This was a quick shoot done with Abi just before Christmas using just natural light. The overcast sky helped the soft light filter through the windows to create the smooth skin tones. Shot with Canon 50mm F/1.4 lens

A shop in Oxford lent some beautiful designer clothes for the shoot, thanks to Booty Oxford.

I tried to go for a classic look in this picture, thinking Egyptian princess! I have no idea how Shara got the hair to stay up like that! Great look though.

I loved the frills on this dress. To try and show them I got Abi to jump so they lifted up slightly to give the impression of her floating.

Photos were all shot at my Oxfordshire studio. A big thanks to Shara for doing a great job on make-up and Abi Penhale for modelling. If you are interested in getting your portfolio updated please contact me.

A country themed fashion test I recently completed with model  Abi Penhale. This shot was natural light and a little fill from a shoot through umbrella and a Canon 580ex II. The wind was absolutely freezing this day so we didn’t shoot for as long as we would have liked, I am planning some more shoots at the location soon though.

This location was once a rubbish tip apparently, you wouldn’t think going there today! This shot was with just natural light from the overcast sky and using the aperture of F/2.8 on a Canon 70-200mm lens giving the out of focus background.

I find it’s always a good idea to work with a concept when taking on a fashion shoot. This test shoot was to the theme of ‘Rock Chic’.

The shoot was all done in my studio near Oxford with one or two studio strobe mono blocks, depending on the shot (Elinchrom 250 and 500 head). Most of the shots were with just one Elinchrom 500 head with a shoot through umbrella, some shots used a soft box too. The great thing about a shoot though umbrella is that it is very portable, though it didn’t really matter in this instance it just creates a nice light.

This shot was taken at F/6.3, 1/100 second, 55mm at ISO 100. This create just enough depth of field that all of the face is in focus but the hair starts to go out of focus.

I wanted to create a really graphic image and the black cables against the white background achieve this.

A little look at the behind the scenes setup, note the fan heater essential to keep the model happy! I fire the strobe heads with Elinchrom Skyports radio triggers, this reduces the number of cables to trip over around the studio and allows me to move around the studio freely.

We had a lot of fun smashing up an old record, again the contrast of the stark black against the white background works to create an effective high contrast image.

I have included several more shots in the gallery below, please click on a thumbnail to view them larger. Some of these photos can be seen on the D1 Models website. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below

D1 Modelling Agency in London have featured some of my photos on the front page of their website. You can check them out on the D1 website. The Model is Abi Penhale, you can find some previous posts from shoots with her here too.

I have a shoot to put up on the blog which are featured on the D1 website based on the ‘Rock Chic’ theme. I will try and get that up later this week.

Recently Abi and I went and shot some photos for her book, for once the English weather proved to be nice enough that we could shoot out side, in the sun! A rare treat this year… Rather than shoot in the studio got out on location around Oxfordshire.

I shot using just a long lens (Canon 70-200mm f/2.8) and no flash. The result are really natural looking photos, and quite different to most of my other fashion photos. Deffinatley something I am going to work on more in the future.

I have been reading a lot of fashion magazine, most recently POP and I-D, so been trying to take influence from some of the ideas from shot in there. I have also been working with a styliast for some of the shoots. I will have one to put up from the other day, a geek/chic kinda look.

I love the look of the golden late afternoon sun, here it is being used as a catch light for the hair on Abi. It was a really fun shoot, thanks to Abi for doing it, expect big things from her in the future.

I managed to do two update on this in a week, pretty good going for me! I have lots more photos waiting to go up, so check back soon.