Photography Blog

Like most photographers, if there's nothing that the good people of South Wales want to pay me to shoot, then I'm shooting anyway. There's always a personal photographic project on the go, and here's where you'll find my more personal, self-directed photographic work.

Some of this will (or has) ended up at exhibition, whilst other shots just make it as far as family photo albums. Either way, its all practice, and that benefits my photographic clients.

WAHWN Conference

WAHWN - Wales Arts in Health & Wellbeing Network - held their first major conference at the Lysaughts Institute in Newport in Autumn 2023, and commissioned me to photograph the event.

Newport City Radio Photoshoot

Newport City Radio were about to launch a new website, so hired me to shoot some vibrant and colourful photographic portraits.

Harding Evans Portraits

Harding Evans is a large solicitor's firm in Newport and Cardiff with about 90 staff members, and they requested a portrait shoot for their website.

Bank of England Shoot

The Bank Of England Outreach team organised a day of events at 3 Newport Schools, and I was commissioned to shoot the activities.

Fashion Shoot with Lara

Every now and again I organise a fashion photoshoot, to keep my creative juices flowing. Take a look at what we got up to.

Exhibition at the Cwtsh, Newport

I'm really pleased to have been asked to exhibit my Welsh From Everywhere / Cymry o Bob Man photo portrait work at the Cwtsh Arts Centre.

Actor Portraits with Elliott

Elliott is an aspiring young actor and is training to be a stuntman. He needed some publicity shots and came calling.

People's Health Trust Shoot

Another great photoshoot for the People's Health Trust — this time with the lovely Bristol Women's Walk and Talk group.

Interview with PhD photography student Eve Ruet

I spent an interesting an enjoyable afternoon this week being interviewed by a PhD student about my Photographic work.

Lecture at Coleg Gwent Ebbw Vale

This week I delivered a two hour session to A Level Photography students at Coleg Gwent's Ebbw Vale Campus

Studio Lighting Masterclasses

I just spent a week at Coleg Gwent teaching 5 full day Studio Lighting Masterclasses.

Ffotogallery: Diffusion 2021

Diffusion is the Welsh International Festival of Photography, and I was invited to both exhibit legacy work, plus was commissioned to shoot some new photos.

Portfolio Shoot with Queenie May

Queenie May has just started modelling so we hooked up to collaborate on getting her portfolio started.

Festival Faces

I set up a free-for-all portraiture studio at Maindee Festival and got some great photos.

Newportraits

Newport-portraits… Newportraits (see what I did there!).  A collection of portraits taken over a couple of days at the Big Splash event in the Riverfront, almost 10 years ago.

Welsh From Everywhere Ffotogallery Commission

In August 2021 I was commissioned by Ffotogallery to set up a pop-up portraiture studio at the Phyllis Maud Theatre in Pillgwenlly, Newport.

Photoramble: Paper fold abstract

Yet another wet Winter weekend in lockdown, and another photography itch-scratcher. What can you do with a scrap of paper and a mobile phone?

The Bastard Executioner at Marigold Costumes

Short lived historical drama 'The Bastard Executioner' sold its stock to Marigold Costumes in Cardiff, and I was brought in to photograph the lot.

Photoramble: Shell Shots

Another wet lockdown Sunday photoramble - this time, shooting seashells.

Travel Photography: Morocco Madness

Morocco is a stunning country, but taking photos in Marrakesh almost ended up with me in hospital, or worse…

Model photoshoot with Indica Snow

I'd wanted to try shooting with liquid latex, and Indica Snow was up for the challenge (and the discomfort of ripping it off afterwards). ** Contains Nudity **

Cymry o Bob Man / Welsh From Everywhere

In 2019 I started a new project called 'Cymry o Bob Man / Welsh from Everywhere', a photographic investigation into the ethnic diversity of Newport.

Astrophotography in Eryri/Snowdonia

I love astronomy and all things space, but living in a city means light pollution and few stars... time to head to a dark skies region.

Photo-synthesis: Shooting Plants

During lockdown with little client work, I set myself some mini photographic projects to scratch my photo itch. As plants love light as much as photographers, I started there.

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The conference was WAHWN's first conference since they formed in 2018. We've been working with them ever since on graphic design, marketing and website design. The organisation brings together artists, policy makers, educators, funders, academics, researchers and healthcare workers and this event was very well attended, packing out the main venue hall and 4 breakout rooms.

I spent the day at the conference, shooting event photography with the odd portrait thrown in, meeting and photographing some really interesting people along the way. Here are some of the photos from the event.]


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WAHWN - Wales Arts in Health & Wellbeing Network - held their first major conference at the Lysaughts Institute in Newport in Autumn 2023, and commissioned me to photograph the event.


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Cynhaliodd WAHWN – Rhwydwaith Celfyddydau mewn Iechyd a Lles Cymru – eu cynhadledd fawr gyntaf yn Sefydliad Lysaughts yng Nghasnewydd yn hydref 2023, a chomisiynwyd fi i dynnu llun o’r digwyddiad.


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Cynhaliodd WAHWN – Rhwydwaith Celfyddydau mewn Iechyd a Lles Cymru – eu cynhadledd fawr gyntaf yn Sefydliad Lysaughts yng Nghasnewydd yn hydref 2023, a chomisiynwyd fi i dynnu llun o’r digwyddiad.


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Newport City Radio have been broadcasting in Newport for over ten years and to celebrate they planned a new website (which my company www.webber-design.com helped build). They needed some new photographic portraits of the team, including presenters, producers, journalists and admin staff. The brief was to produce super colourful, vibrant and fun portraits using their brand yellow for the background.

