Emily Jane's Headshots

I love doing headshots for actors, and I was absolutely made up when Emily Jane came into the studio. She is GORGEOUS!!!

An absolute dream to photograph, as well as being easy-going and hugely warm-hearted. Dan, you're a very lucky man ;-) Emily Jane is currently in her second year at the very prestigious Mountview Academy in London, and she is an amazing dancer as well as a singer and actress.

If we don't see her topping the bill in a few years time, I'll eat my hat! Erm, well, I don't actually have a hat but I'd go out and buy one!!

Rebecca, xx

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

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

Unashamedly geeky!!

I don't see what's wrong with being a geek. I've been called it many times over the years (well, since the word 'geek' was invented anyway, I just used to be a plain old 'weirdo' before that!), and where I used to be embarrassed, now I am proud. I am a geek, oh yes I am.

Let's look at the evidence. My favourite sandwiches are cheese and pickle. My favourite subject at school was geography, closely followed in joint positions by chemistry and biology. I am a photographer with a do-it-all camera, yet I choose to use it in full manual mode every time, including focusing. I like real ales, I hate lager. I can spell fashion, but after that I am left clueless. I get a nose bleed and altitude sickness if I go anywhere near a pair of stilettos and as for hair-do's, well, mine just doesn't.

So, where would an unashamedly geeky photographer go to with a picnic on a sunny weekend? To the beach of course! Ah, yes, not any old beach, this was Tentsmuir and it was the day of the Leuchars Air Show. Hurrah!!!



And what a beautiful day it was too. I started it in Dundee to capture sunrise over the Law from Balgay Hill,



then headed down to Clark's bakery for a coffee and an apple slice before nipping over the Tay Bridge into Fife. I parked at the edge of Tentsmuir Forest in Tayport to get some early morning views across the estuary and to do a spot of birdwatching (more evidence of very geekiness), and was well rewarded with some smashing views of a kingfisher as it darted along the shoreline. My day was already complete at that point, but it just kept getting better!!

Moving into Tentsmuir and around the headland, I found Lapland Bunting on the sea-buckthorn bushes as well as seals sunning themselves on the sands and a huge expanse of smooth soft sand all to myself. Wow.



I made my way down the beach to the perimeter fence of the air field at Leuchars and sat down to eat my cheese and pickle sandwiches, my plain crisps, and slurp on my coffee. Just perfect.



So why wasn't I in the airfield to watch the show? Well, I had thought that I was to be looking after the dog that day and so I couldn't take him in to the show, but it turned out that his dad was home and so he took him instead. Too late to try and get organised for the show, plus I'd already made up my mind that I was going on a photo foray round the beach, so I'm afraid I didn't go in to the show. But I have and I will again. It's a fabulous show, a great day out and more magical metalwork than any seriously serious geek could possibly need for a truly awesome experience.

Rebecca, x

www.rtphotographics.co.uk

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

mmmmm cake!!!!

One of my passions, apart from photography, is cake. Ask me to take photographs of cake and I'm in paradise!! Unless of course I wouldn't be allowed to taste a sample in which case I'd be suffering some kind of cruel torture. Shudders, doesn't bear thinking about!

KB's Cakes of Perthshire do, however, know my weaknesses very well and allow me to sample their wares, and my word, what wonderful wares!!!



Run by a lady of exceptional talent, KB's Cakes produce celebration cakes that are not only tasty, but they are imaginative, creative and really a work of art... a very tasty work of art!!



Fresh, free range and organic, KB's Cakes are the best in the business and, believe me, when it comes to sweet treats I really know a good cake when I eat one!! If you're in need of a celebration cake, for whatever reason, e-mail me rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk and I'll put you in touch with KB's Cakes. And no, I'm not on commission!!!



Mind you, there's an idea, hmm, I could take payment in cup cakes, mmmmm.

Rebecca, x

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

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

Still Life

The challenge was set to create a still life image, any subject, so long as it was a still life. Not something I'm particularly interested in or have done much of before, I set my head to thinking about it.

I had visions of still life being bowls of fruit or vases of flowers, that sort of thing, but apparently even objects found outdoors can be classed as still life, presumably if they have been deliberately placed for some kind of artistic effect. That would certainly make the challenge a lot easier. There are many door knobs and rusty hinges, and goodness knows what else that could have been used, but, a challenge is a challenge and so I decided to try something new to me. It's not new to the art world and certainly not new to photography, but I don't really care about that. The idea was for me to push myself, my own boundaries, and surely that needs to be mastered first before any attempts to push the boundaries of photographic art!!

