Think bike!

I love to shot people - they are my favourite subject by far but it is a good idea to vary your photography if you want to remain creative.

I spotted this location when I was on a ride last week and decided to combine a great location with an opportunity to shoot something different to my normal portraits.

I wanted to create an image useable in a mountain bike ad - with the idea of taking a mountain bike and putting it in a very concrete environment.  I used my Lencarta lightning gear to pick out the bike from the front and to light it from the rear and they worked beautifully.  In hindsight I might have bought a third light to help pick out the saddle but that's for another time.

Saddle up ;-)

pete

Zombie slayer delayed in traffic

Today's shoot with model and artist Liz Sterry almost never happened.

Liz, Charli Bignall  (make up artist), Emma (set designer) and Peter (lightning assistant) and myself headed off for a derelict location we had heard of but with only 2 miles left to go, got caught in crushing traffic.  We were on a tight time frame and having lost an hour and a half it made for a frantic shoot.

Despite all that nonsense we set up in super fast time and Liz switched into zombie slayer mode.  The new lights I use, Lencarta Li-on, worked brilliantly and helped turn daytime darker to add drama.

The end of the world was almost the result of bad traffic.  Who would have thought it?

pete

Smoke 'em if you got 'em

Preparation for a photoshoot is pretty important stuff and, for the shoot below, I was a proper boy scout, even down to the smoke pellets.

I'd had the idea for this shoot for some time now and it came together when I met Laura at a recent studio fashion photoshoot in Essex.

For this particular image I knew I wanted smoke in the background to create mystery and to add visual interest and so I'd purchased some of these smoke pellets.  They are actually used to check if a chimney is clear (you light them, you see smoke out of your chimney, you know your chimney is clear).  I bought a few ;-)

Charli, our make up artist for the shoot, hid around the corner and lit the pellets and then in was a case of letting the smoke and the wind do their thing.  I wanted a pose that kept Laura within the door frame and so she adopted a strong but compressed pose.  I think the smoke really helped her stand out.

Smoking can be good for you.

pete

Dedication is what you need

For a model to succeed there are a number of elements but none is more important, in my opinion than dedication.

So despite the horrible weather conditions Laura made it over to my place for a simple but very elegant beauty shoot.  These kind of shoots are simple on lighting but really stretch a models focus and concentration and ability to project emotion.

Laura, despite being new to modelling, has all of the above in bucket loads and the shoot was a great success.  I'm looking forward to working with her again when we can hopefully get outside.

Roll on the spring.

pete

Weapon of mass distraction

Tanya is, well, Tanya.  She's provocative, confident, sassy and hilarious to work with.

I had the pleasure to work with Tanya sometime ago and the results ended up on the cover of Tattoos Only magazine and I have a lot to thank her for in that respect.  The first cover shot for any photographer is a pretty magical moment.

It was great to catch up with her again at the shoot at the Dieselpunk Studios and try to add to her growing portfolio with some different looking shots.  To do this I used a bit of kit called a ringflash which creates a very unique look.

A shoot is never anything but a distraction when Tanya is involved.

pete