I shot the portraits at the radio station using my portable studio, with a sunflower yellow background, ensuring that all sitters wore bright and bold colours - a couple showed up in less colourful clothing, but I tweaked these in photoshop to achieve the vibrancy that the client wanted. Between us we also provided a box of props to add to the fun.

Lastly, I added a watermarked tiled version of their logo in the background to enhance the brand recognition. Some of the portraits were for specific shows - hence the landscape format. On the website the spaces to the left and right of the sitters is filled with text info on each show.


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Newport City Radio were about to launch a new website, so hired me to shoot some vibrant and colourful photographic portraits.


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Roedd Radio Dinas Casnewydd ar fin lansio gwefan newydd, felly fe wnaethon nhw fy llogi i saethu rhai portreadau ffotograffig bywiog a lliwgar.


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Roedd Radio Dinas Casnewydd ar fin lansio gwefan newydd, felly fe wnaethon nhw fy llogi i saethu rhai portreadau ffotograffig bywiog a lliwgar.


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With about 90 staff members to shoot, this wasn't going to be done in a day, so we arranged one photoshoot at the Cardiff office, and 3 at the Newport office. 

"I ******* hate having my photo taken!"

If clients want natural looking portraits, then it takes a little time - as many people hate having their photo taken, and especially when told they must by their employer.  Wall to wall images of beautiful models wherever we turn has made many people uncomfortable with having their photos taken, and so it is no surprise when a significant proportion of my 'models' for headshots enter the studio with fear and trepidation. This makes them stiff with hunched shoulders and rictus smile (or their go-to photo pose), which is no good for taking relaxed and natural photos.

For this reason I request 10 minutes with each sitter. Some sitters are clearly comfortable and are in and out of the studio in 5 minutes, but with the less comfortable ones I need that time to get them to relax, and forget that they "hate having their photo taken". This means chatting, and asking questions - connecting with each sitter in order that they relax enough for the shot. I may then only shoot in the last couple of minutes of the ten, but the results are much better.

On Brand Portraits 

Harding Evans' brand is centred around their teal colour palette, so we decided (me and the marketing manager together), that we should shoot on a textured teal background, with a little gradient so that the centre of the images was lighter than the edges. To achieve this I set a coloured gel onto a grey background, turning it to a teal colour. The teal wasn't quite the brand colour, but close enough that I could then tweak each portrait in photoshop to get the precise colour for the brand.

Finishing Off

Pretty much all phone cameras now come with a 'beauty' filter which smooths skin and reduces blemishes - and people are using them so much that a regular 'warts-and-all' high res image can look too detailed in comparison. So in collaboration with the team at Harding Evans we decided to do minor skin smoothing, and blemish removal on all images - plus several of the sitters requested more specific edits, including thickening of thinning hair in Photoshop.

I'm happy to offer these edits if the clients want them - not going as far as a beauty/model retouch shot (that can take an hour per shot) , but making the sitters look as good as possible. 

Take a look and get in touch if your team needs new photographic portraits.

 


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Harding Evans is a large solicitor's firm in Newport and Cardiff with about 90 staff members, and they requested a portrait shoot for their website.


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Sometimes you get lucky ! The Bank of England already had a preferred freelance photographer in South Wales, but they weren't available, so they Googled local photographers and chose me. Wahoo!

Millbrook School Community Forum

The first photoshoot was at Millbrook School (usually Bettws, but temporarily in Brynglas). It was a discussion with local charity groups focused on the cost of living and impact on service users. The Bank of England staff were keen to learn about the way that Charities service users have been affected by increased interest rates, fuel bills and the cost of living crisis.

discussion group

St Joseph's Secondary School Youth Forum

After Millbrook we moved onto St Josephs' RC Secondary School where the school youth forum got to have their say about money - cash or cards, apple pay, Bitcoin, and digital wallets. It was really interesting to hear the way young people see money, how they use it, and where they see it going in the future.

Youth Forum

Maindee Primary Citizen's Panel

This was the loudest and most colourful of the day's photoshoots - with the school hall full of families of pupils at the school. Over a buffet meal, the Bank of England team members broke out onto individual tables to speak to groups of parents, and learn of their financial concerns. 

Citizen's forum

"Thanks Rhys, really nice set of photos"  Andrew Hebden, Head of Outreach, Bank of England.

 


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The Bank Of England Outreach team organised a day of events at 3 Newport Schools, and I was commissioned to shoot the activities.


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Trefnodd tîm Allgymorth Banc Lloegr ddiwrnod o ddigwyddiadau yn 3 Ysgol Casnewydd, a chefais fy nghomisiynu i saethu’r gweithgareddau.


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Trefnodd tîm Allgymorth Banc Lloegr ddiwrnod o ddigwyddiadau yn 3 Ysgol Casnewydd, a chefais fy nghomisiynu i saethu’r gweithgareddau.


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I take photos, but I also make photos. Much of my commercial work is taking photos - turning up somewhere and shooting portraits, or products, or events (etc). However, a few times a year I plan a fashion style photoshoot in order to make photos. The process is much more in-depth and involves creative collaboration to get the desired photographs.

It usually starts with an idea of a theme or story that I'd like to shoot (or sometimes its a new photographic technique that I want to try). I then have to find a model (the excellent Lara here), find hair and makeup artists to collaborate with (the amazing Elin Coles in this case did both). Next comes a moodboard which the model, make up artist and myself can all post reference images to. After that I then have to source costumes and props - from my clients Marigold Costumes who are a costume company for film, tv and theatre (thanks Dawn and Lynn). Lastly I plan lighting and source backdrops for the shoot. 

