Monthly Archives: November 2020

One Rainy Day with Nicole Rayner

Nicole Rayner and I had been trying to get a shoot organised for a while but bad timing and the pandemic made things very difficult. Eventually in September we both managed to get a day sorted for a location shoot, the studio had been sold so location was the only option at that time, come hell or high water. As it turns out it was high water really, the morning of the shoot rained like the start of Noah’s flood. Before leaving the house I made a flask of coffee to warm us up on the beach, and then promptly left it behind as I ran out the door.

I picked Nicole up at the train station and headed for snacks before hitting the beach, luckily on the way there the rain eased off a bit and by the time I parked the car the rain had stopped. The clouds were still hanging in there creating a very dramatic scene.

Dance of the Fey – Nicole Rayner
Let the Storm Come – Nicole Rayner
Flight of the Fey – Nicole Rayner
Ascension – Nicole Rayner

We dragged a dress along with us…..just because…

The black Swan – Nicole Rayner

And then Nicole decided to brave the water….

We head off to the forest for a break and warm up a bit…..things were still very soggy and water logged. After wandering around for a bit we came across this scene.

Water Nymph – Nicole Rayner

Heading back the car for a bite to eat and a break, the weather had improved a lot and even the sun threatened to make an appearance. We grabbed a couple of props and head back into the forest for more shots.

Blanket me with Moss – Nicole Rayner
In Moonlight the Wolf will come – Nicole Rayner

The Lure of the Fey – Nicole Rayner

And then lastly we found the second world war lookout post….

Sadly we ran out of time, as every shoot seems to. We needed to head back to get Nicole’s next train, it was a grand day out which started out a bit grim weather wise but in the end the sun came out and it was fabulous in the September sunshine. And of course Nicole is genuinely a lovely person to work with, actually let me change that to; Nicole is a genuinely lovely person, full of ideas and creativity. Much chat and humour was had (but no coffee) and it was great to catch up with our past adventures since our last meeting.

Hopefully we’ll catch up again for another adventure at some point.

Artemis in The Hunt

What a strange year 2020 has turned out to be, and not in a good way. It’s been a year of very few shoots due to the pandemic, but I have managed to do some social distancing locations shoots. These have been bright spots in the year, and one of those bright spots was the yearly shoot with Artemis Fauna. Originally it was supposed to be a studio shoot and studio day for other photographers but at the last minute the studio was sold and all bookings cancelled. Plans were changed and it meant Artemis and I had more time together for a shoot. When the day came it was dark and stormy, but we made the most of it and headed into the forest for some costume themes.

Artemis Fauna
Artemis Fauna

A dark day and a dark forest…..lends to tricky lighting but also some moody looks.

Artemis Fauna
Artemis Fauna

And perhaps a little mythology and mystery – The Summoning Stone

Artemis Fauna

It was a very busy forest lots of dogs and dog walkers, after a bite to eat we headed down to Port Allen reed beds for some art nude.

Artemis Fauna
Artemis Fauna

On the way back we hit some random spots before ending the shoot….

Artemis Fauna

And so ends another adventure…though we did hit the wine shop on the way home, where Artemis had samples of the local wine and chilli jam. It was another fun day with madcaps and unexpectedness, including dog walkers, capes, hairy mouldy poo, puppies, weird eyes, buzzards, dead rabbits, arrows, leather belts, brambles, toadstools, mossy feet, a sacrificial stone, boats, geese, reed beds, mink traps, a stingy arse…or two, and the nettles of surprise.

In other words….the usual!!

EFIAP/d3 – Job done

Following on from last year, I decided to carry on to the next FIAP level. I had 2 years in order to attain 100 awards with 20 different works in 10 different countries, however I gave myself a personal target of achieving this in a year. In the end I met my goal within 10 months, the final tally for this level is:-

116 awards, 51 different images and 19 countries

This is a grand total of 302 awards with 163 different awarded images, 3479 acceptances with 732 different images.

And so ends my FIAP journey, I may do the MFIAP at some point but at the moment it’s not on my horizon. Below are a selection of the images used in this Diamond level, in alphabetical order.

A Tameless Hunger – Rachelle Summers
All that Great Heart lying still – Lulu Lockhart
Angelic Melody – Joceline/Ariel Andersson
Angles of Lilith – Lilith Etch
Anita’s Chair – Anita de Bauch
Artemis Light – Artemis Fauna
Attic Moon Light – Artemis Fauna
Rachelle Summers
Blind Light – Rachelle Summers
Burlesque – Ivory Flame
Captured in Light – Helen Stephens
Cliff Face – Artemis Fauna
Cloud Angels – Artemis Fauna and Chrissie Red
Dark is my Nature – Lulu Lockhart
Delicate Dancer – Ivory Flame
Dryads in Grief – Scarlot Robinson, Keira Lavelle
Flame on Fire – Ivory Flame
Flames and Pearls – Ivory Flame
Flight of the Fey – Nicole Rayner
Gemma’s Robe – Gemma Huh
Heels over Head – Aurora Violet
Jennifer – Jen Somerfield
Just a Touch – Fredau H
Keira la Fey – Keira Lavelle
Life on Hold – Helen Stephens
Lulu’s Mane – Lulu Lockhart
Nimue – Chiara Elisabetta
Old Town Square – Prague
Ragged Shape of Lulu – Lulu Lockhart
Rapture – Tigerbelle
Red Velvet Summers – Rachelle Summers
Rest Calm and Remember Me – Artemis Fauna
Sea Shanty – Rachelle Summers
Slumbering Dragon – Stephanie Dubois
Symmetry of Light – Aurora Violet
Tenderness – Stephanie Dubois
The Beguiler – Keira Lavelle
The Dark Light of Aurora – Aurora Violet
The Red Scorpion – Katy Brankin
The Secret Waterfall – Scarlot Rose and Rachelle Summers
The Shadows of Aurora – Aurora Violet
The Summit – Chiara Elisabetta
The Trail of Tears – Rachelle Summers
Time for one more Daring Dream – Helen Diaz
Time – Anna Johansson
Turn Loose the Heaven Within – Helen Diaz
Watching the World with Sadness – Anita De Bauch
Within Reach – Aurora Violet
Without a Mask – Rachelle Summers

Again, many thanks to all the models I’ve worked with in the past, even if they aren’t shown here they have changed and contributed all the same. Without their support, expertise and skills I would not have been able to achieve this level of photography, every model I have worked with has been a delightful experience with laughter and adventures along the way.