October 2021 to December 2022: A Year In The Making
Let’s see if I can remember this far back, October ‘21 was pretty quiet month but it rolled into November where upon I had my first photo shoot with Kiera Lavelle at 2G Studios which I have been to before. I had met and know Keira from the Zoom socials that we do but never worked with her until now, she is such an energetic young lady (even though you wouldn't think so the way she throws the G&T’s back some times) she brought a lot of ideas that we could use and we got some great images for our first shoot together.
The rest of the year was pretty quiet though we did have some bad news that model Rachyy Downes had been involved in a RTA which put her in hospital for good few months, the surgeons worked miracles it was a matter of life and death but she is strong willed young lady and has made a miraculous recovery with the help from all her family & friends and the Doctors & Nurses in The NHS.
Into 2022:
February 2022:
My first shoot of the year was a remote shoot with Donna Rhian-Lloyd with whom I had previously done two remote shoots before (we still wanted to work in person though which we finally managed to do in May)
March:2022:
I started organising some shoots, my first proper in person shoot of the year was with Ivory Flame at the Boardroom studio in Derby It a studio I have always wanted to visit and it didn’t disappoint we got some fabulous images and another FPI on Purple Port which is our 6th one. Hope fully I will get to work with Holly in 2023 she is supposed to be retiring so one last photoshoot would brilliant with her.
A fellow photographer and friend started to publish magazines and I had a series of Ivory Flame that we had taken remotely the year before published in Remote Magazine* dedicated to remote photography which took off in the pandemic. To see my images in print in the premiere issue was amazing.
April 2022:
I organised a second shoot at 2G Studios with Keira Lavelle a few different styles and looks where achieved.Some body on the Zoom socials suggested Pac Man Minge as a theme and so we duly stepped up to the challenge with Keira designing a bit of set for the shot which you can see the results on the site.
Also a second magazine published by my friend had been published called Unattired* which show cases the art of nude photography and once again I had a set of images published in the premiere issue from my first photoshoot with Keira Lavelle.
May 2022:
I had 3 shoots in May all at the start of the month surrounding my 60th birthday the first one was a shoot with Ruby.Lila at her own flat in Manchester, I had admired Lila’s work with other photographers so booked her for our first shoot together she is a fabulous model a keen keep fit fanatic which shows in the images we did together.
My second shoot in May was with Donna Rhian Lloyd which I organised at the Boardroom studio in Derby which I had been to previously in March. It wasn’t far for Donna to travel to and it was our first in person shoot, that we had been trying to do since about May 2020 except Covid stepped in and put sway to that, so to finally get to work with some one you have spoken to on remote shoots and interact with on Facebook was amazing and we got some really cool shots, which also had some published in a digital magazine.
My third shoot in May was with one of my favourite models to work with Nicole Rayner it was at her studio at Rose Cottage we had previously done a set last year, one of the first to be done at her new place. But in October 2021 she went through some tough times mentally and finally with help from her family and friends and NHS support again, she came through it. We got some really interesting shots from this shoot some from this shoot also got published in Unattired Magazine, and we got our first front cover as Team NiNe and with what Nicole has been through of late, it is one of my hi-lights of 2022 and put the icing on the cake .
June 2022
With it being my 60th year on the planet I wanted to work with new models and some models that I have worked with before but not for a long time, so in June I booked a shoot with LottiiRose which happened to be part of casting she put out to work at the X Factory studio in Stoke-On-Trent, the last time Id shot with Lottii it was part a duo shoot with Nicole in 2018 so it was nice to be able to do a solo shoot with her, and as I never shot at the X Factory before I got some really interesting images some of which have just been published in the latest issue of Unattired Magazine.
July 2022
I had 5 shoots booked for July othe first of which was a location shoot around my local area with Keira Lavelle so a Yorkshire lass coming over the boarder to Lancashire, I had some fab locations I wanted to try being… Junbo Rock on the beach at Bolton-Le-Sands, Jenny Browns point at Silverdale and the Fairy Steps at Hale near Milnthorpe. And also trying to find some where to eat when the pub you wanted to try was closed on that day. We got some amazing images and I was able to use my drone for the first time on a photoshoot.
Shoot number 2 was supposed to be with a new model to me called Luisa-Maria but she was going through some problems at the time so we re-arranged the shoot more of which later.
So my second shoot was now with model Everly Rose who is another model I new from the Zoom socials but had never met in person until now, I traveled down to New Brighton the other side of the Mersy in Liverpool and started of with a home shoot then went and locations that she new about, like a local boat yard… It was lovely to final meet Everly in person and we decided to shoot again later in the year.