Elin Coles did the makeup and hair - we come up with ideas together, but then she makes them her own and delivers stunning results for me. At the Aladdin's Cave which is Marigold I managed to source several hoop (Crinolene) dresses, plus accessories including the white powder wig. I also picked up some more contemporary clothes, for a second style for the shoot.

So, its a big production, with many elements having to come together on the day to get the great shots. We had fun making these photos. Hope you like them!

 


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Every now and again I organise a fashion photoshoot, to keep my creative juices flowing. Take a look at what we got up to.


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Bob hyn a hyn dwi'n trefnu sesiwn tynnu lluniau ffasiwn, i gadw fy sudd creadigol i lifo. Cymerwch olwg!


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Bob hyn a hyn dwi'n trefnu sesiwn tynnu lluniau ffasiwn, i gadw fy sudd creadigol i lifo. Cymerwch olwg!


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      .title (string) = Exhibition at the Cwtsh, Newport
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I was really chuffed to be asked to exhibit my Welsh From Everywhere / Cymry O Bob Man work at the community run Cwtsh Arts Centre in Newport. The exhibition runs from March 4th to April 16th 2023. The show features 36 photographic portraits of people from around the Newport area.

My involvement with the Cwtsh extends to before they opened, where I was asked to help come up with a name for the Arts Centre, then design the branding. I suggested 'Cwtsh' and after beating away objections to the use of a Welsh name from a short lived Cymraeg-phobic volunteer ("Nobody around here speaks Welsh!" — "Are you sure? I live a stone's throw away and I speak Welsh, as do my kids and all their friends").

Since last exhibiting this work - at the (ffotogallery) Diffusion International Festival of Photography in 2021, I've added a fair few images to the project, but this exhibition also sees the first showing of 2 groups of colour portraits from the project that have not been shown previously  — photos from the Asian Men's Club and Pensioners Lunch Clubs at Community House.

Cymry o Bob Man

Launch Event

We had a great launch event on Sunday 5th March, with barely room to move inside. Many thanks to all that came to support me. Special thanks go to amazing photographer John Briggs from the Cwtsh. John invited me to exhibit and supported me throughout the process - including helping us hang the work (thanks to Marion too) . He also gave a lovely speech and said some really humbling things about the importance of the work that I've been creating for the last few years. I also gave a little speech and answered a few questions from the audience.

Here's a selection of some of the portraits on show at Cwtsh.

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I'm really pleased to have been asked to exhibit my Welsh From Everywhere / Cymry o Bob Man photo portrait work at the Cwtsh Arts Centre.


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Rwy'n falch iawn o fod wedi cael cais i arddangos fy ngwaith llun portread Cymry O Bob Man / Welsh From Everywhere yng Nghanolfan Celfyddydau Cwtsh.


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Rwy'n falch iawn o fod wedi cael cais i arddangos fy ngwaith llun portread Cymry O Bob Man / Welsh From Everywhere yng Nghanolfan Celfyddydau Cwtsh.


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      .title (string) = Actor Portraits with Elliott
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Actor Portraits / Headshots

An actor's calling card is their z-card (or comp card) — usually several portraits on a card alongside contact details and personal details like age, height etc. and any special skills they may have. When casting for film and tv, casting directors will often trawl through dozens or hundreds of these z-cards to try to find the right potential cast for their productions.

It is important that these actor headshot photos are high quality — the investment required to get a professional photographer in may seem expensive when you can shoot photos on your phone for free, but when it comes to such an important piece of marketing material for you, then it is well worth the modest investment. You need your photos to stand out from the crowd, as these casting directors can reject a badly printed, or badly photographed headshot in the blink of an eye, but they will notice the quality in the professional shots and thus notice the actor.

Keeping the Customer Satisfied

Elliott loved both the experience of having the photoshoot, and the resulting images:

"Just looked over the pictures and I'm really chuffed with how they turned out. You've done a cracking job on these."

I wish Elliott the best of luck with his acting/stuntman career - he truly is a photogenic young man and the movie camera should love him as much as the stills camera. Take a look at the photos.


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Elliott is an aspiring young actor and is training to be a stuntman. He needed some publicity shots and came calling.


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Mae Elliott yn actor ifanc uchelgeisiol ac yn hyfforddi i fod yn stuntman. Roedd angen rhywfaint o gyhoeddusrwydd arno a daeth i alw.


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Mae Elliott yn actor ifanc uchelgeisiol ac yn hyfforddi i fod yn stuntman. Roedd angen rhywfaint o gyhoeddusrwydd arno a daeth i alw.


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      .title (string) = People's Health Trust Shoot
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I've had a few photoshoots for the People's Health Trust over the last couple of years, and I always enjoy them. The Trust work to tackle socio-economic factors that contribute to stark differences in life expectancy and quality of health throughout the UK. This is vital work, and I'm glad every time they call me up to photograph a new group or event.

I met up with Wafa and the other women of the Bristol Women's Walk and Talk group in Eastville Park, Bristol. The women were all originally from Sudan, and get together every week to get some exercise and good company — great for both physical and mental health. It was a grey, leaden sky day, but bar a few light spot of rain, stayed thankfully dry for us.

After accompanying these lovely people on their walk around the park — taking photos, but also connecting, chatting, and sharing stories — I was really please to find that they'd brought hot tea and home made Sudanese pancakes, which were delicious and very much appreciated. 

Here are a few shots from the Walk.


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Another great photoshoot for the People's Health Trust — this time with the lovely Bristol Women's Walk and Talk group.


