So last week I was asked to do a photo shoot for my boss’s shop.

It’s a Boutique in Bradford selling asian fashion. and to be honest, I was nervous. I’ve not done any studio type shoots before, it’s certainly not my favourite branch of photography, but I agreed to do it non the less.

So I got my backdrop stands, reflectors, flash heads and everything else sorted and set up the makeshift studio. It was a little difficult as I had to set up right in front of a full length window. Luckily the sun was on the other side of the building so it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

The models took ages to get ready. I mean they took a long time. Initially I thought it was a makeup and hair delay. But the Sari’s took some getting into for them, and the amount of changes they had to do all contributed to long waits between shots.

A couple of the models where great, one was quite nervous, and didn’t want anyone watching. The other was obviously a seasoned professional as she had obviously dont this before. She was at great ease in front of the camera, and no prompts from me, she just got into differing positions, and knew how to work that camera.

The editing of the images however was just a major pain in the arse. All the images had to be cut off the background, and put on a plain white. Luckily Photoshop “Refine Edge” command helped massively with this. It made the selections around hair and the finer details on the dresses perfectly. I flew through 12Gb of images that I had selected as the better of the take. I didn’t bother with colour corrections or minor edits. These images are destined for the website so I had a margin to play with.

The make up girls where constantly coming over asking if I can remove the brown streaks from the extensions they had put in the model’s hair, and change the eye makeup. Honestly, just go do your thing and leave me to do mine. I could have changed the various colours, but truth be told, I thought they all looked quite good as they where.

It was just annoying to have them constantly blithering at me in the early stages. But eventually they got the message and stayed down the bottom of the shop doing their thing.

Looking back at the day, I can certainly see things I would have done different, and I can see the many mistakes I made. But it will all go to making me a better photographer at the end of the day.

Things I learnt that day

1. Always double-check your kit. You can’t always leave the set and go get something you forgot to bring
2. Trust the models. The have done this all before, and seen it all before. Let them be what they want to be
3. Dont be afraid to adjust the models, or give instructions if needed.
4. Watch your camera. It’s too easy just to constantly click
5. Take loads of images, put the camera on burst mode. It really does help.
6. Watch your shadows and lighting Adjust if required through the shoot.

Well, I think Kai sums it up pretty well in his video

Found this over on http://walkerramblings.blogspot.com

I’ve done absolutly nothing this weekend. nada, zilch diddly squat. So I thought I’d just post one of my favourite images. Theres nothing special about this image, but its one I really like so I thought I might as well post it.

Subject is the question, and the simple answer is:

Mankind.

It has to be this image of PurpleMan taken in York. Interacting with his audience.

It may very well be one of the last images I take of PurpleMan, as he will shortly cease being on Stonegate, and no longer perform in york, according to his official website.

At least it is my favourite “Uploaded” image