A fashion shoot in April .. Springtime .. The week before t’was a heat wave .. Perfect photography weather then.. What could go wrong?… This is England after all, but …… SNOW!!..

Yes snow was forecast on the day of the shoot and sure enough on looking out at 7am on that morning … SNOW!! .. Actually more of a blizzard …

Did I ring the team and suggest we postpone? .. No .. Did I stay positive ..(sort of) .

So off I drove to hopefully a better type of ‘photography’ weather in Manchester to meet the team for the M.E.N fashion editorial spread made up of Kim Mellor the Model from Nemesis Manchester, Alison Chesterton Make up Artist also from Nemesis, and last but certainly no means least the fab clothes stylist Matthew .

We all met up and made base at Matthew’s apartment and despite a greying Manchester there was only a little drizzle and no sign of the snow I had left behind, so I could put up with that and as I had packed the broncolor Mobil pack to set up studio lighting outside all was on track with umbrella’s on standby.

With the makeup underway Matt and I had time for a quick recky for nearby locations as the day was set to be an in and out kinda day , set up set down , you know the type.. The Northern Quarter had some great locations for fashion photography, with some fantastic graffiti and textured walls and even better…. a stones throw away from the base…. Result..

Makeup done and five outfits to shoot we were underway, and with all involved ,despite a few weather hiccups,the shoot couldn’t have gone better. Kim was great to photograph and the make up and styling was excellent. We also had a bit, actually a lot of good fortune as the two shots that were done on graffiti backgrounds were painted over in the afternoon with black, so good timing by me then..

The shots were all done with the aid of a great fashion photography light and my personal favourite, the ‘ring flash’ to give that clean look (and also to make up for the dismal weather) but it suited the shoot and style I was looking for, pity it didn’t give off heat as Kim was a tad chilly towards the end of the day but the true professional she was you’d have never guessed.

Thanks again to a great team and hope to work with you all again.. Just make the weather a little better next time ….. Right??..

Although most of my previous blogs have been about Fashion Photography I thought i’d post on another equally as important part of my business- Still Life / Product Photography.

Product photography can come in many different guises large or small, each commanding different lighting techniques and pricing structures. This particular assignment was for a leading office furniture suppliers catalogue and required every inch of my studio space as well as the height. The process of setting up each shot took time and careful, considered lighting techniques to bring out the various surfaces of the furniture. Four to five shots per day was the maximum that could be done as the desks also had to be put together in the studio, (not by me ofcourse, my D.I.Y skills are not the best ..just ask my wife).

The shoot took the best part of 2 weeks as this was for an extensive catalogue including chairs and storage. My studio resembled a warehouse but it made a change from photographing people (furniture doesn’t talk back) and they do say variety is the spice of life and that’s a key factor in keeping your photography fresh. Next it’s bikes again but that’s another post in the future, now where’s my fishing rod wire… don’t ask..

Now it may seem from recent posts and blogs that I only shoot fashion photography on location in Alderley Edge, which in the not too distant past has been the case, so it won’t surprise you to know I recently did a fashion shoot in, yes you guessed it as mentioned earlier Alderley Edge, Cheshire.

Now with out exaggeration January was quite ‘nippy’ so it was a good job for our model Freya that the shoot was for hats, gloves and scarves (could have done with them myself). The shots were for large format posters for an upcoming exhibition so required high end digital cameras with plenty of those pixels, oh and also the skill of the photographer by the way, obviously!

There was one shot in particular (centre of the three) which required an extremely slow shutter speed to create the model being centred with people rushing past appearing blurry while the she was static, tricky for two reasons Freya had to stand perfectly still for several seconds (not as easy as you think) and the second, more importantly was I had to stand in the middle of the ‘very busy’ road with a tripod counting on being warned when a vehicle was about to run me over. Fortunately the team were good at this so managed to get the effect the advertising agency ‘Paws on Everything‘ run by Mel McNab required for the shot.

Thanks as well to the Make up Artist Richard Harvey of Nemesis Model Agency Manchester, and also to Costa coffee and The Aldeley Edge Bar and Grill for allowing photography on their premises (which with some locations has not always been the case) and ofcourse for the great coffee’s..

My last fashion shoot of the year came courtesy of ‘Vintage’ Manchester and the brief given ..’gritty’.. , which you have to say was pretty ‘brief’ ..but fortunately we were on the same page and I was left to come up with 4 strong shots for point of sale, which hopefully you agree I achieved.

When given a free or shall we say ‘relaxed reign’ on shoots I split the process into three 1. Location for the photography 2. The Model and 3. Styling.. Simple really.. Right?

