I managed to attain the distinction of PFIAP recently, it is a new FIAP level called Portfolio-FIAP (PFIAP for short). My particular submitted work was a selection of studio colour nude images using just a single light to create drama and contrast. All very well I hear you say but what is actually involved in this new distinction!
Well the PFIAP levels require a selection of 10 top images on a theme and in context within a given intent. Ideally you state the intention and theme in a statement that corresponds to the images. ie Landscapes with waterfalls, portraits of army veterans, wildlife of the desert etc etc The images must work together and cannot be random without cohesion. The levels start at PFIAP then PFIAPb (bronze) PFIAPs (Silver) and so on, however they get more difficult as you go on, for the bronze level you need to produce two different portfolios…the themes cannot be similar to themes used before. As such I cannot use ‘colour nudes’ as a theme for any other PFIAP levels. These levels were just introduced this year and I reckon I was one of the first if not the actual first to apply.
The application and cut off date was set for 15 Jan 26, so in December I assembled the portfolio I was going to use and waited for the 15th Jan, when a web page would be available to upload to. Jan 14th saw no web page online…..15 Jan morning saw no webpage online! This did not bode well….later in the day though I saw a blank web page…5 mins later a header appeared!…15 mins later a home page appeared!…they were actually building the webpage on the day! So I sat there waiting for the upload page to appear, and eventually it did…..but no place to type theme and intent. 10 Mins later a small text section appeared so I uploaded the images successfully only to find out that the text section had only enough room for 35 characters, so I typed in what I could and left it at that and paid my fee. I thought this isn’t going to go through, I had very little hope of anyone actually seeing the portfolio as I believed everything would fall into a black hole of the internet. However it seems it went through ok and the images were good enough to gain the distinction of PFIAP….will I do the bronze level?…as sure as photographers forget to take the lens cap off I will. I can’t apply until next Jan 15 2027 though.

A Flame to the Light – Ivory Flame

Frizzy Top – Lorelei

Passion of the Flame – Ivory Flame

Red on the Ottoman – Chrissie Red

Shadows of Grief – Helen Stephens

The Brankin Contemplation – Katyb

When the Mind Slips – Aurora Violet

The Pheonix Complex – Rose M Child

The Reluctant Witch – Helen Diaz

The Stool – Amber Castle

Many Thanks to all the models I’ve worked with in the past, not just the ones shown here.

Another remote shoot with Carla, hopefully soon I can get round to doing a 1 to 1 shoot in a nearby studio….time will tell. Adrian was there to adjust lights and the camera height, always handy and a welcome chat whilst Carla changes outfits.

A quick outfit change….

Another change…..

Another outfit change….

Yet another shoot that goes past too quickly, good fun though, and nice to see Carla and Adrian again. If you see Carla’s remote shoot’s on Facebook or PP then do yourself a favour and make a booking, highly recommended.

I saw a post of Facebook by Carla suggesting a Bardot inspired shoot, sounds good to me so I booked an hour. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect but I knew Carla would have it all sorted. She never fails with various outfits and themes…so let’s get started…

Fluffy stuff….

Dem stripes!

Flying the flag!….

More stripes..

Portraits in mono to finish with….

Another great remote shoot, thanks to Adrian for doing the behind the scenes stuff and setting up the set. Carla does regular remote shoots, check her Facebook or Purple Port account for the next remote shoot….do yourself a favour and get a booking!

Another remote shoot with Ivory Flame because it’s always fun and productive with fantastic images, also she described the idea to me and I loved the theme immediately. The set looked versatile, you can make it spooky or light, it’s open to adding textures and other elements (which I did). A lot of work went into this set….she has very creative skills.

Once armed with a cuppa tea…..we made a start.

The feathered collar….

A change of outfit….

And then some nude work with materials….

Ivory Flame is always a pleasure to work with and always creates some gorgeous sets like this one, if you haven’t worked with her before then try booking her next remote shoot. You’ll be amazed!

