Milan Stryja second photo shoot outcome and pictures

Crowds. Party. Fun. Music. That’s what you’ll get in a fashionable club during the night – but what do you do in a nightclub during daytime? As it turns out, it’s actually an ideal place for a photo shoot! Or at least, that’s what photographer Milan Stryja discovered when he decided to have a photo shoot at the popular London club Sound, with the WannabeStar competition winner cianaasp (Ciana). As the May month competition winner, she was eligible for a free photo shoot with Milan in London area.

Sound is a situated in the heart of London, at 1 Leicester square. With several floors, many bar areas, two main rooms, a restaurant and VIP areas, it’s a vibrant nightlife spot 7 days a week – accommodating up to 1000 people at a time. Club Classics, Electro Pop, Chart Hits, RnB, Funky House… there is music for any taste when you go clubbing. During the night, the place gets crowded - boys meet girls, girls meet boys, people party, meet, mingle and have fun!

For this photo shoot, the idea was to evoke some of that night-time magic of Sound – of course without the crowds, just the fancy interior setting and one girl dreaming of the last night’s party. No stranger to photo shoots, Ciana had brought along a large selection of clothes to match the party theme – in fact, the whole shoot was characterized by frequent change of clothes and make-up to match the various colour schemes and moods of the different floors of the club.

Make-up and styling were provided by make-up artists Laura Mangini and Joana Eduardo – and given that the team was working to strict deadlines, the task of providing a large number of styling changes was quite challenging. “We wanted to create a variety of looks – from girlish / playful to somewhat distant to dreamy to bit more glammy,” explained Laura. “Each floor had a different character and we had to create the exactly right match between the make-up, clothing and the colour scheme of the location”.

Before the shoot, Laura, Joana and Milan discussed the concept for half an hour - given that there was no specific client brief, it was all the more important to get the make-up artists and photographer to agree on the concept. Additionally, given that they had not seen the location or model beforehand, it then took all of Laura's and Joana's skill and years of experience to support Milans in producing the right looks based on the location, light and model's appearances.

Usually working for fashion photo shoots, the two make-up artists also do make-up and hair for events and “nights out” – here they started with a simple make-up and after the initial series of photos added piled-up hair and a more electric night-out look. The first concept included dressing up the model in a flower patterned dress, with the aim of creating a rather girly look. This outfit was then followed by a simpler, yet striking red dress.

(c) Milan Stryja

(c) Milan Stryja Make-up artist Laura Mangini (left)

(c) Milan Stryja

As there were so many different outfits and looks planned for this shoot, everyone was under pressure to deliver the perfect results on the first try. There were no opportunities for much testing or any re-shoots! Despite the pressure, everyone was in high spirits and enjoying the shoot, with Ciana even hitting a few dance moves during the posing. The location definitely contributed to the party feeling!

Using a 50mm lens to provide a natural look for the photos, Milan was shooting with great confidence, snapping off pictures and swapping jokes with the model between the shots. The pace did pick up at times, with the photographer taking up to 20 shots a minute with Ciana alternating between different poses.

After some experimentation, the photo shoot team finally hit upon a perfect blend between a blue ruffled dress, faraway look in the model’s eyes and the shiny red looks of the interior. The red and blue created a mood that was a bit aloof in this series of pictures, yet fitting perfectly with the “girl dreaming of the party” theme. Ciana was quickly able to switch expressions and poses to suit the mood of this specific series of pictures.

"I really liked working with her," says Milan Stryja afterwards "She only needed minimal direction and her fun attitude greatly contributed to the shoot".

(c) Milan Stryja

(c) Milan Stryja

Following the shots in the colder themes of red and blue, the creative team decided to bring a warmer, but still electric colour of green into the shoot. One of the several bar areas of Sound was used for this. Again, the previous modelling experience of Ciana paid off, as she was quickly able to pose in a way that perfectly fitted with the uber-cool interior of the club – creating a mix of images ranging from casually flirty to heavenly dreamy.

Of course, the choice of clothes and make-up was again perfect for this part of the shoot – thanks to the creative work by Laura and Joana! In discussion with the model, they had chosen a gorgeous grey patterned knee-length dress with silver threading which really sparkled in the club lights. Some further adjustments to the make-up to really bring out the model's eyes - and she was ready to go! Again, everyone was under pressure to the deliver the look quickly - but having worked on some fast-paced fashion shows in Italy, Laura was up to the challenge of getting the make-up done under such time pressure.

(c) Milan Stryja

(c) Milan Stryja Make-up artist Laura Mangini (right)

(c) Milan Stryja

Those green themed photos turned out to be some of the most challenging ones of the shoot. In order to capture the ambient green light in the pictures, Milan had to turn down the light levels from his Bowens travel pack studio lights. Not only did this require careful measurement of light from the many light sources, it also resulted in long exposure times. “It’s actually not as bad as it sounds though,” explained Milan later, “even with 1/2 second exposure times, if you are using a flash, it will still help freeze the picture and provide the required crispiness. But yes, it was a bit tricky!”

The shoot at Sound was wrapped off with some portrait shoots, focusing on the make-up done by Laura and Joana. One more clothing change was then done, as the final pictures were actually taken outside – at Piccadilly Circus. Given it was Saturday evening, the streets were crowded... and it was at that point Milan realized, that when applying for shooting permits for the Piccadilly Circus, the officials had not been kidding when they had asked him how many police officers did he need to keep the order on the set!

(c) Milan Stryja

(c) Milan Stryja

Managing the model, light set-up and questions from peope while standing behind the camera was not an easy task in the crowded environment. None the less, the final pictures got taken without any major problems (apparently a crowd of Japanese tourists got quite a few pictures as well)... and that finished the shoot for the day!

“Again, a successful shoot,” said Milan in conclusion “The location was great – Sound was one of the best interior locations I have used. Laura, Joana and Ciana were all fantastic – it was super! I can absolutely see myself working with them again.”

And Ciana, as the star for the day, loved the shoot as well. "The club was cool, almost unreal... And it was great working with the people involved - Milan makes you feel really comfortable, and I really liked the way Laura and Joana consulted me on their choices - and the outcome of their make-up work was brilliant!"

"It was exciting, very fast paced - rapido," added Laura "Very glad to have had this shoot - wish we have had some more time to work together than just the 3 hours we had. Ciana was such a fun person to work with and Milan was really professional! I absolutely love the pictures we got from this shoot, a great addition to my portfolio as make-up artist!"

Going forward, Milan intends to do more outdoor shoots in the central London area (yes, even despite the crowds). In the future, he will also be looking to cooperate more with modelling agencies, make-up artist and models - hopefully getting to do many more editorial type shoots! Laura as well looks forward to working on more photo shoots and fashion shows... or just doing make-up for nights-out, as make-up is something she loves and is passionate about!

The London club Sound is open 7 days a week - check the details at their homepage at www.soundlondon.com For bookings, call 0870-863-1010 If you would like to see more of Milan’s work and the stunning pictures he has created for other models, please follow the link www.photomistr.com to his home page Laura and Joana are always available for further collaboration with talented professionals. Should you want to see more of their work or get in touch for professional enquiries, please visit the websites: lauramanginimakeup.fortunecity.com and lauramanginimakeup.jimdo.com

Should you be interested in participating in a photo shoot like this - please check out WannabeStar competitions - it's all FREE!