Ta-ra Newbold Terrace
Vintage Hair Lounge Rolls Into Brum
Pretty ladies? Cool vintage hair dos? Some studio work, with a bit of reportage thrown in?
It’s not everyday I land a job that seems tailored made for me, but a recent assignment with the prestigious Vintage Hair Lounge was right up my street.
And just down the road.
Hair: Chelsea Phipps / Model: Sophie Kane
Moving in the circles I do, I’d been aware of the Vintage Hair Lounge for sometime and always admired how they came across as a proper outfit. There have been lots of vintage hair ‘specialists’ pop up over the last few years, but these gals really have the professional backgrounds to live up to that claim.
So when my sometime creative collaborator, Cassie Leedham, mentioned my name to them, I was rightly chuffed.
Curl Power – how to achieve the retro look the Vintage Hair Lounge way
Based on the south coast, they were looking to bring their popular ‘Vintage Hairstyling for Camera’ workshop to the Midlands and, having secured Aston & Fincher’s training academy in Birmingham as a venue, asked me to be their course photographer.
The intensive two-day course is aimed at freelance and salon hairdressers and covers the history of various styles and the techniques to achieve them. Throwing a professional photographer into the mix allows the students to art direct their final styles in a simulated studio and see how they hold up under the scrutiny of the camera, as well as providing them with a ready-made portfolio of their work.
Hair: Salma Patel / Model: Shazila Fazal
Behind the scenes of my little pop-up studio
The Lounge is helmed by the fabulous Mum and Daughter team of Sharon and Gloria Holloway. They’re a real energetic pair who clearly love what they do, and have a great attitude to life. It makes such a difference to my job to work alongside like-minded creative people and, while all our communications had been on email up until the shoot, they really made me feel part of the team on the day.
It’s all about the updo
Gloria sharing tips
And completing the team was vintage make-up expert, Alison McMath from Kitty Wink Vintage, who had travelled down from Chorley for the event. She was lovely and her work was truly transforming.
Shooting around all the mirrors made for an interesting triptych
The students had the opportunity to try out what they had learned on a mix of professional and non-professional models in preparation for their photo shoots. It was nice to capture the whole ‘before and after’ process, obviously I can’t show all of it here, but these are a few of my favourites.
Alt model Raven Brookes is prepped by Salma
Hair: Salma Patel / Model: Raven Brookes
Feedback from the shots has been great and I hope that they have given the hairdressers who attended something that they can all go on and produce as evidence of their new skills.
Some of the students with their models
I really had a great time on this job. It was lovely to meet some cool new people, but also to catch up with Violet Leys, who was one of the very first alternative models I shot back in days when I put big watermarks on everything and the whole vintage scene was still pretty niche.
I have a real soft spot for that shoot at the Malmaison and the pics are still online here.
Hair: Odette Gander / Model Violet Leys
I’m all set to be at the next course in Birmingham and looking forward to hooking up with Sharon and Gloria again at Goodwood in September.
Sharon and Alison online
If you like your look distinctly retro but your communications decidedly 21st century, you can keep up to date with this dynamic little business on Facebook or Twitter.
But I’ll be sure to share more vintage in the future.
RS x
A Big Pat on The Backspace
Last year I was involved with my hometown’s local history festival.
It was ace, I got to photograph Tony Benn and everything.
This year it was bigger and better and I’m glad to say I was involved again.
My ad in the Leamington Looks Back programme for 2013
Those who know me, or follow this blog, will be aware I have an interest in all things retro, but, while I might seek out a local history event anyway, my connection to this one is a bit closer to home.
Having designed the Leamington Looks Back logo and publicity material for their inaugural festival last year, my husband, Craig, managed to talk himself into taking on a bigger role this time around, after his idea for an exhibition about the history of the computer games industry in Leamington snowballed into a mini ‘festival within a festival’ – Backspace.
A montage-tastic Backspace flyer
I got to witness, first hand, all the long hours he put into getting it off the ground – from building a team of experts, to creatively directing and helping publicise what ultimately became a series of 10 events over two weeks. So, when he asked me to cover a few of the events as a sponsor and ‘official photographer’, I couldn’t say no, really.
Even though Backspace was backed and supported by Heritage Matters and secured an amount of funding from Warwickshire County Council’s Operation Footfall initiative, the, increasingly ambitious, project was pulled off in a very short space of time, on a shoestring budget, by a tiny team of volunteers with ‘off the side of the desk’ help from Vital and their extended family of suppliers.
