I collected Lou from Bristol Parkway railway station on my way to Wales, and we continued on our way and went to the beach at Aberthaw for the first location, it is a beach with no sand, and is made up of quite large pebbles and is awkward to walk on. Next to where we parked the car is a ruined building that offered some shelter from the wind and was quite a suitable place to start shooting, or so I thought. Being a Saturday there were quite a few people there taking a walk or exercising their dogs etc., so this was not going to be as relaxed as I had hoped, as you do have to be aware that there is an audience who are not familiar with the mechanics of a photo shoot!
Having set up the exposure etc. on the camera, we set to work doing some basic portraits, and I was also trying to capture the outfit Lou was wearing, as you may have noticed most of the images I have produced involve some level of nudity! It was at this point when we were joined by a woman of indeterminable age, who was walking her dog, who insisted on disturbing us by asking some of the most inane questions about the location and building, and then insisting on getting in the way while I was trying to take some more photos. Having come to the conclusion that she was not going to get out of the way Lou and I moved to the beach where I took some shots of her stood on top of a shingle bank with the Bristol Channel in the background. The wind was blowing quite strongly and so I got some quite good images and at one point Lou’s dress almost gave us a ‘Wardrobe Malfunction’ moment, but I am glad to say it just about stayed in place. After a few more minutes of trying to discourage the audience from getting in the way, I took a couple more shots of Lou showing the main reason why many people would not think of this place as a location for a modelling shoot, Aberthaw Power Station.
After a spot of lunch Lou and I headed for Dunraven Bay, also known as Southerndown Beach, but the place was absolutely heaving with visitors, and there was no chance of us being able to work in peace at this location so we diverted to Candleston Castle at Merthyr Mawr. The weather was great, the sun warm and the crowds were out in force, but fortunately at this location the castle is the last thing on most visitors minds, the sand dunes are what they had come for. It was here that I got some of the best shots of the day, and at one point we did encounter what I assume was another photographer/model couple emerging from the woods that surrounded part of the castle, while Lou and I were taking a break and having a chat about what to do next.
After Candleston Castle we went to another castle at Ogmore where I had arranged to meet up with an acquaintance from Deviant Art, I had lent my compact camera to Lou and she took some interesting photos at Ogmore, More photography of Lou was really out of the question as the place was overrun with visitors.
Photo by Miss Lou Lou
Photo by Miss Lou Lou
Moral of the story, don’t shoot in popular places on a weekend!
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