-breeze picked up around midday, inside Robbie’s house was warmer than outside, but what a great space it was! Robbie seems to have an idyllic lifestyle living there. Solar power and a constant supply of fresh water just a few metres below the sand. Catching fish for dinner, and a stunning location to just sit and watch the ever changing landscape. The colours on the dunes as the sun makes it’s way across them each day, the undulating lines sometimes barely visible against each other in the glare, and the stark contrast of the shacks against smooth mounds. It is a visual paradise. I guess the biggest problem is keeping the shifting sands away from the windows and doors, but inside the house was surprisingly sand-free – I guess Robbie was well-practised at it.
Travis, hair, and Victoria, make-up, quickly set to work on the gorgeous Simone, while Michael and Heather prepared all the clothes. There they were, beautiful long flowing gowns, juxtaposed in Robbie’s garage, next to the old quad bike, skirts trailing in the sand!
Only Sonny and I had been to the Tin City before, so everyone was pretty excited about the location, and after slathering the invisible zinc on Simone’s alabaster skin, and Victoria checking that her make-up was sweat-proof (Oh who am I kidding? Models don’t sweat!), we were ready to shoot. Taking turns holding umbrellas for shade, and light stands up against the wind, everyone pitched in where they could. The wind and heat were a challenge, but it’s a testament to the professionalism of the crew, that they didn’t let it get to them.  The latex, the ruffles, tulle and jewels, the heels, and the sand! It was great fun. Well, maybe not the latex and heels-in-dunes for Simone, but bless her, she smiled all day. Sonny shot 8 outfits, and in between changes, everyone would huddle in shade to review the pictures. We loved what we were seeing. The dresses were divine and the breeze captured their fluid lines perfectly. If only we could all look that great on the sand! Did I mention it was hot? We all wanted to jump in the surf to cool off, but an abundance of fish in the area includes a large number of Great White Sharks, so we erred on the side of caution and just kept drinking water.
Sonny called it a wrap after sunset and we loaded up the vans in darkness, making it home close to midnight. A very long day, but what a great shoot.

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