Out of Africa

OK, I confess. These images were definitely not taken in Africa. They were, in fact, taken in the Peak District at sunset. But I think several of them have such a sense of atmosphere that they could have been taken in Africa! At least, to my mind.

These were shot on a short evening trip into the Peak District, just for fun. I was accompanied by Dave Ayerst Davies and Ken Clarke. I've worked with Dave many, many times over the years, and we are considering offering photographic courses in the Peak District, complete with model and professional advisor, who can teach you to get the best out of your camera in any conditions. Dave has a background in motorsport photography, and when you are shooting cars coming around the track at 200mph, you really don't get to choose the lighting conditions; consequently, you simply have to learn to make the most of what nature has to offer, and use your camera to its best advantage. The art of shooting a nude model is, by comparison, an easy task (for a start, they move much slower than 200mph) and so Dave can be relied upon to get great results, whatever the weather conditions!

Ken Clarke is a dear friend, who started out his career as a plasterer. He went on to construct film sets, and he boasts a very impressive list of film credits to his name (I only wish I could say the same of my acting CV), including 'The Shining' and all of the 'Star Wars' films! He went on to apply his skills to the art of life-casting, and has produced some beautiful art works from moulding the human form (I have sat for some of them, and have one on my bathroom wall). Ken is also a keen photographer, so during his visit to the north, we treated him to an evening walk in the Peak District accompanied by our cameras, and I couldn't resist doing a quick shoot in the beautiful evening light.

This whole series was accomplished in under an hour, as we had to make the most of the setting sun. I just love the warm, soft glow the light creates at that time of day. It's amazing how much you can achieve in a short space of time with the beauty of nature, and both photographers got some great results.

The first set of photos are by Dave, the second by Ken.

Above images by and copyright of Dave Ayerst Davies

Bottom three images by and copyright of Ken Clarke