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      .title (string) = Interview with PhD photography student Eve Ruet
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Eve Ruet [follow eve on twitter]is studying for a PhD in Photography at Cardiff University and she got in touch recently to ask if I would mind being interviewed for her work. She'd seen my 'Welsh From Everywhere / Cymry o Bob Man' work at last year's Diffusion Wales International Festival of Photography, and my other portraiture of the people of Newport and Wales.

We chatted all afternoon about my work - which was great for me as I can happily talk for hours. It also provided me with the space and a reason to reassess what I was doing, and why I was doing it. Most of the discussion focussed on Welsh Identity - which is at the heart of my portraiture work.

Welsh Identity in the 21st Century

I grew up in a little mining village in the Rhymney Valley - in a white Welsh monoculture, before moving to Newport, then London, then back to Newport. The Welsh cultural Identity in the heads of my London friends was something along the line of "Coal miners, daffodils, rugby, dragons and sheep shagging" - a cartoon, stereotype vision of Welshness. The aim of my photographic work is to investigate a new Welsh identity - a multicultural, 21st century identity, which could best be described as a community of cultural identities. The Welsh identity is in constant flux, but over the last 10 years or so there seems to be a new confidence among the Welsh to own their Welshness. Photography is my way of adding to the conversation, by showing that 'Welsh' means much more than it did when I was younger. 

A couple of generations of kids have now all learned at least enough Welsh to say Bore Da, Shwmae or Popty Ping (and hopefuly much more), and as a result feel a closer bond to their Welsh heritage - and this is born out by the fact that a recent study showed that 'Welsh' was now the dominant self-identifier in the country, whereas a decade ago it was second to 'Welsh British'.

Sport seems to be a massive driving factor in the new pride in Welshness - the Welsh Football Association now routinely uses the word 'Cymru' in its English language marketing, and they have made it clear that after the WorldCup in Qatar this year they will change the team name from Wales to Cymru. 

Bring it on. Yma o hyd!

 


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I spent an interesting an enjoyable afternoon this week being interviewed by a PhD student about my Photographic work.


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      .title (string) = Lecture at Coleg Gwent Ebbw Vale
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I was invited back by the course leader Stacey Knight to deliver a session that I originally gave to last year's students. The talk was called 'My Life as a Photographer, or What I Wish I'd Learned at University' and was written as a talk to my younger self.

Before the session Stacey showed me a collection of student portfolios featuring work done by last year's students following my talk. It was lovely (and a bit weird) to see my work researched and featured in this way!

Student photography portfolio work

student photography portfolios coleg gwent

My aim with the talk is to transfer some of my passion for photography to the students, coupled with as many practical tips as I could think of to help them with their own photographic work. Some of the topics include:

  • Get to Know Your Camera
  • Shoot, shoot and shoot again
  • Social skills for portraiture - its a collaboration between sitter and photographer
  • Get out of your comfort zone
  • Know the law, but don't be a dick about it
  • Set your own briefs
  • Collaborate with friends, share kit and ideas
  • Keep safe

The session went really well and the students were super attentive. One of them even asked for my autograph (that's a first) and had a list of 10 questions already prepared after researching my work. I'm looking forward to seeing this year's students portfolio work, and answering the questions that are on their way (we ran short on time!). It's great to be able to enthuse the new generation, and try to help them on their way by learning some of the lessons I've learnt along the way.

I look forward to delivering the session next year, and to seeing this year's students end of year show.


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This week I delivered a two hour session to A Level Photography students at Coleg Gwent's Ebbw Vale Campus


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      .title (string) = Studio Lighting Masterclasses
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Coleg Gwent - Crosskeys Campus invited a handful of creative professionals to deliver a week long series of masterclasses to their second year A-Level Art students. Topics included Printmaking, Model Making, Digital Drawing, Sculpture, Fine Art, Performance Art and of course, Photography.

The Campus has just had a major overhaul and refurb so I was really happy to get to teach in their new state of the art studios - they feature brand new high spec lights, ceiling mounted on a racking system which makes the process of setting up lights a breeze (I need to start saving!). Each day I had between 4 and 6 students, split up into two groups to learn some of the fundamentals of studio lighting for portraiture. We started simple with one light, then built up to more complex setups with 3 or more lights, plus reflectors.

I used to teach full time so it was great to be back in the saddle for a full week with a great bunch of students, and I had a great week (though exhausted by the end of it). The students got some great shots in the session, and for the last hour I showed them some techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop to finesse the images to really make them pop.

I look forward to next year, and thanks to course leader Tom Bartlett for the invitation.

COleg Gwent Photography Masterclass

 


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I just spent a week at Coleg Gwent teaching 5 full day Studio Lighting Masterclasses.


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      .title (string) = Ffotogallery: Diffusion 2021
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Diffusion 2021: Wales International Festival of Photography
I'm really pleased to have been chosen to exhibit at last year's Diffusion 2021 Exhibition by Ffotogallery. This International Festival of Photography features photographers from around the world, exhibiting in a range of venues in Newport and Cardiff. My 'Welsh From Everywhere / Cymry o Bob Man' work is being shown in the old 'Tiger' store in Friars Walk alongside local photographers John McCormick, John Briggs, Dilip Sinha, Kajagoogoo Squadron and John Meirion Rea.

I was also commissioned to set up a popup photography studio in the Phyllis Maud theatre in Pillgwenlly, where I shot portraits of any passers by that I could persuade to come in. These photos are also part of my Welsh From Everywhere project and will be shown at Barnabas Arts House from October 17, 2021.

