We all can feel overwhelmed by this idea of being perfect. In a hundred different ways I'm sure this is true. In a heavily saturated industry surrounded by incredible talent it's especially tough.

I've never considered myself to be one who strives for technical perfection; pin sharp, crisp light, counting every eyelash; it's just never been my thing. And that's alright.

Yes, I know, I can almost hear some of you cracking your knuckles, stretching your fingers, ready to blitz out a comment telling me otherwise but I think it's true. Hear me out.

We all fall in love with photography (or our respective fields) for a reason that's particular to us; something that drives us, or captures our imaginations, or just generally gives us the warm fuzzies.

For me, it's always been the idea of a story. There is something magical about peeking into the world of a fashion photograph, for me anyway. It's probably something to do with my bookworm escapist nature but I've always been mesmerised by the fashion story, the tale of the girl in the shots.

For you, it could be purely technical. You could have fallen in love with the shutter speeds, and apertures, and lens choices; you might love creating the world in print exactly as it's seen before you in minute detail.

That's just never been what's driven me. I don't think that makes one desire more valid than another, or one's art more worthy than another; that's just the way it is.

Over the last year however, I'd started to doubt this. I'd started to worry about technical perfection, I'd began picking apart my images, my kit, my choices.

This year I'm taking a step back. I'm consciously avoiding the pursuit of perfection. I'm going to break rules, and push boundaries, and try not to be swallowed up by the technical stuff.

With that in mind, I leave you with this.



The incredible Lara Jade for DigitalRev TV shooting fashion on a cheap children's camera.

It reminds me of the love I first had for photography; for the capturing of the moment, for the telling of a story, for the genuine fun of it.

I hope you guys are as excited for 2017 as I am. I can't wait to see what we all create this year.

Let me know what your thoughts are and your plans for this year! I want to hear all about them!

With love,
Rachael♡

Hello lovelies,

As you may or may not know, I have a bit of a thing about creating texture in my images. Yes, I was totally that kid thinking they were cool 6 years ago chucking all sorts of scratches and grungey-ness over my images. Cringe.

As I've grown up (and hopefully my photography has improved!) I'm still rather texture obsessed but in a more subtle way.

Like a lot of people, I pine over the beauty of Oliphant backdrops. You may have seen my painted poly-board V flats in this 'Behind The Scenes' blogpost. I really love shooting with these but since they are polystyrene, you can see the little holes and it's just not the same as a creamy soft canvas.

I really wanted to have an option without the holey texture but I've been browsing for suitable canvas for a while to no avail; I still might find some yet but the usual recommendation of canvas dust sheets are not easy to find here in the UK. Sigh.

I felt I was resigned to never being able to make my own softly textured backdrop and continued to potter about creating it in post- but then one day I wondered how backdrop paper would paint! I tore off a tiny corner, got some paint, water, and a sponge and really just dabbed with no direction and let it dry... it looked like it could work!

A few days later, I measured out some paper (enough for a tall model in heels and then some), lay down some plastic dust sheets and set to work.



I always feel like I've turned my wee living room into a scene from Dexter when I've covered it in plastic sheeting!



I just used what I had lying around; I wasn't sure if it would even work so I didn't want to waste too much. The little tester pots of paint were left over from painting the texture on my V flats so I thought I would use them up. I also thought the two shades of grey would blend well with the grey paper. They're just the second cheapest range in B&Q but they have a good thick texture and lovely colour density.

The sponges are just artist sponges from Hobbycraft but I forgot how tiny they are! The whole thing would have gone a lot quicker if I had bigger ones so I'll definitely get some for my next project! Do you know where I could get some big ones? If you could comment and let me know that would be grand! ♡



I watered down the paint considerably; I didn't work to a ratio or anything sensible like that. I just added until it was a water-y consistency but still rich in colour. I also hoped the inconsistent water to paint ratio would enhance the smudgey texture effect.

Note: the use of old Chinese take-out containers for mixing. How professional! 🙊



I was loving it; swishing, dabbing, and feeling like a painter. And yep, I'm holding each corner down with a candle! Really showing how much of a MacGyver job it was here, aren't I?

I made sure to add some extra clean water straight onto the paper as I was blending to hopefully smudge it all together beautifully and not have harsh lines or blocks of colour. 


Here is it just finished- I really don't know if it needed to be this wet but hey, I thought I'd err on the side of caution and just thoroughly soak it apparently! I set a fan down on the floor, making sure it wasn't blowing directly on the paint, but rather just above it, and let it dry. I wanted to make sure it was completely dry before I moved it so I waited overnight.

I really do love the result. It could be softer, but trust me, when it had already taken an episode and a half of Criminal Minds, I was ready to just be finished! Sooo I think I got a little slapdash towards the end.


I thought it was going to look good in camera but unusually for me, I didn't rush to photograph it immediately. I waited until my shoot with the ever fantastic ladies Grace Arthur and Steph M Artistry to try it out and I was absolutely SMITTEN with the results!

Here is a little sneak peek of some of the images from that shoot! The background hasn't been touched in post at all. Infact, there is just some skin retouching and colour toning, that's it! So so so pleased with them. I hope you guys love them too!

Hey guys!

So last week I did a little test shoot with two incredible ladies. ♡ Last time I shot with the beautiful and lovely Megan Smith we went for a super soft dream-like aesthetic but this time we decided to do something a little more editorial; combine this with the incredibly talented Stephanie Milne lending us her make up artistry skills for the evening, and we were all set for a great shoot!

I'd also tried my hand at painting my own backdrop on v flats at the weekend so this proved a great opportunity to try them out. ^.^

As you can see below, I set them up as a little corner to shoot in and I'm super pleased with the results! Why do I have a hair tie half way up my hand you ask? Who knows.



These ladies were a dream to work with (as always!) and it was such a fun shoot. ♡ To top it all off, I'm completely smitten with the results; I just love the images. I hope you do too.

Here is a little sneak peek, shh!

Lots of love,
Rachael.♡