A project I had been looking to do for a while was a set of beauty images with the help of a make up artist, I’d long been an admirer of those lovely clean images and looked out for the people to try and make it work. A few months before I had worked with a Polish model Marlena Ziolkowska at a group shoot we had arranged up in Newcastle, she is a cracking fashion model, great hair and a lovely look, once she had agreed to do the shoot I felt I was half way there. Julie Ann Pattinson was someone I had chatted to for a while and we had talked about doing something of this nature for our portfolios. Big problem with Julie is she is so bloody busy!! Trying to find a time when we could all get together was bit of a mare, but I’m glad we persevered and we eventually got it all sorted. I’m so glad we did, Julie is a fantastic make up artist, a real gem, she also made a great contribution to the styling of the images and made me realise just how important the make up artists role is in the whole process. It was a long but very enjoyable day, my main job was to rush around, provide drinks and make the odd sandwhich whilst the others did their thing!! I did take the odd image though in between all the important stuff!!
Archives for September 2010
Beauty Shoot With Marlena Ziolkowska, MUA Julie Ann Pattinson
Photoshoot with Male Model
One of the most interesting, and challenging, shoots for me last year was the session with Pip a bodybuilder from Manchester. He contacted me via the Webmodels site after looking at my work there and liking the way the images were lit. At first I was very unsure about taking the project on, dont get me wrong I have no problem shooting guys, but I had spent most of the previous eighteen months researching and practising how to light women and I knew this would take a different set of skills. The second factor was that he was going to travel a long way for this shoot, very flattering, but also very worrying if I botched it, he was a lot bigger than me!! lol After discussing this for a while I decided to go ahead with it, it turned out to be a really positive experience for me and a steep but rewarding learning curve. I probably put more time into researching and practising for this one shoot than any other to date and we decided on a set of black and white images to show Pip in competition shape. The images we got from the session I was really pleased with, fortunately so was he.
Banana Studio Open Day
Earlier in the year I was fortunate enough to be invited along to the open day organised by Eric Murphy and his staff at Banana Studio in Newcastle. It was a really good day out all round, not only from the point of view of working with some great models but also being able to chat with lots of other photographers whose work I was familiar with from various modelling web sites. Had a really fun shoot with Natalie Overton who was lovely and very patient when I was trying to explain the images I was looking to achieve. The star of the day however had to be Demari Vi Sith who had travelled up from London for the weekend. Demari has a really unique style, influenced by her strong dance background, and was an absolute joy to shoot. Made my job really easy as all I really had to do was push the button!! Even though I only worked with her for a relatively short time I felt very happy with the images we created, in no small part due to her skill and professionalism. Definitely someone who I would like to work with again. Big thank you to Eric and his staff for making us feel so welcome.
Location Shoot With Lisa Thompson
Have been talking to Lisa for a while about shooting together again following our recent studio meet up. Unfortunately the weather wouldn’t play ball, had a look at the weather this morning and it didn’t look good, however things did improve and we decided to give it a go. We headed off to Birkhead’s Secret Garden near Sunniside, Newcastle. The weather turned out to be lovely, a little too sunny if anything!! and we spent about 90 minutes shooting in around 5 different areas around the gardens. The owners, Christine & Mike, were very welcoming and just asked that we didn’t cause an obstruction, the place was pretty quiet though so this wasn’t a problem. Good luck to Lisa who is off to London tomorrow for an agency interview, sure she will do really well. If you would like to see more of Lisa’s work click here.
Lisa was kind enough to pen a few words about her day:-
‘What can I say? I have worked with John in studio and location. I had alot of fun on both occassions and getting great shots seemed effortless! We tried and tested various themes and ideas to see what worked best and we always saw eye to eye (well almost always, as I do think his taste in pink macs has a lot to answer for!)
On a more serious note, he’s a smashing photographer and has a sharp eye for detail. Even my dog Gucci took a shine to him, although that may have been the alluring scent of left over cheesy quaver crumbs nestling in John’s palm.
John is quite the gentleman too. I was chauffer driven to the location and he kindly took me back home. He was extremely patient despite the fact I fed his sat nav an incorrect postcode! Nevertheless, we got their in the end :)”
Jade Turnbull
After a couple of quiet weeks have now got a few interesting projects booked in, the first of which was a shoot with Jade tonight. Have worked with Jade on numerous occasions, she is a lovely girl and an accomplished photographer and re-toucher in her own right. The plan was to shoot some pin up styles that could be used to help her Mum to market a vintage clothing store she has planned. Think we got some really good images, Jade’s bubbly personality being well suited to the pin up style. Please check back to see more images from the shoot.
If you would like to see some of Jade’s photography work click here