• Biography
  • Portfolio

The Starving Artist

~ Still an artist but no longer starving!

The Starving Artist

Tag Archives: models

Bridal Fashion Shoot

19 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by Colin Crowdey in Bridal Photography, Photography

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Autumn, bridal, Bridal Fashion, Fashion, Filming location, Make Up Artist, models, Moody, photography, Summertime

Morning

My last few portrait shoots have been either children & families, or alternative, out of my comfort zone shoots, so it was really great to get back into my comfort zone yesterday with my favourite type of shoot – on location Bridal Fashion.

But it very nearly didn’t happen.

Most photo-shoots, especially those on location, do require a certain amount of planning. You need to research the location, decide on the look/style, source a suitable model, book a make up artist and hairstylist, decide on props, book the time and date and check the weather forecast!

Many of my shoots are planned weeks if not months in advance. The shoot yesterday was booked back in the Summer. I had a location I had researched, but Summertime was not ideal due to the light, it needed an autumnal feel, so November was chosen.

Everything was ready, model booked, MUA/stylist booked, weather forecast looking almost perfect and then……

What every photographer has to deal with at sometime or other, the model AND the MUA called three days before the shoot and cancelled. At least it was three days and not three hours as I have heard stories of!

So what to do – cancel the shoot entirely and with it all the hard work on styling and planning gone to waste – or try and find another team.

I am fortunate to have worked with a number of professional models and one of those, Lorena, I knew loved being shot in Bridal wear and if she was free I was pretty certain she would be happy to step in.

As it happened she was free and she was happy to be part of the shoot. We were unable to source a styling team – but Lorena, the consummate professional, did her own to fit the mood and styling we had in mind.

Yesterday was a typical autumnal day, crisp, cold clear blue skies, sun low on the horizon. These are just a few of the images we created on the shoot.

Bridal Fashion - Lorena F

Bridal Fashion – Lorena F

Bridal Fashion - Lorena F

Bridal Fashion – Lorena F

Bridal Fashion - Lorena F

Bridal Fashion – Lorena F

Thank you Lorena for stepping in and helping me create these images

Best – Colin

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Behind the scenes

30 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by Colin Crowdey in Bridal Photography, General, Photography

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Behind the scenes, Bowood Estate, Bowood House, BTS, Make Up Artist, models, photo shoot, photography, Stately Home, Stylist, using models, Wedding Dresses, Wedding Gowns, Wedding Venues, Weddings

Afternoon

Pictures.

Our lives are consumed with them, every magazine, newspaper, billboard, side of bus or the Tube is covered in pictures. The Internet is awash with pictures, you cannot go through a single day of your life without looking at a picture of some description (unless you are a monk in Tibet, and even then there are no guarantees!).

But how many of us look at the picture and say, I wonder how he/she shot that, or, how many people were involved in that. I’m often amazed by clients that say to me, “I thought it would just be you with a camera and a flashgun!”

So I thought I’d share some BTS (Behind the Scenes) photographs taken for a local wedding gown supplier. The location was the local stately home, where we had free access to the library, bar and gardens.

On big location shoots such as this, the day is long and starts pretty early. Coffee and intros out of the way it’s straight into hair & makeup, this is Emily, one of the models being made up by Mary, our resident MUA.

Hair & Makeup

Starting off in the library we decided against using flash and opted for Lupolux HMI Continuos lighting instead (theatre lights). My trusty step ladder was called into action on more than one occasion, which caused some concern for our chaperone on the day!

Step Ladder Time

 

Moving into the bar area we shot some Bride & Groom images sat at the bar.

At The Bar

 

ooops, where has the photographer gone?

Where's he gone?

Different model, same bar,

 

After finishing up in the bar in was lunchtime, so after a quick bite to eat we moved onto the outside part of the shoot. Unfortunately as is the norm for the UK the weather had turned and it was dull grey and drizzly. Undeterred we set about setting up the shots for the next location.

Discussing the next shot

 

My ladder once again came in useful as the model was stood higher than me on the steps of the structure we were using.

The model was after her iPhone which was ringing right at this point ..grrrrrr

 

 

Another model this time (and another gown)

 

 

The rain was really coming down when we moved onto our final location, the model in this images was dripping wet, and an umbrella was being held over her head in between shots. It didn’t save the dress though.

And just to show some finished images from the shoot that relate directly to these BTS shots……..

Finished Image

Finished Image

 

Finished Image

 

Finished Image

 

Finished Image

 

Finished Image

 

Finished Image

 

So there we have it. A BTS look at a photo shoot. Lots of people involved, lots of time and planning involved but lots of fun too.

Best – Colin

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Life can change, in an instant

29 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by Colin Crowdey in General

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

alternate modelling, dark, Halloween, life, Life Changes, models, photo shoot locations, photography, Vampires, winter

Afternoon

If someone had said to me 12 months ago that I would be out shooting a Vampire in a disused building, in the cold wind and rain, for free – I would have laughed at them. And why not, there I was sat in my nice warm comfortable studio, plenty of coffee, nice sofas and a steady stream of customers walking through the door wanting beautiful studio portraits – it was all too easy.

