I won’t say much. I’ll let the photos do the talking. Suffice to say I’m proud of my sister, Carolyn Baxter, and the work that’s went into creating this line of bridesmaid dresses. Having such a talented sister inspires me.
It’s great when we get to collaborate on projects. My sister designing and making the dresses, and myself photographing them. I can’t wait to see what else she creates.
A common excuse amongst hobbyist photographers is lacking leisurely time to pick up their camera. Personally, I think photography can be as accessible as you make it. For example, this brief shoot took no longer than 30 minutes. It isn’t a model from a professional agency—merely a friend who needed some photos of his face.
My point is, it doesn’t have to be difficult to get shots like this. Grab a friend, grab your camera, clock out for a half hour and take some solid shots.
By the way, I’ve just launched my first email course designed to get new photographers into the habit of picking up their camera more. If the idea of shooting regularly and transitioning away from Auto interests you, check out my course.
“Casa Morada is the culmination of a personal and professional dream of Eva Serrano, a Spanish Interior Designer based in Edinburgh, Scotland…” Eva gave us free roam of her beautiful interiors shop last month, the perfect location to photograph my sister’s dresses. I am noticing many more flaws with my photos these days, which is a good thing, although I wish I could catch these flaws before it comes to looking at my photos on a big screen. This is all part of learning process, I guess. Regardless, beautiful models, stunning location and glamorous dresses.
My sister, Carolyn, has been telling me for some time about a junkyard on the outskirts of Edinburgh. When Suzanne and Christina contacted me to do a shoot for their portfolio – Suzanne being a make-up artist and Christina specialising in vintage hair – the junkyard gave us the go-ahead to shoot there. Cue lots of strange looks from people scavenging for a bargain.
With us being in a junkyard, I was able to utilise my (very random) surroundings to enhance the photos. For example, I held a weed up to the camera to produce the yellow blur on a couple of the shots, and found a grungy window to shoot through, which gives a nice, softened effect. And then I washed my hands.
And of course, with my sister being a dress designer, we had Danielle wear Carolyn’s evening gowns… and swimming costume. All of which are in stock in my sister’s shop.
A fun shoot with a great team. Hopefully we get to collaborate again soon.
I decided to revisit some of the blogs that inspired me to get into photography. I had some Twitter followers ask if I’d share them, so what follows is a list of the photographers I frequented when I first starting shooting. Maybe they’ll inspire you, too?
Navis Photography: Tim nails both landscape and portrait photography. Tell me how you do it, Tim. How I Met Your Style: Incredible fashion blog. Justin and Mary: A husband and wife, wedding photography duo. Keaton Andrew: Music photographer. No longer updated, but still a healthy archive to browse. Vow To Remember: More wedding photography. Ben Haisch: Senior portraits and weddings. I love his stuff. Nick Onken: Fashion.…
In an attempt to build on my directional skills and practice ‘lifestyle’ photography (bit of a buzzword, but whatever), I enlisted the help of Kay Slater who I had shot with at the beginning of Summer. With this shoot we explored locations I typically haven’t spent much time at. Starting off in the Merchant City at the cathedral, which was unfortunately undergoing renovation and masked in blue tarpaulin (not pretty), and moving into the city centre for a brief stint at George Square. We headed to Kelvingrove Park for a change of scenery and nature shots, followed by some of the quainter streets in the West End. Lots of autumnal colours and dampness!
Glasgow, you’re a cracking wee city.
If only we had longer to shoot, as this brief wander around The Barras turned out to be highly inspiring. Maybe it was Carolyn’s beautiful new dresses, or the model, Leigh, who photographed so nicely. It was a refreshing transition from the weddings I have been doing recently.
The colours, texture, dirt, grime, cigarette butts and Weegie patter. It all made my camera happy.
Summer came over the weekend. In true Scottish style it has now gone, but I still got to play in it with Kaitlin. I’ve known this girl since the day she was born and she’s now a grown up 17 year old. This makes me feel old.
We headed to my old neck of the woods, Inverkip, and shot around the pontoons and on the beach. The sun was too harsh, meaning I’ve discarded a lot of the photos. Everyone kept saying “It’s a great day to take photos”, but I prefer when it’s a bit shady.
I photographed Kaitlin over a year ago for my sister’s make-up palette. Time flies!
I first met Kay in February when I was shooting for Parma Vintage on Asos Marketplace. We swapped details so we could do a proper shoot at a later date, and that time came yesterday. I headed to Newark Street in Greenock where the Cherry Blossom trees are in full bloom and the properties are old, Victorian buildings. Basically, it’s a pretty sweet location to shoot with a lot of surroundings to utilise.
Yesterday was a pleasant reminder why I love photography.
Yesterday I got to spend my afternoon in Saint Judes, a boutique hotel on Bath Street. I can’t share most of the photos from yesterday as they are for a client, but afterwards my sister and I brought in a model and dressed her up in Carolyn’s dresses.