I am featured in an astounding new book ‘Altered Images’, compiled by RomanyWG.

The book has 50 contributing photographers from 18 different countries, including artists you may have heard of through Flickr and other photo-sharing sites. The artists include Max Sauco, Aaron Nace, Solea/Carmen Gonzalez, Mattijn Franssen and Lissy Elle. My images from 2008, ‘The Smothering’ and ‘Reverie’ feature with accompanying text in the book.

The book is a large and weighty, 192-page hardback book, of absolutely lovely quality and well worth the retail price. I’m very happy to be part of this collection of modern creativity in such a luxury format.

I got my copy yesterday and I am blown away by its quality!

You can buy/reserve:

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

(or view on YouTube)

This is my first music video made for LA-based band Gunslinger, filmed on location in one day, in Ashdown Forest in Kent and an abandoned house in East Sussex.

This video was originally planned and filmed for Gunslinger’s track Run for your life. But it was in editing, one night in the early stages, that I realised the visuals’ affinity to Unbreakable: a deeper and more haunting piece with sounds perfectly suited to the editing I wanted to do.

The making of the Unbreakable video

Matthew and I planned, styled and shot this together, and afterwards I did most editing but he also contributed. Planning the video, the first thing we thought was that we wanted to film the model running. Stealthy, game, and brazen, the first model that came to mind was redhead Grace Gray who had modelled at one of our production shoots.

We thought immediately of the Ashdown Forest near to where we lived, and then built round that idea by planning to revisit an abandoned house in which we’d shot before, which could represent the ‘falling down’ elements of the music, and provide an interesting diverse element from the rural running shots. From there emerged the idea of a split Grace, neatly harking back to my multiplicity images: one woman within the house, the other running. I wanted the video to be symbolic and abstract which would also allow us to potentially wash over any mistakes we might make with this being our first proper video. Matthew was particularly good with the styling as he was the one who spied two dresses in Snoopers Paradise in Brighton: a red dress and also what looked like a big white blancmange.

Although we planned the location, outfits, and an idea of the visuals and mood, we did not storyboard the video. I wanted to approach the video with some of the whimsy of my photography workflow and knew I would not be able to pin down the final product till I filmed it, and then played with it in editing. I was excited to find that I was able to do various ’special effects’ just in the cutting. I then used Adobe AfterEffects for Curves adjustments, as well as the final scene merge.

Inspirations/references

References from my own work:

Above: An impromptu performance

Above: Jane

And also these videos in mind:

Rossina Bossio’s Holy Beauty project (mainly the fast editing)

Christina Aguilera ‘Fighter’ video (use of creepiness, outfit movement, notion of emergence with the chrysalis theme)

The film has turned out to have various symbolism for me personally. It’s always so completing to feel that way about a creation especially when shooting another model (as opposed to myself). The girl trapped in the withering house surrounded by books vs a component part or version of her running in the outside world… also the imagery of a burnt house in which a character is perishing/has perished…

What I think worked the best: the frenetic veiled Grace (my main love when I first started editing it), and other creepy movements we managed to make Grace do inside the house before the police turned up; managing to shape a ’story’ from an unstoryboarded and limited amount of footage; a day of reliable natural sunlight (which we waited weeks for) boosted with a reflector; and the edited sequences of shots that worked together, which repeatedly parallels the girl in red to the girl in white, with synergy to the track’s sounds (in different ways throughout the song).

Challenges/things to be improved: continuity of lighting; some jerkiness of camera movement because of limited tripod equipment; challenges with the focus abilities of HD video on the 5DMkII; my direction of the running Grace in red – sometimes looking self-conscious or too cautious; having enough engaging material to fill 5 mins – what is quite a long time for the attention span of people online (which this video is primarily made for); and of course any amount of improvement on the filming and editing. But the film is what it is, and I am proud of what we made in the circumstances.

It is so liberating to express through the moving image and with music. I can’t wait to progress and try make more, more and more videos. I love being able to captivate more of the senses for physical duration and play with motion and sequence. But it’s so important to not just say that, but go do it. So less blogging, more doing…

Last year I shot Tim Andrews as part of his unique project, where he put himself forward to be shot by over 100 photographers including Rankin, Jillian Edelstein, and Harry Borden. Shooting Tim was one of my most different, and artistically exciting experiences (as I detailed on my blog post). I am happy that my image ‘Every day is a holiday’ is being shown at the a slideshow exhibition of images of Tim, called ‘Over the Hill’, currently showing at The Lightbox in Woking.

I was also very happy to have my picture shown in The Guardian’s Weekend magazine on 13th February, which is also featured online here, and also shown in the BBC2 Culture Show which can be watched on YouTube here.

The exhibition at the The Lightbox in Woking runs until 27th February 2011.

