Model Mercybongo 8th Photo shoot

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Can you believe its our eight shoot together? I know Mercy has some way to catch up with Monalisa at thirty photo shoots or Tyler Dyce at fifty six shoots, but she is on her way with two more set before the close of the year.

This month we all went on location at the tunnel and an old Victorian mill factory site. It was an itty bitty day with the weather, but in-between showers we got some positive work done. Yes I know I have used the locations before, but there is a certain amount of repartition in any photography project you do when you have been at it over thirty years as I have been doing. But they are good locations, and worth another go when the weather is allowing.

So thanks then to Mercybongo and Carl for putting themselves out on the Sunday as well as a big shout to Amy for her help.

July Flower Updates

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Highlights of this month in flowers would be the very delicate and extraordinary lovely 'Love in the mist' I was told its proper name, but forgot it in all the excitement. Its almost impossible to take a bad picture of the flower. But it was not the only great flower we were given by our friends at Brambles Florist this month. Check them out !

So its another big thanks then to our friends Chris and the ladies at the Brambles Florist and Flowers To Yours. For all their help this month As well as a mention also to Amy for her assistance.

That is it for now. Be sure to tune back at the end of August for another update.

Take care of yourselves.

x

June Updates, Two enjoyable model fashion shoots, a gamy back leg and an equally gamy EVRI delivery man.

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Apologies for the slight lateness in this last months blog. I somehow got myself locked out of the Squarespace dashboard area that controls the website. We are all sorted now so here we are, better late than never I suppose ?

I have a tale of woe for you and a gruesome picture of the back of my right neck. It looks like an axe wound, but it is in fact a blister that burst open on my leg. It was a huge one and I get them because of my diabetes. Anyway, it burst and splatted all over the bed sheets leaving a sticky mess. Thankfully Amy was on hand to treat it and she has done a very good job too.. At one point I had to go to my local A&E because I ruptured the scab that was nicely growing on it. It suddenly turned green and black and gave off a very ripe smell of decay. They cleaned me up and put me on antibiotics which did the trick. Now my local GP nurse wanted me to come in and have it seen to at least three times a week but I said no as doing the quick maths it was going to cost me over £100 +in taxi fares alone for the month. I argued that Amy was doing a good enough job and so should continue …. so that's what we have done and its healing up nicely now. No more puss and a foul smell any more …..

…. And talking of puss and bad smells it leads me onto the little wing ding I had this last month with a deliver from EVRI (previously called Hermes) So there is this delivery man who is also the wrong side of fifty as am I, that regularly knocks on my door to drop off parcels I have had a previous run in with this man before when he complained to me that we had been away when he had banged on our door three days on the trot to deliver a parcel at new year time. He pulled a sour face that only someone who used to chew tobacco as a kid would do. So I apologised and said I will happily send him a postcard next time we are away ! So up to modern day and to cut a story short, I needed to replace a chair my fat bum broke in the studio the week before and I purchased two from Ebay. They were set to be delivered on the Saturday ready for me to take them down to Derby on a Wednesday. They did not show up, so on the Monday I cancelled the order. Then would you believe it, on the Thursday they turned up with happy chops himself at my front door. I politely informed him that I had cancelled them to which he flew into a strop and stamped his feet saying why the f**k did I order it in the first place and I was wasting his time? So that was it … I was pissed that he would swear at a customer like that, but hay-ho, I can give as good as I get and so did by telling him were he could go and calling him a miserable (a private part of the female anatomy and a word that rhymes with the name Jeremy Hunt) ! I then went and complained about him on a message I left on EVRIs telephone line. I doubt anything was done about it but smiley turned up again two days later with his face hidden by his cap and was as nice as pie. I said nothing. He also came the following day when Amy answered the door and he even slimly called her 'love' … ahhhh how sweet of him! Although I think I preferred the puss sack when he was just a miserable C......!

At least then you knew where you stood with him.

So this month I must apologies for not having any extras to show you in Digital art, projects or still life. Its because I have had to replace my old and tired PC with a new one and that was time consuming and stressful, although I did get a helping hand from my friend Mark (I hope your reading this) and to whom I am hugely in debited for his advice. Cheers buddy, We do however have some great flowers to show you and two huge galleries of model fashion pictures starring Mercybongo and Maryna Sedin.

Please enjoy x

Model Maryna Sedin 3rd Photoshoot

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Its always good when awsome supermodel Maryna Sedin drops by the studio for a shoot. She is so natural. Point the camera and off she goes making magic.

So this shoot I would try to have made on the day a paper dress. Not something made out of old newspaper, but rather out of the paper that bunches of flowers come wrapped in. I put this idea to Chris at https://flowerstoyours.com/eco-friendly-flowers and https://www.bramblesflowers.com/ and see if it could be done. He provided me with two rolls of paper, one plain and the other with pink dots on it. And it worked. Maryna wore a simple grey dress underneath as the paper was wrapped around her by Shadrine and Amy pinning it up at the back … and it looked great.!

