Kelly J Photography

I've Moved...

2012-01-07T18:49:00.000Z

You can visit my brand new blog HERE

The content on this blog will be kept here but no longer updated, so for new updates on photoshoots, behind the scenes, tutorials, freebies and much much more.. please go visit my new blog.

Thankyou,
- Kel

Seattle at Night.

2011-11-16T00:40:00.001Z

Autumn walk at Greenlake,

2011-11-16T00:37:00.002Z

Some new Self Portraits.

2011-11-03T01:08:00.002Z

It's been a month since I've done any kind of portraits, so I felt it was about time I got some up on the net. Here's some self portraits from today;

Bloody Mary..
inspired by supernatural

Insomnia...

Halloween at Seattle Zoo. pt 1.

2011-11-03T01:05:00.001Z

Seattle Spaceneedle.

2011-11-03T01:04:00.000Z

Mukilteo at Night.

2011-11-03T01:01:00.001Z

Long Exposure, Mukilteo.

I love the Rain.

2011-10-06T22:54:00.001+01:00

Cholesterol: OMG

2011-10-06T01:11:00.000+01:00

Away for 2 months.

2011-10-04T11:16:00.000+01:00

So here I am, sat in our bedroom in a house-share in Mukilteo WA, deciding what I'll do here for the next 2 months. My boyfriend is working here, so I have week days to fill up with things I want to do for myself. I'm thinking of building my tutorial material for my new blog, maybe make a better start on my self portrait project, maybe adventure round town with my camera and hopefully vist some online friends in Seattle. I have no idea how to get around places, or where any public transport is but I guess I will figure it all out.

I'll be blogging some stuff while I'm here, so keep a look out. Also if anyone has any suggestions as to what I can do while I'm here please go ahead and let me know.

Salford Quays with Connie.

2011-10-03T02:04:00.000+01:00

Vintage Bridal with Amanda.

2011-10-02T01:46:00.000+01:00

Behind the Waterfall Boutique.

2011-09-28T04:25:00.002+01:00

A set for; Behind the Waterfall Boutique - Hand crafted Jewellery in the UK.

Model; Natalie Harrison
Make-up Artist; Kirsten Davies

Inspired by; Elisa - Rainbow

2011-09-28T04:19:00.002+01:00

My Latest self portrait, part of my new 'Inspired by' Project.

Shoot with Amber Fern.

2011-09-28T04:06:00.004+01:00

Some of the images taken on my shoot with Amber;

Daine - Stranded

2011-09-17T17:25:00.000+01:00

This is my friends new original song, please have a listen =)

Birthday Gift.

2011-09-15T19:10:00.001+01:00

Some shots me and my brother did for our mum's birthday;

Shoot with Becci and Jack.

2011-09-15T18:49:00.002+01:00

This is something very different for me, but I'm expanding my portfolio ready for my return in December. Here's a photoshoot I did with my friend Becci and her son Jack.

Apples and Delamere Forest.

2011-09-05T10:41:00.002+01:00

Shoot with Caz Whitney;

Horror/Creative portraits with Tuesday Amber

2011-09-03T19:45:00.002+01:00

Last weekends set with Tuesday Amber; (which she braved the cold and wet woodlands for)

Zombie Photoset .

2011-09-01T18:55:00.002+01:00

Finally, here is the zombie photoset from last weeks shoot with Tuesday Amber and Damo (who delightfully nicknamed himself Deadmo for the shoot)

WARNING: Themes of Violence (and bloody goodness)

Vintage Lingerie shoot with Elle J.

2011-08-12T17:11:00.003+01:00

Had a shoot with Miss Elle J Divine a couple of weeks ago and just enjoyed the whole experience. The location we used was her mum's vintage bridal work shop (http://www.daisymaedesigns.co.uk/) which provided the nicest light I've ever worked in. Elle J had lots of props and ideas, and it made it very difficult to choose just a few images to edit.

Nicola and Wills' Wedding

2011-08-12T15:08:00.003+01:00

I was invited along to Nicola and Wills' wedding as a second shooter last month. The wedding started off with the groom and groomsmen coming into the venue on motorbikes, the best man even dressed as evil kenevil. Nicola came down the aisle of the registery office wearing a gorgeous red and black corseted lace dress, and red and black shoes.

The whole ceremony was full of laughs, and interesting characters. Alternative weddings are definitely the most fun!

Rhyl Shoot with MissIngwer

2011-04-21T00:03:00.003+01:00

Last week I had a shoot with MissIngwer in sunny Rhyl. Yes, for the first time in a very long time, I encountered Rhyl on a sunny day. It was more like a day out with a friend than a shoot, I had such a good time. We also rode on the Carousel for some shots, which gave us some funny looks from passers by.