Over the past month I have had the pleasure of co-hosting four sell-out workshops with Brooke Shaden. I first met Brooke through Flickr and co-hosted two LA workshops with her last November. Not long after I had returned home to the UK, we received the news that we had both been accepted for Photo LA by a gallery Brooke had introduced me to, JoAnne Artman Gallery of Laguna Beach, and so not long after the New Year had set in, I was back in LA to see the show and do another workshop. This time, Brooke returned to the UK with me for her first international workshops. We had talked about Brooke coming to the UK, but didn’t know it would end up happening that soon!

Our US workshop on the 19th January was held in a studio in downtown LA with model Katie Johnson who was her usual accommodating, flexible self! Having used a warehouse on my first two LA workshops, the studio was a different scene for me, significantly plainer but with plenty of natural light and it was helpful that we now had one unit place to do both shooting and editing.

The theme of the workshops was levitation-based, hinged around the idea of using compositing to make a blank studio environment more interesting. Using book pages, various gowns and dresses, and even a cloak, rolling pin, and dissembled mannequin, the workshoppers all shot individual creative shots. This was after Brooke and I shot initially to demonstrate levitation-based concepts.

In the editing portion I worked on images I’d taken of Katie bent over backwards on the Chesterfield, seemingly kicking a globe into the air. My use of trickery in this shot, as in other recent ‘trick’ shots I have done, was not so much based on levitation but more on achieving the look of an uncomfortable or questionable pose by using the same layering methods. This was the final result of the workshop:

I also worked on another version of the image which went down a different composite trickery route. In my video tutorial that I made for the students afterwards, I incorporated a section about this alternate version I did, alongside the above, more traditional concept.

My image Corolla (view on Flickr)

When Brooke and I first arrived back in the UK, we had about a week before our first workshops. We had significantly less energy than in LA so we spent alot of time recuperating from sniffles and jetlag, and getting used to cold mornings, harbouring our energy for the weekend so we’d be fighting fit! There was also crucial prop-shopping to do round flea markets in Brighton (we picked up a dress, an old birdcage, a lantern and also a faux fur coat – though that was for myself!) The first two workshops that we were about to do were held in the same semi-abandoned theatre in Eastbourne that I had started to use last December.

The workshops were full of excited students of various ages (from 16 to 80!) We had students travelling from Munich, Paris, Scotland, Dublin, and various UK cities.

We shot with two models, Bella Grace and Ruby True. For the stage shooting area, we had hauled out a white piano that went down well with everyone and formed the basis of several levitation images.

Above and below: shooting Bella levitating with the piano, and my result below.

There were a multitude of other angles and props to incorporate into everyone’s images. I used the red curtain as part of a simple striking scene where Ruby appeared to have jumped, hanging onto the curtain.

Above: my image Act drop (view on Flickr)

Brooke was excited to use the location, and only having 1 hour to prepare to shoot there after arriving on the first day, she did commendably well at employing the scenery, models and the promised workshop techniques into images quintessential of her style.

Above: The harmony of lost things by Brooke Shaden (view on Flickr).

After Brooke and I had both shot on the stage to start with, we separated different ways with half the students each to shoot somewhere else in the environs of the theatre, then swap over once everyone in each group had had shooting guidance from each of us.

There were some great images from the workshoppers, which you can see by heading over to our dedicated Aniela/Shaden Flickr group.

This kind of venue, unlike a studio, offers the space for everyone to roam and to explore the space to shoot in a vast variety of different spaces. That is what makes the venue an exciting prospect to continue using in future workshops.

Above and below: some more images I shot with Ruby.

NB – I laughed when I realised what I had created when I juxtaposed these two BTS pics together above… somewhat a presentation of the stereotype of male and female approach to shooting!

After lunch, we commenced editing in the theatre rehearsal room upstairs, where Brooke and I each processed a levitation-concept image from the day, and applying our own aesthetic adjustments to the images as we saw fit. The editing was projected for the students to watch, and they each received the same files that we worked on, so they could follow along if they wished.

After editing our images and answering any questions, we had some spare time at the end to go round looking at everyone’s progress and also at their own images taken during the day.

The third UK workshop was held in a studio in East London which had great natural lighting through its skylights, wooden flooring, various props and access to the rooftop. After the initial brief presentation and talk that Brooke and I deliver at all our workshops, we commenced onto shooting, this time with model Mette Tonnesson.

Brooke did a demo indoors with Mette, then I took everyone outside to do my demo with Mette on a stool up on the roof. Once those were done, the students started shooting, and they had some nice ideas. Some students wanted to return to the rooftop to shoot their images, so half of us popped back up there whilst Brooke did an impromptu self-portrait indoors with the other half, and answered lots of questions on her shooting technique. The result, ‘Sink or swim’ (further below) was quite brilliant!

Above: Sink or swim by Brooke Shaden (view on Flickr)

It was her self-portrait that Brooke chose to edit during the class, which showed most of the staple tools that you needs to consider in doing this kind of trick composite. That paved the way for me to pursue a more unconventional edit in my turn afterwards. Seizing my dissatsifaction with my rooftop shots as a valuable way to try something completely bizarre, I took a picture of Mette shot indoors under the skylight, and superimposed her onto a roof shot. Because the shots had been taken at the same angle under the diffused light of the day’s dreary overcast London sky, within the same hour or so of each other, they worked well together, so I worked my various enhancements on the image to show the students exactly how I would instinctively pursue this image, using the fictionally-lit lantern bought from a flea market as the final embellishment. Further below is the result.

