In the jungle

My photographer organised a "vietman" theme photoshoot which involved me getting all dirty, wet and muddy in a forest somewhere. Honestly, it was different than what i was used to.... this includes the clothes to the style of posing so it took a while to understand "not to be scared of getting ugly" as not all modelling includes sitting pretty which i soon discovered.

as you can see... we went the full monty with the uniforms... from knives to guns and helmets.
I hope we did it justice
thanks for reading,
Sophie x

Photoshoot in Tredegar Park

This one, I must admit was a bit stressful. My agency got me in contact with the lovely Charlotte and Tony (the photographers) and we decided to have a go in the park down the road from me. I didn't expect them to want me to bring a million outfits though... Naturally I was driving back and forth trying not to break a sweat all day. 

But we did manage to get some good shots :) 

Thanks for reading,

Sophie x

Summertime photo shoot

Now that summer is here... kinda, I went on a little adventure with a fellow model friend for a trek up to the middle of nowhere (somewhere in Usk) and we found this lovely setting for a photo shoot. I'm thankful looking back at it now that I chose not to wear heels. Anyway it took about 2 hours to complete with loads of different props and equipment... I was nearly blinded by this gold light reflector a few times :') The highlight for me was being able to run round a field full of knee high grass like an idiot and come out with decent shots. So let's get to some of the shots...

This is probably one of my favorites, I found pleasure blowing bubbles into my friends face because i thought it was hilarious.... yeah that's how boring my life is :')

 I don't know how I particularly feel about this one.... I kinda feel when I smile I look like.. well in this case a serial rapist lurking in the grass...

I'm looking forward for many shoots to come, and excited what the future will bring.
Thanks for reading,
Sophie x

Vintage Vision Fashion Show

So basically I got involved with helping a local business called "Vintage Vision" in Abergavenny that sells everything under the sun that is vintage.
http://www.vintagevision.co.uk/

A couple of models and I had three outfits each to model in the Vintage Fayre which took part yesterday, it's fair to say I had a very good time!
The three outfits I modeled was...

Number one was a 1960's green toga which i wore with a belt for a modern twist (otherwise it was like a tent) it hung from the left shoulder by a gold buckle which you can't really see here :L

Outfit number two was a 1920's styled tassel dress that got remodeled in the 60's.... (we're getting at a 60's theme here)

Outfit number three was.... well... I'm not quite sure but hey it's sooooo 60's!
I'm very thankful for the makeup artist and hairdresser that made my look complete with the 60's.. I had this modern day beehive thing going on and the makeup was interesting to say the least!

Thanks for reading,
Sophie x

Miss Wales

What's all this fandangle about?

Well, honestly to begin with i was completely naive to this whole pageantry business. It was completely obvious from the get go I was completely unprepared for the unexpected journey to come.

I never saw myself as a "pageant girl" nor do I still, so why did I enter? Admittedly I have this "YOLO" attitude about me, and I saw an advert on a social networking site explaining that an agency were recruiting contenders for the title. Consequently, me being me I had the urge to apply... what's the worst that could've happened right? I expected nothing to come from it. Weeks passed and I forgot about it until one day an email appeared in my inbox which explained I made it to a regional final. Honestly I didn't know how to react; it was a mix between OMG WHAT HAVE I DONE and OMG I ACTUALLY MADE IT THROUGH? Luckily I made it through the regional final with the publicity title, i got the most public votes...I still don't know how that happened to be honest :') anyway at that point everything started to sink in... I was about to get up on stage with some of the most beautiful girls in the country and somehow I had to compete with them? GOOD LUCK SOPHIE! not to mention I had to find a sponsor to secure my place in the final.. which believe me was a bit of a kerfuffle.

All of that aside running up to the final Miss Wales had a 3 day marathon... a charity ball which friends thought I got married at (I shall explain shortly) an empowerment day and the actual grand final which took place at St Davids Hall in Cardiff.

The empowerment day come first... the whole aim was to give us girls the "can do" attitude as we spent the whole day with an amazing yet eccentric life coach... basically long story short we ended up breaking boards with our bare hands

                                 (That's me with my broken board and biscuit smelling fake tan)

The Charity Ball in aid of Bobath Cymru come the next day. I asked one of my good friends to come with me and it got a bit complicated. By the way meet my friend Marek...

Anyway there was a misguided conception that Marek and I got hitched that very day because of this one photo I uploaded online...

Now people... just because one guy and a girl who are friends are dressed in a tux and a white dress does not mean we eloped! Continuing with this story, the ball ended up finishing at 1am, I won a grant for a week empowerment course some place in October. I wasn't able to get much beauty sleep for the final the next day to say the least :')

The day of the grand final come and to be honest i was bricking it! we spent all day rehearsing and my feet were swollen even before the show started. we had three rounds, Welsh wear, party wear and formal wear and each outfit took a chunk out of my pocket. 

Even though I didn't win the final I had the most amazing experience and I'll always be proud to be a Miss Wales finalist 2013. I'm hoping to win the Miss Blaenau Gwent title next year :) 

To finish here's me and some of the gorgeous girls I was lucky to make friends with...

Thanks for reading

Sophie x 

Where to start?

Where to start? 

Life is just a little crazy sometimes.. Who would've thought that little ol' me would go from this...

                                                            (yup that's me far right)

To this....

You see that chubby kid with the dodgy smile? up that's me too...

But eventually that little kid grew up and got that balls to stand and parade herself on stage in front of thousands...to this 

I should probably explain that last photo haha, there I am stood in front of complete strangers blurting out my name, age and where I'm from with some "extra enthusiasm" which at first mortified me a little.

Yes, growing up was a little rough for me, mainly because i was a tubby dork but hey I wouldn't be the way I am now if it wasn't for that.