Travel Pictures from Asia!

A little over 2 months ago, I set off on a journey which would take me further from home, family and familiarity than I had ever dared to go on my own before. After all, life is not meant to be lived inside a comfort zone, right?! I've sifted through the ridiculous amount of pictures I took in South East Asia and thought I'd post my favourites! 

THAILAND

LAOS

VIETNAM

CAMBODIA

The entire trip I had to keep convincing myself that I was actually there. Every day I felt ridiculously privileged to be on such a journey, experiencing, seeing and learning so many new and incredible things!
Next stop? Who knows? Maybe Morocco...But until then, I'm very happy in good old England, drinking tea, eating cake and wandering around Manchester!
If you'd like to see more pictures from my time away, check out my Instagram, which I updated almost daily the entire time :)
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Free Blog Photography Checklist Printables!

Ever wished you had a list of reminders and tips to ensure you got every photo you needed/ wanted from every shoot the worry you've forgotten anything? Well, lucky you, because I've made just that - and what's more, it's printer friendly and a very manageable A5 size!

Pin a list to your noticeboard, above your photo area, stick one in your camera bag, tape one inside your blogging notepad or pop one in a frame on your desk if you so desire...

There are lists for both bbloggers and fbloggers, in either pink or teal designs. They should scale down pretty easily if need be.
Download here.

Also, if you're looking to be more organised in the new year, I really recommend checking out Media Marmalade's blogging series for an insane amount of hints and tips, and also printing out a few of Makeup Savvy's awesome weekly blog planners!

Let me know if you find this photography checklist useful!
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The People's History Museum

I'll admit it - I freakin' love museums. It doesn't even matter what kind of museum - cars, army vehicles, clothes, natural history - I will happily spend a day wandering about, reading little facts I'll never remember. On Sunday, I finally got to go to the People's History Museum in Manchester along with Papa Bad Habit and my sister, Chloe.

Here are just a few pictures I took - which were damn hard to take! Mega low light and the flash ban (ew, flash) always makes museums difficult to take pictures in.

The main galleries span from around the late 1700s to the late 90s, including topics from the Peterloo massacre to football through the ages - so there's definitely something for everyone! My one qualm is that the layout is a bit jumbled, one minute you're reading about the start of trade unions, then it's on to the start of the labour party, then you're into WW2, then more labour party, then the feminist movement...?! I found it hard to pay much attention because nothing really flowed.

The highlight for me was the amount of beautiful banners on display, coloured in vivid oil paints, painstakingly embroidered, all calling for a change in thought, for action or attention. The temperance exhibition currently on display was also rather fascinating (Papa Bad Habit took the pledge, then had a pint five minutes later - oops!)

The People's History Museum is well worth a look in if you're ever stuck for something to do in Manchester, remember to make your way across to the Mark Addy for a butty and some of the nicest chips in town!

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World Body Painting Festival 2012 - My Trip To Austria...

This year I was lucky enough to attend the World Body Painting Festival in Austria with my boyfriend, courtesy of Papa Bad Habit! I was mega excited since I've wanted to attend since I first heard of the festival about five years ago, so it was a bit of a dream come true - I could hardly believe I was actually going until we were on the flight!

 So, what is the World Body Painting Festival? Well, each year body painters of all 'classes' (amateur, pro, airbrush, brush and sponge, sfx etc), from all over the world gather together and compete for awards. Folk can also attend just want to admire all of the beautiful art, learn a thing or two, build contacts, listen to music, drink, dance....Each year, the festival grows bigger, with people from all over the globe coming to compete or simply enjoy all of the wonderful sights surrounding them.

I'm putting all of my own pictures under the cut, since some may consider boobs and bums NSFW (even if they are painted...)

Read more »

Up in the Woods...Video/ Photoshoot

My boyfriend, Jonny, loves making films, editing, playing with cameras, so what better way to test out his shiny new Canon 5D than playing in some woods? I snapped pictures (attempting not to get in his way) - it's a challenge  taking photos when the model isn't posing FOR YOU! You might just recognize our model, Lis, from this post where I took photos in her cellar.

These are my three favourite shots, though they look quite flat thanks to Blogger's compression -_- I wish I could upload them in a higher resolution as the depth of field really POPS...ah well!

I'll post links and 'behind the scenes' pictures whenever the final video is put together - but that probably wont be for a while yet. Either way, it's definitely gonna be a stunner...

Follow Lis on Twitter/ her blog/ her Tumblr.
Follow Jonny's blog if you're into filming and editing geekery (and horrific pictures of me).

Beauty's Bad Habit is now on Pinterest!

