This year was I think my 7th or 8th year of shooting the event and is pretty much one of the highlights of my catwalk show year. This year was somewhat different from previous years as I knew a lot of the models and dancers in the sequences. This whilst giving me an extra link to the show bought along it’s own problems. Not only was I shooting for my news agency and getting overall shots that they could sell for me but I also wanted to get images that the people in the show that I knew could use for there portfolio. If you saw the show you will realise how fast paced it is and how they take care to ensure that the action encompasses all of the stage. Quite often my subjects were on different sides and also shooting with two camera’s wide and telephoto led to a number of fast camera changes and awesome panning skills. Actually that part is a lie, I shot the show over about 15 performances to make sure I covered everything my client and I required.
I also managed to sneak a few words with some of the models between shows, and it was nice to receive thanks from them that I was capturing them in a way they could use. I think this connection came out in the images, of which I can only show a few as the rest have been released to clients.
A number of things have all conspired, yes conspired – not inspired, me to attempt this shoot.
There has been lots of talk about how we should, as photographers or other creatives, adapt with the times and embrace new technologies. To an extent, I would agree, but we as a society risk loosing so much of our heritage in the blind pursuit of modernism. If we look around us at the the landscape and it’s architecture we see castle’s and manor houses that are hundreds of years old but are still functional and impressive. Admit it, all of us at one time have wanted to live in a castle! Compare this to the buildings of the last century, these were build to meet a need, often quickly built and embracing new technologies (mmm concrete – so sexy…) Which one of these designs has lasted better I ask you?
Now look at our transport systems…which looks better steam or electric trains? Which would you rather travel on – now be realistic, if you are on a commute to work it is going to be the electric train. However this doesn’t mean we should discard the old technology but we accept that each has it place.
With shooting pictures there is a huge fight to have the latest, fastest, biggest mega-pixel camera we can, People sell kidneys and distant relatives to always keep up with the latest trend. We now have camera’s that can take pictures in almost pitch darkness and boast sensors of 18 or more mega pixels that can record a gazillion colours (shame our eyes cannot isn’t it?).
Look back through pictures that have defined history for us, they are shot on 35mm camera’s or the bulkier Medium Format or even Large Format field camera’s. Am I advocating that we all step back to this technology? Not at all, but we should perhaps look at the images we create. So we can now create an image the size of a small house with eye watering sharpness and a veritable rainbow of colours, the question is do we need to? Surely we need to consider the QUALITY of the image we create, not it’s technical quality but its aesthetic qualities, does it work as an image? will people see it and understand what you are trying to achieve?
Pin up Model, kit car
So when I shoot the pin up shoot I will be using a vintage car, I may shoot some of it on film, I will shoot most of it using the Canon 5d2 as it allows me to instantly see what I am doing and also is more cost effective. I will be lighting it using modern flashes / strobes. Do I want a technically perfect image from it? Not really, I want the viewer to look at it and think nice car, gorgeous model – rather than them remarking on the wide gamut of images, the fact you can zoom in and see the eye lashes on my model……..it’s not about the finer details it is about the whole image. It is a reminder of the 1950’s as they never were…..yes I am creating a fantasy but I also want to create a reality that almost was…..
I had been invited along to a group shoot at the nearby Heart of England Conference Centre. A very strange location in that geographically it is pretty much as far from any sea that it is possible to get in the UK but boasts its very own beach!
Now I have to admit that I always have mixed feelings about Group Shoots, you know the scenario 300 photographers paying , 5 models attending for free, however this one was different and intrigued me. It was a real TF shoot, no one was paying and everyone was being treated equally. This had to a good thing and it had a beach! Oh and an 8am start……(luckily just before the actual day the venue advised it would need to be a 9am start – so an extra hour in bed!)
Unusually for a group shoot the drop out rate was very low with only two of the models failing to make the event (a good opportunity missed). Arriving at the event we had a small room laid aside for us to use with a large table full of make up, accessories, a rack of clothing – this was looking ever better!
There had been a few themes mooted around, faeries, weddings and the like, and I had bought along an amazing wolf head mask that I had from Ghoulias Peculiars who are a truly amazing prop makers and well worth a look.
So did anything go wrong? Well, yes of course it did……….. It rained (this is England) and we had maybe a whole 15 minutes where it was slightly damper than we anticipated. My very trusty pocket wizards decided they didn’t want to play properly ( a search on google tells me that me trying to be creative wasn’t going to work and I should have left the metering in evaluative and dialled the flashes down rather that spot metering!).
Recently I was fortunate enough to shoot with the very lovely Lauren Ritchie who is a local singer and upcoming new model.
I have to give an incredible amount of thanks to Witley Court for allowing us to shoot there, on a bank holiday and unannounced. Stunning location and definitely worth a day there to look round, we spent a few hours there and noticed quite a few areas we had missed as we left.
Lauren did her own make up and styling for the shoot and whilst she could be classed as an inexperienced model this certainly didn’t show at the shoot. She was perfectly made up and took direction incredibly well. Although the venue was pretty busy, she took this in her stride and was the perfect professional.
These are a few images from an explore of an abandoned farmhouse. A criminal waste of a lovely property that has been allowed to fall into disrepair. It currently teeters on that fine line where in a few short years it will be beyond repair.
My model for the day was the lovely Stacy. The shoot was two fold in that I wanted to see how the property photographed for a future shoot and also I wanted to test with Stacy with a view to a future biker style shoot we had discussed.
The morning had started off with lovely blue skies peppered with fluffy white clouds and as we arrived at the shoot location this had been replaced by grey overcast skies and a significant drop in temperature matched by a gentle breeze…
Today marked the death of a second of my 7dayshop umbrellas, however it’s death was not in vain as it cushioned the landing for the flash heads and pocketwizard that was behind it!
One day I will learn my own lesson that no matter how light the wind seems an umbrella is perfectly made to form a very effective kite!!
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’
Through out my time taking pictures I have met a number of people who have inspired me, taught me and pointed out my mistakes. Hopefully as time has progressed I am making less mistakes but I do believe that once you have mastered every single aspect of a skill it is time to find another. Surely the pleasure comes from the challenge, the determination to produce something ever better?
I am sure that if you ask any great artist about their work, they would point out the flaws, how they would just change that little bit there…
So I thank the models that I have worked with, some would say that models are the blank canvases that we work with but in reality a good model brings so much more, they will interpret what you say, add little nuances and interest.
The photographers that I have had the pleasure of working alongside (and whose techniques I have unashamedly stolen!), the studio’s that have allowed me to use there facilities, the designers who have loaned clothing, the venues who have put on shows or loaned rooms, and of course the make up artists who with a few pots of powder create flawless faces or amazing fantasy creatures.
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!)
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!!
almost Summer
Black and white gives drama with the clouds menacing in contrast to the carefree image portrayed by Charli
