Thursday 14 April 2011

Victoria Baths photography workshop

As you may be aware I love to run workshops - I love to get photographers, make up artists and models together and see what they can create , I thinks its the teacher part of me loves waiting for the 'lightbulb' moment when the squeals of excitement start because someone has got 'the shot'!!

So when I got the chance to use this amazing location and work with fantastic models and make up artists I jumped at the chance Victoria Baths. The building was the winner on the BBC Restoration programme a few years ago and a keen band of volunteers a working hard to bring the building back to its former glory

"For 86 years the Victoria Baths provided both essential and leisure facilities. Private baths and a laundry were housed there along with three swimming pools and the Turkish Baths. The main swimming pool was floored over in the winter months to hold dances. In 1952 the Victoria Baths installed the first public Aeratione in the country." (taken from the Victoria Baths website) 


 All images taken from  Victoria Baths

Pop along to the BBC website for more amazing images. Gallery

Gok Wan has used the baths as a location for his Miss Naked Beauty series and episodes of Prime Suspect and Cracker and Life on Mars have also been filmed here !!!

The workshop will start at 10 with coffee and a chat about the plan for the day - we have full use of the building until 4pm. You will have the chance to work with experienced models who will work with you to create amazing images for your own portfolio using the surroundings of the pools, the changing rooms, the Turkish baths.....the choice of locations goes on and on!! 
This day is perfect for almost any level of photographer - you will need to have a basic understanding of your camera but there will always be someone on hand if you have any questions or need a helping hand. On previous workshops I have organised the groups have worked together and learned so much from each other and sometimes suprised themselves in what they have been able to achieve!

Here is some feedback from the residential workshop I organised in February - I hope that this gives you an idea of how we do things!  Claire Penn Photography

And here are some of the fantastic images that Claire produced on the day.....



So ....the details...... the day will run from 10am until 4pm and costs just £115. You will have the chance to work in small groups with the models. This can be a little daunting at first if you have not done this type of photography before but I will be on hand throughout the day to help and support you if needed - on previous workshops I have started off by photographing and directing the model so that the delegates can ease into the day!! I am a strong believer in being able to learn new skills and practice old ones while having fun....and I can certainly see that this day will be fun!

At the end of the day you will have memory cards full of fantastic images that you can use for your Facebook page, website and promotional material and more importantly you will have learned news skills and made new friends......networking and support are vital and its always fantastic to see the connections that are made after any of the workshops that I have run - we have even had the occasional romance blossom.....now I cannot promise true love on the day but I can promise a cracking day out.

So....come along, stretch yourselves a little and try something a little different.......contact me as soon as possible for booking details and I will see you soon!




Tuesday 12 April 2011

Happy ever after

I cannot believe just how long its been since my last Blogging session! So I thought I would come back with the results of a fantastic collaboration last week. I had been approached by Gary who owns 2 of the most beautiful Wedding cars - you can find the details at Regal Wedding cars.


He wanted some images for his promotional material - we decided that the cars would look even better with gorgeous Brides and beautiful flowers so 2 of my favourite models Heather and Emma came along for the day - they were transformed into blushing brides by the very talented Angharad Trenear who is a freelance Make up Artist. 



The flowers were absolutely stunning and were provided by Flowerworx in Maghull - I cannot recommend them highly enough - they supplied us with a mix of real and silk arrangements and they also brought the most gorgeous bouquet of orchids - it almost made me want to consider walking down the aisle again just so that I could have the flowers!! Find their details here Flowerworx 




  The dresses were stunning - some of them were kindly provided by A beautiful little Vintage shop in Southport owned by Susan Hayward - find her facebook page here. 






This fantastic dress was loaned by my lovely friend Alex - it belongs to her Mum and although its about 50 years old it is in perfect condition - but its tiny! Thankfully so is Heather so we managed to button up the gorgeous lace jacket. The veil did not want to behave in the wind and so what you don't see on this image is Nicola throwing the veil up and then jumping out of shot as fast as possible!!












A huge thank you to everyone who worked together on the day to make this one of the easiest photoshoots ever!  

I
 
© Jo Rutherford Photography
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