Just after the new year, Ivory Flame pinged me a message saying would I be interested in an underwater shoot at Tankspace, well this one a new one to me so I jumped at the chance. It was with Ashleigh and Ivory, individually and as a duo, Halo Haynes was on hand to help with direction and remote stuff, this was very helpful as when the model is underwater no directions are possible, Halo was able to convey the requirements, many thanks Halo.

As this was my first tankspace Halo suggested taking lots of images per ‘dunking’, in the end I don’t think I took enough per submersion. Next time I’ll be rattling that shutter speed off.

First off Ashleigh took to the tank with a lovely floaty dress….

And on to duo work with ivory Flame….

And for solo work with Ivory Flame…

And a change of coloured lights and outfit…

This was good fun and quite tricky, and I admit I was hampered by a migraine so my directions to Halo were not the most incoherent, but she manage to pull it all together. Many thanks to Ashleigh and Ivory for the innumerable dunkings and of course to Halo for the guidance.

As mention in previous posts I was due for cancer removal surgery and I had booked a remote shoot with Carla before my surgery date. As in turns out the shoot was three day after I got out of hospital but I was determine to carry on, however I must admit I struggled a bit with communication and concentration, as such I didn’t do as much direction as I usually do. Carla and Adrian did a great job with guiding the shoot through as I faltered a bit with ideas. I loved the gothic idea and always loved the gothic look in general so I was well chuffed with the results.

a slight costume change…..

And for a bigger change in looks and costume….

All we need now is a light snack from a warm blooded innocent victim ……

Thanks to Carla and Adrian for spooky fun shoot….Carla does regular remote shoots, look out for them, Carla and Adrian make remote shooting easy. Highly recommended.

Artemis in August on her usual yearly tour of Scotland, the weather was pretty poor so I took advantage of my parents old home to set up a make shift studio. The house had been sold and this was my last chance to use it. I do miss working in the studio as there are still a few lighting techniques I still need to master, one needs to keep up the skills, use ’em or lose ’em kinda thing. This would also be my last chance to shoot for a long time on a one on one basis, I had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was due for surgery and a long recovery period. So for further shoots I would need to rely on remote shoots…..which is still good, I like remote shoots.

The next morning I picked up another photographer at Dundee and drove to meet Artemis at St Cyrus, the plan was to drop off the photographer then head out to do some wildlife shots, however I did manage to grab a few shots of Artemis on the rocky beach there.

Adding some material….

Then floor work…..

Then some natural light…

Some lingerie in natural light….

Then back to studio lighting for a costume change….

Then some images on the next day at St Cyrus…….

It’s always a great time shooting with Artemis and in this shoot I concentrated mostly on monochrome editing, especially using the studio lighting to create light and shadow area for body definition.

Anyway roll on next year for another shoot.

A remote shoot popped up on my radar, needless to say I snapped up the opportunity to shoot. The theme was peaches and curls with a luscious set with lots of materials and props that can be used.

Ivory Flame always puts a lot of creative work into her remote shoots, and its always an absolute delight

And a quick outfit change….

And another change of outfit…

…and a small colour change…

Time to move the camera and use a mirror for some more unusual shots….

It always seems that time runs out far too soon, especially when you are having fun. If you can grab a remote shoot with Ivory Flame then I suggest you snap it up as soon as you can. One of the top models in the UK and an all-round lovely person to work with.

Chiara Elisabetta had another remote shoot on offer, obviously I jumped at the chance. There was various sets available. Once we got set up we got to work quickly with tons of quality images. Every shot a stunner when you are working with a top model, lots of fun and banter throughout the shoot.

The sets were created by Smanda

The first garden/forest scene…..

Then a change of set…..a moonlit a scene…..

And another change of scene….

Another fabulous remote shoot with Chiara, lovely set up too…..

hopefully more in the future.