Graphic AW16 Trends: Testing the Canon EOS M10

Trends at the ready, camera steady; shoot!

What’s the best way to test out a new camera? Take it on an impromptu shoot around London of course. Recently I’ve been noticing a lot of Graphic influences appearing in AW16 fashion; from shapes and colour to bold typography and graphic details, I’m glad to see Graphic Design having such a big influence on this season’s Fashion trends.

You know me; any excuse to hunt down some new walls for Instagram, so I enlisted the help of mega babe Ella. With the new Canon EOS M10 camera in hand (an upgrade of the Canon M which I’ve had for a couple of years now) we headed to North London to shoot my favourite Graphic inspired AW16 trends.

My first impressions of the new camera are that it’s a lot lighter, minimal (less buttons to press) and more compact, with a shorter lens (which you have to unlock to shoot). I was pretty excited to discover that it has a flip up screen, meaning that I will be able to film my Youtube videos and see that I’m in focus – wahoo! And I was also pleased to see that the memory card slot had been separated from the battery (on the bottom) and moved to the side – this is handy for when you’re using a tripod & want to look at your photos without adjusting the composition of your shot(for consistency). Anyway, back to the shoot:

What’s in a pin? I can’t even begin to imagine how many pin designs exist in the universe – there’s a pin out there for everything; food, flowers, animals, quotes. You name it, there’s probably a pin badge for it. I know they say not to judge a book by its cover, but I can’t help throwing a bit of judgement when it comes to pins. The little pins are like tiny pieces of your personality – declaring love for pizza or dedication to a group of people. They are usually pretty graphic with some typography or a simple illustration – either way, they’re super cute!

As you can see, achieving that blurry depth of field effect is made pretty easy thanks to an easy access Creative Assist shortcut which is adjustable from the main shooting screen (I took all of these photos in Portrait mode btw). It’s an aesthetic that every blogger wants to replicate at some point whether that be for a close up detail shot of a product or just to add interest to a wider shot and to really put the setting to the test I whacked it up full blast and was pleased to see that it seemed to work perfectly. Of course it doesn’t work if your scene is flat, but bringing one item forward slightly will easily sort that out.

I love Ella’s little collection of pins, proudly displayed on the lapel of her favourite (faux) leather jacket – I actually have the same jacket (which we often both turn up in, twinning!), but haven’t been brave enough to attach any pins yet. If you’re too scared to pin into leather, other Londoners are displaying their pins on denim jackets and tote bags and if you’re anything like me you’ll have plenty of tote bags to choose from for embellishment!

My pin collection is pretty small right now, but I love the idea that I will be continuing to add to it through out my life – the pins will (hopefully) represent memories & tell a story in 20 years time.

And then, it was time to hand the camera over to Ella to shoot the 2nd Graphic Trend of AW16; patches. I guess this was a real test of the camera as I’m already familiar with how it works, but Ella was fresh to it. In between posing I was keeping an eye on how Ella was finding the camera and it seemed to be pretty intuitive, which I’d put down to the touch screen and the simplified settings. I checked with her after we’d finished and she said she’d found it pretty easy to use.

So unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ll know that patches have probably been the biggest trend this season – they are EVERYWHERE! Not only are they cool & creative, but they can also turn a basic outfit into something totally unique. Like pins, patches can communicate your personality and beliefs or just look pretty – it’s up to you.

And it’s a trend with a scandal too! Unless you’ve been living under a rock I’m sure you will have seen the controversy caused when Zara (and a few other high street retailers) copied/ basically stole patch designs by independent makers like Tuesday Bassen. As a creative myself, this news was such a disappointment and hopefully encouraged more people to shop small (like on Etsy).

The patches on this Topshop shirt/jacket actually came attached, so I didn’t choose them but I really love the military vibe and the khaki. Whilst shooting this Ella said that this was probably the most colour she’d seen me wearing… ooops, I’m such a goth ha

And that’s a wrap! Thanks so much to Ella for being my model & photographer – we always have a good giggle, and working on something creative together was so so fun.

Oh, and one last thing – the M10 has wifi sharing so editing and transferring the photos is super easy too. Overall I’m impressed with the updates Canon have made from the EOS M to the EOS M10 – it’s lighter and smaller but with more exciting features!

What do you think to the camera & our photos? Are you looking to treat yourself to a new camera in the new year? I’ll be continuing to put the M10 to the test so if you see me about photographing walls (likely) then ask me how I’m getting on 🙂

This post is a collaboration with Canon & Currys PC World Street Style to test the new Canon EOS M10, but as per usual all opinions are 100% my own.