Testing times with Vivienne...

I decided to go down to the studio with Vivienne (my gorgeous girlfriend and willing muse) for a totally impromptu test shoot... it was a case of wondering what to do with yet another cold dark winter evening, and deciding there was no better way to ignore the greyness outside than to grab a load of clothes, some tacky costume make-up and hairspray and get Viv to do ridiculous poses in front of my camera!

But actually those seemingly ridiculous poses have really worked out quite well.  I much prefer to go to a shoot and not have a solid idea of what I want, but rather experiment, it's way more fun that way and leads to more creative results, and I really think it worked!  It was a lot of fun, and now Viv now has the bug and wants to get down to the studio with me every weekend, so, expect more photos soon...

New studio test...

It's been a while since I've updated anything, it's time I picked up the slack and got on with everything....that's not to say that January was a total write off, but, it was pretty quite as it traditionally always is!  Anyway, apart from a few gigs (including Elton John - what a scramble that was) and small jobs, there has been one main thing I have been working on - opening up and running a new studio!

It's very exciting, and I am still in the process of getting it all together for launch this month, but needless to say I can't wait - not only to get clients in through the doors but to get on with a complete portfolio revamp which I need to.  I want to move in a different direction this year and there are a lot of plans in the making.

For now though, here's a couple of shots from a tiny test I did today to demonstrate lighting to some good photographer friends - one of whom, Paul Toeman (seen here doing his best Godfather 2 impression), is the man in charge of this whole operation and who has put all the funding forward to get this project off the ground, and has entrusted me with the consultation, launching and running of the studio as well as project management and general good stuff that's all studio based.  More information on this soon...

Quality Knitwear exposure...

So the lovely girls at Quality Knitwear just got in touch to give me a heads up about a feature on the brand that has been spotted on the Grazia website, using my photos from the look-book we did back in October, great stuff!

Have a look here

Still love these shots - it was such an awesome day with the best collective team I have ever worked with!

Insert obligatory post here...

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

How was yours?  Mine was spent among several hundred sweaty party people watching Foals at The Forum in London...and for once I truly got to enjoy it as a punter not having all my equipment with me.  Immense.

New work coming soon, big plans this year!


x

Canadian adventures 2010...

September was Canada time for me and my lovely Vivienne, and for the first time I decided to take a serious camera with me and document as much as possible, while still having fun and relaxing.
It's taken this long to edit them and sort through it all, but finally the pictures are ready!

I never get over how beautiful it is over there. Everyone raves about British Colombia and Vancouver - for good reason after all the natural beauty there is astounding, but Ontario has it's own rural charm. It's so different from BC - the wide open spaces that just seem to carry on forever, the skies are huge and beautiful, the rolling valley's and dense forests, farm land, fields and fields of corn with red roofed farm buildings...

And Toronto itself is so much fun, it has such a good vibe and full of friendly people (although I have to say beer is expensive!), great places to eat out (my favourite being this place), and of course the CN tower - the world's tallest free standing structure - still amazes me everytime I see it. I love Canada and I love Toronto, and I love Tim Hortons. Oh how I miss it when I come back to the UK!
So, I have taken a selection of the shots I took from my trip and put them up here.  You'll see more on my flikr page, I have tried to spread it out so there is something new to see on each part of my social networking.

Enjoy, and, as this may be my last post before the 25th - Merry Christmas to you all, hope it is great for you!

Annabel x


Detroit Airport!  Diversion after bad weather meant to get to Toronto we went London - JFK - cab to La Guardia - Detroit - Toronto - 23 hour trip in total!  This is a tunnel between the two terminals at Detroit, not only does it change colour, but the whole tunnel is filled with 'forest sounds'.  Kinda crazy for a city that is collapsing around it's own ears...

 That's me.  And it's not a self portrait, but I like it!

 Meet Scruffy and Rags...

Vivienne!

Nathan...

My favourite shot of Viv...

Well, and this one of course!

LAKE Ontario... lake?!

The ROM, an absolutely incredible building!

This is an abandoned ship near Niagara Falls...

My 2010 Review!

As 2010 draws to a close I thought it would be great to take a look back on the year that has been for Annabel Staff Photography!

There's been a lot of live work this year - more gigs than ever in fact - I totalled up forty five this year!  You can see some of my favourite gigs in the video - the images I hope stand out the most.  Along with all the live work for Getty / Redferns I was able to fit in some other stuff as well.  I tried to engage in more personal work than I have in recent years - and that is something else I hope to grow even more next year, some of my favourite personal work from this year has been included in the video.

Also another new aspect that I hope to get into in a big way next year - showcasing new talent in the music industry.  My good friend and exceptionally original artist, Smatka, provided me with the soundtrack for my review - not only that, but it's also her latest work, so I am really excited to be showcasing it here.

I would like to produce a review every month starting next year, and I will be looking to get music from unsigned artists and bands to use as each month's soundtrack.  I know this is something that will take a while to get going - but I'd like to start spreading the word as soon as possible.
So if you know anyone who you think should be considered please point them in my direction - it's a great way to promote yourself and to get the best of the un-heard music out there into the open.  It would be a great thing to be able to support emerging artists, being one myself I know how hard it is.

More on that soon - in the meantime I hope you enjoy the review, and please leave some feedback if you feel so inclined!

And the snow just keeps on coming...

Not five minutes after I had stepped out of my front door on Saturday did I get hit by a flurry of thick, fluffy snow.  By the time I had walked to my destination I was akin to the Abominable Snow(wo)man.

Freezing, soggy and sneezing all the way - I still couldn't resist turning my fingers to ice by getting out my little G9 camera (there's no way I was taking out the big guns - i.e. my D700 - in that slippery weather) and taking some shots, and here they are...

There's just something so magical about the snow.  It turns the most miserable looking streets into a continuous ending to Edward Scissorhands, like Tim Burton himself and come along with an army of set designers and transformed the dull winter streets into his own storyboard.