Pretty much the first day of Summer saw Charli and I heading to Birmingham to try and take advantage of the weather. The light was pretty unforgiving it was harsh, bright and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. One of those days when you envy photographers who have the huge scrims and portable shades – the ones you only need for 5 days a year in England and today was one of them!
We started off at the Canal Basin behind the Mailbox, and took a couple of quick snaps:
As the light was getting harsher and harsher we dived into the nearest subway for a quick bite to eat and a throw away comment lead to us heading to Coventry Railway Station, yes the backdrop to many an expensive fashion shoot…..
Whilst we were shooting these we were approached by the station staff and asked if we were shooting for Virgin Atlantic as Charli was ‘wearing the uniform’
Studio Shenanigans
Once again I borrowed the lovely Charli Lambert for a quick shoot in Andy Baines studio B72 Imaging we were joined by Dave Piper and had a play with Andys new striplight and Dave bought along the Nikon D3s and the Sigma D15 for us to have a look at. Both very different camera’s (none of the pictures below are taken with them). The Sigma produces lovely sharp images and is an excellent studio camera returning crisp realistic tones and if you have not already bought into one of the existing brands is well worth a look. Remember the previous comments I made on the Sigma 50mm?
I shot a few images of Charli with the Striplight either camera left or boom mounted above, with the light feathered to accentuate her features. The striplight was from Bessel and is a cracking piece of kit and very affordable – a lot cheaper than the OEM equipment and of a similar quality. One word of caution and this applies to all makes, the striplight is a large softbox, and boom mounted it does sway a fair bit – make sure you counterbalance it (and remember to attach the power lead before putting it in position!)
I want that dress!!
Charli had been sponsored in the Miss Every Model competition by i-want-that-dress.com. She asked me to shoot some promo pictures for both her and their use and as Charli is a total pleasure to work with I agreed.
We used Spencer Park in Coventrys’ Earlsdon area, and whilst the sky was a glorious blue it was bitterly cold. I had of course read the weather forecast and was wearing my shirt to bask in the promised 15 degrees of heat…..note for future – do not trust BBC weather forecast!!
Black and white gives drama with the clouds menacing in contrast to the carefree image portrayed by Charli
Of Stripes and Bars
I would love to say that the day started off with gorgeous sunshine and a blue sky littered with fluffy white clouds. However this is England and it rained, not just rain but that heavy driving rain that starts off by soaking you and then sucks the life from your very veins…..vampire rain, yes it is vampire rain.
My model for the day was the delightful Charli Lambert who is an absolute treasure to work with and a natural fashion model, requiring very little direction and is one of the politest people I have ever had the good fortune to work with.
The shoot was styled by, and make up provided by Leanne Hume of leanneelisabethstudios.
So youve seen the stripes, why the reference to Bars……nope nothing to do with windows, merely the location we chose for applying make up was a bar in Coventry 🙂
Charli
Charli is currently Coventry’s Miss Photogenic and a delightful model to work with. Thoroughly recommend her.
Charli
Charli is currently Coventry’s Miss Photogenic and it is not hard to see why. I was lucky enough to borrow her for a test shoot and look forward to many future collaborations