Natasha: Model Shoot

Last week I had a brilliant shoot with Natasha and it really reminded me how much I love working on location as there is so much more emotion, energy and personality in the shots than those done in a studio.

Natasha is from Malaysia and at just 27, she has a fair amount of modelling experience under her belt. She has featured in Nuts Magazine, Wedding Planner Magazine and has participated in numerous catwalk shows including shows for Christian Dior.

Natasha is very easy to work with, has a lovely personality, really enthusuastic and up for just about anything.

We were really lucky on the day of the shoot as it was forecast to rain. Instead, it was just overcast but there was a really nice breeze running through the woods which made Natasha's hair and dress move giving the shots a slightly more natural and enchanted feel.

My favourite shot from the shoot is that featured in my new header at the top of my blog. I love Natasha's eye contact, the colours and the gentle bokeh produced by the wide apature.

Natasha was really pleased with the images and I will update this post with more detailed feedback from her soon. In the meantine, you can see more images from the shoot on Flickr.

Model & Make Up: Natasha Sorby
Photography & PP: Me

Carrie-Anne: Portraits

I had a portrait session with Carrie-Anne last week and I have already taken portraits of her son, Brendan.

Carrie was quite relaxed in front of the lights and camera. We did a variety of traditional as well as funny poses which also helped her to relax and gave me the opportunity to capture her laughing between poses.

I was really pleased with the images from the shoot. I felt that it went really well and that Carrie enjoyed herself which I really enjoy to see in people during a shoot.

Return Of The Blog!

Okay, now my blog has been offline for quite some time now (well over a month) for numerous reasons and is now back with some major improvements.

While my blog has been offline, I have still been writing and updating, so please feel free to look back through older posts.

As you will immediately notice, the layout has now completely changed.
I have a new banner so that newcomers to my blog will know what it is all about quickly and a link bar just below with links to my website (Eleanor Stobbart Photography), my Flickr Photostream and numerous other pages that may be of interest that are now much easier to access from my blog.
If you would like to look at older posts, you will now find my blog archive (index) at the bottom of the page along with profile information and there are fewer posts displayed on the front page so that there is less to scroll through.
The colours of the blog itself have also changed so that they are more in keeping with those from my website and it has a much softer and more welcoming feel to it now.

These changes have been a long time coming now and are hopefully, very welcome!
Please let me know what you think - feedback is always important.
There may be a few more minor tweaks to be made but I'm still working on that.

Sash: Model Shoot

I had a model shoot on Tuesday with Sash (Sacha).
Sash is quite new to modelling but it is something that she would like to do for a career and is starting to build her portfolio.

Sash is a lovely girl and I was so impressed, especially this being her first studio shoot.
She was confident and had obviously looked at posing and shot ideas which I hadn't expected for her first shoot.

I suggested a 'rock chick' look as it suited her casual style and I thought she would feel more comfortable with the familiar. She was really pleased with the idea and I sent her links to a couple of images of a similar style so that she knew what I meant.
I also arranged to borrow a guitar from a friend so that it would add more to the look and style of the images as well as give her a prop to work with as I thought it may make the shoot easier for her and allow more traditional and classic poses.

We discussed wardrobe and make up ideas prior to the shoot and Sash did her own make up as we weren't looking for anything too complicated or extravagant.
Sash was really pleased with the photos from the shoot and I think, quite surprised too, being her first shoot she wasn't quite sure what to expect.

I will be working on another shoot with Sash in the near future with a very different style and theme that I would like to try that she is also really interested in.

I will also update this post with feedback from Sash in the next few days.
In the meantime, more of the images from the shoot can be seen on Flickr and the full gallery can be found here: Sash's Gallery

Amy & Ollie: Maternity Photographs

So while I was back home, I did a maternity shoot for a friend of my sister.

Amy is due this Friday and has already had signs of early labour so we were playing it by ear as to weather it would be possible to do.
This was the first maternity shoot that I have done so I'm fairly happy with the images.

I think it was let down by lighting though. I didn't have my lights with me but there wouldn't have been enough space for them anyway. The sun was really bright so the shadows were really harsh which contrasted against the whole soft and natural beauty that would traditionally be so prominent in a maternity shoot.
We did some photos in the lounge, others outside and a few in the hallway for the plain background.

I'm going back for a Wedding at the end of the month so all things permitted, I will be doing some newborn shots for Amy & Ollie too.

Rant Alert! Noisey Neighbours...

