Just Sitting, Dolls, Orange Walls, and Speedlight Love. 27th November.

I recently bought an off-camera cable for my Nikon SB-700 speedlight, I am loving using it as it is giving me so much more creative freedom than having it sitting on the top of my camera. I also decided to play about with the filters which came with it, I have an orange wall in my house, but it's not vibrant enough to come out in photos, so I used the orange filter and it gave this lovely sepia-tint to the whole photo! 

Definitley think I am going to be using flash a lot more than I used to! Who needs £5k ProFoto lights when you can just use a Nikon speedlight ;)

The Falling Kings and Queens. 24th November.

Magnetic Memoiries - Gardening. 22nd November.

My Grandad enjoyed gardening, he had a shed full of gardening tools and things... I remember one year he grew a sunflower, I climbed to the top of a stepladder and it was still taller than me.. I have a photograph of that somewhere! I think one of the reasons why my Grandad liked gardening so much was because he used to be a farmer, so gardening was probably like tending to a very small farm.

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2Shoes. 21st November.

Just two black pumps, I was testing out my new cable for my speedlight.. it's nice to be able to hold the flash and move it around instead of it being stuck to the camera all the time!

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The Drawing Book. 20th November.

I have a book, a drawing book, just because sometimes the best inspiration comes from yourself.

St.Kyneburgha - A beautiful little church. 19th November.

I was photographing a lovely wedding today, and it was in this beautiful little church in a small village called Castor. I rarely photograph weddings (usually because of the high pressure and the bridezillas that you can stumble upon) but today's wedding was not like that at all, it was a very lovely event and a pleasure to photograph.

I found the church so lovely, the graveyard at the back was filled with ancient gravestones and a few grazing sheep, and it sat on top of a hill overlooking the village... I had to photograph it as I found the building and it's setting quite beautiful.

Magnetic Memoirs. 18th November.

Some of you may know that my Grandad passed away back in April, one of the many things he left behind was the magnet collection that decorated his fridge. My Nanna and Grandad collected magnets throughout their lives, each magnet represents a memory, trip, or something which was part of their lives. I have decided to produce a fine art photo-documentary where I photograph the magnets and then share how they created part of my Grandparents identities. 

I remember these two budgies, my Grandparents used to own two which looked exactly like these... I can't really remember the yellowey-green one as it flew away when I was quite young, but I can remember visiting and seeing the blue one. I was young when the blue budgie died, but I have always wanted to own a budgie... it's probably because of my early experiences of seeing them when I visited my grandparents. My Nanna and Grandad liked birds and often left food outside for them; one winter season my Grandad befriended a Robin and gained its trust so much that it used to come right up to the door and eat out of his hand.

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Winter at the Lido. 17th November.

On a very chilly winters day when the streets were filled with Christmas shoppers, one city centre establishment was completely empty. 

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Orange streets filled with fog. 14th November.

I live in the fens and I admit that winter has started on the first night when I'm in the car and realise that it is so foggy I can only see a metre in front of my car! Fog brings a whole mystical feeling to the fens, it excludes you from the world around you, and it also makes anything that contains light glow in strange orbs. This street was filled with slightly apocalyptic orange light as I was driving home, it had been completely transformed from the street it was in the day time. It's slightly eerie but rather beautiful.

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Converse as a muse. 12th November.

Converse are cool, they're the shoe brand I always end up investing in. They can also be my muse, I always end up photographing them when I lack inspiration.

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My final day at Rankin and my final photographs of the London Transport System. 9th/10th November.

Firstly, sorry this blog is up a day late! Didn't get home till pretty late last night, so I decided to give you a quality blog post today.. instead of a very sleepy blog post last night!!

Yesterday was my final day in London, so it was my final chance to photograph the London transport system.. something which I did throughout the whole of my time in the city.. mainly because some days it was the only subject I could really photograph!

Apart from London transport, yesterday was my last day at Rankin! We had an editorial shoot today with a really lovely actress, the set was very simple and we filled the studio with lights to create some very softly lit images... this included using the biggest Octagon softbox I have ever worked with! The shoot was a lot of fun, it was my last opportunity to work as a member of Rankin's tight team... and it was such a pleasure, now that I have got my head round all the equipment, systems and jobs.. I really felt like I could give the assisting role my all! 

