Snow!

So we got our first snow of the season this morning! And obviously, the whole community came to a standstill because of it.. well, this is England! I didn't end up going to uni because I didn't trust the trains, and it's usually worse in Southend than it is here. I have a big deadline tomorrow, so I got some work done for that. I'm getting even more busy and even more stressed as big deadlines draw closer, and I have more and more work to do! I can't wait until my 20th Dec deadline is over with, as I can just enjoy Christmas and then panic about my 17th Jan deadline.. Oh well, at least I'll have a break in there somewhere! All I have planned over Christmas so far is my normal Tesco work and a couple of family things, so hopefully I'll get some days off to relax.
I did go out in the garden for a little bit this morning though, and my cat decided to join me; although she changed her mind pretty quickly! Here's a photo I took of her before she ran inside again:

I also did a photo shoot on Sunday with my cousin and his family, doing some casual family shots and also replicating their wedding so that I have a few more bits to contribute to a wedding portfolio. It was just in the studio at Ph2o so it wasn't a realistic wedding venue, but it's something at least! I haven't had the chance to look through and edit them properly yet, but here's a couple of the casual ones that I liked:

I have another couple of studio shoots lined up this Sunday (despite all my deadlines!) so I will have lots of editing to do, but hopefully lots of updates too :)

Christmas Dress!

So my final order from my online Christmas spending arrived today - my Christmas dress! It was from H&M, and took quite a bit longer to arrive than the parcels from ASOS and New Look, although to be fair they did say it could take up until today to arrive. This dress actually fits as well - as stated in my previous post, I find it hard to get dresses that fit both my top and bottom half, as I'm a bit top-heavy. I also bought a wide belt to go with the dress - not that I really needed one, I do have them already, but I just thought it would go better than the ones I already have. This fits as well, although it's obviously not as difficult buying belts online. The only problem is that because I'm so short, the gap between the bottom of my boobs and my hips is literally the same width as a wide belt - so I end up with no middle when I wear a wide belt. I'm used to it though!

Here's what I bought:

I love the colour of the sequins, and they seem pretty well attached, unlike some garments I've bought elsewhere previously - my house is still covered in sequins from that! I'm planning to wear it with some black wedges, and I'm undecided about accessories as yet, but I've still got over a month to decide :)

New things :)

So most of the time, although I'm a fashion student, I don't get to buy much that isn't food, just because I don't have the money! So a lot of the time, I don't have much to blog about in terms of what I've bought.

However! I've been looking for Christmas presents online recently, and couldn't help but throw a few things into the basket for me too...

First, I bought a set of No 7 nail varnishes, which was in the 3 for 2 range at Boots so it doesn't count anyway ;) I decided to try out the gold first - I plan to move onto the metallic red next! (Sorry for the rubbish image quality)

I also ended up buying a pair of leggings in the ASOS sale, I can't remember how much now, but I think they were 9 pounds (the pound sign on my keyboard appears to not work anymore :( ) I can't find the same pair on ASOS anymore as they must have sold out, but they look pretty similar to these:

I was thinking they'd go well with black (as it shows here anyway) and I could dress them up for going out, or dress them down for casual, going to uni. They're a bit long for me as I am very short, butI'm happy with them! 

I also bought a couple of dresses in the New Look online sale, but because my top half is bigger than my bottom half, it's difficult to get clothes that fit both (damn you boobs!) so the dresses will have to go back... I know it's my own fault for shopping online, but I forget what an awkward shape I am! 

This is my favourite of the dresses, that I was thinking could be good for going out or wearing around Christmas:

Pregnancy shoot

It seems I never have time for an update these days! Sorry for the silence, once again - I'm so busy! The weekend before last, however, I did find time to do a personal shoot to build my portfolio, thanks to Hannah & Dan, who are expecting, and Ph2o for the use of their studio and equipment. I wanted to expand my portfolio, in this case by adding some maternity shots, and so I contacted Hannah, who was a vague acquaintance through Facebook (my ex-boyfriend's cousin's best friend, to be exact!) She was keen to have some photos done, but she was due in 6 days from when I first asked her! So, we did the shoot 3 days later, 3 days before she was due. She still hasn't had Willow yet, but she's very excited for when she finally arrives!

Anyway, I'm glad to have had the opportunity to expand my portfolio - here are a few of the final shots. To see more, visit my Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jo-Drury-Photography/187808734657741

Eco-fashion

Sorry for the silence - I haven't had a chance to write anything up since being back at uni, it's all go! I also haven't really had anything of interest to say - my projects at uni haven't really included anything to post, and I haven't had time for anything else!