 


      .summary (string) =

Diffusion is the Welsh International Festival of Photography, and I was invited to both exhibit legacy work, plus was commissioned to shoot some new photos.


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      .title (string) = Portfolio Shoot with Queenie May
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Pre-Shoot Planning

I've done a fair few of these portfolio shoots - working with new models who want to get some great images to kick start their portfolios. Some are great, others... not so much, but I've found that the key is to plan and collaborate before the shoot. (Plan to succeed!). The shoots are always 'TF' meaning 'Time For...'. The model gets some great images for their new portfolio, and in return I get a free model to shoot my ideas (and theirs!).

These shoots takes effort and time, so I will only work with new models who express a creative spark - and indicate that they have ideas, and are keen to collaborate. This collaboration lightens my load and can be a great way to push me out of my comfort zone if a model suggests something that's new to me. I'll then make it my business to research and practice before the day of the shoot, so that I know exactly what I'm doing.  At this stage I might also be collecting props, or costume items, or scouting locations for the photoshoot.

Collaborative Pinterest Mood Boards

I tend to set up a collaborative Pinterest Mood Board, where both myself and the model can post inspirational images. We'll then pick on 3-5 ideas from the images added to the board, that we can realistically get shot in a few hour's shooting. Pinterest is a great tool for really quickly throwing together a mood board, with the advantage that both me and the model can also comment on each other's postings. We also sometimes refer to this board during the shoot - maybe copying poses, or lighting techniques to create our shots.

Queenie May

Queenie May was the ideal model for this type of TF Collaborative shoot. Her model bio showed that she was up for collaboration, and had her own ideas, so we quickly filled up a Pinterest board between us, and started planning for the shoot. Despite being relatively new to modelling she was really quick to learn, took direction well, but also came up with her own ideas on the fly which was great. 

Post Production - Lightroom and Photoshop

As even with my model portfolio shoots, the studio work is only half the story. I love spending time working on the images in Lightroom and Photoshop to bring out the best in each photograph. This may involve the usual colour corrections, tone corrections, contrast, exposure (etc) work - but also gives me the opportunity to get creative with the images by adding textures, compositing and generally just enjoying the process of post production.

I hope you like the results - not bad for a few short hours in the studio.

 

 


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Queenie May has just started modelling so we hooked up to collaborate on getting her portfolio started.


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      .title (string) = Festival Faces
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The Maindee Festival is Newport's biggest annual festival and (almost) always the sun shines on the shiny happy people of the 'Port.

After a few years taking photographs on the festival field, and parade route, I decided to push myself a bit out of my comfort zone and set up a temporary studio in one of the festival marquees. I invited anyone who was interested to come in and have their photo taken… and people responded. Over about 4 hours I photographed almost 200 festival goers, hardly having time to breathe between one sitter or group leaving, and another stepping in front of the camera.

This experience really helped me to be able to think fast, and more importantly, to engage with a diverse range of people of all ages and backgrounds really quickly in order to get them relaxed for their photos.

This shoot was ultimately responsible for me changing tack a bit as a photographer, and focusing my personal photography work on portraiture of the people of Newport, and lead to my Newportraits and Welsh from Everywhere projects. 

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I set up a free-for-all portraiture studio at Maindee Festival and got some great photos.


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Not long after I moved back to Newport from London I finally started shooting photographic portraits seriously. Before that I shot portraits commercially when paid to, but my personal work was almost always of things — street art, buildings, landscapes — but not people. These 'things' didn't move, didn't get uncomfortable in front of the lens, didn't ask 'can you photoshop me?' In short, they were easy for me - getting photographs where the only person in the equation was me.

Soon after moving back to Newport I was commissioned to shoot some photos for the Maindee festival. This annual event is always a big, colourful, joyful day where the multi-cultural people of the port come out to enjoy a day in the sun (ok, so sometimes it rains, but hey, it's Wales!). I started out by just prowling, like a documentary photographer shooting people at a distance, but quickly realised that I'd prefer to engage with the people I was shooting. I started approaching people and asking to take their photos, got some great shots and that's where my passion for photographic portraiture began.

Since then I've shot hundreds of the good (and bad!) people of Newport at many events around the city. One of these projects was Newportraits, and here are some of my favourite shots from the sessions.

 


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Newport-portraits… Newportraits (see what I did there!).  A collection of portraits taken over a couple of days at the Big Splash event in the Riverfront, almost 10 years ago.


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      .title (string) = Welsh From Everywhere Ffotogallery Commission
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Ffotogallery had already asked me to show some of my Welsh From Everywhere/Cymru o Bob Man project at this year's Diffusion 2021 Wales International Festival of Photography, but then also asked if I'd be interested in setting up a pop-up studio at the Phyllis Maud theatre in Pillgwenlly, Newport… and of course I was. Many of the portraits in the project so far came from the Maindee area of the city, but I'd never shot in Pillgwennly (Pill) before. Like Maindee, the Pill area is massively multicultural and has a rich history of welcoming newcomers to the city as the (once busiest in the world!) Newport docks are there which received ships from all corners of the globe.

The day started slowly, with little footfall in the area of the theatre. I had to approach quite a few people who politely declined before the local Imam volunteered to have his portrait taken first. Following the Imam's lead, the rest of the day brought a fairly steady stream of sitters who were happy to have their photos taken for the project.

I prefer not to hide behind the lens when I shoot these portraits — as the camera becomes a barrier to me connecting with the sitter. I'm not looking for poses! Instead I setup the camera on a tripod, position the sitter then just start chatting to them — asking questions and getting to hear their stories of the area. All the while I have the shutter release in my hand to take the photos in a non-intrusive way, while the sitters are (often) in full flow of a story; recollecting a fond memory, remembering a difficult time or just getting lost in the details of a story, which I'm really happy to listen to.

