Each year at around this time, I set off on a recce to find locations and test models for upcoming workshops. If my preplanning pays off, I leave with enough information to put on an autumn workshop.

The area I chose this time is on the border between Basilicata and Puglia, near Matera. Matera is quite a famous town, having featured in many films in recent years, so I thought it would make a good base.

1. May in Basilicata, southern Italy, is a riot of colour with poppies and wildflowers adorning the fields and tracks that crisscross the countryside. Morgana completes the picture perfectly. I chose to work in full sun and used a 110mm lens to compress the perspective.

I packed my cases and flew from Bristol via Pisa to Bari. A VW Tiguan rental car was waiting for me at the airport – my transport for the next 12 days of adventure. Modern cars are annoying to say the least! The Tiguan poses as a compact SUV with a reasonable ground clearance, but when driving down tracks with fairly tall grass, the car beeps constantly with a range of non-harmonic tones, and every so often, the automatic brakes kick in. They are fierce! It feels like I’ve hit a rock, even though there is nothing there. Reversing is even worse – and I had to do a lot of reversing on this trip!

2. Anna flew down from Milan for this shoot and loved the whole experience. It is very different from her normal shoot style. We hadn’t shot together before so it was an opportunity to get to know each other’s style of working.

3. Top: These trees were part of a signature for this location. Every doorway looked out onto this wonderful view. I used a splash of flash from the AD400 rigged outside the building to light Morgana. Bottom: Simple, Natural light is a delight to use when it is this good.

4. Top: In these shots I used a Scattergel to light Morgana. I love the mood that dappled light gives a scene. You can pick up a set of Scattergels here. They have to be one of the most cost-effective lighting modifiers out there.

5. It makes a change for me to have a clean working environment! The stone arches make this location a bit special. Apparently, this room will be adapted and feature in an upcoming movie directed by Mel Gibson. That’s the rumour.☺

6. Franco’s Masseria is wonderful, built in the 1600’s with fortified battlements and a couple of towers. It’s a wonderful location for a shoot; I just love the textures and colours on the chapel walls.

7. Morgana is a fashion model from the North of Italy, and she kindly brought her posing talent down south to our old, rustic properties. I bought the hat in a small shop in Matera but the fabulous white dress is Morgana’s own.

8. Left: Anna poses by the door of Frederico’s Masseria, just south of Matera. I love how the GF110mm lens renders the background here. I bought the shorts and top in Matera as I had no room left in my luggage to pack styling items. When I run workshops, I usually drive down from the UK and load up my Alfa Romeo Stelvio with all the kit I need – including a smoke machine and a full wardrobe for the models.

9. Top: Morgana is deep in the farm building, some 30 metres from the open doorway. I love the substantial structure of the buildings, and the craftsmanship is fabulous too. Bottom: A lot of the farmhouses, called Masserias, have fortifications and a small chapel. This frame was shot for my next project, called ‘Rover’ – a book in which this dress is the star in every shot.

10. Anna over a barrel lit with the Scattergel on the Sirui 150x fitted with barn doors.

11. I love this scene. The rhythm of the trees made me think of musical notes on a stave. The distant thunderstorm set the mood for the lighting. I set f16 on my 110mm lens to achieve the depth of field I wanted.

If you would like to join me on a workshop – or perhaps you’d like to know more about how I use light to make my portraits, just sign up to my newsletter below and receive a complimentary pdf guide to posing portraits at the same time.

01. Top Left: I used a simple Speedlight on a coiled cable connected to the camera to light this shot of Mike. The Speedlight was bare-faced and directed at Mike from about 2m to the right of the camera. Top Right: I used a 400Ws flash head on a stand above the camera to light Carla on a sand dune in Fuerteventura. I fitted the flash unit with a high-efficiency spot reflector to get the power needed to counteract the sunlight. You can see the effect of the flash by observing the shadow under Carla’s chin. Bottom Left: I used 1200Ws of flash in a silver umbrella to light Victoria outside this country house in Gloucestershire, UK. The light fall-off created a lovely spotlight effect. Bottom Right: A single Speedlight on a stand that was remotely triggered was all I used to light this shot of Rosalinde in Brugge, Belgium.

02. Top Left: I used flash on camera to light this shot of Kate in Babington House, Somerset, UK. When there are flash specular reflections kicking back into the lens, it makes on-camera flash shots more exciting. Top Right: I used a Godox AD200 with a Scattergel rigged directly above the camera to light this shot of  Jolien in Ghent, Belgium. Bottom Left: I used a Speedlight with a small diffused reflector of about 100mm to light Carla in this hotel room in Munich, Germany. You can see the lovely sheen reflection created by the flash on the woodwork behind her. Bottom Right: This shot of Zara was lit with a Speedlight on the camera. I love to use on-camera flash for fashionable work when there are background surfaces like this leather sofa to reflect back the light.

03. Top Left: A continuous light with a Fresnel lens and Scattergel was used to illuminate Chloe Jasmine, creating crisp, hard-edged shadows. Don’t be afraid to embrace hard light—it’s used in most of these shots, and it works beautifully. After all, the majority of natural and artificial light sources, from sunlight to indoor fixtures, produce striking, well-defined shadows. Top Middle: A simple 40cm beauty dish with a grid on a studio flash head was all I used for this shot of  Chloe-Jasmine. Top Right: Iskra is standing in a corridor lit with a spotlight through an open door from a bedroom on the left. Occasionally, there is not enough space in the room I’m in to rig the light, so I often place the light in an adjacent room. Bottom Left: Sigrife is lit with an Amaran spotlight fitted with a set of barn doors to hold a Scattergel. Bottom Right: I used the same setup of a spotlight, barn doors and a Scattergel to light this shot of Victoria. The Scattergel delivers a beautifully dappled effect that elevates the picture to the next level.

04. Top Left: I lit Natalia with a single Speedlight into a small 30cm bright silver umbrella. The Speedlight was rigged just out of the shot on the left and was on full power. Top Right:  I used a Speedlight direct with just the Fresnel lens to light Chloe Jasmine. By driving the power of the flash to the maximum, I could underexpose the ambient light to give the shot some punch. Middle Left: For this shot of Vicky by a marine lake in Clevedon, UK, I rigged a Godox AD600 on a boom arm and set it just out of the shot on the right. By cutting the ambient exposure by three stops and setting the flash to full power, I correctly exposed Vicky. Middle Right: Martina is at an abandoned sugar factory near Rome in Italy. I wanted to create a striking shot influenced by album cover shots by Hypnosis in the 1970s. I used a Godox AD1200 flash in a 60cm silver brolly rigged in the shot on the left. When I had captured the pose I needed, I removed the flash and took another clean shot to enable me to remove the flash in post-production. This is an advantage of using a tripod, something I still do to this day despite having IBIS. Bottom Left: Just as in the shot above, I used a Godox AD600 on a boom arm, but this time, it was rigged directly above the model just out of the top of the frame. My go-to reflector for this flash head is an 18cm silvered dish reflector with a frosted diffused clip-on cover. Bottom Right: I used the same trick as in the shot above to light this shot of Martina in a cave near Rome. I used a Scattergel on a Godox AD200 fitted with barn doors to light Martina and when I had the shot in the can I removed the flash rig and took a clean frame to use in post production.

