Last week my husband took delivery of a parcel from America and excitedly waved the contents under my nose. It was my logo in a fancy-pants design book.

How cool is that?

My logo as it appears in the Logolounge Masterworks Type and Calligraphy Logos book

Craig then proceeded to bounce off and put together an entry on his own little blog. Bless him.

Yes, its true.

Not only do we both each own a pair of Clarks polyveldts, we now have ‘his and hers’ matching blogs, though his is more of a look back at bits of work he has done over the years.

So anyway, he has compiled a sweet history of stuff he has done for me, of which this is a highlight…

My various logos 1995 – 2007

So if you’re into that kind of thing, he goes into much more detail here.

Tell him I sent you.

RS x

Being asked by one of the most respected artists in the world of burlesque to photograph her hometown show last year was a massive honour.

So when I was invited back this year I jumped at the chance.

Missy Malone must be one of the most photographed (and painted and sketched) ladies I have ever worked with, from the little instagrams she posts on her blog to the most lavish studio productions, she never looks anything less than stunning. So I’d be fibbing if I said I didn’t feel a bit of pressure to keep up that tradition, while adding something new to the mix.

The finishing touch – Missy Malone backstage

The last time Missy had been in my studio we shot some vintage style promotional postcards for one of her acts, so it was great to see that very costume put through its paces on stage in the show opener.

Missy’s Goldrush act gets hearts racing

A ‘Golden Greats’ LP cover if ever I saw one

Missy always puts on a fabulous show and assembles a great cast. A couple of her revue regulars were there that night, including the blonde Bond girl bombshell, Cherry Shakewell.

Backstage with Cherry Shakewell

Cherry Shakewell – Lady of Cake

Also back at the Missy Malone and Friends Burlesque Review was the charming and cheeky Desmond O’Connor, who effortlessly engaged the audience with his stories and songs and stuck the proceedings together with showbiz glue.

Ringmaster Desmond O’Connor

I enjoyed the energetic and tightly choreographed flapper-style dancers, The Bee’s Knees but all that darting about made them a bugger to photograph.

The Bee’s Knees

One of the highlights of the night for me was getting to see Anna Fur Laxis perform. Well, as much as I can, when I’m viewing things through a lens. She is someone I’d obviously heard lots about, and was the cover star of the Burlesque Bible I was featured in so it was nice to meet her and get a few shots.

Her acts were great and her reputation as one of the best in the business is well deserved.

The two sides of Anna Fur Laxis

Holy moly!

Another great mover was Luna Rosa. Very evocative of old-time Hollywood she was incredibly limber and bendy but kept her perfect poise throughout both of her sexy and seductive acts.

What makes Luna tick? Exotic erotica

A-wop-bop-a-luna-a-lop-bam-boobs

In a small theatre, it’s hard to run about at the foot of the stage without getting in the way, so I stayed up on my vantage point on the balcony for the performances. However the beauty of shooting a matinée is that there is enough natural light still around to get some informal shots backstage. Thanks to all the ladies who agreed to be photographed, I know it’s not something everyone is comfy with, but I think its is nice to document both sides of burlesque –  what we’re not supposed to see sometimes has as much beauty and drama as what we are.

Luna and Cherry backstage

The second half of the show was as well-paced and varied as the second, with Cherry Shakewell kicking off with a rather swishy marine-themed number.

Cherry Shakewell – Queen of the Sea

It was great to catch up with Missy again, even amid the chaos of putting on the show and performing twice herself, she never seems to get in a flap and is full of infectious positive energy. Her shows always have such a great vibe.

Missy prepares for her return to the stage

Green flag means its safe to swim

A turban-powered performance

It fell to Anna Fur Laxis to close the show with a knife throwing balloon pop with a difference, and I have to say her props were amazing. Those were proper knives too. I got a nice shot her her cutting a cucumber with one but I figured you’d rather see ones like this…

Anna Fur Laxis – once she pops she just can’t stop

Proper showgirl stuff from one of the top gals on the scene

It was a great show and a nice treat for me to get out and cover another burly night so close to the Garter Lounge the week before. A very big, public thanks to Missy for asking me along.

It was a pleasure.

Missy with Magic Dave

Missy’s Burlesque Revue gets around the country a fair bit so if she pops up near you I do recommend you make the effort to get out and see her and her friends do their stuff. In the meantime, you can keep up to date with her glamorous life on Facebook and Twitter and a good furtle around her blog Behind the Glitter is highly recommended too.

