Pink hair and petticoats!

Ages and ages ago I contacted the lovely Andrea who owns Petticoats a Plenty , a wonderful world of dresses, petticoats, cheeky underwear and lots more! I loved the idea of using some of her outfits in a photoshoot but there never seemed to be a good time, we met a couple of times after that at Burlesque events and eventually we started making some plans! I knew that I had a couple of photoshoots in the pipeline and so I went to meet Andrea again a couple of weeks ago and came away with a car full of the most amazing clothes and a head full of plans!

My first opportunity to use them was last week when I returned to Hallam Mill in Manchester - a great photography studio, with a couple of very good friends, Lee and Neil - we have met up like this a couple of times now to share ideas and pick each others brains and its a brilliant day. 

The lovely Victoria who is shown in these images actually came along as the make up artist on the day but was very quickly persuaded to join in and I think you will agree that she is amazing.

So, over the next couple of months I will be aiming to work with Andrea and her incredible outfits, and will be looking for burlesque models and performers....give me a shout if you are one or know one!

Model - Victoria Thomas


Make up artist - Victoria Thomas!  click here to contact her!



Don't forget - if you are a burlesque performer / model, I would be very interested in chatting to you about future collaborations 

Sue-Lyn model portfolio

One of the areas of photography that I adore is working with established and aspiring models, building up their portfolios. I never thought it would be something that my business would include this area , those of you who know me well will know that fashion and make up are not high priorities for me, ( jeans, t shirts and just a touch of mascara is more than enough!!!) but I adore the escapism of fashion magazines, the incredible beauty of the models and the creativity of the teams that work on them.


Before Christmas I had chatted to Sue-Lyn who wanted to update her modelling portfolio, we discussed when and where to do the shoot and decided to try the area around the Docks in Liverpool, one of my favourite locations, lots of great backdrops and  interesting side streets to explore. What we did not realise is that today was going to be one of the windiest days in recent memory! I always advise models to have a make up artist for shoots like this and the lovely Jenni Henshaw joined us today, go and have a look at her Facebook page - a very very talented lady.


So we headed to Liverpool, and here are just some of the images from today. I really need to thank both Sue -Lyn and Jenni for putting up with the cold and windy conditions, and I also have to thank the lovely Russian man who let us use his garage/office for make up....!!

Now what would be really nice is for you to let me know you have dropped by.... say Hi !!!

And if you are a model or looking to become one and you would like to discuss a shoot like this then please give me a shout 

Liverpool and Love!

Lindsay contacted me towards the end of last year to arrange a photoshoot for herself and boyfriend George. She is a keen photographer , but, as usual, she prefers to be behind the camera and so wanted some images of her and George together. It was lovely working with Lindsay to plan this shoot - she really wanted it to take place somewhere that has meaning for the 2 of them and as they met at The Albert Dock in Liverpool we decided to start there and over a coffee I found out a bit more about them - yes I am nosy but one of the best things about being a photographer is getting to know the people I photograph! 


I have decided that Lindsay has the best job ever - she works for Jaffa Cakes - the company that is - she doesn't get paid in Jaffa cakes! I also found out how much they love to go walking and Ingleton is one of their favourite places to visit - and it looks like I am going to be asked back to photograph them there this year which will be wonderful. Photoshoots should be a special occasion, they should be personal and that includes the location - I am more than happy to travel - me and Tallulah love an adventure..... Tallulah - my SMART car.... I really need to introduce you to her sometime!


So we started at the Albert Dock and wandered along the wonderful river front then headed to the docks area. Lindsay had seen pictures of Bob Dylan sitting on steps in the area when he visited in 1966 and so we went hunting for the same steps! And we found them!  Heres the link to the original images of  Dylan. 


So, dare I say that Valentines day is on its way and also its a Leap year! Lots of opportunities for romance and showing the world just how you feel about each other....... a photoshoot is the perfect way of doing this, celebrating a new relationship, an engagement, an anniversary.... whatever the occasion, I can be there to help to record the moment, wherever you may be......Tallulah is waiting!!!!

Many thanks to George for showing just how much he enjoyed the afternoon - thumbs up !!!!!

Winter sunshine

Just before Christmas, you remember Christmas - the chaos, the stress and the distinct lack of snow, I had the absolute pleasure of photographing Jo, Tony and Gaby. We dicided to make the most of the beautiful winter sunshine and head down to Formby pine woods - one of my favourite locations to shoot.


Jo wanted to get photographs of Gaby obviously, she is sooooo cute..... but she also wanted to make sure that she had photographs of the 3 of them together. Like most families, the family album was full of pictures, but usually someone was missing from them as they were behind the camera! So we made sure that we got lots of combinations of this lovely family, including some absolutely gorgeous and romantic ones of just Jo and Tony, while Gaby was very happy running around the woods having adventures and looking for non existent squirrels! 


So not only do they now have beautiful family portraits, they also have pictures of them as a couple, how many of you reading this can say that you have images like this in your album - come on....I know that you haven't!


I am really eager to photograph families this year, I know how much I love looking through my family albums, yes albums, not just the photos that you keep on your hard drive and never see the light of day, proper albums. I know that I am going to make sure that my family are photographed this year - including me, I don't want to look back in a few years and regret not having photos of me and Mike as a couple and of me and my gorgeous , handsome son (yes I am completely biased !)  however reluctant he may be - I think bribery might have to be involved in that one!!


So , readers, have a look through these images, and be nice, leave me a little hello at the bottom so that I know you dropped by. Oh and if this has made you think about your own family album, then give me a shout and maybe we can plan a little adventure with your family, I promise to try and book the sunshine for you xxx

How to get ahead!

Headshots... now if you type this into Google I promise that within minutes you will get tons of advice on how to get higher scores on Modern Warfare, Halo and any other crazy games for the X Box!! But these are not the type of headshots that I am promoting - thank goodness I hear you cry! 

Headshots are always part of my photography sessions - I love faces, expressions, eye contact, especially eye contact. So, why do I do headshots, well, like I said, I love doing them.... but there are other reasons why my lovely clients might want them, actors and performers all need great headshots for their profile online and for their casting calls, business owners need them for news articles and  website profiles. 

The internet is full of information and we skip through so much of it every day -  strong profiles that catch your eye are essential and one of the ways to do this is great photography, having a picture of you on your profile makes you more approachable and makes your business have a human face. A good headshot should be natural, for an actor or performer then it may need to show different expressions, with simple and clean backgrounds. For a business owner then it may need to include an aspect of the business, either what you do or where you are based.

So , here are just a few of the headshots that I have done , if this has inspired you to start the new year off with an updated profile then give me a shout. I aim to work with you to get the images that show you at your best! And you never know .....you might just enjoy it!