Above: my image Rising in the east (view on Flickr)

And here are all the workshoppers, models, assistants and all from all 4 workshops! Thank you to all.

Here are some testimonials from both US and UK workshoppers:

“Thanks Brooke and Natalie. Yours was the best photography education that I’ve had – and certainly more specific and affordable than taking Photoshop at University!”

Jason Knight

___

“I just wanted to say THANK YOU so much for the best workshop I ever took!!! I’ve spent quite a lot of money on workshops that didn’t meet my expectations at all and I walked away uninspired. Unfortunately, one of those came from a local professional photography school was really expensive. I don’t think I’ll ever return. If you are ever in LA again hosting another workshop you can be sure I’ll be there!”

Aileen Secord

___

“I’m not able to sleep as I lay in bed thinking of all the photographic opportunities I’ve gleaned from the workshop experience!”

Howard Cohen

___

“Just to let you know that the workshop has been a life changing experience for me. It fuelled new creativity and a desire to work with people in my photos, which before the workshop was an alien concept.

Yourself and Brooke were both excellent, inspirational tutors.”

Andrew Hills

___

“Thanks so much to both of you for a really interesting and above all inspirational day. I’m really pleased with the early results of my shooting and I am already making notes and storyboarding ideas that I would never have considered prior to seeing both of your work and attending the workshop. I just need the courage to buy some flowing gowns/dresses in some retro shops now!”

Stu Mayhew

I really enjoyed doing the workshops with Brooke. Whilst we are similar enough for it to make sense for us to collaborate on such an endeavour, being artists who are both self-taught, drawn to creative post-production and use of movement and natural light, there are also crucial differences. I tend to look for more situational context in my images whereas Brooke tends to abstractify it, and we both have our individual quirks that constitute our styles prevalent in our portfolios, which hopefully made for a diverse experience for the students.

Thanks Brooke for a wonderful and inspiring experience doing workshops together. My next blog post will share more of our time together, doing shoots of ourselves, each other and of models, both over in the US and in UK. I’ll also post some pics of our London meet-up we organised whilst Brooke was here!

***

My next workshops here in the UK are pencilled in for end of Feb, mid-March time. They will take place in the theatre in Eastbourne (dates TBC) and in mid-March, I am planning on a shooting experience day that will take place in a high-budget rustic location in London. More info on both to come. If you want to be amongst the first to hear about them, don’t hesitate to drop an email to at contact@missaniela.com and Matt or myself will fill you in!

Picture credits: thanks to Sevgi Ky, who was the official theatre workshop BTS photographer, and Tony Bowall who kindly sent me some of his candid snaps.

When I was over in LA with Brooke Shaden in November, we found the chance to make a video together just before the end of the trip. Brooke wanted to take her ‘Sac’ theme further into moving image (see her Sac set here). I was surprised at how easily it came together especially considering that when we got to the wood to shoot it, the camera battery as well as the light of day were waning rapidly. Olivia the model did extraordinarily well at doing everything in one take – and a laudable job at writhing around naked in such a place. I worked the camera and did the editing, and Matt did a great job matching creepy audio to give justice to the short piece. A very good team… hopefully more short films to come!

Conception and direction: Brooke Shaden
Camera and editing: Miss Aniela
Soundtrack: Matt Lennard
Model: Olivia Clemens

Shot on location in Los Angeles.

In October I shot a commission for the band Visions of Trees. I met with the management and the band at my East London exhibition in August, and we’d been on the lookout for interesting locations for a collaboration since then. The brief was to produce publicity photos using styles and techniques from my own self-portrait portfolio. We had our eye on a range of places including palatial gardens, abandoned houses and old hospitals, but we all agreed on a group of abandoned RAF satellite dishes in Lincolnshire.

To make sure they still existed, it was wise to do a recce beforehand, and I found myself in the area with my family. I did test shots with my sisters and dog:

My mum sensibly waited at the other side of the mud.

The panorama below was stitched together from about 4 shots as I annoyingly only had my 50mm lens with me on the recce…

I reported back to the band and we were back up in Lincolnshire only about 2 weeks later for the real shoot. I knew it would be unlike any location I had used before. Vast and surreal, I tried to use them as part of dynamic wide shots featuring the band, Joni and Sara, as well as more intimate portraits.

One of the main ways I captured the full scale of the dishes whilst also adorning the frame with the subjects, was to use multiplicity. The image below was more like a sketch for a composite, not chosen in the end, so I didn’t properly complete the whole thing. I think it’s one of my favourites, in terms of how to use these vast manmade ‘props’ as part of a portrait, using ghostly multiplicity over the frame.

