Night Shoot with Lance

Over 3 years ago, I was halfway through my Extended Diploma in Photography. I had previously met Lance while shooting a fashion show and a few months later we agreed to do a shoot around the High Level Bridge and along the Quayside in Newcastle. That was my first professional portrait shoot and I loved it. It gave me the guts to approach other models and try more portrait shoots and ultimately it gave me the courage to put myself out there and try to become a photographer rather than just a student on a photography course.

Like I said, that was a long time ago; I was on an Extended Diploma course using a D3200 and now I am on a Foundation Degree using a D7000. My portfolio and quality of work has also came a long way and looking back at that first shoot makes me realise how young, immature and inexperienced I was. I know I still have a long way to go but it made me realise how far I have come.

Since then, Lance's modelling has really taken off and he has been signed in London, Spain and Sweden and his work is incredible; I'm particularly a fan of his work with Nike. In retrospect, we have both came a long way but Lance has really sky-rocketed. But when Lance said he was back in Newcastle and was wondering if I'd like to shoot again sometime; I leapt at the chance.

Due to a lack of time, we settled on a night shoot; starting with a multi-story car-park then the Quayside as our location, with Lance modelling some jumpers in the bitter January weather. I used a Nikon D7000 with a SB700 speed-light on a TTL cable to light Lance by bouncing the light off the roof or wall of the carpark, or in the case of the image above; against a window.

This shoot was a lot of fun and I really pleased and proud of the images we produced. It proved to me how much my work has improved over the past couple of years. It was also really interesting to note that my style of shooting and editing has evolved but is still recognisable (or at least to me). It was also really interesting to do a Night Shoot in an indoor environment with some available light and lots of surfaces to use bounce flash lighting, as I could use the windows to create a improvised Low-Key effect. Lance was also a brilliant model and we instantly settled into a working dynamic and he remains to be the same down-to-earth, friendly and open bloke I knew a few years ago.

See the full set of images from this shoot on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NJDunnPhotography

And view Lance's modelling portfolio here: http://purpleport.com/portfolio/lance/

New Start, New Blog

Hello. My name is Nicholas Dunn. I am a Photography Student, currently studying for my Foundation Degree at Newcastle College. I am 20 years old, I'm from Newcastle, I live at home with my parents and two sisters, I am incredibly geeky and I love superheroes.

I have been studying photography for over 4 years now and I have already completed an A-Level and an Extended Diploma in the subject. I originally started studying photography as an alternative to continuing Art from GSCE and I immediately fell in love with it. I quickly decided to focus on Street Photography in Sixth Form and decided to dedicate myself to studying the subject afterwards. 

I focus primarily on Portraiture, mainly on location but due to my course I've shot many different genres of the subject and I am always willing to try anything once. 

I have been inspired by many photographers and influences over the years. My Sixth Form tutors taught me to try anything and learn rather than regret, my college tutors taught me to think about what I am doing and now I am learning why to do something and what kind of photographer I want to be. 

But for me, I will always be learning how to become a better photographer, how to take better pictures and how I would do something rather than how someone else would do it. 

I've found the work of Martin Parr, Alfred Eisensteadt and Richard Avedon particularly inspiring but I've always preferred to do things my way and draw inspiration from other photographers rather than trying to replicate there style. 

As part of my Foundation Degree, I have to start a photography blog. My aim is to make this blog a creative and thoughtful weekly outlet of my work, with posts about the projects I am working on, the images I have taken and the shoots I am planning. Hopefully this will help me become a more developed and thoughtful photographer and I looking forward to sharing my work with you all.

For more of my work take a look at my Facebook page; https://www.facebook.com/NJDunnPhotography or follow me on Twitter; https://twitter.com/NJDPhotography or Instagram; http://instagram.com/njdunnphotographer

Thanks for reading.