Venus O’Hara

Venus O’Hara has an interesting career, it might be best if you go to her  website to find out more, I could try to explain but, well, maybe not…

We both agreed that this shoot would be tame because it was for the magazine and also she wanted to do something more a kin to a fashion shoot.

I had an idea for another experiment with lighting, something shadowy and moody but it just was not happening and also I wanted to do somehting with a white background as the last few had been pretty dark.

So I got rid of one of the grids, swapped it for the trusty shoot thru’ and on the other light, still with grid, I put  a gel to really maximise the colour of her hair. I used a ring light to fill the shadows.

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Ana Lombard, Enlace Estudio

Ana Lombard runs an alternative health studio called Enlace.

I went there on a rainy day somewhat preoccupied with certain things and also trying to sort out a long trip to Buenos Aires.

She knew I was in an odd frame of mind and had a lovely calming manner, which soon put me at my ease and the job was pretty painless in the end.

The place was, perhaps a little more limited than the others in terms of interesting angles, but she, with her glorious smile is my favourite shot. There was someone there getting a massage who was happy to let me get some shots as well and these I rather like too, I used a warming gel on the flash to counteract the rather gloomy light, it was as much for my benefit as the pictures!

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Eric Goode

Poor Eric. I arrived with a mind to try out something new. When doing these interview pieces you are doing it because it is great to meet people and usually affords you a chance to try out something different with the lighting, you certainly are not doing it to become rich.

The problem for Eric was that I had it in mind to try out a new boom arm and hang a flash over him with a grid, using a ring flash as a fill if needs be. I also wanted to go for something very hard and gritty, paying little attention to what he was hoping for.

The end result was the first set of images and he was to say the least a bit shocked to see himself portrayed thus: hardened criminal, homeless person, world-weary-seen-it-all spectator, take your pick.

I was too caught up in what I wanted to do and ignored the fact that he was a really nice amiable guy who is none of the above.

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An Afternoon on Montjuïc

It was a Monday but a national holiday, normally I don’t really take much notice of these, but it was such a lovely day and besides, some idiots thought this would be the perfect time to dig up the road yet again below where I live so I headed for the hills to get some peace.

I spent a few hours there, the walk up is good exercise and the the great thing about Montjuïc is that is one of the few parks in Barcelona that actually has grass so you can lie down and read or have a picnic. It was quite busy but still felt pretty tranquil and I managed to spend some quality time with a good book.

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