The location initially was going to be Manchester .. The obvious choice, .. but as we all know in this ‘fabulous always rely on the weather part of the country’ we live in, this became a little difficult planning wise, so after looking around more locally, Macclesfield Cheshire (convenient for me) seemed the best, as days were chosen on a weather permitting basis and with Christmas looming time was not on our side. With the fashion shoot taking place in Macclesfield instead of Manchester it also created a bit of a stir in the town as they weren’t quite used to seeing Models and Photographers here as its not really a fashion capital.. Paris , Milan , New York , London ….Macclesfield, it does however have a certain ring to it.

The model was Graham Gardener from Nemesis Agency in Manchester who I have known for many years (too many years.. that I prefer not to mention) and who’s look was perfect for the shoot ( sorry Graham i’m sure your not just ‘gritty’ ) and with photography and especially in the fashion side where you are always on deadlines (and against weather in this case) an experienced model is essential and Graham delivered just that, making my job that much easier and enjoyable, as I am a great believer in having a good time while you work even a bit of a laugh now and again, as long as you get the shots for the client that is… obviously!…

Styling was sorted by the client with a little input by yours truly as there was many items to choose from but only 4 needed , in all honesty the clothes were great and we could have chosen any and all looked good on Graham (he says jealously) ..

Overall a great photography fashion shoot and client happy which makes me happy .. Bring on the next one .. Ladies fashion next ..

Watch this space… or you could just check in from time to time, save you sat in front of your computer for days on end ….

In the last throw of summer I was commissioned to do the photography for the 2012 collection for a hat fashion brochure , the great thing for me was as well as the studio standard detail shots of the hats ..(which of course I found fun and interesting ….) the brochure was to be complimented by a full day of lifestyle photography shots with an initial brief from the Creatures UK agency in Cheshire. Under the close scrutiny of the head honcho Mel McNab I was allowed to expand on said brief and let the creative juices flow…so to speak, which is always appreciated.

Fortunately for us the weather was perfect for the shoot and with a fantastic location sourced by the agency in the heart of the Cheshire countryside I couldn’t go wrong, not to mention the rest of the fantastic team made up of the models Gideon Thomas and Freya Holmes from Nemesis Models in Manchester and Make up by Richard Harvey also of Nemesis.

A great day and some great images and then right at the end of the day when we needed rain for the rainwear shot … Hey presto … Down came the rain ordered by myself of course , I have connections you know.

Now the prospect of a Cheshire fashion shoot with Ten Little Monkeys with Tiger Feet, is enough to fill any fashion photgrapher with dread… So I was really relieved when I found out that, actually, these were two of Cheshire’s cool children’s fashion boutiques, (tenlittlemonkeys.co.uk and www.tigerfeetshoes.co.uk) and that I wouldn’t be working with real monkeys’, but two perfectly behaved, extremely professional Manchester child models.

Kids’ fashion shoots, can sometimes be unpredictable… As many children’s fashion photographers will testify! But, I have to say, we had so much fun and our Manchester fashion models knew just how to work the camera, as well as show off Ten Little Monkeys and Tiger Feets’ new season’s fashions perfectly. The overall outcome was a really great shoot. Was it down to their talent, the boutiques’ fashions, or in the expert skill of one of Manchester’s finest fashion photographers?…Ahem. I’ll let you decide. Take a look at my gallery, and if you want to see more, just let me know. Thanks to everyone involved, for a great fashion shoot.

If anyone’s looking for an experienced, children’s fashion photographer Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire, or indeed anywhere else in the UK, give me a call on t. 01625869717, m. 07802420281, or email carltonphoto@aol.com .

Great Fashion Photography shoot for the new and exciting YMoC Mag with Rumpus Swimwear of Wilmslow nr Manchester. Shot on location at the stunning Restaurant/Bar Panacea in Alderley Edge Cheshire.. The model was Alex Leigh of Nemesis Models Manchester who made my job a lot easier as she certainly knew how to work the camera and with great make up and styling of Alison Chesterton also of Nemesis Models it made sure of a great outcome… Big thanks to the great staff at Panacea and the manager Andreas for being so helpful and accommodating..

Fashion photography for the new magazine YMoC shot on location at Gusto in Alderley Edge Cheshire , the clothing was for SVE Fashion, models from Nemesis and Liquid were great to work with as had to hold some of those positions for quite a while , and kept the diners well entertained throughout the day…

This was a fashion shoot for a new tanning spray campaign which required a night photography shoot so shot it very very late, lots of portable lighting used, the location was central manchester on a busy night “when is it not?” so had to allow for the stop start of passing traffic and ofcourse the odd comment or two from passers by but I’m sure that was more for the model…The finished shots are going for point of sale and still have more to do with different themes so more to follow… by the way would have liked to have taken the Aston for a spin but they wouldn’t let me…