So, what to do?

I decided on the old classic of the whisky bottle and glass, with low warm light and minimal reflections. I thought the best way to achieve that would be to use a flash head pointing up underneath the bottle to light it up from within. Right. OK. Now how do I do that???

In the end, I had a glass dish laid across two high-backed leather dining chairs, with the flash head clamped underneath to point straight up. The stand had to be propped up on 3 lap trays (you know, the ones with bean bags underneath), and then my long dark blue dressing gown draped over the back of the chairs. There was way too much light spillage going on though, so eventually I ended up with a snoot on the flash head, two small black inserts from my lighting bag squeezed down between the chairs at front and back; two long black inserts propped up against books, stacked up either side of the glass dish; and a black jumper coiled around the bottle and the glass.

Great, that took care of the light spillage, but then I needed more light to show the label on the bottle. Cue second flash head, which was eventually found to have best results when bounced off the coving between the ceiling and the wall behind me. So, 2 hours and 27 attempts later, I finally got an image!!



Not perfect, I appreciate that, but for a first go at something I'm not especially interested in, it will have to do!

I really needed to play around with the light to highlight the outside of the bottle a bit better, but, being brutally honest, I couldn't be bothered any more!!! I'd spent enough time fiddling about already, it was nearly midnight and a challenge is only a real challenge if you have the desire to see it through completely. This was a little challenge that got me thinking, but wasn't worth putting a great deal more effort into. That's my excuse anyway :)

Rebecca,x

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

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

Adventures in Fairyland...

It's probably fair to say that you must know by now that I love my job!!!

Sunday was quite possibly the best, most entertaining, and most satisfying of all the photo shoots I've ever done. I had a true adventure in fairyland... fighting my way through waist-high nettles and brambles; clinging on to slopes beside a very deep and rather chilly stream; perched precariously up a 7ft ladder; and on my tummy almost under the runners of a very large rocking horse!!

Superb!!! That's why I love my job!



Sian is a young girl with a very strong future as a child model. She is awesome! So professional, full of fun and imagination, and so completely tireless, I love her to bits!!

We wove a story using her own clothes and props to show an 'Adventure in Fairyland'. Starting off outdoors, we went across to the neighbour's garden (with their very kind permission), and shot the first series down by the stream.

At least 4 foot deep by the looks of it, it also looked very cold and I seriously didn't want to go in, but nearly did... three times! The first time by accident, but the second and third times were actually by design!

What??? Utter madness!!!

I would have done it though, had I not been able to get to the bank on the far side. But, with a bit of determination... or maybe sheer bloody-mindedness in the face of the cold, wet and rather unpleasant alternative... I managed to create a path through the thickest, deadliest brambles and nettles you've ever seen. Ta daaa! Hmm... er, unfortunately, my view of Sian was then totally obscured by a branch with large fluttery leaves that waved about right in front of her!! Damn!!

Thankfully I had my new and very capable assistant Niaesha, who used a walking stick to hook the offending branch and hold it back out of the way for me.


Phew... saved from needing to get into the water again, thanks Niaesha!! We then headed back to Sian's own garden, where we found the wackiest but loveliest bird box I've ever seen!



Definitely a fairyland bird box!!

It was then up onto the balcony of the playhouse for some fun with the masks. Whilst very lovely, the balcony is, unfortunately, a very long way up. I needed a 7ft stepladder to get any kind of shots, and so in came Niaesha to the rescue again. The garden slopes slightly to the side, so Niaesha had to prop up the ladder to prevent me tipping off sideways and landing in an undignified heap on the grass! Instead of which, I still managed a rather undignified, slightly scared perch on top of the ladder... heights aren't amongst my strong points!

Having avoided ridicule and, it has to be said, injury (goodness knows, maybe even death!!!), we then moved indoors to get some studio shots.



Fantasy ruled and a fairy grotto was created using props gathered from around the house... including the toilet!! It has been said many times, by people far greater than me, that inspiration often comes from the toilet. Indeed it does!!

We also found a huge wooden rocking horse (no, not in the toilet)... and how else do we travel to fairyland than on a wooden horse?



