A new look for Pavone and Arkanoid

One of my favourite photography spots, the derelict gravel quarry that’s 10 minutes bike ride up the lane from us, has recently had all of it’s rusty machinery and metal plant removed. It’s always been a favourite spot for graffiti artists and now access to decaying tunnels and buildings has increased, there’s even more spots for fantastic murals.

And that means even more places to get great photos.

Last weekend we went with Aida to try a few new spots out. It was mighty windy and chilly and it’s almost a year since we did a proper shoot between us, and it showed - the first day’s photos weren’t up to much. But we went back the next morning and got some fantastic shots!

We’ve a lot of editing to do, but I see us popping down there on a regular basis over the next couple of months. So many nooks that we couldn’t reach before, and so many more places have opened up that’ll protect us from the elements, especially the harsh Italian sun.

Pavone is perennially on my ‘need to rephotograph’ list. It’s not that previous photos have been bad, but I’ve always struggled with the light and they’ve ended up with a purplish or blueish cast that’s difficult to edit out, even from the raw files.

Since we brought a mirrorless Fuji X-T3 all of those issues have gone. I know look at the Nikon and wonder how we struggled on as long as we did, but that’s easy to say in hindsight. The Fuji X-T3 isn’t cheap, but it’s very much cheaper than other mirrorless cameras and we get fantastic shots with it, every time. It’s what we shoot my workshops with as well.

There’s so little editing and post-processing needed with this camera and it’s really made the whole job of getting and producing new photos so much less of a chore. It means we can actively get more good photos on a range of models in different environments, confident that I’m not gonna be screwing up my shoulders in editing, or spending money on shoots with little to show for our efforts.

Arkanoid was the next Hat to get a fresh look! Both the mural in Pavone and these shots are pretty fresh and the colours really shout at you and I love it. This Hat wants to be somewhere that can match it’s own brightness and intensity.

The light was different by this wall but it was also morning - and that’s never been a time we can usually shoot at the local quarry given the position of the light. We can now - we’ve got different nooks for different times of the day or different times of the year and the murals will keep changing on a regular basis. And it’s only 5 minutes in the car or 10 minutes on out push-bikes - it couldn’t be more perfect for us.

I’ve many more Hats to edit and share from just these 2 days! It’s so good to be enjoying photo editing again but I am taking my time.

After the response to the photos of Tom for Introspection, I’ve persuaded him to model more for me. He’s OK with it as long as he doesn’t have to look at the photos. It’s trickier when it’s just the 2 of us, as it means I need to be stylist, photographer and assistant all in one, but we’ll manage I’m sure.

When the new versions of these patterns go live they’ll be updated with the new shots, likewise they’ll all be going on the new website too.