After the shoot we had to create a small set for a video interview, this was also another opportunity for me to realise that I have started to understand the whole system at Rankin. I have always been interested in video/film, and I have been able to learn a lot about it whilst I was at Rankin, this has been great as I have gained some new skills that I can apply whenever I do shoot video!

(test shoot)

The day ended by everyone setting down the studio and getting ready for a small shoot that is happening today.

So I left the studio for the last time, clutching a bag filled with some fantastic photobooks by Rankin and I headed to the beautiful Kings Cross Station.. which I have to Instagram every time I'm there, as I love the architecture so much!! 

Many people may think assisting Rankin is going to be quite glamourous and fashionable, I can tell you most definitely that it isn't... you will get covered in paint, your arms will ache, and the days are long.... but you do get to work in a team of the most amazingly talented and motivated people, you get the pleasure of watching an amazing photographer at work, you get to learn brilliant photographic techniques, you get to work with and learn about equipment which is way beyond your budget, and it is an experience any emerging photographer should long for!  

The past two weeks went so quickly, they were packed with photography... from assisting to working on my own projects in central London.

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Ninth day at Rankin... and a few photos of Kentish Town.. and a dog! 8th November.

Took a few photos around Kentish Town today (well, between Kentish Town West station and the Studio!). It's a nice little walk as there are loads of quirky houses which hint towards the fact that you are in the borough of Camden!

It was a very busy day in the studio, we were preparing sets for a portrait shoot and video interview in the morning; so that included a lot of painting (from painting the floors to touching up on the large woorden flats), lighting candles, steaming creases from cloth/linen, and a whole menagerie of other things! Our portrait sitter and interviewer arrived and we all jumped into gear, working as a team to make the interview as effective as possible!! After the interview the portrait sitter went into styling for a few touch ups and everyone prepared for the first set by testing the lighting, finishing the set up, and tidying things up... this process repeated throughout all the sets we used. This shoot was probably one of my favourites, one of the reasons is because it was portraiture (I love a good portrait), another reason is because I've finally started to get my head around all the kit and how a shoot runs... so I think I was quite helpful in my assisting! And another reason is because the photographs from this shoot were AMAZING! 

It didn't just finish at the shoot today, we then had an opening for an Exhibition by Rankin called "Bear Faced". This series is where Rankin photographed women, who are seen by many as beautiful, without any makeup on.... except a small pawprint. This is to raise awareness of a campaign to raise money for children in need.. the campaign encourages women to go without makeup for a day, have a small pawprint on their face, and raise money for the charity through this. The exhibition was great, and there was a great vibe in the gallery as people arrived, viewed the work, and connected with each other.

(Met this dog called Twinkle Toes on the tube today, she was lovely and I had to take a quick snap!).

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Day 8 at Rankin! Graffiti, Canary Warf & a Hi-Vis man. 7th November.

Another super-busy day at the Studio; the morning started with helping to finish off the set for a live music performance - film, the set design was great and really effective (wish I could show you, but you'll have to wait and see when the next issue of HungerTV comes out). The band were amazing, loved listening and watching them perform (sadly you will have to wait again because I can't really tell you who they were). During the recording I watched the camera operators and it was great to see how they worked along with the music (the lighting also went with the music), I am so excited to see the edit.. but I will have to wait till the next issue of HungerTV, it's so long away.. so I am a little bit frustrated about that, haha!

A lot of today was spend in the gallery as the exhibition opens tomorrow evening, it now looks amazing and the photographs are pretty great.. so I'm looking forward to see it in all it's glory tomorrow.

7th day at Rankin, shooting and cleaning! 6th November.

Breaking the trend today as I didn't just take photos of the London transport system, I took a photo of a supermarket too, wahoo! 