How could I have foreseen the circumstances that would mean I had to give up my studio. How could I have predicted the fact that people had no money to spend on “beautiful studio portraits” any longer.

Life can change, in an instant.

But that was twelve months ago. 

So there I was, doing my “Social Media” rounds, I do these once or twice a day as time permits, and I saw a Facebook post from a model asking for a Halloween shoot on Sunday as the shoot she had planned fell through. This was Friday. 

Well, I knew I was busy Saturday, but had Sunday free, so I thought, how difficult can a Halloween shoot be, and quickly offered my services.

Then it started to sink in. It was Friday, the shoot was on Sunday, I was out with the family on Saturday. I had no specifics to go with the theme, no location, no idea what I wanted the model to wear – and I also had the equivalent of “writers block”, my mind went totally blank.

On Friday night I was frantically searching Google for ideas along the Halloween theme and decided upon a “Vampire” themed shoot. After speaking with the model, we decided on going with the “Sophisticated Sexy” Vampire look that is shown in many TV shows rather than the more traditional blood & gore look.

But as always, things don’t go quite as planned.

The light in the room was wrong, the light outside was wrong, the cape we bought for some sophistication was wrong, in fact, twenty minutes into the shoot we very nearly gave up and went home, wet cold tired and thoroughly fed up.

Sometimes being a photographer you have to just “step back” and have a look around, it’s ok to change the theme, it’s ok to change your ideas, if something is not working, why persevere.

So we changed it around, we went for the more “traditional Vampire” with a bit of blood & gore, we moved location, I rummaged in my bag and found a small tube of fake blood and it all started to come together.

We started out with a wailing Vampire.

Image

Moved onto a “coming out of a crypt” look, with the model crawling through a hole in the wall which was pretty tricky but we managed it quite well.

Image

And we finished up by utilising a kitchen knife that we had bought along “just in case”. This shot has a very “dark” feel to it and is not to everyones’s taste. But I liked it, quite gritty.

Image

Fangs were added in Photoshop – nice & easy with the warp tool.

So all in all, aside from the cold and the wet apart from a few hiccups it went ok.

Best – Colin

 

 

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Cameras don’t take pictures, photographers do.

26 Friday Oct 2012

Posted by Colin Crowdey in Photography

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Ballerina, better photographer, camera, DSLR, light, models, Photographers, photography, studio photography, window light, x100

Afternoon.

Photographers are always chasing that one “special” image, be it the most dramatic landscape lit by the once in a lifetime sunset spectacular, the “killer” Motorsport shot where it all comes together with perfect composition, great motion blur or panning and the jauntiest of angles or that perfectly and meticulously planned and thought out studio shot – we are always after it.

Some of us are lucky to get that image, some of us are not – but nearly all of us are guilty of one thing, and that is buying the latest and greatest camera/lens/flash/or other bit of gear that, if you are to believe the manufacturers, “will make you a better photographer”.

It won’t.

That super fast 1.2 85mm prime you crave for, it won’t make you a better photographer, nor will that new super duper camera body with pixel count off the scale that you are keen to remortgage the house for. None of it will make you a better photographer.

To be a good photographer you have to “see” the picture, look at the way the light falls, look at the shadows, have an understanding of depth of field and to be able to visualise that in the scene you are looking at – photography comes from within.

If you can shoot well then you can take a compelling photo with an iPhone, a compelling photograph comes from inspiration, not from the latest equipment.

The photograph below was taken at my old studio, I was setting up my lights and getting everything ready and the model was just chillin’ in the window frame waiting for me. I turned around and immediately “saw” a picture, my studio lights were pointing the other way, my DSLR had the wrong lens on, so I quickly picked up my trusty X100, (a fixed lens rangefinder type camera) and asked the model to tie her laces on her ballet shoes – I took three images, no flash, just ambient light.

This image is my favourite – it was the models too and it just shows you don’t NEED lots of high end expensive equipment to take a half decent image!

Best – Colin

X100 shoots Ballerina Girl

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Do you trust your models?

23 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by Colin Crowdey in Business, General, Photography

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

models, photo shoot, photography, TFP, trust

Evening

I was chatting to a photographer friend of mine today over a coffee in my local Starbucks and the subject of using models on a TFP basis came up. (for those non photographer readers here, TFP stands for, Time for Print, which is a throw back from the pre digital age when photographers and models would collaborate together but no money would change hands, the photographer shoots the model and the model would receive prints as payment, hence TFP. These days with the advent of digital it is usually abbreviated to just TF, same rules apply, but model receives digital images in place of prints)

During the course of the conversation my friend mentioned that he only ever provides low res Facebook quality images to models, AND they are watermarked. This did seem a little strange to me, after all, the model has given up her time for free and in most cases has travelled at her own expense to the location, so why only give them 800×800 pixel images with a watermark as payment – I mean, models want to use images for their portfolios too!

