Yesterday we spent the day with our one to one delegate demonstrating our studio lighting set up along with some posing ideas. We had excellent models for the day and here are a couple of my images of mum Ashleigh and her daughter Alysha.  Simple, classic portrait lighting which, to me, is far superior to the current ‘white’ trend!

Part of our new programme will be the creation of a new web/blog site devoted to our exclusive child portraiture. This will then leave us with a website for our Mentoring and Workshops one for our Art Nudes and finally one for Children.

Today’s image is from a session on Sunday. Created in our garden, not without difficulty as the sun just kept beating down. We did part of the session in the studio and we will post some of those later but I do love this simple, pensive image.

We have spent the past 3 days working in the garden. The only sounds being the birds, waterfall, Classic FM and the occasional aircraft, sheer bliss though very hard work. Filling 18 hanging baskets was only the start but we can now settle back and look forward to a wonderful and colourful  summer although we do have a couple of large trees to remove but’s that all for another weekend! What these past few days has allowed is some quiet thinking time which was very welcome. Time to consider all the requests for workshops here in the UK, Europe and  America and the increasing number of photographers looking for mentoring in a wide variety of area but all relating to becoming and maintaining a successful wedding and portrait business in difficult times. As you may have noticed we have posted some business ideas in previous posts but mostly the site has been about our general work, Art Nude, Boudoir and seminars. We already have a new website in design that will host all of our Art Nude work, our seminars and Limited Edition images for sale and that will launch some time in the next couple of months. So it was while I was planting a bed of ’snow in summer’ I came up with the idea of a site that would just be devoted to our musings on the business and practical side of modern social photography. Not just how to take pretty pictures, not just how to use a reflector or how to pose a child but the mechanics behind a successful business. The Marketing and Promotions, the PR and Presentation, the Sales and Products all contribute, along with quality portraiture, to running a successful business whether it’s home or high street based. So for all of you who have been emailing us about mentoring you have been listened to and our ideas are being formulated, however it will come with a cost, a reasonable cost but then knowledge and experience do count for something. It may take a couple of months to see the best way to offer this service but it will happen some time this summer. Please be patient but we will be offering group mentoring, one to one mentoring, tele mentoring and email mentoring so no matter where you live in the UK we can offer you help and our advice. We are also looking to host mentoring clinics around the UK for a small groups of selected studios where we can have face to face meetings and brain storming sessions with studio owners. If you would like to receive advance notice of this new project please drop me an email to trevor@yerburystudio.com

Today’s image is from a recent studio session. Simple, classic lighting.

We are delighted to have been invited to host a Wedding Workshop for the members of the above region. The day will be split into 2 sections, the first being by far the most important  ‘BE THE DIFFERENCE’ will be all about setting yourself apart from the competition and create an individual identity in this vastly, and increasingly over saturated market. In the afternoon we will demonstrate how we work with brides to create our images. Delegates are welcome to take record shots from the side from where either Faye or myself are shooting  but the is not a delegate shooting workshop more a watch and learn! You must attend both parts of the day as the morning session is about building your business and reputation, we can all take pictures its how we sell our service to the bride and groom which is where many photographers need help implementing a proper business strategy with targeted aims.

Although we have been very busy Faye and I have managed to process another couple of images from last weekends workshop.

Today we once again have an image from each of us. My image first this time, stunning location enhanced by the powerful body shape against the decaying and paint peeling stable doorway. All the technical information is as yesterday, camera and lens only!

And now Faye’s image taken deep inside the ruins. A softer, more ballet inspired pose and in what stunning surroundings.

Saturday saw us hosting another small, intimate, Art Nude workshop. Excellent delegates, photographers that cared deeply about seeing, visualising and creating an image rather than how many cards they could fill. I do so wish other professional photographers would take the hint! Our model for the day was the wonderful Christiane, one of the top Art Nude models of today.  Our location, our secret I am afraid, is a photographers dream so no guessing we will be back there very soon as this was the first time we had shot there. The weather, though a bit blustery and at times bright, held for most of the day and we enjoyed one of Faye’s fabulous picnics complete with wicker hampers and tartan rugs. We have several exhibition images from the day and will slowly work on them over the next few days, weeks and months. We have worked a couple of images today which we have posted below. Our next Art Nude workshop is on Sunday the 27th of June, 4 delegates only and we have one place still available so if you are interested please email trevor@yerburystudio.com

This is Faye’s image from one of the indoor locations we used. Shot on a D300 with a 24mm-70mm lens. No additional lighting.

My image is using the exterior of the building. Shot on a D700 85mm lens. No reflector or additional lighting used.

Just to prove that we also do babies here is an image of Faye’s from last year. Today we are mentoring a photographer on exactly this subject so looking forward to that.

Another image of the delightful Kyla from yesterdays session here @ Claremont.

Kyla was a star for our session today. 3/4 changes, indoor and studio and not one complaint. More later.

Looks like we are going to be involved with a major manufacturer for a marketing campaign so more news of that later. New blog site also coming in the very near future which will be dedicated to our child portraiture so keep en eye open for the new address. With all that in mind here is an image from a couple of years ago just to give you some idea of the style.