17 August 2023

A photoshoot full of fun with lots of pink.

I love doing location photoshoots and using the many backdrops that different parts of London have to offer so it was really exciting to book in a branding photoshoot for Frankie Molyneaux. Frankie is a social media expert and her brand colours are predominantly pink with a bit of green so we immediately agreed that doing a little tour of the pink houses in Notting Hill would be perfect.

The forecast was looking pretty terrible for a few weeks with the exception of one dry morning so we planned it in and thankfully the weather experts were spot on 😊 When I book outdoor photoshoots we always look at the weather forecast carefully and also put in a contingency date, so it generally works out without a problem.

What we can’t always predict is whether the residents of the houses are about to paint their walls a new colour! I always do a recce of the area before any location photoshoot and have far more backdrop options than we could ever hope to fit in, but we walked to one particular street which has an amazing pink curved building on a junction only to find that it was being painted yellow that day, what a cheek 🤣

Before a branding photoshoot we would discuss outfits that work well with the style and feel of the brand and that’s the same whether it’s an indoor or outdoor session. Layers work well for quick changes while we’re out and about – Frankie was a pro at changing from a suit to a dress with no modesty lost – but there are always cafes and other changing room options.

One of the benefits of being a photographer is that you learn masses about your clients’ business. It was a real treat spending a few hours with Frankie and she really kindly gave me some invaluable social media tips over a cup of coffee afterwards (after I’d photographed her in action working 😉). Frankie helps businesses with their social media strategies, offers social media audits and planning as well as 1:1 coaching. She also creates video content for companies as well as manages their social media accounts. I can really recommend her. Follow her on insta @francesrosesocialmedia or have a look at her website

11 July 2023

Dramatic landscapes, wild, remote, but utterly entrancing.

The way I would describe cycling through Iceland is like slowly moving through a film set, or looking at a piece of art and seeing the detail gradually unravelling itself in front of your eyes. It is amazing for most people but a haven for photographers.

For speedier cyclists who aren’t pulling heavy panniers this might not be true ha ha but I just loved the fact that you get to study every bit of detail of the dramatic scenes you pass by, usually in real quietness with just birds or fast flowing rivers for sound. We were travelling round Route 1 which is the main tarmac road round Iceland. It’s great because you never get lost or have any arguments about the best route for the day as there’s only one option and it’s signposted everywhere. The people are incredibly friendly and it’s so remote that you have to map out your food stops days ahead of time to ensure that you have plenty of snacks for days where there are no shops, cafes or petrol stations along a 100km stretch!

I could write forever about Iceland but here are a couple of things about our trip:

It’s easy to become slightly obsessed with wild lupins which are out in all their glory in June. From afar they give off this amazing blanket of mauve along the foothills and then close up, the most uplifting carpet of hardy purple flowers 😊

You can always find good coffee when you’re away if you look hard enough. I can really recommend the Skool Beans Cafe bus in Vik – it was amazing ☕️

I wouldn’t have made it up any of the 5km long hills without my AirPods and Sam Fender 🎶 Having a fast beat song is sometimes the only good distraction from the steep hill stretched ahead. Spotify have got some brilliant cycling playlists for this 😁

I did a lot of training for six months but my poor achilles hadn’t seemed to take it on board and after seven days of 740 km windy, hilly, pannier-weighty cycling they said no more! They were painful and swollen and weren’t looking good for the remaining 700km so I reluctantly hired a car. It did mean that I could be support vehicle to my co-cyclist Steve – he’d hit the jackpot not having to carry panniers any more 😆 It also gave me the chance to stop and take EVEN more photos in between meeting him to pass out snacks. Scroll down for but a few… 📷 (Thankfully my achilles are healing very quickly now)

22 May 2023

High quality technical training, Maximum fun.

This is what Luke Abnett of The Ballet Physio’s brand is all about. So when he asked me to do a branding photoshoot we prioritised capturing highly animated images full of expertise yet fun engagement. I don’t remember laughing so much in any photoshoot as his!

Luke runs The Ballet Physio and helps young dancers accelerate their training without injury. I’ve photographed a lot of ballet and other dance over the years and am fascinated by what the body can achieve. It’s been a huge insight, learning more about how very specific ballet physio training can enable dancers to achieve their potential so much more and without the anguish and frustration of injury. For instance, many dancers want to improve their turnout but don’t know how to do this using natural strength and control, thereby opening themselves up to injury. Luke will look at your turnout and any muscle weakness or tightness and create a plan of exercises which will help you go from strength to strength. He’s just done a series of instagram posts on turnout, flexibility, balance and posture – follow him and have a read. They’re really interesting even if you’re not a dancer 😊

For Luke’s branding photoshoot we used multiple props including sunglasses(!) to show the kind of thing that his classes get up to, whilst revealing quite how much fun his students have. The focus of learning in his sessions is massive but never boring. I love these types of photoshoots as I get to learn a great deal about other businesses and what sets them apart. The resulting bank of images is perfect for a stream of social media posts and takes away half the headache of Luke’s marketing – perfect!

16 March 2023

It was such a pleasure to meet Leela Bassi, founder of Arctic Survivor and founder of Above and Beyond Resilience. I did a personal branding photoshoot for her, as part as doing some photos for International Women’s Day. She embodies everything that IWD stands for – being utterly committed to breaking some of the inequality in the world. She is a highly experienced global speaker on Resilience, Growth Mindset, and Unconscious Bias, offering this in English, French and Italian, in person and remotely. I felt really privileged to have a few hours of her wisdom and insight on how she helps motivate others and realise that there are no limits to what you can achieve, big or small.

When she leaves the room she wants her audience to have gained the tools to smash their goals and believe that they can achieve what they thought they might never be able to. “Dig deep and Dig beyond” describes her brand perfectly! 

We spent a whole morning together at the lovely Allbright Mayfair, then outside locations in town before getting the Elizabeth Line to my studio in Ealing where we did some great action shots of her giving talks and running training courses. Working with clients like Leela reminds me how much I love my job!