His response to this was that with the advent of the digital age, no one ever wants prints (and if the models asks for prints he will provide a print at cost price, but NOT the image file). Models are only interested in posting to Facebook or Twitter (or other social media websites) and sharing the pictures via email to all their “hundreds” of friends.

This is very true, I see pictures that I have taken pop up almost daily on Facebook profiles etc and can totally understand the immediate gratification when posting an image online, a picture posted now can be seen by someone everywhere in the world within minutes – how cool is that !

But, as the conversation rumbled on my friend said something that really did get me thinking. Lets say I do a photo shoot, it went REALLY well, the images were AMAZING and I had agreed to provide high res images to a model – what is there stopping that model then selling my work (as it is high res 300 dpi) and making money – or worse still (in his opinion) either the model, or the models partner “having a go at it” with “Photoshop” and then posting it on the Internet but still crediting me.

Wait, a “license to use agreement” I hear you all cry!

Well yes, that SHOULD do it, but lets be honest, if a model is that unscrupulous that she would think of selling your work in the first place would a license agreement deter her. After all, what are the chances of being found out?

As for the Photoshopping that can also be stopped by a license agreement, but if someone wants to photoshop one of my images, with photography being such a subjective art, who is to say that their version is better/worse than mine?

There is a whole can of words to be opened up with this, but personally I think it just boils down to trust – I trust people until proven other wise – if I found an image of mine had been commercially sold by a model that I had trusted with a high res image, then I’d never work with her again and would certainly let it be known within my circle that she (or he if a male model) shouldn’t be trusted!

This industry is very “tight” word soon gets around.

And just to make my position clear on this, I always provide unmarked low res Facebook images, I also *usually* provide high res images on a CD, with the requisite license agreement. (Occasionally I forget to do the high res images and time passes by, but when prompted by the model I always deliver)

To my knowledge I have never had an image used without my permission, modified or sold (touch wood!!)

We could both still have been sat in Starbucks now discussing this, we will never agree, neither of us are wrong, but what works for me, just doesn’t work for him….

Best – Colin

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

The wind CAN be your friend

18 Thursday Oct 2012

Posted by Colin Crowdey in Photography

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

location, military uniforms, models, Photogra, photography, weather, wind machine

Hello

Since working more and more on location I have learnt to pay attention to the weather a lot more. I don’t mind working in the rain (so long as it’s not totally lashing down) as that can lead to some good atmospheric images, same goes for fog and snow – but if it’s one thing I hate it’s the wind.

It blows models’ clothes when you don’t want them blown, it means I have to laden down my light stands with heavy sand bags else they take off never to be seen again, along with my flash heads and depending where you are working it blows all sorts of stuff into your eyes and lens.

I was on a beach in November during a sandstorm tossed up by the wind, very expensive trip that was. I was shooting down a dusty lane when a storm crept up on us and there ended up more dust on us than the lane.

But sometimes, just sometimes, wind can work in your favour.

Emma, a model I was shooting a few weeks back was modelling some military uniforms out on location, a bit of a dull day, but pretty calm weather wise. I was trying to get a bit more dynamism into a head & shoulders shot of her,  and was cursing that I didn’t have an extension lead long enough to power my portable wind machine, her hair was pretty lifeless which made the shots themselves rather dull too.

Thinking I was going to be out of luck we were just starting to wind down the shoot, when all of a sudden the weather turned and the wind got up, quite gusty – certainly enough to put some life into Emma’s hair, we quickly scrambled back to the place we were previously shooting and I fired off a couple of quick frames.

That little bit of wind made all the difference to the final image – you don’t need a portable wind machine when you have nature, just wish I could turn it on and off when I needed it !

best – Colin

Image

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Listen to your models

16 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by Colin Crowdey in General

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

beach, models, photo shoot, photography, vintage

Afternoon

Short (well, short ish) post today!

I shoot models. In fact, at some stage or another in their careers most “people” photographers shoot models too. You can’t always shoot for a client, you can’t be too creative with a client, you can’t do your own thing with a client.

So you shoot models.

But how often do you you actually listen to your model. I mean, you usually shoot a model because you have a specific shoot planned and you know what you want and you know how to shoot it, so what does the model know?

A lot actually.

A good model can usually pose and move with little direction, but a great model can give some great insight into what is working and what is not and can even change the direction of the whole shoot.

But you gotta listen.

I was shooting a vintage shoot on a beach with two models, blazing sunshine but bitingly cold, two girls in circle dresses having a vintage picnic on the beach, nice idea, great theme, good props, but it just wasn’t working.

One of my models then said to me, look, I have a vintage swimsuit in my bag, let me wear it and you shoot me walking up out of the sea? I wasn’t sure it was going to work, but I went with it

You know what – they were the shots of the day!

best – Colin


Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • 627 Days
  • Top 5 Inspirational Photographers and artists
  • 5 Top Tips for a stress free photoshoot
  • 25 top tips and advice for becoming a better photographer
  • Interview with a model – Lorena Fernandez

Archives

  • March 2015
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,671 other followers

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

LCC Photography

LCC Photography

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • The Starving Artist
    • Join 1,671 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Starving Artist
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: