Tom's Photos

Stuff + The Skeleton Project - Weeks 09 and 10

2012-02-29T19:26:00.005-08:00

Hi there everyone!

I missed posting a skeleton project photo last week so this post includes two photos! The first is a black and white from the animation I am working on (but not actually working on at the moment, other things to do lol) and the other is another shot from my 'Hanging' series.

Week 09:

Week 10:

In other semi-related news I am having a tour of the photography department of the University I am applying to next week so that should be interesting! The MA course I applied for isn't available, I am going for a BA instead so fingers crossed! :D

Also if you missed it here is a little video I put together from my shoot with the wonderful Katie Eleanor. Photos from that shoot soon too! You can see my other videos here: www.tomsimmonds.com/film

I should have something new to post soonish, got some more shoots coming up so keep your eye on my Facebook page as I update it most regularly. Hope you enjoyed this and last weeks photos, see you next time! :)

Flowers in her hair + Week 8 of The Skeleton Project!

2012-02-18T12:04:00.000-08:00

On Thursday I met up with model Alexandra Leigh Eyears, hairstylist Emma Hellier and make-up artist Rebecca Rojas for a little 'flower child' inspired shoot at Highgate wood in London. It was a bit on the cold side as you would expect for the time of year but thankfully it didn't rain!

Here is a preview:

And here are some behind the scenes photos:

And now for week 8 of the Skeleton Project! This weeks photo has a skull in a jar, naturally! :D

Week 08:

Meeting the wonderful mind of Katie Eleanor!

2012-02-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

I have been following the work of Katie Eleanor for a long time now, her imagination and creativity along with her immense talent as well as her obvious pleasant nature had her straight on the list in my head of people I would love to work with some time.

Back around the middle of January I got in touch with Katie in the hopes of setting up a little shoot in the coming months. We threw a few ideas around and settled on a bit of a theme and a location in central London to meet up. Here is a quick sketch I did before the shoot of the sort of thing I was aiming to get, I think we pretty much got it too! :)

As usual with a lot shoots I arrange rain seemed to be involved and it decided to tag along with us almost all the time we were shooting. But we didn't let water spoil things so we pitched the tent made of sheets, hoisted the bunting, lit the candles (which blew out immediately) and pulled the creepy doll out of the bag!

I am still working on the photos and waiting for the film to be developed but here is a bit of a preview of what we managed to get before having to give in to the rain, cold and dark. :P

After we were done shooting we went to dry out and warm up in a nearby cafe and while enjoying a beer I got to talk to Katie about all things photography! What could be better? :D It was pleasure to work with her, and I hope we can collaborate in some way again in the future!

Be sure to follow, like and look at all the places Katie calls home on the internet: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Blog

Assisting on Lucia's shoot

2012-02-12T09:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of assisting photographer Lucia O'Connor-McCarthy on her photoshoot in Brighton for Ballad Of Magazine. The shoots theme was candy pop for their next issue so there was lots of colour and crazy clothes.

We met up around 9am and didn't finish until 6pm so it was a long day but it was great fun! I met a whole bunch of lovely people and from what I have seen on the back of the camera the photos are going to be fantastic! Be sure to keep an eye on Ballad Of's website for the issue.

Here are some behind the scenes photos from the day:

And on the walk back from the pier to the hotel there was a jolly good sunset to end the day!

The Skeleton Project - Week 07

2012-02-09T03:39:00.000-08:00

Ok so for week 7 I thought I would have a go at a bit of photo-manipulation, it isn't really my thing but it's good to try new things...isn't it? :P Well you can decide on on the level of awful when scrolling down haha.

Week 07:

Thanks for looking! See you next week! :)

Daydream

2012-02-07T11:24:00.000-08:00

So August last year I had a photoshoot with the wonderful Wioleta Michas, you can see the the blog entry for that shoot here.

We managed to get lots of great photos, but I also filmed a little bit of the shoot too and only now have I gotten round to putting the clips together and trying to get them into something worth watching. Unfortunately the filming was a bit of an afterthought so there wasn't much footage to work with but I think what I got was pretty good!

Here is the video:

Test with Stephanie

2012-02-04T14:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick update with a few of the finished photos from my test shoot with Stephanie the other week. :)

Stargazing

2012-02-04T04:09:00.000-08:00

The past few days have been really clear so I though I would try to get a few photos of the nights sky, they aren't the best photos but not too bad either. :P I you plan on trying your hand at these I recommend waiting for warmer weather, it was bloody freezing taking these lol.

