A long long time ago (last September) in a galaxy far far away (my house!) …….

Helen Diaz and I got together for a shooty type thingymabob, she turned up at my house and we had a chat and a cup of green tea before heading off to do dark deeds in a very dark place in the dark side of the Tay Road Bridge (Fife).

Keeping with the dark side theme I’ve selected mostly B&W. Helen has a fab look and lovely black hair and I wanted to use that against the black of the studio, that subtle blend when the hair just about melds into the background. Anyways of we went with some classic nudes first.

Oh look its that raggedy thing again…..it lights up well in the dark!

Helen Diaz

After many cups of tea and chats about darkly things we did portraits using clam lighting.

Bloody hell!!….a colour one!…how did that get there?!??

What a fun mad day with jokes and japes and many a pulled face. Helen is great to work with and has such a distinctive look, very much fun and a joy to experiment in the studio with. Sadly the day went too fast as it always does. Highly recommended to anyone, and hopefully she’ll be back here again for some more darkly deeds and green tea!

Chrissie and I decided to go out on one of our jaunts again, I had been using Google earth to find abandoned buildings and such and came across a building in the middle of the forest. It was somewhere near Comrie and a bit of a clamber to get to it, however by the time we got there the forest had pretty much taken it over and shooting there would be dangerous and very limited….

Spot the Chrissie…..

So after all that fighting through the forest we headed to the Famous Grouse Distillery for food, they have a great restaurant there and its become one of our regular places to go to in that area. But on the way in we came across two very special kittens, their names were Glen and Turret. They are successors to Hamish the old distillery mouser and guardian who sadly died not long ago. the kittens were fab and full of beans. Camera pics

After lunch we went up the single track Glen Turret road to Loch Turret, it was empty of people and quite a warm still day there, normally its a hollowing gale. Anyway we found a good scene to set up right next to the path.

Chrissie Red

It was a very picturesque scene but we didn’t have long to spend so we headed back again when other people started to arrive. On the way back we were held up at ‘horn point’ by errant highland cows!!!……who refused to budge!! Chrissie grabs my camera for these shots.

Also this is first time I’ve every seen a blonde highland coo…

Yet another fun adventure out into the wilds of Scotland, something always happens when we go out on a looksee….oh I never mentioned the naked wasp dance, ah well some other time 😉

Stay tuned for the next Chrissie and John adventure…..

By now I’m really starting to get into dark images….I like to call it Dark Light, just because its nonsense and I like nonsense (who would have guessed!) However today I started off with something a lot brighter. Mainly because I had already worked with Lulu and dark light before, and change is a good thing….especially socks, tis always good to change socks and other things before they whiff.

And with a big whiz bang flash of we go!.

Lulu Lockhart

Then we add something raggedy and a pendant……

Ooppps…dark light ..how did that get there?!?!?!…

Then back to basics……

Lulu Lockhart

Lulu Lockhart

Then on to portraits and playing around with textures in PP…

Lulu Lockhart

Lulu Lockhart

Then a final dark light in an arty farty emotive kinda way ……….

Afterwards we went for lunch at the nearby cafe, the original idea was to do a couple of hours in the studio then take a meander along the Fife coast until we get to the airport for Lulu’s plane. However at the cafe I realised I had lost my house key, so after lunch I had to drive to Allison’s work at 2 to pick up her key…on the assumption that I would still get back home before her. (you can sense where this is going)

By the time we did all this it was getting a bit tight for doing the coast route and getting the plane but we made a bold stab at it…we headed for Lady’s Tower at Ellie. Even by the time we got there we would only have 15 mins of shooting time, we didn’t even get that. Lady’s Tower was full of sightseers so we turned tail and headed back to the car. The traffic on the way to the airport was horrific, slow and congested. We did make though but with not much time to spare. The trip back was worse, it took over an hour to get from the airport to the north side of the Forth Bridge, and for no apparent reason. And this meant another hours trip home from there meaning that Allison would be left locked out when she got back…..oh dear it’s turned out to be another McNairn ‘adventure’. All in all we got there in the end and the day was fun and ‘eventful’.

