Up at 6am today to shoot a few fashion shots for a friend of mine. Being up at that time on a Sunday should be banned!
The shoot went well despite the early morning, intermittent sun and breeze - all made easier by having two assistants (thanks Jynx and Nathan) and a decent array of options for lighting from sunbounce reflectors and diffusion panels, to portable strobes.
Here's a look at what we did!
Tomorrow's shoot starts even earlier... double ouch!
Right now is the busiest that I have ever been with photography, thinking about photography, re-touching and planning shoots and It feels really good!
I guess most people don't really understand what it's like to be a photographer and they think it's all just clicking away taking snaps, but it really couldn't be further from the truth. The most surprising part I find, is that actually taking photos is probably the smallest part of the job! The majority of my time is taken up in planning and arranging shoots, or gaining access to subjects and doing admin. It's not as glamorous as first meets the eye!
This is an image from one of my latest shoots. It took a fraction of a second to record the image, about 3 hours to do the whole shoot and about 6 hours to re-touch this one image and it's still not 100% finished.
I couldn't have picked a worst day as far as the weather was concerned to shoot my latest fashion project - The Couple Who Fell to Earth. It was a location shoot, shot on the Isle of Portland at Portland Bill. The location is a remote part of the coast in one of the most southerly points of the mainland in the English Channel which is noted for it's rough coast. I chose the location for it's interesting other-worldly rock formations and remote feel.
The weather on the shoot day as 27mph gusts of wind, low cloud and heavy rain and my team and I had to deal with the worst conditions to shoot in.
We went well prepared, taking lighting kits for most situations and most importantly of all - lots of umbrellas, although all but one of these was destroyed by the very strong wind.
Here's a few behind the scenes shots to give you an idea of how the day went...
The weather gradually improved throughout the day, culminating in blue skies and sunshine, however the strong wind remained which blew constant sea spray over the crew and equipment.
Somehow we managed to pull it off and I remain ever grateful to my committed team who without their help, this wouldn't have been possible.
Have a look at the final images to see the results on my Fashion page.
So, after a string of disasters including no-one turning up for a shoot and all of my files getting deleted from another, I'm pleased to say that I have now successfully shot 10 great portraits, of 10 very inspirational and brave people, the last of which took place on 16th May 2014.
I will be taking a short break from shooting now as I need to find some more people who want to take part in the project. So far, it seems that there is a disproportionately high number of males who have come forward and it would be great to see if there are any females who would like to take part. Also, there has been a very few number of younger people and it would be a very strong message to other young people if I could get some more to take part.
If you know anyone who may be interested in the project, please pass on details of how to take part - these can be found by clicking here.
I'm very pleased to announce that on 30th April we received an offer of funding for the project from Poole Council for Voluntary Service, to whom we are very grateful for the support. This funding means that we will be able to proceed as planned with an exhibition of the project to raise awareness of HIV.
We have also been in talks with a local Bournemouth venue to host the exhibition to coincide with World Aids Day in December 2014. Watch this space for more news and info!
Faces of HIV will take the form of a portrait series of people who are effected by HIV and will culminate in an exhibition to show that HIV can effect anyone - it's not just gay men and people from Africa as the stigma and stereotypes would suggest.
Will is working with local Dorset HIV charity, Body Positive Dorset to produce a body of photographic portraits which aims to raise awareness about HIV and will culminate with an exhibition to coincide with World AIDS Day in December 1014. It will show people that It's a condition which can threaten everyone; young, old, straight, gay, black or white. It will give confidence to people who have the condition and show that it's OK to be HIV+ and it's OK to talk about it. The more people who understand what HIV is and who and how it effects people, the less stigma and discrimination sufferers will face.
HIV doesn't discriminate, why should we?
HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a global pandemic which causes AIDS. It attacks the human immune system and renders it vulnerable to and totally ineffective against infection leading to death from opportunistic infections and cancers.
The HIV virus lives in the bloodstream of infected people and is spread through sexual contact. People with the virus may suffer no symptoms for some time making it incredibly dangerous as infected people can spread the virus unknowingly. It is estimated that there are around 20'000 people in the UK who are HIV+ but are yet to be diagnosed.
The HIV pandemic started in the early 1980's and spread rapidly across the globe unhindered without any effective drugs. To date, it is estimated by the World Heath Organisation that over 36'000'000 have died due to HIV related illness.
Since the 1980's drugs have been developed which can slow the progress of HIV which means that today, if diagnosed and treated early, sufferers may now lead healthy lives, with similar life expectancies to everyone else.
HIV sufferers face stigma and discrimination which is driven by ignorance due to a lack of education, awareness and visibility and this project hopes to help educate and eradicate stigma.
If you would like to be a part of the project and have been effected by HIV we want to hear from you! The more people who are involved, the more powerful the message will be.
For an informal confidential chat and to find out more, please call Jon at Body Positive Dorset on 01202 297386, or send us a message via the form on the contact page by clicking here.
