Back on Track!

Gosh, it has been some while since the last post and for quite a good reason too.

A few weeks back I was out of the country again, this time in Florence. I was fortunate enough to have attended a workshop run by an amazing photographer Jerry Ghionis. Jerry has won countless awards for Weddings, Portraits and Album Designs and was voted as one of the world's top ten photographers by American Photo magazine in 2007.

The flight over had some great views as we passed the Alps :

We stayed in Villa Il Poggiale, located in the Chianti region of Tuscany. This is the gorgeous view we had from the front of the Villa:

Jerry's workshop was all about wedding photography and we studied various subjects to improve our overall "efficiency" in many areas, covering such things as lighting, posing, marketing, business etc Many of the topics covered took me right out of my comfort zone, especially posing, as that's not what I do as a rule. However, with perseverance, I realised that everything has its place at the right time and I have taken away some exceptionally valuable ideas.

All in all it was a fantastic workshop, with great company and great food in a great location. The following shots are a couple that I took during the week, and I am obliged to point out that these are professional models and that makes the job sooo much easier. Having been shown some 'poses' by Jerry throughout the week, the aim was to try and replicate them, whilst not looking too contrived and keeping it real.

Melissa and Renee looking lovingly lovely:

My artistic take on a pose setup by Jerry:

Our gorgeous model, Sylvia, posed by me in the centre of Florence:

The lovely Melissa again:

With all this new found knowledge and alternative approaches to posing and lighting, I cannot wait to get cracking with it! I shot a wedding this weekend just gone and have already employed some of what I picked up at the workshop. Look out later in the week for some of Jayne and James' photos.