2009. Styling by Teresa New, model is Emillie Saint

From last year.

Ria, cropped. Plymouth, 2009

… and then crop. Lovely.

This makes me see the point in having a bazzilion megapixels… so I can zoom in, find lovely crops like this one and still be able to print them with plenty of detail.

Kate, somewhere, 2009

… we’re slowly starting to get more of it – Hoorah!

We’ve just been through a record-breaking period of deep-freeze in the UK. I know I’m overly sensitive to the seasons and the environment, but it really felt like a deathly air descended upon the country and made time stand still for a week or so. Horrible.

Anyway, looking forward to warmer times now.

I don’t know why I haven’t posted these two pictures from my shoot with Kate — typical of me to hold back the best.

Beki, Plymouth, 2009

It’s always great to get feedback from the people I photograph.

Happily, Beki loves this portrait as much as I do.

It was fascinating going through our shoot together and hearing from her what she does and doesn’t like. Definitely a learning experience, and something of a luxury to be able to do so.

We really created some great images together (with some great assistance from Laura H.) and I hope we can do the same again soon.

Beki, Plymouth, 2009

Sometimes, it’s really the only thing to do.

Feel the fear, and gel it anyway.

Cover star is the beautiful Beki… more to come from her, I’m sure.

Beki, Plymouth, 2009

Beki, Plymouth, 2009

Emillie, Plymouth, 2009

Do you remember the Banana Splits? It was an imported kids’  TV show that used to feature these big creatures doing ‘wacky’ things.

I think beach buggies were often involved. I can’t remember that clearly, I think a YouTube search is nigh…

I would LOVE to own a beach buggy!

Ereka, Near Newquay, 2009

More from a field near Newquay.

So different from the original set, I find them quite surprising. Which I like, of course.

Becci, Plymouth, 2009

It’s tricky… In life, I mean.

Although if I were to stretch the photographic analogy, then just as it’s harder to focus in the dark with a camera, when things are not so clear, it’s harder to focus in life when there’s not much latch onto.

It’s all to easy to be distracted and, just as a camera with start to focus on things other than the intended subject , it’s all too easy to find yourself giving too much attention to things that don’t really matter, or at least are of only fleeting benefit.

Perhaps abandoning auto-focus and returning to manual mode is the answer?

Slightly lost the analogy now, but it made sense up to a point.

Twisted Mermaid, Bristol, 2008

Thunderstorms are forecast for the weekend. I like a nice thunderstorm. Clears the air.

I love a hot summer but a nice cool, rainy day in July or August makes me feel so very calm and relaxed.

Ereka, near Newquay, 2009

Hawaaii-based model Ereka Marcelino and I had been discussing shooting together for nearly a year. So when Newquay became a destination on her world tour, we started to put together some ideas for what we’d actually do.

I went driving around the area looking for possible locations and saw the numerous fields of bright yellow oilseed rape that are common at this time of year.

As soon as I decided that this would be the location, the rest of the idea fell into place.

Black & yellow. One of my favourite colour combinations. And you can’t get more yellow than those crops, and Ereka’s hair is amongst the richest black that I’ve seen. Perfect. Choose some black clothes and accessories and Bob’s your uncle.

As the shoot drew nearer some factors came into play that helped make the results something special:

1. Ereka had recently had some (very expensive) hair extensions. I didn’t mind benefitting from this..

2. We switched the shoot day in the hope of getting sunnier weather. As it turned out, the day was overcast and rainy — giving us a wonderful grey backdrop which was far preferable to a bright sunny day.

3. I had feared the crops had all been harvested — this meant we were limited to the fields that remained, which included one which was almost too good to be true in terms of crops height and separation.

I don’t really believe in fate, but together with Ereka’s timing for her visit, those add up to some lovely coincidences…

I’ll post more from this shoot soon. We didn’t shoot a huge amount of images, but we got a nice variety with different feels.