Treasure the (Prom) Dress Shoot - with Emily

Emily very kindly acted as my model for one of my pieces of work for Uni, earlier on this year.  I wanted to say 'Thank You', so when Emily mentioned her prom was coming up, I had an idea for a gift that I hoped she would like. I guess the idea came from the 'Treasure/Trash the Dress' type shoots that are popular with some brides at the moment - I suggested that at some date after her prom, I could perhaps do a photo shoot with her wearing her prom outfit - a formal gown isn't something that you usually get the opportunity to wear that often and I thought it might make a nice souvenir for her, of a special event in her life.  Emily was very keen on the idea, and initially we discussed a studio shoot - however, with me having trouble getting the studio booked, and with the forecast suggesting that we were finally going to get some decent weather, I contacted her with the idea of us doing a session in various outdoor locations, that I felt would make a really nice setting for her - and her dress. 

So, with a selection of locations in mind, I picked Emily up, and we headed out .

First stop was Moss Valley - here we had the tree's, area's that had previously been part of a sandstone quarry, and the lake, to use as a back drop .

I really liked the effect of the lush green background, with the beautiful rich colour of Emily's dress, for the shots we did amongst the tree's.

We then moved on to one of the quarried area's - the contrast between the graffitied  rocks and the elegance of Emily and her dress worked well.

I added glow to a couple of the photographs taken at the lakeside - I felt it enhanced the reflective qualities of the water -

 I decided to then move on and see if the near by field, that I'd used already in a couple of previous shoots, was still ablaze with poppies . . . there were still flowers there,  but they were starting to fade - however, there was enough colour left to make for a really nice 'backdrop' to the pictures.

Last stop was at the Ffrwd - this has another small lake area - but, unlike the water at the Moss, which is pretty well covered with plants, here I knew that I could get some nice reflections . .  .

In total, we spent about 3 hours out on this shoot, and though I'd told Emily initially to expect around 50 images, she actually got well over 250 . She said she really loved the photographs, and talking with her, she actually said that given the choice between a shoot like this, or say having a limo or similar to take her to the prom, she would opt for the shoot .

I think this type of 'souvenir' of a special, personal occasion is one that would appeal to a lot of people - not just for proms, this could also make a great 'Sweet 16' gift, for example - or a 'well done in your exams' treat, an 18th birthday gift, or even as a 'thank you gift' for bridesmaids .  A 2 hour shoot would give a minimum of around 30 digital images, probably more, and the location(s) could be selected to suit the subject - urban rather than rural, for example, or maybe a location that has special meaning to the subject.  The cost would be a great deal less than what is spent on for example, a limo, or even the bridesmaids traditional gift .

Big Thanks to Emily - I really enjoyed this shoot, and she was an absolute pleasure to work with .

Informal Family Portraits

Having had the opportunity to do quite a few studio sessions involving children and families, I was really glad when recently I was given the opportunity to try this type of photography in a more informal setting.

Sadia and Nafee had a  wedding to attend, with their adorable young daughters, Aamna and Laaiba, and wanted some photographs of themselves, all dressed up for this special occasion . So, an hour or so before they set off for the wedding, I arrived at their home and set to work with the children.

Thankfully, after the appalling weather so far this Summer, on this day, the sun put in one of its rare appearances and it was actually as nice as July should be !  So, out into the garden I went with the two girls and the camera .

Both  were so easy to work with - outgoing, full of fun, and very relaxed and comfortable with the camera, and we had a great 30 minutes or so, having fun whilst I took photographs.

It was clear that the girls get on very well together and are very close

And, as little girls of that age should be, they were chocked full of energy - which from my point of view was great, because it led to some really natural shots.

Little props - like sunglasses - are great to have when working with young children - introducing them can produce some fun photographs . . .

I also took some individual pictures of the girls . . .

And we also made use of the girls play tent

At one point, Laaiba, who is after all, only 5 years old, was getting a bit fed up - so I told them that I thought that their garden was probably quite magic - two pairs of beautiful big eyes turned to me, full of curiosity .  I explained that if  I was right about there being magic around, then my 'very special camera' could photograph things that we can't see . . . like fairies!  I asked did they want to try and entice any fairies to come out and pose?  Both girls were very sure that they did - so I showed them how to put their hands together and asked them to wish very hard for some magic . . . just a little bit of time and effort in editing, and sure enough, Tinkerbell had put in an appearance !

(In fact, the idea of 'fairies' was so appealing, that I think we ended up with about 15 or so photographs that involved 'fairies! )

Then Nafee and Sadia joined Aamna and Laaiba for some family shots

And I also took some of just Sadia and Nafee  - this was one of several that I later turned black and white .

The whole shoot lasted just over an hour, and I was later able to give the family nearly 200 photographs, which is far more than I expected .  It was great to get this chance to try and informal family session, and I really enjoyed it - big Thanks to Sadia, Nafee and the girls for making me so welcome, and for being such lovely people to work with .

ReImagine Wrexham - Part 2

ReImagine Wrexham would culminate in an evening of live music and interactive art on July 11th .

The live music was supplied by experimental band DRK MTR - the Oriel FB book page describes them as . . ."an experiment with music, art and poetry is the brainchild of 3 north Wales artists. Musician and Producer, Steve Nicholls, Poet, Sophie McKeand and Artist, Andy Garside, are collaborating on this project. Fusing poems of the earth with digitally created sounds and performing them with VJ projections the live shows are not to be missed."

This was again, a really enjoyable experience - DRK MTR were edgy and innovative, and somehow, their material worked incredibly well with the 'feel' of the event . . . and it was fantastic fun to photograph them, and the on-going interactive art that was still taking place .

Yet more fantastic art work had been added

Mikey - still painting

The Band joined in too

 

By now, my daughter was thoroughly hooked on ReImagine - and enjoyed encouraging others there to join in !

The art work wasn't restricted to the walls!

This was a really great event to be involved with, for several reasons.  It gave me the chance to learn more and add to my photographic skills, I really enjoyed seeing the artwork grow and develop, it was brilliant to be part of something that was appreciated by everyone I spoke to who participated, and again - I met some fantastically creative and genuinely nice people .


Some of the images I provided were published in an Oriel Galley Programme - sadly, they forgot to credit me, but hopefully, I'll be able to get a copy of the programme and scan it to add to this blog at a later date :)

UPDATE :  I have been put in contact with Helen Odunaiya, Senior Performance and Improvement Officer, from Wrexham Council - Ms Odunaiya has emailed me with reference to using some of the ReImagine Images . . . Its really great to know that my photographs are likely to be used in this way, and I'd like to say Thank You to Ms Odunaiya for taking the time to give me the exact details of their use - below is a portion of the e mail she sent, explaining .





 

"I am interested in using some images of the artwork for the Wrexham Local Service Boards strategic plan from April 2013 to March 2024.  It is a high level strategic plan looking at the future of Wrexham as a place and will be signed off by all the LSB partners, ie Council, BCUHB (hospital), Public Health, Probation, Police, Fire, AVOW, Glyndwr (LSB rep is Paul Whiting) and Yale.  I saw the exhibition and thought the work could be great to represent Wrexham as it comes from local people and is an individual piece of work and will bring our document to life! . . .

 

In terms of my timeframe the plan needs to be in place for April 2013 and we have to have a 12 week consultation period.  We are currently working hard on the plan with 3 high level themes looking at Quality of life, Economy, and community involvement / safety.  The final document will be printed in paper format and we will also have an electronic version so it will go out far and wide across Wrexham and to all our partners and will exist for many years!

 

 Thanks very much for your help, the photos are just great."