Here's some behind the scenes;

Kissing a lovely skull man.

Riding on the Carousel.

Masked Shoot Behind the Scenes.

2011-04-20T23:21:00.003+01:00

I'd been organising this shoot for a while. The main problem I had, was finding the right location. I had another abandoned house in mind, but realised that it wasn't accessible. It wasn't until a week or so before the shoot, I remembered this abandoned house and barn which was next to an old abandoned chapel I had explored last year. My brother modelled alongside Tuesday Amber, who by the way, I'd highly recommend!

My boyfriend; John, assisted us on the shoot, and took some behind the scenes pictures... never trust your boyfriend to take behind the scenes pictures by the way as you will end up finding lots of pictures of your own bum on the camera!!! =P

Here are some ottakes;

John making a "tripod face" on the wall. I didn't really get it, but he was very amused!

Ben, trying to make the mask face, but without the mask. I believe this is scarier!

Ben doing a strange pose, he started dancing after this..

Some of the behind the scenes that John took, that are not my bum.. or dog poo;

Ben climbed into the house through a window

Directing the shoot.

Tuesday Amber, without her mask =)

Spring Ball Pictures.

2011-04-20T22:56:00.004+01:00

I was asked to photograph a Charity Spring Ball for Make a Wish Foundation. The event was hosted by James Lovatt, and took place in Nant Hall, Prestatyn.

Here's some pictures from the night;

^ The Big Group Photo.

^ The three finalists for best dressed competition, with Jessica Minh Anh of J Model Management.

and, some of me on the night;

^ taken by James Lovatt

^ at our house before the event (excuse the mess, john had been cleaning the fish tank)

^ With Jessica Minh Anh of J Model Management, taken by Lottie Davis.

Months worth of blogging starts now.

2011-04-20T22:40:00.003+01:00

I haven't blogged in ages, even though I've had so much to blog about. So I'll be making several posts tonight.

Firstly, March started with Focus On Imaging, which I attended on the second day. My favourite part of the day included a Wedding Photography talk by Brett Harkness, which inspired me even more to start my wedding venture.

Then shortly after Focus, I headed down to Somerset with my boyfriend and my younger brother to visit my Mum. The weather was beautiful and me and my brother spent most of our time there taking pictures. We had a meal in the village that Hot Fuzz was filmed, went to the beach, got my mum to watch The Hangover for the second time, and went glastonbury on our last day.

Well that's blog number 1 done, the next one will be a bit more image heavy....

Shoot with Suzie Sequin

2011-02-15T22:33:00.003Z

I keep meaning to post things on here but I always run out of time. Anyway, last week I had a valentines/fashion themed shoot with Burlesque dancer; Suzie Sequin.
The shoot took place in Chester Grosvener Park, one of my favourite places to shoot! It just happened to be one of the five windiest days we've ever had. Last week the weather was rather mental, people's roof tiles were flying off, our shed roof got ruined and a lorry even blew over on the motorway near manchester. So our shoot was a very difficult one, especially considering we were going to start on the Chester bridge but as soon as I started snapping, the whole bridge shook and waved all over the place.

We finally got some good shots in the park itself though, despite the crazy wind. I have no behind the scenes to show you as I did not have an assistant that day, so here's some final edits;

Speakers Corner shoot.

2011-01-22T17:05:00.002Z

On Tuesday I had two shoots in one day, and feeling quite unwell, this wasn't going to be easy. I set off from Chester at 10:15am and arrived in Colwyn Bay at 11am where I was met by two very cold models.
The building the we were using; Speakers Corner, wasn't much warmer but it definitely beat being outside. So First I did my set with model; Chainsaw, and we started off by getting some shots by the pool table.. this however didn't work out as well as hoped as the lighting was far too low and even the reflector wasn't making much of a difference. We then worked our way through some shots around the band equipment in the main building and then finished up with some lingerie and nude shots upstairs in an unused room.
The second set with model; Terl, involved lots of marshmallows, dolly mixture and sprinkles, and we also threw some fake blood into the mixture.

Overall it was quite a tiring day, and I pretty much passed out after getting home, but the shots came out really well and it was a very pleasing and interesting shoot.

Some behind the scenes;

from left; Me, Terl and Chainsaw

Chainsaw giving some builders across the street a good view!

Thanks for reading - Kel

Finished Edit.

2011-01-04T16:35:00.003Z

One of the final images.

What's in the box?

