I chat to....Bagatelles....

Following a successful Look Book shoot I take a few moments to chat to Rym the designer to see what she thinks her bags offer you, what she liked about the shoot and why she would be a handbag if she could be reinvented as a wardrobe item!

Name: Bagatelles & Co

Talent: Handbag and accessory designer

Web: Click here

Facebook: Click here

Blog: Click here

Rym, if you and your brand Bagatelles & Co were going to be described using a garment or accessory trim what would it be and why?

A purse frame - They bring a vintage / retro element with their shape but at the same time the contrast with contemporary textiles adds a modern touch.

What 3 words sprint to mind when you think of your lovely handbags?

Colorful, Playful and Dream.

You trained as a pattern cutter and worked as a pro for years, why the change to bags?

I was feeling the need to have a personal project where i could express my love for textiles and colour plus had experienced how hard it was to find pretty evening bags so started making my own and Bagatelles came from there.

From where do you source your fabrics and do you source these yourself?

Yes i source everything myself, some directly from suppliers, some from markets and others from my travels. 

Who, what or where would you say your inspiration comes from?

Flowers, colours, textiles, walking around in the city, people I see in the street, 20's and the 50's, traveling, period costumes and fashion from previous decades.  Oh and cute little cakes, and much much more!

Why did you choose Carli-Art to undertake this project for you?

I really liked your portfolio and felt we had a good connection, which after all is very important if you are going to work together.

If you could be any accessory what would it be and why?

A handbag!  They are usually the detail which makes a different to the outfit.  They are also very practical and carry all of our little secrets!  A pretty object hiding treasures....a girls best friend.

What are your plans for Bagatelles & Co in the future?

I'd like to ad more small accessories like brooches and hair accessories and i would love to expand to a capsule clothing collection.

The team you pulled together for the shoot was amazing, we really gelled and had great fun.  What was the best part of the day for you?

Putting together the outfits and planing around with the bags was great fun but the best was to see the results of our collaboration.  It was really great to see the shoot coming to life after all of the preparations.

And lastly....anything else you would like to tell us?

I am always happy to collaborate with other talented designers or photographers and please feel free to join me on my blog or face-book (links above) for behind the scenes and up to date news.

Bright Ideas...1

To compliment my Bright Ideas paper I have now decided to offer you a Bright Ideas post, so this will be posted every 2 - 4 weeks then the online newsletter based version as per normal every quarter.  You can download the published edition each quarter so that at the end of the year you have your very own guide packed full of good ideas on how to use your imagery to your brands best advantage be it PR, Events or advertising photography being discussed.


To get things started lets look at Start Ups, this can also apply to all brands really wishing to cement or illustrate their brand core values, people, style and business with photography.  These are all Bright Ideas however that I would suggest you might like to consider.


When you read text your brain conjures up visual images.  When you hear the word 'exciting' or 'community' your brain again creates mini visuals in your head, people tend to think visually.....


1) The home page on your website should definitely have a strong image on it.  It should give the viewer an insight into what your company does but also how they do it.  So if your traditional in method then maybe use more traditional photographic or imaging process's, or if you are modern and fresh then express this using lighting by making things clean, bright or colourful.  
2) Think about using images on the different pages of your site or in various sections.  For example, you have a contact us page...make it more inviting by illustrating that contact through a photograph of a telephone box, a phone cable, a handshake, maybe something a little bit more quirky.  Get creative!
3) Incorporate your core values into each image and make sure the pictures remain consistent, so the same 'style' of shot throughout.  Offer continuity & recognition as all of this will help people to remember your business and build up a picture of it in their head.  
4) Fit the images with your brand colours or logo.  So think of things like what colour text the images are going to be used alongside, what other pictures are being used on the same page and even try and incorporate some of your brand colours into the picture.  You don't have to go crazy but just suggestions or hints will work great.
5)....Ok I could go on but the post would end up far too long to read & there will be nothing left to put in the next one!!  If you found these useful and want to have a chat further about finding the right photographs for your new website, marketing material or promotional goods then get in touch; I would be happy to offer any advise I can.

English Music Festival....

The end of May brings the English Music Festival, a highly respected charitable event where hidden English Classics are bought to the forefront and celebrated over a number of days and concerts.  I will be there this year snapping away and capturing some imagery suitable for marketing and PR use in the future but to get things started I needed to get a few snaps of the founder, Em Marshall.  We took these in a beautiful pub in Richmond.

For more information on the English Music Festival visit their site here.

Useful procrastination...

Writing a business plan I knew was not going to be easy but seriously...what?!  I believe the marketing plan is going to be harder as I have so many ideas its reigning them in to a suitable plan and strategy....at this point the answer is less procrastination(better make this a short post then) and more just getting on with it.

