A Vintage Bridal Series

June 4, 2011January 12, 2016ERWhittington 7 Comments

My 1970s Victorian-style wedding dress has had quite a few airings over the last few weeks! I often model for BIPP and SWPP’s fashion, bridal and portrait workshops, and thought I’d throw this dress into the mix one day rather than wearing one of my modern wedding dresses, just to get a different style for the photographers attending (it’s also nice and warm to wear, due to the material and sleeves, which is always a bonus!). For that particular BIPP workshop, the excellent wedding photographer Kevin Wilson was teaching. He was enamoured by the dress and asked me to model in it for a series of G F Smith ‘Inspire’ events around the country. He also asked me for another model who could do the fashion workshops (led by Mark Lawrence) simultaneously during these days, so I recommended my friend Ivory Flame for the job, knowing she would do it well and repaying some of the jobs she’s gotten me by way of recommendation in the past.

I’ve now worked with Kevin four times, in Aylesbury, Birmingham, Duxford and Maidstone, with the final event in Leeds next week (I’m shooting with Mark for that one though; Holly and I are swapping roles for a final twist!).

Here are some of the images he’s taken of me over these events. I made sure to vary my hair very slightly for each event. I think his use of tones and compositions are absolutely beautiful, helped here by some rather stunning locations (Holly and I were surprised on one particular day to find we’d be modelling in front of war-time aircraft. I’m particularly wistful in these; the narrative being that my husband is lost to war. It was easy to get in the mood; the Air Museum in Duxford has a sound system playing sirens and bombs.. a very surreal and eerie place in which to work!). Click to enlarge as always…

Birmingham:

Duxford Air Museum:

Maidstone:

I was also sent a few from some of the photographers attending. By Joe Gilbert:

And by Steve James:

Ophelia…

May 25, 2011September 24, 2023ERWhittington 6 Comments

…was the theme of my fourth shoot with J H. I seem to have produced some of my favourite images with him and, in general, seem to love any opportunity to agree to throw myself into water and pretend to be a mermaid and/or nymph. These were taken during a leisurely two-hour early-evening shoot in East Sussex last weekend. People say it’s ‘brave’ to get in water for shoots like this, but I think if the worst thing that happens to you in a day’s work is that you get wet/dirty/cold while floating around pretending to be part of a mythical story, and you get beautiful images to show for it, you don’t have much to complain about. J wanted to aim for something reminiscent of Waterhouse and Millais, an admirable aim in my book. The reflections in the water worked so well for a dreamy, painterly feel. For the first few, I have to admit I was imagining myself as a princess searching for a little frog to turn into a prince. When in doubt, my mind reverts to whimsy.

Thanks J – looking forward to the next one! 🙂

Pre-Raphaelite Goodness

May 13, 2011January 12, 2016ERWhittington 9 Comments

The following shots were taken by Keith Cooper at a location (half an hour away from my house in Oxfordshire) which manages to combine the romantic 15th Century ruins of a manor house, a river and woodland – perfect for Keith’s interest in pre-Raphaelite and historical styles. I’ve got two more shoots already booked in with him, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we come up with next!

More Spanishness – John Evans

May 6, 2011January 12, 2016ERWhittington 4 Comments

I’ve been looking forward to showing some of these… A few more from the week I spent in Spain with Gregory Brown and John Evans (and fellow model Hannah Ashlea).

But first, a cute snap I got someone walking past to take with my camera on the last day, just as were packing up the car to go back to the airport.

This first one is by Gregory Brown, then the rest are by John Evans.

I love this headdress – I bought it over a year ago and thought it would be worth taking to Spain, as I was told some amazing rocky venues had been scouted. The wind was so strong (especially as we were near the edge of a bit of a cliff) it kept nearly flying off, all of a feather.

These beautiful lilles, on the terrace of the apartment, were teasing us with their photogenic potential all week. I love the freshness of this set:

We shot the following in a derelict, crumbling house on the side of the road. It just so happened that the turqoise underbust corset I’d brought matched the graffiti perfectly. A very happy coincidence.

A tree John found…

An amazing rock formation, surprisingly close to a mountain road, up which some German/Swedish/Austrian cyclists were huffing and puffing (I’m not sure we ever established which nationality they were, though we had a very long conversation with one man, who seemed keen to take any opportunity to hang back from the group and catch his breath and so wanted to make sure he had recounted the thitherto events of this particular trip in great detail for us.) Greg and John were positioned too far away for us to hear when the camera was actually clicking!

And finally (for now), I’m always happy when I’m near water… I’m really pleased with these, taken on a beach:

Blubells 2011!

May 5, 2011January 12, 2016ERWhittington 3 Comments

… The final installment from my bluebell sessions! The weather ranged from being hot and glorious to freezing, but I do enjoy my annual frolic! Hope you like these. Thanks to all involved! 🙂

Rob Ellis:

Andrew Green (on a particularly windy afternoon, which actually worked quite well for portraits!):

and last but not least, Martin aka ‘Mr Trompie’:

The Boudoir Academy

May 2, 2011January 12, 2016ERWhittington 1 Comment

I modelled again for the Yerbury duo earlier this month, for a a Boudoir Academy seminar. It was a fantastic day and a pleasure to see them inspire budding photographers.

In between teaching and giving guidance to the delegates, Faye managed to capture these shots. I think my favourite set is the one where I’m lying down on the purple throw with the gold cushions – the colours are so vibrant against my pale babydoll.

Trevor also managed to take a shot of me at the end of the workshop (until then he had been working mainly with the brilliant Anita de Bauch), when I was dressed as a bride. An ethereal high-key image:

Blue

April 22, 2011January 12, 2016ERWhittington 8 Comments

It’s that time of year again… As soon as the bluebells arrived I alerted the various photographers who were on standby and squeezed in some arrangements for early morning/evening shoots. These flowers don’t wait around long; you’ve got to be on their schedule. They’re such a pleasure to sit in; I try my hardest to squish as few as possible in the place I now call ‘my bluebell patch’ and have taken to spritzing my self with Elle Macpherson’s ‘Calming bath and body oil’, lavender scented, to discourage any bluebell-loving insects from settling on me.

I don’t care that I’ve done this type of bluebell shoot before and still have many more coming up over the next ten days – one of the things I love about these short woodland sessions is that, somehow, each photographer always seems to get completely different results, whether by using different angles, wanting different themes or just because the light is so changeable, varying itself in intensity and colour minute by minute. I love the morning mist. It turns out I’m shit at getting up early unless shooting, so I love the fact that these 6am alarm calls are kick-starting me back towards my new year’s resolution with a vengeance. It’s an amazing feeling to be back at home having done a good ‘day’s’ work when most people are just setting off for theirs. 🙂

I’ve already received some images from Mike Castle, who is primarily a traveller (not the irish kind) and secondarily a photographer. He likes things not to be overly posed, preferring a beautiful scene with a girl in it, rather than a girl posing in a scene. This was my third shoot with him (see here and here for previous stuff). I love the relaxed feel and bokeh in these (and am delighted to be able to use one of the few technical terms I know, photography-wise). Here goes: