Autumn Lifestyle Shoot

Life’s been so crazy lately, but finally I found time to work with one of my models again.  I’d been dying to take advantage of the superb autumn colours, and two weeks ago my lovely Russian friend, Ulya joined me at Wollaton Park to shoot amongst the trees and the bracken.  All the shots were taken within just a 25 metre radius which goes to show the scope your surroundings can provide just by walking a few paces in any given direction.  I wanted to take the opportunity to work simply with just available light using my Nikon D700 and just a 50mm 1.8 lens, and a reflector.  Clothes: model’s own. Pink scarf and fur hat provided by the photographer.

Summer time and the livin’ is easy ………………

In our continually hurried lives it’s easy to take the world around us for granted.  The British summer is a time of abundance in our beautiful countryside and I wanted to capture some of it’s glory by showing a gorgeous girl amidst the stunning fields of gold in the early evening sunlight.  My aim was to portray the warmth of the sun matched by the golden hues of the barley, along with the simple pleasure of just feeling the sun on one’s face.

Pick More Flowers

Another of my ventures into our beautiful English countryside.  Ulya is one of my volunteer models and a couple of weeks ago we spent a great evening making the most of the wonderful summer flora.  I knew the rape field would only be in bloom a few more days and wanted to make the most of the vibrant yellow in conjunction with Ulya’s lovely blonde hair, and her white dress; hats and flower posy supplied by myself,  in keeping with the country girl vibe I had goin’ on.

Our second location was a barley field just five minutes away, where I wanted her to be immersed and surrounded by the ‘fields of gold’….. ooh, I feel a song coming on….

Yerbury Boudoir Workshop

Spent the most wonderful day on Monday at my studio in Nottingham with Trevor & Faye Yerbury.  I feel it is important to continue my personal development in the photographic industry and with this in mind always try to attend various seminars and workshops every year; I’m a firm believer in ‘you never stop learning’. I have always wanted to attend one of the famous Yerbury workshops (www.yerburystudio.com)and along with two of my colleagues and friends (Cathy & Yvonne), we were able to organise a small, intimate get-together.  We all gained lots of new insight and fresh ideas for this exciting and rewarding genre of photography.  With fresh eyes my studio quickly turned into a Parisian loft apartment scenario and with the lovely Rebecca Amy to model for us, we all came away with some wonderful atmospheric images.  Here is my selection from the day …..

Turning the tables on us

Wild In the Country

These are my favourite images from a shoot I did last week with the lovely Andrea.  The shoot took place out in the wonderful countryside of The Vale of Belvoir; taking advantage of some locations I know and the excellent weather.  The evening turned a little more eventful than I’d anticipated however, as I drove off the farm track onto the quiet country lane access to my barn location,  I got pulled over by an unmarked police car!!! ….. Unflustered,  I put on my sweetest smile and explained what we were doing – turned out he was attached to East Midlands airport security and patrolling the flight path areas.   Having established that we were no terrorist threat we were free to go……….

Ethereal Nymph

Last weekend I joined Crash Taylor on his second venture into cinematography, and along with sourcing the wonderful location, took all the behind the scenes stills photography, more of which can be seen on my Facebook page.  These are a selection of the images I took of our model/actress, Leonie, in-between takes.

Enrique – Euphoria Tour

What a night!  Went to see Enrique at the LG Arena last night – truly awesome concert.  This man knows how to interact with his audience.  Spectacular!  Took my compact camera to see what results I could get, having never photographed a concert before.  Here’s a few examples ….

Location Shoot on the Streets of Nottingham

Regular viewers will know that from time to time I do ‘test’ shoots with aspiring models.  Last week was another such occasion when I got together with some friends for a location shoot with the lovely Elizabeth.  Sneinton Market is not an area of Nottingham you might immediately think of to photograph, but it does provide a great variety of backdrops, and all within about a 50 feet radius.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Elizabeth again, who coped admirably with the cold conditions and never once complained.  I’d also like to thank her two friends who came along to do hair and makeup and offer their support – they were great fun and a joy to meet.  And so here are my favourite images from the afternoon to which I’ve just added creative borders for that finishing touch.

 

Watch the Birdie!

On a late autumn walk in WollatonPark I found myself following these two twitchers.  This shot amuses me as they stand at the edge of the tree canopy both with binoculars raised, having spotted something !!!

 

On the lookout ..........

Half a dozen bicycles

This is a shot I took whilst on a day trip to London, late November last year.  I was walking from the Natural History Museum to the V&A when I spotted these bicycles.  I was drawn to the scene partly because of the light,  and the autumn leaves strewn across the pavement, but mostly because of the mix of bicycles ie. I loved that there were some old fashioned ones with baskets on the front, hinting back to a bygone era.

I shot from a normal standing position at about a 45 degree angle; this perspective gives the impression of depth to the photo, drawing the eye in towards the lone figure down the street.  This was shot on F4 at 1/250, ISO 80.  In Photoshop I simply enhanced some of the colours just a tad, and added the film rebate border to finish off.