05. Top Left and Top Middle: I use an Amaran 200w LED spotlight fitted with barn doors and a Scattergel to light these portraits of Leontine in Belgium and Mischkah in Italy. I kept the ambient exposure low in both cases to deliver punchy shots. Top Right: Simona in a stable in Tuscany was lit with an LED panel light. A panel light is easy to pack in a suitcase and can run on a battery. Bottom Left: I used a continuous spotlight for this shot of Susanna in an abandoned farmhouse in Tuscany. The Scattergel is subtle here. Bottom Right: A simple Amaran spotlight with barn doors and a Scattergel was used for this shot of Sigrife in a disused church in Bristol, UK.

Working with just one light keeps the rig process simple and often delivers the most pleasing results. It doesn’t have to be complicated to be good. Please share this post and feel free to comment below.

As I reflect on our incredible time in Spain, I can’t help but feel grateful for the vibrant moments that Susie and I shared, from indulging in authentic tapas and experiencing flamenco in close quarters to basking in the warm winter sun alongside Mischkah and Håvard. Laughter and creativity flowed freely during our location-scouting adventures. Mojácar is the jewel in this region of Spain. We are already looking forward to our return in September when we open the doors to personalised events that promise to ignite the passion of photographers in these stunning settings.

01. I love this shooting spot. It’s the first place I spotted when arriving at the scene. I lit Mischkah with a splash of flash from the Godox AD400 unit.

02. I’ve always enjoyed shooting interiors, working with the play of light and being bold with my shooting and lighting direction. This shot reminded me of one of our Spanish shoots from 2015. See panel 16 in this blog post.

Mischkah and I have been shooting together professionally for over ten years and have developed a wonderful working partnership and friendship. We have learned to pool our creative ideas and processes and to fine-tune fabulous client experiences.

03. Mischkah in the mid-afternoon sunlight.

Sunlight makes everything look great but it gives us challenges too. Sometimes I prefer to work in the shade and pump in a bit of flash instead.

04. I lit the bottom right shot with a splash of flash through a partly opened door. I’m once again experimenting with soft light this year and the jury is still out. I’ll do more experimentation on my next recce in Italy in May. You can join me in Italy this May, Details are here.

On the day we departed Spain to head back to the UK, we managed to fit in a photoshoot with Lilium, a talented local model with whom I had been eager to collaborate, and the session exceeded our expectations as we quickly established a wonderful working relationship.

05. These photographs feature Lilium bathed in the gentle morning light at one of my favourite photography spots of all time.

06. Lilium provides simple elegance in this dramatic setting. The air temperature in the shade on this shoot was a balmy 19°C 

07. The light changes dramatically on these buildings throughout the day. Surprisingly the light at midday was wonderful and the evening light too, It gave this abandoned village a super warm glow.

08. Lilium on set out in the desert.

09. Lilium wears a dress called Rover. I’ve had this dress for ten years or more and it goes with me to almost every shoot, hence its name. Reflected sunlight was all I used for these shots.

We also captured stunning photographs in an abandoned village nestled in the hills. Access to this location requires an off-road journey, although the track remains navigable when the weather is dry.

10. I took this shot of Mischkah for the Rover book. I used a Godox AD400 unit outside the building and pumped light through the window.

Real texture has a charm of its own. It’s what I travel the world for. AI can probably generate these pictures but it can’t create the experience on the shoot and the wonderful memories that I have of fun times with Mischkah.

11. Mischkah in one of the many blue rooms at this location. I lit her with a splash of flash from a Godox AD400 unit.

Even in January, we consistently enjoyed daily highs ranging from 19 to 21 degrees Celsius, thanks to one of our shooting locations nestled in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains, which experiences remarkably high temperatures for the region.

12. I used the available light for these black and white studies of Mischkah.

Access to some, but not all of these locations requires stout shoes and a short hike. I find that on a shooting day in Spain, I cover about 12,000 steps so a moderate fitness level is required to get the most from these shoot spots.

13. This photograph has really grown on me, and Mischkah loves it too. I remember stepping into this room and thinking about the rules we learn and the ones we create for ourselves. I was once taught never to include the light source in the frame – but I think that’s exactly what makes this shot so striking. The colours here are simply wonderful.

14. This was a brief recce and I wanted to share a few iPhone pictures from some of the other abandoned sites we explored. We have two full days of photography lined up, along with plenty of locations to refine your shooting techniques afterwards. I look forward to seeing some of you in Spain this autumn.

In September, my partner Susie and I will drive from Italy to Spain, where we will stay for three weeks working with small groups of visiting photographers. Travelling by car lets us bring an extensive lighting and styling kit, ensuring we’re well-equipped for our shoots. With Mischkah based in Mojácar and Lilium living near Almería, we can keep event costs reasonable, as there are minimal expenses for model travel and accommodation – savings that we pass directly on to you, our clients. See below!

01. Caravaggio was my inspiration for this workshop. Not the man himself or the twisted violent subjects he chose to paint but the colour palette and tonality he employed in his work. The dark yet detailed textures in the backgrounds, the soft flowing fabrics and pools of crisp hard light that fell on his subjects pulling them out of the depths of the environs. Giorgia and Mischkah rocked the peasant look perfectly.

It was at the end of March 2024 when I drove the 1500 miles (2400 Km) south to Italy from my home in the UK to find the places I needed for this adventure. I had placed 130 pins in a Google Map, each one a potential shoot location. I zig-zagged across Tuscany up dusty roads, over fords, and through woodlands all in search of magical places to shoot.

02. Giorgia has a classical elegance that contrasts well with the environment in which she finds herself in. The Scattergel breaks up the light and bathes her in pools of illumination.

These first three photographs were taken in an abandoned 20-room mansion with a family-run factory and horse stables adjacent to the main house. Access was via a 10-minute walk uphill from the road and through a wall of brambles. I had cut a route through the brambles on my recce in March and by September only a small amount of work with secateurs was needed once more.

03. Nothing quite prepares you for the features of buildings like this to reveal themselves out of the darkness as your eyes grow used to the dim illumination from an iPhone torch. In April this was a dark, cold place to shoot in and in September when the workshops took place it was far more pleasant location.