I have come across some great opportunities recently though in order to help Small Business's with things such as this besides the obvious Business Link - will the Tories' really replace this with another worthwhile and accessible initiative?!  They are below therefore for your viewing pleasure and I hope to see some of you there!

20th April - Small Business and Politics, meet the local MP

28th - 29th April - RSVP London

30th April - Keeping Business Local, Basingstoke

13th May - How to get a press release published

Holga Holga Holga....

Okay so only 3 images came out of the whole roll of film (12 frames.....disgraceful!) however I am chuffed with the results.  These ladies and Gentleman are my first set of images from my much loved Holga, the medium format camera made out of quite possibly the cheapest materials possible.  I heard these were a cult obsession, I can see why.  Now where is that other roll of film.....

Copyright Carli Adby @ Carli-Art photography

Factory311 Opening....

I went along to photograph the opening of the new studio in East London for Factory 311 - the night was excellent with some awesome art works and lots of guests, it had a really good buzz about it.  Of course the night was stolen by the appearance of the ever popular Twiglet as a snack!

Some pics for your perusal....

Sweet things....

If you don't already know I am a great fan of anything sweet....cakes, candy, pastilles, more cake...I just love the sweetness!! Therefore as a special treat for all my lovely fans on Twitter, Blogspot and Facebook I am now giving you sweets....yes free as a bird jellybeans and rock candy!!

Just post a comment on the Carli-Art fan-page wall with your favorite image from my portfolio and I will do the rest.  (Contact you and get your address for postage basically!)  So don't miss out....there are a limited number of treat packs to go around!

At a Level.....Foto Tip, ok Sunday....

My quite obvious failings at actually posting the Foto Tip Friday on a Friday are clear, again I apologize and hope that this wonderful tip may recover something!  

So i realized that although most of the tips I post are pretty simple stuff I haven't really touched on the core areas of Photoshop, so looking at tools and adjustments such as curves, levels and saturation.  These tools have been used within previous posts but not actually gone into great detail about the use of each so I thought it time to get some of that out there as its likely there are some of you out there who would like to know more about what they do.

Lets start with Levels.  This tool is essentially used to set the highlights and shadows within the image and to make sure that your picture has a generally nice tonal range and contrast.

You can find the Levels tool in the Adjustments menu and it will show you a histogram of the shadows and highlights within the image.  You are essentially aiming to make the lightest point of the image white without burning the highlights out and then keep the dark bits of the image dark and solid, not dull.  You do this by dragging the 3 pointers within the histogram left or right accordingly, the far right pointer effecting the highlights, the far left the shadows and the centre pointer the mid-tones of the image.

One way of identifying where the greatest shadows/ highlights are without just looking at the histogram is to switch to the threshold display mode, this then helps you to discern more easily where the greatest areas of dark and light are within the image.  If you want to adjust different areas of the image at a time, then use the Levels tool in different adjustment layers.  (For more info about adjustments layers see this post)


There are further things to do with Levels and above is a general overview, for a more in depth approach then there are a few books you can look at (Martin Evening is good) or some websites here and here.)

Bzzzzzz....

A few photographer friends of mine sell their prints online, I have considered this but never really thought my work was anything that people may like to purchase due to it not really being of that nature.  However after receiving a few comments (ok they were in the pub!) I have decided to take that step and started a profile on Arty Buzz.  This is a site dedicated to visual artists where you can browse and buy great artwork but also get involved yourself.  The prints and canvas's are high quality, they offer sculpture (nice!) and they even offer advise every step of the way if needed.   

Right, time to get fully updating my profile!

Bright Ideas...

With the edition of the Ideas tab on my website I thought it about time that this was introduced as a downloadable, printable, e-mailable (is that even a word?!) document, therefore I proudly introduce you to Bright Ideas!  A quick guide to tackling photography yourself or a point in the right direction when commissioning a professional or writing a brief, this essential guide will offer you and your clients some tips.

If you wish to view it online, please visit BRIGHT IDEAS.

If you wish to receive this fab edition stratight to your inbox...click here.

Create a Boom....

I am sitting here surrounded by paper, files started two years ago now adorning an attractive jacket of dust and various items of my wardrobe that didn't quite make it on to a hanger.  I am having a sort, a big one.  Its my start to my now full time self employment status.

A good start however with a feature in the Reading edition of Creative Boom, an online magazine dedicated to showcasing the creative industries in Reading and surrounding areas, I was very proud to have been asked....check out the feature here.

I have pictures to follow over the next couple of weeks of the Bagatelles Look Book and also the opening of the new Factory 311.  Held last night at their new Mowlem Street location the party was kicked off with a live DJ set and images from the best of their represented talent displayed proudly throughout the space, which is light, modern and fits snugly into the surrounding culture rich patchwork that makes up East London.