May in Scotland can be very unpredictable weather wise. It can range from hot to snow, however the day I booked Tigerbelle for a location shoot was distinctly grey and cool, both of us had wrapped up in warm clothes just in case. I picked Tigerbelle up from Montrose station and we headed of to St Cyrus beach, it was a handy location as we were restrained by time and had to return to the station for a specific train. Anyway we parked the car on the cliff top and worked our way down to the beach, first making for the derelict buildings whilst the beach was quiet and free from dog walkers.

We had a quick scout about and jumped straight into things with images from a ‘newly’ opened building.

Moving on from there to the next building, we climbed into the attic I had used before but this time I took some outfits to use. Though nude always works well there because of the light through the skylight window.

So on with the outfits, which being white were extremely tricky under the lighting conditions….

Time for a quick break whilst speaking to a dog walker, who was actually one of the rangers in this nature reserve. The hope is that in the future these buildings will be restored and used as a natural history museum.

The downstairs area for a brighter themed scene, again though, difficult lighting for camera work.

At St Cyrus there are plenty of rock formations that would be ideal to use for nude work, however by the time we finished the derelict building the area was beginning to be busy with dog walkers. So we headed straight to the waterfall to take a few scenes there. On the way we tucked into the cave whilst there was no one about….

Eventually after dodging the public we get a few shots at the waterfall…

Then lastly we had a few attempts at poses at rock formations but the weather was closing in and both of us were starting to get chilly. At this point I decide it was a good idea to throw Tigerbelle into the sea, well it was cold and damp anyways……why not get colder and wetter! It was way too cold for lots of shots but we did get a few.

Sadly we had run out of time and we made the slow torturous climb back up the cliff. It was a grand day out all in all, and it is always a treat to work with Tigerbelle and have a general chinwag with a few chuckles thrown in.

Late April I had a studio shoot with a model I had never worked with before, her name was Lorelai and hailed from St Petersburg, i picked her up at her B&B which was 5 mins from the studio. It was a lovely warm day and I did consider whether a beach shoot would have been better but I had already booked the studio. Anyways, the usual routine….kettle on whilst Lorelai applies  make up, a quick brew then on with the show!

Starting with some body shapes

Another brew and a light change….

Then some textures ….. starting with the Artemis Lace.

Then some other bits n bobs……

Then we tried an experimental theme, not shown here, and finally a change of lights and ideas.

So for the first time working together I think we kind of gelled and produced some good images. Lorelai was always open to ideas and interpreted them superbly, a highly recommended model. She’s on Purple Port, go check her out, you wont be disappointed.

So April rolls along, strangely enough right after March…how consistent! And Helen Stephens comes for a visit after her workshop weekend with Photoclassic and two other models, Keira Lavelle and Sophia Blake. So we end up in the studio and I’m still pretty excited about the pearl skirt, needless to say we used it.

An interesting feature for the day was that the smoke alarm was erm…alarming. A massive ladder was brought in to sort it out….I was seen using a screwdriver!!

Anyway we bash on with some nude shapes to start of with, using an overhead light set up.

 

Pretty sure we had tea and snacks  to give Helen’s muscles a rest, it may not seem like it but nude shapes can be quite arduous and very tiring. The kettle went on, a few chinwags took place, then we continued with the pearl skirt.

 

……………with the sofa!

So keeping with the sofa, we changed outfits….One of the best things about working with great models is that they are excellent at using props and various outfits. Earlier in the year I went to a vintage clothes sale and bought some dresses and other stuff for silly money. I managed to get a designer dress for £15, it’s lovely shade of purple but strangely these images here worked out best as mono.

 

Moving on for a quick change of seating and outfits….

 

Then finally for some portraits, the lace was from Artemis and the red jacket was from the vintage clothes fare.

 

It’s always the same……too many ideas, never enough time.  Nevertheless it was highly productive; with so many good images it’s always a dilemma when you have to shortlist them for editing.

So back home for Vegan haggis, neeps and tatties. A very fun day as always with Helen.

If you haven’t had a shoot with Helen yet then you are missing out on something special. Highly recommended to anyone and everyone…however….brings snacks 😉

 

Well by the time I had got to this shoot I hadn’t actually shot in the studio for nearly 6 months, mainly due to financial reasons. However it was a delight to get to work with Keira again, always good fun working with this lovely personage. This time I wanted to explore a single light set up and body shapes, we used examples from other photographers as a jumping off point and inspiration. Once we got the light set up….a tricky business this time, we were off and running.

There were so many good body shapes that I found it very difficult to find titles for them all, so in an act of pure randomness I decided to use the names of the things I found in the kitchen cutlery drawer……. as you do!