After a month of scouring Google Earth for potential shoot spots and a three-week recce, I had to create a workshop itinerary, arrange accommodation, do a financial costings breakdown and create this booking page on my website. It was about another month of work to get to the point of accepting bookings. The process is quite admin heavy but the photographic opportunities make the effort worthwhile.

04. I’m not sure what this press is for. It could be olives or grapes but the textures and shapes here are superb. Mischkah looks stunning in this top I bought from Depop, and her own skirt.

In my exploration in the days before the workshop, I stumbled across an abandoned hamlet in the woods that I’d not discovered on my recce. It was complete with a medieval tower, ten houses, a chapel and a white horse. The horse was free to roam and it was quite evident where the horse had ventured. The place is just magical with at least one big 6 bedroom building close to being habitable. There was an electrical supply recently disconnected and a multitude of shooting opportunities.

05. In the basement of the medieval tower is this dusty room. I found a broken ladder on the floor. I propped it up on a block of wood and rested it against the wall. I happen to love ladders and bicycles as graphical elements in portraits. Mischkah wears ‘Rover’, the name she gave my gold dress because it travels with me everywhere. The liquid gold nature of the dress delivers a dramatic twist to an otherwise minimalist shot.

I’ve been going to Tuscany to run workshops since 2009 and it’s a place that I’ll never tire of. I went to Umbria in 2023 to run a workshop near Orvieto and in 2025 I’ll be heading further south. There is so much more to discover in the abandoned buildings of this magical land.

06. I introduced floaty tulle skirts into my work a few years ago and this was their final outing; I like to evolve my styling. I love the flow of the fabric in this shot of Susanna. The subtle textures are captured in fabulous detail by the 100mp GFX camera. The principal subject is quite small in the frame in a lot of my shots and this kind of shooting needs a lot of megapixels. I like 12mp for a headshot, 24mp for a full-length shot, 50mp for an environmental portrait and 100mp for wider full-length shots with negative space. I only have one camera at a time so my current GFX100ll is driving my picture style somewhat.

There is always a sense of excitement when I first lay eyes upon new locations. I spend the first 10 days or so of a recce weeding out the potential shoot spots to get down to a shortlist, then the next week or so shooting in these newly found locations. At this point, I’m joined by a friend and together we shoot several models. Again it’s a shortlisting process for the September workshops. This April I was joined by Mischkah for a week of the recce, and in the evenings over dinner, we planned the styling and devised the look for the workshop. In Orvieto 2023, I lit the scenes with flash from the outside of the buildings pumping the light through windows and doors. This year was all about battery-powered continuous lighting from within.

07. Giorgia and Mischkah in the abandoned mansion. The cart is in fabulous condition and is being stored on an upper floor near the olive oil production facility. There is an external ramp from this room down to the factory below. The building is beyond renovation but still strong enough to be a fairly safe working environment for photography.

I had planned for the 2024 Italy workshop to be my last because of the sheer amount of admin needed to put on such an event but my personal circumstances have recently changed and now I find myself with admin help and new reasons to travel. I guess my painting and drawing will have to wait for a few more years. 

08. Having a vision for an image is vital. I have spent my life disliking the combination of red and green. The luminance of the two colours is fairly similar and it took Mischkah’s insistence to shoot this frame. I lit Mischkah with a pool of light and also the back wall. It’s important for me at times to collaborate with passionate creatives to develop ideas and achieve masterful results.

I have a group of six clients who have become friends and want me to put on another workshop event in Italy in September 2025. I’ve already started scouring Google Earth and putting pins in Google Maps. In April, I’ll go over to Italy and do my three-week recce to find our new shoot locations and the base for the September event. This time, I’ll work in an area south of Rome.

09. This location is a chapel in the abandoned hamlet I found in the woods. The stonework and frescoes are exquisite and the atmosphere is electric. I used the Amaran 200 with a Scattergel to light Susanna in the dress called Rover. I used the GF30mm lens for this location and that lens has the equivalent angle of view as a 24mm lens on full frame format.

If you have a group of friends who want to get together to shoot in any of these locations please get in touch here and let’s see what we can put together. I’ll already be in Italy in April and September 2025 so this is a cost-effective opportunity. I am also happy to work on a 1:1 basis too. I have the locations, models, lighting kit, and the time to make your shooting experience top-notch.

10. Mischkah is bathed in beautiful light and you can see the hint of smoke from my battery-powered smoke machine. I now have access to two fabulous abandoned chapels in Tuscany. There are many more but each of them has issues including dangerous masonry, falling rooves or they are securely locked etc. 

My recent photography has been lit with hard light, both continuous and flash. It’s now time for me to move onto soft light but with control. Directional soft light is a fabulous tool to work with. You hear words like feathering banded around but true control requires far more than changing the light direction. In 2025 I’ll be using soft light, both continuous and with flash. I won’t be able to use my beloved Scattergels but I have other tricks up my sleeve.  

11. For this composition I set a strong foreground, added Morgana and placed her against a clear part of the background. I rigged the camera low to emphasise the foreground and establish the lead in lines. The composition is full of diagonals including the virtual ones like Morgana’s eyeline and the relationship between Jesus and Morgana. The tonal regression with the most distant part of the scene being the lowest in contrast completes the concept. The crisp, hard light is set at 90° to the camera like in so many shots in this set.

12. Studies of Susanna in monochrome.

13. Studies of Mischkah in monochrome.

14. Susanna is used to glamour and fashion modelling alike and looks wonderful in the daisy outfit and the white halterneck playsuit in dappled sunlight.

15. Morgana brought Niko with her to the shoot. They make a lovely couple and we took some shots for them both to enjoy.

16. Morgana and Susanna pictured among the olive trees. The smell of thyme and mint was wonderful as we crashed through the undergrowth to reach this olive grove.

17. What I love about Italy is that around nearly every corner there’s something exciting to see. When I visited this bridge in April there was a flowing river with rock pools and fish below it. By September, the river had completely dried up. The height of this ancient bridge implies a full-flowing river at times of storm surge and snow melt. Mischkah is a vision in white set against a forest backdrop.

Join me in Italy for 1:1 or group training. Please message me here in the first instance and we can arrange a Zoom call to discuss your options.

Do you like to work with hard light or soft light? Please feel free to comment below with your answer and your reasons why.

32. I love lakes and we encountered two of them on our tour. This one is an absolutely beautiful location. Top right: GF32-64mm at 32mm and f/4, 1/500th second at ISO 100. Bottom: GF110mm lens at f3.2, 1/4000th second and ISO 100. BTS shot by Elvan.

43. Top left: Getting stuck in sand or mud is par for the course on an adventure like this. We even had three flat tyres. Overcoming the challenges that we face makes the group stronger and gives us a better appreciation for the high points. Top right: Kate is experiencing a high point right now. Bottom left: Keep away from the edge. Bottom right: Tone, pattern and texture. GF80mm at f2.5, 1/4000th second at ISO 100. BTS shots by Elvan.