The Skeleton Project - Week 06

2012-02-02T13:27:00.000-08:00

Week six is here! Struggling through haha, need an injection of ideas soon I think, but we will see how it goes. Here is the photo for this week, I hope you like it! Who knew you could make such a sturdy crucifix with garden canes.

Week 06:

Thanks for having a look! See you next week! :)

Black Lace And The Skeleton Project - Week 05

2012-01-29T03:29:00.000-08:00

It had been about 10 weeks since I had last done a photoshoot, that being the Chattri shoot last year (saying it like that makes it sound longer haha). So I was extremely happy to arrange to meet up with a new model for an afternoon of shooting in central London.

On Thursday I met up with the beautiful Stephanie for a test shoot, the first of hopefully many more to come! We didn't have anything too particular planned, just an outfit and a few general location in mind. I had an idea to use strips of lace wrapped around the models neck and wrists to compliment then dress and add a little bit of something to the photos, here is a drawing from my sketch book that I did the night before:

Just as I was leaving for London it started hailing and it rained a couple of times when we were shooting but luckily we caught some rays of sun and managed to get some great photos, here are a few previews:

One of the photos was also accepted to be added on my PhotoVogue portfolio! :D You can see it here, any votes would be hugely appreciated! :)

I will be posting more stuff from this shoot once I have finished editing them, be sure to 'Like' my Facebook page for regular updates! :)

And now for week 5 of the Skeleton Project! this weeks photo is a bit strange but oh well. :D

Week 05:

Thanks for reading if you did! :P See you next week! :)

The Skeleton Project - Week 04

2012-01-19T00:12:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Already a month into the project, I think the chances of reaching the end are getting slightly higher hehe.

For this weeks photos I thought I would use the skeletons again! You might have seen them used in a few photos of mine before, like this one for example. This time instead of all standing around in a neat fashion they have been hired as dentists.

Week 04:

Thanks for looking again! See you next week! :)

The Skeleton Project - Week 03

2012-01-14T21:17:00.000-08:00

Hello, hello, hi and hello!

Week three is upon us and it's time for a hangin'. Gather the townsfolk for this photo!

Week 03:

I took this weeks photo is the relative discomfort of not my own garden so inevitably I got lots of strange looks for performing a hanging in the local park. As you would expect, dog walkers and women with small children cant see the enjoyable side to hanging. Not to mention the ironic waste of time hanging an already dead person would be! They looked at me as though I had killed their very own children, bugger them in the face I say!

I took this photo using a Praktica TL 5B. First time I had used it too, so I was a bit nervous about whether it would even work. The film was also already in the camera when I got it, it looked like it was quite an old roll. But despite taking those two risks everything came out ok! I took quite a lot of different photos on this shoot so they might crop up in later weeks because I like quite most of them. :D

Thanks for looking! See you next week! :)

The Skeleton Project - Week 02

2012-01-07T18:51:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, here we are again! Week 2 of my 52 week project and the skeleton is in bed reading! Everyone likes to do that, even the undead.

Week 02:

Thanks for looking, see you next week for number 3.

The Skeleton Project - Week 01

2011-12-29T20:20:00.000-08:00

So its a new year, of course. If you didn't know then... Surprise! If you did then... Happy New Year! Anyway, the new year marks the first week of my 52 week project. I am basing it on the skeleton I got (more info here), not necessarily because I think I will be able to come up with 52 interesting photos with it, but because I couldn't think of anything else lol.

Anyway, here it is! Week 01:

This photo was taken in a bush in my back garden, I used the last of my plumbers smoke bombs on this one... it really did smell horrid. Although that might imply I am a plumber, I am not lol.

There you go, week 1 done, only 51 left *nervous laugh*...

See you next week!

The Chattri Shoot - Update

2011-12-25T15:47:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Here are a few of the photos from my shoot a few weeks ago. :) The first was taken with my Bronica ETR-Si, and the others with the 5DMkII. Just a little selection, but we managed to get a ton of photos on the day.

And one of them got onto my Vogue.it PhotoVogue portfolio thing too!