2011-01-04T16:19:00.002Z

Yesterday morning, in the freezing cold, we started our shoot in quite a grim field in North Wales. Not far from a football match, I set up my tripod and a cardboard box that I'd found in our 'moved house collection'.

My model, Sarah, climbed into the box and made herself comfortable in the polystyrene. I shot with my new Canon 5D and used Photoshop CS2 to make her skin look more corpse-like.

Here's some behind the scenes;

Someone recently said I was "like a photography ninja or something", so when I went through the behind the scenes images, I found this and laughed... look at that stealth!!

New Year, New Camera.

2011-01-01T16:01:00.002Z

I'm starting off the new year with a Canon EOS 5D mk I, and I'm pretty excited to start shooting with it, that's for sure.

Here's a couple of shots I got with some leftover fake cobweb from halloween;

My Brothers Birthday.

2010-12-21T18:13:00.003Z

Yesterday was my younger brother's 18th birthday, so I baked him a cake.
His dream is to make films, and direct them, so I thought this cake would be the most suitable;

Vanilla Sponge, with Blue buttercream frosting, covered in fondant! Softest cake I've ever made =D

Abandoned Building Horror Shoot.

2010-10-23T14:19:00.000+01:00

Wednesday, I ventured into Colwyn Bay to do a horror/halloween special with models; Chelsey Hillier and Lozz Duffy, make-up artist; Kait Angst, and Zacky Storm as our 'getting us into the abandoned building' assistant!

We had so many props and concepts to get through, that we only managed some of them and the rest have been saved for next time! The temperature in the building, was beyond freezing, I felt terrible for wearing a coat as the two girls had to strip down and get into several costumes, and at one point Chelsey was mostly naked and shivering to death!

Anyway, here's some behind the scenes;

Kait doing Chelsey's make-up for the first set;

Kait making the second costume out of halloween hazzard style tape;

Directing the models for the fourth set of images;

The creative team (from left; me, kait, lozz and chelsey)

New blog.

2010-09-21T17:43:00.000+01:00

All my new posts will be here; http://keljdavies.tumblr.com/ so please add.

Suicide Project part 1.

2010-09-15T22:58:00.005+01:00

So I haven't wrote about this yet. Me and model; Chelsey Hillier and have been doing a project for before and afters, running along the theme of suicide. We started this project a few weeks back, whilst also testing out a new chocolate flavoured blood recipe, as suggested by my good friend Mary! We started off by taking an old chair, and some rope, and tying a noose to a very sturdy tree. Chelsey stood on the chair with the noose around her neck for the after photo, and I then photoshopped out the chair during post processing.

We then ventured onto a river bank, and took some before and afters for our Gun concept, where we shot in front of a graffiti'd lookout. This was where we got to really use the fake blood, and according to the model, it definitely tasted nicer than the usual recipe!

We should be doing more for this project, so keep a look out for more soon!

Final Edits;

some behind the scenes pictures;

..after the shoot had finished. I still have lots of blood in my jug!

..applying some fake blood to Chelsey's face.

..Taken by Ben, as he was hanging from the top of the lookout.

..mid shoot.

..Me with my camera, and my lovely boyfriend helping me in the background!

New Fan Page

2010-02-13T16:38:00.002Z

Just a quick one, I now have a facebook fan page for my photography so please take a look; http://www.facebook.com/pages/Synthetic-Media-Photography/454940640383?ref=mf

Also, a friend of mine set up a group for artists and creatives, inluding musicians, filmmakers and photographers. Please join the LOST CAUSE CLUB and help develop this group.

Finally, here's an edit from me and Jen's shoot;

Diner Photoshoot with Jen.

2010-01-27T21:57:00.000Z

On saturday I was lucky enough to shoot with Jen, who'd I'd been organising something with for a while. We had permission to shoot at Arnold's diner in Wrexham, which is rather big and full of interesting things to photograph.

(left - before the shoot, right - between costume changes)

The shoot started at just after 11.30am, the light wasn't brilliant to start off with so it was very hard to correctly expose any images, as the day went on and more light came through the windows it was much easier to get the photographs we wanted.

(you can see me in the glass, haha.. doii)

Jen was a great model, she posed perfectly and was so much fun to work with. The staff asked if she would like to go behind the bar for some photographs, so we got some of her pretending to pull a pint =)

(there was a ricky martin cd up there, honest)

(jen with the manager of arnolds!)

Final edits coming soon.

Been a while.

