Pretty Little Thing Floral Maxi Dress

Dress - Faith Floral Print Maxi Dress // Pretty Little Thing £15

Photo - Sid Scott 2015 (See Imagine Define) 

Makeup - Kay Barclay of Kiki Belle MUA

Lots of Love Ashly x

How to Pose for Photos like a Pro

Every wondered how do I pose like a model or how do I pose for photos? After a recent #fbloggers (fashion bloggers) chat on twitter I realised how many people are unsure of how to pose on camera when taking pictures for their blog or just in general. It comes naturally to some but not to everyone (me included). I have spent years working at it and will share all my tips with you to get you pose perfect!

The first thing to do is practice, mirrors are great for this. Take as long as you like trying out different facial expressions and angles to see when you look best. Experiment with your body poses too. Another great way to practice is with the camera on your phone, you get the results straight away and can really experiment with your angles and expressions.

Here are a few things to think about

Less is more
Huge expressions with wide open mouths or face hurting grins can be good for comedy value but if you want to pose like a pro think small. The camera will pick up the slightest glint in your eye or pout of the lip so you don't need any grand gestures, everything is magnified behind the lens.

It's all in the eyes
This is mostly true for close up shots and beauty, but if you are focusing on fashion photographs for your blog don't worry too much about this at first. However, if you are doing close ups, the eyes do matter. The best way to express through your eyes is to feel the emotion on the inside and like magic it will be portrayed in your eyes. For example if you want a sultry look imagine you are looking at Harry Styles (if you are in to one direction) and that you are trying to 'woo' him! If you are portraying a powerful woman think of something which makes you feel strong and invincible. Playing music with the right mood can really help with this.

Angles
Angles are really important in photography and modelling. They can be the difference between making a 6ft tall amazonian beauty look like a toadstool! So if you are doing body shots have the camera a little lower and angle it upwards towards you, this will make you look taller and slimmer.  Do the 'knee bend', try standing sideways with the leg furthest from the camera slightly bent, this should make your legs look fab!

Arms
Arms can be awkward things. Where do I put my arms when I am posing? The easiest thing to do is have somewhere to put them, in a pocket or hanging of a belt loop. Use your arms and hands to express emotion. If you are wearing a lovely summery dress throw them in the air 'yay for summer', if your wrapped up warm for winter cross your arms over your body to keep warm.  I know it can sometimes feel like these limbs are spare parts when modelling so use props too, either in your surroundings like a fence or flowers or within your outfit like a bag or umbrella.

Posing
The best way to get tips is to look at pictures in fashion magazines or online, how are the models posing? Asos is great for this, especially if you are a fashion blogger. You will find an abundance of different stances you can try out. A great trick is to but your hands on your waist, this will actually make your waist look smaller. And if you are doing close up pictures of your face, use your hands to frame your face and bring in something extra. Your hair is great for this.

Where do I look?
To get the full beauty of your eyes keep your eyeline straight ahead. For example, if you are facing the camera look straight down the lens or just above it. Or if your head is turned to the side look in to the direction and level that you are facing.


Try to remember there can be hundreds of shots taken before you get that one perfect picture so just keep trying and I promise you will be a pro in no time!!

I will be doing a youtube video with a more in depth tutorial soon so let me know if you have any questions needing answered :-)

Ashly xx

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What I miss about Modelling and My Inspirations to Start Again

When I younger a lot of people use to tell me I should be a model. I suppose because I was rather skinny and tall. (Both aspects of myself that I hated during that time) So to be told I could use these things to an advantage sounded like a fantastic idea.

I started trawling the internet spending hours and hours looking for ways to get in to it. The first photoshoot I did I was so nervous. I had no idea what to do, it was for a modelling agency in Aberdeen. A couple of weeks after the shoot they sent me a letter rejecting me from their agency. I still have this letter. I was so upset but I wasn't ready to give up. It was hard work and lots of travelling back and forth from Scotland to London. For a long time I worked 2 jobs and modelled so I could afford the train fairs to get to London. I had to tell agents and photographers that I lived in London or they wouldn't book me. So when I got a call about a job often I had to jump on the train the next day to make the 7hr journey to get to London.

Eventually I moved to London when I was about 19.  I travelled, spent a lot of time in LA and New York. Worked for Victoria Beckham who told me she saw my pictures in OK magazine and thought they were amazing.

The reasons I stopped modelling I don't want to get in to as it is pretty upsetting for me but I feel like I have unresolved matters with modelling that I am not quite finished with it. That I want to end it on my own terms and give it one more go.

In 2012 I started doing a little bit of modelling again, a few photoshoots. The first one was awful, my confidence was so low. I hated every minute of it, I was uncomfortable, nervous, self concious and afterwards felt like I had totally forgotten how to do it all.  Then came the 2nd which went a bit better and the 3rd was ok although I still felt totally 'out of the loop'.

This time I want to take it slowly and not do things I am uncomfortable with. This time I know it isn't life or death and will do it to be proud of myself.  This time I will do it for myself and NOBODY else.  This time I will do it my way.

I am not quite ready to get back in to the industry as I still feel I am very fragile. Hopefully sooner rather than later I think it is worth a try. If I don't I think I may regret it.

I would like to do more commercial modelling like catalogues and online retailers like misguided.co.uk or boohoo.com I feel like these would be far safer options to start with and see how I go.

Maybe doing some proper shoots for my blog is a good idea too... what do you think?