About 3 months ago in September I got a message from a local model, looking to do a shoot. We had a chat and got around to doing a studio shoot on a gothic theme, which was handy as it was getting near Halloween by the time we got to the shoot. Ava brought a few dresses and I had two or three stashed away in the studio. It was a short shoot so we got down to business, I had the lights setup before Ava turned up…it wasn’t long before we got some good images.

A quick change of dresses….

A bit of a break the a change of lights and outfits again….and the old chair!

Time for some portrait type shots, with quick fire outfit changes….

So anyway I had this idea for something a bit more horror like…..but I left it til the end because it was definitely going to ruin her make up. I had a cut throat razor lying about from a previous shoot and a quite a lot of sticky gloopy fake blood. This was gonna get messy…..and it did.

All too soon it was time to ….erm…..clean up! and get the studio back to some sort of decent shape again. It was a fun shoot, albeit sticky! and Ava seemed quite ready to go along with crazy ideas, which is pretty much my normal mode. I highly recommend Ava to other photographers and hopefully we will work with each other again at some point.

August is a bit of a hit or miss weather wise in Scotland, however the day Artemis and I went for a shoot was a lovely summers day. I was still recovering from an injury to my arm due a stupid fall in the garden two weeks earlier. I wasn’t very sure how well I was going to cope with the rough and tumble of a location shoot. Also the first location wasn’t known to me, a new location and an old site on farmland. Anyway after a quick snack we drove off to find this location.

We had no trouble getting there and after asking the farmers wife for permission to shoot, we parked the car and climbed up a hill to some ancient forts and structures. The farmer’s wife warned us of the presence of cows on the hill, they turned out to very curious and really took to Artemis.

The cows seemed desperate to get in on the shooty action any chance they could….

As you can see…..very friendly cows….

At this point I turned round to seem one nibbling at my camera bag, a little shoo-ing away did the trick…..for a little while anyway.

And of course…….

Finally the cows lose interest…..

The light was getting quite contrasty so we decided to move to another location, this time Boddin Lymkilns…..about 30 mins away, enough time for a natter and another snack….or two!

This time the trouble wasn’t with cows but people!…..it was a little busy with folks coming and going, cyclists and tourists n such…but with a little bit of timing and cunning we managed to get some shots in.

The inside the Lymkilns the wind whistled inside like a chimney…..which it was really!

Outside the Lymkilns we used some of the old fishing boats that lay nearby…

After this we drove to Lunan Bay but the combination of the beach being busy with tourists and my arm starting to really complain a lot I called it quits, besides we got a lot of good shots and we can leave the beach til next year. And so ended another Artemis adventure featuring McDonalds happy meals, Farmers dogs, disinterested bulls, very interested cows, old forts, slobbered camera bags, nettles and brambles, limekilns, ruined buildings, pesky fishing boats, wind tunnels, sock chasing, old ruined boats and busy beaches…..just a normal day for us really with lots of fab images.

It had been a long time since I had my first shoot with Roswell, quite a few years. As it happened she embarked on a Scottish tour and was in the area, we arranged a shoot and a few creative themes…and on the day I picked her up from the railway station we were soon chatting and laughing as if the last shoot was only yesterday. Stopping off for coffee and snacks on the way to the studio….as you do, of course, gotta be done!

Without further ado we got down to shooting, most of the costumes and outfits were Rosewell’s ideas, being the highly creative person that she is.

Quite a few costume changes in this shoot, so on with the next one….

and the next….

And another…..

Time for a proper break and snacks…..a completely different look and lighting setup, plus obviously a good old natter while preparing for the next scene…..mostly about riverboats, inappropriate toilets, unwanted bling…and cats!

Another theme change, another natter, another tea….

Then…..lighting, makeup and costume changes for portrait work….

Another lovely shoot with a lovely creative person, highly recommended to all photographers on her next tour in 2020. I loved all her ideas and outfits, she really plays the parts to suit the scenes, very creative and imaginative.

Look out for the next Roswell experience!

Last year Katy and I tried to set up a shoot together unfortunately illness prevented her from coming up to Scotland, however this year we managed it. I picked her up from the train station and we headed out over the river to the studio, picking up snacks on the way….as you do!

Kettle on, lights organised, snacks munched and with a whiz and a bang off we went…

A few glugs of tea and a light change….more shapely shapings of the shape sort…

Then…unusually, some…erm, clothes!…I know but it has to be done now and then! We took these in between much laughter and funny voices

Then finally we took some portraits, we had spent quite a lot of time being exact on the shapes that we nearly ran out of time for portraits….well it might have been that or we were larking about….I refuse to say which it was…(erm larks)

Another fab shoot with a fab model, lots of fun and shenanigans along the way. Katy is lovely to work with, great attitude and professional. Quick to laugh and have fun with whatever pose was asked of her, and she excelled today as some of the poses were very strenuous indeed. She pulled out all the stops and the results show. Highly recommended that everyone have the Katex experience…..find her on Purple Port.