Today at Rankin was very busy, we had a shoot in the morning-early afternoon, a shoot in the evening, and then we had to prep for an exhibition which opens on thursday. The morning shoot was amazing, we created a set which filled the whole of the studio, there were two great big backdrops with different coloured skies painted on and then a whole load of plants and props throughout the rest of the set (the props varied throughout the shoot depending on which type of scene we needed to create). It was one of my favourite shoots so far as the lighting set ups were very creative, and this meant that the photographs looked stunning. I was reunited with the reflector again, so I got the best seat in the house for watching Rankin and how he worked with the model and the camera. 

Rankin also has an exhibition that opens on thursday, so all hands were on deck today (well the walls actually), as we had to recover the walls from the last exhibition and then paint them... that may sound easy, but it really wasn't.. and my hands are a little bit sore! But weirdly enough I enjoyed it, I find it easy to enjoy things when I know they are going to create something amazing, having clean walls will create an amazing exhibition.

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Week 2 @ Rankin (Day 6) and a few more London transport-themed photos! 5th November.

I took some more London transport themed photos today, mainly because I spend a large amount of my day using this service, so I make the most of it by taking photos.

I started my second week at Rankin today, we had a shoot which was a bit different today, because instead of shooting in the studio Rankin decided to shot outside due to lighting and other reasons. People underestimate the power of using natural lighting as they tend to see studio flashes and lights as more professional ways of lighting photos, the Sun is the strongest light we have access to, so why not make the most of it!

Due to the team shooting outside, the studio was transformed into a massive styling room.. it was quite odd to see the studio used in this way as over the past week it has constantly been used for photography, film and set building.

Don't forget to check out my new Skatepark-documentary: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152228119335046.928287.407058550045&type=1

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Tube Journeys and Southbank Skate Park. 4th November.

Today was pretty cold and windy, so I probably spent more time on the tube than actually outside in London. After going to church at HTB Onslow Square I originally planned to spend some more time in central London doing some street photography, but I was not suitably dressed and I don't want to be ill for what will be a very busy week at Rankin!

Instead I headed back to Beckton and spent the afternoon working on my photos from Southbank Skate Park, I now have a final edit which I have uploaded to my facebook page: www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152228119335046.928287.407058550045&type=1 

they'll soon be up on my website as well, so keep a look out. 

A photo-tour of Southbank and Westminster. 3rd November.

I have the weekend off, so I have been able to do my own thing on this rather beautiful but chilly day! Onto the DLR I hopped to get myself into central London to do some shooting. The problem with taking photos in London is that there are so many things to take photos of I need to plan what I am actually going to focus on photographing. 

My focus for today was South Bank skate park; a skate park which has interested me over the years, it has been something I've always wanted to delve into... so today and last wednesday were perfect times for me to delve away!

Daniel was just mending his bike when I asked him for his portrait, he was doing some pretty sick moves before I took this photo though ('scuse the street lingo!).

After spending a bit of time meeting great people and taking photos at the skate park I headed down the embankment; I was astonished to find a number of people clutching Ice Creams, it was such a cold day.. far too cold for Ice Cream!

Jubilee Gardens (a green space next to the London Eye) has had a make-over and I have never really had the chance to walk through it, so I had a nosey and then perched upon a small hill and watched the Street Performers from afar. I was quite disappointed with two performers who's act was the Cha Cha slide and the dance to Gangham Style, not overly original... it was great to see people joining in though!

Westminster Bridge was crammed, but amongst all the hustle and bustle I found this man pushing a cart full of souvenirs he had been selling.

Thought I'd check out Parliment Square to see if there were any protests going on, and indeed there was one small protest about wanting Democracy in Lybia. The passion and enthusiasm of the people protesting and shouting the chants was quite inspiring.

After my little photo-journey around Southbank/Westminster I headed to Kings Cross to meet Sarah Page, a friend of mine who is a Photographer/Filmmaker, she was in London for the weekend filming part of a documentary she was making. It was great to meet up with her and catch up with all she's been doing and I was able to share with her a little about what I've been doing. 

London can be such a lonely place despite the fact it is full of people, so it has been nice to see a familiar face!

Sarah Page: www.sarahkathleenpage.co.uk/

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