So now I've done something for uni I can actually show you, as opposed to all the sketchbook stuff - I've been asked to create a blog about eco-fashion, which is a bit tricky as I don't know a lot about it! I decided to post about brands and designers that focus on sustainability, ethical production and so on. I also decided to use Tumblr, just because I've never used it before - thought I'd give it a try rather than just sticking to Blogger. I actually find it easier to use, and I really like browsing through the posts from other blogs - I could probably do it for hours!
I don't know if there's anything of interest on the blog yet, but I might as well post the link here anyway!
http://eco-vogue.tumblr.com/

I've posted this on my uni eco blog already, but I thought I'd put it up here too - while researching brands to put on the eco blog, I came across Beyond Skin, a brand that produces vegetarian and vegan boots and shoes, and also some accessories. I thought it was a pretty cool idea, and some of the designs are quite up to date and fashiony, as opposed to most eco brands that look more plain and less design-focused. I decided to make a mood board of some of the products that they make:

Shopping, eating and getting kicked out of shops

Yesterday I went to London to do some research for the marketing module we're doing at uni this semester. The module is about TM Lewin, a businessman-focused company specialising in shirts. So, a couple of girls from uni and I made a day of it, went to visit three TM Lewins and some of their competitors. It was interesting to see the difference between different locations of the same brand, all within London. 

The Fenchurch St store was my favourite, light, spacious and displayed their heritage everywhere, which is what TM Lewin are all about. The staff were very friendly, approachable and helpful, under the promise that we would disclose nothing to their competitors. They were also very knowledgeable about the brand. They even encouraged us to take photos of the store - they seemed proud of it. At Canary Wharf, however, the reception was quite the opposite - we were asked to leave. We had been given permission by two members of staff to take notes, just not photos, but were then approached by a third member of staff who said it was company policy that we could not do our market research there, and had to leave. I didn't think to say it at the time, but if it is company policy, why were we allowed, even encouraged, to do the research at Fenchurch St, while at Canary Wharf we weren't even allowed in the store? 

After visiting the TM Lewin at Stratford, we decided to go for a meal at Giraffe in Westfield, a first for all three of us. We all really enjoyed the meal, and would definitely return - it was reasonably priced, the food was of high quality, the two girls I was with are vegetarian and they both found food they really enjoyed, and the interior design was to our tastes. We were all very full afterwards though!

We then waddled around a few of the shops, stuffed full from the meal. We had a look around Forever 21, and made a visit to the Disney Store to look at potential Christmas presents. We also went into Victoria's Secret - I've never been in there before, and I so wish I had more money to spare, as I loved loads of the designs in there. I found one thing I loved more than anything else, a black and gold basque/bralet at £80, and I wanted to post a photo up on here but I can't find it on the website :( 

However, the Accessorize obsession continues - I went in there next and fell in love with so many items! I only bought one thing due to funds (quite restrained, I thought!) This is Barry, my Accessorize sheep necklace:

This was the drinks stirrer that came with my drink at Giraffe. I thought it was pretty cool :)

Studio Kit

So I decided it was time I had some of my own studio equipment, so I have more freedom in when and where I can shoot. However, I am a student, and although I have a job I am only contracted to 7 and a half hours a week - so I wasn't looking at getting really good, expensive equipment, more a first time user sort of thing for as little money as possible (while still working!)

So, I bought a studio kit consisting of 2 flash lights, an umbrella, a softbox, 2 light stands and all the cables you need for £200 - the Interfit EX150 Mark II. I haven't tested them out properly yet, but I've made sure it all works and syncs correctly. One thing you can't do with them is use them as a slave from your flash, so unless you buy a radio trigger, you can't use the camera cable-free. Because of this, I needed to use a hotshoe with my camera to connect it to one of the lights, but that was the only other piece of equipment I needed in order to use the kit. The online reviews said that the softbox was hard to put together, but I don't think it's that difficult, you just have to put some elbow grease into it.
I've also just today received a backdrop stand, and one black and one white backdrop to use with it - I haven't had the chance to put it up and try them out yet, but I'm just happy I've now got the option to do a studio shoot with a professional looking background without having to worry about booking  a session and how long I'll have, and so on.

I can't wait to try both the backdrops and lights properly - I will need to sort something out soon!

I attempted to test the lights out on the only model I had available (until she bailed on me!):