2010-01-18T22:54:00.004Z

So I've been quite out of the loop lately. So much has been going on at home and the weather has screwed up everything I've tried to organise in the last month or two so I'm now trying to get back on track. I have some shoots lined up for the next three months which I'm very excited about, I will keep posted about those. I also updated my website since I last blogged, nothing fancy just more of my work; http://www.syntheticmedia.co.uk/ now with a horror section =) whoo!

I've also written an Beginners Photography Guide, for the jan issue of a newsletter, which will be published soon. Looking forward to getting some feedback from that.

Just wanted to show you some of my friends artwork, some of his drawings are on deviantART, but here are some designs he did using my photography as reference;

Anyways, hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year, mine was rather good, but unfortunately may be the last one in this house. I think 2010 is going to be a very scary but exciting year.

Also before I forget, I'm now on Twitter, you can find me here for all quick updates; http://twitter.com/keljphotography

Horror shoot with Chelly and Joe.

2009-10-05T00:01:00.008+01:00

This shoot had been planned for weeks, it had been re-scheduled a few times, but we had an 'axe theme' in mind. Last minute we couldn't get the axe, had trouble finding some of the clothing, things were running late, it started to rain -- pretty much whatever could go wrong, was going wrong.

However, I had a bag with some assorted things in, as well as a shovel, and some fake blood, so there was no way I was coming out of the shoot without anything decent.

So this morning, around 10ish, I picked Chelsey up from the station, we walked back to mine to pick up the props and to have a natter before meeting Joe. The rain started and stopped a couple of times, I worried that my camera may get soaked but it turned out to be fine.

Well, as far as the technical side of the shoot went, the lighting was awful. Possibly because of the mixture of dark rain clouds, and trees, but I had to bring my shutter speed right down.. which was very inpractical since I didn't have a tripod.. and I'd had no sleep in 7 days and had taken too much of my inhalor due to allergies so I was shaking like a leaf!! Although I'm quite pleased that the majority of the images came out nice and sharp, and rather surprised as my handheld slow shutter speed shots tend to go very badly ^___^

I feel so sorry for Chelsey, she was dragged, almost actually stabbed, had fake blood poured all over her (that won't come off) and she almost lost a shoe! She was brilliant though, It feels like it's been too long since I worked with her last. Can't wait for our next theme =)

...now some candids;

As they were getting into position for the pose, Joe accidentally dragged Chelly a tad, and it took her by surprise, I caught her expression on camera but I was laughing so hard that the camera shook like mad;

Seriously getting to like the whole killing people thing, a bit too much ^___^;

and for a final edit;

Will upload more soon when they're done.

I was actually, contemplating doing another news article for deviantART. I used to do articles for unseen photographers who needed critique on their work for improvement. Although I was looking through the old ones, and the comments on the very first article completely pissed me off, I'd forgotton how ignorant people were about the subject. However, about two or more years on, these so called photographers who didn't believe in my cause, or that critique is a good way to learn, never did improve their own galleries in the end, so I wonder who's method of learning was more helpful all along? ;) It has now encouraged me to make a new article even more now, and hopefully the fact that my gallery is far more popular these days, will help get the featured artists even more exposure. I really feel as if the people who need critique are getting neglected because people just fave, fave, fave instead of taking the time to comment the art they feel could use some help.. I remember joining for the first time, and when I started uploading my photography, it was awful, yet the critique I got helped me improve tons, I probably wouldn't be where I am now if it hadn't have been for the feedback and help. It just annoys me that people think if you want to improve you should just read a photography book, when in fact, yes photography books are great to start out with but what is the actual point in joining a COMMUNITY if you can't use the feedback and critique as a tool to LEARN.
//rant.

Some edits yes?

2009-09-25T00:13:00.004+01:00

I finished all my edits in one day =) How good am I? haha. So yeah, here's some from Demi's shoot;

annndd, here's a HDR landscape that I managed to quickly fit in, Haven't done one of these in sooo long;

Llandudno with Demi.

2009-09-24T19:16:00.004+01:00

Today I had a portfolio shoot with Demi, in Llandudno (North Wales ofc)! This was the second time shooting with her, and the second time doing portraits in that area. I did not get one single ounce of sleep last night, so I got myself up at 5:30am and got myself and my equipment ready. I walked down to the station, it was boiling, and really sunny, which disappointed me a bit because everyone knows I like clouds in my portraits.

As the train arrived in 'Dudno, I could see clouds looming over, and that made me extreeemely happy =) We started on the beach itself just below Happy Valley, I tried really hard not to fall on the rocks, didn't wanna chance breaking my camera.. then we walked through Happy Valley itself, and then along the pier and front. We walked miles today to be fair, and the weather kept changing from cloudy/windy to hot and sunny... so I was boiling hot and shattered by the time I came home.