Model, Marta Wolniak - @marta_wolniak

Make-up by Rebecca Rojas - www.rebeccarojas.com

Styling by Hugo Harris - @Hugo_Harris

Hair by Emma Hellier - www.emmahellier.com

Photography by... well me lol. - www.tomsimmonds.com

Dresses by - Renaissance Couture and Former Glory

Yo-ho-ho-da!

2011-12-24T17:07:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

Thanks to everyone who has commented, liked, added a favourite or just looked at my photos over the past year! Here are a couple of shots to get you in the mood for today. :D

The Yoda and the tree were days 23 and 24 in my Lego Star Wars calendar. :D

The Chattri Shoot

2011-11-28T11:25:00.000-08:00

Today I had a fantastic shoot at a great albeit remote location! For several weeks I have been planning to shoot with Marta (a model who I have previously shot with) and it finally came together! Along with stylist Hugo Harris, make-up artist Rebecca Rojas and hairdresser Emma Hellier we drove out to the countryside and trekked up a huge hill through sheep, cows, thorns and 'mud' with a fortunes worth of dresses in tow. The shoot was for a bridal magazine and to showcase some Renaissance Couture designs as well as a bit of a portfolio update for everyone involved.

The location for the shoot was The Chattri, a First World War memorial to the Indian soldiers who sacrificed themselves during the fighting. As memorial sites go it is quite out of the way, we were wondering how people would easily get to it! ...it turns out you can't easily get to it lol.

Last night I did a sketch of what I was hoping the scene to look like, and it turned out about right, save the low quality of my drawing skills. :P

Here are some behind the scenes photos from the day! Can you tell we are half dead from cold?

Photo: Rebecca Rojas

Photo: Hugo Harris

And here is a preview of the shot I am editing first!

This was by far the biggest shoot I have done, in terms of people working on it. I couldn't have wished for a better bunch of people to work with! Thanks everyone! Off to my editing cave for a while now...

Model, Marta Wolniak - @marta_wolniak
Make-up by Rebecca Rojas - www.rebeccarojas.com
Styling by Hugo Harris - @Hugo_Harris
Hair by Emma Hellier - www.emmahellier.com
Photography by... well me lol. - www.tomsimmonds.com
Dresses by - Renaissance Couture and Former Glory

Stop! Motion update!

2011-11-23T13:32:00.000-08:00

Hoi!

So after spending a hefty chunk of hours putting together a bit of the first stopmotion I did I decided it wasn't very good lol. While I was taking the photos I knocked the tripod and everything was off about half way though and I don't think I took enough frames either so it looks a bit jerky.

Here is the first version, not properly edited but just good enough to show you what I mean about it being a bit rubbish hehe. there is no sound on it because I will be redoing it, but you can imagine. :P

[On flickr]

I did another not bothering to go to bed thing the other night and started on a new version. I am most likely going to add more scenes to it but this is what I have so far. Filmed from the back of my camera, so you are watching a video filmed with a camera filming the back of a camera of photos taken with the camera that are to be turned into a video... :D

It is also going backwards and the scenes have no relation to each other lol, but a preview is a preview so who cares!

I think the chances of me following this project through the whole 52 weeks is getting more and more likely, I have spent too much time on it already and I haven't even done week 1 lol.

Fuzzy Felt!

2011-11-22T07:58:00.000-08:00

The other week I met up with the lovely Katy for a little shoot. We were going to go to a few locations but after about 25 minutes it starting raining and we had to call it a day. However we still got some nice photos before the weather changed!

Here are a couple of them!

This was also the first shoot I have had since getting my Bronica, still getting used to it but I hope I managed to get something, I haven't been able to get it developed yet though so I will have to wait and see! Looking forward to using it again in future shoots though, fingers crossed! :D

We had to take shelter in the Pavilion Museum after the beach which turned out well, we got to make up a poem from magnet words and a picture from fuzzy felt! So overall not the must successful shoot number of photos wise, but the most successful fuzzy felt wise!

I love to play with my magic monkey friend because he whispers and glows as we ride father every night in the garden pretending that a girl went home by fast a (should be a fast haha) birdy.

I wonder of how it has read mother like she always though you are not happy or good together.

The little boy talked all big but was more different at music.

Take from that what you will... probably a reason to get us sectioned lol.