Tell her I sent you.

RS x

Even after doing this job for all these years, it’s still a thrill to see my work in print.

And it was particularly nice to see one of my shots for a new home insurance campaign appear in the recent Olympic souvenir issues of the daily papers.

It’s just one of a series of ads designed to illustrate customers’ quotes in support of a well-known financial services company’s impressive run of industry accreditations. In a market full of phones on wheels, nodding dogs, singing tenors and meerkats, these big, bold ads were a stylistic departure for them, and it was the photography’s job to bring in some warmth and gentle humour.

And, by saturation, it’s among the most high-profile things I’ve done.

The campaign has been running since the beginning of August with different ads appearing in daily papers and magazines such as The Radio Times and BBC Gardener’s World. Online banner ads, also featuring the photography, are running on key websites, while the radio counterparts are being aired on Classic FM.

My favourite of all the executions (and the one which is proving to be the public’s favourite too) is this…

Now, if you have been really paying attention to my blogs, tweets and stuff over the last couple of years, that peg bag fabric by Ochre & Ocre might seem familiar. The range actually featured on my very first post back in 2009 and a young Wilf Spivey was featured rocking the look in January 2010.

Tess Heslop, the owner manager of Ochre & Ocre, has been one of my most regular clients of recent years and when this shoot required a location that captured ‘aspirational rural living’, Tess’s beautiful home and centre of operations nestled at the foot of the Malvern Hills sprung instantly to mind.

As we have used the location for press shots and catalogues before, I knew it had the right views and the right vibe – the fact that it came already packed with great props was a bonus. Shooting in a real home like that, rather than a studio, really adds to the realism of the images and we made full use of the space, shooting in the guest bedroom, the wonderful country kitchen and even Tess’s office space for an ad featuring ‘specialist insurance’.

The shoot took place over two days. The first day we were blessed with glorious sunshine and had ample time to titivate inanimate objects like smiley clothes pegs, dressing tables and office space in the natural light. It was on day two that the challenges arrived in the shape of two lively child models, a dog that wouldn’t sleep, a collapsing cake that had been left too near the Aga and one of the worst downpours in a summer of epic downpours.

We pressed ahead and a scenario of two kids playing in the garden was duly moved indoors. It was a busy, frenetic set and we had to work fast before the novelty of  being a spaceman and an alien wore off, while Tess and stylist Emma did a sterling job repairing the cake with a blizzard of icing sugar and some strategically placed strawberries.

By way of contrast, the last shot of the day was of Clara, a beautiful labrador on loan from Guide Dogs For The Blind. Sitting quietly waiting for her to doze off was much less frantic state of affairs.

The whole job, from planning to handing over the final images, was done against quite a tight deadline and reflects brilliantly on Vital, the creative agency behind the work. A special mention, however, goes to my fab assistant Dan Barnes for creating such charming ‘homemade’ alien and spaceman costumes after a manic afternoon trawling the charity shops of Leamington Spa.

Some of the cast and crew – Dan, Clara, Emma, Me, Jack and Adam

I think the finished ads look great, and I’ve heard that, so far, they have done their job and got the phones ringing for the client.

They were great folks to deal with and I definitely know who I’m going to call when my insurance is up for renewal.

Though if you’re looking for a quote for high impact ad campaign photography, DON’T DELAY – CALL ME TODAY 01926 886357 

RS x

It has been a long time coming, but it gives me more pleasure than you can possibly imagine to unveil my shiny new website: www.rachelspivey.com

And, while you’re all distracted by the pretty pictures, ask you for a bit of a favour.

As with all freshly launched online endeavours it’s hard to account for all the variables out there in the digital realm. I know we’ve got this thing working on the various bits of kit I use, but if you can have a quick look on whatever you are reading this on and report back any anomalies I’d be eternally grateful.

Ooh look, I’m on an iPad. In your face old flash site.

It’s not long or sprawling or particularly fancy, just a few pages aimed at giving any commercial clients an overview of me and my work. I’ve pulled together some of the highlights of 14 years of photographing for direct clients, design companies, advertising agencies and publishers and the slide-y galleries mean you can whiz through easily without too much clicking around.

As such, it’s heavy on the images and light on the words.

If you could take the time to have a flick and let me know if you spot any technical glitches or odd bits of functionality or even just let me know what you think.

Much obliged to y’all.

RS x

I don’t know about you but I quite like December.

