An Afternoon at the Seaside... Brrrr!!

Last weekend saw me heading off to Tentsmuir beach with my dog, my camera, but most importantly with my new pal Niaesha who has very kindly agreed to work with me as an assistant.

Perhaps I should have asked if she liked dogs first, as I quickly found out that she has a bit of a phobia about German Shepherds. Guess what sort of doggy we've got?



Thankfully Hogan is nothing more than a great big soppy bundle of fluff, and Niaesha soon decided that not all German Shepherds are bad :) In fact it's worth saying here that German Shepherds are probably one of the most misunderstood of all dogs, as the vast majority are as soppy as anything! Anyway, I digress...

So, we decided to go to Tentsmuir for our first day oot and get to know each other and have a natter as we wandered about taking photos.



What a day!! I haven't seen that much rain since... er, last week actually, but, this is Britain, it's to be expected. Tentsmuir is an absolutely fantastic place to go, and if you are ever anywhere near Dundee or Tayport and you have no idea what to do for the afternoon, there's your answer!



Niaesha is fairly new to DSLR photography and wants to learn how to use a camera properly, so we had a bit of a tuition session while we were there.



The dog was a huge help, leaving extra interest for the general scene and composition... hmm, thanks Hogy but we'll probably manage ok next time!! The worst of that was a lack of dog bins, which meant carrying a bagful of unpleasantness around for the rest of the afternoon. Quite delightful, as you may imagine.

Anyway, we carried on in spite of the rain and in spite of Hogan's 'help' and found a couple of places that we are definitely going to go back to when it's dry and explore a lot further.



The beach hut is certainly going to get another visit, and it'll be lovely to do more with the dunes as well.

Definitely a fantastic place for a model shoot too... maybe with umbrellas and wellies, as it doesn't look like it's going to be bikini weather any time soon!!

So, there we are, an afternoon at the seaside, I hope you enjoyed it, we certainly did :)

Rebecca, x

www.rtphotographics.co.uk

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

Made it!!!

Hooray!! I'm so excited... I've just done a google check on my website name, I just typed in 'rt photographics'; I didn't add any more than that, no 'UK' or 'Scotland', or 'portrait photographer', 'headshots for actors', none of that... just 'rt photographics', and there it is, number 1 on the first page! Hooray!!!

So a HUGE thank you to everyone who has ever clicked through to my website, and for all of you who read my blog updates. I'm incredibly pleased and happy and excited, and it's all thanks to you!

x.

The website is updated all the time, as new photos come in and the advice pages change, keeping up to date with all the latest information and facts to help get your headshots noticed!

If you haven't visited the website for a while, pop by and see what's new... then come back next week and see what else is new!! It's so exciting, it's forever changing, evolving, and growing and it's all down to you. Thank you :D

I have another photo shoot on Friday with a beautiful wee girl in Meigle, just down the road from us here in Blairgowrie.

There are some more Scottish actor's headshots to come, and another trip to the studio in London in October, for even more headshots... there are a couple of places left; if you need headshots that work for you, email me rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk and we'll get you booked in! If you can't make it in October, don't worry, e-mail me anyway and we'll arrange a suitable time for you.

So please do keep on clicking through, have a look at the website and see what's new on the advice pages and in the galleries. With so much happening, there's always something new to see!

Rebecca, x

http://www.rtphotographics.co.uk/

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

Let Loose - the Honda S2000

John's son has recently bought a new car... or perhaps I should say a new toy (insert wry smile here!!), and he very kindly has us on the insurance so that we can go out to play too!

Hurrah!!

Actually, I think having a couple of old fuds on the insurance makes it a lot cheaper for him, but what the hell, if it means we can go and blow away some cobwebs with a bit of topless action... the car, yes, I'm still talking about the car! Tsk!! - well, it's all to the good as far as I can see!

The Honda S2000 is a little beauty.

Affordable, powerful, and understatedly elegant. It's not an 'in your face', out & out scene stealer like the Ferrari's or Lambo's, and at HUGE amounts less pounds, it's a perfect alternative for the average chap or chappess who just wants to be out and enjoying the ride.

It's not an easy car to drive. Get it wrong and it will kill you. Get it right and your heart will keep on beating, but just that little bit faster and that little bit more fluttery (er... is that proper English? Does it matter? Nope!).

I really can't say it any better than the BBC's 'Top Gear', so to quote from their reviews, "The sound of this small engine foaming like an inmate of Bedlam beneath the bonnet is what it is all about. A little frightening but wonderful for that."