It seems to have been worth it though, the changes in weather made for some different effects, and I'm really excited about these shots, can't wait to finish editing them.

I will post some final edits tomorrow, but for now, here's a picture of a butterfly I managed to quickly capture whilst doing some portraits... didn't have time to put on my macro lens, so it's not as close up as I'd like;

Shoot with Lee.

2009-09-24T01:00:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I had a last minute shoot with a friend, using a familiar location. I love how I can do a gazillion shoots there and still manage to come away with completely different shots.

Now, Lee isn't a model and this wasn't a portfolio shoot, so there was no pressure, yet I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to take photographs of him, I hardly gave any direction, it was just natural. This was probably the most relaxed picture taking I've ever done ^__^ ya know, apart from all the dogs I had to dodge.. I farrrkin hate dogs >___<

(just one of our candids)

(lee loooves cookies =P)

Now for some final edits;

Tomorrow I have another shoot, I should be in bed by now actually, but I've been distracted by Lynyrd Skynyrd yet again. The shoot is taking place in Happy Valley, Llandudno, and the last time I did a portrait shoot there it was mega sunny and hot... So this time I'll probably get a completely different view of the place with it being rather dull and windy lately... Also it's during school time and very early in the morning so there will be far less people around... which suits me just fine ^___^

Busy couple of weeks ahead of me. Got three more shoots booked for the next week and a half, not to mention the couple of shoots that are still pending confirmation.. which means lots of new stuff for my gallery.. can't wait ;)

Upcoming projects.

2009-09-21T00:56:00.003+01:00

So I currently have 4 shoots booked for the next couple of weeks. Two of them are personal shoots, and the other two are themed shoots with models I've previously worked with. So hopefully within the next few weeks I should have some new themed material to post up on the interwebs. I'm itching to use my camera for proper uses, it feels like it's been too long.

I'm also looking for locations for several other projects, so if anyone knows of any good places to do an urbex or shoot in, it can even be an outdoor public location, just give me a shout, and I'll have a looksie.

Anyway, last week of freedom, so I'm off to enjoy it =)

My ink-age

2009-09-10T13:46:00.000+01:00

So, I got my newest tattoo done a month or more ago, and still haven't posted the pic. I still haven't got a decent pic though, so I'll just have to post my mobile piccy

(on my left hip. designed by alex. inked by charley)

.. and if you havent seen my others...

Latest shoots.

2009-08-25T19:22:00.001+01:00

So lately I've been busy with designing someones website, so soon I won't have a lot of time to fit shoots and edits in. However I did manage two shoots in the last week, One shoot with two of my oldest friends; sisters Dani and Steph.. and another portfolio shoot with new model Demi Alexandra.

Shoot with Dani and Steph

We weren't really sure where we were going to do this photoshoot, but I'd had a couple of ideas in mind. So on the day, we decided to go to the beach, as it was dry and fairly warm. Dani was driving, and had no idea where to go, so we just said head straight for the coast, and we soon arrived in Talacre. Not exactly the most amazing place if you are planning to sunbathe and swim in the sea, but a very nice spot to do a portrait shoot. I'd only ever shot landscapes and HDR's here before, so I was excited to get something different this time.

We were aiming for a more classic look, as their mum wanted some prints to frame. It was great how they posed together so naturally, made my job a lot easier! Plus photographing them jumping off sand dunes was pretty hilarious!

(candid shot, dani (left) steph (right).. "no steph, you should not lick it" XD)

Here's how one of the final edits turned out..

Shoot with Demi

I had promised Demi a shoot quite a while before we actually got round to it, as I'd been so busy and overloaded myself with different projects.. but bless her, she waited patiently for me and we finally did our long awaited shoot. We decided to meet in Rhyl, and explore some of the scenes together, and despite it being one of the hottest and clearest days so far, we managed to get quite a lot done. I'd seriously never seen Rhyl looking so nice, and I came back with burnt arms XD

(candid shot. Isn't his comb-over ever so handsome?)

and for a final edit;

Anyway, I'll probably be back with some more stuff soon *fingers crossed*

Conceptual Horror Shoot

2009-08-10T13:58:00.002+01:00

A few weeks ago, I did a conceptual horror shoot with Kitty and Si.
We used an overgrown field not far from where I live, and seeing as it had previously been raining, the clouds were quite dark and just dramatic enough for the type of pictures we wanted.