53. Could this be you? I’m going to run this adventure one more time. The shots that you see in this post are half the set ups the group shot because my co tutor Martin created the other half. Judging by the shots I’m seeing from the photographers social media posts, Martin’s set ups are equally magical. If you would like to be kept informed of next year’s road trip through Nevada and California be sure to join my newsletter list or email me here.

The aim for this recce was not only to scout the locations but for me to hone my skills at making believable yet dramatic sunlight with flash. I wanted the light to be fabulous but believable and the great thing about these locations that I have found is there could easily be holes in the roof that would let in sunlight and that was my motivation for several of the shots in this set.

01. Top right: The room with a hole. An iPhone shot of one room in a fabulous abandoned farmhouse. Top left: I used the step up to place Susanna (left) above Simona. I lit them with a single AD200 flash head. Black and white shots: Giorgia Pepe in the same spot a few days later.

Not only does the sunlight come through holes in the roof it comes through windows too and the great thing about working on the Northern side of buildings is I can make the sun come from wherever I want and whenever I want.

02. Top left: An iPhone shot of an empty farm store in the long house.  Bottom left: I used a boom arm to accurately place the AD200 head in the perfect place to simulate sunlight coming through the window. Right: My friend Michela crouched in a pool of light from the AD200. Notice how I have warmed up the light to give that hazy sunlit look. The halation from the window is a result of my Tiffen ½ Black Pro Mist filter.

I’ve known Michela for 10 years or so and we have become good friends. Every time I get the chance to meet up with her I take it and to have two days of shooting together in Orvieto and environs was wonderful. Michela tries to teach me Italian and I love her for that. I’m not a good student though, I have a terrible aptitude for learning languages.

03. Top right: An iPhone shot of a first floor room in an abandoned  farmhouse.  Bottom right: Michela sitting on a plastic bag (out of shot under the skirt)  Left: Michela in the adjacent room. All the shots are lit with the available light. Notice how I shifted the colour temperature to set the mood of each shot. I use the K setting on my GFX50s camera and I set the white balance and tonality in camera at the time of shooting. The White balance set in camera is the one parameter that gets carried through into the post production stage un altered by the software.

There is a lot of traipsing across fields and through woods needed to find these location gems. I looked at over 30 properties to find the six that I needed for my workshop. I’ve got a couple of spare locations too because stuff happens between a recce and a workshop. The iPhone is my friend on a recce and it’s the only camera I take with me when doing the location scouting because it gives me an accurate GPS location and a time stamp including the time zone. I can then plan the shooting days really well to avoid unwanted splashes of sunlight in the wrong places.

04. Top and bottom left: Two rooms of this old house made interesting shoot spots.  Middle left: Michela sitting on stairs lit with a slash of flash from a barn doored AD400. The 400 is new to me so I use a recce as an opportunity to try out the modifiers.  Right: Giorgia Pepé standing on a swept area of the floor and lit with my Godox sunlight. Giorgia is going to be with us for two days of the workshop. She is a fabulous model, kind, patient and with excellent English.

We had a moment to pop in and see The Secret Monastery, one of our fabulous locations. We met the restoration architect on site and he put me in touch with the owner in Milan. A week later we had agreed terms and we are good to go.

05. Top: Giorgia soaking up the sun in the centre of the quad at The Secret Monastery. Bottom Left: Susanna will also be with us for two of the workshop days. I was aiming to replicate sunlight coming through a hole in the roof but was happy to calm it down to a regular fashion shot. Bottom Right: Susanna is in the old olive grove that we will visit on our workshop in September. Believe it or not it took me ages to find the right olive grove to shoot in.

06. Right: An iPhone shot of one cute staircase at the Monastery complete with frescoes. Left: Giorgia looking fabulous at the bottom of the stairs.

07. Top left: An iPhone shot of one dusty room. Middle left: How part of the room looks with just the ambient light when shooting towards the door and window. Bottom left: How the room looks after I have lit it and set the colour balance for the shot. Right: The finished image.

08. Top left: This is a screen grab of my map for the workshop. There were once over 60 pins on points of interest. One by one these got whittled down during the recce process. The area in yellow is mainly the wine region and is sparse of abandoned buildings. Top right: This little tunnel through the rock is 100m from the waterfall and we will shoot portraits here too. Bottom left: Three years ago I checked out this waterfall with a view to incorporating a shoot here into a workshop and now I’ve set that up. At just 40 minutes from our villa near Orvieto, it is ideally placed for an excursion. Bottom right: Before I had even returned I was commissioned to write a cover article for Amateur Photographer magazine. The editor had seen my shot posted on Facebook and we took it from there.

09. There are many ways to shoot in these places. Entering each building is a careful process. I assess everything for safety as some hazards lay hidden in the undergrowth and other are loose roof tiles above my head. Once I’ve done a sweep of the place I do a visual shot plan and weigh up how many potential shots the site has. If it is safe for 6 photographers and a model to work there it gets a change of pin colour on my map.

10. These shots were all lit with flash using various modifiers in my practice process to get me up to speed for my USA tour next week. I need practice, just like anyone else. It doesn’t matter if one plays an instrument or takes pictures, continual practice is necessary to stay on top of the game.

11. This is Susanna, She will be one of our models for two days in Italy this September. I’ve booked Sigrife, a fabulous model from Sweden to be with us for the whole workshop and I intend to set up some intimate shot like this of both models individually and together.

12. This is Sigrife, our resident model in Orvieto. She is beautiful inside and out. Everyone loves Sigrife.

13. These are pictures from my previous workshops in Italy and give you an idea of the style that we will be shooting in September.

I hope you will join us in September. All the information you need is here. Message me if you have any questions.

02. I used a crunch Scattergel on the Lupo to create the dappled light used for these pictures. This is a signature look that I’ve used for the past fifteen years or so, you can see some more similar shots in this gallery. The jewellery for this shoot was made by my friend and neighbour Emily and I pulled together the clothing items from Claire’s accessories and ASOS.

The system: Part of the process of running my workshops and adventures is to select top models. I’m looking for new faces, fun personalities, creative people to blend with my existing group of models. I always like to employ people that I’ve worked with before and found to be suitable. This reduces the risks and improves the consistency of my events. Each year I organise fully paid ‘test’ shoots with new talent throughout Europe to establish a core of new models to work with. I had my September 2023 events in Italy in mind when I set up this fun shoot in Sweden. I’m moving further south in Italy next year and I’ll be out there for a three week recce in April to finalise my locations, our accommodation and the schedule. You can be kept informed of my plans for italy by signing up for notifications or my newsletter here.