Perhaps a more direct analogy to the feeling you get when driving this car, and also a BBC 'Top Gear' quote, "If Dr Jekyll had one of these, he wouldn't have needed a potion to turn him into a right nutter!"

Now, let me be quick to add that being a nutter doesn't have to involve stupidity!! You can drive this car in the way it likes to be driven, but you don't have to break the speed limits, nor do you have to drive like an idiot and think that you can overtake on hill crests or blind bends... or over solid white lines!!! You can still have more fun (and more fear) than you can probably handle AND still be legal... oh, and alive!!

Anyway, where was I? oh yes... we decided to take the wee Honda up onto Moulin Moor (obviously - because it's my most favourite place in Scotland if you didn't already know) for a photo shoot.

Honda use the tag line 'Power of Dreams', so that is what the shoot was all about. I used techniques I'd learned from Simon Plant in his excellent 'Action Panns' video... which comes highly recommended by the way!

Simon is the master at car photography and is a highly accomplished award-winning photographer, with a National Geographic front cover to his name no less, and who is now spreading the secrets to his successes through digital photography tutorials, and Adobe Photoshop tutorials. Click through for outstanding digital photography tutorials ,visit Simon's site & learn pro-style photographic techniques. Time spent watching his video tutorials is time very well spent indeed! Oh yes!!

It would have been virtually impossible to get the control and technique right on this, if I hadn't watched Simon's video and had a wee practice first. This is something I am going to carry on with; it was immensely enjoyable and so satisfying to come back with all the shots I needed in such a short space of time. Impossible without pro-photo insights, so lots of thanks go to Simon for that!

Hope you like these 'pride & joy' portraits... there will be more to come! If you fancy photos of your own 'pride & joy', get in touch with me by e-mail rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk and I'll discuss all the possibilities with you. Happy motoring & keep it legal.

While you're still here, please do have a look at this video & watch Simon Plant at work!



Rebecca,x

http://www.rtphotographics.co.uk/

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

The High Road

Scotland is such a beautiful country, there's no doubt about that, and I'm sure most people know about Glencoe, the Cuillins of Skye, the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond and all those other iconic places... but my favourite place in Scotland is just up the road from where I live and is barely on the map.



Most people have never heard of it, and even people who live round here don't often notice it, let alone visit just to be there. But, I love it. I feel at home there, feel some sort of resonance with the landscape and it's long history that is still so evident.



There's a tension about the place that is almost palpable; it's exciting and slightly unnerving at the same time. There's something there, something I can't put my finger on, but something that draws me back time and again.



I'm not Scottish, I'm English. I have no Scottish ancestry that I know of, yet here I feel a part of the landscape, a part of the past somehow. Strange, but oddly true. Mind you, wouldn't be the first time I've been called odd, eh? So anyway, this is it, Moulin Moor.



The high road above Pitlochry in Perthshire, and a route for centuries that has seen armies, rogues, bandits, caterans, cattle drovers, secret trysts, farmers battling to survive, and even the one who lost. Poor auld Mr Soutar, who lived in the ruined farmhouse that stands above the road, and who died when trying to get back to the warmth and safety of his house in a violent snowstorm.



A memorial stone stands beside the road, and I'm sure he's still there, watching over his farm and maybe still trying to get home.

Rebecca, x

http://www.rtphotographics.co.uk/

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

Whatever the Weather!

I have to decide which out of 5 of my images best sums up the word 'weather'. You'd think that would be easy enough, but no... I'm seriously struggling! Every time I make up my mind, along comes another thought, another reason why one of the others is more suitable instead, d'oh!

My brother calls this one 'the Eurythmics one' because I called it 'Here Comes the Rain Again... well, snow actually but I don't know a song about that!' It was taken in Glenshee, Perthshire and was about 5 seconds or so from point of impact of the first snow flurries!!



The next, carrying on the the song title theme, is called 'Four Seasons in One Day... or, Somewhere Over the Rainbow... or, Raindrops Keep Fallin' on ma Lens' Again, taken in Glenshee, but this time impact had already occurred and raindrops were indeed falling on my lens! A quick pic of the rainbow and all was packed away for ten minutes until the sun came out again.



This one is just called 'Brrrr!' and was taken, as you can imagine, in sub-zero temperatures up at Laird's Loch by Dundee. The temperature was somewhere in the region of -10 celsius and my fingers were pretty numb by this point. I was enjoying myself though!



Next is 'Cold & Frosty Morning' and was taken on the same trip as 'Brrrr', this being the actual Laird's Loch by Dundee. Sitting at the top of a hill known locally as Tullybaccart, Dundee lies below the hills on the distant horizon. Although not immediately apparent, the loch was completely frozen... as were my toes before I'd finished getting this shot!