The mask provided and made by Kitty's friend, runs along the scarecrow theme. We tried several different concepts, including romance, and childlike horror. After about half an hour of shooting, I managed to kneel on a slug, which was not pleasant.. however.. Kitty had it worse as for a lot of the shots she had to lie down and pose in the grass which was obviously soaking wet from the rain.

We also took some shots with vintage cameras, which were found in my Grandads house, he'd had them since the 50's and 60's.
The cat skull in which my brother found for one of my previous horror shoots also made a reappearance, lucky that I kept it in my house ^___^

Anyway, more shoots coming soon, you can find some of the shots from this one at my deviantART page.

Here's a random candid of Kitty and Si in between shots;

who knew being dragged through a field could be so fun! *thumbs up*

Birthday Stuff!

2009-07-25T14:02:00.006+01:00

Just a quick and personal post. So it was my 20th last week, and we had a bbq (in the rain)! I also got a new tattoo, designed by the lovely Alex :) I will post a pic as soon as it's healed!

But for now;

(my uber epic top gear birthday cake)

.. it's actually true ;)

me and my mum =)

my mums boyfriend, doing the bbq in the rain ^___^

Anywho, I'm in the process of doing more edits from a conceptual shoot with Kitty and Si, I can't wait to upload them, so those will be coming soon!

Another shoot with Kitty =)

2009-07-06T21:49:00.000+01:00

After a last minute reschedule, me and Kitty managed to pull off a fashion shoot with no preperation. It ended up being a rather amusing and productive day.

Not only did I get a very inappropriate comment within the first hour of our shoot, but we ended up having a very funny and also slightly scary conversation with people at the station, about burying people in the sand and letting the tide come in?! brilliant =/

Anyhow, considering we had no prep for this shoot, and it started pouring down during the last few shots, I would say it worked out pretty well =)

I GOT A DD!!! xD

2009-07-02T15:12:00.002+01:00

Oh my god, I log into deviantart this morning and I have over 100 faves on one of my deviations already, even though I checked last night and I had none. So I click on it, and find out I have a daily deviation =)) And suggested by one of my favourite horror artists ^___^ so happy.

It's made a very shit day, much better!

Here's the image that got selected, it's a shot from me and Becci's horror shoot;

Website... finally.

2009-07-01T12:50:00.000+01:00

My website is finally on the net, the layout is really basic but I just wanted to get it coded and on the net as soon as possible; http://www.syntheticmedia.co.uk

Diet day off day =P

2009-06-29T20:21:00.000+01:00

This is kind of a personal post, but meh, I have snaps to show off ^__^

Rosie was in need of cheering up yesterday, and to be quite honest, so was I. Soo, I suggested a day off my diet, so we could go and buy loadsa chocolate and junk food.

Obviously we got fruit to even out the balance! But mostly it was just junk food ^__^

After Rosie spent a considerable amount of time lying on my kitchen floor (because supposedly its comfortable there) we ventured out in the garden for a sunbathe, a munch and a magazine reading sesh. Then as it started to pour down in good old fashion Welsh style, we decided to go for a walk. We ended up walking miles, and got soaked. Then, worst of all my nightmares, we got chased by gaurd dogs, and Rosie just sprinted ahead of me, whilst I lagged behind terrified completely! It took me hours to calm down, as my fear of dogs somehow seems to be increasing.

Anyhow, here are some random candids;

lol... classy girl she is =P

yeah.. cause doing washing is ever so pin-up these days ^__^

oh noeezzz. i had chocolate =P

proper twat face lol!! wepre 8]

lol, she did this a lot.

Horror/Macabre shoot with Becci

2009-06-13T21:55:00.006+01:00

This is the shoot I've been really looking forward to, and it was definitely not disappointing. :)

Early morning, and I'm rushing around my garage with a backpack trying to stuff as many weapons and tools in as possible. Garden shears were very tricky to get in there, but I managed to zip the bag up after some effort. Packed my camera gear, three bottles of fake blood, bandaging and white foundation, into my other bag. Becci brings the rope, and I also have a cat skull from my brother to take with us. We're ready to go.

Finding the right spot to start off with was easy, I know Wepre Woods like the back of my hand. Lighting however, not so simple. The light through the trees changes so often that I had to keep changing the settings on my camera, but other than that things seemed to run pretty smoothly considering the content of the shoot.

At one point, I had to circle a tree with the rope just to tie Becci up, it's quite a good job there wasn't anyone around this particular area of the woods. The initial 'blood spurting out of the mouth' shot was also rather amusing, I did warn her it tasted bad (but at least suitable for vegetarians! - not that, that actually mattered in this case)

After shooting lots of different concepts, we started to trekk back to the car park, where no one took any notice of becci covered in what looked like real blood, with rope in her hand. As if seeing a blood drenched girl is normal in these parts? worrying.

