08 Oct Gold Bird Shoot

My friend Dawn (check out her website here) and I have been talking about doing a shoot together for a long time and finally managed to find a date the worked a couple of weeks ago. Dawn is an amazing prop stylist and set designer so it was great to get a chance to work with her. She brought the brillaint photographer Paula Beetlestone (her website is here) into the project.

It was a real privilege to get to glimpse into their world for the day. So much goes into these shoots, I had no idea. Both Paula and Dawn have so much knowledge and experience between them that they made it all seem so easy, when it really isn’t. I was exhausted by the end of the day.

I don’t have the final images yet but here are a few photos from the day.

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning as we arrived in the studio in Shoreditch.

The start of the set

Dawn and her drill

The set taking shape

The boards in place

The in between

Love these golden feathers, they didn’t get used in the end though.

The camera

The set ready for dressing

Dawn adding some finishing touches to the set. It’s amazing how small changes can really affect the final photos.

Paula working on the lighting

Lovely Phormiums, they play a very important part although in a way you might not realise.

Mysterious black confetti

Paula testing lighting options, as I said the smallest thing can really change the whole photo, the skill that Paula and Dawn have in seeing this is amazing, so much attention to detail is required.

The first shot, though the final photo doesn’t look much like this, it’s much better.

Shot 2 was a little more complicated to shoot and took a while to get right.

Testing paint.

I didn’t take so many photos of the second shot, it was a bit more difficult to see anything as the camera was in very close.

I can’t wait to share the final images with you.