Galaxy Ireland Masterclasses | Aaron Hurley & Chupi

I was lucky enough to be able to attend two out of three of FaFinder & Galaxy Ireland's masterclasses this summer, one on fashion photography with the wonderful Aaron Hurley, and the second with the beautiful Chupi on brand building. They were held in Bagots Hutton on Bachelor's Walk, a very stylish wine bar/café. I just want to give you guys a run-through of what happened and what I took from the masterclasses because I think they were so worthwhile!

We even met the wonderful Brendan Courtney.

Aaron on Fashion Photography

Aaron spoke about his journey with photography, from where his interest began, through the jobs he has taken on and the opportunities he has taken, to where he is now. His trajectory consists of many jobs ranging from a TY montage for school, Primark commercial campaign, magazine cover shoots, and his experience with being at Fashion Week, and where this has gotten him. 

As well as his experience with photography, he brought us through a few of his photoshoots, highlighting to us all the type of lighting he used in each shoot, and what equipment he used to achieve that look. This was such a generous thing for him to do, and I think a lot of us there have benefited from it a lot. 

Myself, Aoife, and our fellow Maynoothian, Aaron!

He was very thorough and helped us all to understand how to relax your models, and in turn, how we can capture the most authentic photos, with relate-able models. 

One thing which actually surprised me was what he said about the team that is working on a shoot. Many believe that there is a pecking order when on set, ranging from photographer, to creative director, to makeup artist, etc. Aaron told us all how it is almost mandatory that everyone see each other as equal in order to have a successful shoot. Everyone on set is as important as the next, without even one of those people doing their job, the shoot could fall apart. This really hit home, especially because he spoke a lot about assisting on jobs as a way into the industry. Normally, as an assistant, you can feel lower, or less important, but if you don't get the coffee, or hold the bags, or hold wires in place, who else will?

Cute as a button, Aoife attended Aaron's masterclass with me, but wasn't able to attend Chupi's.

Chupi on Brand Building

Chupi is such a beautiful person, inside and out. She made it a point to talk to everyone personally, and introduce herself to us all individually and have a chat about who we are, what we do, and just introduce ourselves to each other, which was such a lovely touch. 

Chupi launched right into her life story, telling us how her four year old jewelry company has grown, and is now sold in something like sixty-four countries! One of the first things she highlighted was, that it was not an 'overnight success' (something I spoke about in my last blogpost). She worked her butt off for about thirteen years before Chupi became a brand. 

What made Chupi start making jewelry was a necklace handed down by her grandmother, and her engagement ring. She realized how much magic and emotion and importance jewelry can have. So she went for broke, trained as a jewelry maker, and brought her dream alive.

She very often pointed out that she was making it all sound very easy, but made it clear, that it was absolutely not. Chupi didn't take a day off for years upon years, but now rewards herself with a whole decadent Sunday off. Well deserved I might add. Her tips for all of us budding creatives in the room was to set some sort of goal for ourselves, find out what happiness is to us, and where can we find it. 

And our brand? Well, your brand is everything you do. It is who you are. So when people ask who you are..you gotta tell 'em. I know that sounds obvious, but when Chupi asked me first I said a student, but also a blogger who is gonna start out on YouTube. She then asked me why I didn't say blogger first. You have to own who you are, and when people ask you, tell them who you are. Tell them 'I'm Ireland's next biggest fashion blogger'. People are more likely to think your enthusiasm and confidence is cool, interesting, and they will probably want to know more. If you tell them you about your part-time job, or your studies first, they won't know that your side-burner, (in this instance, blog) is your real passion, and what you see yourself doing. How are strangers meant to know unless you tell them? 

No one is watching you as closely as you are, and life is terribly short. Just get up, go out, and be the you that you want to be. Sell yourself, your brand, because that's who you wanna see in the mirror everyday. 

Check out the hashtag #GalaxyStyle for more pictures!

Have you been to a masterclass like this, that left you inspired? 

Thanks so much for reading!

Lots of love

xoxo