Studio portraiture at the RPS

At the start of 2020, I set myself a challenge which was to learn the intricacies of studio equipment and lighting. My intention was to take considered personal images, by posing and lighting my subjects to produce a beautiful portrait worthy of that individual.

To learn more on the subject, I did spend a day with Simon Ellingworth at The Royal Photographic Society last year and these images are some of the good people that were studying the genre with me on the day. I can remember that I thoroughly enjoyed the contact with similarly enthused Photographers and the exchange of ideas, encouragement and skills swapping. Simon and the RPS organised the day superbly.

It will be quite a journey from landscape to intentional portraiture and of course 2020 has denied us all the opportunity to interact with people as much as we care to do. As we enter the next phase of the COVID-19 journey, I hope that my cohort are all well and finding opportunities to practice the studio-based skills learned last year, perhaps coaxing family members to sit for them. That will have to suffice I guess, for the time being.

My Girl

I recently posted on social media the photograph of Darcey celebrating VE Day at the beginning of this month.  Darcey is a Cocker Spaniel, the Show type, who was born at the end of January. She came to us at just 7 weeks old, on 21st March. She was absolutely tiny, but with the biggest heart.  We were astounded at how brave and confident she was from the start. She instantly put all her trust in us and just ‘cracked on’ with the job of settling in and, yes, training us to know all her preferences and predilections.

We lost our lovely Spaniel, Missy, 2 years ago and our new girl had the largest pawprints to walk in. It’s fair to say, we have lost our hearts.

A word to all my photobuddies and colleagues in the events photography business. If you ever thought that catching that all-important image of a bride moving down the aisle was challenging, try photographing an 8 weeks old puppy flying around the garden like an Exocet missile!

This selection of photos were taken in the fortnight when Darcey was between 8 and 10 weeks old. I hope that you will forgive and indulge my posts featuring Darcey but I have such a precious collection of images that show her growing up, and who doesn’t love a puppy photo anyway?

Welcome Ragnar

A strange, but probably predictable, outcome of the lockdown this year has been the huge interest in bringing a new pet into the home.  This period of ‘staying at home’ is seen as a great opportunity to settle in a puppy, as many of us have more time to commit to caring for a young animal. There is time for the training, patience and to heal the bitten fingers that seem to come with integrating a new canine member into the family. More importantly, there is time to make a strong bond with our new furry companions.

This is Ragnar at 7 weeks old who was born at the peak of the pandemic in the UK. He is blissfully unaware of course and is a confident and happy Labrador puppy who happens to be unbelievably photogenic, not to mention soooo cute.

Socialisation is one of the most important things we can do for our puppies to help them to become friendly and outgoing. It’s all about giving them lots of positive new experiences, especially in their first few weeks of life. During the current Coronavirus pandemic, this is going to be more difficult to do. But hopefully, the social distancing restrictions will continue to ease over the coming weeks and Ragnar can start to enjoy meeting all the other beloved pets that we British seem so predisposed toward.

Ragnar belongs to my Stepson Oliver and his Partner Lauren. It was serendipity that Ragnar should arrive just a few weeks after my own puppy, Darcey, came home to live with us at the end of January. It’s been a joy to photograph both of the puppies over the past few weeks and I am really looking forward to sharing some images of Darcey with you soon. Eventually we’ll get the little ones together and I’ll put up some ‘play date’ photos too.

Ceased Trading

The Spring of 2020 will long be remembered as a period of containment and abject sadness.  We will live for the day when we can return to our pursuits, with friends, family and the other photography enthusiasts we rely on to share our creative aspirations and to grow our practice.  Due to social distancing, I have had to resort, as many others have, to find inspiration for new images within a few minutes’ walk from my home.

At the end of the lane next to our cottage there was a Workshop for classic and collectable cars.  At some time it must have been raised to the ground in a fire – local lore suggests that it may have even been set alight deliberately.  The result is a twisted and charred skeleton of a garage with some burned out cars and ephemera, now open to the elements.

