I was browsing round the internet one day…as you do when I came across a casting call for a remote shoot from Fernnyyfern. She was getting in some last minute shoots before going on maternity leave, to be honest Fern was a model I had never come across before. After looking at her portfolio I was more than eager to work with her.

We had a few tech issues on the day but once we got into the swing of it all we ended up with some cracking images.

Adding a touch of red….

Back to some tones and shadows….

And……back to some red!

Highly recommend Fern to anyone, she was fun to work and despite some tech issues we got a lot done in a short space of time. She is back from maternity leave now so if see her available I suggest you snap up some time with her, you wont be disappointed.

So May comes around and I get a message from Tryst saying she’s in the area and it seems a good opportunity for a shoot. This May tended to be unpredictable for the weather so the studio seemed to be the safest option. Chris Scott’s studio has excellent facilities so we invaded the place and soon got to work.

Mostly a return to ‘dark light’ with a single light source…

And a little mono work……….

Once we warmed up a little Tryst decided she wanted to try the lace blindfold…..

Then the purple robe….

Then the purple cape…..

And finally some three quarter length shots….

Tryst is good fun to work with, chatty and good company, and we got a lot of excellent images. She said she thought about moving from Canada to Glasgow so maybe there will be an opportunity for more shoots, certainly a model for other photographers to look out for, Highly Recommended.

Back in February an opportunity opened up unexpected, Ivory Flame and Cariad Celis had a 2 hour slot free for a remote shoot at Aura Studios the next day and as I was free I snapped up the chance of a duo shoot. The sets included an old vintage style couch, a wicker (I keep thinking wicca!) basket chair and a massive window. With everything set up camera and lighting wise we got to work…..

Then for a change of scene we moved the wicker basket chair into the corner and into the light…

Keeping the chair scene we moved away from the window light…

Quite a lot of editing went into the above images, lots of colour balancing to match the models skin tones, control of the light from the window etc etc …some colour maps and several textures added.

Then with time slipping away very quickly we managed to get to the massive window in the studio…

And so time ran out very quickly in the end but for two hours we got a lot done, and lots of soft scenes and emotional content. Pretty good going considering there was no planning or mood boards etc etc, we just winged it as we went. Obviously when working with professional models they make the shoot a lot easier and more fun. It was my first time working with Cariad and although we didn’t get to chat much she was lovely to work with, Highly Recommended. As for Ivory Flame, I got to work with her again a few months later, she is always a star.

Earlier this year with Covid still an issue and raging through the world I saw an opportunity to work with Arabella on a remote shoot, having seen her previous work I snapped up the chance. I sent her a mood board showing the current project I was working on and she built a lovely set for our shoot.

some mono work…

Some three quarter art nude portraits for a change of scene….

Some material throws….

And finally…even more red, because why not!

So…..time flies by as it usually does and soon the shoot was over. Arabella was lovely to work with, friendly and professional with a well justified reputation for poise and modelling ability. Highly recommended for any photographer looking for a remote shoot or in person.

November in Scotland, usually cold and nasty, wet and yucky. However this time is was warm and fairly dry. On such a day I had a shoot with the ever lovely Keira Lavelle, so we took a chance on a well known and busy location at the Hermitage near Dunkeld. At first I intended to do mainly portrait with portable lighting, however as things turned out circumstances changed and we adapted accordingly. The main river that runs through the Hermitage is the River Braan and we used the rocks and the river as a backdrop..

There were far too members the public to do much more art nude…but we managed to snatch a cheeky couple of images anyway….

By this time the forest was extremely busy so went for some portraits as originally planned..

We did manage to find a very quiet spot for at least 4 minutes before someone unexpectedly happened upon us…

Then onwards to the hermitage itself….a solitary hovel than was allegedly a home for a holy man….a combination of rock and stone structure, dark and moody…

At this point we decided that we had scared the local population enough so we headed back to the car and drove (via the wine shop) to Port Allen reed beds…where we hardly saw a soul….

Sadly we spent far to long there and ended up way over time and by the time we got back it was quite dark indeed. I had promised Keira I’d take her to the local tea/coffee shop..but by the time we got there the shop had closed early due to Covid. A disappointment to be sure but I did post her some tea once I got back to the shop a couple of days later.

