Winter Baby

I had another shoot with Richard Lund on Saturday, something of a last-minute arrangement. I was planning to go to London for the weekend, but unfortunately, my car failed its MOT and is currently off the road, which ruled out my London trip. Richard, however, is a local photographer I have worked with many times (scroll through previous entries on this blog for some of our shoots together), and he kindly offered to pick me up and take me to the shoot so that my weekend wasn't entirely wasted. I had a rather off-the-wall concept in mind for this set, although no specific idea of how to shoot it.

It was a relief to me when Richard came to collect me and I appeared in my doorway carrying a Christmas wreath and a 6ft dried tree branch, and Richard didn't bat an eyelid... or worse, immediately accuse me of having lost my mind! In fact, there were no questions asked (he knows me too well, by now!). I had previously purchased the wreath when I saw it in a shop and had an overwhelming desire to put it on my head (as you do). I later thought about combining it with my Scottish 'tree' (brought all the way back from the Highlands) and some wintry makeup. I even had a title for this concept in mind ('Winter Baby') and figured that my growing bump would add to the effect.

I love how these photos turned out! I had no specific idea how we would set up the lighting or composition, but I think Richard did a wonderful job of capturing this, and I really like the wintry feel of these. There are more images to come from our shoot, which I will post later, but I couldn't resist sharing these now, along with a 'bump fashion' image taken earlier in the shoot. I like the strong attitude expressed in this, which is a little different to the 'usual' maternity photos. Keep an eye out for more photos from Richard and I, coming soon...

Images by and copyright of Richard Lund

Blooming...

I don't really think this set of images requires too much explanation, so I will largely let them speak for themselves. This set is by Chris Rout, with whom I have worked many times. Chris is a renowned commercial photographer, so these images have a clean, commercial feel about them.

My bump seems to have sprung out of nowhere in the last couple of weeks. I had a very subtle baby bump until about 6 1/2 months, and it wasn't immediately obvious if I was pregnant or not. Suddenly in the space of about two weeks, it has appeared out of nowhere, and is now very much in evidence at seven months! I have some more shoots booked in the next few weeks, including some very imaginative and creative ideas that I can't wait to shoot! I look forward to sharing the finished product fairly soon.

I have also been shooting throughout my pregnancy with a local photographer. We worked together every couple of weeks throughout the summer, in various outdoor woodland locations, and have created a lovely, artistic series which is destined for an exhibition some time next year. We will continue to shoot throughout the winter (though probably indoors) but those images won't be released online until next year, when hopefully the exhibition will get some publicity.

I will hopefully be shooting maternity images until the new year (as long as baby doesn't show up early!). I'm happy to travel within the UK and I have some unique ideas up my sleeve for photos featuring my bump. The baby is due in mid January, but I think I will probably stop shooting maternity images after the new year, otherwise it's cutting it a bit fine! Hopefully in spring 2012, I will return to modelling, but on a more casual basis. Meanwhile, I'll be back soon with some more 'blossoming' photos.

Who knew there were so many ways of wearing a little black dress, eh? Even when sporting a bump! (This is my favourite maternity outfit, in all of its versions. I like flaunting the bump). Images by and copyright of Chris Rout.

All Change!

Well, I thought it was about time for a long overdue blog entry.

For anyone who follows my work, I'd just like to let you know that I have decided not to renew the subscription on my current main portfolio site. After almost ten years on onemodelplace, I have built up my portfolio over time, and my page is representative of a decade's worth of modelling. I don't mind admitting that I am proud of every image on that portfolio, and have maintained the subscription (mostly for sentimental reasons) so that I had an online body of work all on one page, that I linked from all my other websites. I have always been loyal to OMP as it was the first modelling website I signed up to, and it used to generate a lot of work. My portfolio there has received well over 3.6 million views, I have 46 showcased images, and at one time had roughly the same number and more again on photographer's profiles. I was and still am a featured model on OMP; one of only four or five British models ever to be featured, and (I think) I have the second highest viewing ratings of any British model ever, which for an international networking site with thousands of members, is quite an achievement. Of all that, I am proud.

However, the site has become increasingly expensive, and less user-friendly. I liked the simplicity of the early days with HTML, which has been replaced by unnecessary flash and complicated menu systems. These days, the site takes forever to download, and is impossible to manage, as well as the fact that the UK membership has dwindled to almost nothing, and all those photographers who used to be connected on the site have disappeared. It is, therefore, no longer cost effective to keep it going, and I can't justify it any longer simply for sentimental reasons.

So, if you follow my blog, then I encourage you to visit my main portfolio before I downgrade the subscription. It currently houses 300 of my favourite images spanning ten years of work. It should remain active until at least 19th November, when it will be downgraded. You can visit it here: www.onemodelplace.com/erosanne

Once I have downgraded that profile, I will be using a new portfolio via a very promising new site called Purple Port. I'll shortly link all my websites to my portfolio here: www.purpleport.com/portfolio/erosanne/ This new portfolio features a selection of my photos from 2010 onwards, but I won't be uploading archived material. Many of the images on my original portfolio are not online elsewhere, so after these next few days, they will be consigned to history (and old hard drives). The end of an era.

I'm accompanying this blog post with a new image which may go some way towards explaining my recent modelling hiatus. It may also help to explain why I have recently chosen to re-prioritise my life (a very good reason that I wasn't ready to share sooner). I am very excited about the direction my life will shortly be taking (January, to be precise), and while I hope to continue modelling in future, I can't 100% guarantee I will have the time or inclination. I hope to carry on modelling next year for creative reasons, even if only for fun, and in the meantime I will certainly be modelling until Christmas (albeit in a slightly different style!) and there are many more of these images to come. This is the first of many, and happens to be the first image I have received back from recent shoots.

Image by and copyright of Shaun McGarry

at Bright Lights Studio