Last in my selection, but by no means least, is 'Henry's Kite'. A 10th birthday present, the kite was magnificent and had to be flown, whatever the weather! Moulin Moor above Pitlochry is excellent kite-flying territory so across we went and braved the elements to see the kite soaring it's full height of 100m... or is it 100ft? I never was much use at distance and measurements!! It goes up a very long way anyway!!!

So, these are the 5 images I'm trying to decide from, which one best describes the weather? Hmmm, I still can't make up my mind!

Rebecca, x

http://www.rtphotographics.co.uk/
rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

Dan

It's always good to work with actors as they are already so much more relaxed in front of the lens, but when the actor happens to be young, fun and exciting... it's good!!!!!

Dan is about to start his second year at Mountview Academy in London, studying for a degree in Musical Theatre. He'll be needing headshots for this year and so we set up the mobile studio and let it all happen. We went for different looks, changes of clothes, different backdrops, all to get a good selection from which he could choose the style he wants and needs later on in the year.

I'm so excited about that as we had a great session and I can go down to London later in the year knowing that Dan will be happy and we will nail the perfect headshot for him. Already thrilled with what we've done, Dan is looking forward to the next session... as are his colleagues who also need headshots and have asked me to help them. Good times!!

Why not use the ones from last week? Well, the students all need up to date headshots that portray them as they are now... or then as it will be!!

Hair lengths, styles and colours change, weight fluctuates, and all must be current, so he can't really use these shots, but they are a perfect foundation upon which we can build and so no time is lost or wasted. Preparation and planning!!

Actors headshots are their business cards, they are crucially important to their careers and they have to know that they are getting what they need... which is not always the same thing as what they want! It's a totally different thing to normal portraits, both in terms of photography and presentation, so we have to be sure that the headshots fit the industry standard requirements.

If they don't, the headshot goes straight in the reject bin and so will the CV and audition application that it's attached to!! Actors have a couple of seconds to make an impression, and it's the headshot that does that for them. If it doesn't look like them, casting panels will just see us all as wasting their time. I don't want that, Dan doesn't want that, his colleagues don't want that.

I take the headshots business extremely seriously and that is why I am so excited about my next trip down to London! It is all seriously good times!! :-D

Rebecca, x

www.rtphotographics.co.uk

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

Rain Nearly Stopped Play!

Well, we were supposed to be doing an outdoor family photo shoot but... yes, this is Scotland in the summer! Hmm, you guessed it... rain stopped play and so we opted for the dry comforts of my mobile studio.



As it turned out, we did well and got some lovely shots to celebrate a wonderful 40 years of marriage. We had children and grandchildren all together, a lovely surprise for the couple and surely the best and most beautiful emblem of their marriage.



A truly wonderful family, we were not only made welcome but a part of their special event.



We managed to get a variety of shots, from individual family members, to the entire group...



... and all at the same time as they were preparing for a party to start about 5 minutes after we finished!! It was pretty hectic, but we made it...

Phew!!!



Thanks to Selene for organising everything, and to Dan for helping, and special thanks to everyone who helped to make the shoot go so well and for letting us in when there was so much going on! You kept it flowing for us and we're so pleased you liked the results!



Thank you,

Rebecca, xx.

http://www.rtphotographics.co.uk/

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

Rosie

While on my travels round England last month, I stopped at my sister's place for a couple of days and had a wonderful time. While I was there, amongst other things we took the opportunity to get some shots of my niece Rosie ballet dancing.

She is a fantastic ballerina at just 14 years old, with so much elegance, grace, beauty and strength.

Rosie is already very tall, and on pointes must be at least 6 ft, so space was a bit of an issue as we were doing the shoot in my sister's living room! Rosie was amazing though, she completely understood what was needed and just did it... quite probably the most restricted space she's ever danced in, squeezed between the TV and my lights!!

What a star!!!

Hopefully we'll do some more another time, but thanks so much Rosie, you are amazing!!

Also thanks to Helen for letting us take over your living room and for helping out!

Rebecca, xx

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

http://www.rtphotographics.co.uk/

Chloe

I'm a Great Aunt! Not quite like Great Uncle Bulgaria... I don't have a rocking chair, or a shawl, nor do I do the Times Crossword, but I do have a great big map of the world and I do have a beautiful baby Great Niece :D and here she is...

She's gorgeous, such a happy wee soul

Congratulations Sophie and Stuart, she's a little darling!!

All my love and best wishes, Great Aunty Becca, xxxx

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

www.rtphotographics.co.uk