Roller Girl on a mission Granary Square/Kings Cross N1

After the trial run with the new 70-200 zoom lens in the West End with head scratchingly good results and a sort of thumbs up from the women on the London streets, it was a return to the harder streets of London N1 to see what this lens dubbed my “fashion” lens can really do. If it can crack it here it can crack it anywhere in London.

My last visit to Islington was an epic disaster but not one for giving up easily I went with the view of getting 1 or 2 miserable looking shots at best. But the “fashion” lens delivered the goods and shocked yet again although Islington is a hard nut to crack. Would not have got the vast majority of these shots with the small wide angle lens. No way no how.

Extreme Read Head Denim Dress Kings Cross. Flip Flop Bottom Left?

Interesting was the agenda for the day rather than drop dead gorgeous looks. A real mish mash of photos here, extreme red heads, roller girls, Orientals, hoops and purple hair and more. Ended up walking in the middle of a fashion shoot or something near Hoxton Sq and rattled a couple of shots off although as you can imagine they were not impressed. Result!

Tried to capture as much of the urban environment in each frame as possible but when shooting a long lens it has a tendency to compress and blur things out in the background. That’s just the nature of the lens.

All photos Canon DSLR taken by yours truly. Not a word was said and all shots unposed and not staged which is the signature look of FJ Girls. Real, raw natural shots as it happens.

Purple Hair and Hoops, Laceless sneakers and Rainbow Socks Kings Cross N1

Smoking All Black Oriental Granary Square/Kings Cross N1

Models on a Fashion Shoot? near Hoxton Square N1

Monochrome with hints of brown. Shoreditch High St walking past Tesco’s

Monochrome and Shades Vertical Stripes Old Street Roundabout (Silicon) EC1

Monochrome print and shades and flats. Old Street Roundabout (Silicon) EC1

Monochrome Brunette  and heels Executive look Essex Road Junction with Upper Street, Islington N1

The post Fashionista Patrol London N1. June 2015 Edition appeared first on FJ Girls.

Red Head Monochrome and Hat and Tan Covent Garden WC2

Areas covered were the usual Oxford Street, Regent Street, Mayfair, Soho, Piccadilly, Covent Garden inc Piazza, Marble Arch and all streets in between. Busy main streets, quiet side streets, tourists, commuters and locals even some models on a fashion shoot.  Giving you the RAW street style as it’s happening with no posed shots and not a word was said.

Here’s my analysis of what is “going down” in street style terms in the West End of London for June.

1. Monochrome is definitely in with black, white and shades of grey being cool.
2. Flats are very much in, brogues, sneakers and slip ons
3. Horizontal stripes are a defo. If in monochrome all the better.
4. Jeans and leggings with ripped knees. A must. More rips even better. Distressed also rocks
5. Sophisticated shades are essential.
6. Monochrome bold prints seem to be popular.
7. Gypsy style maxi dress or skirts seem to be increasingly making an appearance.
8. Block heels are a yes but at the other extreme stilettos are also making themselves known

Model on a fashion shoot Golden Square, Soho W1

All photos taken with a newly acquired telephoto zoom lens and my Canon DSLR. Further details on this lens and how it went down with the London women in Part 2. Please note these are test shots with the lens. Some are sharper focused than others but have been included if they were notable in fashion terms.

Mega Ripped Jeans Fashionista Wigmore St W1

Balloon Girl Old Compton Street, Soho W1

Monochrome Horizontal Stripes and Colour Soho W1

Oriental shades of Monochrome Gt Marlborough Street W1

Monochrome Print and shades. Covent Garden Piazza WC2

Monchrome and draped colour Covent Garden WC2

Monochrome with Turban and Shades Covent Garden WC2

Monochrome Print and shades Old Bond St, Mayfair W1

The post The Fasharazzi Photo News June 2015. West End Edition Part 1 appeared first on FJ Girls.