Well some bits of it. Twinkling lights, mulled wine, fruit cake with a thick layer of marzipan, the smugness of having an Amazon Prime button… I like those bits. Hauling my ass out of bed on freezing, dark mornings? Not so much.

So to countdown to the big day and to heat things up on these cold December days, this year I have prepared a little treat…

The entire Raquel Rouge archive has been painstakingly reviewed and 24 handpicked Advent Angels in stockings will be unveiled exclusively on Facebook every day up until Christmas.

There are some old favourites, some digitally remastered forgotten classics, behind the scenes shots and even a couple of images that have never been released anywhere before. And every one’s a cracker.

So get on it folks! What’s not to, um “Like”?

RS x

As you know, I do weddings, and I have done a fair few fashion shoots as well, but I’d never had the opportunity to combine the two.

Until now.

And it’s all thanks to one of my previous wedding clients…

I first met Carrie Southall and Tom Legge when I photographed their wedding, at Snitterfield, a couple of years ago. Not only were they great people to work with, she was a stylist and he was a cameraman so we had a fair bit in common too.

Carrie and Tom on the way to Charlecote House for their reception

Of course Carrie did all the styling for her own wedding

Carrie has created looks for top brands such as Marks & Spencer and Waitrose and has worked in TV with such style luminaries as Gok Wan and Trinny and Susannah – in fact she and Tom met while filming ‘What Not To Wear’ – and when she suggested we collaborate on a photo shoot to promote her new boutique styling and vintage rental business – {re}loved – I was only too happy to oblige.

1950s wedding dress with petticoats from Petticoats-a-plenty and shoes from ASOS

It was a while in the planning, but after a bit of diary co-ordinating, prop-sourcing and outfit selecting we finally hit the studio. It was worth the wait to assemble such a top class team on the day.

First off Carrie enlisted the help of respected fashion stylist Katherine Doyle, who arrived with a fantastic array of vintage wedding dresses from the 1940’s through to the 1970’s, along with boxes full of accessories and shoes.

Carrie and Laura on confetti showering duty (photo by Tom Legge)

Also on hand was local hair and make-up artist Laura Taviner who did a such a great job to create distinctly different looks for each of the outfits over such a short space of time.

The only confetti shot I have ever been able to control | Posing with a posie

Carrie’s parasol propped with silk flowers worked a treat alongside one of Katherine’s hair accessories

Then of course there was our fantastic model for the day – Maria Gardner – who came courtesy of the Alan Sharman Agency. A stunning Coventry lass, Maria was perfect for the shoot and a dream to photograph.

It’s subtle, but I love how the shape of her hair echoes the shape of the train

The list of cast and crew didn’t stop there.

Tom came along to lend a hand and capture some behind the scenes shots while my trusty assistant, Dan Barnes, was there to help things run smoothly behind the camera.

Though last but not least, was my studio pooch Cecil, who loved all the attention and only tried to get in on the action a couple of times.

Cecil wears Dilly Knit jumper. Collar: model’s own (photo by Tom Legge)

With such an illustrious crew behind me how could the photos fail?

You’re all looking at the pretty model and not my messy studio, right? (photo by Tom Legge)

This has to be my favourite outfit of the day – and there was some stiff competition

Carrie had thought out all the shots before-hand and all the pre-planning helped us get through so many different set-ups.

Vintage 1950s dress (Cecil chasing balloons not shown)

A seventies dress alongside another one from the 1950s

Editing these down was quite hard as there were so many fab images, but I have selected these as together they make a set worthy of any style mag.

Carrie’s Liberty print covered suitcase and matching belt really makes this shot

It was great working alongside such a large team of creative folks with everyone pitching in ideas and I hope everyone involved got what they wanted out of the day.

I know I did.

RS x

Whether it’s ad campaigns, retail displays or crisp packets, I often have to wait months between a shoot and seeing any of my pictures in a finished product.

So it was a nice surprise to scroll down an email I received last week and get a look at the results of a shoot I did last December.

It’s still a thrill to see the fruits of my labour working hard for a client.

Digital communications and social media for The Academies

The Academies are school holiday camps, covering a wide variety of subjects for kids between 3 and 17, and I was approached to help them create a bank of imagery they could use to reflect their range of courses.

It was really valuable to be involved in the early stages of the job and I got to work closely with the clients – Paul Clarke and his wife Alex – and Warwick-based design agency Paper Tiger, to determine to best way to tackle the brief. Along with a series of action shots of kids with different outfits and props, each model had to be photographed individually to achieve one overall image of a long queue waiting at the gate.