A hole left by the hasty removal of an air-con unit by previous occupants made for a dramatic entrance
The exhibition itself was gifted a temporary home in an empty shoe shop in Regent Court by Warwick District Council and quickly proved a daunting space to fill. After some begging and borrowing of artifacts, and the creation of an impressive timeline (researched, written and designed over one weekend) they managed to deliver something pretty damn awesome.
The queue of big pixel people on the window foreshadowed the queue of real people on opening night
Megan from Sega Hardlight admires the exhibits
I think it is safe to say that no-one quite anticipated the reception Backspace would get.
Opening night was rammed with the great and the good from the local games industry and I was there to capture some of the reactions from a clearly impressed crowd, excited to see some of their work on the walls and learn how it fitted into the whole story.
The buzz on Twitter and Facebook grew quickly and even the local BBC news came down to do a live link!
Assembled guests try out some of the old games and devour the timeline panels
Lucy and Tina – students from the computer games art course at Warwickshire College
A combination of teamwork, hard graft and a fair amount of on-the-hoof creative thinking managed to pull of a great evening underpinned by an exhibition that combined curated, in-depth commentary and physical items with interactive games and fun stuff to do.
Dan from Leam-based indie games developers, Monster & Monster,
One of the coolest bits has been the trail of arcade cabinets in venues around town. Dubbed the ‘Leamington Spa-cade’, six local studios showcased their games in shops such as Gap and Braderie, and folks were invited to play the trail and collect stickers to complete a card and win prizes.
Cool, huh?
Alice from Vital and the best looking former shoe shop in town
I admit to not being much of a gamer myself, but the impact on popular culture that Leamington has had is undeniable when you look around that room, and I found the boundless enthusiasm of a lot of the personalities behind the industry quite infectious.
Chris White, MP for Warwick and Leamington, listens intently to Blitz Games Studios‘ Philip Oliver
Having the exhibition opened by three people representing the past, present and future of games development in Leamington was a lovely touch too, and the show even featured a wall which local developers were all invited to sign.
And while this has all an obvious appeal to the people inside the industry, the exhibition has gone on to do a great job of engendering a bit of civic pride with the general public. Over 1,700 people came through the doors in the opening weekend and I’ve never seen a visitor’s book as unanimously complimentary.
Philip Oliver starts the signing | David Darling, co-founder of Codemasters and Kwalee, Chris Southall, Studio Head of Sega Hardlight and Lucy Johnson from the computer games art course at Warwickshire College, who officially opened proceedings
My workload has meant I haven’t been able to cover all of the Backspace events (or indeed the 40-odd wider Leamington Looks Back activities) but the ones I have done have been fully subscribed and lots of fun to do.
A real mix of people came down to experience a slice of the Raspberry Pi action at workshops hosted by IndieCity
A young lad and his dad get to grips with coding
I was also on hand to grab a few shots at the Games Industry Careers Evening at Warwickshire College. All too often established professionals can come across as cynical and aloof at these things, but I have never seen such an enthusiastic and positive bunch of experts so keen to impart their knowledge.
I know I wasn’t the intended audience, but I came away quite uplifted. If any of my boys want to pursue this as a career in the future, I will endorse it wholeheartedly.
The future of the games industry assembled for a Q&A with panelists from every discipline
Will Freeman, Editor of Develop magazine and games writer for The Observer, quizzes the founding fathers about the serious business of creating fun
Event photography is not something I normally fall over myself to do, but on this occasion I was proud to be involved, but not as proud as I am of Craig and the Backspace dream team for pulling this off.
And what a team.
Lending the whole exhibition a dash of credible, cultural context was the charming Dr Michael Piggot. He’s the Assistant Professor of Video Art and Digital Media at Warwick University whose fiance turned out to be the lady who taught me to crochet.
And then, of course there’s the talented and energetic Natalie Griffith. Providing the real games industry clout, Nat’s insider knowledge and connections, not only secured the support of the key players, but also expanded the festival to include educational, charity and social elements.
By all accounts, the three of them all played their parts brilliantly and I love this shot of them taken on their preview night. The sense of relief and joy is palpable and I was glad I was there to take it.
Michael Piggot, Nat Griffiths and some other fella
I’d like to wish Michael and Denise good luck for their forthcoming wedding, Nat all the best with her new PR agency PressSpace and hope that Craig will now allow himself to chill the hell out for a while!
Well done to everyone involved. I’m impressed.
RS x
The exhibition is in its final weekend and closes on Sunday at 8pm and is well worth a look, if you haven’t already. All the details are here.
All White Now
There’s something about snow.
We only have to have a flurry in the UK for our Facebook walls and Twitter timelines to become knee-deep in Instagrams and phone pics of the white stuff.
