Bev Lee Harling

Highlight: 3 hours to photograph a beautiful girl in beautiful clothes with Doris Day on Spotify.

Lowlight: wrestling with a huge red starched petticoat....

Fill in: Bev had used me to photograph her for her album shots in a fifties style shoot. Bev has the perfect face and figure to carry this look and she had been recently sponsored by a clothes company specialising in fifties clothing. The record company wanted some shots of Bev one of the dresses for her press shot. Bev's style and taste pervades all her projects and it is always exciting for me to see how the photos finally are presented after the designers have done their magic. 

Tech spec: Bev is a musician first and foremost so the hard part was getting her to show her character and not look too much like a model, which was tricky as she has model features and figure. She is quite shy, but after putting on a bit of Doris Day (one song I had to play three times as this seemed to bring out the best in her), Bev got into the swing of things. I hit her with a hard light, (not literally) from high left -  the nearest thing I could get to Hollywood glam) and put up a bright yellow background to add a warm glow to the whole proceedings. A huge umbrella did a fill in from low right and I had a speedlight kick in a bit of highlight on the hair and shoulders from behind. 

No photos as yet as I have to wait for the album release but watch this space.

Gillman and Soame

Highlight: Small Group Training - get to boss loads of kids around.

Lowlight: Most of the kids are bigger than me.

Fill in: The Summer term is here and my first season at Gillman and Soame means I get to do lots of training which I always love. A. I always learn new stuff and unlearn bad habits. (It was galling to find I still did not know how to use my light meter properly) and B. I get to work with some great photographers. At Gillmans the company goes back over 150 years working with everyone from the University of Oxford to the Royal Family and Armed services as well as all sorts of schools from Eton to your average state primary. Some of their full time staff have been in the business over 20 years and know a thing or two about crowd control and working under pressure. I was keen to learn how they set up such faultless school groups which could be anything from 3 young kids in the recorder group to a whole school over over 1000 seniors.

I was training on small groups which is any number from 2 to 50! There were pages and pages of diagram to study with variations for inside and outside groups, groups of girls, groups of boys, groups of young kids, groups of graduates, groups of kids with sports equipment, groups of kids with musical instruments, groups of kids in dance outfits, formal groups, informal groups - you name it - they had it covered.

Tech spec: Well I could tell you how to do it but I'd have to kill you. Surprisingly less kit is needed for  a group shot than a portrait so even more reason to get this nailed as it will be easier on my back! The main kit needed was a cool head and an ability to use a lightmeter!

For more info: http://www.gillmanandsoame.co.uk/

The Osmonds

Highlight: Got access to do whole show - again in two weeks (see Orbital) - what is going on???

  


   

Lowlight: ....can't stay! Got to get pix back asap. Apart from which I nearly got stampeded by the ardent fanz as there is no pit.

Fill in: There was no photo pit which can be tricky as you are in amongst the front row fans who have paid jolly good money to be there and the last thing they want is some snapper popping up and down with a long lens in front of them. But of course, The Osmonds aare diamond geezers and likewise their fans. The first one I speak to kindly warns me that might very well get crushed by a herd of hormonal, excited menopausal women once the concert starts. I am used to such things, but it's always nice to be prepared. It is also nice to have an ally in this situation.

Tech spec: There was lots of smoke on stage due to Jimmy's exploding guitar, which I was on the wrong side to get a really good shot of, so it was a case of shooting when the smoke was minimal.  Also it was crucial to get all three brothers together and I was at a bit of an angle right at the front so after a few songs, I retreated back held the camera above the heaving throng and got a couple shots which were more front on.

For More info: www.redferns.com