With desire to get the most out of the budget and a cast of sixteen(!) easily bored kids, the shoot was never going to be a relaxed one.

A budding Georgia O’Keeffe unmoved by the performance of a young John Gielgud

Paul and Alex set out to beg, steal or borrow the majority of the models from friends and relatives, and supplemented these with three young actors from an agency. Along with their parents, chaperones, my team and numerous boxes of props and costumes the studio was soon packed with fairy princesses, teenage rugger boys and one rather timid dinosaur.

It’s on jobs like these being married to a Creative Director is a bit of a bonus, and I have to hand it to Craig, who along with Paul, did an incredible job of helping the children feel at ease and get into their roles. The lights and all the equipment must have been quite scary for the little ones, and intimidating for the self-conscious older ones, and it took a fair amount of acting daft and improvising with the props to get the relaxed and natural performances we needed from this largely amateur cast.

Paul and Craig channeling their inner Mr Tumble

What could have been a nightmare of a day, went like a dream.

The kids, for the most part, were little stars. (Read Paul’s account of the experience here.) As every shot was meticulously planned beforehand, everybody knew what was happening and everything ran to time. Alex and Amy were brilliant at getting folks into their outfits and were ready with the hundreds of props, my assistants Dan and Emma did a sterling job and there were no tears.

It was all a bit of a buzz really and roping in my own three lads as models only added to the fun. It’s always good for them to experience first-hand what Mum and Dad actually do for a living and beats sending them up chimneys.

The Spivey boys

I’m happy that Paul and Alex are chuffed with these results. It think it’s looking great. The queue device does a great job of summing up everything they do in one bright and engaging image and I’m looking forward to seeing how they’ll use their new photo library on other stuff.

If they run their courses as well as they organise photo shoots, I’m sure The Academies will continue to be a huge success.

RS x

Last year I was involved with my hometown’s local history festival. 

It was ace, I got to photograph Tony Benn and everything. 

This year it was bigger and better and I’m glad to say I was involved again.

My ad in the Leamington Looks Back programme for 2013

Those who know me, or follow this blog, will be aware I have an interest in all things retro, but, while I might seek out a local history event anyway, my connection to this one is a bit closer to home.

Having designed the Leamington Looks Back logo and publicity material for their inaugural festival last year, my husband, Craig, managed to talk himself into taking on a bigger role this time around, after his idea for an exhibition about the history of the computer games industry in Leamington snowballed into a mini ‘festival within a festival’ – Backspace.

A montage-tastic Backspace flyer

I got to witness, first hand, all the long hours he put into getting it off the ground – from building a team of experts, to creatively directing and helping publicise what ultimately became a series of 10 events over two weeks. So, when he asked me to cover a few of the events as a sponsor and ‘official photographer’, I couldn’t say no, really.

Even though Backspace was backed and supported by Heritage Matters and secured an amount of funding from Warwickshire County Council’s Operation Footfall initiative, the, increasingly ambitious, project was pulled off in a very short space of time, on a shoestring budget, by a tiny team of volunteers with ‘off the side of the desk’ help from Vital and their extended family of suppliers.

A hole left by the hasty removal of an air-con unit by previous occupants made for a dramatic entrance

The exhibition itself was gifted a temporary home in an empty shoe shop in Regent Court by Warwick District Council and quickly proved a daunting space to fill. After some begging and borrowing of artifacts, and the creation of an impressive timeline (researched, written and designed over one weekend) they managed to deliver something pretty damn awesome.

The queue of big pixel people on the window foreshadowed the queue of real people on opening night

Megan from Sega Hardlight admires the exhibits

I think it is safe to say that no-one quite anticipated the reception Backspace would get.

Opening night was rammed with the great and the good from the local games industry and I was there to capture some of the reactions from a clearly impressed crowd, excited to see some of their work on the walls and learn how it fitted into the whole story.

The buzz on Twitter and Facebook grew quickly and even the local BBC news came down to do a live link!

Assembled guests try out some of the old games and devour the timeline panels

Lucy and Tina – students from the computer games art course at Warwickshire College

A combination of teamwork, hard graft and a fair amount of on-the-hoof creative thinking managed to pull of a great evening underpinned by an exhibition that combined curated, in-depth commentary and physical items with interactive games and fun stuff to do.

Dan from Leam-based indie games developers, Monster & Monster,

One of the coolest bits has been the trail of arcade cabinets in venues around town. Dubbed the ‘Leamington Spa-cade’, six local studios showcased their games in shops such as Gap and Braderie, and folks were invited to play the trail and collect stickers to complete a card and win prizes.