The Skeleton Project

2011-11-19T07:15:00.000-08:00

The other day I acquired a new chum in the form of a 2 foot tall skeleton... see, we are best friends!

I had it sitting around for a few days before I could think of anything useful photographically to do with it, then after staying up for about thirty hours and enjoying a coffee or two I was a wash with inspiration (you can judge for yourself whether it is good or bad hehe).

I have never done a long running project before such as a 52 week or the 365 day challenges. I have always thought they seemed like a great way to keep a photographer on their toes, unfortunately I am far too lazy to go out and about for nature shots or whatever and finding a model to shoot every day or every week would be quite impractical.

With this in mind I have decided to use this skeleton as the subject for my 52 week project. I don't know what it should be called, I suppose I will know by the end. However for now it will be 'The Skeleton Project'... hmm, yes that will do. :D

I actually took quite a few weeks worth of photos today so I know I will at least get a bit into the project before giving up, not that I am planning to give up but you know how it is lol.

Here is a bit of a preview of what the project might be like. I will most likely start it in the next few weeks, maybe new year.

I also made a stop motion film featuring the wonderful talents of the skeleton today, it's just a bit of fun but that will most likely be around before I properly start the project. So make sure to keep and eye here or on my Facebook and Flickr for updates and such.

Here are a couple of the behind the scenes (although not much scene) of the stop motion too. :)

Thanks for reading!

What's in the bag?

2011-11-14T06:55:00.000-08:00

Quite a hefty number of blog posts ago I did a little show and tell sort of thing about the cameras I had collected up to that point (parts 1 and 2 can be found here and here. As it is now, my collection hasn't grown too much. Most notable additions were the Canon 5D Mark II and the Bronica ETRsi. If you don't get bored of reading this however you will see them in a moment!

Back in July I took a photo to finish up the roll of film that was in my camera. I had recently seen a few of these What is in your bag type things and though that was as good a use of the last shot as anything else. I uploaded it to Flickr and after a couple of weeks it somehow managed to get almost 4500 views, which is over 4000 views more than any other photo lol. Here it is if you were wondering.

Anyway I though I would have a go at doing another one, but this time focusing on the equipment I take on photoshoots instead of the old crap I carry around every day. No one asks questions like "What sort of equipment do you use?" But if they did this would answer it lol...

Ok so I will start with the bag itself. It has a bit of a grim history actually. Many years ago, before I was even born my fathers friend inherited the bag and it's original camera (a Nikon F) from a guy who hung himself... cheerful eh? Anyway my father eventually bought it off of his friend and it became the family camera for many years, capturing every event from Birthdays to Christmas and holidays to lazy Sundays in the garden.

Unfortunately while the camera was being stored our house leaked and most of the equipment was ruined, however the bag survived and how been on almost every photoshoot I have done.

I am not one for badges most of the time but I make an exception for these two!

In the front pocket I store usually store my Canon AE-1 Program along with the Kodak strap in the style of a roll of film.

The pocket at the back is where I keep and a Zeiss IKOPHOT light meter for use with the Bronica and a small stash of business cards just in case!

As I open the bag you see two pockets on the flap, here is where I store spare filters, adapters, memory cards and spare rolls of 35mm and 120 film.

In the main part of the bag I managed to fit in quite an impressive selection of equipment considering the size of the bag. Bloody heavy though! The most important being the lovely body of the Canon 5D Mk II along with a 50mm f/1.8. The second body is the Bronica ETRSi along with it's 75mm f2.8, 35mm and 120 film backs, prism and waist level finders as well as a speed grip. There is also just enough room for the 50mm 1.8 that fits on the Canon AE-1 Program.

So that's a look at the equipment I use, thanks for reading if you did!

Be sure to have a look at the following links for more.. stuff!

Website
Flickr
Facebook
Twitter

Bloody blimey! My first paid job.

2011-11-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

So this was a couple of months back now but I am crap at doing a blog so I am writing about it now hehe.

I had my first ever paid job back in September, it wasn't a huge deal project wise or anything but it was great to actually be paid for doing what I normally do for free.

It was also my first ever shoot totally shot indoors with a simple backdrop. I had to convert a small area of my parents living room into a studio and I had to use the chimney breast as a background. Luckily for me they 1, like white walls and 2, weren't home to get in the way lol.

Here is a little shot of the crummy set up I had.