But when you book your big day for the end of March you don’t expect that it will literally end up a white wedding.
Jon and Kim in the snowy grounds of Wroxall Abbey
I’m generally lucky with the weather. Even on rainy days I’ve been on the receiving end of some very timely dry spells, though in the seven years I have been shooting weddings I have never had the chance to do one in the snow.
Until last month.
What time is it when you can’t see your sundial for snow?
All told I have now done three weddings at Wroxall Abbey. It’s a lovely, grand venue with an authentic period interior and well-kept gardens.
In fact, it’s pretty enough with out a romantic Narnian makeover, but after a heavy fall of snow it was beautiful.
Guests arriving at the venue and, yes, that is a chap in a kilt
The ceremony was held in Wren’s Cathedral, the small church in the Abbey grounds. So named after Sir Cristhopher Wren who, having done well in the building trade, bought the estate for his son.
Looking in and out of doorways
Fortunately the church was in squelching distance from the hotel
I’d reminded Kim and Jon to bring wellies and happily they were up for braving the elements and taking a few shots in the grounds after the ceremony.
Technically speaking I had to compensate for the brightness, but other than that it was business as usual as we took some formal portraits and tried to capture as many candid shots of guests as I could.
The guests weren’t quite so keen to get out in the cold.
As always I shot in colour and let my instincts guide me as to what shots lend themselves to a black and white conversion after the event. I think a lot of these shots really lend themselves to more stark contrast.
Kim by the water with Jon running back after dropping their umbrella out of shot
It’s great that everyone was such a good sport, even Kim’s sisters the bridesmaids came out to help carry the dress over the deep snow. I know we could have taken some shots in front of some stately fireplace or other, but I love these and in Kim’s word’s they ‘captured the magic of their day’.
Bridesmaids snuggle under matching pashminas
Shooting through the snowfall has given this the feeling of an old engraving
While our weather still appears to be stumbling towards some sort of spring I remain hopeful we will have a summer full of sunny Saturdays.
Though whatever it does, I’ll be out in it.
RS x
All in the Name of Art (and Other Courses)
Whether it’s ad campaigns, retail displays or crisp packets, I often have to wait months between a shoot and seeing any of my pictures in a finished product.
So it was a nice surprise to scroll down an email I received last week and get a look at the results of a shoot I did last December.
It’s still a thrill to see the fruits of my labour working hard for a client.
Digital communications and social media for The Academies
The Academies are school holiday camps, covering a wide variety of subjects for kids between 3 and 17, and I was approached to help them create a bank of imagery they could use to reflect their range of courses.
It was really valuable to be involved in the early stages of the job and I got to work closely with the clients – Paul Clarke and his wife Alex – and Warwick-based design agency Paper Tiger, to determine to best way to tackle the brief. Along with a series of action shots of kids with different outfits and props, each model had to be photographed individually to achieve one overall image of a long queue waiting at the gate.
With desire to get the most out of the budget and a cast of sixteen(!) easily bored kids, the shoot was never going to be a relaxed one.
A budding Georgia O’Keeffe unmoved by the performance of a young John Gielgud
Paul and Alex set out to beg, steal or borrow the majority of the models from friends and relatives, and supplemented these with three young actors from an agency. Along with their parents, chaperones, my team and numerous boxes of props and costumes the studio was soon packed with fairy princesses, teenage rugger boys and one rather timid dinosaur.
It’s on jobs like these being married to a Creative Director is a bit of a bonus, and I have to hand it to Craig, who along with Paul, did an incredible job of helping the children feel at ease and get into their roles. The lights and all the equipment must have been quite scary for the little ones, and intimidating for the self-conscious older ones, and it took a fair amount of acting daft and improvising with the props to get the relaxed and natural performances we needed from this largely amateur cast.
Paul and Craig channeling their inner Mr Tumble
What could have been a nightmare of a day, went like a dream.
The kids, for the most part, were little stars. (Read Paul’s account of the experience here.) As every shot was meticulously planned beforehand, everybody knew what was happening and everything ran to time. Alex and Amy were brilliant at getting folks into their outfits and were ready with the hundreds of props, my assistants Dan and Emma did a sterling job and there were no tears.
It was all a bit of a buzz really and roping in my own three lads as models only added to the fun. It’s always good for them to experience first-hand what Mum and Dad actually do for a living and beats sending them up chimneys.
The Spivey boys
I’m happy that Paul and Alex are chuffed with these results. It think it’s looking great. The queue device does a great job of summing up everything they do in one bright and engaging image and I’m looking forward to seeing how they’ll use their new photo library on other stuff.