There were also some images that worked well without multiples, trickery, or so much as a touch of colour and vibrancy in RAW conversion:

The location also worked well with HDR. The band only wanted 5 images in total, but we did lots more for them to pick from. The image below is one processed by Matt, where 3 exposures were blended in Photomatix then further touched up in Photoshop. This was shot just after the sun had risen.

The image below is an auto-bracketed scene as well as a multiplicity composite. I shot three exposures of the scene without any person in it. This was a hint from Matt, so thanks to him!

Towards the end of the shoot we moved to the side of a dish that was mostly in shadow. We used a reflector to bounce back the afternoon sun, with the gold side, into the subjects so that they seemed almost illuminated by a real light source.

We also used this scene for another multiplicity composite. The band had commented on my multiplicity images particularly ‘Their fleeting imprint’:

…and liked the idea of ghostly multiples travelling around the space:

The technique for doing this – locking the camera down and making them run all over the place -  produced many shots that also looked interesting as individual ’studies’, each using Joni and Sara separately:

Some other shots from the day:

Close-up portrait chosen by the band:

Thanks to stylist Rose Forde, hair/make-up Holly Silius, also assistance and partial retouching by Matt. The shoot was commissioned by Scruffy Bird Management.

Some behind the scenes…

Above: the whole team!

I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of all the combined elements of this shoot. Thanks to all involved!

(Above: view on Flickr)

In September I was commissioned to shoot images for a fashion label called Apple & Eve. The theme was to be quintessentially English, using quaint locations, which was very much to the taste of the Phillippines-based brand. There were a lot of images resulting from the one-day shoot…

The shoot involved two different locations in the same area: a beautiful Sussex Manor home, which the family who live there kindly let me use. Afterwards, we went into the town of Lewes to shoot by the famous castle and on its cobbled streets.

I had hired lighting equipment, but we never needed it. All through the day I simply shot with natural light using my reflector. The results were amazing, especially when the model sat by the window in the Manor, and later stood on a cobbled lane in Lewes with a bike, basket of apples and a bunch of red balloons, with the evening sun being ethereally reflected into her face.

Big thanks to Matt for helping throughout, and even suggesting asking to use the Manor in the first place. Also thanks to Rachel Holland of La Luminata who did the styling – and a great job of pulling together props and outfits in a short time and under difficult circumstances especially when being bullied by a eccentric bookshop owner in Lewes! Also, hair stylist Atsu Ninomiya and make-up artist Nina Sagri who did a great job of enhancing the model’s beauty and giving me exactly what I envisioned.

Also – to the model herself, Grace Cairns of Zone Models.

(View above image on Flickr)

I really enjoyed the commission and tried to bring an artistic feel to the images as well as keep them recognisable as ‘fashion’. The client liked the idea of using multiplicity and ‘trick’ techniques in some of the images.

(View above image on Flickr)

Behind the scenes… pics taken by myself and also Rachel Holland.

In the manor…

Moving outside to the gardens…

And then to Lewes.

It was an immensely tiring day by the end of it. I always look like crap by the end of a day of shooting… my back is hunched and aching, my face drained of any colour whatsover, and hair greasy even if it was freshly washed in the morning. Coupled with the necessary scruffy clothes allowing me to writhe around on the ground impromptu, I was ready for a bath, but not before I had driven all the way back to London with the model and hair stylist.

The bike was hired off a seller on Gumtree and Matt bought (and stained) a basket to hold the apples… I managed to use most of the apples in a crumble we baked in London a few days later! Rachel brought along the balloons and bought the maps, in fact we had too many props, as I’d also bought an Edwardian parasol we didn’t get chance to use. There were also many different garments to use but we successfully did several substantial layouts in the one day.

It was a drop in the deep end for sure, but I felt stimulated enough throughout to feel as though I was enjoying what I produced. More fashion shoots please!

Staying with, and collaborating with Brooke Shaden in LA has been a wonderful and enlightening experience. Our primary intention was to host two collaborative workshops which I wrote about in my last blog entry. The rest of the time, apart from preparing for, shopping for, and recovering from our workshops, was spent shooting together.

Hallowe’en in America for a first for me, pleasantly spent walking round Hollywood with Brooke and also my friend Don Thornhill who had come over from Oklahoma to hang out and also come to our workshop. Brooke showed me some great vintage shops in Hollywood, which sell a whole host of cheap vintage dresses that in my head put my favourite, much sworn-by second-hand shop in Brighton, Snoopers Paradise, to shame! Together with Don and another friend and workshopper Katie Echle, we also had a day at Universal Studios. It was a toss-up between that and Disneyland and I voted that Universal Studios would have more content I’d be interested in! At Universal I went on a rollercoaster ride for the first time (excluding a one-off venture onto Flamingo Land’s ‘Wild Mouse’ I had many years ago) in return for Brooke’s promise that she would watch a horror film of my choosing: the original Hallowe’en (Brooke is scared stiff of the entire horror genre). At Universal I very much enjoyed the tour around the grounds, which placed into surreal proximity to one another the sets for Psycho, Jaws and The Grinch…

