My cousin Cristina is a photographer, a digital artist - fashion being her tendency and she is also an amazing make-up artist. You can visit her website HERE.
We have been putting together"photo shoots" since we were about 11. We would get my mother's clothes and make-up and invent all sorts of themes and backdrops to create photos. There were no digital cameras when I was 11 so my mum would go crazy when we used up all her film roll, then she had to pay for the prints whilst the shop assistant looked at her weird!
My cousin has come a long way since then. She has completely immersed herself in her own creative world and I can't even begin to tell you what sort of crazy ideas we bounce off each other. We are like two little girls in a sweet shop when we are talking about our next "project". Of course money is a huge barrier as she can't afford to buy the sort of outfits, accessories and props that big production companies and magazines can. Instead we recycle my boring and bland clothes by sewing badges, sticking studs, belting it up, using a shirt as a head piece, etc... whilst she rummages through charity shops and other second hand stores to buy anything from vintage teapot sets to scary looking metal birdcages!
We use things we have laying around the house or if she is shooting outdoors (which she usually does with professional models), she has been known to use grass, leaves, tree trunks, you name it as her props.
I'm not a model by any means. Far from it. I'm 5'3 (I think!) and as shy as anything so she always has trouble even getting me out in the garden (the birds might see us, Lol!!!) but we love working together as we have the same vision and already know how we want the photos to look without having to direct poses or camera angles. I'm just her guinea-pig when her professional models bail out on her, and I love being her guinea-pig.
The pictures below were taken over the last 2 years.
We are both very busy and find it hard to get together nowadays but we have a photo shoot lined up for next week and I have my new short haircut so it's going to be an exciting one :)
In some of these photos you will also see Eggbert, my beautiful little tiger. He is so photogenic and he loves the camera, he just sits there and stares into thin air. No fussing and no complaining. Lol!
Massive pic spam coming up! Sorry I can't transfer the pics onto better quality, these are all samples.