I went home last weekend which was lovely for so many reasons...
It was nice to see grass and trees again (my view of the city has still not changed and I don't think it will) but also, I got some peace. 2 whole days of peace.

2 weeks before Christmas, the noisiest, most impolite, most obnoxious, abusive, discourteous and horrible neighbours moved into the house behind us. All day everyday there is noise - I can't think, I can't study and life is so disrupted that I can't get anything done.

Yes, I have done the usual...I went to talk to them not long after they first moved in and they were apologetic but refused to do anything about it. A couple of weeks ago, we went back over and were confronted with verbal abuse and threats of making the noise worse - well, they are certainly sticking to it!

I have also tried the police (who can't do a thing unless its a domestic disturbance - well there will be one soon there always is coming from their house), I have reported it to Environmental Health who don't seem to respond to enquires - certainly not on time and I have even contacted their landlord who spoke down to me as if I don't have a clue what I'm talking about! How rude! It was clear that their are either friends or related though from her reaction.

I'm so annoyed, I know if I was back home they would have had their stereo and pets removed and have a court date set by now!

Everyday, by 9am, shouting, by 10am the dog starts (and continues all day until about 6pm) then there is music and shouting, not quiet music - excessive. You can hear it from the top of the street! I am at my wits end, I have even contacted the RSPCA as you can't make that much noise with a dog in the house and if he is barking all day, well, then there is something wrong there too.

HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!

There is no way I am going to get my essays written with this going on all day every day and I'm so worried that I'm not going to pass this year because of it. The other thing is, because money is so tight right now, I can't afford to get to and from college to study there.

I'm also worried that they are going to start causing even more problems - vandalism of my car and the property I rent (my landlord is also very concerned). I know you shouldn't stereotype, but in this case, I know their type and I know what they will do.

We have 6 months left on our tenancy but we don't want to move. Our landlord is wonderful, the neighbours either side and opposite are lovely (we have street BBQ's in the summer) and we can't afford to move. Unfortunately, we may have no choice but I have no idea how our landlord will manage to rent the house with them behind.

If anyone knows of a civilised, legal way to resolve this that I haven't already tried - please help us!!!!!

Miss Leeds Finalist Headshots

Viki is a model and actress from Leeds and has made it to the finals of 'Miss Leeds 2009'.
I have known Viki for about a year now, I met her on the film production shoot 'Maggie' and she is also playing one of the main roles in 'No More Room In Hell' (please see earlier post).

Viki was in need of some new head shots for the competition and her portfolio so we arranged a shoot earlier this week.
Unfortunately, we couldn't get a studio at a convenient time so the shots were taken at home in my make-shift studio.

Here are a couple of the finished shots;

All of the other shots and edited variations from the shoot can be seen in the gallery on my website here; VIKI BAILEY

If you would like to vote for Viki, please text 'VIKI BAILEY' to 84205 (texts cost 60p). The winner will be announced on Wednesday 8th April 2009 and will go through to the 'Miss England 2009' competition.

Model: Viki Bailey
Photography & PP: Me

Film Production Stills: No More Room In Hell

Last week, I spent a few nights taking some stills for a student short Zombie film called 'No More Room In Hell'.

The shoots were from late afternoon until the early hours of the morning as most of the film is based at night. Needless to say, it was freezing cold but it was a good laugh and the crew were really nice and chatty.

Taking stills was quite difficult as the locations were very dark and I couldn't use a flash while the crew were filming. Photographs could only be taken during rehearsals (which there weren't many of) or when they weren't recording sound as the microphone would pic up the camera's shutter sound. This meant using a high ISO which created a lot of noise (grain) in the images and I also had to meter every shot first and manually focus which wasn't the easiest task considering everyone was moving!

I tried some different effects in post and really liked the one below. I thought it would work really well as a poster image so I made a mock up. I'm really not happy with the title's font though - it doesn't sit as well as I would like but as I was only experimenting, I have left it as it is for now.

There is a video/animation of some of the stills in the post below and there will also be more stills added to my Flickr photostream as I process them. I couldn't resist doing this as the Zombies running looked so good (the crew even used one on my angles for the film) and the attack scenes looked quite amusing like this too.

Film Production Stills Animation: No More Room In Hell

Film Production Stills Animation: No More Room In Hell, originally uploaded by Elliye.

Animation made from some of the production stills that I took on this film shoot.

For some annoying reason, the colours have gone really saturated when I converted the files to a video...grrrrrr.....!