Burnham's Burnished Beeches!

Although now no longer in Berkshire, Burnham Beeches is still the place to be in autumn if you find yourself anywhere near to the huge sprawl of London.



With just a toe in the Home Counties, and barely a breath in the countryside, Burnham Beeches manages to pack in a great feeling of forested expanse and fresh green air. Even the noise of Heathrow Airport, less than 10 miles away, is lost amongst the ancient boughs of this beautiful wood.



Unfortunately the entire population of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Greater London decided that a Sunday stroll round Burnham Beeches would be just the ticket before rejoining the rat race on Monday. Hey ho.

Thankfully the vast majority of the stockbrokers, pawnbrokers, Henry's and Chelsey's decided that anything further than a mile from the Range Rover would probably require oxygen and a sherpa, and so I found that having passed through the invisible boundary I wandered back into my own world again. Phew!



I don't deal well with crowds, which is why I never go shopping, don't do nightclubs and would never enter a pub with the words 'Satellite TV' or 'Happy Hour Cocktails' or anything else outside! If there's not a whiff of real ale or the sound of ancient and mud-encrusted boots on the tiled floor, I'm not really interested!!

Anyway, having left the crowds behind I found that I had the paths and drives pretty much to myself. A few intrepid dog walkers would venture deep into the woods, but apart from a nod and a "lovely day innit" I was largely left to my own thoughts.

I haven't been to Burnham Beeches since knee-high to a chihuahua, but it's every bit as beautiful and wonderful as I remember. Even better actually, as on this visit I found the old homestead; a moated medieval clearing that had been home to foresters since a very, very, very long time ago!



It tickled me that I was standing where a woman would have stood in the middle ages, looking at the same scene (sort of) and shooing away pigs from the wooden door of her wattle and daub house!

There were several ancient tree stumps across the homestead and I'd love to think that some of these had been saplings when she stood at her door. Maybe her pigs had been responsible for spreading a few acorns about and starting the very trees that I could now see as decaying timber.



The cycle of life was really evident here though, as fungi and new tree shoots jockeyed for space amongst the debris. My reverie was eventually disturbed by a hyperactive Spaniel crashing about the bracken, but the tranquility that I found beneath Burnham's Beeches couldn't be so easily destroyed. A stone's throw from London, but a world away in heart.

Rebecca, x

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

Down in London Town!

WOW, talk about 'hot in the city'!


Deon Adams (c) rtphotographics 2009

Probably not what Billy idol (or whoever it was) was singing about, but my word, it was HOT! Sweltering, sweating hot!!

I was down in London a couple of weeks ago to work on some headshots with a group of 7 young actors, all of whom are working hard and very nearly at the end of their first year at the Mountview Academy in London.


Jeffrey Socia (c) rtphotographics 2009

Their week at the Academy is unbelievably hard and how they manage it in the heat I really don't know! I have nothing but absolute and utmost respect for these incredible young people.


Leigh Lothian (c) rtphotographics 2009

I set up the studio in the top floor apartment of a town house in Palmers Green. There is a huge balcony up there and loads of natural light as well as studio lighting, so all was looking good. I hadn't bargained on the heat from the enormous windows though. Wow. Hot and thirsty work. I haven't drunk that much water since my first attempts at swimming in the English Channel over 30 years ago!!


Leah Shears (c) rtphotographics 2009

Each session lasted a little less than an hour and the time flew. It was an absolute pleasure and a privilege to spend that time with the students, and talking to them, finding out a bit more about them. As well as being interesting and fun, it's also the best way to help them relax and put themselves across in their headshots.

They were all 7 very different people; different backgrounds, different experiences, different approaches to life and hopes for the future. Their personalities need to come across in their headshots. It needs to be 'them' that a casting panel sees, not a lovely photo of someone airbrushed beyond all recognition.


Greg Airey (c) rtphotographics 2009

If they are more serious or quiet by nature, that needs to show. If they are fun and bubbly, that should be in the headshot. It is the only thing they have to show a casting panel who they are. They won't get an audition without one, unless they are incredibly lucky and are incredibly famous!


Grace Gardner (c) rtphotographics 2009

With the amount of dedication and enthusiasm these young folks have, as well as bags of talent, I am quite sure these are names and faces we shall all get to know in the future! I can't wait for the day when I can say "oh yes, I knew them before they were famous!"


Paula Masterton (c) rtphotographics.co.uk

Thanks everyone, so very much, for all your hard work on such a terribly hot day!! It really was a pleasure to meet with you all and work with you all.

Rebecca,x

rtphotographics.co.uk

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk