Another year has passed and I thought I would recap this year of Fashion Fridays for the last Friday of the year. First, some quick and possibly boring statistics:

• Number of Fashion Friday posts: 24
• Shoots done outside of Sydney city: 4
• Shoots done in Hyde Park (as usual): 9
• Posts named after songs: 8
• Posts in which I am wearing high heels: 18

My favourites

Trying to choose a favourite was difficult, but I think I really liked Peach & Pearl because it is closest to my general style. Sometimes I dress up and sometimes I dress down, and this is the comfortable in-between. If I had to audition for a model casting, this is the outfit I would most likely wear.

Coming pretty close would be Queen of Spades, Tessellate, Fragola dolce and Wanderlust.

Thoughts about my outfit choices

Looking back over my posts I can clearly see which of my clothes I enjoy wearing (those plain black boots that kept making a comeback!), and which I have ditched. There were a lot of clothes in these posts that never saw the light of day again following their appearance.

To be honest, I didn’t like my mentality in the first half of the year, which was a bit like, ‘I already wore that in a Fashion Friday, I am not going to wear it this time’. I changed my attitude halfway during the year and decided to wear whatever I felt like, even if I had worn them before. I do that most other days, so the same should apply whether someone is taking photos of me or not.

I also started to include outfit details, which I think people appreciated, even for curious people who wanted to know where I got some of my clothes.

Thoughts about my personal style

I felt more comfortable wearing jeans and casual clothes in some of my outfits, which gave you guys a better idea of what I wear when I’m dressing down (and of course how I look in pants). Blue Moon was a rather fancy dress-up, but there were no other really dressy outfits.

Getting creative

We got pretty creative moving around and trying different things – both Nick and Seb. Tangerine was shot in Hunter Valley and Piña Colada in Hamilton Island, both by Nick, while Seb had a lot of indoor practice with Momentum at the art gallery and Cerulean inside the mall on a rainy day.

Cityscapes had a few interesting backgrounds including the old payphone!

Countless times Seb managed to include the Sydney tower in the background, but nothing beats his shot of me walking that garnered 97 likes when I posted it on Instagram. If I recall correctly, that is my most liked photo.

Many thanks

I couldn’t have done Fashion Friday without my two photographers, Seb and Nick. I asked them to take part in this review by answering five quick questions.

Questions I asked Nick

A couple of sentences on how you felt about photographing Fashion Friday in 2015.

It was great! It was my first time attempting this kind of photography so was able to learn and gain some experience. I get to shoot with my favourite lens, Canon’s 24-70 2.8 II which is a real thrill! Oh, and my subject is so beautiful, there’s no one else I’d rather shoot ❤️

What was one thing you learned from photographing Fashion Friday?

I learnt how to shoot this style of photography. I only ever shoot landscapes or architecture, so this was something different which I had to learn. I was very happy with my results and look forward to being more creative in 2016.

What was the biggest challenge about photographing Fashion Friday?

My biggest challenge is the same as above, the fact that I had never shot this style of photography before. Also because I was shooting Georgie I really wanted to do a good job and get it right, fortunately she was very patient and I was able to pick it up pretty quickly 😊

What is your favourite edition that you photographed from 2015 and why?

Piña Colada is my favourite mainly due to the location. Hamilton Island was a beautiful destination to shoot, we were also shooting in the late afternoon so had some interesting challenges with the lighting. I was also very impressed with some of the shots we achieved.

What is your favourite photo that you took from Fashion Friday?

It took a few goes to get this photo but I love it. I wouldn’t say its the best from a composition point of view, but I love Georgie’s facial expressions and the position of her hair in the shot.

Questions I asked Seb

A couple of sentences on how you felt about photographing Fashion Friday in 2015.

Lots of fun! Seeing the photos from this year and comparing them to last years, it makes me happy to see how much we have both improved and evolved, me as a photographer and you as a model. I’m looking forward to next year and hopefully come up with even better photos that would put this year’s to shame.

What was one thing you learned from photographing Fashion Friday?

One thing I learned this year was how to compose while in portrait mode. It has always been a challenge to frame the subject (in this case, you) while holding the camera vertically and it wasn’t until the Winter Rose that I felt like I have finally pulled it off.

Another thing I also learned is that keeping your subject happy and comfortable often translates to great photos.

What was the biggest challenge about photographing Fashion Friday?

The biggest challenge… That would be keeping unwanted elements outside the frame, either while shooting or editing. In particular people! Oh, how I hate it when there’s someone in the background, wearing a bright red or orange shirt disrupting the flow of the image. Although you know what? It’s funny how we don’t care if there are people around anymore while shooting.

Another big challenge is your hands. In particular, trying to think of new ways to photograph them and not repeat myself from previous photos.

What is your favourite edition that you photographed from 2015 and why?

My favourite edition is Winter Rose. I really love the way the photos from that day turned out, and I really have to thank the hero of that day: That glorious black coat that you bought from Myer. I really need to get one like that.

What is your favourite photo that you took from Fashion Friday?

And as you may have guessed, my favourite photos are from that very shoot. But if I only could choose a couple, it would be these two. And this one shot that I still believe is magazine cover material, but you didn’t end up liking it and decided not to use (although I didn’t mind, the other photos from that day are just as good).

Fashion Friday in 2016

Fashion Friday will be returning, though not in two weeks since that’s New Years Day. There will be a short break – if FF is not back in January, it will be back in February. Nick and I are travelling in June so you can probably expect some overseas shoots.

I’m not planning to buy too many clothes so you may not see anything new, but we’re going to try to take a more artistic direction and not make the photos all about the clothes. Some of you have noticed this change in recent shoots, and I think we’re quite happy with the results so far. ☺️