Outdoor Location

Diamante and Pearls, Ribbon and Ruching, Beads and Blushes

ERWhittington 2 Comments

I know, I know, it’s been ages since I’ve updated! I’ve had a lot of exciting shoots recently but am reluctant to post without the images – hopefully I’ll be able to remedy this soon!

Anyway, I was lucky enough to be asked recently to model for the new 2011 collection of Chanticleer wedding dresses, each made by the extremely talented bridal designer Tracey Salt in Cheltenham. One look at the Chanticleer website and I knew this would be a wonderful day; the dresses are exquisite.

We shot at Badger Farm, having stayed over the night before in the cottage. It was such a varied, beautiful location; the views all around were amazing (as you can see in one of the images below). It was a brilliant case of everyone pulling their weight and doing their bit; 2 models and 18 dresses to get through in one day (11 hours!), all with different hair and make up, and each needing help to get into and out of each dress, trains carried for walking outside between locations, beautiful shoes carried until the last moment for minimal mud-sinking, fluffy robes held to be thrown on between sets (there was a very cold wind on the day!)… We were well looked after! All in all, the shots below are due to the brilliant teamwork of the following:

Designer: Tracey Salt (Chanticleer)
Assistant: Natalie Russell (Chanticleer)
Photography team: Chris and Claire Hanley
Make up: Hannah Raison
Hair: James
Beautiful and lovely other model: Rachel Hetherington
Thanks also to Liz Parker, Tracey’s mum, and for the gorgeous jewellery and shoes (which I don’t have a link for but may be found via the Chanticleer website).

The theme of the collection is ‘Back to Nature’. Each of the 18 dresses is named after a fairy. Cute or what! Here are the 9 dresses I modelled…

Jocasta:

Oriana:

Aphrodite:

Cassandra:

Paloma:

Arabella:

Carmel:

Minerva:

If you like what you see and are feeling bridally inclined, you can visit visit both Chanticleer and Chris Hanley Photography at this year’s National wedding Show at the NEC, from October 8-10th October.

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Behind the scenes… 🙂

 The Eeyore robe I fell in love with. WARM:
 
My mug:
 The princess dress, Oriana (Hhm, earring still with its tag on):

Tracey (designer) getting rather hands-on with my underskirt… I love my face in this. I don’t think I’m totally sure what’s happening to me.

‘Get me to the location on time!’

Photodorset and FiresSecret

ERWhittington

I had a shoot recently with Photodorset in the forest, fields, avenue of trees, flowers and open spaces near my house in Oxfordshire, featuring another model, FiresSecret. The shots required were natural and relaxed ones – nothing overly posed, which made for a very pleasant shoot with lots of candid shots of FiresSecret and I chatting and joking around (there are LOTS of shots of us laughing at each other and being silly, which is always nice – maybe one day I’ll add a ‘bloopers’/’outtakes’ gallery to my website – I have plenty of material from this shoot alone!!)

These are some of my favourites:

Here are some I made earlier

ERWhittington

I can’t wait to show the images from my recent shoots in Dublin, as I have a feeling there are some really good ‘uns on the way, but, in the meantime, I thought I’d post a few from previous shoots with dbimages in County Wicklow – Des and I were flicking through our previous efforts when I shot with him a couple of weeks ago and discovering all sorts of gems he’d overlooked before (this always happens, I find)… When you work with someone for two days straight (as Des and I usually do), there are WAY too many shots to process, so looking back with fresh eyes is always fun. Anyway, here are a few that slipped through the net first time around, and new shots from the recent trip will be here soon!

‘Swan Song’, ‘To the Distant Beloved’ and ‘Winter Journey’

ERWhittington 2 Comments

I worked recently with Patrick Allen, photographer and classical recording engineer/producer with Opera Omnia Productions on two CD covers. The two CDs Patrick needed images for are Schubert’s Schwanengesang/Beethovern’s An die ferne Geliebte and Schubert’s Winterreise. The theme was 19th-century romance; unrequited or unnattainable love. I love modelling for historical themes – the emotion, costumes and history of it all. I made sure to think wistful, yearning, formal, damsel-ian, lace-filled thoughts as I pondered upon my fine gentleman lover who may or may not have had a trusty steed.

Below are some shots from the day (some of which involved Patrick standing on his roof while I appeared unattainably through the window…and me standing unattainably on a ladder amongst the blossom of a beautiful cherry tree), followed by four draft mock-ups of potential CD covers which Patrick has very kindly allowed me to show already.

The Sea, The Sea (I ran by it)

ERWhittington 6 Comments

And I ran a little bit IN it, which was nice. Being by the sea makes me so inexplicably happy; I deeply envy those who live near it and as if it’s just some other landmark or view. The ocean excites me sooo much; partly in a perverse way, since it terrifies me slightly (think of the ghosts down there; the sailors who gulped their last watery breaths alone; the bones; the deep, thundery laps of water rolling over itself and the bus-sized creatures who lurk, glass-eyed, past each other, having changed very little since the dinosaur age; the creaking sounds of ships and debris; the hunting noises and the dull squawks of the gulls over the water…. See, I even love sea gulls). Being at the shore-line is always magical. So you can see why I was quite excited to be working with John Kent down in Bournemouth recently.

We worked primarily on some stock images; running down the beach – lust for life, that kind of thing. My calves hurt a LOT the next day. I’d forgotten how running on sand can take its toll, especially if you don’t warm up..!

Then, I spent some time spinning and twirling under an arch, wearing pretty clothes. I do love my job!

Allinthemind

ERWhittington 1 Comment

Simon Young is one of those photographers I just had to work with. We spent a full day in Gloucestershire at some brilliant locations with some lovely make up (by Simon) and in beautiful evening light. Rob, who I’d worked with previously, acted as assistant extraordinaire, prime reflector holder and distractor of passers-by, and also dedictated grass-gatherer to protect my feet from sinking in the squelchiest mud imaginable.

My Mum’s Victorian-style wedding dress, as worn in 1979 and brought to life with a dash of Florence and the Machine (Simon thinks) and Wuthering Heights (I think):

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