Michelle

I was tempted to call this entry “The Tale of The Irish Italian Glamour Model, The Shetland Pony, the Potcheen and The Welsh Nationalists". However, I’d be accused of sensationalism, and I dare say, much worse…

Michelle is a former Page3 model, of Irish and Italian heritage. She also has a Shetland Pony and a general love of equines. I’ve given up shooting novice models, specifically those under 30, due to reliability and their insistence upon doing TF shoots.

I was approached by a male model “admiring” my work. Having confirmed I will happily work with both genders, he felt I should… Drive to London, book and pay for a studio, shoot him and provide him with images. All at cost to me. Polite email reply, thanking him for his interest and my quote.  

Michelle shares my contempt for this generally, no-win, one-sided futility. She blocks any photographer/studio/publication inviting her to do anything TFP. Little surprise to discover we got along, pre shoot and gelled well, during.

Glamour is a genre that can mean many things. However, it most frequently conjures up visions of topless women, tabloid newspapers and “Lads Mags”. Not really my remit, unless of course we’re taking an ironic, tongue-in-cheek stance.  We decided upon a mix of implied, topless, lingerie, with some fine art thrown in for good measure.

In contrast to “Glamour” I’m quite fond of fine-art and implied, because of their subtle, suggestive tones. At one point, I was shooting these regularly. On the plus side, a sign models felt comfortable with me. However, not a genre I wanted to be typecast by. I am also very selective about who I will shoot nudes with.

Yes, it might be legal to shoot nudes with an 18-year old aspiring/model, but I’ve always declined. There are a lot of things, which are legal but could lead to regret. I recall an 18-year old model, who took the nude route (with another photographer), then regretted her decision immediately afterward.

She was trying to reclaim the images, and even claim she was legally a child. No. There were lots of things I (and friends) did at this age, which were perfectly legal, but not the best moves.

If a model understands the potential consequences, and has been modelling a few years, I might shoot topless/tasteful nudes with them-at 21. However, I’m more comfortable when they’re closer to 24/25.

I always ask a model to bring along a selection of lingerie and other clothing, to make the shoot more interesting. I shot Michelle at a lovely cottage location. I used a mixture of natural daylight and portable LED lighting.  

One half of the property was blessed with masses of natural light, yet still providing ample seclusion. The other featured period beams and was much darker. Hence, I went for an intimate “warm glow”. In some respects, and on paper, an f/1.4 lens would’ve been better here. However, my 50mm f/1.8 and portable “Light sabre” delivered the desired results. 

We shot for two hours, with time for clothing changes and comfort stops. I was also aware of Michelle’s underlying condition, which can leave her feeling uncomfortably tired. Not one obvious during our session, but three hours straight, is pretty much her limit. Mine too, frankly. I have undertaken longer commissions but there’s been a 45minute food and rest break between. Suffice to say, I’d happily work with Michelle on future commissions.