Shooting Alpacas….

Well, shooting in the photography sense, of course!  I had such a hoot with Rebecca of Perfectomundo and Shelley (who had offered her in-law’s unsuspecting herd of Alpacas up as models!)…..Let me explain:  Rebecca’s business sells exclusive knitwear which includes jumpers and blankets made from Alpaca wool.  We thought it would be a bit of fun to do a photo shoot with real Alpacas (some may say mad….what’s that expression about never work with animals and children…!)

They certainly are an interesting breed, and it was quite a different photographic shoot to my usual family photography in Surrey!

Quite quickly, we discovered they are not keen on ponies (as the ponies they shared the field with followed us around, the Alpacas moved away….not quite what we had in mind!)

But we were lucky with the weather and really grateful to be able to use such amazing grounds to take our photos.  There were so many different areas we could use to model different ‘looks’ – hay barns, stables, rhododendron dells, sculpture gardens, fields of alpacas…!

We used the sculptures that dotted the grounds as props for some of the fun and colourful collars that Perfectomundo sells, as well as for the decorative scarves.

The idea we had to change into evening wear to model the lightweight ponchos and scarves was great, especially with the beautiful backdrop of the gardens.

I have to say I could have gone on taking photos all day, but sadly we had to say goodbye to the quirky animals and their amazing grounds.

Thanks to Rebecca and Shelley for being such good models!!  I love the new Perfectomundo collection, which was complimented perfectly by Stella and Dot jewellery – thanks for asking me to take the images for your website…can’t wait to see it up there!

Jo x
07793 205155   www.joscottimages.co.uk

Art in St Ives

For those of you who aren’t regular visitors to my blog, I’m a portrait photographer based in Surrey and the Home Counties.  I do love photography generally and have being posting my ‘iphone photographic project’, albeit on a somewhat irregular basis!

This post is in addition to my St Ives iphone post, as I want to share the amazing experience we had as a family this Easter…as we all know, the weather hasn’t been great, so what else is there to do in St Ives?  The answer is loads!  Especially if, like us, you have a particular interest in all things artistic.

Our favourite place to visit isn’t the main Tate St Ives Gallery (although we do go to the cafe for its views and spaghetti meatballs!) but the Barbara Hepworth Museum, which is tucked away behind the hustle and bustle of St Ives.

Actually it’s not just tucked away, it is a little corner of peace and tranquillity.  An inspiring place for us artists (hubby Gary’s a sculptor and our kids love trying anything arty!), so we go and hang out there, taking it all in.

The children love it because for a couple of quid you can get a brown paper bag filled with sketch book, pencil, plastoline and a tool for sculpting.  They sit amongst Hepworth’s sculptures and create the most amazing things (mainly unrecognisable, but often in the ‘Hepworth’ style!).

I love it because Barbara Hepworth’s studio and workspace have been left pretty much as it was when she died.  Her tools lie expectantly and the unfinished and sometimes even untouched pieces of stone sit like a little city on tables.  You can imagine what her next creation was going to be and be inspired by the setting she made there.

Our other favourite place to visit is Fish Pye pottery on Back Road East (01736 793863).  We stumbled upon it a few years ago when we first visited St Ives, and at that time the children were inspired to create art from found objects (another good foul weather activity as you can spend hours combing the beaches in the drizzle!).

This year we chatted to potter Laura, whose studio it is, and she very kindly allowed the children to have a go at pot throwing!

They loved it – getting very mucky in the process!

And they made a lovely little pot each.  Laura was so kind to help them and to guide them.  They enjoyed every second of it and now have their pots here at home to remember that art filled holiday!

A bit of an indulgent blog, but I wanted to share the passion we have as a family for art!

Do visit both places if you go to Cornwall – well worth it!

Jo x
07793 205155  www.joscottimages.co.uk

Photo Project weeks 15&16 – Eve Arnold

Well, I have to confess that although I did take some images with my iphone over these two weeks, my main focus of attention has been on art exhibitions – Gary’s RAW exhibition and ‘All About Eve’ (a retrospective of Eve Arnold’s photographic art at the Art Sensus gallery in Victoria, London).

As I’ve already blogged about RAW, I thought I’d blog about Eve Arnold (1912-2012)…..maybe a bit random for some people as this post is about my iphone project, but actually I have been inspired by her as a determined documentary photographer and also the more I read of her and see her work, I admire her as a portraitist.  I talked about her in my Marlow FM radio interview a few months ago, and have been to this latest exhibition so she is at the forefront of my mind.

She strikes me as having been a pioneering woman in the world of photography, in what was very much a man’s world.  She was the first female member of the Magnum Photographic Agency - she must have been good and tough!

When I look at all those photos she took of Hollywood stars, captured ‘behind the scenes’ in a very intimate fashion, as well as the images from her travels to far-flung lands such as China, I have to admit that there is a rose-tinted romance of that era that I am drawn to.  Those days of pioneering photography I believe are gone – the photos taken, images in abundance.  They are replaced by pioneering images of war-torn far-flung lands…the human interest no lesser but nowhere near romantic!

I hadn’t realised until I went to ‘All About Eve’ that Eve came to photography later in life and she only had a short ‘formal’ education in photography, being for the main self-taught.  I was interested because that is similar to me, and at odds with so many photographers I have come across lately whom I admire (I was beginning to feel a little insecure!).

I love the fact that she said that what kept her motivated over the decades was ‘curiosity’, as without this, and the desire to continually explore, learn and develop I too wouldn’t be motivated to continue in my photography.