03. I used the Amaran 60x to light these shots. pumping continuous light into a brolly lifts the whole room plus gives a definite direction to the light. I love to shoot into the light where possible for my high key work. Sometimes I have to tuck a light into a corner and a small unit really helps.

04. Because the Amaran COB 60x is really small, it doesn’t block much of the light coming back out of a reflective umbrella. It has a clever dial switch that can control the correlated colour temperature and the dimmer. It can also be controlled remotely by an app on a smartphone. The LCD display (not shown) is really easy to read at a distance and is well laid out. The supplied reflector delivers a tight, 15° spot of light but the fitting is the Bowens mount so there is no shortage of modifiers available. The Amaran COB 60x light can be powered by mains or various battery options and I like it a lot.

05. We had glimpses of sunlight during our shoot. The November sun remains low in the sky and reaches deep within the room. I use a tripod for every shot and I keep the back of the camera upright to avoid having to straighten verticals in the post production process.

Filters: For the majority of this shoot I used a ½ strength Tiffen Black Pro Mist filter on the lens to lift the shadows and that in turn let me sit the exposure to hold the highlights. In bigger spaces, I love to use a haze machine or my smoke machine to keep the shadow tone raised and to give the illusion of greater depth in the shots.

When I wanted an obvious dreamy softness plus shadow lift I used a homemade filter made with pink Moroccan gossamer silk. I’ve had this filter since 1988. See the top left shot in panel 8 and you will see exactly the effect this filter creates.

06. It’s not often that I get to shoot high key, softly lit photographs because I love working with crisp hard light. This shoot was a lovely opportunity to shoot a more delicate style for myself.

Post Production: I use Adobe Lightroom Classic to edit all my images in colour despite having black and white selected in the camera for this shoot (Acros G). Once the colour is correct I create virtual copies of all the shots and make my black and white set using Acros G in Lightroom. I then go back to some of the colour images and make further virtual copies and apply a LUT to give the shots a ‘look’. The three shots in panel 6 above have had a LUT applied. It is IWLTBAP C-8300-STD.

07. The GF 110mm f2 lens is my go to lens for intimate headshots. When I’m shooting for me I’m happy to let the focus drift in and out through the frame. It has a romantic delicate look that I love.

08. Top Left: This shot was lit with the Amaran light in the silver brolly and I used my Moroccan silk filter on the lens. Top right: I used the same Amaran light in the silver brolly but this time I used the ½ Tiffen Black Pro Mist filter. Bottom: As the sunlight moved across the cabin I decided to use it for this shot. I will be painting from this shot in January, my art month.

09. I lit Sigrife with the Amaran light in the silver brolly. I slid the brolly shaft to the tip in the light and this gave a lovely diffused spotlight to work with.

10. There is always time for a bit of fun on my shoots and we finished our shoot session with a flourish. We then had wonderful conversation over pizza and Prosecco by the log burner. It wasn’t traditional Swedish food but the moments were fabulous. I could get into this ‘cabin in the forest’ life.

Bonus information: In order for the images shot on location to look just like they did in camera once Lightroom has built the develop previews follow these steps. You will never have to touch the noise reduction settings in Lightroom Classic or Adobe Camera Raw ever again. I’m often asked, “how I can do my post-production in 60 seconds for each image?”  This is how. I’ve set my camera up in readiness and I get the white balance spot on in camera as this is the only in-camera setting that comes through unaltered to Lightroom. I have Lightroom set up too using the steps below. I hope you find this useful.

ISO adaptive presets – A guide for Fujifilm cameras

1. Set up your camera on a tripod inside your living area. Set a wide-angle shot of the scene that includes some dark and some light areas.
2. Set the H tone to -1 and S tone to -2, and set Pro Neg S as the film simulation.
3. Set the ISO to 12,800 and set 1/2000 shutter speed. Choose a lens aperture to give a correct-looking exposure. Probably f/11 or f/16. Use your eyes to make this assessment. zoom into the shadow areas and see if there is some detail etc. Take a picture.
4. Set ISO 100 and take another picture at 1/15th second. Press playback and toggle between the pictures to check that the exposure looks similar.
5. Format the card and take a sequence of 8 pictures at ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, and 12,800.
6. Load just those 8 pictures into Lightroom and then place the SD card back into your camera.
7. In Lightroom set the Treatment Profile to Pro Neg S and sync just that setting to the other 7 pictures.
8. Press playback on your camera and scroll to the ISO 800 shot.
9. Compare the ISO 800 shot in Lightroom to that on the back of the camera.
10. In Lightroom set the Shadows and highlights of the ISO 800 shot to match the shot played back in the camera then sync those settings to the other ISO files.
11. Set the noise reduction and sharpening for each of the 8 photographs so that they all look great.
12. Scroll through the eight shots ensuring that you have a consistent look.

You now have a perfect set of images to create your ISO adaptive preset.

Now follow these simple steps on the Adobe website that explain what to do with your 8 pictures and how to create and apply your custom preset. The links you need are here and here.

Don’t forget to sign up here for my newsletter to be informed about the Italy workshops in 2023. I do hope you join Sigrife and me in Italy.

Damien.

01.  I wanted a sense of fairytale, children’s literature, with a narrative of jeopardy and belonging. Leo wears a layered tulle skirt and bralet that I had made for these shoots and she is lit with the Lupo Superpanel set to 3200k. The colour palette of these photographs is inspired by renaissance paintings.

This was my 10th workshop in Italy and the last one that I will run in Tuscany. I now have an opportunity to explore another region of Italy in preparation for an all-new workshop in September 2023. This was also the last of my workshops to feature nudity. It’s time to move on and as you probably know; my picture styles have continually evolved through the years. I’m developing a narrative-led lifestyle portrait genre for 2023 starting with this sell-out tour of the abandoned gold mines of Nevada and California in May.

02. The cellar of this old Tuscan farmhouse is where the animals live in the winter. A new farm has been built by the latest generation of the family just 1 km up the track leaving this building, once home to their parents, abandoned. When I say ‘track’, I mean rough, rugged, rocky trail. Our hire cars just about negotiated the boulders without too many scrapes and dents on the underside.

03. These walls have stories to tell for sure. This is a special place to be. It has the fabulous textures that I crave for my photography. The aroma of farm animals still fills the air and it’s exciting and a privilege just to be in this space. Leo is lit with the battery-powered Lupo Superpanel.

04. Mischkah rests against a centuries-old feeding trough with a piece of cloth that I bought online. It looked just like one I saw on a sculpture in the Vatican museum.

05. I placed the bottles on the mantlepiece in this railway workers’ hut three years ago and I love how they are still there. The only light here is the light of the sky coming through a  broken window. I reduced the colour temperature in my camera to create this warm, rich, atmosphere.

