July Updates

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Welcome back to July's blog updates.

There has not really been much happening this month except sitting in my front room with the fan on. I am not very good in sweltering hot weather, give me an Indian Summer any day ! So I have not been out very much, or moved far this month.

I mentioned last month that I have no shoots booked until the end of September when I then have two with Monalisa Moyo and boxer Nicolie Campbell which I am both looking forward too. So it is a bit of a bare month for model pictures I am sorry to say.

But I have managed to take the months scheduled flower images in the home studio, kindly provided by my friends Chris and Wendy at Flowers To Yours and Brambles Florist. I have also been digging up ancient images I have of flowers taken in a variety of gardens up and down the Country from London to Scotland and renovated the images for you to enjoy.

So now that I have some time down this coming August before the next flower shoot, I am taking the time to send of my digital camera off for a well overdue service with Nikon. These things never move fast, so I am feeling like my hands have been removed for the while. I shall have to take up knitting instead.

Enjoy this months offerings.

Still Life / Fine Art Gallery - Update

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I feel a bit of a cheat this month with the fine art pictures as they were actually taken a good seventeen years ago when I purchased the overpriced flowers from a now defunct flower shop in the city called Zinc. I was just experimenting taking fine art pictures, and after all this time I have finally found what to do with them and give them a home. I have made them look as thought they are made of latex, with the super saturated reds. Please enjoy.

The Garden Updates

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Here is a mix of flower images I took in situ across the British Isles from my bathroom window to Kew Gardens, to my wifes hanging baskets and So much more. Most of these were taken on old Fuji and Kodak Transparency (Slide) films, long before digital came along and when I was just taken the pictures as and when I had the chance. Some some of the quality is not always 100% (Like the cowslip for example), but they are still worth a look.

July Flower Updates

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Now last but by no means least I am proud to present this months flowers taken in our home studio with the help of Chris and Wendy and Flowers To Yours and Brambles Florist. Amy and I took the pictures last Saturday when it was not so hot outside and the light was perfect. I still managed to sweat like a pig, before having a hair cut and bath to follow. But the end results speak for themselves and unlike the above images, these are fresh off the camera. So a huge thank you to Chris and Wendy at Flowers To Yours and Brambles Florist and to Amy.

That is about it for this month. I hope you enjoyed this months blog and be sure to come back next month for more. X

June Updates and welcome the arrival of baby girl, Ayzhuh.

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Welcome back to June updated blog and galleries.

Now normally I have to bring you all sad news of those who have departed, but not this month.

My dear friend, muse and sidekick Tyler Dyce proudly announced the arrival of her little girl Ayzhuh with a message to me and a few attached photographs.

So a huge load of love goes out to both Tyler and her little boss, Ayzhuh. I hope everything is as good as you hope it to be and that she grows up to be as lovely as her mother. God bless x

So now that we all have a bit more flexibility to go out and visit places after the lockdowns, Amy and I decided it was a good idea to show our faces at my parent’s home. We had not seen them in eighteen months (much the same as a lot of people) so it was lovely to share time with them, and we both enjoyed it immensely, despite the rain. While we were down there we also got to photograph a few things, like my Father’s garden and Sywell Aerodrome. All of which I have shared on this website and blog this month. But most of all it was just nice to see my parents again, alive and kicking after all this time.

I managed to fit in a fashion shoot with the awesome Marie Jean Saxton model, in a 1970's inspired shoot complete with flared trousers and orange tights. Looking forward now to my shoot with Monalisa Moyo in a luxury hotel in July and seeing just what we can create. After that I have nothing planned in …. no shoots at all ….. I would like to do one more with Marie Jean Saxton, but after that I don't know what the future holds. I am still on the fence regards retirement, and can not really say a great deal more on the subject.

So that's it for this month. Thank you to all for their help this month and wishing Tyler and her daughter Ayzhuh all the best for the future.

As one light fades, still another begins ….

Model Fashion Shoot introducing Marie Jean Saxton

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Collected here are the results from a shoot long planned and in the making with fashion model Marie Jean Saxton. And what an amazing model she is. You could not take a bum picture of her, she is the master of her craft and great to work with. The original idea was to shine 1970's advertisement pictures on her, but sadly that did not pan out. I could have added them in Photoshop, but again it did not look right and confused the picture. On top of which, come the day of the shoot. my angina starts playing up and doing all sorts of strange things to my heart and breathing. Yet we all got it done and on time. … well just about. So here they are, a 1970's inspired shoot with thanks to Marie, to Shadrine at Kavour Beauty for her hair and makeup. Plus a shout out to Phil at The Boardroom Studio, Derby.

Still Life / Fine Art Gallery - Update

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Just one this month with a cyanotype picture of some flowers in my parents house against the wall. Can you tell if they are real or fake?

Project - 'Architectural Metaphor' Update

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During the visit to rainy Northamptonshire this month, I finally got to go back to Sywell Aerodrome and capture the Art Deco designed buildings. Doing this fulfilled an on going desire I had since first seeing them before the lockdown. I had literally dreamed about it countless times. A note to add, there are more pictures published in this blog than on the ''Architectural Metaphor page due to repetition issues. Thanks to Amy and my parents for their help on the day

Projects - 'Noir et Blanc' Update

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I know its probably a little odd photographing lamp shades but I could not help but admire the textures of the light, as well as on the shades and wallpaper.