We also created an all red effect with a red hijab, long red coat, shoes (red of course) and leggings to create an androginous look.. Through in a big red beach ball and red umbrella and you get the idea. Maryna also came with her own clothes that were checkerd black and white. So with some half / half balck and white makeup another look was created on the spot. Thanks then to everyone involved with the shoot. To Chris at https://flowerstoyours.com/eco-friendly-flowers and https://www.bramblesflowers.com/ to Shadrine at https://www.facebook.com/Kavourbeauty/ for her hair and makeup. To Phil Lynam at https://www.theboardroom.studio/ to Amy for her asssistance and of course the lovely Maryna Sedin whithout whom it all would not have been possible.

Model Mercybongo Photoshoot

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Can you believe it this is Mercybongos seventh shoot with us at the studio and this month we have a bit of an Audrey Hepburn and Janet Jackson feel to it. Taken at, and with thanks to the brilliant https://www.theboardroom.studio/ This shoot features Mercybongo in a different style than we have previously done. The model wears what I call her Naomi Campbell long straight wig with black trousers and a pair of fishnet tights with the feet cut off over her top half and bra. This is an old trick I picked up decades ago and it creates a very edgy and strong (Janet Jackson) look. Its also cheap as you can get a simple pair of fishnets from Primark for about four quid. Mercy is also wearing a long black dress with white collar. Her hair is up with a tiara in it and some fancy pants lighting behind her. This I hope gives a classic Audrey Hepburn 'Breakfast at Tiffanys' look. There is also a third more spanish inspired look that is light, bright and orange / yellow..Thanks then to Shadrine at https://www.facebook.com/Kavourbeauty/ for her hair and makeup. To Phil Lynam at https://www.theboardroom.studio/ and a nod to my lovely wife Amy for her help.

I hope you enjoy them?

June Flower Updates

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Got some lovely flowers last month from our friends at the florist, as well as providing me with the rolls of wrapping paper to build the paper dress for the Maryna Sedin Shoot. There is an arum lily which is part of the onion family which has this unusual flower. In most cases the flower is round and looks like a purple daisy, but this is different. It also comes with a really interesting 'kink' in its stem that sets it apart this month. Notice also the white images for the black and white section are a greenish colour? I thought I might try something else out this month, because my new computer still does not have some of the old Photoshop presets on it, I have experimented with one of the pre=loaded ones and got this greenish result. I quite like it, so here for this month is an off white black and whites.

Thanks then to our friends Chris and the ladies at the Brambles Florist and Flowers To Yours. For all their help this month with everything and a mention also to Amy for her assistance.

So that’s it for this month, be sure to tune back at the end of July for another update.

Take care of yourselves.

x

May (and Aprils) Updates, So what happened to the April blog ???

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A very warm welcome back to my little piece on the web

So what happened to Aprils blog spot? Put simply my computer went up the shit creak without a paddle..After many years of service it got old, ill and It forced my hand and instead of throwing good money at it, it was best just to buy a new one. So that is what I did/

With a great help from my good friend Mark, I purchased a PC with Amazon all for a good price. Trouble was when it arrived it was fitted with Windows 10 rather than Windows 11 as advertised. It also said that it could not be upgraded to Windows 11 as it did not reach the spec. So I sent it back and got a replacement. This all took time and it crept across the month stopping me from doing last months blog. But we are up and running now with a thanks to Mark for guidance.Health wise took me on a visit to my local A&E department with sore that has been festering on the back of my right leg. I get blisters that erupt due to my blood sugars and when they pop they often are a magnate for infection. This nasty one looked on the mend when it was treated and scabbed over, but somehow the scab broke and the wound was left open to the elements again. Needless to say it went green and smelled ripe. It still does, so the Doctors have put me on antibiotics. There is always the fear that they might have to amputate my leg at the worst if I get Poisson blood, but it has not come to that yet so enough with the mellow dramatics.

I have also been diagnosed with Narcolepsy because I keep falling to sleep everywhere I go and drop off sometimes in the middle of a conversation. I already have sleep apnea, so this does not worry me or surprise me too much. I no longer drive, so it won’t affect me that much. Apart from that I am all fine. God is in heaven and all is well with the world as they say.

It is our thirty sixth wedding anniversary on June 4th. So Amy and I might throw caution to the wind this year and live wild like …. call out for a pizza or kebab this year ? Its tough at the top you know ! But joking aside, I would wish to thank Amy for putting up with me all these years and quite literally kept me alive all these years. Love you.

So enjoy the blog and come back at the end of June for the next update.