Except, there was a school outing there, and one teacher did drag the children away from us, although I have to admit, that would have probably happened if there were blood or no blood. "We're not crazy, honest" *giggles*

Becci took these behind the scene shots on her camera;

in her words "nothin outta the ordinary"

my lovely legs, and our bag of assorted 'tools'

I really shouldn't be this happy about covering someone in blood and tieing them to a tree.....

.... ahh but who cares ;)

Gutted =/

2009-06-07T12:34:00.002+01:00

Such a shame that we will not be able to shoot in Denbigh Asylum, I was looking forward to that location the most. Had lots of of horror/macabre ideas for that place. However, still on the look out for other abandoned buildings in the area, so if anyone has any suggestions please contact me =)

Llandudno Shoot!

2009-05-26T14:29:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, I went for a group shoot, which originally was meant for advertising some band t-shirts but as the t-shirts were never delivered, we ended up doing other portraits instead.

I got to work with Kitty again, as well as two other models I'd never worked with before; Erin and Lisa.

I had prepared for a cloudy day, as the weather had previously been rather poor... but as the train passed through Abergele, I realised it was going to be a hot one. There were hardly any clouds in the sky, and the sea looked so inviting from the train window, I really just wanted to jump in it!

When I arrived in Llandudno to meet the girls, it was absolutely boiling, and I was starting to regret wearing jeans, a three quarter shirt and a jacket. It was the first really hot day we've had in ages, and lugging around my camera gear in lots of heavy clothing was such a killer, not to mention walking all the way to happy valley! It was all worth it though, the girls all took turns to have single shots and group shots, and we got loads of material.

After the shoot, I got off at Shotton station and had to walk a mile back to mine, still boiling hot. Next time I will check the weather and dress accordingly ;)

Taking a break.

2009-05-12T23:38:00.001+01:00

I'm taking a break from shoots, features and my gallery for a short while. I'm going through some real shit at the moment and I just cannot get my head into gear. Hopefully I'll be able to pull myself together soon enough, and have some more work to upload.

Shoot with Amy

2009-05-09T15:48:00.001+01:00

So, and old friend of mine wanted some portraits doing, so of course I jumped at the chance to offer a free shoot. We chose Wepre woods, as it was nice and close for both of us and I'm already familiar with the area having shot Landscapes and Macro's there a million times. The great thing about this is, using a person in your shots gives you a whole new perspective on the location.

I wanted to try a spring themed shoot, with lots of flowers, trees and feminine poses. Amy was perfect for this.

For me, this was a nice relaxed shoot, especially seeing as Amy had me laughing within 5 minutes of being there!

Rhyl + Kitty + Trains =)

2009-05-01T21:40:00.003+01:00

So early this morning, I had a photoshoot with Kitty, who turned out to be lovely by the way! Not that I doubted she would be! Lol. But you know what I mean =)

I caught the train to Rhyl, the first train I have ever been on alone, which I was quite chuffed about!

Of course it was beautiful in the morning, the sun was shining, it was boiling hot, not a cloud in the sky... then I got to Rhyl and the clouds came over, and the air chilled and became very windy. However, I think the clouds worked well for the specific shots we were going for!

Some of the shots have been uploaded to my deviantART page which you can view here; http://placeinthedirt.deviantart.com/

Another beach trip!

2009-04-13T13:09:00.003+01:00

Me and Ben went to Barmouth (north wales) yesterday, so I took some snapshots!

It was boiling, and the whole place was crowded.. but we listened to Lynyrd Skynyrd all the way there! ^.^ Happy days!

Talacre Beach

2009-03-15T18:23:00.002Z

We went to the beach this afternoon for a short drive, and before taking a walk to the lighthouse where I saw horses galloping along the sea front, I managed to take some multiple exposure shots for a HDR, I merged them when I got home;

If you don't know what HDR is;

An HDR is composed of two or more separate exposures, taken at different
exposure levels to capture the dynamic range that the eye can see but the camera
cannot.

10,000 Pageviews

2009-02-15T16:03:00.000Z

I finally hit 10,000 pageviews on DeviantArt! =) Please go visit my page http://placeinthedirt.deviantart.com/ and help me get more ^.^

Snow!

2009-02-03T11:03:00.000Z

It's only Feb and we already have snow! That's a first ^.^ It's been snowing on and off for a couple of days, and me and my brother decided to mess about and take pictures last night, it was pitch black and I slipped a few times ^.^

By the time it was light enough to take any artistic worthy shots, the snow had turned to mush so it wasn't worth it. It's only been thick at night when it's too dark to shoot anything. We were lucky to have any this year.

