Quaintrelle: Noun. A woman who emphasizes a life of passion expressed through personal style, leisurely pastimes, charm, and cultivation of life’s pleasures.

After a brilliant time shooting the Clockworx editorial collection for Haringtons Soho hair salon last summer, I was really excited to be invited back this year to shoot the Quaintrelle editorial collection with Salon Manager & Art Director Esti. Taking place at The Kings Head private member’s club in East London, the location has been on my location lust list for a little while now after seeing a few event images from their monthly Gin House Burlesque event. Filled to the rafters with taxidermy and vintage furniture, I couldn’t wait to get my camera out and start shooting!

Taking inspiration from the incredible photographic work of Paolo Roversi, I approached this shoot with a completely different lighting set up to my normal style of photography. Using a torch to paint in and illuminate areas of the composition, I also mixed in a little continuous lighting from the modelling lamps of my Elinchrom ELB 400’s. Using a tripod and a remote trigger to allow me to keep the camera as still as possible during each two second exposure, it also required the models to sit completely motionless, sometimes having to maintain their poses for several exposures. With this in mind, the shoot had a much slower pace than my normal style of photography, but it was a great opportunity to reflect and really evaluate each image as the tethered information came through to the Macbook Pro.

This photography technique can give a varied mix of results, so I was really glad to have spent some time in the days before the shoot practising my light painting! It was great to get out of my comfort zone and shoot something a little different. I’ve attached some of the final images from the Quaintrelle light painting series below, with make up by Celine Nonon and styling by Aiden Connor for Ziad Ghanem Couture. I’ve also included a couple of additional images with hair by stylist and senior technician Jack (model in green).

Inspired? Book your own shoot with me today – drop me an email with all the juicy details and your preferred date. I can’t wait to hear from you!