Monochrome and Shades Bruton Street, Mayfair, W1

FJ GIRLS NEWS
Some interesting developments at FJ Girls. Acquired yet another new lens, this one is a telephoto zoom of the 70-200 order. Again the size of a house, it’s bigger than my 300mm telephoto which was a big thumbs down with the London Fashionistas. Women did NOT like that one at all, although I still have the lens it will be used more for celebrity work. I got the message loud and clear!

This zoom lens is bought more for celebrity work and it got christened this week by taking photos of Lady Gaga leaving her hotel. Thought I’d take it out for a test spin in a fasharazzi capacity thinking you’re going to struggle with this  just like with the 300mm lens the size of a semi detached but WORSE you’re going to have a rough day. It’s going to be daggers, venomous looks and “stalker alert” looks in my direction even if I am 100m down the road.

How wrong I was? The approach I used is what I call the cards on the table approach. I’d just stand in front of then 20m down the road raise this huge camera set up to my eye (as in photo above) , make a meal of focusing it, some would see me, even look thinking “what the h#ll” but here’s the strange thing NO daggers. Not one? This was on Wednesday. Went home thinking this can’t be happening let’s try again Thursday you just got lucky. Same results again on Thursday as the photo above proves taken on that day! It has to be said quite a few are looking at their mobiles but a lot are not.

All Black Brunette and Shades Oxford Street W1

Much scratching of the head and analysing why this was the case the only conclusion that could be reached is.
1. I was not so far down the road that I was in the stalker category, I was visible and making it pretty obvious what I was doing. But I wasn’t so close that I was in their face.
2. The size of the lens screamed PRO and maybe they were thinking “this guy is a fashion photographer taking street style shots or shooting for a magazine or newspaper or something” and they behaved completely different as if they are on the catwalk but acting naturally pretending there’s not some bloke standing in front of them with a lens the size of the Park Lane Hilton.

VERDICT: I will be using this zoom lens in the future, the women seem to sort of give it the thumbs up. But the wide angle lens I normally use stays it’s better for more up close and intimate shots and shooting from the hip which gives an unusual angle. This zoom lens gives a good look but the downside is it’s  heavy and the shots just look a little detached but it has to be said some of these shots wouldn’t look out of place in Vogue or similar. Will use both lenses mixing them up from shoot to shoot. The wide angle lens gives a more urban street photography look whereas the zoom lens gives a more fashion catalogue/magazine look. My dinky wide angle I now call my “Street” lens and my massive tele zoom I call my “fashion” lens. Both  have their uses.

Brunette Shades and Monochrome with colour and shades Oxford Street W1

Totally bizarre. Results below. I’ll let the photos do the talking. Please note I’m new to this lens, some shots are sharper than others!

Model on a Fashion Shoot Covent Garden Piazza WC2

Big Black Hat, shades, snaekers and multicoloured Marble Arch W1

Blonde Shades and Monochrome stripes. Oxford Street W1

Extreme Lada Gaga Fashionista? Charing Cross Road WC2

Purple Hair and Leather Biker Jacket Mobile Phone Analysis Covent Garden Piazza WC2

Shades and Green Hyde Park London W2

Purple Streaked Hair and Monochrome. Old Compton Street W1

Blonde and Neutral Heels Reflection Hanover Square W1

The post The Fasharazzi Photo News June 2015. West End Edition Part 2 appeared first on FJ Girls.

Brunette in Black and Orange St James SW1. Canon DSLR

These are shots taken at London Fashion Week SS15 whilst waiting for celebrities to arrive for the Julien MacDonald event. Celebrity names that arrived included Millie Mackintosh, Caprice, Ella Eyre and Tamara Ecclestone with husband and baby. Gallery of those shots over at my main site here

Held these shots back for a rainy day. These fashionista shots are mainly shot “machine gun” style as they arrived. Just one posed shot of one who was a model that the fashion bloggers got in a lather over. Had to shoot this way otherwise would have missed the celebrities arriving. Good shots none the less.

Prefer to photograph women on the move rather than stationery, they just seem to have a bit more energy going on and have a more organic and natural look. You could call them paparazzi shots. I call them Fasharazzi.

All shots are head to toe or as we call it in the trade “full length”. If there is interest I have others!

