The Ninja Groundskeeper

The Ninja Groundskeeper


The Saturday before last I had my third shoot with the fantastic stylist Christianne  along with the beautiful Annabel @ PRM and the super talented make-up artist Nazmeen both of who this was my first shoot with.

Our original plan was to meet at the station by the park we were going to shoot in, and for the most part that all went fine. I met up with the rest of the team at outside the tube and we went to the nearest cafe to get started with the make-up and sort out the first outfit. While the prep was going on there was the odd spot of rain and the forecast suggested that it would tip down all day.

The rain carried on for about 15 more minutes while we walked to the location. But, as you know... shoots I arrange seem to usually have some little thing wrong with them, whether it be the police being called to tell us off or a model not turning up, things happened and you just have to roll with it usually. 

The problem with this shoot was that just about the second I put my camera bag down to get my equipment out a ninja like grounds keeper appeared as if from nowhere. This was apt as we were in a Japanese garden at the time, however what spilled from his mouth was a steam of rather annoying words. He was incredibly kind and helpful but as it turned out we needed to have signed insurance wavers to shoot there and we were asked to leave. The grounds keeper did give me a number to ring to see if we could get permission at the last minute but we got no answer and decided to move on.

As we were shooting in central London we had plenty of choices when it came to back-ups. We hopped back on the tube and made for Kensington Palace. And in hindsight the location change was for the best! Although I don't think any of us would have chosen the extra exercise given a choice, the location we ended up with was perfect!

The first and second locations were just outside Kensington Palace and the third and final was in the Italian Garden both of which we used on our last shoot but the images are totally different. It just goes to show how versatile a location can be, especially if you're running out of time. As the day went on the weather slowly improved and by the time we were on the last look the sun was shining again and it felt like summer had clung on, let's just hope it lasts a while longer! I don't think I'm up for cold weather location shoots quite yet.

Here are a few behind the scenes photos of the day!

Photo by Christianne

Photo by Christianne

And a couple of back of camera previews too!

Credits for the shoot:

Model: Annabel @ PRM
Styling: Christianne Lucianne
Make-up: Nazmeen Ak
Boutique: Gladrags Boutique
Photography: Thomas Cole Simmonds

Chessie's Pool

Chessie's Pool

Last week I got a message from the wonderful Chessie who I had shot with way back in April of last year (see that blog post here). She wanted to know if I was up for shooting again and I of course said yes! 

I was invited to her home in Kent and in the morning of Tuesday last week I made my way to the station and the long train ride there. During the train journey I saw some wonderful possible future shoot locations, as is always the way on a train journey. Every few minutes something interesting flies by and it's both inspiring and kind of irritating too, because trains go through interesting places and you can just jump off whenever you like... well you would but you probably shouldn't. :P

When I arrived at the station Chessie met me there and we drove back to her house, as we arrived I saw the most amazing house, surrounded by large gardens a forest, and just past the house in the background was a huge lake. It was a beautiful place, and I was honored to have been invited there.

As the weather was still in summer mode we decided to make use of the recently refurbished pool that sat in view of the lake. This was my first time shooting a model in a pool and it was a great experience! It was my first time trying a little underwater photography too! I have had this little analogue camera with an underwater casting for years now and it finally got some use. The photos are currently being developed... or thrown in the bin haha. I'm very curious to see how they turned out, or if they even turned out at all. Fingers crossed!

Here are a few of behind the scenes photos from the day courtesy of Chessie's sister Brontë who helped us out with the shoot. :)

And here are a couple of previews!

Credits:

Model/make-up: Chessie King

Assistant: Brontë King

Photography: Thomas Cole Simmonds

Czech-ing out Prague

Czech-ing out Prague

It doesn't seem like more than 5 minutes ago that me and my friends were talking about where we could travel too this summer over a drink in one of the local pubs. Time just goes it seems, especially when you're looking back. 

Well now I've been back in England a few weeks and already it feels like I had never even left, I'm back to the usual routines but my desire to travel more has only grown stronger. And although that's an exciting thought I know it will be a a while before I can afford to do it again. So I guess it's time to kick some money saving arse and get back on a plane as soon as possible! 

Prague is a truly beautiful city and definitely rated highly among my favourite places! The architecture alone is worth visiting for not to mention the wonderful welcoming people and all the other sights to see. I had thought that possibly shooting abroad would be a fantastic experience but my lack of knowledge of good locations would be somewhat of a hindrance in arranging such a thing, having experienced Prague for a time and discovered so many amazing places that would be perfect to photograph along with a model I know now that it is something I not only can do but MUST do! And not just in Prague either, all over the world!