Flower Art: January - June Slideshow

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It is that time of the year when I do a half yearly slide show of some of the best from the flower art galleries. This is a long one, scraping in at eleven plus minutes, but worth the view.

All the flowers in this slideshow were kindly provided by my friends Chris at Flowers To Yours and Wendy from Brambles Florist. I could not have done it without them.

Music: Norfolk Rhapsody - Ralph Vaughan Williams

June Flower Updates and a few extras

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We had a really good handful of flowers to photograph this month from our friends in Brambles Florist and Flowers To Yours. Not that we don't always, but this month we were lucky to get a 'Love in the mist' flower as well as a monsterously huge pink peony flower.

So a huge shout out and thanks to Chris at Flowers To Yours and Wendy and Nina at Brambles Florist for all their help. Thank you also to Amy for her valuable help and input.

My Fathers Garden

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On our visit to my parents home we had the added bonus of photographing my Father’s beloved garden on the one day that did not rain. Here are the results. I have decided to give them their own folder in the ‘Flower Art’ section of this website, the folder is titled ‘The Garden.’. So its open now to do more at a later date, or photograph other peoples garden. Thank you as always to Amy for her help and to Mum and Dad. X

See you all next month.

May Updates and goodbye my friend, Les Armstrong.

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Welcome everyone back to this Mays blog from Lujon Rael

I wanted to say a few words about the passing of one of my friends. His name was Robert Leslie Armstrong (known as Les to us) and he served our country bravely during World War 2 in the 73 Squadron RAF as a ground crews man in both France and West Africa. By the time of his retirement Les had attained the rank of Squadron Leader.

I first met Les when he used to attend a photographic club I ran in London some years ago and we had kept in touch ever since. He was always a friendly and likeable man who had time for you, but I possibly felt he did not suffer fools gladly. A point being when one hapless club member, (who shall remain unnamed) thrust a copy of a Spiderman comic book into the eighty year old war veterans hands (!) And then was jovially told told ’There, go and read that.’ The young man got short shrift from the Squadron Leader then sent on his away with a flea in his ear for his troubles Les was a popular, respected and valued member of the photographic club … as well as being my friend.

Born 26th January, 1920 , he quietly passed away on 14th May, 2021, aged 101. Les will be missed by his family and all those that cared and loved him.

Till we meet again Les x

I must apologies for the bit of a lateness with this months update, as my angina has been causing me some serious problems. I simply did not have the strength in me to update this blog until today. There was to be a male model shoot on location this month, but sadly it has been postponed due to the models work schedule clashing. It might have been just as well as I was not feeling up to it anyway.

Thank you to all involved with this months images to Amy for her help and input and to Chris and Wendy at Brambles Florist and Flowers To Yours.

See you next month x

May Digital Art

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A bit of an oriental feel to the pictures for this month, with my stab at three Japanese inspired images. The two vases were pictures I took some time ago now and never got around to using (In truth I ran out of ideas knowing what to do with them!). So here with a lot of help from Photoshop are this months Digital Art offerings

Still Life / Fine Art Gallery - Update

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Only two pictures for this month and they were taken in my kitchen using a Halo Lamp I purchased from Amazon in one case to produce the intense red colour. The flower is a tulip Amy had grown in the garden and had well past its sell by date, but still looked photogenic.


Projects - 'Landscapes' Update.

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Here is another I found hidden away in a cupboard. Its an old hand developed print of a view on one of the beaches at Hayle in Cornwall. I remember this view mesmerized me when I took it as the eye is led down to the sea by the poles and cable supports. I had to give it a sepia tone in Photoshop as the original print was made on a very unstable paper called 'Oriental Seagull' which turns a nasty colour over time.

May Flower Updates and a few extras

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As the year draws closer to Summer, the flowers getting more lovely with each month. This month being no exception to that rule. Brambles Florist and Flowers To Yours have provided me with a great choice to shoot, my only problem was that when I got half way through I realised I had not changed what is called the 'Aspect Ratio' on the images. By which time it was too late so this month every image is the same size. Still thanks to Chris at Flowers To Yours and Wendy and Nina at Brambles Florist for the lovely choice. Thank you also to Amy for her help and input.

April Updates

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Thank you for coming back to the Lujon Rael monthly blog, the April 2021 edition.

Its been a bit of a busy month with the COVID restrictions being lifted ever so slightly and I have managed to get in two model shoots I have also been digging through the vaults to find any old stuff that might be worth looking at in the 'Projects' section of the site. I came across some random landscape images I had done ages ago, mostly on print film and eventually scanned onto digital. I have also found some old architectural pictures from the vaults that I have used. On the subject of architecture, I have renamed the 'X00 Multiplies' gallery to a new more user friendly title of 'Architectural Metaphor.' People were having a problem pronouncing the first title, this new title has more of a ring to it I think.

With regards the two fashion shoots, I was fortunate enough to have great weather and luck to work with two amazing new models Shay Holden and Moyolistic. One on location in Nottingham and the other at the Boardroom Studio in Derby. Check out the results. I haven't got much planned for May besides a fashion shoot with a male model and drummer named Karl who I am looking forward to working with. Fingers crossed for the weather and good health.

I still have been unable to make up my mind with regards to my retirement, made all that harder with the contact I had with my dearest old friend and excellent model Monalisa Moyo after so long. We plan to do an 'Albert Watson' high fashion inspired shoot in the July time in a hotel penthouse if we can. So something to aim and look forward to..

T hats it for this months round up, I hope you enjoy the work below.