A stormy September..
First of all I hope everyone is keeping safe and well. Shooting has got me through an incredibly difficult year with my partners serious illness and Covid, and this month was no exception..
Summer was very much dedicated to remote shooting with the lockdowns, and August quiet on the shoot front for me as I really wanted to back my three year old pony before Winter weather started to set in, and that proved to be a good choice with the appearance of stormy weather!
It was a very mixed month of cancellations and missed opportunities I won't dwell on, but those that ventured outside were definitely rewarded with amazing work with very special buildings and studios, and even the re appearance of the mist on the river meadows here at home that's so atmospheric!
The first shoot of the month saw Stephen Edwards and I venture back out urbexing after an amazing start to the year despite the dramas.. And it was definitely everything you want your urbex shoot to be for the first big one back out! The location was spectacular, the information gratefully received bang on the money, and despite a few headaches getting in unseen, we happily shot all day undisturbed. I don't think we even scratched the surface of this amazing building, and there are so many amazing shots to edit it will take a while to work through but a little bit of our work so far...
The library here is fabulous....
"Bookworm"
"Don't wake the neighbours"
This set was inspired on the staircase and adjoining room by a flag we found from what was probably a fun party for the residents here!
"Rule Britannia"
This room was retro heaven..
"Flowers in the attic"
"Tax Evasion"
"Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multi coloured moods of love are like its satin wings"
And finally a dark room with a proper hospital bed at last!
"Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travelled the world
And the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something"
So many more amazing sets from this shoot to come but if I don't start now it will be Christmas by the time I finish! Watch this space....
The next shoot was an awesome visit to a little local location with Alondonlens and a friend. I'm really looking forward to these as sadly the location has now been cleared for work and I had to make a hasty exit on my last visit, so they will definitely be a one off set I think! Nothing sticks around long at the moment in Surrey!!
Then Stephen Edwards and I went out again. We had a certain walkway and areas in London in mind for a night shoot, but sadly the transport situation and risks in London were too much at the moment. So we tried our luck with some daring local derelicts and unknowns. Sadly luck was not on our side but we did find a rather awesome and extremely creepy footpath and I managed to end up hanging from a tree.. more of that to come!
"Savage"
We decided to venture out to the bridge and the river meadows around midnight, armed with torches and simple led lights, and as we went further it became clear the mist was back!! A little early for Halloween but again we took a simple black hood I have to make for some eerie images too.. Thank god we had the place to ourselves bar the cows, however dodging cow pats in the dark is not easy! Given everything going wrong we adapted and had an amazing and unique shoot!!
A little taster of our creepy shenanigans and daredevil nude bridge antics tbc...
"A marvellous night for a moon dance"
“One day you wake up and realize the world can be conquered... I'm going to put a mask on and scrawl my name across the face of the world, build cities of gold, come back and stomp this place flat, until even the bricks are just dust"
For the last shoot I teamed up with the awesome Arbie Fotas again. We had an urbex planned but when he contacted me to say this wonderful studio at Burford Manor had opened I jumped at the chance.. sometimes clean floors and a door to enter through are a nice change. The house and barn here are amazing and we didn't even scratch the surface, so a return visit is definitely on the cards. So much more to come but one of my favourite sets from the rather awesome barn and a wonderful day..
Going into October I've made the decision to remote shoot again, and it looks like the first destination will be Wyoming again thanks to a recommendation from the wonderful John Patton. Urbex locations are about but move quickly now and can be challenging with court orders slapped on, so please if you see one of these notices DO NOT be tempted to carry on no matter how easy access appears. It will get expensive and embarrassing. Move on to plan b...
That said there are some wonderful and fairly easy locations out there with good information on them, and contrary to popular opinion the light is fantastic at the moment, and many locations dry. The angry skies are also fantastic for location work, and the rain for shiny cobbles at night. So if you fancy trying something different on your shoot drop me a line for a chat!