If they run their courses as well as they organise photo shoots, I’m sure The Academies will continue to be a huge success.
RS x
Carrie On Styling
As you know, I do weddings, and I have done a fair few fashion shoots as well, but I’d never had the opportunity to combine the two.
Until now.
And it’s all thanks to one of my previous wedding clients…
I first met Carrie Southall and Tom Legge when I photographed their wedding, at Snitterfield, a couple of years ago. Not only were they great people to work with, she was a stylist and he was a cameraman so we had a fair bit in common too.
Carrie and Tom on the way to Charlecote House for their reception
Of course Carrie did all the styling for her own wedding
Carrie has created looks for top brands such as Marks & Spencer and Waitrose and has worked in TV with such style luminaries as Gok Wan and Trinny and Susannah – in fact she and Tom met while filming ‘What Not To Wear’ – and when she suggested we collaborate on a photo shoot to promote her new boutique styling and vintage rental business – {re}loved – I was only too happy to oblige.
1950s wedding dress with petticoats from Petticoats-a-plenty and shoes from ASOS
It was a while in the planning, but after a bit of diary co-ordinating, prop-sourcing and outfit selecting we finally hit the studio. It was worth the wait to assemble such a top class team on the day.
First off Carrie enlisted the help of respected fashion stylist Katherine Doyle, who arrived with a fantastic array of vintage wedding dresses from the 1940’s through to the 1970’s, along with boxes full of accessories and shoes.
Carrie and Laura on confetti showering duty (photo by Tom Legge)
Also on hand was local hair and make-up artist Laura Taviner who did a such a great job to create distinctly different looks for each of the outfits over such a short space of time.
The only confetti shot I have ever been able to control | Posing with a posie
Carrie’s parasol propped with silk flowers worked a treat alongside one of Katherine’s hair accessories
Then of course there was our fantastic model for the day – Maria Gardner – who came courtesy of the Alan Sharman Agency. A stunning Coventry lass, Maria was perfect for the shoot and a dream to photograph.
It’s subtle, but I love how the shape of her hair echoes the shape of the train
The list of cast and crew didn’t stop there.
Tom came along to lend a hand and capture some behind the scenes shots while my trusty assistant, Dan Barnes, was there to help things run smoothly behind the camera.
Though last but not least, was my studio pooch Cecil, who loved all the attention and only tried to get in on the action a couple of times.
Cecil wears Dilly Knit jumper. Collar: model’s own (photo by Tom Legge)
With such an illustrious crew behind me how could the photos fail?
You’re all looking at the pretty model and not my messy studio, right? (photo by Tom Legge)
This has to be my favourite outfit of the day – and there was some stiff competition
Carrie had thought out all the shots before-hand and all the pre-planning helped us get through so many different set-ups.
Vintage 1950s dress (Cecil chasing balloons not shown)
A seventies dress alongside another one from the 1950s
Editing these down was quite hard as there were so many fab images, but I have selected these as together they make a set worthy of any style mag.
Carrie’s Liberty print covered suitcase and matching belt really makes this shot
It was great working alongside such a large team of creative folks with everyone pitching in ideas and I hope everyone involved got what they wanted out of the day.
I know I did.
RS x
Gathered Together – My Favourite Wedding Photos of 2012
Do I ever get tired of shooting weddings?
Nope.
But I do get tired from shooting weddings.
Despite what ‘Uncle Bob’, with his big camera might think, if you’re not exhausted when you come home from a photographing a wedding, you’re not doing your job properly!
When I’m right in the thick of a busy wedding season it’s hard to take stock of every single photo, but having a break to plan my year ahead and look back on the one just gone, it’s been nice to have the opportunity go through all the shots from 2012 and pull out some of my favourites.
I’ve not tried to crowbar them into a particular theme, venue, or stylistic hook, they’re just the ones that make me smile, get a lump in my throat and, in one or two cases, take my breath away…
Beautifully-blinged Jimmy Choos
On the whole weddings are fun and upbeat places to hang out on a weekend, and one of my favourite parts of the day is being with the bridal party while they get ready. It gets me warmed-up and, as well as snapping a few detail shots, it helps the bride, her bridesmaids and family get used to me and the camera as they get on with preparing for the main business of the day.
Capturing Harriet in her old grey T-shirt provided a nice context for the transformation to come
Emily and her bridesmaids in their personalised dressing gowns
Laura, her mum and Scarlet the bridesmaid as their preparations spread out to every room in the house
Make-up, mirrors and being laced into big floaty dresses – it is all photogenic stuff and is never more emotionally charged than on the morning of the wedding.
