Not a good day, very busy getting all the images mounted and wrapped for shipping to BOWENS tomorrow. New backgrounds hanging, steamed and looking wonderful in fact I can’t wait to get a client into the studio. However I was not impressed with a couple of things I found out today, first a photographer offering portrait sessions and all the images sized and burnt to a couple of DVD’s together with a list of shops and websites where to get them printed! Then I came across a site where not only one of our product lines has been copied but on examining  the site further I came across at least 2 other photographers who have been ripped off! Please try and be original!

Today’s image of Clarissa Dickson Wright is from the CITIZENS collection.

So another day has got away from us! Still plenty in the pipeline and our workshops on 28th Feb, 6 March, 21st and 23rd March are now all sold out. More dates will be announced soon so keep a sharp eye open!  We have just heard from one of our Studio Mentor students that a Valentines Day promotion that we ran back in the 90’s and which we resurrected for him has proved to be very successful. Hope you are all now well advanced with your Mother’s Day promotions and well into pre planning for locating Spring shoots during the Easter holidays?

The studio is currently out of action as it is being redesigned, new props and backgrounds etc. Today’s image is of Ronnie Browne, taken back in the late 80’s on Hasselblad and T Max100 film stock, printed onto 20×24 Ektalure. Ronnie Browne is the co-writer of Flower of Scotland which has become Scotland’s national anthem.

Delighted to announce that we are hosting a small, 4 delegates max, workshop here at Claremont on Studio Lighting and Posing for classic portraiture. Sunday 28th of February 10.00am – 4.00pm. We will work in the studio with a couple of different models, have a discussion on portraiture, look at what different lighting modifiers can achieve, have a nice relaxing lunch and spend the last hour of the day watching Faye do some post production work on one of the images from the day. £295 inclusive.

Today’s image is from our lighting workshop at the Convention. One softbox….. that’s all folks! Post Production and hair styling by Faye.

Yes, another busy day, Faye has been trying to work on some images though difficult with her ongoing eye problem but she is managing to do some superb work despite the constraints. I have spent most of the day revamping the studio, tidying up in preparation for…… well that’s for later in February!

We spoke about our CITIZENS exhibition at the Convention, in fact we should consider doing a Masterclass on that project for next year,(note to self).  This image is from that exhibition, Sister Margaret a wonderful human being full of love and kindness.  Taken in the chapel with natural daylight on the Hasselblad with 150mm lens. T Max 100 developed in Selectol Soft and printed onto Ektalure.

Last weekend, before our Loxley workshop, we did a session with our dear friend Nicola aka. Vivien (her stage name) for her new London agent and for Spotlight. We also did some hair shots for her father who owns one of Edinburgh’s most prestigious salons. We have only just got round to processing the files and when I saw what Faye was doing I just had to post them on the blog for you all to see. Again a mixture of Faye’s own actions, Kubota and Totally Rad.

Well as promised, and despite the work schedule, unexpected visitors and studio sessions here are a few more images from yesterdays fabulous Lighting Workshop held at Loxley Colour in Glasgow. All of these images were created within the Loxley building, my stair shot using the Quantum heads, Faye’s red wall taken in the Loxley meeting room using our favourite Bowens fresnel spot and finally my daylight shot taken at the window of the Loxley boardroom. A final couple of images tomorrow and then we move on.

First the Loxley meeting room.

The Loxley internal staircase.

The Loxley Board room

Just an example of a recent portrait commission and an indication of what we will be covering in our next workshop, Lighting Techniques @ Loxley Colour – Glasgow – Monday 19th of October. We still have some places available @ £99 for the day inclusive of lunch courtesy of Loxleys.

We spent the weekend over on Arran for the wedding of Neil + Rhona. This is one of my favourite images from the day.