Brooke Orchard Photography.....your ultimate pin up shot stop!

Fellow Vintage Lovers....I want to tell you all about the ultimate pin up and fashion photographer currently working in Melbourne. A woman with a passion for not only creating that authentic vintage look in print, but also with a passion for living the authentic vintage look in real life too..... The ever beautiful - inside and out - Ms Brooke Orchard........

 

Can you tell us about you and your photography business?

About me, well I like original, I like meaning, I like real, I like deep, I am a dreamer and I simply love creating beautiful images!!

Apart from my vintage inspired art I also like to photograph children, I love history so I often do children’s theme shoots that have a historical or fairytale element to them. People’s personalities, uniqueness and their individual journeys are of great fascination to me which I guess accounts for my passion for portrait photography. Whether I am shooting a beauty portrait or a real life character study, the element I’m seeking is always the same….feeling….mood….emotion & connection, it’s that small window of time the eye of the subject can convey to me something from deep within….capturing this is a real thrill! It’s the number one ingredient for a great portrait.

"My aspiration as a photographer is to create images that have strong visual impact, but they must also have soul!"

Brooke Orchard

Where are you based, and where do you travel to?

I am based in Point Cook and although I do often work from home I consider my studio to be anywhere really! Anywhere that I can achieve the quality of light I’m looking for dependent on the project at hand too of course. I’ll often shoot on location or at a client’s home!

I am happy to travel taking all things into consideration.

When did you start offering vintage photo shoot, and what was your inspiration behind doing so?

I originally started shooting vintage whilst studying photography, it was during this time that I got the notion to combine my love of imagery & vintage fashion and this was the content of most of my folios during that 4 years after which I graduated top of my class

My inspiration for ‘Vintage Fashion’ was born out of old movies, as a girl I would watch movies spanning from the 1930s- 60s. I absolutely fell in love with the way the women looked, so elegant, classy & feminine not to mention stylish! The 1950s silhouette I found particularly appealing, who could go past those hourglass curves? The look for me holds such a wonderful combination of contrasting qualities, it is both soft & feminine yet strong & striking at the same time then you have this delightful concoction of alluring sensuality softened by innocence & vulnerability ……. sweetly tempting!!

However it is only recently that I decided to offer this as part of my service to clients, for some reason I always regarded it as my personal work but people seem to love it so much so why not offer it?

"Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

You offer packages which include hair & make-up, do you prepare your clients hair and  make-up yourself?I have hair/make-up stylists that I use for this although I sometimes help out with the make-up! I also work with The Lindy Charm School for Girls on occassion and can collaborate with the Misstresses on a session when they are in town.... (Melbourne)

Let me encourage my readers, if you are in the market for a shoot for yourself, a modeling folio, a gift for a loved one, or simply to feel good about yourself, then Brooke's multi National award winning service is for you, give her a call and you will most certainly be glad you did !

Brooke can be contacted via the details on her business facebook page:

Brooke Orchard Photography

Alice Jean's morning tea....

I recently had the very great honour of being asked to host a morning tea for the opening of Cohuna's refurbished kitchen and supper rooms. You can imagine how thrilled I was to be approached to do this - the brief was to have a 50's style morning tea and small frock exhibition with me 'dressed 50's' (aka normal) and I was only too delighted to fill those requirements. Gal pal Brooke was on hand to help me hostess and manage (and lend a beautiful air to the proceedings), my amazing mum helped me bake up a storm, and I also received wonderful assistance from the local ladies of the progress association who totally dressed for the occasion (I have been dreaming of gingham aprons with crosstitching ever since !!) Thank you Ros, Dianne, Denise and Wendy!



The hall and kitchen themselves have come up a treat and are a real credit to the vision of the group of ladies who designed the refurbished kitchen, and then guys who made the vision a reality. The Mayor was on hand give everyone a bit of historical background to the hall complex (more on that from me at a later time - Cohuna has the most outstanding mid century musical history you could possibly imagine) and any number of local and state MP's and government officials also got to sample an Alice Jean's sponge! Oh, and see the new hall upgrade too of course (smile).

All in all it was a delightful day that went off without a hitch - filled with country flowers (thanks again Anne Thompson and Mum), pretty frocks and cream cakes to beat the band ! Here are some snaps....

Shame about the chairs behind the frocks, but we had no option there...

Swimsuits, swimsuits, swimsuits !

Call them bathers, togs, swimsuits, swimming costumes or whatever you fancy, here in Australia while the weather is roasting, it is most deffinatly swimsuit time !!!

My darling friend Brooke gave me the most wonderful book for Christmas - "The Swimsuit" by Sarah Kennedy - and I have been gobbling up its pages for the past few weeks ! Picture if you will, sitting in the shade of a big willow, beside a pretty little lake while the kiddlie-winks splash and play, I lol on my towel in my replica vintage navy and white spotted cossie, reading this treasure filled snapshot of aprox. 100 years of bathing culture. It has been a wonderful summer so far, thanks to this highly informative reading adventure........

I simply adore vintage swimsuits, but unfortunatly, have yet to own an authentic original. I have a couple of replica's, and am continuously hunting for good vintage bathers patterns to make some of my own, however, both vintage bathers and vintage bather patterns are as elusive as deep sea pearls to a person who mearly splashes at the shore ! Once again, my darling friend Brooke to the rescue - she has a couple of gorgeous vintage bathers that she has used in her photo shoots........

(Hubby and I model for Brooke in one of her darling Jantzen vintage swimsuits - above)

I can also reccomend My Sister Pat for lovely cotton vintage style one and two peice bathers. Great for swanning by the pool and looking glamerous, probably not so hot for intense training and laps !!!

In last years January edition of "Notebook" magazine, the following replica vintage bathers appeared on the cover, to my utter delight and I promptly raced out and bought myself an edition of the magazine hoping to find details of stockists. To my disapointment there was no listing of the stockists to be found anywhere in the magazine - can anyone help with this information?

And finally, something for all Wintersun, Circa Vintage and Lindy Charm School for Girls devotees to get excited about !! Appearing at this years Wintersun festival will be the following:

Ooooooh, I am so excited about this !!! I have been wishing Wintersun would include fashion parades at their festival for years and years !! Now my dream has finally come true !!! I am so delighted to see vintage love spreading more and more to fashion and cultural history, and not simply music and cars (though I love them too!!)!!! Be sure you get there and support this wonderful event !!!

Dita Von Tease looking resplendant as always !

Blonde bombshell Mamie Van Doren

I would love to hear any vintage bathers stories my friends and readers would like to share, any great shops for bathers and patterns, any advice and tips on caring for vintage bathers - please leave your comments and lets all share our vintage bathers love !!!!