An old work colleague of mine, and a fellow ginger, Lucy made a stunning bride
Natalie at Nailcote
Saira being laced up before tying the knot
An army of bridesmaids is essential for a final primp and preen
Emily and her mum have a bit of a moment
A lovely shot of Joanna giving her lip the slightest of nervous chews
Bouquets ready to go, with garlands of paper hearts
It’s not always the women. If a bride and groom are getting ready at the same venue, or live close by, there’s sometimes the opportunity to capture the Groom getting ready too.
I love these pics of Simon in his room at Brownsover Hall – he really was this happy all day!
Once everyone is set, if there’s time, and the environment is right, and if the bride is up for it, I sometimes take a few posed portraits before the car turns up
An epic landscape painting made an impromptu backdrop for this stunning portrait of Saira
There’s something a bit pre-Raphaelite about this shot of Helen
There’s often a special moment when the Father of the Bride sees his daughter in her dress for the first time. I have to admit, since my own Dad died in February last year, these shots have taken on a much deeper poignancy.
A genuinely candid moment of Joanna and her Dad
The Bridal party leave Walton Hall
If I have been booked to cover all the preparations, it can sometimes be a bit of a race to the venue to arrive before the Bride. It’s nice get some shots of the expectant Groom and guests arriving when I can.
Everything set for the arrival of the Bride
Despite another rainy Summer, I was quite lucky with the breaks in the weather
Laura’s sister Ella arrives at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford
There’s always someone muscling in on my job
Waiting for their big entrance
Different churches have different rules on what parts of a wedding service I can photograph – some are strict, where others are pretty relaxed – hovever all registrars in Warwickshire request that all photographers follow the same guidelines. During a civil ceremony I am limited to; the bride entering, the exchange of rings, the kiss and shots pretending to sign the register.
A kiss in the elaborate church at Princethorpe College and one in the gatehouse at Kenilworth Castle
A great kissy pic of Andy and Sarah at Fawsley Hall
This year I was honoured to cover my first civil partnership. I really hope to get the chance to do more and I hope they are all as warm, funny and lovely as Becky and Louise’s day was.
The happiest of couples – Becky and Louise
The middle of England is blessed with some great places to get married – whether it’s a traditional church, stately home, converted barn or a castle or two. I certainly got to visit more quiet corners of Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire than ever this year.
Saira and Justin outside their cute little church near Solihull
Laura and Nick arriving in style at Clopton House
The formal Elizabethan Garden at Kenilworth Castle and the more rustic grounds of Crockwell Farm
A cracking shot of Siobhan and Karl outside a little shop in Bretforton, Gloucestershire
Harriet and Lee looking relaxed in the countryside around Wethele Manor
A great view of Warwickshire from The Bell at Alderminster
Joanna and guests on the lawn at Walton Hall
Every fairytale princess needs a castle
Maria and Howard on high ground as the sun goes down
Laura gets the conga started
Marquees are a common feature at a lot of weddings, and some are prettier than others. They can create odd colour casts and the polythene windows and support struts can be distracting, however if the weather is right it’s like shooting in a giant diffused lightbox.
Emily and Chris in a quiet unguarded moment, in a marquee
Laura and Nick wait to be announced at their wedding breakfast
Guests check out a display of the couple’s snaps
Nick gets an update from his Best Man
I’m never happier than when any group photos are over and I am left to roam the celebrations and snap the guests. As my job involves focusing on faces I always find it interesting to spot family resemblances from generation to generation.
Little men scrubbed up for the big day
Candid moments
Not sure of the collective noun for a group of ladies in big hats, but here are some
Smiles, camera… action
Couples go to lots of effort to personalise their wedding and give their guests a unique experience, something I wholeheartedly endorse, especially with the blank canvas of a marquee.
Hats off to the happy couple
Bunting of all hues and styles was a popular touch at most of the weddings I attended this year
Drinking straws from Cat and Tom’s wedding and Laura and Simon’s exquisite cake
I try not to use flash at a reception, unless I absolutely have to. Not only does it irritate people, but the results are never that great. So when the sun goes down my primary light source disappears too.
As Warwickshire wedding venues go, they don’t come more iconic than one of our castles
Available light and moving objects make the first dance tricky, but the results can be quite atmospheric
Walton Hall at the end of a long day
Big thanks to all the couples, their families and the venues I had the pleasure of working with last year.
I’m looking forward to my first wedding of 2013 in Lapworth on Saturday and watching the skies wondering whether it’ll be my first snowy one too.
Cheers
RS x
If you’d like to know more about my wedding photography please visit www.rachelspiveyweddings.co.uk