I wanted to travel as light as possible so I didn't take my main camera with me on the trip, however I took my Canon AE-1 along for the ride and although it wasn't with me every day (my stupid fault) I did manage to get a few photos of my journey.

This was the view from my hotel window, and as it happens one of the places I would love to shoot in most, my room had high ceilings and huge old wooden double doors. I can just imagine the kind of shoot I would do there, but for now I will just enjoy the view.

Another location I will definitely have to go back to is the National Museum, one of the most beautiful buildings I saw in Prague, possibly anywhere!

We also visited Prague Zoo, it took us 7 hours to walk around it and I still don't think we saw all the animals that were there. This wasn't so much of a location scouting day but I find zoo's fascinating.

While on the bus back to our hotel we spotted what might be one of the most fairy tale like buildings I have ever seen, situated in the trees at the bottom of a cliff side was this yellow house with a bright red roof, It was as though it was torn from the pages of a Grimm book or something. I managed to get a snap just as it disappeared from view.

On our last day we took a 2 and a half hour trip to the town of Kutná Hora to visit the Sedlec Ossuary, a church that contains the bones of between 40-70 thousand people. Some of the bones have been arranged into strange sculptures, some have been turned into giant goblets or chandeliers. Strings of skulls hang from the ceilings and in the transepts there are huge piles of skulls.

It's both beautiful and disturbing at the same time, and by far one of the most amazing places I have ever visited. 

And to round it all off, here are a few images from the window of the plane. Prague, you were amazing and I hope to be back again soon! Hopefully with a model and wardrobe in tow.

Shoot Two with Beauxoxo

Shoot Two with Beauxoxo

It's been a little while (well it feels longer than is) since I last had anything to blog about but here finally are some new images! Last month I had my 2nd shoot with the wonderful Georgie of Beauxoxo along with the beautiful blogger Dunya of Dearest Deer who modelled for us. You can see the behind the scenes blog post here:

These are a selection of the final images!

 And here are a couple of little animations to go with the image set too! :)

Model/make-up: Dunya - Dearest Deer

Accessories: Georgie - Beauxoxo

Clothing: Miss Patina

Swimsuit and Dots Part 2

Swimsuit and Dots Part 2

Back at the beginning February I had a test shoot with the super talented make-up artist Angela Amelia and the beautiful Ola of Leni's Models at the Brighton Media Centre studio. You can see the behind the scenes blog post here. You can see the first set here. These photos were meant to be included in a summer issue of an online magazine but it seems to have disappeared... perhaps they ran out of money or something but they haven't let me know and I want to release them, so here they are! :)

Credits for the shoot are:

Model: Ola from Leni's Models

Make-up/hair: Angela Amelia

Almost not a Shoot

Almost not a Shoot

Last weekend was the day of my 2nd shoot with the fantastic stylist Christianne Lucianne, who I worked with a few weeks ago on the Pergola shoot (see the behind the scenes blog post for that shoot here). We planned to shoot at some of the wonderful locations around Kensington Gardens in London, and as the day of the shoot not nearer the weather got better and better!

On the morning of the shoot I made my way to the station in the unbelievable heat and was full of relief that the likelihood of rain making this shoot difficult was definitely zero. However, as always there is something to bother up your plans and as the train approached Victoria station I received a call and an email, one informing me that the model couldn't make it due to illness and the other about the make-up artist being unavailable. 

A photoshoot without a make-up artist is bad enough but not having a model certainly makes it extra difficult haha. I continued to the meeting point while frantically emailing and phoning anyone I could think of to fill in at the last minute but with no luck. However, about half an hour later I got a call from the agency booker who had found another girl and that she was on her way. Hurrah! I though to myself as I sheltered from the sun behind a sign post while swilling horridly warm water. 

As Christianne arrived we decided to scout out the location before the model arrived so we would have a better idea of what we wanted, and about 45 minutes later we were shooting. Without a make-up artist but with the wonderful (and shoot saving) Lucie @ PRM and her super booker John!

