Need some inspiration?

I find inspiration in most things but I have so many ideas buzzing around my head I sometimes don't know where to begin with them and a little direction never goes amiss!

 I had this delightful little number bought for me recently by one of my constant sources of inspiration, my other half! This book is excellent! It has lots of different ideas that anyone can have a go at and I would recommend it to everyone to have a look through, if you are 'photo crafty' minded.

I'm going to try and do one thing a month out of this book and then blog about it. Why not get yourself (or someone else to!) this book and do the same!

Male Portraits

Been doing some male portrait recently, and trying out some different styles. Here are a small selection using both natural and artificial lighting. 

These two photos above are my preferred type of shot, the natural one. The one on the left is with studio lights (one soft box and a white umbrella either side of the camera at 45 degree angles to the subject) in my 'studio' (I wish!) and on the right, natural light on a summers day. Opposite way round below and this time with my models posed. 

Having male models has it advantages… Like being able to experiment having a bit more scope when it comes to harsh lighting. I have skylights so this was taken using the window light, slightly diffused. I really like the stark contrast of light on either side of the face.

This photo is part of an assignment for the course I'm doing with The Photography Institute, (another blog for another time, maybe). This was my favourite one from the five I took, because I love the catch lights!