06. Glancing light is fabulous to work with. The oils on the skin create a wonderful sheen and in turn specular reflections that push a spike on the histogram over to the right. I’m not one to look at histograms because they get in the way of art. I asked my clients to switch off the blinking exposure aids and histograms and just ‘feel’ the exposures. What could possibly go wrong? A Tiffen Black Pro Mist filter completed the look.

07. Mischkah is lit with daylight entering the room through an open door. This is another abandoned farmhouse and one that I call the bike shack. You can’t see a bike in these shots but there is a bike in the building. I give my locations names because apart from coordinates there is no other way of identifying them. There are no postcodes or addresses. These are places where a 4×4 and a short hike is often needed to get to them.

08. Left: Leo is in the farmhouse that I call the blue room and is lit with the Lupo Superpanel. Right: Mischkah is in glancing sunlight at 3:20 pm at Monte Amiata station.

09. These blocks of wood set into the wall are where horse saddles were hung at the end of the day. The grim remains of the farm cat lingered just behind my tripod.

10. I normally only have one model to shoot at a time so I had to make the most of this opportunity. Having shot over 400 weddings working with couples comes naturally to me. I wanted to portray friends, not lovers, in these shots. A howling gale came through open windows behind us, so it was a bit tough on the girls.

11. Mischkah cut Leo’s hair the day before this shoot and the wind played havoc with the styling but I love the results.

12. I have many beautiful pictures of this scene but I’ll share just two with you here. The other photographs will be in my future books for sure.

13. Tuscany has many thermal spas and the water flow can reach 40°C at times. This pool and cascade isn’t at one of them. My smoke machine operated by Håvard delivered the atmosphere.

14. Reminiscent of so many classical works, this photograph ticks my boxes. The shot perspective and foreground foliage contribute to the feeling of a voyeuristic view. The lingering smoke completes the look.

15. I bought this hat online and it took quite a lot of steaming to recover its shape after the trip from China wrapped inside a ball inside a box. The hat really adds to these pictures and was one of my more successful purchases.

16. Long grasses and an olive grove are some of my favourite shoot locations. You may have noticed by now that I try not include the sky in my pictures so finding an unkempt olive grove with a gentle slope up towards the sun was a task that took quite some time. Most olive groves are mown or ploughed between the trees.

17. This modelling malarkey is tough at times. The look of course is deceptive. There are six photographers in the olive grove, bugs, creepy crawlies and possibly the odd snake but don’t mention that last bit to Mischkah when you next see her.

18. The long and winding road…

19. There was just time for a picnic and a nap in a glade of Black Walnut trees. The ripening fruit of the walnut trees had a distinct lemon boquet.

20. We had regular visits from two black cats at our private estate. This one snuck into the pictures for a fleeting moment before deciding to slope off. This mini session happened at 17:45 h just as the sun was sinking behind the olive trees.

21. I lit Mischkah with a Scattergel fitted to my Godox AD200. The high viewpoint and downbeat pose deliver a narrative of regret.

 A moment of reflection

Long ago I wished to leave
‘The house where I was born;’
Long ago I used to grieve,
My home seemed so forlorn.
In other years, its silent rooms
Were filled with haunting fears;
Now, their very memory comes
O’ercharged with tender tears.

Charlotte Brontë

22. The crisp lines of Mischkah’s suit and dappled light caused by sunlight streaming through trees deliver a more upbeat note.

23. I found a little bit of flat light for this portrait of Mischkah and I snapped Leo taking a BTS.

24. Leo became quite attached to my hat or should I say the hat was attached to Leo. Either way, the hat was a cute accessory.

25. Left: A gust of wind created a Marilyn moment. The shaft of sunlight striking through the broken roof of this railway station building adds to the drama. Right: Leo in full sun.

26. This location reminded me of the Trumpton Clock. It’s a blast from the past and featured in the title sequence of a children’s tv programme from the 1960s. Yes, I’m that old! The white styling contrasts well here and the sunlight brings the shot alive.

27. We mixed up the styling and shot angles between the workshops. I ran two 4 day workshops back to back with a few days off in Siena in between. We covered the same locations but with minor variations due to weather and circumstances.

28. Leo at the ready to change the points while Mischkah looks on from her goods train.

29. Leo and I found ourselves in the cab of a hot, stuffy train. Leo sat at the controls while I added a splash of flash to give the picture some punch.

30. Mischkah in the sleepy back streets of Seggiano at around 4 pm on a sunny afternoon. The whole town seems to be on a permanent siesta at this time of year. The heat stored in the flagstones and walls radiates for several hours after the sun goes down.

31. Leo in full sun. Right: In a back alley in Seggiano. Left: Against the sky.  As you know I try to avoid the sky in my pictures because it is often the brightest part of the scene and leads the viewer’s eye right out of the top of the shot. In this case, though I used it as a backdrop because the relative illumination of the crisp sunlight on Leo was set off nicely against the low contrast sky behind her. Contrast separation is great when it all comes together.

32. Fashion portraits on the streets of Seggiano. Left: Hazy sunlight has a good combination of hardness with soft contrast to reveal Leo’s fabulous bone structure. Right: I often choose to go bold and work with the sun as a key light.

33. Sunlit portraits in Seggiano. By 16:30 h in the afternoon the shallow angle of the sun had become exciting to work with.

34. The side entrance to the renaissance Palazzo Piccolominia in Pienza circa 1456 was the perfect setting for this flash-lit portrait of Leo. The steps are so visitors can hop straight off their horses and into the palace.

35. We passed by this wonderful entrance to Pienza town hall. Steeped in history and a fabulous location for a mini shoot. The gold dress is the subject of a book that I am working on and you might recognise it from previous shoots of mine.

36. Left: Mischkah in the bedroom, lit with the Superpanel. Top Right: Mischkah on location, lit with the Superpanel. Bottom Right: Mischkah on location, lit with the light from a doorway.

37. I closed all the shutters in the bedroom except one. I left it open a crack and that delivered a beautiful pool of light for this shot.

38. I loved the energy in this grab shot of Leo. It’s not quite sharp where it needs to be and the night dress needs an iron but the feeling is there and that’s what matters in this photograph.

39. I lit Leo with the Lupo Superpanel for all of these shots. Right: The light was outside the double doors shining through the glass to simulate sunlight. I often rig my lights outside of a room as that is where the light enters naturally and it keeps the shot free from lighting stands etc.

40. For this mirror shot of Leo I tucked the Superpanel behind the wardrobe that is just out of shot to the left of the frame.

Well done for getting this far. Thank you for indulging me. I am planning two major workshop events each year. This year they were Fuerteventura and Tuscany. Next year they will be the USA and Italy. I’ve yet to finalise my locations in Italy and I’ll be off there again soon to do my recce. If you’d like to join me on a workshop or adventure sign up for my newsletter here. Places go fast and my newsletters provide advanced notice of their release.

