Rain Stopped Play

I do enjoy working with a range of models, usually selecting the most appropriate model for a location, but it’s not really much of a secret that the model I work with most is the lovely Lulu Lockhart. She has a perfect figure for Art Nude, the genre I shoot most, has a superb look for portraits, and I’ve also seen many excellent fashion shots of her, so much so that I’m having to seriously try hard to resist working with her in this genre :)

While it’s not a pre-requisite that you have to ‘click’ with a model to get good images it certainly helps, especially if you are doing multi-day shoots and thus spending a lot of time together. Fortunately after quite a few trips we have found that we do get on with each very well, we are spookily similar in many ways – good looks apart of course ;) – and we work together very well as a team, both in suggesting and developing ideas between us.

I was fortunate earlier in the year to work with her on a trip to Ireland, accompanied by talented fellow photographer Hugh Alison. It probably won’t come as too much of a surprise that on the last day it rained heavily, as apparently it sometimes does in Ireland!

Fortunately I had a plan B and had previously researched a studio in Cork called Platform3, near to where I was flying back from. The owners were most helpful and responsive when I contacted them early on a Sunday morning to make the booking, even more so when I extended the booking while driving en route to there. Hugh was also going to join us in the studio, but sadly all – and I mean all – of the car parks in Cork city centre have height restrictions around 2 inches lower than the height of his wonderful old Land Rover, meaning he was unable to join us.

The first image was actually taken in the bedroom of the lodge we were staying in, and it’s a natural portrait that I just adore, so much so that it’s the wallpaper on my computer at work – I must have known this as I handily left lots of space around her for all the icons on my computer desktop :)

The next one was taken in the studio, and is actually another portrait. Lulu is fair-skinned and has lovely golden hair, but for some reason when processing this I gave her a dark moody look. I love it, and would not have been surprised if the model didn’t like it, bet she actually liked it a lot. I must experiment more.

The studio has lots of lovely natural light, so getting down low with a window behind her gave this wonderful shape and lighting. We did quite a few poses, but when she looked at me like this I knew that was just what I wanted. I have many of my images around our house as A2 prints, and this one currently adorns our dining room wall, allowing me to enjoy it every day.

The next few were against a beautiful textured wall, with a nice dynamic pose followed by a nice soft pose using one of the interesting props in the studio.

And finally a couple of my above shots, taken a few days before, in the Jacuzzi which was on the porch of the lodge we were staying in. We got loads of great shots in here, as unsurprisingly models are quite happy to pose for long periods in nice warm water.

You may be wondering where the wonderful landscape shots are from my Irish trip, and I think Lulu and Hugh are probably thinking the same, but they will have to wait for another day.

Many thanks to Dave and Mike for their responsiveness in making the booking and for their great studio, and to Hugh for such a great trip and for having such a tall Land Rover, allowing me even more shooting time with Lulu ;-)

And my greatest thanks of course to Lulu, who is so easy to work with and produce great images, it’s no surprise that we have many future shoots planned.