You might notice in these photos I had my flashes there and my reflector all ready to go, but my wireless trigger decided to break, as well as my 2nd wireless trigger haha. So I just ended up using the huge window and all the lovely battery free natural light instead. That was probably for the best too!

As for how I managed to get the job, my mum's friends son needed some headshots done as he is embarking on an acting career. Proof that it is who you know even for the most basic of jobs. Here are a couple of the photos we got in the end.

The chap in question is called Ben, look him up in 20 years time, hopefully he will be an Oscar winner and I can retire on one of the out-take photos hehe.

Analogue and Digital

2011-10-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

Firstly, I am by no means a professional photographer; in fact I have quite limited amount of experience compared to most people in the field. However I do have a huge (and I hate to say the word) passion (sorry) for photography and in some ways I think that matters more. You can oppose that opinion after you read the waffle I am about to spew.

I of course see the benefits of digital photography, only a fool would write it off as a medium and to stick only to analogue processes. Having a memory card smaller than a 35mm roll of film that can take hundreds of photos is clearly one of the most compelling arguments for digital. Not only that but the quality is fantastic and editing the photos is clean, simple and extremely enjoyable as well as artistically liberating with such programs as Photoshop or Lightroom.

However I still love analogue and I think it is extremely important that it is supported, especially by large photography suppliers. Seeing shops like Boots only having about 20 rolls of film on one dusty shelf in some forgotten corner is really disappointing, but thank John Herschel they still offer developing services... even if they are a bit rubbish at it. All I can recommend is that you support companies like ‘The Impossible Project’ (http://the-impossible-project.com/) who recently look over after the cessation of Polaroid’s instant film production.

I must admit that I haven’t spent time in a darkroom since I was at college (several years ago now) and I really do miss it, being so involved in the creation of each photo is such a joy and although with digital you are still involved (more so if you take into consideration post processing) actually using your hands to do what your digital camera would be doing in milliseconds is an irreplaceable experience that all photographers should go through, and it is a set of skills that should be preserved.

The main reason I don’t want to see analogue photography lose any more ground is that almost every photograph taken with film; be it 35mm, 120, instant or whatever it just seems to have more meaning. Perhaps it is the fact that with an analogue photo you have something tangible. Something you can touch, a memory of a moment that you can physically hold onto. But it is more than that; a print of a digital photo should draw out the same emotions and connections as a negative or Polaroid, but to me it doesn’t and I am sure others feel the same.

For some reason dust, dirt, scratches, grain, light leaks, odd focus and unintended exposure all add to the character of an analogue photo. However if these traits were applied to a digital photo it wouldn’t have the same effect, and in most cases you would do your best to remove these ‘flaws’ in your post process.

Digital has its place, in my opinion it is brilliant and it is only getting better, convenience and quality are why it has taken over. Whether you are shooting a magazine editorial or a wedding, getting perfect images can only be a good thing. I am not saying perfection can’t be achieved with analogue, quite the opposite in fact, the character and emotion that comes with it can’t properly be replaced by new technologies.

The digital camera is probably shooting the analogue one with a flash gun... get it? Har har har.

As a side note I am also all for word processors but I still use a typewriter on occasion and I never go anywhere without my fountain pen. I use digital because it is fantastic but as long as I can use analogue as well I will.

New camera!

2011-10-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

I didn't even bother doing one of these about my 5D.. even though that was amazing to get, the camera I got in the post yesterday trumps it because film cameras are better and medium format cameras are doubly better! :D I took the photos of this new camera with the 5D though so it is still getting used hehe.

I woke up on Friday to the sound of the postman at the door. Ironically my Dad, who is also a post man answered the door to retrieve the package... they probably knew each other actually. Anyway I went downstairs heaved the huge box back to my room and thus begat a Christmas style unpacking!

The box was filled with screwed up bits of what I presume was a Chinese newspaper, I of course put some aside to make an origami bird. of which I seem to be slightly obsessed with (refer to previous photoshoots for the evidence of that lol).

Sitting amongst the paper were manuals, filters, film, a speed grip, cartage, a prism and of course the camera itself! I finally got my hands on the medium format camera I have been eyeing up for many months, the Bronica ETRsi! And I have to say that it looks brilliant. I haven't used it yet but I plan to on my next shoot which will be some time next week. :)

The highlight of it so far is how amazingly bright the viewfinder is when using the waist level finder. And because I didn't want to waste the film that I have on some silly around the house type stuff I though I would set up the camera on a small tripod and then set up my other camera, the 5D over it looking down into the viewfinder in order to take some photos through the Bronica.

