I had hoped to have something new to post tonight, but as it's the end of the year I don't feel too bad about posting an archived shot from the summer.

Anyway, the image itself isn't all that important, as I just wanted to post something so I could thank you all for stopping by in 2007 and wish you a Happy New Year for 2008 :-)

This is Gio, who appeared in this shot a few days ago. Gio now works in London for the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, but was born in Nassau and accompanied us during most of our shoots, on and around the island.

Update: I've toned down the saturation a little on this one since posting the original.

This is the second shot of Fiona that I mentioned yesterday, the one that Libby thinks is much better than yesterday's effort ... I remain unconvinced ;-)

Oh, and I do have another couple of shots of Fiona that I may put up, both of which are more akin to yesterday's than today's.

This is the first of two portraits of Fiona that I'll be putting up and these will be the last shots I'll be posting from my recent commission in Nassau. Of the two I'm not sure which I prefer but Libby thinks tomorrow's is much better than this one.

I did try to produce a lighter, more airy version of this shot (without the toning), but ended up deciding I much preferred this version.

Of all the shots I took in Nassua last month, this could well be my favourite, though I'd be hard pushed to tell you why.

I do have a couple of shots of Fiona that I'll put up at some point, but in the meanwhile I thought it was about time for a change. This one was taken during a boat trip around Nassau and I couldn't hear the conversation, but it looks as though it was probably something to do with the size of a fish :-)

While I have some more shots of Fiona, that I'll probably put up in a day or so, this is the last one of her and Ryan together, and in many ways I think this one is my favourite of the four.

When I put up the first shot of Ryan and Fiona a few days ago, a couple of you mentioned that it looked like a shot from a (sort of) Bond movie, though I don't think that was intentional – on either Ryan and Fiona's part, or mine. This one, on the other hand, was intended as a spoof of that genre; i.e. hard-faced serious looking bloke and pouty, adoring woman.

Anyway, leaving the aesthetic content on one side for a minute, I'm really pleased with this one, not least because I think that the black and white conversion works well. To see what I mean you might want to take a look at the original image:

.../archives/ryan_and_fiona_3.php

The only adjustments I made to the original were i) to use the Channel Mixer for the black and white conversion (heavily biased towards the blue channel), and ii) a single S-Curve to adjust the contrast.

Update: I must have been half-asleep when I posted this last night as (as was pointed out) I forgot to mention that I did use flash. Also, I've gone with John's suggestion to remove Fiona's fingers from Ryan's right shoulder. I also toned down the reflected light on Fiona's right shoulder. If you're interested, the previous version is here:

.../archives/ryan_and_fiona_3b.php

I do have two more shots of Ryan and Fiona, and several of Fiona on her own, but in the meanwhile I thought I'd share this one; and while I've found quite a few old tyres washed up on my local beaches I didn't really expect to find one in Nassau :-)

I suspect, but wouldn't want to bet, that this one will get a less polarized response than yesterday's shot of Ryan and Fiona, which some of you liked, and some of you seemed less keen on.

I'd also like to pick up on a point that was made in the comments yesterday by Richard; i.e. that I didn't put my mark on the shot and that it "seem[ed] to have come straight out of a glossy film brochure". And my response to both points is "good". For the majority of this sequence (which I'll intersperse amongst some other shots that I'll put up from my trip) the overall feel of the shots was determined by Ryan and Fiona: and some were intended to be serious, some less so. What I've tried to do is process them in a way that I think is congruent with what they were trying to get across. So yesterday's was very much the glossy 'my name is Bond' type image and today's focusses on their expressions and actions. That said, I'm quite prepared for you not to like them, for all the reasons you mentioned yesterday, but I did want to say that my approach was deliberately different with some of them. I do have a few that are more distinctively "my style" of image though, and I'll put them up at some point.

Anyway, all that aside, let me know what you think.

As many of you will be aware, the vast majority of the portraits I post (of adults or children) aren't posed; i.e. they're spur of the moment shots of our children, people in the street, and so on.

For the job in Nassau though the majority of the shots involved photographing two models – Ryan Elliott and Fiona Brattle – in a variety of locations, clothes, poses, and so on. I guess that if you're used to shooting models, it isn't something you think about, at least not overtly, but I found it a really interesting and rewarding experience. Normally, my portraits are an attempt to capture a naturally occurring moment, in and amongst everything else that happens to be going on. When shots are posed though, it's a bit of a different story; i.e. what constitutes a "naturally occurring moment" is partly decided beforehand and then the shot is constructed accordingly.

The shots I'll be posting of Ryan and Fiona aren't any of the ones I shot for the commission and all were taken in one of two locations: in between the commissioned shots taken on a boat trip and on the beach one evening, when we had a bit of free time. Some were impromptu shots, others were directed by Ryan and Fiona.

As always, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I've been away on a commission for the Bahamas' Ministry of Tourism, which was a wonderful experience. The various shoots took place in and around Nassau, which is an incredibly beautiful and rather hot island ... at least it seemed very hot after the summer we've been having in the UK.

To start things off, this one was taken during a boat trip. It was shot from the floor of the boat, with the rear door open, and you can just make out Nassau in the distance. I'll be posting more shots in the next few days.

And finally, thanks for all your comments on the four "back soon" shots that were posted while I was away. They were much appreciated.