Lulu was as fantastic as she always is, always delivers and is fun and professional to work with. A lovely driving companion to have as a passenger and modelling wise…well, the results speak volumes really.

Back in July of last year I managed to organise  a studio shoot with Faith Obae, I had seen her work before and a few shooty ideas started to present themselves in my head, as they do!

Firstly I went on the hunt for some red material that I planned to somehow attach to the studio, and with a stroke of luck I ended up in Hobbycraft and managed to get some red velvet at a silly price, and by that I mean seriously cheap. So after picking Faith up at the train station we headed off to the studio and quickly got under way….after a cuppa of course!

Faith Obae

There were endless possibilities for the red velvet but we moved on. A few simple nudes next.

And of course…..The Chair!

Then a few portraits, something I need to do more of I think……

We changed the backdrop, which is always a ‘challenge’ and changed the feel and theme of the shoot.

What a terrific shoot!…needless to say Faith was fabulous, very pleasant company and does a great job. I’d highly recommend her to anyone and everyone.

Yes its true we do have a summer in Scotland albeit a very short one, and on a very warm day Chrissie and I had access to a lovely house in Bridge of Cally, just outside of Blairgowrie. And as usual with our shoots something odd usually happens, and this day was no exception. Inside one of the main rooms we found a bat, it was tired and starving, it lay on the floor dormant and lethargic. How it got there we dont really know but it had obviously got in somehow and failed to find its way back out. We ended up putting it outside on the rafters of an outhouse with the hope that it would find some food and survive. It was all very odd.

Anyway we started off our shoot using the stables and quickly got down to taking some shots.

It was about this point that Chrissie noticed there was a small wasps nest in the stables and flew out shrieking like a banshee, I removed the nest and we headed into the wood shed for a bit to let the wasps settle down…..

Once the wasps disappeared we headed back into the stables….

I still dont think she was convinced the wasps were gone so we shot at the door in case a quick getaway was needed….

Chrissie Red

After a quick cuppa tea we shot some images on the patio decking, the garden was lush and green.

The sun lovely but getting a  bit too contrasty for images so we headed into the ‘bat’ room!

It was a lovely room full of light and very warm wood colours.

It was a lovely day in a lovely place, rescuing bats, battling wasps, drinking tea and watching the birds. Chrissie was as stunning as ever, she never fails to impress or deliver, though she did freak out at the bat though!!……I have to admit that was funny!

Photography – John McNairn

Model – Rachelle Summers

Music – written and performed by John McNairn

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On my second day out with Francisca de Silva we had arranged to shoot Chrissie Red for a beach escapade. Rory dropped Chrissie off at my house and we headed off to get Francisca at her hotel, 30 mins later we arrived at the beach on a very drab looking day, no blue skies, slightly misty but a bit warmer than the day before despite the lack of sunshine. Anyway without further ado we got down to some image taking at a washed up log.

We headed over to the dunes for some shelter and a little bit of colour…..

A quick cuppa tea then we walked out into the forest, however by this time the area was getting a bit busier…

By the time we had finished shooting in the forest the beach area was too busy to do any nude photography so I suggested we head over to Morton Lochs, which is only a 10 mins drive. That too was busy but 20 mins later everyone seemed to vanish and we got a loch side area to ourselves….though you cant actually see the loch for the reeds…

Next was a short hop over to Kirkton Barns to an old mausoleum and church ruin….

Chrissie Red

Too quickly the day ended but we did have a good time….and a lot of exercise!

The next day Chrissie and Amber got Francisca to themselves and had further adventures, sadly I couldn’t make it…..work beckoned with its skeleton like finger and I missed out.