Over the course of the half day I took portraits of about 20 people, learned lots about the history of Pill, listened to loads of personal stories, and added even more countries to the growing list or 'Welsh From Everywhere' including Egypt, Pakistan, Korea and Romania.

The photos from this session are going on display in Barnabas Arts House in Pill on October 17, 2021, whilst my main 'Welsh From Everywhere / Cymry o Bob Man' exhibition is in the site of the old Tiger store at Friars Walk throughout October 2021. 

There's one shot of each of my sitters from the session, plus a bonus 4 shots of 82 year old Mike - born and bred in Pill. His face was just so expressive as he recounted tales of his younger days in the area that I couldn't just choose one.

 


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In August 2021 I was commissioned by Ffotogallery to set up a pop-up portraiture studio at the Phyllis Maud Theatre in Pillgwenlly, Newport.


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      .title (string) = Photoramble: Paper fold abstract
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It's cold and raining outside. The rest of the family are doing their own thing and I'm itching to do some photography with my new macro lens. I've already run around the house finding various objects to test the lens on, but that was last week. What can I do now... something colourful to contrast with this awful weather?

The Technical Bit

This was a totally simple shot to set up. I took a scrap of torn paper and curled it up with my finger. Then I took my phone, and found a video on YouTube which had a colour changing background with a 1 hour loop of lovely gradients, and set that to play full screen.

Next I balanced the scrap of paper on the screen, and shot from above. How easy is that?

Nikon D600, Tripod, Phone and 1 scrap of paper were all that was required.

I'm not sure what these photographs are for - I might end up using some as backgrounds for my graphic design work - but it whiled away a couple of hours on a grey and cold lockdown afternoon, bringing a little colour to the day.

 


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Yet another wet Winter weekend in lockdown, and another photography itch-scratcher. What can you do with a scrap of paper and a mobile phone?


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      .title (string) = The Bastard Executioner at Marigold Costumes
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The Bastard Executioner was a US production which only lasted one season. Set in Wales the story followed the real-life story of  Welsh revolt of 1294 led by Madog ap Llywelyn against English Rule. In the same vein as Game of Thrones the series spent a big chunk of budget on costumes for the Royals, soldiers, priesthood, servants, and of course - the Executioner himself (Gawain!). Read about it on wikipedia.

Selection  of Bastard Executioner images

I've been working with Marigold Costumes in Cardiff for a number of years, and when Dawn was offered the chance to purchase the costumes, she jumped at it, then gave me a call.

The Photoshoot

Technically this was a product photoshoot - the photos were required for Marigold Costumes marketing materials to promote the range of historical costumes available. However, rather than just shoot on mannequins, we both felt that the best solution would be to hire a couple of models to wear the range. When I say 'the range', Marigold actually bought 2000 items from the show. Some were multiples - for instance a dozen cavalry, two dozen knights etc - so Dawn chose the best costumes to represent the wealth and breadth of the costumes in the range. 

So I found a couple of great models - Jamie Ray and Rohan - on Purpleport, and organised the photoshoot. We shot with a portable studio at Pinewood Studios in Cardiff. We shot mainly full length outfits - combinations of pieces styled by Dawn - with additional close ups of the detailing on some of the stunning costumes.

As well as the standard white background shots whose main function was to show the clothes clearly, I also created a few more styled works to also use in marketing materials. 

The super talented costume designer Dawn Mondo Thomas was on hand throughout the shoot to help dress and style the models, and we all have great fun on this photoshoot - so I've included a few behind-the-scenes photos in the gallery.

Dawn Modo Thomas, Rohan and Jamie Ray

 


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Short lived historical drama 'The Bastard Executioner' sold its stock to Marigold Costumes in Cardiff, and I was brought in to photograph the lot.


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      .title (string) = Photoramble: Shell Shots
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A wet weekend in lockdown with the rest of the family busy doing their own things, so I went in search of something to photograph in the house and found a big glass jar of seashells in the bathroom. 

I like beaches, but like to be active, so in between bouts of swimming, frisbee etc I like to wander off looking for shells, stones and other beach bounty. The variety of shapes and colours haev always fascinated me, so what better way to spend a couple of hours than take some photos of my shell collection.

The Technical Bit

As most of the shells were white, or light colours, I decided to use a black backdrop to provide some great contrast- adding a sheet of glass on top to provide reflections.

I shot with continuous lights, with  Nikon D600 on a tripod, with shutter release. Some of these shells are pretty small so I used my Tokina Macro 100mm lens.

To get all of each shell in focus with macro would've required stacking a bunch of shots for each, but I like the short depth of field provided, so just took single shots of each shell.

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Another wet lockdown Sunday photoramble - this time, shooting seashells.


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      .title (string) = Travel Photography: Morocco Madness
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A few years back me and my wife took a week's holiday (without the kids - thanks mum!) to Marrakesh. It is a stunning city, but from day one I felt hassled, and stressed, and my photography was probably to blame, or at least a contributing factor.

When we go on city breaks, we love to just pound the pavement, soaking up the sights and sounds of the place, and of course, taking loads of photographs. We've done this in loads of towns and cities worldwide without little bother, but sadly Marrakesh was different. Ok, so I I have had confrontations with the odd junior police officer who didn't know the law on photography in a public space, and also been 'escorted' by British Transport Police off Stanstead Airport whilst on a job, but I've always felt safe as a photographer… until Marrakesh.