All black with a dash of red brunette arriving at the Julien Macdonald event St James SW1. Canon DSLR

Monochrome and shades with a dash of blue and turquoise brunette arrives at the Julien Macdonald event at St James SW1. Canon DSLR

All black knee length boots and biker jacket look arriving at the Julien Macdonald event St James SW1

Off white faux fur brunette arrives at the Julien Macdonald event at St James SW1. Canon DSLR.

All black and ankle boots and leather biker jacket look arriving at the Julien Macdonald event at St James SW1. Canon DSLR

The post The Street Style Gazette. St James Edition appeared first on FJ Girls.

Mobile and Big Bag Fashionistas on a shopping mission in Regent Street W1  Canon DSLR

London Fashion Patrol January 2015 Part 3. Bringing you the latest street and fashion styles from the streets of London. Normal everyday women that have something going on, have their own style, are attractive and stand out from the crowd for all the right reasons.

No posed shots, all taken on the fly in Central London by pounding the streets. Bringing you the more candid look. With casual, smart, grungy and urban fashion styles all making an appearance with full length or closer portrait shots but trying to capture as much of the London Street environment that they are in as much as possible. I call it Fasharazzi..

All Black Layered Fashionista Cambridge Circus WC2  Canon DSLR

All shots in Part 3 are from the Regent Street, Oxford Street and Covent Garden and Soho areas as usual. This seems to be the hot zone. With some decent light appearing over the last couple of days it’s been a case of literally “making hay while the sun shines”

Fashionistas that appear are tourists and others are locals. All taken with a Canon DSLR and shot from the hip “streetstyle”. I call it freestyle minds eye subconscious shooting with no constraints of viewfinder or LCD screen. Put simply it’s No big black box in the way. Others call it “spray and pray” but that technique doesn’t produce consistent results like this. Good old natural shots as if I wasn’t even there. Some of the more perceptive women do clock me though especially with the DSLR but if they are neutral or give me a half or warm smile then they are here. If it’s otherwise then they are not.

Purple Hair and Pierced Nose Fashionista Oxford Street W1  Canon DSLR

Pushing the creative boundaries with fashionistas running, closer shots, two or three in one shot, juxtapositions and some pre planned shots where the lighting is a bit more cutting edge giving the photos a bit more bite.

The results of my latest endeavours below.

White Faux Fur and Chanel Bag Mega Shades Fashionista Regent St W1  Canon DSLR

Top Shop Fashionista opposite Top Shop Oxford Circus W1  Canon DSLR

Grey and Denim Booted Fashionista Bryanstone Street W1  Canon DSLR

Mega Faux Fur Fashionista running in Hanover Square W1  Canon DSLR

The post Fashion Patrol Central London January 2015 Part 3 appeared first on FJ Girls.

All photos taken with an old (ancient) Fuji Bridge Camera that is not the fastest but it’s light, quiet and doesn’t stand out like a DSLR. It has passable image quality on a cloudy day such as the shots below, better when it’s brighter. A couple of shots may have been taken on the mobile. Some people noticed me taking shots, most did not

Seeing what’s IN on the streets of London with the locals and tourists alike, colours, styles, fabrics and the rest of the stuff that goes into the fashion mix. Either that or somebody was attractive regardless of what they were wearing.

All of these photos are low res and are not wartermarked. In future only DSLR photos of decent quality will be watermarked at FJ Girls.

If there’s interest in this there will be others ……….may even get a better camera that is good for street style shots with better image quality!

If you appear in this article or others and you would rather not, get in touch to get the photo removed no questions asked.

Brown Hat Fashionista Spotted Covent Garden Piazza Low Res

Glasses Fashionista on Oxford Street Low Res

Oriental Grey Fur Coat Fashionista on Glasshouse Street London Low Res

Black and Fur Fashionista Soho  Low Res

Big Brown Boots Fashionista China Town Low Res

Chinese Tourist Fashionista China Town

The post Fashion Patrol Central London January 2015 Part 1 appeared first on FJ Girls.