Before our first workshop, Brooke and I shot together on a beach in Malibu at dusk. Brooke said she wanted to try out doing a long exposure. We used a variety of methods to make the focusing work in the dark conditions and posed for 20 second-shots together in various poses on the shore. We each took a picture from the final selection that we had contributed the most direction toward, and processed them in our own ways:

Abandoned spirits by Brooke Shaden (view on Flickr)

My image (view on Flickr)

Looking over them now, I don’t like any of the shots we took apart from the one Brooke processed. Most were out of focus or fuzzy, including the one I had initially liked and processed (above) and I felt that Brooke’s processing and the application of curves and textures had brought out a certain mist on the sea in the long exposure more than it obscured it. It was an interesting experience though and definitely more inspiring to me than shooting in daylight in the same location. Shooting the human body draped in light material, and allowing motion or the exposure to blur or obscure its form, is the same kind of exciting principle behind alot of my wavy-gown self-portraits taken in abandoned buildings: the lucky dip of coming back to the camera to find out how your movement (or in this case, lack of it), paid off in the creation of an image more ethereal than the norm.

Another day, we set off to a creek to take photos. Seasoned pro Brooke wanted to shoot underwater, and it was a desire also of mine, although somewhat still a fantasy. I had never submerged my body into such cold water before, so it was an accomplishment in itself that I managed to get above my ankles in it. Even though the day was warm, hot even, Brooke had warned me that the creek would still be freezing. I managed to pose for some shots but we could tell that the harsh lighting of the midday sun, even though we were in a relatively sheltered spot, was debilitating to the mood of the shots. After I got dressed and subjected Brooke into the same wet gown and positions I had been in, I encountered the same problems shooting her, but on reviewing the shots later there were some I found I liked, forming into a composite:

My image Troubled water (View on Flickr)

Brooke’s image The baths (view on Flickr)

I was surprised to find out for the first time how tightly Brooke plans her shots (shooting only 5 or 6 shots in total during a session, for one particular idea) whereas I can shoot tens of images before I fully feel a sense of direction of where a shoot might be going. Brooke produces her images exclusively in square-format, often building out her frames in-camera specifically to accommodate this, whereas I use all dimensions of frame. Brooke uses many textures across her work, whereas I very seldom use them at all. Brooke’s work (generally, but not always) feeds from a muted, dreamy palette, often mixing tones and textures as if swirled with a paintbrush; whereby my images are more frequently laden with bold and often blocky, arresting primary colours.

All of these comparisons are interesting to make in light of the similarities that are also evident between us, which initially drew us together when we discovered each others’ photostreams on Flickr. We both do self-portraits, use significant amounts of post-production, and are similarly self-taught which has reared somewhat idiosyncratically destructive workflows in Photoshop, where we basically use layers and the eraser tool to thrash out any one composite, as we have only ever had to heed our own tastes for our fine art’s direction. Through the new experiences of workshops and commercial jobs, that each of us have almost simultaneously taken up, we have had our workflows challenged. We can empathise with each other’s advent of learning new tools and techniques to adapt to these different contexts: in the workshops, the responsibility of teaching other people flexible and sensible Photoshop methods; and in commercial work, the advantage of keeping options open for clients whilst processing images.

I was also curious to see Brooke’s use of lighting in her shooting. For example, I was interested to see how she shot from a particular angle in the warehouse, shooting from a light spot into a darker corner, so that the background of the shot would essentially be eclipsed and she would have an easier job making the setting even more abstract in Photoshop. I, however, was drawn to creatively using the setting as a context to my pictures, sometimes problematically, given that there was alot of clutter in some places that could not be moved from its position. I was constantly drawn to the car shell, thinking again and again of how I could use it, wanting to use it as a directly interacting prop with the model, but there was a pillar right next to it and bits of other clutter which limited the angle from which it could be feasibly shot. I ended up having the car in my workshop image without even really trying that hard to do so – which I guess anchors the point that these desires, to abstractify or to accentuate the setting, are instinctive.

This is also evident in the images we created on a misty morning. After the second workshop was over and the end of my trip was drawing nearer, we knew we wanted to shoot again and to take advantage of an early morning rise. We got up to catch the sunrise and the mist over the fields before it, making shots of both of us, and of each other from the same position to composite together later (the best way to get the right shot of each person):

My image The morning they met the clouds (view on Flickr)

Brooke’s image Running from wind (view on Flickr)

My image has essentially taken all of the action of the pre-sunrise mist, the mid-sunrise sky, and the crowning glory of the sunrise itself, and baked them all together with the heat of a warm colour balance and curves adjustment. Each feature stands out larger than life (literally more emphasised than reality) in a kind of cinematic composition, sharpened and brightened. Brooke’s image is ‘cinematic’ is its own way. The first user comment on her Flickr post reading ‘it reminds me of a high definition movie’, with others citing ‘The Village’, ‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘Sleepy Hollow’ as the image’s allusions. Compared to my image, the processing’s colour temperature is cold: cool, evening-like, murky, chilly, filling the square frame round the characters as they run together ‘from the wind’. It is clear that whilst Brooke was attracted to the light (or rather, darkness) and atmosphere of the pre-sunrise setting, I was more attracted to the moment of the sunrise itself, and the golden hues it sprang over the field on which we were standing. I wanted to shoot Brooke, and us together, standing in the new light.