Cool, huh?

Alice from Vital and the best looking former shoe shop in town

I admit to not being much of a gamer myself, but the impact on popular culture that Leamington has had is undeniable when you look around that room, and I found the boundless enthusiasm of a lot of the personalities behind the industry quite infectious.

Chris White, MP for Warwick and Leamington, listens intently to Blitz Games Studios‘ Philip Oliver

Having the exhibition opened by three people representing the past, present and future of games development in Leamington was a lovely touch too, and the show even featured a wall which local developers were all invited to sign.

And while this all an obvious appeal to the people inside the industry, the exhibition has gone on to do a great job of engendering a bit of civic pride with the general public. Over 1,700 people came through the doors in the opening weekend and I’ve never seen a visitor’s book as unanimously complimentary.

Philip Oliver starts the signing | David Darling, co-founder of Codemasters and Kwalee, Chris Southall, Studio Head of Sega Hardlight and Lucy Johnson from the computer games art course at Warwickshire College, who officially opened proceedings

My workload has meant I haven’t been able to cover all of the Backspace events (or indeed the 40-odd wider Leamington Looks Back activities) but the ones I have done have been fully subscribed and lots of fun to do.

A real mix of people came down to experience a slice of the Raspberry Pi action at workshops hosted by IndieCity

A young lad and his dad get to grips with coding

I was also on hand to grab a few shots at the Games Industry Careers Evening at Warwickshire College. All to often established professionals can come across as cynical and aloof at these things, but I have never seen such an enthusiastic and positive bunch of experts so keen to impart their knowledge.

I know I wasn’t the intended audience, but I came away quite uplifted. If any of my boys wanted to pursue this as a career in the future, I will endorse it wholeheartedly.

The future of the games industry assembled for a Q&A with panelists from every discipline

Will Freeman, Editor of Develop magazine and games writer for The Observer, quizzes the founding fathers about the serious business of creating fun

Event photography is not something I normally fall over myself to do, but on this occasion I was proud to be involved, but not as proud as I am of Craig and the Backspace dream team for pulling this off.

And what a team.

Lending the whole exhibition a dash of credible, cultural context was the charming Dr Michael Piggot. He’s the Assistant Professor of Video Art and Digital Media at Warwick University whose fiance turned out to be the lady who taught me to crochet.

And then, of course there’s the talented and energetic Natalie Griffith. Providing the real games industry clout, Nat’s insider knowledge and connections, not only secured the support of the key players, but also expanded the festival to include educational, charity and social elements.

By all accounts, the three of them all played their parts brilliantly and I love this shot of them taken on their preview night. The sense of relief and joy is palpable and I was glad I was there to take it.

Michael Piggot, Nat Griffiths and some other fella

I’d like to wish Michael and Denise good luck for their forthcoming wedding, Nat all the best with her new PR agency PressSpace and hope that Craig will now allow himself to chill the hell out for a while!

Well done to everyone involved. I’m impressed.

RS x

The exhibition is in its final weekend and closes on Sunday at 8pm and is well worth a look, if you haven’t already. All the details are here.

Pretty ladies? Cool vintage hair dos? Some studio work, with a bit of reportage thrown in?

It’s not everyday I land a job that seems tailored made for me, but a recent assignment with the prestigious Vintage Hair Lounge was right up my street.

And just down the road.

Hair: Chelsea Phipps / Model: Sophie Kane

Moving in the circles I do, I’d been aware of the Vintage Hair Lounge for sometime and always admired how they came across as a proper outfit. There have been lots of vintage hair ‘specialists’ pop up over the last few years, but these gals really have the professional backgrounds to live up to that claim.

So when my sometime creative collaborator, Cassie Leedham, mentioned my name to them, I was rightly chuffed.

Curl Power – how to achieve the retro look the Vintage Hair Lounge way

Based on the south coast, they were looking to bring their popular ‘Vintage Hairstyling for Camera’ workshop to the Midlands and, having secured Aston & Fincher’s training academy in Birmingham as a venue, asked me to be their course photographer.

The intensive two-day course is aimed at freelance and salon hairdressers and covers the history of various styles and the techniques to achieve them. Throwing a professional photographer into the mix allows the students to art direct their final styles in a simulated studio and see how they hold up under the scrutiny of the camera, as well as providing them with a ready-made portfolio of their work.

