A Year of Couples Location Portraits in Essex

Olympus 14-42mm f.3.5-5.6 ED Zuiko Digital Zoom

10/25/2009 06:19:58 AM · #1

Hi All,

I've started a year long project of photographing couples on location in my home county of Essex (England). It's called "Love In Essex" and the concept is to take a couple a week out to locations around the county that mean something to them and get a series of pictures showcasing the area and the people in it.

I came up with the idea a couple of months ago and then contacted a few couples locally that I knew to see if they would be interested in being my pilots for the project and before I knew it the local newspaper ran an artical on the front page one week and I was bombarded by requests to join the project! I've got couples lined up ranging from 15 - 90 and pleanty of locatations so it will be a fun years shooting through all the different seasons. The idea at the end is to have a body of 52 portraits to exhibit or show to the Essex locals either online or at exhibition locations.

Anyways, the first week has started and so if you were at all interested in following the project updates will be published on my Blog or more specifically the Love In Essex category of the blog

If enough people are interested from a photography perspective then I would happily give a bit more technical detail about the shoots as well

For instance the first shoot was done exclusively with the Canon 85mm f/1.8 leans and started with just natural light but as the light faded moved onto mixing natural light with a 580EXII shooting through a white umbrella fired in Manual with pocket wizards as the trigger.

Let me know if you're interested in following this and I'll keep this thread updated as the shoots happen!

Thanks

ahjenny

Olympus E-620

10/25/2009 06:27:00 AM · #2

Very cool! I added your blog to my RSS feed so I can keep up there. You have some really nice shots in your posts.

Simms

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

10/25/2009 07:04:10 AM · #3

Good start mate. Nice to see the staff keeping themselves busy outside of work time.

Message edited by author 2009-10-25 07:07:47.

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

10/25/2009 07:49:14 AM · #4

What a fun and sweet idea! Glad to see it enthusiastically embraced, too. I suspect you'll have more than 52 portraits at the end - and that'll be fine. Have fun with it!

10/25/2009 10:42:51 AM · #5

Thanks for the replies. It's seems people are interested so I'll post an update to this thread with each shoot.

Thanks for the nice comments :0)

Bebe

10/25/2009 11:52:40 AM · #6

What a great project! And you're off to a wonderful start.

11/09/2009 05:30:44 PM · #7

The couple for Week 2 are now on the Blog...

This week was a young couple (16 and 17) and I took them to Highlands House, a public park/house with great gardens. I shot the whole thing with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS and tested my PocketWizard FlexTT1 and TT5 for the shot at the end when the sun was setting.

mpeters

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

11/09/2009 05:46:06 PM · #8

Good stuff Kevin--how nice to have such great locations at your disposal.

Message edited by author 2009-11-09 17:46:23.

Simms

11/09/2009 07:46:02 PM · #9

Originally posted by kevip6:

Psssst - It Hylands House... y`know, named after the park it lives in.

Some great shots there mate, surprised you didn't opt for the white pillars out the front of the house. Wish we had more time at the wedding we shot there and used more of the gardens.. time eh? where does it go?

Here is a larger shot of Hylands House... sorry about the threadjack!

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

11/10/2009 02:32:01 AM · #10

Thanks for the spelling correction mate!

As for the White Pillars, I did shoot there as well and have some nice shots of the couple there, but I want to keep to a maximum of 6 for the blog and they were culled from the last eight!

Lovely shot from the wedding, it's certainly a lovely wedding venue!

citymars

Nikon D700

11/10/2009 09:02:30 AM · #11

Kevin, what a great idea. Fine photos as well. I love how the project got noticed in the news and that the couples are contacting you! Good luck with the year ahead.

It strikes me that your project page will be huge if you continue to stack the weeks on top of each other. You might want to plan a different layout before it gets too deep.

11/10/2009 11:51:51 AM · #12

Originally posted by citymars:

Thanks! I hadn't really given the size much thought if I'm honest, I may well split it into seasons then. Seems a logical divide without making the sections too small.

Thanks again

Simms

11/12/2009 08:12:36 PM · #13

Originally posted by kevip6:

Originally posted by citymars:
Kevin, what a great idea. Fine photos as well. I love how the project got noticed in the news and that the couples are contacting you! Good luck with the year ahead.

It strikes me that your project page will be huge if you continue to stack the weeks on top of each other. You might want to plan a different layout before it gets too deep.

Thanks! I hadn't really given the size much thought if I'm honest, I may well split it into seasons then. Seems a logical divide without making the sections too small.

Thanks again

Kevin, I just wondered, are you still running your incredibly informative & fun "Introduction to Wedding Photography" courses? A full day course with two lecturers, discussion, practical sessions, models and a hot/cold buffet lunch all held at a real working wedding venue in the heart of the Essex countryside? Are they still an incredibly priced Â£125 per person - its just I have someone asking and just thought I would ask you in this incredibly impersonal way - I know places are limited to only 8 people per day so my friend would need to book early to avoid disappointment... Word on the street is the next one is on the 24th November.