Here is a small selection of the recent pictures taken by me on my workshops or 1:1 sessions. I’ve been so busy shooting for clients this summer it has been a challenge to keep up. I’ll blog some of my commissioned fashion work soon but for now here is my random choice for the week.

1. A simple four light portrait of Edyta taken from eye level in my studio to capture intimacy and beauty. Contrast can be so delicately controlled with such depth because I’m not in a white studio. The fabulous make up was created by Vicky Waghorn.

2. I lit Clair with one light and a reflector. The fine detail in the near eye is vital to the image. It is there for you if your viewing conditions are optimal.

3. The beautiful Clair Tombs on her first modelling assignment captured using 5 studio mono-blocks. My studio is equipped with 2x Elinchrom BX500Ri heads, 2x Elinchrom Style RX600 heads and an Elinchrom Ranger Quadra for contrast control and effects. Make up was once again crafted by Vicky Waghorn.

4. Jojo was lit with three lights. Smoke was from a can I bought in Maplin some years ago for under a tenner. As a photographer it is important to experiment and make your journey a creative one.

5. Jojo. I’m exploring enigmatic expressions in my portraiture at the moment – Vulnerability or strength, sadness or contentment? What do you see when you look into Jojo’s eyes in this picture? I see fabulousness and a friend.

7. Hair can be a fabulous design element. I love obscuring eyes with it. Tangles and tussles give the lived in look.

8. I lit Jojo with a super hard Lupo 800 fresnel lensed HMI spotlight through my Venetian blind. I love the curve of her jaw line, the sheen on her skin, the shapes that Jojo’s neck muscles scribe and the feather on the lighting on the left of the frame. This kind of look cannot be created with a gobo in a spotlight or a scrim with gaffa tape stripes, I’ve tried them all and I’ve settled for the real deal from blinds4u.me.uk

10. I can just about shoot a full length portrait of a 6ft beauty in killer heals in my studio. You will get to see my whole set up in my forthcoming Studio Lighting DVD due out by Christmas.

12. Another frame for one of the many personal projects that I’m working on. I finding shooting for myself has become very rewarding as I explore photography ever further without the constraints of a client requirement. In order to balance this I’ve recently started taking on fashion and editorial commissions. My work can be seen at lovegrovephotography.com

14. I lit Vicki Blatchley with a pair of Speedlights on stands just out of shot. This frame was taken at Portishead. ISO 200, 1/200th second at f/16

