Today I headed south to Nottinghamshire for a pre-wedding meet with Luke & Danielle. Their big day is later this month at Norwood Park, Southwell - a new venue for me and on first impressions it should be a good gig! Norwood Park is still very much a private residence but today it was open for prospective wedding couples to have a look around and so I took the opportunity of scouting the venue too. A tour of the house certainly revealed some fine indoor shooting opportunities in addition to the gardens so I’m looking forward to working there. From here I headed slightly futher south to Danni’s house where, after the wedding planning meeting, we had a bit of a pre-wedding shoot. As it was cold and grey with a biting wind, we did the shoot indoors, however, if we get some spring sunshine on the big day, it’s going to be a good one!
For the past week I’ve been sat uncomfortably in a small hide high in the pre-Pyrenees photographing one of Europe’s most endangered and impressive birds ~ the lammergier vulture. Nature photography is where it all started for me and I still like to get out and shoot wildlife as much as I can, so I took four days off from the studio and commercial work to head out to Spain with a three friends from Belgium & Finland to photograph lammergier, griffon and black vulture amongst the high tops of the pre-Pyrenees mountains.
In the first picture you can see the small village where we stayed high in the alpine zone set against a backdrop of the very impressive, snow covered high Pyrenees and each morning we headed off to the hides at an area baited up with carrion to attract the vultures, ravens and eagles. At one point we put out the carcass of a huge male wild boar - it lasted less than 30 minutes once the griffon vultures landed and they took everything! Not a bone or trotter was left by the end! While the griffon and black vultures could be described as less than pretty, the adult lammergier is everything but ugly! The adults have a deep orange head and chest and fabulous red and white eyes all complemented by huge black beard-like feathers hanging from the beak (which is where it gets its other name of beareded vulture).
Here are a few images from the trip but I’ll be posting more on my wildlife website (currently undergoing a make-over), although I’ve over 80gb of images to sort through first. Back to the studio this coming week with a few boudoir and portfolio shoots to get through - quite the opposite of what I’ve been doing last week!
Doesn’t seem two minutes since the Christmas break but here we are at the end of another half-term! So, in order to avoid “couch potato-itus” setting in on the kids, we went to Howarth for the day calling in at the Worth Valley Railway and Saltaire on the way back. It was a gloriously sunny and crsip winter day with a good dusting of snow in Howarth providing some great photo opportunities, but having the rest of the gang with me I decided to travel light, taking only two lenses and no tripod! Here’s a few of the snap shots I took on the day. You can see the perils of taking photographs of an 11 year old boy while there’s snow on the ground - obviously five grands worth of gear is just too tempting a target :¬\
A short break in the blog activity now as I’m in the high Pyrennees in Spain from tomorrow for 4 days of nature photography concentrating on the enigmatic lammergier vulture as well as three other vuture species and, hopefully, eagles. Then its back to a busy studio schedule the following week.
Jodie came over from Barnsley today for a portfolio shoot to help her in her acting/modelling career. Currently she’s studying performing arts at college and is now getting to the stage where she’d like to have some images to send to agencies etc. So, with that in mind we went for a variety of looks and a range of clothes from prom dress to Moulin Rouge outfit! Here are a few images from the shoot with more on the way.
Lorna made her way over from Barnsley to the studio for a portfolio shoot based mainly around a fashion theme. Her dad is Spanish which gives her some smouldering dark looks, very reminiscent of Desperate Housewives’ Eva Longoria at times! I felt I got some really nice portrait shots from the session and one has already been printed an put in my portfolio and has been shown at a meeting with a prospective client! If you’d like a portfolio shoot, just call the studio on 01924 229800 to book a session or discuss your requirements. Portfolio shoots make great gifts ideas too! Standby for more images as I continue editing……..
Rachel came to the studio last night for a portfolio shoot, mostly headshots and fashion, though she did quite fancy doing a sexy secretary routine and I have to say she got well into character! Having mislaid my studio CDs, I was compelled to subject her to some doom metal but I think she came through without any serious lasting trauma :¬o
There’s still time for your sexy secretary shoot for Valentine’s Day, or just a straight forward fashion shoot - just call on 01924 229800 to book your session.
Penny Dreadful hit the studio today with a splash of colour and style to shoot some steampunk and goth style images for her portfolio. We used a couple of locations in the house part of the studio as well as the old black infinity curve, using lots of lights and a few gels for effect. I love shooting goths and alternative models - not only do I get some colourful images with a difference, but it means we can belt out some of my beloved death, dark, gothic and doom metal CDs as a background track instead of the usual ’sounds of Ibiza’ style durge brought be so many of the models :¬o Here’s a few images made to the sounds of Graveworm, Norther and, of course, Draconian!
Sandra had been given a fashion and boudior shoot as a birthday gift by her husband and sister and so today saw her at the studio for her debut in front of the camera. After the make-up artist had done her bit, it was off to the changiung rooms to select the first outfit for the shoot. Despite initial nerves, Sandra soon got relaxed and felt at ease in front of the camera and we created some great headshots, fashion and sultry boudoir images.
A studio shoot makes a great gift so just give is a call on 01924 229800 or visit the boudoir pages for more information.
The Caufields came over from Huddersfield today for a family shoot of all the grandkids for Toni and Tracey’s mum’s 60th. Kids can often be a challenge and a total of six in the studio at once is right up there! Anyway. here’s a few from the shoot and if you’re thinking of a shoot for a birthday gift, just call the studio on 01924 229800 to book your slot.
With all this snow and at least three portrait shoots being postponed, I’ve been trying to get to grips with a website overhaul. This, I admit, has been a long time coming! It’s one of those things I always mean to do but never get round to it. Anyway, there’s been a few changes to most of the pages and the addition of the new baby bump pages and FAQ, as well as a new flash movie on the wedding pages and a general change of colour to black!
There’s also a new website coming to specifically promote the newly refurbished studio at Durkar - you read it here first folks! The studio website will feature much the same content as this site and will share the blog, but it will also have other new features such as monthly group portrait shoots for photographers as well as workshop sessions and will sport a snappy new name and logo!
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