Out of Darkness Came Light

Following Wednesday’s events at the Nene Valley Railway as tour guide for the Peterborough Business Forum, I jumped into the car for the second, and very different, part of the day.  I headed to Nepenthe Recording Studios at Kings Cliffe, only a short drive from the NVR.  Here I would be meeting with a new model who wanted a photoshoot, and the studio is the perfect location for this.  The shoot was arranged by Sian, with whom I have had several fantastic shoots in the past, and Spike owns the recording studio.  It’s always pleasant to team up with these two and I was looking forward to the session.

Unfortunately the model didn’t turn up – not an unknown phenomenon in the modelling world.  Rather than waste the evening, Sian offered to stand in as model, and as our sessions are always great fun I readily accepted to shoot for a couple of hours.  Although my photographic skills are developing outdoors reasonably well, I need a lot of practise indoors to achieve the sort of quality that I aspire to.

We began with a simple selection of poses while I experimented with camera settings.  To make things more interesting, Spike discovered some old audiotapes – remember those?  He suggested that we break them up and liberally adorn Sian with several miles of spooled brown tape.  Then Sian could go into destructive mood – her favourite setting – and smash the bits up with a hammer for some action shots.  I eagerly set about destructing some tapes, hoping that Sian’s mum won’t mind sacrificing her Barry Manilow collection for the photos.  Once I’d emptied the 90-minute tape, I casually threw the lot to Sian.  At the time we had a fan running to keep the room cool, and guess what happened next?  Yes, the tape caught a blade and twisted itself around the spindle then kept going until the fan seized up.  Sorry, Spike.  Although Copacabana has never sounded so good, I must say.

Once the debris was extricated, Sian was decorated with bits of tape and the inner gubbins of the cassette.  Then I tried various pictures, some with Sian manically smashing up the remains with a hammer, followed by some languid relaxation poses as she reclined among the apocalypse of her actions.  It was a good set and great fun, although action shots in low light created something of a challenge, and I need to address this area.

After the destruction of the tapes, a more elegant set was called for.  Using the now repaired fan (thanks, Spike) we set about using pieces of old material that Sian could hold aloft and have blowing behind her in the breeze.  Sounds easy – until you try it.  Nevertheless, we got some good shots and a lot of hilarity in the process.

Then we had a break and hit a crisis.  Sian had run out of fags.  Being a perfect gent, I volunteered to run her up to the shop for replacements.  Sian gave directions, and whilst she excels at many things, a voiceover for Tom-Tom satnavs isn’t one of them.  “Turn left.  NOT NOW!  In a bit.  Later.  Yeah, go up there.   Keep going.  The shop’s on the left.  But not here.  Up a bit.”

Thankfully the roads were empty as I lurched along the lanes like a learner who’s had some happy mushrooms.  Eventually we arrived, got the fags and I suggested I turn round to go back.  

“No, no,” replied Sian-nav.  “I know a direct route.  I think.  Go down this road.  Turn left.”  

It was ‘No Entry.’  

“Oh, go right then.  It leads back home.  Apparently.”

“Apparently?”

“Umm.  Yeah, I think so.”

“Where do I go next?”

“Erm, turn left or right.”

“Right.”

“No, left.”

In this manner we did eventually arrive back at the studio, as much to Sian’s amazement as mine.

After a break and one of the best tasting cups of hot chocolate I’ve ever had, we went into creative mode.  Inspired and set up by Spike, we created a ‘light and dark’ set to create some very special effects.  Shooting was incredibly difficult in virtually no light at all, as the shutter speed had to be as high as possible so as to stop Sian from being blurred, yet low enough to capture the available light.  Nevertheless, the pictures that did work worked very well indeed, and this is an idea that we’re keen to develop.

By the time we finished, we were all shattered – and amazed to find that it was midnight!  So much for a quick couple of hours.  It was an absorbing session and I learned a lot about indoor photography that I can use to build on.  More than that, however, it was a lot of fun with some totally crazy moments that make this venture so enjoyable.


Once the pictures from these sets are processed I'll be adding them to my Fashion Modelling Gallery.