This trip was a point-to-point adventure tracking between points that I had placed on a Google Maps chart. Apart from a couple of nights accommodation that I had pre-booked we left ourselves the freedom to alter plans and make changes as we went. Not all of the locations that you see pictured here have made it onto the final route that I will take photographers on next year but the vast majority have for sure.

Part 1: Figures in dramatic landscapes

01. We headed off track to reach this dry lake bed in Nevada. The temperature was rising and the sun was right overhead.  With absolutely no shade for 50 miles I used a splash of flash from the Godox AD200 to keep the lighting interesting.

A Chevy Tahoe was our vehicle of choice and the 4×4 drive train came in very handy a couple of times on our route. We certainly needed the ground clearance too as we negotiated ourselves up through gorges and down through canyons.

02. A bit of research took me to these wonderful rock formations. Nevada has so much to offer if you are prepared to seek it out.

We had to work out the accessiblity of these locations. How close we can get a convoy of four Suburbans or Tahoes, and how challenging the climate at each point is going to be. At our high desert locations, typically above 6000ft it was just 2°C at 9am while in Death Valley it was already 37°C by that time. Although these temperature changes gave us challenges on the recce I have managed to forward plan the shoot times on the workshop to give us the best experience at each spot.

03. We spent a bit of time hopping between Nevada and California in search of fabulous landscapes like this. I lit Lydia here with a Godox AD200 fitted with the fresnel head.

This spot was one of those places where it takes a round trip of two hours to reach but by juggling the route I’ve managed to incorporate an overnight stay nearby where there is a ‘cowboy bar’ with swing doors, shuffle board, pool and plenty of character. There are a few great restaurant options in town too.

04. Evening sunlight and a splash of flash was a great combination to use here.

We stayed to the East of the Sierra Nevada mountain ridge throughout the trip. The pass over the top to Yosemite was still closed following recent snow but the roads around Mono Lake were open. Yosemite is best reached from the West of the mountains and that is going to be part of another road trip in the future. This trip was concentrating in the rain shadow of the great Sierra mountain range.

05. The lakes in the foothills of the Sierras combine dramatic geology with wonderful scenery. Top: The terminal moraine from glacial times holds back the snow melt water in Convict lake. Bottom: Towering tufas rise up from fresh water springs beneath Mono Lake giving it a dramatic shoreline.

I’m really looking forward to spending more time shooting at Mono lake because on a recce the emphasis is on ‘seeing’ all the opportunities that present themselves so the best ones can be selected for the workshop.

06. I used the Godox AD200 with the fresnel head to light Lydia wearing a Nasty-Gal wrap dress.

07. California is susceptible to wild fires and the aftermath can make a dramatic scene for a figure in a landscape portrait. The Godox AD200 came out again for this quick shot of Lydia. This was a quick stop location that we kind of stumbled upon. Next year, new growth may well have changed the landscape here again.

On one long and arduous drive to an abandoned gold mine we came across a forest of Joshua trees. They are strange looking trees but make fun and interesting close portrait backgrounds.

We won’t be taking the same route or visiting the same mine because there really was very little of note left at the site. We will however be seeing many other Joshua trees and some fabulous old mines on our route.

08. Joshua trees frequent certain parts of the landscape. The altitude and land drainage are key factors in providing ideal homes for these dramatic trees. We detoured off track to visit the U2 shrine at the place where the photograph was taken for the cover of  their The Joshua Tree. An interesting distraction.

09. Death Valley is hot. It is also blessed with vast features like these sand dunes. These shots were taken before breakfast because later in the day the temperature reached an oppressive 117°F or 47°C.

I find deserts exciting places to shoot in. Care must be taken because they are inhospitable, but the rewards are spectacular. In each vehicle we carry big cooler boxes full of drinks on ice. The air-con is very welcome out in the desert too.

Part 2: Portraits at abandoned gold & silver mines

The main cause of my fascination with this part of America was the western movies of the 70s. “There’s gold in them there hills.” I’ve always wanted to see the dramatic landscapes featured in the films and to scratch around in the dirt to find a few nuggets of gold for myself. The history is real and although a lot of the towns are now abandoned the dramatic mining structures remain in various states of decay. The next 20 years or so could see the majority of these places lost to the elements and wild fires. The clock is ticking.

10. Mine workings litter the hills in Nevada and California. My task was to identify the best ones to visit. Some are just dangerous with the access trails falling away down the mountainside. I have had to identify where we can safely put four large SUVs and gain access to the buildings. I did an assessment of the risks at the structures for health and safety too. Locations like this are perfect because they are accessible with the right vehicles and there is little or no hike to reach the best shoot spots.

11. I love winding houses with big cogs and cables. I lit Claire with the AD200 flash. “What does this lever do?”

We are going to have fun in locations like these because a splash of flash with a Scatterflash gel and a puff of smoke will bring them alive. I’ll be taking my smoke machine on this trip for sure. We will just have to use it wisely because we don’t want to trigger an emergency response. Wild fires are a big threat in places like this.

12. Motors, drive belts, Ore crushing mills and paraphernalia all make great locations for shooting. These shots were taken using just natural light because time was tight on the planning trip.

13. Mid shots, wide shots, long shots and close ups are all there to be had. Top: Natural light shots give great opportunities to be creative with viewpoint and composition. Bottom Left: This wall of corrugated zinc plated steel was the perfect backdrop for a long shot of Claire. Bottom Right: A shallow depth of field and a bit of sunlight provided great separation from the background for Lydia. We will be visiting this “5 star” shoot location for sure on our adventures in 2023.

14. Sometimes the opportunities for pictures seem overwhelming to the untrained eye. That is where good vision and direction play their part. On a Lovegrove Adventure, we walk the site identifying the best bits, then we work out where we are going to shoot the wide shots that deliver the narrative. Those are the tricky ones. What do you leave in? What do you leave out? Where do you place the subject? How big is the subject in the frame? etc. The closer images are easier to shoot and we are often led by light to capture those.

Part 3: The old railroads of Nevada

From day one on this trip, the railroad was a continuous visual player in the landscape and the sounds from the engine horns and the clatter of the railcars were simply fantastic. I felt the need to incorporate some of this railroad memorabilia into this adventure. My friend Tim put me onto this shoot location and with permission assured us this will be one of the highlights of this workshop for sure.

15. Sidings of old wagons and coaches prove to be fabulous shoot spots in the morning sunlight. I just love the font of the 802.

A lot of the land is ‘fenced off’ in America but the railroads I came across on this trip are generally ‘open’. These railroads fuelled the expansion of the mines and their presence lies in the heart of the once prosperous mining towns. Each town has its station and there’s a hotel opposite on main street. There is so much recent history to be explored in the Wild West before it vanishes forever.

