La Señorita Roja

Hello folks! I'm currently enjoying the wilds of Scotland. I have a broken mobile phone, an intermittent WIFI connection (dodgy at best), and a hole in my car radiator. Despite this, I think my communication difficulties have probably done me a favour, as it's all too easy to live vicariously through technology, and this way I have a proper break from everything, including the need to be permanently attached to my phone! I am still contactable while away, but may be delayed responding to email or phone calls. It's a 'working holiday' so although I'm enjoying some time out, I'm also enjoying some fantastic shoots here in Scotland. I'll catch up again soon with an update and some new images.

Meanwhile, this is a photo from a shoot not too far from home in Derbyshire, taken by Tony Else.

Image by and copyright of Tony Else.

The Colours Of My Life

Today, if you weren't aware, was the Royal Wedding (and if you didn't already know, perhaps you have been hiding under a rock!). I must confess, I am a bit of a Royalist at heart. Having lived abroad for some time made me appreciate the Royals and what they do for the United Kingdom, and I do love a good wedding! Some some good old fashioned romance, combined with a bit of traditional pomp and circumstance. You can't go wrong!

I didn't go to London to watch the affair, but I did enjoy watching it with family on a big TV screen. Not having a TV in my household meant going to visit my father, who does, and who lives surrounded by countryside. Following the nuptials and some strawberries and champagne, I took the dogs for a walk in the neighbouring countryside, and re-discovered some beautiful rural spots I was once familiar with as a child. The flowers and fields have really come to life at this time of year. Best of all, were several areas where bluebells had sprung out in the woods, with a backdrop of bright yellow rapeseed field. You may recall that last year, I shot in both bluebell woods, and in yellow rapeseed, but I have never before been presented with the opportunity to shoot both at the same time.

I dashed back to the house to grab a few choice items of clothing (luckily, I had brought a few with me for just such an occasion), slapped on a bit of makeup and grabbed Dave A Davies with his camera.

I wanted to celebrate the beauty of the great British countryside, with some colourful, dreamy shots to capture the mood of the day. I love this series, and am struggling to pick a favourite, so feel free to comment.

I'll be heading up to Scotland on Sunday for a few weeks of well-deserved rest and play, but with a healthy dose of work thrown in for good measure. I'm really looking forward to my trip, and hope to have more summery shots to share on my return. Let's just hope the weather holds out! I've been blessed with some very productive shoots in good weather lately, so let's hope there are more to come.

The colors of my life
Are bountiful and bold,
The purple glow of indigo,
The gleam of green and gold.
The splendor of the sunrise,
The dazzle of a flame,
The glory of a rainbow,
I'd put 'em all to shame.

(Lyrics from 'Barnum')

Images by and copyright of Dave A Davies

In Memoriam

I was saddened to hear that Jim Carter recently passed away. I worked with Jim at his studio (based in a fabulous old mill near Manchester) last summer. He was a great man with a fantastic sense of humour, as well as a talented photographer. Although I only worked with Jim once, I am very sorry to hear of his passing, and my thoughts are with his family and friends. The above image is one of my favourites from our shoot together, and is featured in Jim's book, which I mentioned earlier in my blog here.

In other news, I've done several shoots recently, but still have no photos to show for it. But watch this space, and hopefully I'll update soon.

Image by and copyright of Jim Carter.

RIP Jim.

Back to Reality

Well, I am back from Europe! I enjoyed the tour, particularly some of the fabulous venues I got to sing in. Although I didn't get much time for socializing or behaving like a tourist, I did get to see some of the wonderful scenery of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. I had never visited Austria or Switzerland prior to this tour, and I was very impressed by the beauty of the scenery in both countries - both of which I would very much like to visit again! I was also (as always) extremely impressed by the pizza in Italy. ;-) (I love Italian food!)

(One of my photos of the view from my hotel window in Switzerland.)

I'm now back for the foreseeable future, and although there are the odd gigs scattered here and there, (including one in Bruges in a couple of weeks time), I'm basically back for good and looking for modelling work. I'm planning a trip to Scotland in May. I will definitely be travelling as far as Banffshire, and hopefully as far as the Highlands, so I am also happy to stop anywhere on route, either on the way up or on the way back. I always enjoy my visits to Scotland.

I'd also like to visit the South coast this year, so am looking for photographers in that area so I can hopefully arrange a tour and work with several people at once. There are several photographers in Bournemouth, Brighton, Southampton and Somerset (amongst others) I would like to work with, but it is quite a lengthy and expensive journey from Chesterfield, so I would like to combine a number of visits into one trip with slightly less travelling in between shoots.

I'm also hoping to pick up more work throughout the remainder of April, and am happy to consider offers from photographers local(ish) to Chesterfield. I am also happy to travel anywhere within about 3 hours drive (anywhere I can visit on a day trip), but I would need a little more forward planning to visit further afield.

These are some more images taken by Richard Lund a couple of weeks ago. Richard has launched a new website at www.lundfoto.co.uk where you can view more of his work.

Modelling images by and copyright of Richard Lund.

Landscape image by and copyright of ERosanne.

Lure of the Spotlight!

If you follow my blog, you will be pleased to hear that I made it safely to Europe without diverting any planes this time around!

I'm enjoying the remainder of the European tour, and have loved performing in some amazing venues, including (my favourites) Salzburg Arena (no less) and Graz. I've travelled through Germany and Austria, and am now in Italy. I had never been to Austria before, and it is absolutely stunning! I have fallen a bit in love with the country, and would very much like to visit again (Austrian photographers, are you taking the hint?). The scenery is just beautiful, and there are some gorgeous little towns with lots of fantastic shops and taverns I wish I had more time to explore. The danger of intensive touring is that sometimes I see little more of each city than the inside of a hotel room, and the backstage area (and the view out of a van window), but I do make the effort to get out and see more of the city whenever time allows, and I like to take my camera out with me and do a little photography of my own. Germany and Italy also have their charm (I have visited various places in Italy many times, and Germany a few years ago) and I do love travelling - I don't think the wanderlust will ever leave me. I feel very privileged to have a career that allows me to travel, and I hope my work (whether singing or modelling) allows me to keep on visiting new places for many years to come.

(One of my photos of Austria).

I will be back from this tour on 27th March and will be available for modelling work work once again. I recently received these images back from a fairly recent shoot with Chris Holmes of www.scenicphoto.co.uk. They were shot in my small flat in St Albans, which is not really an appropriate location for photo shoots. However, we made the most of the limited space and light for a quick shoot using a small portable light (I'm afraid I don't know the technical photography term for this form of lighting, but it was not the usual portable studio flash). These images remind me rather of a spotlight effect - which seemed rather appropriate, as I am once again performing on stage (another case of my worlds colliding).

Modelling images by and copyright of Chris Holmes.

Lanscape image by and copyright of ERosanne.