Several weeks ago I bought a prop for a shoot that I still haven't sorted out yet, it has been sitting in my room all this time doing nothing so I thought I would use it on this little test. So I donned my rabbit head (don't worry that is the prop, I don't always wear an animals head while shooting) and set to work!

Below is a little gif animation of poor Mister Rabbit looking all stressed and upset. It's quite a big file so you might want to give it a moment to get going.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to like my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter and add me on Flickr for more updates. And while you are at it have a look at www.tomsimmonds.com. :D

One last photo! A bit less depressing, thumbs up!

Secret Garden

2011-09-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I met up with a fantastic model Wioleta Michas in Lewes. I first met Wioleta 15months ago on my first ever photoshoot, it was a pleasure to work with her again. We didn't have any particular theme set but we ended up with some great photos and a theme sort of came out of it by itself - The Secret Garden.

Wioleta didn't come alone, Marta Franzkowska did the make-up for this shoot. Here are a few behind the scenes shots.

The Secret Garden set can be seen in its entirety on my main website here http://www.tomsimmonds.com/secretgarden and some other shots both here http://www.tomsimmonds.com/portraits2, here http://www.tomsimmonds.com/thirtyfivemm and here http://www.tomsimmonds.com/instax

Below are a select few for you to have a look at. :D

Last month I also went to Poland with a few friends, I didn't manage to get many photos unfortunately but here are a couple from out of the plane window and the atlas hehe, amazingly interesting I am sure. :P

Be sure to check my website, facebook and twitter for more updates. :)

http://www.tomsimmonds.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thomascolesimmonds

http://twitter.com/#!/tom_simmonds

Origami Queen

2011-09-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

In a previous blog post I showed the process of making one of my photos using origami birds, as well as some photos of me making this headpiece, here are a few of them the more can be seen by following the link. :) The idea for the headpiece was to use as a crown for a photoshoot titled 'Origami Queen'.

Above is another page from my sketch book of shoot ideas and below is the finished result. :)

I also did a little video to go with this shoot, it is very short and only the first edit, I might make a longer version with more footage soon but in the mean time here it is. :)

Origami Queen from Thomas Cole Simmonds on Vimeo.

You can also see the set on my website here: tomsimmonds.com/origamiqueen

Undercliff

2011-08-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of working with the lovely Marta Wolniak again on the 2nd for another shoot! This was also my first time doing a photoshoot with the help of a make up artists, the amazing Rebecca Rojas!

I have been wanted to do a photoshoot at the The Undercliff Walk in Brighton for quite a while and I am glad I didn't use such a great location on another shoot, it was perfect!

Rebecca spent quite a while working her magic before the shoot, here are a few shots of that:

And a few more behind the scenes from Rebecca:

Here is a preview of a photo I am currently editing:

And a few photos from my last shoot with Marta:

Be sure to have a look at Rebecca's website: http://www.rebeccarojas.com/

The print giveaway is over now and the winners have been picked! I will be doing another one later on so keep an eye out! :)

And as usual I have updated my website http://www.tomsimmonds.com/

And be sure to like my Facebook page for regular updates and Flickr for new photos every couple of days.

https://www.facebook.com/thomascolesimmonds

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomsimmonds/

Paper to Pixel

2011-07-30T14:14:00.000-07:00

I was doodling photoshoot ideas in my notebook the other day and as usual the drawing involved origami birds. I found a small candle holder in my house that looked a little bit like a bird cage so I incorporated that into the drawing.

I though instead of just showing you the photo I would show the steps from putting the idea down on paper to setting it up and taking the final photo. :)

While setting up this photo I also made a headband for my next photoshoot using more of these origami peace birds.

Here is the final image.

Oh and be sure to have a look at my website www.tomsimmonds.com, it has recently been updated with some new photos! And be sure to check my flickr and facebook page for more stuff! :)

And if you would like to enter my print giveaway be sure to comment on this photo, I will be picking the winners soon!

