Witley Court Fashion

Posted by Paul

Recently I was fortunate enough to shoot with the very lovely Lauren Ritchie who is a local singer and upcoming new model.

I have to give an incredible amount of thanks to Witley Court for allowing us to shoot there, on a bank holiday and unannounced. Stunning location and definitely worth a day there to look round, we spent a few hours there and noticed quite a few areas we had missed as we left.

Lauren did her own make up and styling for the shoot and whilst she could be classed as an inexperienced model this certainly didn’t show at the shoot. She was perfectly made up and took direction incredibly well. Although the venue was pretty busy, she took this in her stride and was the perfect professional.

Location and Lighting

Posted by Paul

Recently I have ventured out of the studio and the plain white background that usually features in every studio shoot. There is a whole world out there that needs exploring and using. However lighting it is a whole different game. In a studio you have pretty much total control over every aspect of lighting, where it comes from, how much, what shape everything is within your control. Then you get on location… it’s windy, the sun moves, it changes colour, you get clouds when you don’t want them and none when you do!
One option is to invest in a set of pocketwizard flex’s these are expensive but such a joy to use. Unlike cheaper radio triggers in that they work in full ttl mode. This means that you can let the camera set the power outputs for you – each flash thinks it is sitting on your camera. Now you may think this limits your creativity but there you are wrong, for a few pounds more they sell the AC-3 which is a zone controller. This clever little device gives you total control over the power of the zones you have set up. Want that flash a bit brighter, a bit less or even off? all easily controlled on top of your camera – none of this trekking to each light, adjusting it, checking it, re-adjusting it. Worth every penny for its ease of use

things that make you go hmmm…

Posted by Paul

Semi-professional photographer based in Coventry. Use local studios for my studio based work – mainly B72 Imagings (great little studio owned by an awesome photographer). Have shot a number of bands over the years (some famous, some not so famous) each and everyone has been different and good fun. Great love of fashion shows, have shot for Clothes Show Live on a number of occasions (a good few consecutive years now), Style in the City Birmingham, Style Birmingham etc as well as Catwalk shows for a number of designers. Have worked with a number of models, the vast majority of which I would recommend (think there is only one that I wouldn’t give a reference for and she is not present on this site!). Try to ensure that all my shoots are fun – what’s the point if you don’t enjoy it?

Equipment wise, I shoot with Canon (5Dii and IDiiN) and have the usual L series lens to ensure best image quality.

Registered with the British Press Photographers Association and happily abide by the code of conduct they require. The BPPA are a professional body and membership is not automatic upon payment of a fee unlike certain other Associations.

Insurance is provided by Morgan Richardson ensuring that I am fully covering for third parties, professional and personal indemnity.