Shooting corporate portraits today (or 'Guys in Ties' as it is known), near London Bridge. Lydia was running the show, corralling the big cheeses, so they were ready for their appointed slot.
In between times I bullied her into standing in.
Can you read her smile?
Inscrutable, if you ask me.
Maternity shoots can sometimes be a little tense and awkward - Mum's often feeling a bit bloated and queasy, carrying a basketball around on her stomach, not really in the mood for photos, and there's the tricky issue of how much flesh do they dare to bare. Not this time.
When I suggested we photographed her relaxing in a bath of milk, she immediately said "YES!! I LOVE it, can I wear pearls?"
And so it went on. We shot four or five setups in about an hour, and it really was a giggle a minute.
I have the coolest clients, I really do.
Here are some of the results:
Here's a selection of shots taken here and there during a recent trip to Dubai. I should point out that this is by no means a balanced and representative view of this extraodinary city. I was limited both geographically and for time with my camera, so these are all taken within a 10 minute walk of the Downtown area, where we stayed.
Dubai is a city designed for cars. Sheik Zayed Road that runs parallel to the coast is 12 lanes wide in parts, and always busy. Nobody seems to walk anywhere in particular, even the quarter mile from hotel to shopping centre necessitates a cab ride. Taxis are cheap and abundant. Unless you're in a hurry, in which case they are nowhere to be found.
Building work, which has slowed dramatically since 2008, still continues apace.
The staggering Burj Khalifa is the world's tallest building. By some distance.
Out hotel was attached to Dubai Mall, the world's largest shopping centre. In one of the numerous vast atria, thousands of paper butterflies dangled from the ceiling, accentuating the gigantic airy volume.
Crowds gather at dusk to shop, eat, watch the dancing fountains, and compare designer handbags
The Burj Khalifa is mind-bogglingly tall, but it is an undeniably elegant design, turning and twisting its way sinuously towards the heavens.
That said, Dubai doesn't really go for boring skyscrapers in the traditional sense - the skyline reflects a more innovative and creative vision, with twists, curves, scoops, deep dramatic slashes and generally wild architectural abandon.
Bling is everywhere. The cars are ridiculous. Jeremy Clarkson would love it.
As night falls, the city becomes ever busier, traffic haring around, and backing up.
Things we didn't see:
Anyone praying or appearing remotely devout (garb aside)
Pedestrians
Police or any other uniformed service, including the military
Homeless people or beggars
Public arguments, or even mild disagreement
Emiratis working
Clouds
Nudity or pornography
Litter
Museums, galleries, exhibitions, shows, or other signs of creative or artistic endeavour
Graffiti.
Bit weird and sterile then...?
Disneyland for grown-ups
But that building - it's hard to drag your eyes away.
I was invited to shoot publicity stills for a brand new BBC comedy production called Bleak Little Shop of Stuff. It's a Dickensian spoof, based on the successful Radio 4 show 'Bleak Expectations' written by Mark Evans. The Beeb have assembled an all-star cast including Stephen Fry, David Mitchell, Robert Webb and Johnny Vegas, as well as Tim McInnerny, Kevin Eldon, Sarah Hadland and Derek Griffiths. Yes THAT Derek Griffiths!
Contractually I'm unable to show you any publicity stills at the moment, but I can blog a few shots taken behind the scenes and around the studio:
The gaffers like to keep a well-ordered ship.
A Victorian setting, with the brilliant John Sorapure as DoP, there was always bound to be tons of smoke and sculpted light.
Street urchins biding their time between scenes
The Art Department have had a lot of fun with the props and set-dressing. Everywhere you look the details are amazingly authentic, and very amusing.
The level of detail is extraordinary. This pile of legal tomes, just one of many, painstakingly crafted, may or may not make it into shot.
Kevin Eldon rehearsing his lines between takes
Director Ben Gosling-Fuller in his element
Tomorrow this space will be full of props and lights and actors and drama
I love the feverish busyness and action one side of a plywood wall, and complete stillness the other.
The Production Manager, Francis Gilson, is roped into playing a butler for the afternoon. Ace sideburns.
It's all being shot on the spanking new Arri Alexa HD system, using prime lenses, which will give the production an incredibly 'cinematic' look.
The opening episode airs at Christmas, with three episodes to follow in 2012.
We've been blessed with a gloriously warm and sunny autumn this year, and I've been making the most of the fine weather to shoot lots of children's portraits. Children are a favorite subject of mine, and as a new-ish father myself I'm acutely aware of how quickly they grow up, and how the various different 'stages' pass by and are forgotten. I love to think that my pictures accurately capture a beautiful, unique moment in a child's life and that, a little like fine wine, the pictures will grow in value and importance as time progresses. Years down the line, long after the financial investment has been forgotten, I love to imagine my pictures bringing priceless memories to their parents, amazement to the then grown-up children, and their children, and so on.
Anyway, enough of that pontification - here's a selection of some of my favourite recent shots.
**COMMERCIAL BREAK** Children's portrait shoots take just a couple of hours and start at £300 for a selection of 50+ pictures. Framed prints, collages and photo books make really wonderful Christmas and birthday presents for parents, godparents, grandparents....
**COMMERCIAL BREAK** This Sunday marks eleven weeks until Christmas! If you'd like to book a children's portrait shoot, please give me a call on 07515 723 699 or drop me a line at studio@rorylindsay.co.uk