Print Giveaway

2011-07-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

I have decided to do a print giveaway! The details can be found at the following link. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomsimmonds/5906447693/

Little Book Of Shoot Ideas

2011-06-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

Since I really started to get into photography I have been writing my ideas and visions of photoshoots down on scraps of paper, as most people probably do.

But they are easily lost, and most of the ideas are beyond my capabilities, or if I did try them now I would probably want to redo them if I ever got studio space, better props, equipment etc.

So I got myself a nice little book from a dealer on eBay and I started copying the ideas over along with the illustrations and a few other bits too. And because most of these ideas are slightly too ambitious to do anything with at the moment I though I would turn the book into a project itself.

Here are a few photos of some of the pages I have done, and a couple of photos in which I used the book.

Oh and I have had a big update on my website so if you would like to have a look please follow this link. :)

www.tomsimmonds.com

Lace Ears

2011-06-08T15:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot from my latest shoot with model Dannie Aston. We used lace ears, of course!

Dannie Aston - Canon 5D Mark II

Make sure to keep and eye on my Facebook page for more updates!

Last Two Shoots

2011-05-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

I recently did a photoshoot with actress Lucy Drive, here are a few examples of what we got as we walked around Brighton. :)

Lucy Drive - Pentax Kx

Lucy Drive - Nikon EM

And a couple of animations...

Gif animation of Lucy Drive

I also got myself a new camera last week, at 5D Mark II! Very exciting, I don't have a great quality lens for it at the moment though, have to wait a couple of weeks for that. But I used it on a photoshoot the other day and it was lovely to use. Here is a little preview of my shoot with Esme Proffitt...

Gif animation made with a little video clip - Esme Proffitt

Preview in RAW - Esme Proffitt

Back of camera preview - Esme Proffitt

I have also updated my website with over 30 new photos to make sure to have a look there. And also keep and eye on my Flickr and Facebook pages for more regular updates. :)

Months Ago

2011-04-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Turns out that it is almost exactly one year ago that I got my first DSLR camera (pentax kx), and about eleven months since my first photoshoot! Not sure if it seems longer than that or not hehe. Anyway here are 12 photos I have taken to represent each month of having this camera! Hopefully there is some kind of visible progression lol. Be sure to have a look at my websites for more photos. :)

tomsimmonds.com | flickr | twitter | facebook

Rockery

2011-04-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we (Me and model Cassandra Lockwood) went to a great rockery in Brighton for a shoot. There was no real theme set but we had lots of outfits to use thanks to Cassandra! We got some great instax shots as well as three rolls of film. Here are a couple of the photos we got. :)

I will be uploading the rest to flickr, if you would like to see them keep an eye on my photostream.

Cassandra Lockwood - Pentax KX

Cassandra Lockwood - Nikon EM

Cassandra Lockwood - Pentax KX

I also made a very tiny animation with a few of the photos I took: (Might take a few seconds to load)

Cassandra Lockwood - Pentax KX

Also my website Thomas Cole Simmonds Photography has been updated quite a bit, be sure to have a look! More frequent updates on my facebook page as well.

Latest photo.

2011-03-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

A few photos from my last 3 photoshoots, enjoy! :)

Bella Jarvis

Lauren Nichols

Siani Irving

Using Lego

2010-11-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

Before I got myself some slightly more professional gear all of my photographs were devoid of people, I wasn't all that interested in portraiture or fashion photography at the time and most of my photographs were little concepts and ideas that were portrayed using inanimate objects, and a lot of my best photos were made using Lego. Here are a few of my personal favourites.

These ones were taken using a cheap starter camera. Cost £99 at the time, I am sure there are better ones for that price now but I would have recommended it at the time, it's a Fujifilm S5800. For these I just went to the Lego website and ordered a load of spare skulls and skeleton parts, well worth the money I think, kept me amused for a while at least hehe.

Body Count

Bone Soup

Simply Skeletal

Semiperfect Number

Skulls

Baron Samedi 1

Baron Samedi 2

Lego Man Is...

Baron Samedi's Cocktail 1

Black And White

Big Daddy

Simply Happy

Slot

Skin Please

Individualistic

Poison

Baron Samedi's Cocktail 2

Here is a link to my Lego set (har har) on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomsimmonds/sets/72157625315835851/

Until next time! :)

-

2010-11-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

I like packing my camera bag, it's like getting ready to go on holiday in my imagination... And it has to be done before every photoshoot along with the boring task of charging a semi-large heap of batteries and the fun of loading film.