Whilst I picked up a tip or two from Brooke, for example, feeling renewed confidence that the diffused light of a cloudy day is perfectly beneficial for alot of image concepts (especially as I enter another British winter), I was pleased that by the end of my trip, after having tried to encourage Brooke to use a reflector at the workshops, Brooke was taking a trip to the local camera shop to buy her own! Brooke, having been initially reluctant to use one, started to see the benefits of being able to bounce light back into the models’ faces without necessarily upgrading to wires, batteries and hindrance of anything more than that. I have only started to use reflectors in the last few months myself, and and I can’t believe how I went without one before in many situations with good sunlight.

I was inspired by my stay with Brooke, for several reasons. One reason is that there were many things about the way she works, as I’ve outlined above, that are similar to the way I have always worked. In some ways then, it was like watching an echo of myself having the same seemingly bizarre conviction to shoot in unconventional light or spaces, and with the shots later at home, to mystically cook up something in Photoshop, that would reveal itself with the same kind of mystique and intrigue as if it were coming from behind the screens on a make-up transformation programme. My trip with her encouraged me to believe that all of this kind of way of working is valid, exciting and full of endless possibilities, and that I should continue producing work in the way that feels right to me at any one time.

The differences in how we plan images, however, were also enlightening. Whilst we both routinely enjoy trawling around a charity/thrift shop, such as the Salvation Army store we rummaged in together the night before a workshop, Brooke would usually be looking for something predetermined – something she had specifically thought of before, and sought to hunt down. I’d be open to whatever grabbed my fancy as I wandered, and building an idea from what I find. Our differences in approach are innate to us and shouldn’t necessarily be changed at all, but I observed and admired Brooke’s drive to make a certain image that would propel her from initial idea through to execution in what you’d call a ‘bish bash bosh’ manner, efficiently and stoutly, whereas mine may romantically seize the moment but is open to potential procrastination and dithering. I regarded that taking a leaf out of Brooke’s approach might ensure that ideas that do swim round my head actually reach conception, by setting my sights on something physical that would guarantee some burgeoning seed of thought reaches germination and I can take the art world by storm with my amazing ideas (the last part of the sentence of course is a joke…)

I have had a Canon 5d MkII for over a year now and have always harped on about wanting to make a short film, but never really done anything serious with the movie function, especially as I spend more time moaning about having to manually focus it whilst it’s on. On our trip I wanted to do something with Brooke especially because she craved using the 5D to its full abilities whilst I was over there. So we did – on the last day of the trip – make a film, using model Olivia and a particular wooded setting, one used in many of Brooke’s images.

We shot and edited it together, though it was more of Brooke’s artistic vision than mine. (I had idea-paralysis for much of the time, spent sitting reclined in Brooke’s passenger seat usually falling asleep in a constant patch of sunlight as we rode up and down highways with Starbucks cappuccinos, with Brooke’s black ‘idea notepad’ slipping out of my fingers as I dozed off into a confusing dream. The pages were crammed with her stick-drawings and ideas anyway so there was no room for mine even if I had any). Brooke wrapped Olivia up in a couple of yards of ’stretchy fabric’ and had her writhe and break out of it like a chick from an egg, a naked woman emerging at the end. And here it is below:

During the trip I had the delightful privilege of seeing Brooke’s work in the flesh for the first time. Asking me whether I wanted to be ‘dragged out’ to Laguna Beach one evening to see her show, I replied of course! and saw her resplendent show at the JoAnne Artman Gallery. It is always fantastic to see work so large and physical after being limited to postcard-size web renderings for so long. Both the prints in frames and on canvas were beautiful. It was this evening when we had a chat with JoAnne, the owner of the gallery, who suggested the idea of doing a collaborative show of our work next summer. The idea was music to our ears – so going off to a restaurant afterwards to order nothing but a dessert, we discussed how we would embark on a whole new collaborative series for it. We may also be showing our work together as close as January 2011 if we are accepted for Photo LA, to which JoAnne is submitting us both individually and collaboratively. We’re also planning for Brooke to come over here next year to do UK workshops. The real motive, of course, of getting her to Blighty is for me to get a chance to make her a real builders’ cuppa from a ‘tea kettle’ – because the ‘frothy tea’ of which she enthuses is a result of her only having a microwave to heat up the water in. Watch this space!

