Claude Schneider's Photoblog

Preview – Li & Alyssa’s Wedding

Claude — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:16:00 +0000

A sneak preview from yesterday’s wedding; Li & Alyssa were married in Wotton House, Surrey.

Cambridge Dancers’ Club Flyer

Claude — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:21:00 +0000

Following on from the photoshoot to acquire new publicity material from the Cambridge Dancers’ Club, here are my final designs for the A5 flyer which will be sent to 15,000 members of Cambridge University at the start of the forthcoming academic year.

Cambridge Dancers’ Club

Claude — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:49:00 +0000

One of the reasons that I photograph a lot of dance, is that I’m also passionate about dancing myself. Thanks to the breadth of opportunity and classes available in Cambridge, I’ve worked my way through Ballroom, Latin, Offbeat, Salsa, Acrobatic Rock’n'Roll, and Contemporary dance. Most of these styles are offered by Cambridge Dancers’ Club (CDC), which was, up until recently, the largest student society in Cambridge. They’re in the process of doing a large publicity drive to bring lots of new members to classes, which in turn feeds new members to the Cambridge University Dancesport Team, one of the most successful student dancesport teams in the country. While I was on the Cambridge University Rock’n'Roll Team, I created lots of publicity material for RnR classes and the CURnR Team, so CDC have commissioned me to create the new publicity material for this year. Having started on my Cambridge Ballerina Project this summer, I had the idea of a photoshoot in one of the most impressive locations in Cambridge (New Court, St. John’s), with 3-4 couples, representing each of the styles offered.

One of 4 related photos, focusing on each couple in turn

Salsa dancers

Ballroom dancers

Ballroom Gents. So suave.

Photoshoot with Amie

Claude — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:29:00 +0000

I’d been planning on attending a photoshoot with 4 models up North at the weekend, but had several other events taking place on the same day, so couldn’t go. Fortunately one of the models, Amie, was available at a studio not too far away, so I arranged a 2 hour shoot with her. I normally prefer a minimum of 3-4 hours for a shoot, to work through as many ideas, lighting styles, clothing changes, and possibly locations, as possible; so given the brevity of this shoot, I worked quickly to get as much as possible from the model and studio.

Luckily, Amie is an incredibly professional, vivacious and talented model, which made my task so much easier. In fact, all I really needed to do was decide on costume changes, the mood of the shoot, and Amie did the rest! It was the first time I’d had use of a ring flash, and was blown away with the effortless fashion-quality of every shot, so got carried away with that, only using a beauty dish for a few photos towards the end. I wanted to get some edgy, modern, almost-fashion photos from this shoot, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Nor was Amie, as she’d like to collaborate together on some artistic ideas in the near future (she’s also a photographer, and asked to photograph me next time we meet… ;)

Peekaboo with Amieboo

The rest of the shoot’s photos can be viewed at http://claude.gallereasy.com/gallery/297/

Studio Portraits with Holly

Claude — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:41:00 +0000

I photographed Holly back in February, and as she was visiting Cambridge this month, we arranged a couple of hours’ shooting together. We’d planned to use a local studio, and then shoot in some nearby woods, though the recent sunny weather ended the morning of our shoot, so we’ll hopefully get together again for the location shoot later this summer.

Indoor Photoshoot with Ellie

Claude — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:53:00 +0000

After two gorgeous photoshoots with Ellie, I couldn’t wait to photograph her again, and there were still some outfits we hadn’t got round to photographing, so we arranged another shoot.

I’ve just upgraded to Lightroom 3, and although it still seems buggy (i.e. MUCH slower than Lightroom 2), it does have better vignetting features, and some new processing presets, which helped make these some of the best images I’ve created in my home studio).

Photoshoot with Ellie

Claude — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:28:00 +0000

I was so impressed with Ellie’s ballerina photoshoot last week, that I arranged an outdoor model photoshoot with her the following week. Many people ask her if she’s Lily Cole, and she also reminds me of several other celebrities (Debra Messing, Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried).

Ellie suffered over 30 midge bites during the shoot (which I apologised for!), but so many of the photos came out beautifully, that I can’t wait to shoot with her again (indoors, where there are no biting insects!).

I’d shot in the same location with Sharon a month ago, and was surprised at how much these grasses had grown

While Ellie was up the tree (lucky her!), some grazing cows ambled past, and one took a bit too much of an interest in me, giving me a light head-butt. I was probably standing on the tastiest bit of grass in the whole field…

More photos from the shoot can be viewed at http://claude.gallereasy.com/#gallery_287

Cambridge Ballerina Project – Sandy

Claude — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:13:00 +0000

The fifth photoshoot of the Cambridge Ballerina Project. I’ve photographed Sandy in many contemporary dance shows over the last few years, and with her background in ballet as well as contemporary, she was always one of my top choices for a dance photoshoot, especially after one my photos of her graced the cover of a Cambridge magazine.

I always prefer shooting at Magic Hour (the hour before sunset when the light is golden, and everything it touches looks beautiful). However, Sandy wanted to shoot in the middle of town, on roads, roundabouts etc. Given the number of people occupying the streets around 8pm, we decided to shoot at sunrise. The results, I hope you’ll agree, were well worth Sandy’s 5am start, and my staying up all night in anticipation.

More photos from this shoot can be viewed at http://claude.gallereasy.com/#gallery_286

Become a fan of the Cambridge Ballerina Project on Facebook.

Model Portfolio Shoot for Emily

Claude — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:02:00 +0000

After the Derelict Fashion photoshoot, Emily has become interested in modelling, and was asked by an agency to put together a portfolio. As she trusted and knew me already, she asked if I could help her come up with more photos for her portfolio, in addition to the great fashion shots from the recent derelict shoot. Being short on time, clothing choices, and suitable locations, these are what we came up with.

Editorial

Commercial

Catalogue

Black & White Headshot

Cambridge Ballerina Project – Ellie & Emily

Claude — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:53:00 +0000

The fourth photoshoot of the Cambridge Ballerina Project, in Emmanuel College. Emily was one of the principal dancers in the recent CU Ballet Show “Sleeping Beauty”. Ellie is a friend of Jenny’s (whom I’d photographed in a previous Cambridge Ballerina Project photoshoot), and although I was apprehensive before the shoot, having no idea how photogenic or capable a dancer she was, I was immediately and very pleasantly surprised when she took up her first pose:

Ellie then went on to confirm that she was not only a great dancer, but also an inspiring muse.

More photos from this shoot can be viewed at http://claude.gallereasy.com/#gallery_284

Become a fan of the Cambridge Ballerina Project on Facebook.