In retrospect, taking my Nikon DSLR with big telephoto lens (28-300mm) was a bit like hanging a sign around my neck saying 'wealthy foreigner - hassle me'. From the moment we hit the World Heritage Site of Jemaa el-Fna Square in the old town, I was pounced upon by a rogue's gallery of locals demanding money for photos. The first guy draped a snake around my neck (from behind), grabbed my camera, took a shot, then demand money for the privilege, then when I gave him some change became a magnet for (among others) the guy with the eagle, the guy with the depressed looking monkey, and more snake guys. Escaping took quite some work. Already I hated Marrakesh, and worse was to come.

I was taking photos of the walls of the old town from a vantage point across 6 lanes of highway, when I saw a local on a bench wearing the hooded Jebba, and my photographers brain thought "What a great addition to the photo of the old town walls". As I looked through the lens he stared directly back at me with a look of anger, so I quickly shifted the lens upward towards the towers of the wall. Seconds later I caught site of a young man running across the busy highway towards me. Quick as a flash he reached my side of the road, put his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a knife. No words, no threats, no communication, just instant violence.  I jerked backwards as he made a slash for my neck, and I watched the knife as if in slow motion, missing me by centimetres. Then I ran like hell, and he chased me for a couple of blocks before I reached a group of local horse & cart drivers and shouted for their attention. The young guy then disappeared and the locals called the police.

Marrakesh madness

A policeman on a motorbike pulled up within less than a minute and asked me to get on the back - no helmet - then proceeded to whiz through the crazy traffic at high speed looking for the culprit. We didn't find him and so the police lost interest and told me to go back to the hotel.

I never did find out what drove the guy to try to slit my throat. Did he want to steal my camera? Did he work for the cross man on the bench? Did I photograph something that I shouldn't have?

So, shaken and stirred we had the best part of a week left in Marrakesh so took the decision to get out as much as possible. This meant that we got to see the stunning Atlas Mountains, and the old hippy trail seaside town of Essaouria. I loved both these places and we met loads of friendly Moroccans to make up for the unfriendly welcome of Marrakesh.

When I got back home and reviewed the images properly for the first time, I realised that I'd caught more than one angry stare from locals down the lens of my camera. I always do due diligence before going to new places - forewarned is forearmed - but now realise that I have to be super careful as a 'rich' foreigner, in foreign lands, especially those where religious views are strongly held. Some of the locals saw my photography as rude, or out of order, and for this I'm sorry. It certainly wasn't my attention to annoy anyone, but that's a lesson learned.

I'd love to go back to Morocco, but will probably never visit Marrakesh again. I did get some cool photos though!


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Morocco is a stunning country, but taking photos in Marrakesh almost ended up with me in hospital, or worse…


      .postdate (string) = 2021-06-24 11:01:00
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      .title (string) = Model photoshoot with Indica Snow
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*Contains Nudity. Read on if you're ok with that.

I found Indica Snow (Elin) through her Purpleport profile (other model/photography/mua/stylist sites are available). Me and Marion love to collaborate with models who want creative input and Indica fit the bill. Her profile said:

"I'm very creative and love all things nature, vintage, makeup and glitter, and I love doing shoots where both myself and the photographer have an opportunity to get creative and make something we are both really proud of, and maybe even learn something from each other! "

That's exactly what we're looking for in our models - someone keen to get creative and contribute ideas to get those great shots.

Indica's stated levels were up to nude photography, so I suggested doing a liquid latex shoot, as it was something we'd never tried before, and Indica was up for it straight away.

Warm ups and wigs

My experience of shooting with new models, is that it often takes a while for all parties to relax in each others' company, so the photographs tend to get better as the shoot progresses and the model relaxes. For this reason we started with a few setups involving a sheet of sheer fabric, with experimental backlighting (including some coloured gels). Elin had brought some wigs that she uses to transform to Indica Snow, so we shot with them to start with.

Indica Snow model photography in studio

Liquid Latex

Indica was most patient as we experimented with application of the latex - and very brave at the end of the shoot as she had to remove it… think ripping off a plaster, but one that covers a large area of your body. Ouch!

ripping off liquid latex

The Technical Bit

We bought the liquid latex online having done a bit of research first. Essentially, it is just rubber, in liquid form which dries really quickly on contact with air. So for instance you can dip your hand into it, and it soon dries to form a solid rubber 'glove'. There are many brands available online.

As this was the first time Marion had ever worked with the latex, we tried various techniques of brushing, or dipping. The dipping worked best as it meant no brush marks, but this was not suitable for all areas. Pouring worked too and gave a nice drip effect as the liquid ran briefly before solidifying.

We shot at the Webber Photo Studio using a selection of 400W Strobes (with various modifiers), with a Nikon D600.

Post Processing

I had my first darkroom at 13 years old, and the pleasure of seeing your photos appear as if by magic from the white sheet of paper was immense and addictive. These days though, I don't have a darkroom, but still get the same pleasures out of post processing in Adobe Lightroom. Some photographers cling to a 'it must be all done in camera' mantra, but that's not for me. I use all the tools at my disposal (mainly Lightroom and Photoshop) to enhance, collage, bend, twist and cajole my initial photographs into the final work. I usually have an idea of what I want from the post production before shooting, but am equally happy to go on a photoshopic ramble and see where that takes me.

Duotone poster

 

The Gallery

Take a look at some of the best photos from the shoot:


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I'd wanted to try shooting with liquid latex, and Indica Snow was up for the challenge (and the discomfort of ripping it off afterwards). ** Contains Nudity **


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      .title (string) = Cymry o Bob Man / Welsh From Everywhere
      .content (string) =

The Maindee area of Newport is incredibly ethnically diverse - and richer because of it. Children at the amazing Maindee Primary School have parents from around 30 different countries with almost as many languages spoken in their houses. 

