The First Shoot After Lockdown

After what felt like an eternity without shooting, when Boris Johnson announced that, come mid May 2020, people would now be allowed to meet with one person from outside of their household, whilst maintaining 2m social distance… you better bet the first thing I did was organise a photoshoot!

I’m not even kidding - the day after the new rules came into force, I met up with my dear friend and model Lucy Cole. (If you’re a keen observer, you’ll notice that the two previous blog posts also feature her. I promise I do photograph other people too! It just so happens that I can’t share any of those shoots yet, ha!).

With my film camera in hand, Lucy and I met up at Bedruthan Steps on what had to be one of the sunniest evenings that I’ve ever seen in Cornwall. Don’t be fooled - it was still cold and windy. But we were truly blessed by the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen, and these images really do fill my heart with so much joy.

One of my biggest projects for the lockdown period was to begin shooting more video … and I’m actually really enjoying it! You’ll see here two very short, 15 second clips which were designed specifically to be for Instagram Stories (I created vertical versions as well). I’ve got a lot more to learn, but I’m enjoying being a beginner and practicing on each shoot that I now do.

These images are all about freedom to me. That feeling of emerging from a dark cave into the light. Out of hibernation and into nature for the first time in months. There is so much of my heart in these shots - a pure expression of love for photography, for fashion, and for Cornwall, the place I’ve called home for almost 10 years. I hope that you love them as much as I do.