Hair: Salma Patel / Model: Shazila Fazal

Behind the scenes of my little pop-up studio

The Lounge is helmed by the fabulous Mum and Daughter team of Sharon and Gloria Holloway. They’re a real energetic pair who clearly love what they do, and have a great attitude to life. It makes such a difference to my job to work alongside like-minded creative people and, while all our communications had been on email up until the shoot, they really made me feel part of the team on the day.

It’s all about the updo

Gloria sharing tips

And completing the team was vintage make-up expert, Alison McMath from Kitty Wink Vintage, who had travelled down from Chorley for the event. She was lovely and her work was truly transforming.

Shooting around all the mirrors made for an interesting triptych

The students had the opportunity to try out what they had learned on a mix of professional and non-professional models in preparation for their photo shoots. It was nice to capture the whole ‘before and after’ process, obviously I can’t show all of it here, but these are a few of my favourites.

Alt model Raven Brookes is prepped by Salma

Hair: Salma Patel / Model: Raven Brookes

Feedback from the shots has been great and I hope that they have given the hairdressers who attended something that they can all go on and produce as evidence of their new skills.

Some of the students with their models

I really had a great time on this job. It was lovely to meet some cool new people, but also to catch up with Violet Leys, who was one of the very first alternative models I shot back in days when I put big watermarks on everything and the whole vintage scene was still pretty niche.

I have a real soft spot for that shoot at the Malmaison and the pics are still online here.

Hair: Odette Gander / Model Violet Leys

I’m all set to be at the next course in Birmingham and looking forward to hooking up with Sharon and Gloria again at Goodwood in September.

Sharon and Alison online

If you like your look distinctly retro but your communications decidedly 21st century, you can keep up to date with this dynamic little business on Facebook or Twitter.

But I’ll be sure to share more vintage in the future.

RS x

What started in Wales last Bank Holiday continued across Somerset, Berkshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire this month, as my assistant Dan and I hit the road to continue our photographic pub crawl around the UK.

Gilty pleasures

We’ve covered thousands of miles, visited a wealth of hostelries and, while there’s never any drinking on the job, seen off a fair few pub lunches.

Clear, uncluttered interiors were a big part of the brief

Studying the specials board

If you’re in the hospitality business these days presenting yourself at your very best on sites such as booking.com and Trip Advisor is crucial. People want to make an informed choice – especially if they’re staying somewhere overnight – and quality professional photography plays a key role. The pub company who commissioned me recognised they need something better than a few snaps from a phone to give them a competitive edge, so it has been my job to create a visual showcase of the inns in their estate.

All tucked inn

Just noticed that this chap hasn’t got any shoe laces

The different pubs we photographed were as varied as they were far apart. Some are beautiful old properties in scenic locations, while what others lack in interesting surroundings they make up for in good value accommodation and service. Apart from a bit of expert towel folding courtesy of Mr Barnes, my brief has been very much to ‘photograph what’s there’, rather than over-style it, fill it full of models and light it within an inch of its life.

The Bear at Street with a great view of Glastonbury Tor from one of the windows

In some ways it has reminded me of one of my first editorial commissions for Waitrose Food Illustrated.

Back in the mid-nineties I was one of their regional photographers and would be sent to some of the finest restaurants in the country to photograph the venues along with the dishes.

Some of my old editorial work for Waitrose Food Illustrated

It was great having top chefs style their own creations for me, but I’m just as at home capturing good, honest pub grub.

Along with a big a checklist of ‘must do’  shots of the exterior, gardens, rooms, etc. I was also tasked with capturing a handful of shots of customers. Relying on whoever happened to walk through the doors that morning added an element of unpredictability to the proceedings, but as it turned out, I met a good number of ramblers, businessmen and regulars who were more than happy to be featured in the shots.

Happy ramblers

A deal going down

Morning coffee

Lunch for four

The final part of each shoot was to head out and capture a bit of the local landscape or points of interest. Of all the places we visited I was really quite taken with Street, near Glastonbury. The pub there, The Bear, was just opposite the original Clarks factory which is now a shoe museum.

If I’d had more time I’d have liked to have had a nosey round.

I’m quite partial to shoes.

The Shoe Museum in Street

And around the corner we found this cool little art deco lido, Greenback Pool which was originally a gift to the women of the town by shoe heiress Alice Clark. As the menfolk of Street would swim naked in the nearby River Brue, Alice a keen supporter of women’s rights, left money in her will along with instructions that a pool be built so the women and girls would have somewhere to bathe.

