Portrait

Prana for Life

Lifestyle Photoshoot with Yogi Siobhan Fitzgerald

Siobhan Fitzgerald is a yoga therapist who specialises in breath work. She saw some of the photography work I did a few years back for Our World Yoga and got in touch to see if I’d be interested in working with her. We met for coffee this summer, got on like a house on fire (shared Madonna obsession helped) and ended up scheduling a date for the shoot. The session took place last month in the Merchant City Yoga studio as well as outdoors in the surrounding areas. Siobhan wanted the images to be bright and airy so that’s what we went for. See some examples below.

GEAR
Nikon Z8
Nikkor Z MC 105mm f2.8
Nikkor Z 85mm f1.2
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filters
Profoto B10
Profoto OCF Softbox 3' Octa
Reflector

Mic Clark

Portrait session with Mic Clark.

Mic Clark is a Scottish singer/songwriter. We met briefly years ago when I was photographing his dad, Chris Clark, another accomplished musician. Last autumn, however, Mic got in touch to have some images taken for his own project. We shot at Basement49 and thereabouts and had the brilliant Michelle Watson on styling duties. Enjoy!

GEAR
Nikon D850
Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Profoto B10
Profoto OCF Magnum Reflector

The Road Less Travelled

Photography, artwork and music videos for The Road Less Travelled, a new album from Horse McDonald.

Horse’s new album, The Road Less Travelled, has been many years in the making. In fact, it’s her first release since 2013’s Home which was the first project I worked on with Horse. In the decade or so since, we’ve become frequent collaborators and close friends. With years of projects under our belt and the trust that came with that, Horse let me have the reigns of the visual side of the new album as well as its promo - from photography and video for the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, album artwork and vinyl packaging to various merchandise pieces. I even managed to have a small hand in the recording process and sang backing vocals on one of the album tracks (that’s one off the bucket list!).

The first piece of The Road Less Travelled rollout was the music video for “Leaving”, released back in 2022. In the 2 years since, Horse has completed writing and recording the album and everything was in place for a late spring 2024 launch. Late last year, we started brainstorming ideas for the album promo and for the album’s title track video. While the song “The Road Less Travelled” deals with a relationship ending, we decided to treat the title as a metaphor for Horse’s life, incorporating various iconic images from her 3-decade-plus career as well as personal snaps.

As for the album cover image itself, in late February we booked Basement49 studio and spent a few hours trying different things out. Originally, Horse wanted the album cover to echo the artwork for her 1990 debut, The Same Sky. I wasn’t overly keen on that idea - felt it was pushing the nostalgia factor a step too far - but in the end, it’s my job to bring the artist’s vision to life. The way I often tend to work, however, is to give clients what they think they want but also provide them with something they didn’t know they needed. In this case, what Horse didn’t think she needed was the very last image taken that day which, according to her, turned out to be as iconic as that 1990 shot. I can’t take full credit here though. Originally, my idea for this particular shot was to photograph Horse from the back, showcasing her distinct hairstyle from that angle, but our stylist, Michelle Watson, kept telling Horse to turn her head back to the left and that was that. When Horse received the contact sheet with the images taken on the day, that very last frame was her first choice for the album cover.

Scroll below for the videos, promo images, photos from the album launch at CCA and the album artwork.

ALBUM COVER SHOOT:
Styling & Make Up: Michelle Watson Creative

ALBUM LAUNCH AT CCA:

VINYL ARTWORK:
Limited, hand-numbered edition on red vinyl, gatefold with 12” x 12” exclusive insert

ALBUM LAUNCH BOOKLET:

Best of 2023

2023 summary

So yes, I have been slacking a bit when it comes to this blog. The last few months of 2023 were really busy with work and travel and something had to give. Overall, last year was good when it came to work. I was involved in some interesting projects - travelled with Gareth Williams to the Scottish Highlands to photograph the cover for his “Songs from the Last Page” release; was in Wales with Brooks Williams photographing and filming the recording process for his just-released album “Diamond Days”; shot a short fashion film for Studio Floor and helped Horse with her successful Kickstarter campaign for the new record “The Road Less Travelled” among others. I also started doing regular personal projects where I take a day each month to collaborate with interesting people and shoot just for the fun and creativity of it. It allows me to try things, experiment, and perhaps fail a bit.

Anyway, I’m back and kicking off 2024 with some of my favourite images from the past year. Enjoy!

ALBUMS OF 2023
The Love Invention Alison Goldfrapp
Fuse Everything But The Girl
That! Feels Good! Jessie Ware
The Age of Pleasure Janelle Monáe
Mid Air Romy
Hit Parade Róisín Murphy
Volcano Jungle
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess Chappell Roan
Sundown Eddie Chacon
The Returner Allison Russell

SONGS OF 2023
Freak Me Now Jessie Ware
You Knew Róisín Murphy
Lipstick Lover Janelle Monáe
Miley Cyrus Flowers
Houdini Dua Lipa
Rush Troye Sivan
Nothing Left To Lose Everything But The Girl
Demons Allison Russell
Water Tyla

Fashion Editorial with Barbra

FASHION EDITORIAL WITH BARBRA

I’ve known designer Barbara for a few years now. We’ve collaborated on several occasions (here for example) and became friends along the way. Earlier this year I decided to carve out a day every month for personal, creative work where I invite various people to collaborate and take some photos just for fun. It allows me to experiment, and try things I don’t get to do with paid clients. It also gets me excited about photography again. Barbra’s been on the list of prospective collaborations for this and lucky for me she was up for having some photos taken. We shot a lot with hard light that day, something I’ve always been scared of but I am scared of it no more thanks to how this shoot turned out. We were going for retro vibes - some Old Hollywood, some 1980s. Have a look below.

Hair, Make Up & Styling: Michelle Watson
Studio: Basement49

GEAR
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filter
Profoto A1 x 2
Profoto B10
120cm Octabox
Softbox 3' Octa
Softgrid Octa
Reflector