Once again we got told off for shooting there by some busybody but we had just enough time to finish the first look before we had to move on. As I said on twitter at the time with angry typing fingers -There is always some power abusing kill joy twat at all the good shoot locations... and it's VERY irritating, but something you just have to put up with I suppose! We continued to shoot in another area of the park which was actually nicer than the "off limits" area. So screw you person who told us off. :D

Here is a quick back of camera preview from one of the looks as behind the scenes photo. :)

Photo by Christianne

Video by Christianne

Bows, Butterflies, Garlands and Meet-up

Bows, Butterflies, Garlands

Over the past few months myself, Georgie of Beauxoxo (who I shot with earlier this year with Stephanie and Kat, you can see more in a previous post here, and the final set here. :) ) and Dunya of Dearest Deer have been planing to shoot to Georgie's newest collection of accessories, last weekend marked the day of the shoot and with a surprising amount of Sun related luck we had the most amazing weather (possibly the best day of the summer so far... possibly :P )!

I met up with Dunya at the station early in the afternoon and we made our way to Georgie's hotel just after. From there we walked to the Royal Pavilion and started shooting. 

As the weather was far better than we had hoped the location was rather busy with tourists, but that wasn't our primary concern, we were approached by security guards a couple of times while shooting. Each warned us about various copyright laws we were infringing, however as this shoot was primarily for our portfolios *cough* we were allowed to stay. :D

Just after the 2nd warning we finished shooting the first set of looks at that location, we made our way to the sea for a little rest and a drink then we shot the rest of the collection on and around the beach.

Here are a few behind the scenes photos from the day and a back of camera preview!

Photo by Georgie

Photo by Georgie

Photo by Georgie

Photo by Georgie

Be sure to check out Georgie's website and Dunya's blog! Both are fantastic and run by a couple of the sweetest people I have had the pleasure to meet, they deserve your attention! You should also check out Miss Patina who kindly lent us some of their wonderful clothes to use for the shoot!

Georgie - Beauxoxo / Facebook / Twitter

Dunya - Dearest Deer / Facebook / Twitter

Meet-up

A few weeks ago I received a massage from photographer Elizabeth Cellarer who was going to be visiting Brighton and wanted to meet up and shoot together. As the time rolled round we got closer to the date and I asked the wonderful Vanessa who I have shot with a few times before to come along and model for us. I met Elizabeth at the station around mid day and we made our way into town where we met Vanessa, from there we went to the beach and started shooting!

It was my first time shooting the same model at the same time as another photographer and it was a great experience, I imagine it's a similar experience to shooting during a workshop or something. Keep an eye out for more photos from this shoot in the future, in the mean time here is one of the photos I took on the day!

Shooting at the Pergola

Pergola

Over Easter I was looking to get some people together to shoot something new, I got an email from a stylist called Christianne, she had access to some amazing designs. Although we didn't end up shooting over the holiday we continued the planning which finally lead up to last weekend! I had wanted to shoot at the Pergola in Hampstead Heath for a few years now and when Christianne sent me the designs for one of the dresses we would be using I knew it would be the perfect location!

Myself and the rest of the team each made our way to the location on Saturday morning, the team was fantastic and you can find them and their work online here by following these links:

Model - Rosemarie T @ Paulo-Ribeiro Management.
Make-up - Courtney Scarlett Boyd.
Styling - Christianne Lucianne.
Styling Assistant - Jay Singh.
Dress Designers - Talya Valdona and Rachel Deeming.
Jewellery Designers - Scarlett Sturrock and Revivial.

The day started out quite sunny, albeit pretty windy. Unfortunately that wind seemed to blow a load of rain our way and just as we were getting into shooting it tipped it down. As luck would have it there were a couple of sheltered places and we stayed dry for the most part! During the breaks in the rain we managed to get the images and footage we needed! And just in time before everyone started to either freeze or drown.

After a good few hours of shooting we wrapped up with the final look and made our way back to the station as the sun game out. I'm not surprised any more haha, it always seems to end that way.

Here is a little back of camera preview from the first look of the day!

Be sure to keep your eye out for a future post featuring the images from this shoot, they are set to be good! :D

Re-Editing - Part 3 and Interview on Get Inspired

Re-Editing - Part 3

Almost 2 years ago now I had a fantastic shoot with the beautiful model and stylist M and super talented make-up artist Rebecca Rojas, this week I have been going over the shoot again and re-editing them as well as finding a couple of missed when I was culling the first time! You can see the behind the scenes blog post for that shoot here.

These are some of the newly edited images! And you can see the rest on my website here.

Interview on Get Inspired

And last week I was asked by the fantastic Get Inspired magazine to be interviewed for their blog. You can read it my clicking the link below! :)

I was also featured in a previous issue of theirs, you can see that in a previous blog post here.