Trash the Dress

We chose a great day to go and 'trash the dress' out in the New Forest and Ro looked great too. I wanted to get some shots in amongst the dappled shade of the trees but also to get some shots in water and fortunately I knew of a little place that had both locations within a couple of miles of each other. The location was also close to the one that I had used for the shoot with Rachael earlier in the year.

This really had a Maid Marion feel about it and was shot with natural light, although there was not a lot of it so it was shot on a tripod to avoid shake and blur.

I love shooting against walls and this one was particularly interesting with its speckly pattern and the dark red bricks. Ro's pose is great in this.

A lovely happy shot in the water and yes, the dress did get a little bit wet in the end! It survived though and only came back with a small mud stain on the train.

This photo was Ro's favourite from the shoot and apparently her dad loved it too. This is a very calm shot that pleases the bride, groom and family. If you have recently got married and would like to dig your dress out for a very special shoot of your own, contact me. Don't forget, you don't have to 'trash' your dress (unless you want to) as this type of shoot is about having fun with your wedding dress and obtaining some amazing pictures.

A Benny Benassi style shoot

The inspiration behind this shoot that I did back in August was Benny Benassi's 'Satisfaction' music video however because the model also had a lot of ideas of what she wanted to do (along with a lot of props), we soon went off on tangents from the initial idea. Here's one of the first shots we did in my yard - luckily there's a building site opposite at the moment.

Carrying on with the theme, we started messing about with more tools. Fortunately my other half has a well-stocked tool shed, which I'd already raided for drills, drill bits, sanders, an angle grinder and anything else that was electric so there was plenty to choose from.

Andreia loved the sander and she wouldn't put it down!

Another one of my toys that she liked was my motorbike and she couldn't resist posing all over it. Here's my favourite shot.

Andreia is Portuguese and she wanted some photos taken with her national flag so brought that along as a prop. We decided to shoot against the wall and into the light and this is what we came up with.

We then moved inside to the shop as it was closed for the day in order to take some photographs of Andreia's 'Gladiator' outfit, as she called it. It was a bronze colour with black and the walls of the shop are bright pink and orange so I preferred the photos in black and white to tone everything down.

At the end of the shoot, Andreia's confidence was running high and she decided that she wanted to be completely naked and used a black pashmina as a prop to do an implied nude. I really like this shot and Andreia looks smouldering.

I hope you've enjoyed looking at the photographs from Andreia's shoot and if you would also like a Boudoir shoot with a difference, let me know.

Work up-to-date = blog behind

I can't believe I didn't post anything in August and that I just went and lost the blog post I created - double frustration! I have been unwell recently which meant that I got really, really behind with editing the photos from my shoots in August. I'm pleased to say that I've caught up now but the blog has suffered as a result. I also have a huge to-do list that just isn't getting done at the moment - perhaps I should write it down rather than keeping it all in my head?

I'll have to do another blog/shoot catch up over the next few days again to show you what I've been up to during the last month. As the shoots were summery, hopefully it will remind you of that as we go into Autumn. I have to say that I'm really looking forward to the coming season, mostly because I love the dark so I'll be able to go and take some photos of Bournemouth at night without having to stay up too late, and I'm also developing some ideas for when the leaves start to drop.

Anyway, on to some pictures. You may remember Sammy from a previous blog post and she decided that she would like to have some more photos, but this time a beach bikini shoot. We chose the coldest, windiest day of the summer to shoot and I had my work cut out to try and make it look warm afterwards...

I'm not quite sure how Sammy managed to pose and not look freezing cold. I was cold and I had jeans and a jumper on. In fact I was so cold that I was struggling to work the camera. The wind that day was bitterly cold and I was amazed that she braved the water.

I love this next shot so much. I did love it in colour but Sammy likes black and white so I did a conversion for her and I was converted too! I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do.

The whole shoot was done in about half an hour and was all natural light, with the best photographs shown above. We had planned several outfit changes but sadly the weather just wasn't on our side that day for a bikini shoot. Sammy was very brave to attempt to shoot at all and I was pleased with what we achieved.

If you would also like to be a beach goddess, contact me.

My man

This is the last of the photoshoots that I've done in the last few weeks as I'll be running a friend's studio next week, but don't worry, there will be more as I have a fun-packed week of shoots again starting from 9th August. In fact, I have so many shoots that I'm not sure how I'm going to fit in shooting, editing the photos, blogging, Flickring and normal work. It's all good fun though!

Tonight's blog photos are of my man because he very kindly agreed to pose for me so that I could get a bit more experience shooting men as shoots with men don't come up very often.

Shoot: John

The sun was just beginning to set when we took this photo and I honestly didn't think the clouds would become dramatic at all but as we started to drive home, they were going just going pink. Serves me right for not dressing up enough to cope with shooting at the top of a cliff in the wind! If you look carefully, you can just make out the pier in the background - that's what I tell myself anyway.

I originally discounted this shelter when I couldn't quite get the pose right, even though we'd originally thought about shooting here, however as it began to get darker, I decided to give it another go and managed to get a few good ones. This ended up being my favourite photo from the shoot.

