Mother Earth

'Cracked Earth'

Image by and copyright of Alex Ingram

Hello again, and greetings from Scotland! Here's a quick update featuring some recent images inspired by nature.

Above is a preview image from my recent trip to the Highlands to work with Alex Ingram. Alex lives in a truly beautiful part of the world, where every direction you look in is a picture postcard. I had a lovely, relaxing time staying with Alex for a few days, away from the noise of traffic or general stresses of life. We also had a productive time shooting, and I am pleased with some lovely shots featuring the beautiful Scottish landscape. There are more to come, but here's just one for now.

'Mother Earth'

Image by and copyright of GlobalEye

This image was taken very recently, before I headed up to Scotland. I worked with Chris of Global Eye images for a day close to my own home. We shot several locations including a derelict farm house, an abandoned stately home, a good old rape seed field and a more remote part of the Peak District. (You can find more images from our day's shooting on Chris' Purestorm profile, linked above). The above image was taken in a natural stone crater, carved into one of the huge rocks of the Peak District. Presumably it was formed millions of years ago when the whole area was under water from melting glaciers. There is something so awesome about nature, forging a lasting reminder of its power; so unrelenting and ferocious that the water carved this huge cleft into an apparently solid stone.

'Nature's Seed'

Image by and copyright of David Porter

Lastly, this is an image taken from a studio day at Elgin Studios. I worked with several photographers on the day, and had taken this rather unusual prop with me to shoot. It was found by the loch side, while visiting Alex in the Highlands, and appears to be some sort of withered tree/branch with dried seed pods. It is around 6 feet tall, but I liked the look of it and insisted on bringing it with me! It was fun to work with, and certainly an unusual accessory.

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.