The Tea Cozy

The Tin Opener

The Nut Cracker

The Bottle Opener

The Cork Screw

Chopsticks

The Whisk

The Thermometer

 

Well I didn’t waste too much of the winter as I designed a skirt to use in the images for studio work, and Allison made it. The skirt was split at the front and back with the bottom hem attached to wrist cuffs via a small chain.

However, more of the skirt in future posts. We moved on to do some moody work in a theme I call ‘Between Gentlemen Callers’

This is not me…

 

But this is how I am…

Between Callers….

Again?…Do I have to?….

Finally we used a lace top that I got from Artemis and ended with a portrait…

Implore…..

Children of the Damned

 

Yet another shoot in which we run out of time, but that’s not really a problem as we will return to carry on working on the ideas we missed out on. Keira is always a pleasure to work with and results speak for themselves really..

 

November 2017 we had a studio day with Stephanie Dubois, strangely enough it was the only studio day to have no women photographers, normally the women out number then men by a long way. Anyways, most of the guys wanted to do portraits, so I set up some simple lighting and Stephanie did the rest in her usual engaging and professional manner. She’s always a delight to work with. As normal on a studio day I took the last two slots and when everyone had been and gone (clutching their prized images in their hot little hands) I set the lights up for a different look for portraits and 3/4 length.

And with a short break for a cuppa…off we went with a Whiz Bang!

 

 

Adding a little lace…….

 

Then a red jacket I got from the vintage fare….

 

Then a raggedy sheer dress…..

 

Then a spot of colour….to end the portraits

 

After another cuppa and a break……I change the lighting and theme and we use one of Stephanie’s designer outfits made by Kathrine Davidson.

 

 

Then the same outfit but this time in white………

 

Another cuppa….and another light change, something more dramatic using a spotlight this time.

 

 

The last image of the day is called Prisoner of the Mind, it’s a portrait of Depression.

 

Then as it always does…the day vanished and it was going home time, another fab shoot with this lovely lady. Everyone was very impressed with her work and her willingness to get good results. I can’t recommend Stephanie highly enough, always professional and always lovely.

 

 

 

How time flies like a flying speedy thing with wings and a jet engine on boost!

Anyway August 2017 came around and I was very much looking forward to a day out with Artemis on the beach, a different beach from usual this time, St Cyrus. I was there earlier in the year with Amber and we got some special images however the weather was a bit crap and we didn’t get much of a chance to have a really good look about. This time though although the weather was warm it was a bit overcast which kinda worked in our favour as it reduced the heavy contrast for location work. St Cyrus has a cliff path and its quite a steep climb from the car park to the beach, at the bottom is a small group of buildings that Amber and I used the last time. So we headed off to the left along the beach toward some rocks and we found a cool cave, now many people obviously know about the cave but St Cyrus isn’t exactly near me so I didn’t have a clue it was there. Anyways….we made full use of it!

 

There were just too many good places to shoot….and right next the cave was cliff face above a pool….

 

Then….around the corner was a massive waterfall and a ruined building…to get there we had to negotiate through the rocks and dodge the incoming tide. Due to the tide being quite close we only had a limited time at the waterfall, plus the beach was getting busy with people. However we did get some cracking shots.

 

By now we were risking getting cut off by the tide so we scrambled our way back to the cave area…..just to the side of the cave was a large rock formation, seemed a shame to waste it really. The beach was getting quite busy with dog walkers and tourists, a colourful dress was in order…..Artemis wore one too! j/k

 

By this now it was time move away from the more popular area and across to some abandoned buildings next to where I had shot the last time but didn’t get round to. The farthest away building seemed quite interesting with a lot of debris.

 

 

It get’s even messier….

 

Then simpler and less busy…

 

 

By this time the day wearing on so we worked our way back to the car with a final shoot at the last building.

 

Then last but by now means least…..the attic…..

 

By then we were both well hungry and we hauled our sorry souls back up the cliff path and headed to the local cake shop for ….erm….filled baked potatoes, by the time we had that we were too stuffed for cake and headed home. It was indeed a grand adventure of a day with lots of great images and Artemis is always special company and a joy to spend time with. Her modelling speaks for itself and if you haven’t worked with Artemis then you are seriously missing out. We’ve already booked again for Aug 2018, something definitely look forward to.

 

The first I time met Gemma was an interesting and unusual day, I was scheduled to attend a work meeting at Hamilton so I contacted Barrie Spence at Pavilion studios to arrange a casual social drop in for a chat after my meeting. Little did I know that it would be my last day at work and that the meeting was a ‘parting of the ways’ at work, it has to be said it was an amicable parting and final arrangement, albeit unexpected. Anyways I turned up at Pavilion Studios to see Barrie and met Gemma there…working on a shoot for another photographer. So I asked Gemma to give me a shout when she was next up in Scotland, which she did in August. I managed to get a camera club studio day organised  which made her trip worthwhile.