MASTERCLASS: Bringing art into photography

This course is for photographers/aspiring artists who want inspiration to do something dynamic and conceptual with models and props. This is for bringing art into your photography. The one-day class, set on location in a warehouse and then in an editing room, will take you from planning through to processing as we shoot a model to combine an image from Brooke Shaden’s portfolio and mine.

Brooke Shaden (whose work can be seen on Flickr at: www.flickr.com/brookeshaden) is a photographic artist based in LA whose work has similarly utilised the self-portrait, use of compositing and creative editing, as well as quirky locations and painterly-like allusions. We draw on those parallels between our work to host a masterclass that shows you how you can introduce these elements into your own work.

There are also interesting differences between Brooke’s work and mine, which are illustrated in the workshops. You will learn about shooting with a specific and efficient planning structure (like Brooke’s) as well as how to seize spontaneous moments and to let the direction of a shoot grow organically, as in my work. In this sense, the course will highlight two different approaches, and aim to set you free to think for yourself, rather than be stiffly ‘taught’ photography in a scientific sense.

The workshop is delivered to a small group size, min. 6 and max. 10 students. It starts in a warehouse, a location which has been used in Brooke’s previous work, such as Exploring sleep below.

As in the image above also, we will be shooting levitation images.

On the left is Brooke’s work, see her Weightless set; on the right is my image: see my Tricks set.

On arrival, we provide you with breakfast and then begin an introductory talk to welcome everyone to the class, and to go over the key elements to both our work. We aim to work on the shoot as we would in reality: showing you how we get from idea conception through to a final result that is exclusive to that workshop. We then go straight into the practical hands-on shooting with a model.

We then break for lunch (there are many eateries in the immediate area of Van Nuys). The second half of the day is spent editing the images in a room just a few doors down. You will first watch our screen on the projector, whilst Brooke and I demonstrate our own editing process. You bring along your own laptop loaded with Photoshop, and proceed to edit the same images, with Brooke and I offering individual help to each student.

We spend time at the end reviewing everyone’s images and recapping the day. You will be able to post your images into a dedicated Flickr group where Brooke and I can comment further on images you edit later at home. We’re also working on getting a goodie bag of promo codes/discounts for each student

MASTERCLASS WITH MISS ANIELA & BROOKE SHADEN

The cost of the workshop is $350.

WHEN’S THE FIRST ONE? The first is on Monday 1st November, from 8am – 4pm. We are also lining one up for Saturday 6th November, and can build more workshops within the week depending on demand.

WHAT IS THE LEVEL? This is important, as courses vary by level. Due to feedback, the first course is aimed at people with intermediate knowledge: you must be comfortable using a DSLR, and ideally have some knowledge of Photoshop. Email us if you are unsure about levels.

WHERE? A warehouse and editing room in Van Nuys, Los Angeles. You will get full details in the application pack, along with a more detailed itinerary.

HOW MANY PLACES? 10 places (min. 6 to run a course)

WHO WILL BE THERE? Brooke Shaden, Miss Aniela (myself), and a model. There will also be someone photographing and filming the workshops.

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO I NEED? You will need your DSLR camera if you want to shoot the model (charged and with sufficient CF cards!) Bring a card reader too. You will also need to bring a laptop loaded with Photoshop, to be able to do your own editing on the day. The tools we are using are not confined to the latest Photoshop CS4/5, so it does not matter too much which version you have. If you do not have Photoshop, you can either purchase Photoshop Elements (which is quite cheap) and has most of the tools we’ll need, or, you can download a free 30-day trial of Photoshop CS5 from Adobe here, and make sure it doesn’t expire before the course date!

HOW DO I SIGN UP? Email info@brookeshaden.com with your requested date. You can pay by Paypal or wire.

CANCELLATION POLICY: Cancellations at least 7 days before the course date will be refunded in full, minus any Paypal/bank fees. Or you can change to another course date for no extra charge. Cancellations made less than 7 days before the course date, or no-shows, are non-refundable.

I’VE PAID. WHAT NOW? You will get an application pack confirming the locations and what to bring. We will also ask you to send us some information about yourself, your current photography and your experience, links to your work if you have some online, and what you hope to get out of the course. This is an optional step but allows us to learn a bit about our students before the workshop!

This course is predominantly aimed at people who are familiar with my work and the work of Brooke Shaden. If you are not familiar with our work, please view www.missaniela.com and www.brookeshaden.com

This workshop is intentionally different from other conventional courses, because we are demonstrating our own combined and individual approaches as fine-art photographers. Our masterclasses aim to show how simplicity and improvisation can contribute to the production of top quality fine-art photographs, even when on a low budget. However, we will also be talking about numerous technical issues to get optimum quality images, and also giving all the advice we can offer regarding making money from photography in various forms. We can also answer any questions on techniques for self-portraiture, depending on whether this interests you. There will be plenty of allocated time to ask all the questions you wish, and we can always drift into a local cafe afterwards.

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You can keep updated with news on the workshops by joining my dedicated Masterclasses group on Facebook, which will help me to see how much interest there is in workshops and also allow me to shape future masterclasses the way you want!