Wonderful! So, all in all, we had a wonderful afternoon on our adventures in fairyland, and although it will take a while to process all the shots, I couldn't resist a chance to show you how much fun we had! Thanks to Niaesha, Sandee, and of course, a massive thank you to Sian :D

Rebecca,x

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

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

My Mum's Garden!

It's not very big, but it's busier than Piccadilly Circus at rush hour for the garden bird world!



There's an old cherry tree that is sadly no more, but rather than chop it down, my parent's have hung bird feeders from it and we now sit and watch the antics of the constant stream of feathery and furry visitors!
Perhaps most surprising to me was the Great Spotted Woodpecker.



It appears several times throughout the day, resting either in the chesnut tree and tapping out a fast, rhythmic beat on it's many limbs, or even down on the nuts, pecking through the mesh for some tasty, nutty morsels.

I waited, and waited, and waited for a Nuthatch.



Reputedly a frequent flyer through Mum's garden and always stopping at the Cherry Tree Services, the nuthatch proved the most elusive of all to my long lens! In the end, I only got a couple of shots of it hanging on to the nut feeder, but I shall persevere and, hopefully, go back to Scotland next week with the shot I want in the bag! We'll see!!

As well as a variety of garden birds,



there is also a cheeky wee grey squirrel who comes in several times of day for a feed.



Hope you enjoy the photos, because I've certainly enjoyed taking them!



Rebecca,x

www.rtphotographics.co.uk
rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

All Good Plans...

You may recall that I mentioned a beach shoot with Irena that was planned for last Friday. Well, this is Scotland... need I say more?

It had been beautiful all week, so warm and sunny and gorgeous sunsets, it should have been perfect! Oh well.

Friday dawned wet, grey and windier than my other half after a chicken dhansak!!

The rain fell heavier & the wind grew stronger as the day wore on and all hopes of a beach shoot were well and truly dashed... as we would have been against the rocks if we'd tried to venture out in that weather!

But, Irena is a real star and before I could even finish saying "what about doing..." she was agreeing to a studio shoot in Dundee.

All thoughts of shorts, bikinis and fine art nude portraits at the coast were put aside and instead, we embarked on a three hour shoot indoors.

Irena is fantastic. She always works with me, never against me, and contributes all she has to the session. It's hard work looking effortlessly beautiful, but Irena can do it and then some! So many people wonder "how hard can it be getting your picture taken?", believe me... it's hard! So many poses that look natural and effortless are the most ridiculous positions to hold. You use muscles you never knew you had, and all the time trying to look gorgeous and relaxed.

Thank you Irena, you're amazing and I am so looking forward to working with you again... and we will get that beach shoot done!

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

Rambling across Rannoch Moor

Thursday 14th May 2009 was a very good day! A very, very good day!!

I travelled across Scotland to meet up with my good friend Margaret for a day out on Rannoch Moor. We met at the Clachaig Inn, had a coffee and a wee (as women always do when out & about) then, leaving Margaret's husband and friends behind, we headed back through the mountain pass to Rannoch Moor.

Situated 1142 feet above sea level, and at the south eastern (ish) end of the very impressive Glencoe mountain range, Rannoch Moor can look an extremely bleak and uninviting part of the Scottish highland landscape. It is certainly wild, but not always described as beautiful.

Intrepid adventurers that we are, Margaret and I decided to tackle the barren and boggy terrain in search of something wonderful. We found it!!

It had been a slightly uncomfortable trek for me, although a rather humourous one for Margaret, who offered no assistance whatsoever when I sank practically knee-deep in the bog while trying to find a safe route across!

Before I could finish saying "it's alright Margaret, I think this bit's saaaaaaaaafe....." (squelch) all I could hear was her roaring with laughter. Upon extricating myself and my boots from the bog, I turned round to see her doubled over, wiping the tears from her eyes and at the silent laughing stage... thanks Margaret!!

It was certainly worth it though. We found a beautiful little beach with views across the lochan to the mountains beyond. It was perfect. The sun was shining, we were the only people there and we could have stayed all day! As it was, we had a couple of hours before heading back to Glencoe for a very welcome meal of haggis, neeps & tatties and clootie dumpling and custard at the Clachaig Inn. Yum!

It was a fantastic day out, made perfect by Margaret's company and I can't wait for the next time. Thanks Toots!

Thanks for visiting my blog and I shall be writing again very soon!

Rebecca

rtphotographics.co.uk