It's been a jam packed summer this year and I've loved meeting and photographing lots of wonderful people. One of the first photoshoots to kick off the summer was photographing this beautiful woman, Melissa, in June. You may have seen a sneak peak from my 1 year anniversary blog post, where I described Melissa as simply captivating.

We had just met only hours before this impromptu photoshoot when she was invited round for a group meal at my flat where we all helped out to make a delicious roast dinner. It was lovely how Melissa took an interest in my wedding photography and that's when I knew she was a lover of the arts. I felt like a schoolkid who had a crush and was shy asking the other person out. When I've photographed gorgeous women in the past, it's usually come up after a few meetings and conversations and then an arranged photoshoot happens. This time round I felt the time had to be 'now' as Melissa was moving to Berlin the week after and I couldn't be sure I'd see her again. 

It was then I plucked up the courage and asked if I could take her portrait. She was pleasantly surprised that someone would want to take her portrait and flattered too. I was worried she might say no as she hadn't prepared for her photo to be taken at a moment's notice! In the spirit of embracing life's spontaneous moments, Melissa kindly agreed and mentioned how she'd love to help out with my photography in any way she could, which was touching. After few minutes brushing her hair and touching up her lipstick we were ready to shoot. I hadn't really thought of where to photograph as I was preparing myself for Melissa to say no, then I saw some green trees and bushes outside my bedroom window and quickly thought 'that could look nice'.

I was actually surprised at myself at how stunning the photographs came out. With no preparation, it's hard to tell whether the nerves might affect the shoot but as it was so casual, it just felt so natural taking photos of Melissa. As soon as I met her I had an instinct Melissa would be a natural at being photographed and here are the gorgeous images as proof...

Thank you!

Had a wonderful time photographing the gorgeous Olive Haigh her upcoming new EP, Monsters due to come out this year. Certainly an experimental shoot where instead of myself clicking the button to photograph, in one hand I had a hair-dryer and the other I held a remote control for my camera to release the shutter: assistant and photographer all-in-one! Olive and I have been friends for a while so it's great collaborating with like-minded creative talents to make fun and fashionable pictures together. She's a darling to work with and I hope we continue our creative partnership to make more fabulous images! You can find her music here: facebook.com/olivehaighmusic (Hair, Make Up & Styling: Olive Haigh)

Did some portrait beauty test shoots with Holly Alana and what a wonderful young talent she is! Using all natural light from the window Holly looks gorgeous in pastel coloured clothes and flaunts her natural beauty. Love working with natural light using my favourite lens: 50mm f.1.4. (Styling: myself, Hair & Make up: Holly)

Experimenting with a medium format camera and representing beauty from different backgrounds. Love working with a medium format camera and working with the lens is wonderful as it creates such intimate portraits. Images from my 'I Am Beauty' project from my first year module at Southampton Solent University. Really enjoyed photographing Yaz and Hadiza especially as they're not professional models, their expressions are not rehearsed, their beauty is natural. Love creating simple and beautiful portraiture like this.