Latest Shoots + The Skeleton Project Week 17 and 18

I have finished all the editing that I had to do for the last two shoots I did. Everything seems to come at once but I got through the pile and here are the results!


Shoot with Chessie (MUA Lucy Chloe Jordan):

This one is also on PhotoVogue, you can see it here. :)


Shoot with Stephanie:

I made a cinemagraph from this shoot too! Blinky.

The shoot I did for the book is all done and dusted too but I can't share any of the images from that until the book is published. I will let you know when that is when I know. :D


I missed out of posting last weeks Skeleton Project photo so there are two of them for this week!


Week 17:

Week 18:

ALSO! I am still in the running for the ArtistsWanted - Art Takes Times Square competition, if you enjoy my photos please vote on this page I would appreciate it hugely. :)

Book Shoot + The Skeleton Project Week 16

Warning, a cliché thing to say is coming up lol.


If someone had come up to me a couple of years ago and said "Tom, in 2 years time you will be doing a shoot in your home studio with a beautiful model for Lara Jade's new fashion photography book" I would have been weirded out that they knew my name and also I would have thought them quite the insane person. But! Here I am, a couple of days after finishing that shoot.


So as I alluded to in a previous entry (here) I was approached by the company (Ilex) that is publishing Lara's new book and they asked if I was available to shoot a section of the book about studio lighting and how different set-up can effect the photos. I said yes and got to work setting up my first studio (In my parent's living room, but lets gloss over that part lol)! I am not sure when this will be going out but I am sure I will be going on about it when it does. :P


Here are a few behind the scenes photos from the day and a couple of previews from the shoot with the wonderful Stephanie!

We had planned another shoot at a great location but the weather turned bad as we were getting close to leaving so we decided to leave that one for another day (watch out for that one, it should be good). It got a bit late and the weather took another turn, this time from crap to amazing! We decided to take a walk down to the beach taking photos along the way. I am so glad we did as I think we got some of the best shots of the day there.

The Skeleton Project - Week 16!


Amongst all the activity this week the skeleton almost got forgotten, but I found a few minutes to go into the garden when the sun was shining to take this weeks photo. In this one the skeleton finds himself to be alone, two deckchairs for one.

Also if you missed it the other day one of my photos from my shoot with model Chessie King and make-up artist Lucy Chloe Jordan was accepted on PhotoVogue, if you like it please follow this link and click the "I Vogue It" to vote! 


And just a quick reminder again, I have entered the Art Takes Times Square competition! If you like my photos please follow this link and click the "collect Me" button. :) http://tomsimmonds.artistswanted.org/atts2012

Shoot with Chessie and Lucy

Yesterday I had a fantastic shoot with model Chessie King and make-up artist Lucy Chloe Jordan. We met up in the morning then took a drive to a local park/wood and got down to some tree-climbing, log picking, animal attracting, crowd gathering shooting!


The style for the shoot was based on an animalistic slightly tribal sort of look, Chessie ended up looking like some kind of leopard cave woman crossover and it was great! Here are a couple of behind the scenes shots, dots on legs! Heck yes!

The first part of the shoot we wandered through the park and spotted an amazing dead tree, it's bark was stripped off and it looked like the rib cage of a dinosaur. Chessie popped up the tree and we started shooting, here is a preview:

Later on we went a bit deeper into the woods, here are a couple more previews!

And to top it off one of the photos we took on the way home got accepted on PhotoVogue! This was one of the very last photos we took, we stopped off in a rapeseed field and this is what we got. If you like the photo please click through and vote for it! :)

Also just a quick reminder, I have entered the Art Takes Times Square competition! If you like my photos please follow this link and click the "collect Me" button. :) http://tomsimmonds.artistswanted.org/atts2012

Home Studio + The Skeleton Project - Week 15

Back in October last year I had a little meeting with one of the guys from a local publisher based in Lewes called Ilex, the meeting was basically just a chat about finding models and how to get started in photography as a bit of research for one of their books. I got a whisky at the pub we met in and a couple of lovely photography books, it was a good evening and I didn't expect anything more to come from it.


Turns out I was wrong!


I got an email from them the other week about a little project they need doing for a new book they are in the process of making with the unbelievably amazing Lara Jade. I will talk about that more in a couple of weeks after the shoot is done but in preparation I had to get some new equipment!


Yesterday I got two rather large boxes delivered to the door, inside of which was a bounty of photography equipment.

As you might well expect I ripped the boxes open with glee and a larger than required knife (I was in the kitchen) and started testing out all my new stuff! Here is a photo of the hasty set up and testing of the lights:

Later on I managed to find a decent spot with enough space to set up properly, I was actually quite surprised how good it all looked, the lights make the living room look better that's for sure!

And last of all a quick self portrait test with the softbox, this will be better when I am replaced with a beautiful model but my house isn't where you find them so I will have to wait a couple of weeks. :P

I am hugely excited to have this opportunity, and I am already looking forward to summing it up in a upcoming blog post haha. I have a few personal shoots coming up soon as well so keep an eye out on here for new things! Lets get the 2012 photo ball rolling (not very well put together ending)! :D

Also here is week 15 of The Skeleton Project:

Mother Madness and SÝN Magazine Issue III

Yesterday the wonderful SÝN Magazine released it's third issue and I was lucky enough to get a few of my photos in it! The photos are from my shoot with Katie Eleanor back in February. Here is a screen capture of one of the pages but you can see the magazine in it's entirety here and I highly recommend you so, it is packed with amazing work from a whole pile of brilliant people. :D

My photos are on pages 20-23. :)


Here are a few more images from the shoot that don't appear in the magazine:

And again here is the video from this shoot if you missed it! :)

The Skeleton Project - Week 14

Hi there! This weeks Skeleton Project photo gives me a headache... hur hur hur. Anyway, the skeleton is having an idea, or a headache or something.

Week 14:

You can see all the photos from this project to far here.

The Skeleton Project - Week 13

Last week I saw a link that was posted by The Nonsense Society, as everything they link to is in general a wonderful thing I of course clicked! It led me to a website that had an archive of anthropology books. A lot of the images are drawings of body parts for medical research etc, the image that was linked was of particular interest to me as it was perfect inspiration for my project.

This work of art comes from a book called The Anatomy of the Bones by William Cheselden. If you have seen previous photos from my project, or even read the title of this blog entry you will see why I was inspired to recreate this image.


Here is my version:

I also did a bit more of my stop motion for this project, it is still a long way from being complete but the frame count is now up to about 730 so there is something at least!


Also, I have had a couple of features in the past few weeks. You can have a look by clicking the images below! You should check out the websites too. 


Seven By Five:

Ballad Of: 

The Skeleton Project - Week 12

Hello! This weeks Skeleton Project photo throws away the body and focuses on that old skull and it's on a doily no less. Cool and manly.

Anyway here it is, week 12:

You can see all the photos from this project to far here.

The Skeleton Project Week 11

Week 11 of The Skeleton Project! Over one quarter of the way there. This weeks photo was taken on my medium format camera.

Week 11:

Stuff + The Skeleton Project - Weeks 09 and 10

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!

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!

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!


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