Two days of studio fun!

So I've been a busy, busy bee this summer. What with all the location shooting it was time to head into the studio once more!

After recently purchasing a new backdrop set-up, Chris invited me to try it out. I didn't need asking twice as white was one of the colours he bought. White is notoriously hard to light correctly, and admittedly the pictures shown here have been somewhat extensively photoshopped. I don't mind though, as practice is important.

The model I worked with was Lisa, I had put a casting call on one of the modelling websites I'm registered with (as a photographer, obviously) and Lisa was perfect. We arranged to do a shoot based around block primary colours. I wanted something jazzy and colourful for my portfolio. Plus I haven't photographed a girl for a while now, and they're much easier than boys to photograph.

Lisa brought lots of clothes with her, and we had a fun couple of hours taking shots. I had been to Clair's Accessories the day before to get some bits for the shoot, including a huge lollypop! It's a great place for buying props for film and photography. Chris and I also found another shop in Llandudno called the Gold Mine, and it certainly was! Lots of vintage clothes, all begging to be photographed. Chris bought a 20's style flapper dress with the intention of finding a model to photograph it on, I look forward to seeing the results from that shoot!

On Friday, Chris had arranged to do a shoot with another model, called Lex. Since he was in Wrexham the day before, at a wedding Chris suggested I might like to shoot him also. I thought this was a good idea even though I had no official ideas for the shoot. Lex was very open, and friendly and was full of ideas of his own too.

We even took the wheel off his Mercedes and did some shots with that. I'm sure the neighbours had a field day wondering what on earth had been going on over those two days!

The only shot I really had in mind was the 'aftershave' style shot. I have no idea where I'd seen it before, but since Lex had dark skin I thought it would work well. I'm very happy with the results even if I'm now drowning a little in editing work. I don't really enjoy the post-production stage as it can be laborious, especially if you have dust spots! Luckily the shots of Lex won't need that much work as the black background is so much easier to light and hides lots. I've had a great two days in the studio, my camera is taking a well earned break before Chris and I head down south for a few days on Wednesday this week. I plan on finishing the summer work for uni and getting my Zeiss out to play again!

Epic day trips, studio work and FIRE POI!

So far this summer I've photographed a storm in a multitude of gorgeous places. I've been very lucky to be able to visit some of Wales' and the north west's best kept secrets. This last week has no exception, we visited Bodnant Gardens which isn't far from Conwy and is a well cultivated garden, lots of flowers, water features and interesting architecture. It isn't normally what I'd go for, but photographing it was fun and challenging.

I played around with reflections in the various fountains and pools dotted around the gardens, Chris had seen a shot on the website that he wanted to recreate, and it turned out really well. He was very lucky that there was no one in the shot considering how busy the gardens were that day!

We also visited Llandudno prom in order to try to begin work on part of the 'movement' brief for my summer work. Watch this space for pictures as they are a work in progress! Talking of pictures, in a recent post I mentioned having bought an old box camera, the Zeiss Ikon, well I went to pick up my first set of prints on Monday, I'm pleased to say that they exposed well even though several were out of focus or over/underexposed. I'm happy that I now have a starting point to improve on my photography.

Being into all things extreme, it came as no surprise to learn Chris did fire poi, and what better excuse to take the camera out again and get some long exposure shots. The fire was vibrant, and I got some really interesting and creative shots. It was spitting a little with rain, and a little cold near the Sychnant Pass, but it was well worth venturing out for!

Lastly, on Tuesday my friends Abbey and Patrick came around to Chris' where we set up the studio in order to do some more portraits of them. They're getting married next year, and are both very relaxed around the camera, it was nice to catch up again so soon after the last time and I hope that they like this set of photos too!

And finally, a huge thank you to Patrick for getting his hands dirty trying to fix my car! And to the wonderful Chris for letting me use his studio kit for the pictures I did of Ashleigh, and of Abbey and Patrick :D
I hope that the remainder of the summer is as memorable as it has been so far!