I’d be meaning to work Chris Rout for over a year before I finally got around to it. I needed some lifestyle shots for my commercial agencies and have always admired the incredible way Chris captures light; his work is so fresh and natural, which was exactly what I needed, so the 5-hour trip (each way) to Middlesbrough was well worth the time and effort. I couldn’t believe how quickly he worked. We got through over 20 sets, I think, with many of them finished within just 3-4 shots! Chris also needed some natural-looking stock styles (many of which I haven’t included here), so it was a great exchange.

Also, in case you missed it on my rather smug (sorry!) facebook status (page here), the hotel I stayed in before the shoot had a cancellation and I was offered a free upgrade to an enormous room with two beds (one being a double four poster), gorgeous antique-looking furniture and a stained glass bay window. Brilliant! I hardly ever stay in hotels, so it’s always quite a novelty anyway.

Back to the images. I won’t lie, there’s a lot (A LOT) of cheese here. Good, wholesome ‘don’t you just love life?’ stuff… Brace yourselves!

(… And as you can see, I’m struggling to limit these down to just a few favourites. As the whole idea of commercial/lifestyle portfolio shots is for the potential client to see what you would look like in a given ‘scenario’, it’s all about seeing/showing yourself in different ways and from different points of view… So thoughts and opinions are very welcome, as always.)

Kicking off with ‘Casual Ella’:

‘Purple Dress (dangerously close to editorial but not allowing ourselves to go there for more than a couple of shots) Ella’:

‘Health and Beauty Ella’ (including ‘my elbow hurts’):

‘Catalogue Ella’:

‘Hanging out in lingerie Ella’ (kicking off this time with ‘my stomach hurts’/’perhaps I’m pregnant’):

‘Office Ella’ (including ‘let’s talk business’ Ella and my personal favourite, ‘really really excited, office has won the lottery’ Ella):

‘Safari Ella’:

‘Mumsy Ella’:

‘Bikini Frolics’ and ‘Action Ella’:

And ‘Ballerina Ella’:

What a productive day!