Anyway, a lovely day out and a bit of a romp 🙂

Some time  in May I got a message from Chrissie saying she had recommended me to a new model wishing to try some art nude in the studio. And sure enough I received a message from Albi saying she would like to organize a shoot, so the studio was duly booked. It was heartening to see that Albi had taken some advice on the subject regarding safety, she had checked out references and brought along her boyfriend as a chaperone  (always welcome as far as I’m concerned). She was a little nervous at first but soon warmed up as we got stuck into getting some images. Some simple poses first….

Then onto using some materials and playing around with poses…

After a quick break and a cuppa we checked to see if her boyfriend was still alive, he had fallen asleep on the sofa and slept through most of the shoot. We poked him, he moaned, so we reckon he was still alive, we moved on to some floor work.

This image below won a PSA Honourable Mention In MNE International Circuit 2015

Once we had some images we got down to experimenting a bit….

As usual time runs out all too quickly but we did get a fair amount done, I think Albi has a future in the art nude world if she chooses, she grasped the idea of the genre fairly quickly and seemed confident by the end of the shoot. She took directions easily and wasn’t scared to experiment, very much a team player in that respect.

At the moment Albi is working on an exciting and different career path, and all power to her for that. She would certainly be a model to watch out for if she dips her toes back into art nude modelling.

Back in March of this year, Chrissie and I went for a little scout about a new location just at the back of Dunkeld. It was a bit strange to get to as it wasn’t sign posted and the entrance to the car park looked like the entrance to someone’s driveway or garden. After a while of walking we had spotted a few places that we could go back to for a shoot, also we got lost as the path way had lost a marker and we ended up walking 7 miles through mud and gutters instead of 3. By the time we got back to the car we were a bit bedraggled and more than a tad hungry!

However in May we went back for a shoot, by this time spring leaves were out and the grass was beginning to get some life back, everything looked fresh and bursting with life. The trouble and bonus with Scotland is that it has a very wild unpredictable character and the landscape changes so quickly depending on the weather. This is why its important to scout out locations first then judge which season would suit best.

The forest on one side of a loch had been cleared, leaving a rocky outcrop amidst the detritus of old branches and trees. It was a bit of a grey day when we started out.

Chrissie Red

Further up the road there is a millers dam (no sign of the mill, probably long gone) , it would seem quite popular with fishing boats, but most were still stowed away. On an old jetty we snagged a few images whilst no-one was about.

And down from the dam is a small river and bridge…..

And the sun starts to come out, things brighten up a bit

However by this point we were getting a lot of walkers passing by so we decided to move on and try the path we should taken the last time we were there. However by the time we got to a fantastic section of it the sun came out and the area being too contrasty to work with, but we did get a few images bagged…under a cliff face.

By the time we got back the sun was lovely for May…..and was just time for lunch at the cafe in Dunkeld.

Another grand day out and adventure!

I had met Donna a couple of times at the Scottish Creative Network social nights and we eventually got round to shooting together in the studio. I picked her and her massive suitcase up and off we sped to the studio, having a good ole chuckle on the way. We get in the studio and have a nosey at all the fab outfits Donna brought, we decide on just a waistcoat to start off with. The idea was to keep everything very dark and moody……and B&W.

And out of the huge suitcase we use a small feather pendant…….mostly!

Then we dig out a fluffy coat……but I mean why wear it when you can sit on it?!

I also love this one….because the face is hidden it adds a little mystery.

Then we do some sheer material…..

In the end we hardly used much at all from the massive amount of stuff in the suitcase, but then Donna has such a great figure and flair for nude work it seemed appropriate to do without. I’m determined to use the outfits the next time though……or am I. We’ll just have to wait and see,  Donna was a hoot to work with, relaxed and friendly with a slight hint of  mischief and a wicked look. I hope she does more nude work with other photographers as she has such a strong look for this genre….so watch out for her if she pops up in your area.

My ‘work with again’ list grows.