As most Photographers will know, there is a certain pace we walk at – always assessing vistas, light, form and texture.  Finding unique, beautiful and eye-catching textures is hard but if you start looking you will start noticing them a lot more. Eventually you will start encountering textures that are more unique and beautiful than others. You will soon get a feel of what is going to look good in a photograph, what is aesthetically pleasing, makes the viewer more curious or sparks a narrative. It was the contrast of the oranges and blues, from the rusted metalwork and the evidence of the heat from the blaze, in these images that drew me in. Then I started looking for compositions and the story started to unfold.

I found it bizarre that while buildings and vehicles have been destroyed, a shoe, some furniture and a piece of artwork have survived intact. Why has no-one returned to claim the shoe, perhaps the sitter or the artist? On reflection, I can see the influence of Alec Soth in these images and interestingly his latest exhibition is entitled “Photography is a Language”, perhaps a language with more questions than answers.

I took the colour photographs on a Fuji XT-2 with a kit lens (18-55mm) and the mono images below with my iPhone 6. Is there enough potential here to return with my DSLR and a tripod, to take a closer look?

In these challenging times, I hope that all my photo buddies will stay safe, be happy to look for new images very close to home or maybe organise those hard-drives full of great images some of us never get the time to look at! I hope that the memories of those wonderful landscape forays, city breaks, holidays and family events, will sustain you – we should never take anything for granted again.

Fiona & Ted

My Partner, Ros, has asked me to share with you some photographs I took last month of her best friend Fiona, who recently became a Grandmother.

I remember the lovely day we spent with four generations of Fiona’s family in Stourbridge. We quickly set up impromptu lighting and tried to grab shots between verses of “the wheels on the bus” and other CBeebies distractions.

Ros and I have now witnessed several of our friends transition into Grandparents, and become consumed by love and fascination for their Grandchildren. These alloparents are the ones sharing secrets (the way my own Grandmother ‘whispered’ to me), playing make believe, becoming magicians, shouting the loudest at sports days and taking many photographs, so eager to share.

“I’ve found through you my magic heart - the kinder, gentler, patient part.” Teri Harrison

Ted was quite definitely the star of the show.

The above images were taken on a full frame Canon 5d Mk IV with a Canon 85mm 1.4 L Lens and a Canon 35mm 1.4 L lens. This shoot took place in Fiona’s home, in a space which had restricted available ambient light, with recesses creating deep shadows. I set up two stands with fluorescent lamps, to give a constant light source. To supplement the fluorescent lamps, I used an on-camera speed light with a soft diffuser - this provided a fill light.

Welcome to the delights and challenges of photography Ted!

It’s all about tradition and nostalgia

When I headed out recently to visit my local heritage railway, the weather conditions had been specifically chosen to produce the images I had previsualised for this location. The black and white images needed to have an integrity to match the commitment and passion of the volunteers who take such pride in maintaining the stations, engines and ephemera.

The Great Central Main Line runs between Loughborough and Leicester North, passing through the preserved station at Quorn and Woodhouse. Heritage railways bring big environmental benefits through the green corridors that they provide, with their own flora and fauna. They unite people from a wide range of backgrounds and a wide geographical area, supporting social cohesion.

The warm and fuzzy feeling preserved railway enthusiasts get – is that because the British invented them? Or that children know Thomas and Percy better than their own parents? Or that peaked caps, billowing steam and The Railway Children bring a strange quiver to grown men's hearts? Whatever the reason, there's something about the British and their steam railway heritage that only a ride down the line can start to explain.

“Trainspotting has always been a democracy, embracing all men, from right scruffs to Right Honourables.”  Platform Souls by Nicholas Whittaker, 1995

The above images were taken on a full frame Canon 5d Mk IV with a Canon 24-70mm L lens and a Canon 70-200mm L lens.