X

Still Life – Update

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There is a bit of a rusty feel to this months and Aprils Still life images. I purchased some rust forks and keys from Ebay to photograph. And I think they turned out okay. Amy also suggested we snap some of the old twigs we have that are now bare of fruit and leaves, but have interesting shapes. So here they are. I do hope you enjoy them ?

Digital Art – Update

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These four digital art images are of Munira Model taken at our second shoot with her (more below). The original versions were blurred because I screwed up and used the wrong lens on the camera. Still not the end of the world when you can do some digital manage on them and make them look reasonable again. I know I am giving the game away here, but you only learn by your mistakes.

Munira Model on her second shoot with us

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We were more than happy to get back in the studio the amazing Indian beauty Munira for a second shoot. In this shoot she was asked to wear a pair of the ballet boots. These boots are great to photograph as they add style and lift to the model, but impossible to walk in. Why anyone would want to wear them out for a night is beyond me ? But they do look great.

Munira is such a great model to work with. She is always both punctual and polite and throws herself into the project. I am planning on getting her back for a third shoot in August and to do the Christmas slot with Mercybongo. Thanks then to all there at the shoot, to Shadrine at Kavour Beauty. Phil Lynam at The Boardroom in Derby. A thanks also to Amy for her help and food.

There are also some behind the scenes shots from this shoot featuring Munira, Shadrine and Amy.


Model Marie Jean Saxton Shoot

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It is always good to work with Marie Jean Saxton when she rides into town. She has such a great face and knows how to pose that I just let her get on with it. I did some more blurred images this shoot. Some with a Batman mask on for effect. It was a quick two hour affair shoot so not as abundant in images as the normal four hours would produce, but then its quality rather than quantity that we are after here.

Amy's stuff for the streets of your town site

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She has been at it again !!!

Amy has been out and about, snapping away at people and places and doing a brilliant job at it. I especially like the man with his two dogs in a shop and another picture with a large young man playing with his mobile phone outside a shop door. She is brave because she goes up to people and just asks them if she can take their picture. Sometimes they say no, but most times they agree and she gives them a business card with the web site address on it. So thank you Amy.

If you want to see more of her work please visit the Streets of your town web site. x

May and April Flower Updates

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So because of the April blog not being done last month, we are left with a double helping for your viewing pleasure. Thanks as always to Chris and the ladies at the Brambles Florist and Flowers To Yours. For all their help. A special thanks also to them for providing the paper that was used to make a paper dress with model Maryna Sedin. Shoot to be published in next months blog update.

So that's it for this month. Please come back for more at the end of June.

Bye X

March Updates, Three shoots in the bag this month and would it have been so hard to have shown a little bit more respect when it was needed?

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A very warm welcome back to my little piece on the web

It has been a busy month this last month with not one, but three photo shoots and a cremation thrown it in the mix as well.

We finally got to do our shoot with singer Alexis Victoria Hall that was originally planned for January. That shoot was postponed because of both Amy and I being down with the flu. So I am glad it happened because it was a shoot twenty years in the making. It was that long ago and more that Alexis first contacted me for a shoot. For whatever reason we never got around to it, so made up for it with this short but sweet shoot. It was a month when Mercybongo came back for her sixth shoot and the promise of more shoots to come later in the year. I also got to go on location with male model Lee Henshaw at a local (ish) Art Gallery. What a brilliant place to shoot. We even had good weather, so did some stuff outside the gallery. And to top it all off it was also fun !

On a more down beat note I attended the cremation of Patricia my friend whose daughter I used to work with many moons ago. It was a decent send off for her, if a little chaotic and unorganised. I felt a deep sorrow, not just for the passing of Patricia but of what I thought was the rudeness of some of the mourners. At lesst three times some peoples mobile phones went of, with no urgency to turn them off. Sadly there were others who turned up late and were still filling through the doors right up until the end of the service. I know its wrong to compare cremations and maybe it is just me, but it would have been nice if everyone showed a bit more respect and for starters turned off their cell phones. But it must be said, that at the end of the day Patricia did get a good turn out of people to pay their respects. And I suppose that is really all that mattered,

This April will be a bit quieter with only one photo shoot planned featuring the lovely Indian model Munira come back for her second shoot with us. We are going to do some edgy fashion shots with fluffy pick jackets, pencil skirts, ballet boots and toilet roll middles.

We do not have anything else planned, so a bit of an easy month compared to March. Hope to see you all again next month and enjoy the offerings we have for you here today.

X



Still Life – Update

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We have been doing a few still life jobs this month, all in different styles of finish.

Many of them are bulbs with a lot of root search out for water and a home. Others are dried flowers and odd things like past it sell by date vegetables, gone to seed/ Fresh fruit for rotting veg as the punk band The Dead Kennedys once sang about it, but it would be nice to see one day, one of these images hanging from a gallery wall … I would be happy to make do with an outdoor privy … its a start.