The last photographer during the day had Gemma in lingerie so I carried on with that theme for starters…

 

Then a quick change of outfit…..a loose fitting black piece….

 

 

Then a little splash of red from the cloak…..

 

 

….then a complete change to some red velvet….and why not!?!

 

 

Did I mention tea and snacks?…..well we had some then moved on to different lighting for some 3/4 length shots with many changes of outfits…

 

 

Again we were against the clock and I had to make sure Gemma got the right train back at Dundee Station so she could get her connecting flight back home, however we got a lot done and were very productive…in between tea breaks. Gemma is an excellent model and highly recommended……she is also a MUA for shoots and film work.

An AV slideshow for this shoot is here http://www.mrspider.co.uk/?page_id=3764

 

 

Still Summer in 2017 when I saw a casting call in Purple Port from a local model that I hadn’t worked with before, sadly I only had 2 hours to shoot. However I got in touch with Cher and organised a studio time, as anyone who has been to the studio knows its a bit tricky to find and many folks get lost in the darkest depth of Fife…never to be seen again! It’s very much a dangerous prospect and only the adventurous sally forth in search of said studio!.

Anyway Cher got a bit lost, as many do, but we eventually got there in the end and without further ado we got down to some shooting…and tea….can’t go without a cuppa!

Then some nude work on the sofa….

 

Adding a little lingerie….for a splash of colour!

 

Still on the sofa theme…..let’s add a leather duster…

 

 

A quick cuppa then moving on…..and some lace…

 

…..and leather…..

 

And finally something a little softer…..

 

All this in only two hours including tea!…good result!

Anyways, Cher was excellent and highly recommended, very professional and friendly with a super look and style. If you get a chance to book her do it….cuz I most certainly will at a later date!

 

 

Ok so despite my last blog Summer did actually happen in Scotland and it was on one hot Summers day that I booked Heather May Corvid. She and Sassy Su had hired an apartment to stay and use for shoots in the middle of the old part of Aberdeen. Now I do like the challenge of Hotel/Apartment shoots, the light is unpredictable and you have to adapt to the conditions of each scene, some rooms are dark and some are lighter etc etc. Then there’s the decor and furniture, lots to work with and lots that can be a challenge.

Anyway we started out in a dark room with a lovely window, however not much light coming through it…which softened it.

 

And just a little lace…..

Moving into the main sitting room with large windows and curtains, a bit more light now for this high key image…..

 

However there was an office block across the street that could see inside so we decided to make the room dark and moody…with some lingerie..

 

In the hall I spotted some low level skirting lights….could be interesting I thought….worth a bash!….. ala The Carpet Crawlers

 

The dark and moody was the way forward so we headed back into the main room and moved some of the furniture about to create a scene….with more lace.

Then back to a little nude work with much shifting of sofa and chairs…and keeping the moody feel…..

Finally time was running out and we finished with some portraits with the able help of Sas holding the reflector…..

 

What a fab afternoon!….Heather is a lovely model and expert tea maker, very friendly and chatty. She has a lovely look and an infectious cheery smile. Such a pleasure to work with.

 

So Summer in Scotland sneaked in upon us, I only really knew it was Summer because the rain was warmer and we hard to turn the heating down! It was one of those cool days in June when I picked Nicole up, Howard Kennedy was kind enough to drive her down from Aberdeen. Initially the idea was to have two hours in the studio and two hours on the beach, however everyone was wearing heavy coats and there lies a clue as to one of the reasons why we didn’t make it to the beach.

Anyway…..off to the studio after getting the usual snacks….snacks are important! (©HS)

So we start of with some simple nudes, well people tend to call them simple however they are often anything but simple. Often when there is little to work with a model has to be more creative and expressive in her use of poses, I think its something that’s often not known nor appreciated enough by those who  aren’t immersed in the art nude world.

Needless to say Nicole nailed it….

 

 

Next a little experimentation with a ladder……as you do!

 

 

A change of direction with lighting……….

 

 

Then…dare I say it…..some clothes, but only a little.

 

 

And some more in a portrait style….with a few even safe for work…..outrageous!!

 

 

Then a  return to nudes at floor level….

 

 

Then some gritty post processing over some lingerie shots in the spotlight.

Then before you know it time was up and we forgot all about the beach anyway.

A very productive morning all in all with a good chinwag in between scenes, and of course the usual cups of tea. It was much fun working with Nicole, a very chatty warm friendly person with a good sense of humour which always makes for a special shoot. Highly recommended.