The sky had to be boosted a little in post production to bring it back to the colours that were actually there when the shot was taken. This was John's favourite photo from the shoot but I think he looks good in all of them. We ended up entering this one into a photographic competition and even if it doesn't win, it's still a winner with me!

As I said before, I might be quiet for a little while as I really want to post more pics rather than just blog about nonsense so I will start again after my next shoot. In the meantime, if you want to book me for a shoot, then just let me know.

This time it's Sammy

Oops got carried away last night, ended up shooting and then editing the photos until 11pm so completely forgot to upload the last of the recent photo shoots...that does also mean however that I have another one to post now too. Honestly, it never ends!

This shoot is of another new model called Sammy and so far she's had more hits on my Flickr account than anyone else. I have a feeling that this might have something to do with the 'cowgirl' and 'cowboy boots' tags that her photos have but people also seem to be enjoying them as well.

Shoot three: Sammy

This is the first shot that we took and so far it's been the most popular photograph on Flickr - it must be the very short shorts and cowboy boots! Upton Country Park, near Poole, was a great location so hats off to Sammy for choosing it.

It was another hot, sunny day but there was plenty of shade to take refuge under and allow for some lovely pictures. The strong sun did mean that a pretty pattern caused by the brim of the hat gave some added interest across Sammy's face. It also gave some slashes of highlights to her blonde hair.

This photo was Sammy's personal favourite and although we were in the full sun, it did create some great shadows. The gardens here were beautiful and Sammy described this walled walkway as being like Alice in Wonderland and I think she was right.

Well this was my favourite photo of the shoot and to think we almost missed this tree entirely! I spotted it as we walked from the Alice in Wonderland garden and it was hiding behind several others. I love the gnarly, ivy-covered trunk and because we were in total shade, with just a little sunlight filtering through the leaves of the trees, the light was very beautiful. We were both squealing with delight when we reviewed these shots after taking them.

I hope you've enjoyed reading these posts and looking at some of the photos from the shoots. Last night's shoot was of my other half, who kindly posed for me as the sun was beginning to set, and I shall be blogging about those very soon!

New photo shoots cont

Well I might have only just got back from seeing a model about a photoshoot in the next couple of weeks but as promised, I'm writing the second part of my blog detailing the recent photo shoots that I've had building some new models' portfolios.

Second shoot: Jak

He was a little nervous but took direction well and came up with ideas too. This was one of the first pictures that we took and although I liked the grey steely wall, I decided to pep it up a bit afterwards so added this nice cool blue wash to it.

As we were shooting on an industrial estate in Christchurch, there were very few places to get in the shade and the sun was very strong during the shoot. We did manage to take refuge under some trees and it created some beautiful dappled light across Zak and the concrete block.

Another concrete block shot - there were a lot of them to pose against! I liked this one because of the flare and slightly washed out look that was caused as a result.

I thought I'd put my favourite shot at the end today, rather than the beginning. Jak gave a nice strong thoughtful look in this one. We had to be careful not to wake up the lorry driver who was trying to get some sleep in the cab although I'm sure he wouldn't have minded being woken up for arts sake, would he?

Tomorrow I shall be uploading some photos from another girly shoot and I'm going to struggle to upload just a few because there were so many that came out so well. I shall be brutal!

It's been a while

Oh dear, it's been a long time since I last logged in however that means it's been good for me as I've been working long hours shooting portfolios for several new models and editing the photographs. I'll upload some of the photos from the last few shoots over the coming days for your enjoyment!

Shoot number one: Rachael

This was my favourite photo from the shoot because I love the bleached hair and the slightly moody look. We shot these in full sun on an old RAF base and it was very, very hot. The dragonflies were out in full force as well, which kept me entertained during outfit changes.

Most of the shots we did were in more of a portrait style however this was one of the few fashion-style images. The location was fabulous, with smears of paint all over the walls and it was totally overgrown. The object that Rachael is holding on to is actually a window frame that had been knocked out.

Poor Rachael had to put up with looking straight into the sun for this picture and although her eyes are closed because of this, I like the sultry, mysterious look that this gives. She has a fabulous look in any case so it was fairly easy to create beautiful photos of her.

This photograph is a perfect illustration of just how flattering the light underneath a tree can be. I had to work with a tripod, a slow shutter speed and Rachael had to keep very still in order to capture it but it was worth it. We also had to wait for the light to return from behind a cloud in order to create the interesting slash of light across her face.

I couldn't resist adding this shot at the end because I think Rachael's eyes are quite haunting - perhaps because she was worried about the cobwebs behind her head! We shot this from the side of the building that was in the shade so we had some beautiful light to work with and I love the slightly rusty gate and broken concrete.

I hope you've enjoyed these photographs and I'll be adding some of the shots from my other shoots over the next few days. In the meantime, if you've loved these photographs, why not book me to come and shoot you? Whether you're an aspiring model looking to build a portfolio, want a portrait for fun or a special occasion or you want to surprise your other half with a sexy Boudoir album, go to my contact page and get in touch.