Greenbank Pool in Street

Well, what’s a pub crawl without a bit of pub trivia?

We’re heading out to Berkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire over the next two weeks for the last leg of the tour

Cheers
RS x

Hello. I’m Rachel’s assistant, Dan.

Normally I’m somewhere behind the scenes, but when Rachel asked me to take a few shots at a recent shoot and be her ‘guest blogger’ this month, I thought ‘why not?’

Let’s see how this goes…

I’m very good at being a lighting test subject

I first met Rachel when she photographed my cousin’s wedding at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire in 2010. I liked her style of work and approach to photography and got in touch a year and a half later to see if I could gain some experience in the photography field. She agreed and what began as a placement during my final year at university studying graphic design (with a great interest in photography) turned into this part-time role once I had finished. 

Rachel at work

I have worked with Rachel for two years now and I love how varied the work I get to do is.

Generally I assist on all of her commercial photo shoots and weddings and everyday is different. We can be travelling the country to far-flung locations one day and setting up a studio shoot in Leamington the next. My job can entail everything from transporting kit and setting up equipment to holding ladders and location security, though I do get to use my design skills when styling sets and hand assembling Rachel’s high-end, traditional wedding albums.

Last Friday before we were out photographing the Spring Collection for one of Rachel’s regular and long-standing clients, an organic linen company, Ochre & Ocre.

Tess from Ochre & Ocre setting up a shot

Our location for the day was a big town house in Leamington Spa. The owner was very kind and welcoming and seemed cool with us taking over her home for the day. The kitchen/dining room we worked in was beautifully designed and great for the lifestyle shots we set up. It also helped having the space to create the scenes while I got on and prepared something else in a different area of the room.

Tess and Rachel

Tess was very organised, and had planned all the shots in advance. I made sure that all the surfaces and reflective cupboards were spotless and helped to look out for any small details that could be corrected on the shoot rather than in post-production. Ensuring all the angles of furniture were straight and objects were precisely placed might not seem important, but it’s surprising how much is involved on shoots and how long it can sometimes take to set up scenes to get it right.

Behind the scenes

The day itself had a really good vibe, with me, Rachel and Tess all working well together. With a good selection of music being played in the background, we got on with what we set out to do and we were pleased with what was being produced. Lunchtime of course, was three rounds of bangers and mash from Aubrey Allen, which went down a treat and gave us that energy kick for the rest of the afternoon.

The final shots look great, and despite all the attention to detail that went into them, still manage to have an informal, relaxed feel, which really suits Tess’s products.

A shot that displays a number of items in the range, as well as a close up detail.

There’ll be more to see when the new collection is launched early next year.

My own ambitions are to progress in the photography and design fields, working commercially and producing my own artworks for people as I also specialise in wildlife and artistic photography. I’m learning loads working with Rachel – not only the technical aspects of how to actually achieve a shot (and all the creativity that goes into it), but also how to work alongside lots of different people, whether they are a happy couple on their big day, other designers and creative directors or clients like Tess.

I’m looking forward to seeing all the shots in situ in the next Ochre & Ocre catalogue and really excited about our next job which will be to photograph one of my favourite bands!

I’ll let Rachel tell you all about that in her next post!

Thanks for reading
Dan

’Tis the season that blogger types the world over get a bit reflective and do their reviews of the year, but that seems a bit daft when all you have to do is scroll down to see some of my highlights.

And while its been quite action packed recently, a late entry to my 2013 best-ofs  happened only just a couple of weeks ago.

Adventurer, raconteur and frostbite expert

As a photographer I get asked to do all kinds of stuff and go all kinds of places, so when I was asked to shoot Sir Ranulph Fiennes at the Savoy, I jumped at the chance of a bit of glamour and high-society.

Famous the world over, it was nice to top a year of great venues with The Savoy, London

Sir Ranulph was the guest speaker at conference organised by a serious global financial services company and the event was as top-notch as you’d expect.

…it was this big

My job was to capture all the action – well, people stood in front of PowerPoint presentations and other people sat around tables listening to them – and generally record the two-day event for posterity.

Exquisite food, beautifully presented

I’ve covered a number of conferences and events like this over the years, but never one where the puddings came adorned with a pansy!

The Savoy offers a bit more than your average conference room

The conference included a series of speakers on the main stage and a number of small group meetings. A select number of  delegates even got to enjoy a private dinner with Sir Ranulph and it was cool to be in the room and witness him holding court with his anecdotes of daring do.

What an incredibly charismatic character!

