I’m pretty certain that Christmas and New Year has been one big blur! Boy did it go fast! In between shoots, I managed to move my studio to its new home in Frankston/Langwarrin South as well as edit the photographs that I shot like crazy… even if it meant putting them on the laptop and editing on the go!

Enzo in gaol… well actually, in the window of my new studio.

Evenings at Daylesford… editing on the go…

However, it wasn’t all work and no play. I spent some quality time with family, friends and fur babies over Christmas and New Year and FINALLY got around to meeting my good friend Christine’s sister Vivien, who designs the beautiful Vivien of Holloway garments in the U.K. as she was holidaying in Australia with her son Charlie from U.K. metal band, Counting Days.

I managed to take my F.J. Holden for a little cruise and shopping trip one day and on another occasion, Dad and I took the Corvette out for a spin.  I had a lovely weekend up at Daylesford, embracing the beautiful scenery and nature, rather than hitting all the fabulous vintage and antique stores.  I promise you that shopping will be on the agenda next time I’m there!   I squeezed in a little bit of guitar and also changed my hair colour from Wildfire red to a pastel pink.  A change is as good as a holiday, right?

Selfie in the Corvette with my Manic Panic Wildfire Red hair.

My new hair colour -Cotton Candy pink!

I had to give this naughty boy a bath. I think we put up with a lot from each other!

Since my Christmas and New Year were pretty busy, I didn’t get much time to get online, let alone put pen to paper… well, fingers to keyboard, in regards to my blog so it’s been a little quiet here. I bet you could even hear the crickets chirping. Anyway, I’m back now!

Just before Christmas I shared the excitement about the Film Noir mini-shoot special that we were planning to hold in our Hastings Studio.  Although I managed to retouch all the photos well and truly before Christmas, I had to hold off sharing them as a lot of lucky gentlemen were getting CDs and prints for Christmas and we wouldn’t want to ruin the lovely surprise they all got now would we?

Alas, I finally get to introduce you to some of the stunning ladies who joined
Loretta Lowbrow, Gemma Sheree from GSL Makeup and I for this exciting day of makeover and mini-shoot mayhem!

Now, without further ado, allow me to introduce our gorgeous model Miss Kylie, who chose to wear a luxurious black satin Vivien of Holloway 1940s reproduction sarong dress from Christine’s for her photo shoot.  I myself are a huge fan of these sarong dresses, with their signature boned bodice to create that enviable wasp-waist.  The flatteringly draped wrap skirt sure does make mobility a lot easier than wiggle dresses, without compromising that curvy silhouette.  This is especially advantageous when climbing on top of hundred year old pianos!

Our stunning model Miss Beck from fabulous salon ‘Hair About Town’ in Hastings also chose this sassy sarong for her photographs.

Our model Miss Kelly also wore a Vivien of Holloway 1940s reproduction sarong, but with a pretty floral pattern for her photographs; one which she wore my vintage fox ‘Garry’. In her other photo she wore the matching bolero with the sarong. Since this gorgeous lady is also a lover of music, she posed with this very special microphone which I was privileged enough to lend for the weekend from rockabilly band The Infernos‘ lead singer and talented bassist Don Wycherley.

Our silver screen siren Miss Laura also posed with this special microphone and my red Fender ‘Sonorian’ guitar since the photographs were a gift to her fiancé and he is a musician himself.   Miss Laura chose a beautiful black 1950s reproduction Vivien of Holloway halter neck circle dress from Christine’s. Just for some extra flirtatious fifties fun, a red chiffon petticoat (also from Christine’s) added the finishing touch!

The stunning Miss Voluptuous Vixen brought a stunning leopard print wiggle dress of her own to wear for her shoot. She too is a huge fan of leopard print.  What good taste we both have!

This was the second time that this gorgeous lady has done a photo shoot with me. I think it is very flattering to have clients return to shoot with me again, especially because she lives quite a few hours away from my studio! It was an absolute pleasure photographing this beauty again.

The gorgeous Miss Helen brought with her a stunning ‘Hawaiian Hideway’ dress in an orange floral stripe fabric with a matching bolero made by Deadly Dames. It is one of many lovely styles that she sells in her store, the Rosebud Vintage Bazaar. Although we were shooting in a typically monochromatic film noir style, I decided to hand colour the flowers since the frock was the most magnificent orange with purple flowers and my model, much like myself is a lover of beautiful, bright colours.

Additionally, I ended up hand colouring all the pictures in post production for my stunning models, mixing my own take on the film noir style and making the photographs just a little bit extra special! Plus, I’ve always been a fan of hand-coloured images ever since my Nanna taught me how it was done when I was a little girl, just now days its done on computer!

I also took this photograph of Gemma Sheree, Loretta Lowbrow and myself on the special set created for the Film Noir shoots.  We were pretty exhausted after having such a huge day of shooting these gorgeous ladies.  Nevertheless, we thought that we might as well enjoy a glass of wine and take a shot of all three of us for a little bit of fun to end the night on. Loretta Lowbrow wore a black Vivien of Holloway 1940s reproduction satin sarong dress  from Christine’s and I wore the same but with a matching bolero.   Gemma Sheree wore a Vivien of Holloway 1950s reproduction halter neck circle dress in leopard print with a black petticoat, also from Christine’s. I’m very lucky to have had such a fabulous team because of course no silver screen siren would be photo shoot ready without beautiful vintage hair and makeup.

I hope you like the photographs that I took of the silver screen sirens that joined us for our Film Noir Christmas mini-shoots.  I also hope that you had a fabulous Christmas and New Year too.  Now that you have seen what I got up to, what did you get up to over Christmas and New Year?  Feel free to comment below as I’d love to hear from you!

♥ Mallory xoxox
HIGH HEELS  & WHITEWALL WHEELS