I went down to London at the weekend to attend a workshop led by the photographer Craig Fleming who has had several entries in the Portrait Photographer of the Year Award in the past. It was a chance to watch his process, ask questions and spend some time in a studio environment which is rare for me. The model was Laurie Delaney who was fantastic to shoot and made it easy to make some portraits I was pleased with. Craig created a very relaxed and open atmosphere so no question felt too basic and it was easy to follow his lead.
portrait
George
Portraits of George who turned 100 a few weeks back. As the local doctor in St Davids for many years he is something of a local legend. It was a real privilege to be asked to take some portraits to add to his memoir that his granddaughter wrote some years ago. His age has diminished his hearing and vision somewhat but he still manages to get out on his tricycle and enjoys reading the news. George has given a lifetime of service to the RNLI; the Western Telegraph gave a good summary of his lifes work in their piece on the occasion of his 100th birthday.
He served as honorary medical advisor (HMA) at St Davids RNLI for many years and launched with the boat a number of times for medical rescues.He became the HMA in 1956 and was also a member of the RNLI’s national medical committee for many years, researching medical incidents, finding and testing medical equipment and designing the medical training for lifeboat crews throughout the RNLI.
Dr Middleton was also one of the founders of Porthmawr surf lifesaving club at Whitesands over 60 years ago which is as vibrant now as was all those years ago and has a close affiliation with the RNLI lifeguards.
He also regularly accompanied the RAF rescue helicopters from Brawdy on missions off the coasts of both Wales and Ireland. Dr Middleton has been awarded the RNLI’s Silver and Gold service badges and is a life Governor of the RNLI.
Dr Middleton was also awarded an MBE in recognition of his services with the RNLI and other organisations.
Flicking through his memoir it’s interesting to read about life as the doctor in a small coastal location in the 1950’s. George loved to spend time at the beach but it was a radio blackspot so if he was needed in town, a local household with radio reception would hang a towel out of the window to alert him. When Search and Rescue helicopters were based at the local airbase, he would find himself onboard and taken out to all kinds of emergencies including trips out to the offshore lighthouses when they were still manned by a small crew.
I reflected that over the course of his lifetime, George can say that he has seen it all, and while tensions in Ukraine rumble on to an unknown conclusion, George reads about it in his daily newspaper and maybe it feels like a petty squabble when seen through the wideangle view of 100 years.
Studio portraits - Robin
It was a pleasure to have my friend Robin come in for some portraits the other day. Covid put a stop to any such shoots of late so it was nice to be able to have someone sit for me again. I was inspired by a recent Phil Fisk shoot with Paul Weller to try some high key lighting with some gelled lights to give some colour as Phil had done in his shots. I love Phil’s portraits and his use of light is fantastic. Robins colouring struck me as suiting this style of shot so I invited him into my humble home studio. In the end the session was a little frustrating as using battery powered (possibly not charged recently :/ ) flash units made for inconsistent results. I suspect this was due to several factors present in a very DIY setup! I’d used a white cube used for product photography balanced on top of one speedlight to act as a high key backdrop. The only reliable element was my softbox as the front light. To the side I tried a gelled flash in slave mode to flash when the other units fired. From one shot to the next the lighting would give different results and so it was virtually impossible to work towards what I wanted! I was still pleased with the results that we achieved. We chatted Zappa and films and when there was a pause I took some shots and rolled with whatever results the lights decided to offer! Towards the end I went back to the classic one light style against a black background and had some lovely results but there is a reason why a well equipped studio is a powerful tool.
An unexpected joy was reading the messages Robin’s kids had sent to him when he showed them the results. This year has meant that many relationships have felt somewhat on hold despite the best abilities of technology to help us maintain connections with those that we don’t live close to. I think these shots made a nice change to a fuzzy image on Zoom. We underestimate the importance of seeing the faces of loved ones in real life and maybe the next best thing is a good picture.
Clare sent Today at 22:16
Omg DAD! These are AMAZING!!!! I absolutely love them!! And love that you did this!! I'm going to have one of them printed and framed. It captures your cheeky smile, always plotting a quick whip. Number 10 makes you look like a thug!
Paddy sent Today at 22:20
These are great dad. I love toms photos. Number 6 sums up a number of emotions. Great to see your smile but also just nice to see pics of you. X
Portraits - Big Dave
in Studio
I’ve known Dave for a while. We met on the beach a few years ago and got chatting and when I see his recognisable van parked up, I’ll go say hello and we’ll shoot the breeze for a good while. I’ve known since we met that he’d make a good subject for a portrait but it took a while to make it happen. The other day I found him fettling his van down the road and I suggested he was looking suitably rugged for a portrait and so he stopped by when he’d finished.
Lucy Davies Nutrition
in Life, Commercial, People
Lucy needed images for her website and social media but was not keen on having her picture taken. Lucy runs workshops on making chocolate, kombucha and other fermented goodies so we decided that some shots during a workshop would provide a good opportunity to get some nice natural images. We had a big, light kitchen to work in so all went well and as a bonus I came away with some tasty treats!
Lucy’s workshops are good fun and she makes the slightly daunting task of making your own fermented foods straightforward and enjoyable. A relaxing, fun atmosphere, simple instructions and supervision make it easy to get started with fermenting at home. Some pics below.
Studio portraits
After a little while of experimenting with taking portraits I’m now offering this as a service. Whether you would like a portrait taken simply for your own reasons or if you need images for professional use, get in touch and we can arrange a shoot. If you’ve felt uncomfortable in front of the camera in the past, be assured of an informal and relaxed atmosphere.
Since starting out with taking pictures of friends I’ve found portraiture to be a fascinating branch of photography. Unsurprising really as I suppose portraiture is at the heart of photography, the human form the original subject and so many faces having been recorded over the decades since the first images were made. Maybe rather grandiose words but there’s something magic about getting the light right and capturing a special image of a person. Anyway, here are some of my favourites…