Forth Roll

2010-10-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

These photographs were taken with my canon A-1.

Hope you like these photos, until next time! :)

Third Roll

2010-09-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

These were taken a few weeks ago actually, while we went to visit my granny me and my dad went blackberry picking so he could make some jam.

These photos were taken with my Canon A-1. :)

We got several pounds worth in the end. Hope you like these photos, until next time! :)

Cameras - Part 2

2010-09-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

For the second part of my cameras post I will show you the two cameras I use on a daily basis as well as the collection of cameras I have scraped together over the past year or so.

My primary camera is the Pentax K-X, I use this for all my digital photography.

Pentax K-X

My secondary camera is a Canon A-1, I use this for most of my analogue photography.

Canon A-1

These are the rest of my cameras, I haven't tried them all but they are good to take photos of even if they don't take photos well themselves.

Bonica Snapper Vision XMS

Canon Sure Shot Zoom XL

Coronet Twelve-20

Fujifilm Finepix S5800

Halina 35X

Ilford Sportsman

Kodak Brownie 127 Model 2

Kodak Brownie Cresta 3

Kodak Brownie Reflex

Kodak No A-127

Lomolitos Yellow Flash

Nikkorex Zoom 8

Nikon F

Nikon L35 AF

Olympus Trip

Pentax MV1

Polaroid Land Camera Super Colour Swinger

Polaroid Land Camera The Button

Relex 127

Zenit FS-12

Zenit-E

And that is all the cameras! Until next time! :)

Second Roll

2010-09-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

These photographs were taken with my Canon A-1.

Sun Trap

Take A Breath

Tiny Asthmatic

Bits Of Eighties Awesomeness

Fat Cat

Natural Tendrils

Trapped Chap

Quite a short post, I will do the second part of the cameras blog soon, should be more interesting I hope! :D

Cameras - Part 1

2010-09-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

This will be a several part post, the first I will show you the cameras I used to get into photography, after that I will show you some I have collected over the past months, I tried to make the photos a bit more interesting, hopefully it doesn't look like a boring catalogue! :)

On the first day of 2009 I got a bridge SLR camera, a Fujifilm S5800. For a starting camera I couldn't fault it, some of my most popular photos were taken with it. Here are a couple of examples Cannibals Breakfast and Poison, both got Daily Deviations for which I am very proud! :)

Fujifilm S5800

Sixteen months later I got a new camera, hurrah! I got a Pentax K-X, interchangeable lenses... ah so much better. Since I got the K-X I have been exploring my skills as a portrait and fashion photographer, while I have worked with quite a few brilliant models so far, it seems to be quite a slow process to get into the field. However I find it very enjoyable, meeting people though photography is great! I will keep at it! :D

Pentax K-X

Digital photography is truly amazing and probably taken for granted, however during my brief photography course at college I really fell for analogue photography... It's hard to explain but there is something about the way the photos turn out, it just seems to have more character.

During my course I used my dad's old Nikon F, it was quite damaged by fungus but it was still enjoyable, even if the photography course was not! I would very much like to have the use of a dark room again though... maybe someday I will build my own. :)

Nikon F

A few months ago I found a camera in a second hand shop that had particular relevance to me. When I was about three years old my mum took me to a boot sale and she bought me a camera to play with, over the years I lost that camera. However I found it at that second hand shop! It seemed a lot bigger back in the day though.

Kodak Brownie Cresta 3

First Camera

Above is a photo of me at my third birthday (I think) showing my new camera to my granny. I thought I was Mr Cool, I was obviously correct! :D

In the next part I will show you some photographs of cameras I have recently added to my collection. I hope you enjoyed this blog post. :)

Until next time!

First Roll

2010-09-06T18:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog unidentified internet user!

Here I will post old and unused photographs taken on film that I probably wont upload anywhere else! Also maybe some news about what is going on with me in a photographic sense. Aren't you glad you came across this tremendous blog!

The first post will be a few shots from a roll of film I used with my Zenit-E, this was the first roll of film I developed with this camera so it was mostly just a test.

First Roll

Garden Tree

Bedside Things

New Plant

White Lane

Morning Look

Footstep

That Pier

I hope you like these photos, more coming soon... unless I forget. Good news either way!