So sad to hear about the passing of the legendary author, actor, ex-drag queen, broadcaster and lover of dogs Paul O’Grady. Feeling blessed to have met and photographed him – thank you Country Life Magazine for such a wonderful commission.
I spent most of my morning listening to stories and experiences, as side splittingly funny as they were touching. What a man! What an inspiration! He will be sorely missed by all.
From left to right, sitting on Paul’s lap are: Arfur, Conchita, Eddie (aka Mussolini!), Sausage & Nancy.
Morwenna has always flicked through each issue of Country Life Magazine to see who was the latest ‘girl in pearls’. So when she got engaged to Phil Bush, it seemed like a rite of passage. However, she chose to wear a stunning Vivienne Westwood dress, with black boots and and a black manicure.
She was a total joy to photograph. She looked incredible in every single image, my favourite of which you’ll find in the portrait section of my website.
This editorial photoshoot of David Morgan-Hewitt, Managing Director of the Goring Hotel, was commissioned by Country Life Magazine to accompany a feature on ‘Desert Island Wines’. I met David almost a decade ago, at the Goring, when I was photographing the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding! A very memorable experience for us both so we had lots to talk about. I love to chat to my models, and hear about their interests and passions. This enables me to capture ‘real’ portraits, which ooze personality, spirit and genuine emotion. I am hoping this portrait portrays his charm, wit and kindness.
The shoot took place at his home in Wells, Somerset, with his cellar providing the perfect backdrop. It also provided another talking point! I LOVE wine and was in my element learning about all his favourite wines.
We chose a sitting pose to keep it informal and show off his red socks! I then placed my camera on a tripod to avoid distorting horizontal and vertical lines, and to enable me to engage more freely in conversation. The room was quite a squish, with barely any room for a light. So I removed the soft box and bounced the light off the top corner. This lit the room and his face perfectly.
For more examples of my portrait and editorial photoshoots, please do have a look at my adult, commercial and editorial pages on my website. Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you be interested in booking a portrait shoot with me.
Photographing the highly talented artist, Grayson Perry, as Country Life Magazine‘s first transvestite frontispiece, was without doubt one of my most memorable ‘girl in pearls’ / ‘babe of the week’. Needless to say he did all his own make up and selected his entire outfit. This included making large hips from sponge to give ‘Claire’ (his alter ego) a fine set of hips befit of a middle aged country lady! Grayson’s sensible shoes, tweed skirt, quilted jacket and headscarf, quite a step away from his usual vibrant dresses and bright lipstick, was inspired by HM the Queen’s countryside attire. He looked so much the part that those walking by barely gave him a second glance!
My morning with Grayson Perry was entertaining, educational, inspiring, fascinating and sooo much fun and I’m much looking forward to seeing his exhibition of the ‘Pre-Therapy Year’s at Holburne Museum in Bath. I thoroughly recommend his book ‘The Descent of Man’ which I downloaded as an audio book for my journey to and from East Sussex. A must read.
This week’s Country Life Magazine‘s frontispiece features the highly talented and utterly beautiful actor Kate Phillips, who appears in the Downton Abbey film as Princess Mary. You might also recognise her as Linda Shelby in Peaky Blinders.
A special thank you to Paul Ellis who assisted me in this shoot, Mach Management for make up, the Ritz London for providing a fabulous location and a much needed supply of coffee, and Lucy Editor, the picture editor at Country Life for this wonderful commission! Feeling very blessed.
Meet this week’s stunning frontispiece for Country Life Magazine – Princess Adebomi Adewale, from Nigeria, photographed at the Church of St Mary & St Nicholas, Wilton in Wiltshire.
A joy and honour to photograph – Bomi was beautiful, vibrant, intelligent and great fun. What more could I ask for? Thank you Country Life for another wonderful commission. Lucky me!
This is David Wilson, Farm Manager at the Duchy Farm Estate in Gloucestershire, chosen by HRH The Prince of Wales as a Country Champion for his guest edited issue of Country Life Magazine, celebrating his 70th birthday.
Whilst lying on the grass to capture this portrait, I spotted the emergence of a gap to the right behind David; seizing the moment and the potential for a perfectly framed image, I rolled quickly (through a freshly laid cowpat) so that the gap was directly behind him. My coat still bears hints of the evidence but it was worth it!
I captured this portrait of Sabine Getty with her husband Joseph and daughter Gene, at home in London for the Country Life’s frontispiece in their Special Christmas issue. The image released can be seen on my publications page, but this was another favourite from our shoot.
Country Life Magazine commissioning me to photograph Dame Judi Dench, was a lifetime and career highlight. My portrait accompanies a wonderful interview by Michael Billington in the special issue, edited by the Prince of Wales in celebration of his 70th birthday.
Dame Judi is every bit as wonderful in person as I had imagined – warm, friendly, charming, interested, humble and very funny. I love how this portrait captures her sparkle and spirit – the essence of our much loved National Icon.
Capturing the spirit of school life and providing schools with compelling images to use for advertising, prospectus, website, PR and social media is one of the areas of my work that I most enjoy. Indeed I photograph regularly for schools across South West England, from Perrott Hill School (as per the above image) in Somerset, Sandroyd & Pinewood in Wiltshire, Leweston, Hanford and Castle Court School in Dorset, Cheam and Twyford in Hampshire, Horris Hill in Berkshire and the Westminster Choir School in central London.
I love the colours, light and composition in this image, but it’s the way that the boy is looking cheekily up at the little girl that brings the image to life – reflecting the most important qualities we, as parents, look for in a school – the happiness factor – and the same reason that Country Life Magazine chose this for the front cover of their annual supplement School Life.