Also see updates on our Facebook pages:

Miss Aniela page

Brooke Shaden page

In Tim’s own words:

“I was born in London years ago and, in 2005, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. I was a solicitor for 29 years but had to retire in June 2006 and since then I have had the freedom to indulge my many interests which include watching cricket, going to the cinema, writing and taking photographs. I am also collaborating with a number of different photographers on an artistic venture, which examines my life at this time, and I am shortly arranging an exhibition of the photographs which have arisen from the project. I am an incredibly happy man, happier than I have ever been before. Ironically, Parkinson’s disease has given me a new lease of life. I feel very blessed.”

(images that can be viewed on Flickr are clickable)

Tim had approached me after seeing my work on Flickr, so we met up over hot chocolate in Shoreditch to have a chat and to talk about how we might collaborate (purely for artistic pleasure) on images that used my own style that he saw in my multiplicity images, images that use movement, and images that were shot in abandoned places. Tim was already planning on how he might exhibit all of his collaborations together, as a show, next year. I was intrigued by the prospect of a model collecting together images of themselves sampling the styles of so many different photographers, a subversion of the norm that a photographer shoots many different models for their portfolio.

In my own interpretation I wanted to focus on what Tim said when I first met him, that since retiring, he has never had so much fun and freedom. I wanted to juxtapose that carefree and happy notion with the more serious and disheartening future of his condition. I also wanted to keep it spontaneous and not get hung up on the concepts to a point where the images lose their own fun altogether.

I’m usually useless at deciding on a location before a shoot, with my self-portraits it’s all spur of the moment. So I was pretty pleased to come across the most ideal location I could ever have dreamt of for our shoot. The juxtaposition of childhood and age, and of fun and fear, was perfectly captured by this abandoned location in London in which we spent 3 amazing hours one Saturday morning. The time flew by far too quickly, as predicted, so I darted like a squirrel back and forth adjusting and shooting each scene.

I haven’t shot men much, just a few portraits here and there, but I thoroughly enjoyed shooting Tim. I was always convinced that I enjoyed shooting the female form more, but to be honest, in shooting such a different subject than I am used to, I enjoyed the absence of inclination to pose the model in a typical poserly feminine fashion. It was a challenge, but it was also surprisingly easy, because Tim was so easy to work with and came with a supply of props and garments that signified ideas as crazy as mine.

I enjoyed photographing the male nude form and realised it doesn’t look so awkward in front of camera than I felt inclined to believe in the past. I realise I can enjoy working the human form full stop, with both male and female. And for some reason, stepping into these abandoned locations has always worked wonders for my photoshoots. I seldom get frustrated in these places. It’s almost like their musty pooey smell has a cable connected straight to my imagination, and the camera turns itself onto ‘D’: derelict mode, to achieve the best from the light entering through the cracks and crevices of broken windows and doors…

Suffice to say it was one of the best shoot experiences I have ever had, and I did a jig round the kitchen when I got home. Also I was relieved to find that my images weren’t all out of focus, as I feared during an initial browse in Adobe Bridge. I had been mostly using my new cheapo Canon 50mm 1.8 on its lowest f-stop so the shallow DoF could have compromised the results. Tim also left his cane in the hospital so I was relieved that he managed to get back in to retrieve it. The happiest part for me was that Tim was as excited as I was with the final images! This blog post shows a selection of what I think are the best.

The room with the functional operating lamps was fantastic, but this surreal room with forest wallpaper and the very fitting words ‘Every day is a holiday’ that appeared on them, was probably my favourite. It was a happy accident, during a test shot, that I ended up keeping the flash and umbrella in the frame. For me, it straight away highlighted the photographic projects that Tim has engaged in over the past months.

Below is the main piece I produced, a composite that was partly Tim’s own idea, to use cloning to show him leading his separate and nude ‘child’ self.

I don’t usually play with scale like this, it more often looks daft than anything, but after a wild moment with the Transform tool it looked better than having him full size. The full size Tim looked too cumbersome in the frame and didn’t match the other Tim properly.

I did, however, like the image of Tim nude alone in the above images, so produced some of him standing alone with just the light.

I also had slightly crazy idea in post-production to make it look as if he were holding the umbrella. Just thought I’d add it here (further below) to illustrate the notion!

We burst (and removed) the balloons before we left this room…

Onto the ’scribble room’…

…and a large blue ward:

In a darker basement room, where black and white worked much better than colour…

I also had the chance to shoot a couple of SPs, thanks to Tim for clicking the shutter (click through to Flickr):

Theatre

The scribble room

More about Tim:

‘Good to meet you’, in The Guardian

YouTube: Tim on the fourth plinth

BBC article about Tim on the fourth plinth

Some other photographers’ images of Tim:

Times Online: Tim photographed by Rankin

Tim by Daniel Pacrami

Tim by Adrian Multon

Please feel free to add your link to the comments if you have also photographed Tim…