Maindee's Community House is at the heart of this diverse area, and I've been working for and with them since I was knee high to a grasshopper, so what better place to set up my portable photographic studio and invite the locals to have their portraits taken. This is not the first time I've shot portraits at Community House, and it surely won't be the last either.

Welsh From Everywhere

The title for my project comes from Susan Lewis' poem 'I Love Maindee'. Sue is a trustee at Community House, and wrote the poem as part of the Epic Award Winning Maindee Stories project (from Marion Webber). 

These portraits were taken in autumn 2019, but there's more to come as soon as Coronavirus restrictions allow.

Jessica Morden, MP for Newport East (and who had her photo taken for the project) said:

"Rhys's wonderful portraits draw attention to the strength of Newport as a city - by emphasizing how welcoming our community is, and how much richer our culture is as a result. This is especially true of Maindee, where I live, and in Community House, Eton Road, where these portraits were taken. Here we welcome and celebrate the cultures of people from all backgrounds, making Wales a home for all"


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In 2019 I started a new project called 'Cymry o Bob Man / Welsh from Everywhere', a photographic investigation into the ethnic diversity of Newport.


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Shooting Stars in Eryri (Snowdonia)

As soon as we booked our recent break in Eryri (Snowdonia in English, North Wales) I realised that I would get an opportunity to practice some astrophotography. I love looking up at the stars, but living in a city means that the wonders of a clear night sky are drowned out by ambient light. Eryri is an official dark skies region - as awarded by the International Dark-Sky association (IDA), an organisation founded in 2001 to encourage preservation and protection of dark skies throughout the world. In fact the first area to be awarded 'dark-sky' was much closer to home in the Brecon Beacons, but I'd yet to make the trip. Snowdownia National Park was named the tenth International Dark Sky Reserve by the IDA in 2005, giving Wales a world leading 18% of its land in dark sky areas.

astrophoto4

I'd been looking forward to trying my hand at astrophotography since I watched a great BBC Documentary about amazing Welsh astrophotographer Alyn Wallace who has travelled the world shooting stars, whilst also working extensively near his home in the Brecon Beacons and throughout Wales.

So in the week leading up to our break I did a little research to find some suitable locations for my stargazing photography shoots, deciding that the 'Lonely Tree of Llyn Padarn' and nearby 'Dolbadarn Castle' were going to be great locations for my star photography efforts. It so happened that both of these were less than 3 miles from our holiday let in Nant Peris, so perfect.

I chose these locations to get some foreground interest in the photos. There's nothing stopping you just pointing the camera straight up to the sky, but you'll get a rather dull photo without some foreground interest to compliment, or frame the stars. 

Looking for the Milky Way

As a teenager I spent a summer in Namibia and was absolutely blown away with the night skies there - every night was clear, and I got to see the stunning Milky Way on many occasions.

I hoped that during this trip I could capture the Milky Way (Llwybr Llaethog) from Eryri, but didn't get my hopes up too much as despite being a Dark Sky region, Eryri is also a 'mostly rainy' region. I was super lucky though, managing 3 star photography shoots over the week that we were staying there. Result!

Satellites and Shooting Stars

One thing that was apparent as soon as I got my shots onto the PC was the sheer volume of satellites in orbit around the Earth. As a newcomer to astrophotography I'm not sure yet whether I want to remove all of these in Photoshop, or leave them as they are. At the moment I'm coming down in the 'it is what it is' category, so have left in all but the most distracting of satellite trails.

Shooting stars always stay though... I caught a few during my photoshoots, and I think they only add to the wonder of the night sky. 

The technical bit

I used my Nikon D600 with a few different wide angle lenses, including a 24mm Nikon, and an 18-30mm. Apart from that, my trusty Manfrotto Tripod of course (a tripod is a must) and a remote shutter release were all I used. To help me navigate the sky I used Starwalk which is a beautiful stargazing App.

Apertures were as wide as each lens went (about f2.4 or so), with shutter speeds of between 10-20 seconds, and an ISO of 6400.

Some images involved a bit of stacking - focusing on the foreground elements for a shot, then focusing on the stars.

I also had my son as an able helper, guiding our path with a torch, and painting light on the foreground for a bunch of shots. It was quite an adventure, wandering around the area in the dead of night, with no lighting other than our phone torch - a great father and son experience.


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I love astronomy and all things space, but living in a city means light pollution and few stars... time to head to a dark skies region.


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      .title (string) = Photo-synthesis: Shooting Plants
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The Greeks gave us the words used to describe my profession. Photo means 'light' and graphy (from graphos) means 'drawing' - so photography is 'drawing with light'. Plants sussed out how to work with light way before the Greeks came on the scene of course, with Photosynthesis - which means putting together (with the help of) light. 

So, when my people photography dried up during the lockdown, I turned to my fellow light wranglers for a series of plant photographs. Most of these were taken in and around the garden in Newport, but a few come from further afield.


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During lockdown with little client work, I set myself some mini photographic projects to scratch my photo itch. As plants love light as much as photographers, I started there.


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The Greeks gave us the words used to describe my profession. Photo means 'light' and graphy (from graphos) means 'drawing' - so photography is 'drawing with light'. Plants sussed out how to work with light way before the Greeks came on the scene of course, with Photosynthesis - which means putting together (with the help of) light. 

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During lockdown with little client work, I set myself some mini photographic projects to scratch my photo itch. As plants love light as much as photographers, I started there.


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