I heard it's snowing thick everywhere else in the UK though, you lucky people! Enjoy the snow!

Photoshoot with James

2009-01-30T20:46:00.000Z

Okay, two things.

First off, I have a new ModelMayhem portfolio, which you can view here!

Secondly, I just finished a photoshoot with James Lovatt (above) who is new to modeling, and brilliant to work with.

The shoot took place in Chester, we started out at 9ish in the morning down by the River Dee, and took some shots on the bridge. It was really nice and quiet, hardly anyone around, which is unusual for Chester. However, we did get at least one lunatic trying to talk to us (couldn't understand a word he was muttering) but there's always one isn't there?!

We were then allowed to shoot a couple of images in Cruise (the shop, not the club!) which was a new experience.

All in all it was a great day, thankfully it didn't rain, but the damp weather added to the shots!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T10:12:00.000Z

It's been a couple of months since I've shot anything in particular, so hopefully after the new year, I'll have more images to show you.

For now, I just want to wish everyone a merry christmas.

I'm going over to my Dad's house soon to give him his presents, and to share with him my freshly baked cookies! =)

Happy Halloween Kiddo's!

2008-10-31T21:08:00.000Z

Happy Halloween Freaks! =)

Man, I love Halloween, I'm such a child sometimes! But I love dressing up and being covered in fake blood, it's awesome. It's much better than Christmas. It's the one day of the year that gives you an excuse to be a psychopath!

Anyway, any horror photographs, or movie recommendations to keep me entertained are well appreciated.

New;

Rain Effect Images

2008-09-17T14:58:00.000+01:00

Seeing as I haven't done a shoot in a while, I'm going to give a short article on how I achieved some of my rain pictures.

First of all; I took these not long after a spring thunderstorm, so the leaves and grass were already slightly dewy, and the greenest they could possibly be. Not wanting my camera to get wet, I made my own make-shift rain!

I used my Sigma 70-300mm Macro lens, so that I could keep my camera far away from the water but still get a good close-up, Although, any lens will do as long as you make sure the water spray doesn't get onto your camera.

I attatched the camera to my tripod, and focused on the object I would be photographing, setting it to self-timer. I used the 10 seconds self-timer.. but if you have a cable release.. even better!

I then filled a watering can, making sure the nozzle on the end would spread the water over finely and evenly. Make sure the nozzle is big with lots of small holes so it creates the perfect rain effect.

I then made sure through the viewfinder, that where I would be standing and holding the watering can wouldn't affect the image, or get in the way.
Then I pressed the shutter, waiting 5 seconds, then started pouring, so the shot was taken mid-pour! I repeated this with several objects and plants until I achieved the right effect.

..Updates

2008-09-10T21:27:00.002+01:00

Well it's been a bad few weeks so far, my grandad did pass away, and I had to quit work due to my social anxiety so that's brought me down quite alot. I haven't had much motivation for my photography lately which is understandable, however my brother roped me into doing a few shots with him in my home studio (he wanted to wear his suit for pictures) and we threw in some horror shots while we were at it.

Tutorials are coming soon guys!

Inactivity

2008-08-12T14:29:00.002+01:00

Unfortunately my grandad is dying, and I'll be at the hospital everyday as he doesn't have much longer to go. They thought he wouldn't make it through the night but he did, so it's just a matter of time now.

I'm taking sick leave from work as well, so hopefully things should resume as normal soon enough.

On the personal front..

2008-08-08T02:21:00.000+01:00

My hair is black again, I'm going to miss having bright red hair, but you know, work is fussy so I'm best preparing myself for when I go back - Not that I actually want to go back. =(

Anyway, my grandad is still ill, so I'll be popping to the hospital alot more this week, I think he's getting better though since the operation.

I'll be back here soon with more photographs, so sit tight!

Junk Trunk Shoot

2008-08-04T18:46:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I was asked to do a shoot for my friends new clothing company.
It took place in Wrexham, and the weather stayed rather nice all day which was lucky considering my normal bad-weather-luck.

We scouted the whole place for different spots to photograph, and ended up going to Erddig and getting very wet at the brook.

Models; Aarron and Chanel

If you would like to purchase one of the t-shirts go to the following link; http://www.myspace.com/lovemyjunk

New Blog.

2008-08-01T22:55:00.001+01:00

Welcome to my new blog, This is where I will be posting updates about photoshoots and other photography related things. I may even add some tutorials in the near future, so keep a look out!