16. Locations like this are a dream to shoot in. Access all areas is so important along with the full safety briefing. The dynamic range of the GFX comes into its own with high contrast scenes like this.

17. The smell of soot and oil lingers in the air. The curves and lines on these engines have a beauty of their own. The architects and engineers of the railroads were certainly artists and able to fuse form and function in such a fabulous way. Iconic design meets industrial might.

18. I loved the light falling on this steam engine undergoing restoration. I asked axle greaser, Claire to hang in there for scale and drama.

19. I always try to take the time to capture the detail. I think it stems from my days as a wedding photographer where my task was to tell the story of a day in about 300 pictures within a 10 hour time frame. Sometimes less is more and when I’m putting together a body of work that is eloquent and self supporting I’m drawn to the texture and still life settings that speak volumes about a place. They visualise a moment in time in a romantic way that sometimes the wide shot fails to do.

20. Rivets, castings, wheels, hoists, chains and the human form present a great contrast to capture.

21. Pop a bit of smoke in here with a splash of flash and the shots will be epic.

22. The GF 110 is a great lens to isolate and foreshorten the perspective. I’ll have the GF 80mm lens with me on the next trip because it is more inclusive of the background but still able to isolate focus.

Part 4: Ore processing sheds and abandoned shacks

Every mine we visited had a mill where the ore was crushed prior to being carted away in small one ton wagons. In a typical mine, it took about a ton of ore to generate one ounce of gold. When the gold price was high and the labour cost low, it was a very profitable operation.

These days, gold is mined in vast open cast pits. The whole mountain is removed one layer at a time and the spoil heap creates a new mountain of its own where none existed before.

23. This mill was quite fancy. The rough ore entered the top room via buckets on the cables that you can see and the refined ore left from the  building beneath it in wagons that were sent 5 miles down the valley. The weight of the full wagons going down pulled the empty ones back up by a system of cables and pulleys.

24. The depth and light in these shacks is wonderful. Often, the wider the shot the more exciting it looks. I gave these shots a ‘look’ in post production using a LUT.

25. Styling matters: The hat was from Boot Barn, the boots were from AliExpress, the shirt from CAL Ranch Stores, the jeans were Lydia’s own.

26. The same spot with two perspectives. I was drawn to the cedar shingles on the external wall of the shack and the light patterns inside.

27. The GFX 32-64mm lens is a stalwart and probably my most used lens on this trip. A shallow depth of field is not an absolute requirement when shooting shots like this. I still like to work between f/4 and f/5.6 choosing to use a high shutter speed and a low ISO.

28. “Hop up on there Lydia” An early morning light shot high up in the desert at 6000 ft.

29. I guess you know by now that I love shacks and we certainly found fabulous shacks on this trip.

30. A good shack in the morning sets you up for the day. The cool white balance reflects the cold temperature of the moment. It was about 4°C at the time we shot this frame.

31. Fingers crossed the top shack is still standing this time next year. It doesn’t have long for this life but wow! It’s beautiful.

32. We decided to shoot some fashion lit frames using the AD200 flash with the sun as a backlight. I used the fresnel head for this shot and also for the ones in set number 35 below.

33. A dead tree with the Sierra Nevada mountains in the background caught my eye. The rim light on Lydia completes this shot taken in evening light. The resolution from the GFX50 sensor is spectacular and shots like this really make the most of the format when printed.

34. Occasionally I love to use a calm, low contrast tone set. The Fujifilm GFX has the Acros G film simulation and I love to shoot portraits with it. I push the exposure a bit to shift it into a high key look and I dial in H tone -1 and S tone -2. My Lightroom is set up to auto apply those tone settings upon image input.

35. I bought this hat at the Hackberry General Store on route 66 some 5 years ago and it comes with me on all my USA trips now. I guess it has travelled over 8000 miles on road trips with me. Plus the air miles.

36. Some of the places that we visited were a hotch potch of fakery like this building. Absolutely nothing is original here and unfortunately this site is just a tourist trap, so we won’t be visiting spots like this on our tour.

37. This general store is in a mountain town with a current population of just 8 and it’s fabulous. A lot of artefacts have been assembled in these rooms but the feeling one gets here is electric. This town was once more populous than Los Angeles. The gold rush was amazing.

38. Shots are there to be had when you least expect them. Some opportunities just present themselves. It’s a case of be there and magic will happen.

39. Sunlight and the toll house. Claire’s skirt was from AliExpress (made to order) and the vintage Wonderbra came from Depop.

Part 5: Classic Americana

I’m a sucker for what we in the UK call ‘Americana’. The fonts, classic design from the 30s Art Deco era to the 50s, automobiles, neon signs, pastel colours and shabby chic.

40. I set out to have a bit of practice with this scene. Top: Natural light. Bottom left: AD200 flash to simulate street light and Bottom Right: AD200 flash to simulate moonlight.

41. We drove past this classic cinema and we just had to turn around and shoot it. I love the scale of the frontage.

42. Top Left: A classic hearse and of course the Blues Brothers car :) Top Right and Bottom Left: Details capture the design artistry of a bygone era and the gun culture that is evident everywhere around these parts. Bottom right: The paint burns off the steel in the relentless desert sun but the dry atmosphere stops the bodywork from deteriorating. These cars are all restorable.

43. 53 years young, the car that is.

44. I really like the old cars of this era. I’m sure John Boy Walton had one of these. This house is one of many abandoned dwellings in this town. The history lives on in the people that still live in the neighbourhood.

45. This saloon was fabulous. So original. The kind of establishment where drinks are served with the glass sliding down the bar. The people in the bar were super friendly and have probably lived in the town for most of their lives. It’s simple living.

A few iPhone pictures

When I’m on a recce I use my iPhone a lot to record places and scenes. The iPhone captures the GPS data so that I can find the exact spot where the picture was taken. Some of these iPhone shots are fun so I’ve included them here.

46. Top Left: We will be shooting this truck as I love the patina. Top Right: “After you.” We won’t be venturing into unmaintained tunnels like this on the trip although one mine owner has agreed to put on a full mine tour for our adventure group. Middle Right: This car has over 100 bullet holes in it. It looks like it was once a chopped coupe.

47. Top Left: Our Chevy Tahoe. We will probably rent four of the longer Suburbans on the workshop. Top Right: Our first stop on the tour will give us a great place to get everyone up to speed with the flash kit. Bottom Right: The accommodation is fairly basic but we can do better than this place.

If you would like to be kept informed of the workshop dates and prices be sure to drop me a message here.

The Deserts & Gold Dust road trip adventure is now finally planned and I’m taking bookings. Checkout the website page for prices and information.

The dates of the adventure will be from the 20th to the 28th of May 2023.