Sir Ranulph telling of his exploits

When you do a job like this, it’s great to feel part of the crew and one of the best parts of the event for me was hanging out with the lighting and sound techs. That sense of camaraderie and teamwork is one of the things I miss working on my own.

After a lot of on-stage shots I was soon in my element working the room and capturing some candid moments, though it was very different vibe to the weddings I have been doing a lot of lately.

Delegates mingling

Often at these things there’s some sort of entertainer working the room, usually a magician or some such. It’s good for me as it’s a distraction and makes people less conscious of the camera. In addition to a graphologist the organisers had hired a fantastic silhouette artist, Charles Burns. He just snipped away freehand and knocked out some incredible likenesses in just a few minutes. I was very impressed.

The intricate silhouette work of The Roaming Artist

I’d like to thank Alison Medwell who approached me to do the job. The last time I photographed Ali was her wedding in 2011 and it was lovely to see her in full swing and witness first-hand how well her new event company Medwell Creations is doing.

Charles gets to grips with Ali’s professional profile

So, along with all the Christmas wedding album orders and December weddings, it has been a mad month and a fitting end to a busy year.

Thankfully the rumours around the wedding industry that bookings would be in 2013 down due to superstitions about the date proved unfounded in the end. As always I have met some great couples and give thanks to the Wedding Photography Gods for continuing to send me the nice ones!

It was a tough decision to say bye to the studio in June, although to be honest I haven’t looked back. It’s been great to continue working with established clients like Ochre and Ocre, nice to be out and about shooting pubs again for Marston’s and fun to work with some like minded collaborators like the Vintage Hair Lounge and Carrie Southall and Katherine Doyle

No round-up would be complete without special mention to Dan who has proved invaluable time and time again.

And, of course, a huge thanks to my special ‘back room boy’ Mr Spivey for his patience and enduring support, especially when things get crazily busy.

Also to my Mum for stepping-in (often at short notice) and looking after my boys.

Blimey, it’s like an Oscar speech…

Here’s to a cracking 2014, whatever it may bring.

RS x

It’s been a while since I have been out shooting at burlesque events, but over the few years I was involved with Garter Lounge and Missy’s Revue I amassed quite a back catalogue of imagery. And, other than my retrospective exhibition last summer, I have struggled to know what to do with it all.

Until my little brother announced he was setting up a new giftware business, Cheekington.

Under the banner ‘The home of beautifully cheeky gifts’ he is testing the market with a limited range of homeware and gifts. featuring some choice pics from my archive.

Glass placemats and coasters featuring Emmanuelle Claire and Missy Malone

Right now it is only a toe in the water to see how gift buyers respond, and with placemats and coasters that show key moments from striptease routines, it’s a product portfolio we know won’t hold mass appeal to vast swathes of middle England. That said, everything always stay on the right side of cheeky and its cool to think that my photos could be adding a bit of sexy cool to dinner parties up and down the land.

As well as homeware the launch range includes a number of smaller accessories and gifts.

Burly flavoured badges, fabric brooches, handbag mirrors and cufflinks

A select number of items were debuted at the Top Drawer show in London last month and you can see the entire range at the Spring Fair between 2-6 February at the NEC, but if you’re interested to know more please get in touch with John Cooper, Mayor of Cheekington at sales@cheekington.co.uk

All the feedback so far has been extremely positive and I’m sure they’ll raise lots of eyebrows and hopefully a few purchase orders too.

RS x

Wedding trends come and go, and wedding photography is a susceptible to the vagaries of fashion as much as dresses and cakes, but there’s a timeless quality to honestly captured moments that I always try and strive to bring to my work.

It was my ambition to be a documentary photographer that led me into this field, so it was great to be asked to contribute to a recent e-magazine feature in on ‘capturing emotion’ that showcased wedding reportage images in favour of overly posed and post-processed wedding photography.

My Wedding Mentor is a great little app created by award-winning wedding planner, Dee McKeeking, who knows a thing or two about planning a big day. Rather than focusing solely on case studies and inspirational articles, these regular handy guides have more of a practical ‘how to’ approach to things and are well worth checking out.

Myself and a couple of other well-respected photographers were asked to contribute a few images and a fill in a short interview and I was delighted that my images were chosen, not only for the front cover, but also for the lead-in to the article.

Here’s how my pages turned out…

Obviously that is just a small sample of the content. You can download the whole issue here.

Big thanks to all the couples in the photos and of course to Dee for asking me to take part.

RS x