Fun in the New Forest

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to spend a few hours in the New Forest with the lovely Nickie Westlake of Nickie Westlake Photography and my ever willing assistant Mandy Woolford for a bit of photographer down time; which is more photography. These days give us a chance to try new things before we use them with our clients and just relax a bit. The last 3 images are of Nickie's son who joined us too and gave us a little training on capturing a moving object as he went over a jump numerous times on his bike.

Continuing Professional Development

Last week I was back in Warrington for my second meeting with my Mentor, Damien McGillicuddy, and our model for the day was the beautiful Charlie.

This time we were looking at lighting ratios and how they effect a image. The images below show ratios of 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5 respectively. The key light was place at the models right and slightly behind her, the fill light was placed directly behind the camera. The key light remained set at the same level and the fill light was reduced by 1-stop each time to give the ratios.

The final task of the day came as a surprise and was not mentioned before the day. Damien gave us each 15 mins to set up our own lighting and pose the model. I took the first spot while my colleagues went out to plot their own set-up (we were not allowed to watch each other). The final two images are from my 15 mins; the first is un-edited accept for the B/W conversion, the second is the finished image ready for presentation. I hope you like it.

Tuscany Day 4

Day 4 was spent in the company of the amazing duo of Trevor and Faye Yerbury. Amazing for many reasons but for me because of their generosity in helping us mere mortals improve our photography.

We spent the day in and around the beautiful Castello di Tornano with our beautiful model LauraAnna. This was to be my most challenging day for many reasons not less the fact that I have never photographed a nude model. I think that statement was true for quite a few of us But LauraAnna was so patient; especially as this was by far the coldest day of the week. It is very different photographing a nude model as all you have to work with is shape and although we were having our hands very firmly held this was a challenging day for me and I learnt so much about posing the body and seeing the clothes that most of my clients are wearing as just accessories. Here are a few of my favourites from the day.

Tuscany Day 3

Day 3 was a rest day for the feet but a tiring day for the brain. We spent the day in the company of Marko Nurminen, Damien Lovegrove's picture editor. We were asked to bring 5 of our images from the previous day's shoots so he could show us his tried and tested enhancement techniques.

Marko showed us how to do basic enhancements, I use the word enhancements because, as he quite rightly said, if the image is exposed and framed correctly that is all that should be required. Working with Damien he obviously has very little to do to each image other than make them "pop". This workshop was not really for beginners as he concentrated on improving our technique and speeding up the way we did things. Here are the images he "enhanced" for me. The first images are straight from camera, the second is with Marko's enhancements.

Tuscany Day 2

Day 2 was spent in the company of Chris Hanley. Chris is an exceptional photographer and founder of 'Cherish the Dress'. We were very lucky to have a beautiful italian model called Valentina Feula and and to spend the day in and around the Castello di Tornano which was our base for the 4 days.

This shoot is designed as a chance for the bride to put on her dress again after the wedding day and take part in a shoot that celebrates the the dress and the time that was taken to choose it. On the wedding day there is only limited time to photograph the bride in her dress. This session is like a fashion shoot to show the beauty of the bride and her dress in a relaxed style in beautiful surroundings. Here are a few of my favourites.

Tuscany Day 1

Day 1 of my Tuscany photography experience was spent with Damien Lovegrove and my fellow photographers in the lovely city if Siena. The challenge for the day was to capture the beauty of the city and the connection and sexiness of our models, Lisa-Marie and Shawn (aka Mr D Beckham).

The weather was glorious as we walked the allyways of Siena dodging scooters and street cleaners. We had a fantastic day and although very tiring (Siena is very hilly) captured some fantastic images and learnt to find light in the darkest of places.

Here are a few favourites.