Sacré-Coeur Paris Shoot

A few weeks ago (end of November...) I travelled to Paris and during my trip, really wanted to do a shoot outside in the cobbled streets or near a Parisian landmark. I had a number of ideas in my head however some were weather dependant...Firstly I love Paris AFTER it rains (not during!) as it creates this other worldly effect on the streets if you look beyond the fact that its wet and miserable! If it rained I was planning on playing with reflections and different textures as the glossy, water touched streets look fabulous as shown in many images in Paris during the 1920s. Unfortunatly it didn't rain so I slightly altered my ideas- heading more towards a pure fashion editorial style than abstractly composed as rain would have otherwise determined.

I was particularly inspired by Helmut Newton 'Le Smoking' and also an exhibition of work by surrealist photographer Andre Kertesz the previous day. The exhibition wasn't fashion related but elements of artistic composition and raw beauty were so clear that I couldn't help but to be inspired.

It wasn't organised in the same way as my regular shoots as I had no access to lighting, no makeup artist due to a cancellation and the model brought her own clothes in a similar style to how I explained. If you look at it like this it kind of makes it more of a portrait shoot but I had a great time shooting this series as they still retain an editorial effect.

I will admit though, the ISO (for all you camera boffs) was accidently set to auto (agggghhh) so even though I was choosing it manually, it selected an automatic setting which tended to be extremely high, causing a large amount of grain on the images. They have been salvaged and transformed from the originals but I had a hard time doing so- I didnt carry out all the usual checks I tend to do with more major shoots so I have certainly learnt my lesson!!

I recently saw an editorial online which was in an Elle magazine using the exact same location as this (with the lamppost and set of stairs). It is a perfect location as it captures the essence of Paris and the Sacré-Coeur yet is still quiet and away from the hustle and bustle right directly outside the building. Enjoy!