And so ended another photographic adventure, perhaps the locals have recovered from our visit!!

So still in the Covid 19 era, summer of 2021 nearly over, lockdowns of some form or other still in place. In fact it was September, still warm and still balmy. Just right for a remote indoor shoot! Elle Jones was someone I had never worked before, of course I had seen and admired her work but never crossed paths. So it was with great delight that I found she had taken up remote shoots, after a few message we worked out a plan!…a grand plan!..kinda like a grand piano but without the piano! And the plan started like this…..

Then we moved on to some three quarter length portrait type thingy ma bobs…

Then with some flower props in art nude….

Then adding some colour and a headpiece….starting off with some red!

…then green…..

Then to completely change things around we did some shots on the window sill, with lovely soft sunlight streaming through some lace to create a dreamy scene….

It was a productive shoot but very relaxed as Elle is lovely to work with, she is friendly and professional, keen and eager to create the desired scene. Highly recommended, and if you get the chance to take her up on a shoot, remote or overwise then I would have no hesitation in encouraging you to do so.

So despite a pandemic and when the rules allowed Artemis came up to Scotland for her usual August tour. And it started off as a warm cloudy day but then heated up into a blistering one. This tied in nicely as we organised a location shoot then a couple of hours in the studio. The location being a short walking distance from my house on the river Tay…

Then a quick scrabble over the scrub to an old horse stable and tool shed…for some textures…

And of course a ripe wheat field just can’t be passed without doing something in it.

And finally a word of warning…..

So a quick dash back to the house then drive off to Chris Scott’s studio for some ..erm… studio work..

Then a slight change of scene but keeping the colour…

A bit of mono….cuz..cuz….I like a bit of mono.

A fun day as always and I left Artemis in the good hands of Chris Scott for a few hours.

Chris runs Chris Scott Photography, a local business that caters for all types of photographic requirements and you can find his details at https://www.chrisscottphotography.co.uk/

Artemis and I had another shoot the next day for a studio event for other photographers, in which she impressed everyone there with her skill, poise and professionalism. Roll on next August for another adventure.

On a hot summers day in July I had a shoot with Rachelle Summers at St Cyrus, with Covid still a major factor I chose a location that was near Rachelle’s route through Scotland. Although it was a four hour shoot I chose to spend all day at St Cyrus shooting wildlife in the morning as it is a RSPB sight of interest. It was a stiflingly hot morning, albeit cloudy and misty, not only that all the wildlife had obviously decided to hunker down and hide. To get to the beach at St Cyrus there is a very steep cliff path downwards from the car park, it is not something to climb back up to at a whim with a heavy camera and a big wildlife lens.

When noon came I trudged up the path to the car park to get ready for the shoot with Rachelle, it’s a killer climb up on a hot day. Lens changed, snacks consumed, camera set for model work…and much water drunk! Not long after Rachelle and Mr Summers arrived and the skies opened up and the sun came out. And once more down the steep path we went, the beach that was empty in the misty morning was now fairly busy with tourists and holiday makers, however we managed to work our way round it….by hiding in the cave….

As the tide was going it very fast we used it to get to some more remote places…

For a change of pace we moved to the beach for a while…..and a change of scene….

We had a quick scout about the rocks to see if we could reach the waterfall to the north, the route was still blocked off by the tide, however we spotted a very small Rachelle sized hollow in the cliff…

While we waited for access to the waterfall we headed back to the main cave, the water had almost gone….the tide was moving fast.

By this time there was a small route to the waterfall, leaving Mr Summers behind to guard some props and clothes, we picked our way over wet rocks to the waterfall.

Time was marching on, as it does with it’s clumpy tactless boots, and we managed to get a few more images on the way back to the steep path….

I suspect this last image was in full view of the car park on the cliff top but Rachelle insisted on doing it, and who am I to let a lady down.

And so the shoot ended with more than a few laughs, rock scrambling, jellyfish, squidgy green things, much sogginess, towel wearing…….and of course all the wildlife came out when I left the big lens in the car!….It was all good though, and another grand adventure was bagged. It was good to see Mr Summers again too.