Friday is my day: Frances Melhop

Today I am so proud and happy to travel to Milano, Italy, the center of Fashion and meet Frances Melhop aka Matchstickgirl aka enchantedpond. She is a professional photographer and her works has appeared world wide such as Italian vogue, Paris vogue, Australian vogue, Elle etc. And today we are all honored to take a peek to one of her days. Enjoy the trip and after that I am sure you want to make some souvenir shopping from her Etsy shops :)

(Click any picture to go to shops)

6.25am

the alarm goes off and the first words that run through my head are "oooooo nooooo i'm already late!"




first steps straight into a wall...klonk...groan... dressing gown ..computer on ...
and straight to the kitchen to set up a giant coffee ..
the only way forward
dazed wanderings for another 20 minutes check my emails and grumpily go back to get my coffee

6.50am

answer emails ... not sure how nicely ..
i so dont like early mornings ...but today is a shoot day so i must soldier on

7.00 am

jump in the shower

no photos no photos!!!

7.30am

scan the news items on the sydney morning herald and wish i hadnt

pass by etsy and check the forum and my convos ...much more positive vibe

look at my little nest ..it looks so cosy but i have to go out in the big grey world of Milan

7.45am

jump downstairs with my equipment to the taxi already waiting

the city is grey and it starts raining

i go to the studio early to miss all the rush hour traffic

8.25am

arrive at condé nast studios

i drop off my equipment at the studio and wander off to second breakfast

(i do come from the land of Lord of the Rings after all)

here i am in my favourite bar in Milan "liviing"

they tell me off for taking photos inside

i ask why its not allowed but they dont know

it just isnt... o well ... italian logic ...

8.50am

back to the studio to meet everyone arriving i brief them on the idea which today is "Glamour and Glitter"

theatre style

studio, model and makeup room ...before..........

my magicians start to work

the model reads while the torture her into a new character

my usual assistant is away assisting Deborah Turveville for Italian Vogue

so the new assistant and i start to build up the set and construct the lighting i want

its a spaghetti bomb...

health and safety....!!!

i tell the assistant to lock down the wires and make it a bit less of a death trap

11.30am

finally we are ready

, the model is dressed and we put her in postiion

its always a good picture :)

i tell my assistant to do crew cam and he comes up with a few awful photos of me

and alot of nice ones of the model ....hmmmmmmmmmmmm

half way through the day he falls in love with the model and loses focus on the world

he asks her to marry him ... i photograph the proposal on his cell phone ...hmmmmmm

2pm

we have 3 shots under the belt and go for lunch next door

its very sheeshee

nice food too

3pm

espresso coffees all round and back to work

makeup and hair retouched and changed

5.30pm

7 shots away and we are finished ,... one of the clients did not send their dress so we finish early ...

(there's a first for everything !)

we breakdown the set super fast and rush off to beat the milan deadly rainy weather rush hour traffic

unfortunately i cant show you the actual shots of the model as the magazine hasnt been published yet...

6pm

in the taxi its already dark

Milan floods when it rains...it is built on a massive system of canals designed by Leonardo da Vinci...most of which are still under the streets

the taxi driver thinks its funny me shooting blurry shots of lights through his window

6.45pm

arrive home starving

i eat some fresh handmade pasta (not handmade by me) and drink a glass of red wine and relax

checking my emails .. and my etsy pixie pals

10pm

my little brother rings from New Zealand and we talk nonsense and laugh for an hour

i go back to my computer world

nearly 12pm

my eyeballs feel like theyre about to fall out so i crawl exhausted into bed

and look at my palm trees in Fiji...

goodnight

zzzzzz

zzzzz

zz

www.matchstickgirl.etsy.com

www.enchantedpond.etsy.com

Have an enchanted weekend!