Her words resonate with me.  The first ever quote I saw of hers was this:

‘If a photographer cares about the people before the lens and is compassionate, much is given.  It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument.’

Personally, as a portrait photographer, this sums up how I feel, so I wanted to write this piece.

Jo Scott x
07793 205155

Portrait photography – love it or hate it?

Pretty much everyone dislikes having their photo taken – probably because they rarely have professional portraits done, and therefore they rarely have good images of themselves.  And let’s face it, most of us have some self-image issues in any event….that doesn’t help!

Whilst my main business is family portrait photography in Surrey, I inevitably get asked to do business ‘headshots’ along the way – most business people see it as a necessary evil to promote themselves and their business, especially with the proliferation of the web and social media opportunities to communicate with clients and potential clients.

I thought I’d share with you a recent experience I had with a client who was petrified of having her photo taken.  I have known Sally through networking for about 6 months.  She’s a wonderful person and she is doing amazing things with her art on so many levels….bringing families together to create art;  empowering children to be themselves and gain confidence through art; helping disabled or disadvantaged children…..the list goes on and I hugely admire her, which is why when she asked if I’d take her portrait I was delighted.

We worked out what she needed the shots for – website and promotional use – and what she wanted to portray….an approachable look but someone who is professional.  Sally also wanted to have a fun image and maybe something a bit ‘different’.

The trouble is…Sally hates having photos taken of herself and she was literally shaking at the thought of it!!  We eased into the session with cups of tea and lots of chatter, and I could see her nerves when I said we would start looking at clothes and what to wear to start the session.  My main aim was to get Sally feeling relaxed and for her to enjoy the experience, so we laughed a lot and kept moving around looking for different positions around the property as locations for taking the photos.  We used a canvas Sally had helped me and my family to do as a prop, which was a lovely touch and really brought the shoot together.  I love to use natural light for all my photography – it’s a challenge and you have to think on your feet, but it’s exciting to look for new areas to take the pictures and to see how the light changes.  And photographing women is something I’m passionate about so I was loving this shoot!

We did start with some ‘rabbit in headlights’ shots, however, we ended up with a wonderful selection.  Having said that Sally has only ever liked two photos of herself (and one was of when she was 6 years old!) she was amazed to find that she liked over 20 images and had to whittle them down to three!!

I believe we achieved exactly what she wanted in those three images, and hope they work well for her in the next phase of her business development.

If you want to learn more about Sally, follow the link www.connect2colour.com

Sally’s art is on display and for sale at the Chiltern pub in Saunderton – go and have a look over a pint!

Jo Scott, Portrait photographer in Surrey
07793 205155

Photo Project Week 13

Gosh, it’s amazing how when you go on holiday somewhere new there are so many things to inspire you!

Now this time, I did take my ‘proper’ camera with me as I knew I’d regret it otherwise – Cornwall is a special place for us and to visit St Ives in the spring is always lovely.  However, I did want to continue with my iphone project, so some days I didn’t take the big camera and experimented with my phone.

I was amazed at how I could capture the big skies  and expanses of beach!

And I was interested in what you could do with the waves – due to the quality of the phone camera and lack of control, there is a granulation and texture to these images that is almost painterly!

But my favourite is definitely these abstract images I got from the receding tide at the water’s edge.  Beautiful!

The holidays are now over, but I hope you enjoyed them, and enjoyed looking at my pics!

Jo Scott x  07793 205155

Photo Project Weeks 11 & 12

These weeks took in the start of the Easter holidays, and whist we had the obligatory Easter Egg hunt, the rain rather dampened my spirits in terms of spontaneous iphone photography, which is what this project is all about.

However, I did spend one day, when the rain let up, out with the kids at various playgrounds around our area. So….whislt they played, so did I – with quite interesting results I think!

And of course, the sunsets are always spectacular at this time of year, along with the lovely blossom (which reminds me of when my first son was born, so it’s extra special!)

RAW Art Exhibition, Tottenham Mews, London W1

My first glance into the world of self curated art exhibitions….My husband, Gary Scott, is a sculptor and he put on this RAW show together with some student friends, Rhiannon and Saskia, from the Art Academy.

It was amazing!  Very raw – on so many levels!!  The three of them are all into exploring emotion and the human condition to create powerful pieces of art, so that was the focus for the show.  This common theme brought the artists together, but what was fascinating to me was that their work is so different – there was sculpture, painting, photography, charcoal drawings (and probably different types of media that I didn’t notice!!) – yet it all flowed harmoniously in this ‘pop up’ gallery.

They worked for two days to pull the exhibition together, sorting out the space and where everything would go as well as physically hanging and mounting all the art.  The brilliant thing is that it was held in central London in premises that are awaiting redevelopment so would otherwise be vacant…great use of real estate whilst furthering the arts….edgy, funky and sustainable…I like it!

The private view was more than a success – it was rammed full of people all having a good time and enjoying the environment!  A really diverse crowd of people, interested in art and the artists….And the best thing of all is that all three artists sold pieces.

I was asked to take photos of the evening – it was really fun to go around ‘incognito’ and hear people discussing the art!

I’m so pleased for them all and so proud of them!  For more details on their work follow the links:

Gary Scott, Rhiannon Rebecca Salisbury, Saskia Gall

Congratulations!!

Jo Scott x
www.joscottimages.co.uk  07793 205155