I've been on Pinterest for a little while, actually, but haven't really gotten to grips with it yet! I've just been uploading some of my pictures from this blog and will continue to do so as I take more :) Right now I've got two boards, one of blog pics and one of hair inspiration (which I might delete) - I'm not sure I'll make more due to the terms and conditions of Pinterest.

Go follow! I'll obvs follow back since I want to see pretty pictures :)

Blog Photography Tip - Infinity Curves

Infinity curves make taking pretty decent product photos effortless. The 'theory' is, that by having no edges behind your object, a feeling of endless space is created. Why would you want that? So that there are no harsh lines or gradients in light behind your object - giving a cleaner background with all the focus on your object.

How to Create a Basic Infinity Curve

1. Take a sheet of plain, white paper and pin it to your wall/ desk/ wherever so that bout half remains on the floor. This will create a soft curve. I'm using sketching paper, but cheap, glossy paper would be better!

2. Compose your shot and take it.

3. Edit, if need be. Finne!

Here's my shot - notice how there's no feeling of the background and 'floor' meeting? I'd usually use a studio light and two reflectors to balance the light a little better (see how grey it is around the edges), but I thought I'd show what ANYONE with some paper, two pins and a camera can achieve.

If you have any photography questions, please check out my Beauty Blog Photography 101 post as most will be answered there :)

Hope that was helpful!

"Let's Go Down to the Cellar" Photoshoot

Yesterday I hopped on the train to go and visit my friend, Lis. We'd been talking about doing a little photoshoot for a while and ended up having an attempt at one in her flat...

 "Lets go down to the cellar." - Lighting was pretty much non-existant and since I hadn't taken my studio light I wasn't expecting much. It was a pretty cool little room, though!

Not bad since by the time we started we were tipsy off wine and full up on a ridiculous amount of cake and sweets! That's how all impromptu 'photoshoots' start though - aint it?! We'll probably do another which will...

A) Have been planned
B) Have the right equipment
C) Hopefully have more wine!

You can find more of Lis on her blog or Tumblr.
(P.S) She's wearing Stargazer 130 lipstick, before you purple lip lovin' ladies ask :)

Basic Make-up For Black and White Photography

One of my favourite challenges when I worked as a make-up artist was to create looks which would work well both in colour AND in black and white. When applying make-up for black and white, working in shades and textures is key. Basically, just ask yourself 'Is this a dark, medium or pale shade? Would it show more black or more white?' When it comes to textures keep light reflectivity in mind - frosts, shimmers and glitters will reflect light and appear brighter whereas mattes tend to absorb light and appear the same shade or slightly darker.

The easiest transferable looks are always the bolder ones! When the shoot requires ACTUAL colour (not neutrals) try to work within variations of the same shade - e.g from dark green to pale green. When working with multiple colours, it's easy to start confusing which is actually the darkest/ palest when the differences are subtle.

In colour, this look is quite heavy around the eyes yet wearable for an evening look. This was my 'go to' style for glamour girls, though I usually added falsies, smokey eyeliner and a stronger highlight shade as a little nod to Pamela Anderson's signature style! You could always make it softer for daytime looks and switch the blacks and greys for more flattering browns and creams.

In black and white, the shade variations are far subtler and appear softer. It actually appears...well, more elegant than it's slightly trashier (sorry glamour girls) cousin! You might also notice that the contour shade below my cheekbone appears more like a natural shadow than the coloured version - you can really push contouring for black and white. I've noticed lately that extremely exaggerated contouring in black and white fashion photography is making a bit of a wave...why not try it yourself?

I shoot straight from my camera in black and white, but if your camera doesn't have a 'monochrome' setting - it's easy to do in photo editors. There should be a 'black and white' option in the colours tab. Experiment and have fun!

What I Learnt in London

Friday night saw me travelling all the way from 'up int Norf' to 'daan Saaf' with some uni friends; I hadn't been to London in yeeears so was rather excited! We spent most of the weekend just wondering around the city in a mixture of amazement and confusion...

Along the way I learnt some valuable (and some not so valuable) little lessons...

1. If you don't know where you're going, pretend you do.

2. I feel festive all through the year - not just Christmas time!

3. It's rare to find a Londoner in London.

4. Cheap chardonnay is an awful idea.

5. Cheap chardonnay is an excellent idea.

 6. Chocolate, coconut and cream crepes are delicious...just don't drip the sauce down yourself!

7. Bubble tea is the bomb diggity.

8. Astronaut food tastes like muesli.

9. Seaweed is a very versatile form of plant life.

 

10. Market sellers are scary, 'MIXNMATCHCHINESELOVELY?!'

11. J'ai eu trop de vin.

12. Spur of the moment decisions are always the best kind.

I had so much fun and can't wait to visit again! Hopefully I can meet some of you lovely lot next time :)