Holy Moly, another 5am start to photographic shenanigans, and the weather was as soggy as a haddocks bathing costume. It was dark and cloudy and the light was terrible, just the kind of challenge I like, it was obvious the cameras were going to struggle in these kinds of conditions. Anyway we all poddled off in the mini bus and headed out to the location, where exactly I don’t know, it was too foggy and dark to follow. By the time we got to the location the sky had brightened from dark to very dim, and once we got set up it started to rain too.

Plans were drawn up as we all had to work quickly, the cold and wet meant the models were going to suffer a bit and the chances of freezing up beyond the point of working were quite high. Once everyone knew what was going on we dived in to get some images. Helen and Keira started off at one location close by.

By the time these were done Scarlot and Rachelle were set up on a distant outcrop. And these dark and moody shots were taken.

Finally for that early morning I spotted a scene and Keira stood in for the last 2 minutes to catch the dense fog amidst the rugged landscape.

It was a challenging shoot, the air quality was bad and the lighting very poor but I have to say I love it like that, it makes for a very moody edgy grainy set of images. You end up shooting the feel of the scene rather than striving for perfect imagery.

Anyhow…back at the hotel a shower and breakfast was very welcome. We had the morning left to shoot before departing in the afternoon. The plan was to shoot on the banks of Loch Assynt and head round by Inverkirkaig for the final location. When we got to the loch we split up and worked one on one, so Helen and I teamed up and found some interesting rocks, trees and scenery. I also managed the odd capture of Scarlot and Rachelle. Fortunately the clouds parted and the sun came out…turned out to be a nice day.

After this was a quick journey through Lochinver and around near Inverkirkaig where we all managed to squeeze into a very small car park and climb over a hill to reach the plateau that looked over Cul Mor. The scenery was quite majestic, rugged and wild.

And lastly before heading for a well earned lunch at Ullapool…

The road to Ullapool from here had changed a lot over the years, when I first went over it on my old Triumph Bonneville about 20 years ago it really was an ordeal. At that time the road had grass growing up the middle and had no verge, just a sudden drop or a cliff face. It was dubbed the ‘Road to Hell’ at the time. We got to Ullapool and paid a visit to one of the best fish n chips restaurants ever. There was a short hunt looking for replacement wellies for Keira, hers had given up the ghost during the weekend. Then after a fond farewell to everyone I jumped in the car and headed home. It was great to meet old friends and make new ones, and so the Adventure ended, quite a weekend, great fun and highly productive.

‘Art Nude in the Landscape’ Workshops are run by Photoclassic/Howard Kennedy, you can find more details at http://www.photoclassic.co.uk

They run well organised workshops throughout the year and I highly recommend checking them out. Howard works with top class models and all are professional and experienced, and I highly recommend them to beginners and experienced photographers alike.

Breakfast at the Inchnadamph Hotel was a real feast after the breezy early morning shoot, I did intend to stink the place out with a plate of kippers but I was swayed by the thought of bacon, sausage and egg. After a hearty feed with copious amounts of coffee we all headed out to the Bone Caves, the weather had warmed up a little but the sky looked ominously gloomy and stormy. The Bone Caves are a good walking distance from the car park and well worth going to see even if you aren’t shooting, our first stop on the way there was lovely waterfall and pool.

Further up the track there was an old tree that looked ideal for a shoot, however on closer inspection the tree was just too old and fragile for doing much with, sadly it had seen better days and was simply too dangerous to climb etc….however the fallen branches looked interesting.

It was a bit of a climb to the caves as they are halfway up the mountainside and cliff face, the caves were fabulous but so was the cliff face outside of them.

Just inside one of the caves…shapes happened!

And inside one of the larger caves I decide to shoot outwards, the lighting was trickier and I ended up using the built-in camera flash for a little fill on occasion.

Meanwhile back on the cliff face, Keira decides to go climbing!

Although it’s a great place for a shoot, it’s also a popular place for the general public. We had limited time there but fortunately we all got more than enough shots out of the location. And we meandered back down the track stopping off at places we had seen on the way up.

Once we got back we cleaned up, relaxed and headed for dinner. Afterwards there was an image review which was fun, a bit of social time and banter before calling it a night, It was another early start again in the morning. I will leave that for the next blog in part 3.

‘Art Nude in the Landscape’ Workshops are run by Photoclassic/Howard Kennedy, you can find more details at http://www.photoclassic.co.uk

They run well organised workshops throughout the year and I highly recommend checking them out.