Shoot number 3 was my second with Ruby.Lila we had talked about shooting at Antwerp Mansion a studio in an old former night club in Manchester, so I booked said location which was my first time and had full range of the studio as nobody else was booked in so a 4hr shoot didn’t seem long enough as there was that many opportunities for different sets (I feel a return visit) we got some really good images.
My 4th of July was booked with Poetic Minx down in London, I had nt worked with her in person since November 2019 which was a duo shoot with Ivory Flame, we had done a remote shoot in August 2021 so to get to meet her again was brilliant.
I managed to find cheap but amazing little studio in London called Space 63 on what was one of the hottest days oof the year, I traveled down by train which I had not done in a bit and forgetting that some times train travel doesn’t run smoothly anyway I made it down in time to meet Poetic Minx and do our shoot, even though she wasn’t very well on the day we still got some fab images in this little studio. And hope fully I will be shooting with her again in 2023.
September 2022
This month had the return of the Photography Show proper and I was able to meet a few fellow photographers, models and studio owners who had met on Zoom socials, and see some new gear to boot.
I did have a shoot booked before the show with Nicole and Keira at the X Factory in Stoke but sadly Nicole wasn’t very well on the day so me and Keira did a 121 shoot and got some really interesting images. I managed to fly my drone in the building got some quirky shots from above.
October 2022
I had organised another shoot with Everly Rose in which we where going to do locations in September but due to unforeseen circumstances it never went a head, but she had put a casting call for a lighting work shop with her and fellow photographer Owen Lloyd who I had met at the Photo Show with Everly the previous month but it was all booked up so they asked if I could book a 121 photoshoot and I said yes to it. As I admire Owen’s work and lighting techniques with smoke and gels, it was also going to be one of Everly Rose’s last photoshoots as she is retiring from modelling. The day was held at a little studio in Winsford called Studio de Lumière which is a fab little studio to work at and we got through so much on the 8hr shoot.
Also I had another cover shot on Unattired Magazine October/November issue with a shoot of Rachyy Downes from October 2020. I’m so glad that Rachyy & Nicole got the covers of the magazines because of what they have both been through this past year and hopefully I will be doing a photoshoot with them both again 2023.
November 2022
My first shoot of November was at one of my fave studios 2G Studios with the wonderful Ruby.Lila I really liked this shoot we got some really amazing images.
Some times you see a studio and wonder if you will ever shoot there one of those being Two Wei and this was to be my year to shoot here with another model who I have worked with before Rachelle Summers the last time we worked together was in Chester in February 2020 just before the pandemic, we also did a remote shoot in April 2021, It was a wonderful place to do a shoot even though it was a rather dull winters day, I got some interesting images from the shoot and hopefully i can back in the summer of 2023 for another visit to this amazing location.
December 2022
I had three shoots lined up end the year one was with Nicole at another studio which was previously called Vines Art house but now renamed Lightlove studio which is not far from where I live in the NW of Englan, the week we had booked the shoot though just happened to be one the coldest of the year and Nicole was full of cold and not really very well, we got to the studio and Brian the owner had put heaters on but still it wasn’t that warm (below zero) any way we decided to call it after 20mins or so.We did get some images but we will deffo be going back for a proper shoot in 2023.
My second shoot in as many days was a rescheduled one from the summer with Luisa-Maria at her home in Carlisle in Cumbria, I did wonder about the weather as it was frosty and icy but i needn’t have worried the weather wasn’t bad though still freezing. We got some interesting images in her little terraced house some of which i’m still editing and I hope we can work again 2023 when we have rather more warmer weather.
Which brings me on to my final shoot of 2023, I started this blog in November 2021 with my first shoot with Keira Lavelle so seems fitting I should end it with another shoot which we had planned.The plan was for me to go to her studio and home in Halifax so duly set off and got so far down the M61 towards Manchester only to hit a blizzard (note this was the coldest week of the year here in the UK) so managed get in contact with Keira and said its not looking good here in Bolton at the moment so we decided it was better for me to turn around and go back home, and rather than loose out on the 4hr shoot we turned it into a remote shoot which Keira used the Christmassy sets in the studio which she had designed and also at her home with the Christmas tree which gave me some seasonal images to end the year on.
Round Up
So I have had the most wonderful Year of shoots with some new models and some well established models who I just wanted thank so much for the art we have created in 2022 and here’s to 2023
There are a few links below to some Instagram site for any body to follow:
www.instagram.com/nicoleraynermodel
www.instagram.com/rhianna_grey
www.instagram.com/unattiredmagazine
www.instagram.com/remotemagazineofficial
www.instagram.com/luisamaria.curve
www.instagram.com/keiralavelle
www.instagram.com/ivoryflame
www.instagram.com/ruby.lila
www.instagram.com/rachyymodel