16. I lit Vicki Blatchley on location with a silver brolly in a Lovegrove Gemini bracket using a single Speedlight triggered with Pocket Wizard tt1 and tt5. Eyes this fabulous need framing. Obscuring the rest of Vicki adds a bit of drama to the shot. ISO 200, 1/2000th second at f/2.8
All picture editing and retouching was done in house by Luke Knight. Here’s my complete list of available photography, lighting and business workshops. Please feel free to comment on these pictures.
Chris the current draw from a recycling monoblock is never going to challenge a domestic ring main.
1200w/s is complete overkill for a home studio btw, unless your home is of warehouse proportions.
Hello Martin or anyone else. I’m considering buying this December 4 Elinchrom style RX 1200 lights to use at my home studio. If I had them all at full power-1200 watts at the same time would they blow out the electrics in the house?
Do you need any changes made to house electrics if you intend to use a lot of power? Any answers please?
All Elinchrom flash heads come with 13A plug tops on their leads and can run on any domestic ring main without alteration. The full spec is here: http://www.lovegroveconsulting.com/elinchrom_style_rx_compacts.aspx
Contact me if you require more information. Cheers, Damien.
Hi Chris,
No problem with the house electrics on a 32A ring main but RX1200 x 4 is a bit overkill. I would go with 1x RX300, 2x RX600 and 1x RX1200 If I wanted a four head set up.
I hope this helps. Damien.
You’re welcome Chris. Yes RX300 and RX600 heads are my workhorse lights in the studio and I have a Ranger RX Speed pack and head for outdoor use.
Thanks Martin for the useful information. Do you use Elinchrom lights yourself?
Hello Chris. I can answer some of those questions for you.
BXRi and RX units all run off standard domestic mains outlets. Quadra is much much lighter than the grown up Rangers and only 1.5 stops less bright. If you don’t need to overpower full sun they are all you need. If you want to work outside then Ranger is the way to go, whether Quadra or RX. Note that for studio use they are both a compromise due to lack of always-on modelling lights.
HTH. M.
Hello Damien I have decided to go with Elinchrom lights.
The question is I’m not sure which model. I noticed on a caption you wrote that you say have in your studio “2x Elinchrom BX500Ri heads, 2x Elinchrom RX600 heads and an Elinchrom Quadra” My questions are: 1)Can the Elinchrom BX500Ri be powered by mains from a household socket 2) Why did you chose quadra over a Ranger RX which has more power? 3) Can the RX600 be powered also by ordinary mains sockets at home? I will be buying lights this Decmeber. I want to use studio lights outdoors too?
Thank you Chris
Hi Chris,
1 & 3. The BX500Ri, RX300, RX600, RX1200 can all be powered by a 13A 220v socket.
2. I have a Quadra because it is smaller and lighter than the Ranger. ⅓ the power and ⅓ the weight.
I suggest you can use the Quadra in the studio with an adapter for softboxes etc and a pair of BXRis to go with it will be perfect. The Quadra is perfect for use on location and has the same electronics as the BXRis too so the menus wil be familiar.
I hope this helps. I’ll be glad to do a demo and supply your kit. I’ll be able to give you advice and support too as an everyday user and an authorised Elinchrom agent.
My latest DVD on studio lighting due out mid December shows all these lights in use including the Quadra as a principal light in many of the set ups.
Kind regards,
Damien.
Hello Damien I will be having a room painted to be used as a Photo studio. What color should I paint the walls? Brilliant white or Matt black? Or grey? I just don’t know.
The room is small 4 meters by 6 meters
I would love to hear your advice.
Thank you Chris
Hi Chris, Dont go white whatever you do. Unless you can rig a black cyclorama on tracks to block out the reflections when required. I’d go for Ice Storm 2 by Dulux for 3 of your walls and make the last wall a feature wall with a colour of your choice.
Kind regards,
Damien.
Oops, just realised I’m a week late with my Berlin wishes, LOL. Where has the time gone! Hope it went well for you.
Ich wünsch Dir viel Glück und Spaß in Berlin, Damien. Looking forward to your studio production in December.
Indeed Thorsten.
Berlin was amazing and my next video production will be my best yet.
Stay creative, Damien.
Great news about the DVD Damien. Receiving my copy of your latest offering used to be the highlight of my Christmas. Now I can really look forward to Christmas again! Getting excited already!
Hi Richard,
This will be the best DVD yet :) If it fits on a DVD that is. It might have to become a double disc in standard definition or an HD download. A DVD is limited to just 2½ hours of standard definition content. BluRay didn’t take off so download is our only option for HD content.
You will have your inspiration this Christmas whatever way you choose to have it delivered.
Kindest regards,
Damien.
Gorgeous as always. Jo-jo’s black dress is amayyyzing! Listening to your interview also, inspiring stuff :) xx
Thanks Ali:)
wonderful images as usual Damien it beats me how you grow and grow with your photography, you are a true inspiration, thankyou.
Hi David,
Thank you. I feel the same – I’ve been on a roll ever since I stopped shooting weddings. I spent 10 years enslaved to a style, don’t get me wrong I loved shooting weddings. But now that I’m released from the shackles of f/4 I can spread my wings and continue my creative journey at f/2.8. Haha.
Cheers, for your your support,
Damiem.
really nice images :-)
I am soooooo looking forward to the studio DVD released by Christmas, it’s sure gonna be on my santa list ;-)
Very beautiful and inspiring
Thanks
Thank you Ali and James :)
Hi Damien,
Great images and I appreciated your commentary
Just one question, was it really 1/2000th sec in the last photo?
John
Hi John,
Thanks:) Yes it was. I wanted to work with a wide aperture to give the shallow depth of field look and out in daylight this can only be achieved by increasing the shutter speed or using ND filters. With Pocket Wizards or Radio Poppers you can shoot at any shutter speed without even a second thought so that is the solution I chose.
Regards, Damien.
Ahhh… I got too fancy for my own good. Here’s some plain-speak. :)
“How is your customary habit going lately of setting new personal and business visions for yourself?”
PS Kudos on Framed Show
Thanks Sean,
As you know I like to get things done and when you said I should hook up with the guys at [F]ramed and Fstoppers I set about doing just that. Your advice has proved invaluable and I thank you for that. Our next plan is to further populate Vimeo with goodies – clips from my five previous DVD titles in the run up to releasing my new Studio Portraits video production in HD. Other projects include replacing the ‘Lovegrove Consulting’ brand with both ‘Lovegrove Training’ and the ‘Lovegrove Shop’, two seperate entities that can be developed independently. I’m off to Berlin on Sunday to run three workshops. I see Germany as a great European base for a training academy. After Berlin, I’m in Spain then Italy and as you know I’ll be with you in Chicago in the Spring. So not too much on at the moment :))
Best regards, Damien.
Great images ! Studio Lighting DVD sounds very interesting :-)
Hi Paul,
I start shooting the new DVD/ Video in a couple of weeks time when I get back from Berlin. My mind is fizzing with ideas and I have a full 3 camera crew booked for four days of filming. Blaise will be casting the models and booking the locations next week. I’m going for a big commercial studio on one day, my tiny home studio on another and a possibly a portable set up in a random stately manor for another. The fourth day is for pick ups and can be in any of the three. I’ll be shooting flash and continuous light both seperate and together. I might even shoot some items on my Fuji X100 as well as my Nikon and Canon cameras. The DVD will be standard definition but the download option will be in HD and not be limited to the 150 minutes a DVD can take so expect bonus items on the download option. BluRay sales didn’t take off with my Speedlight Mastery production so I’ll go for an HD download instead. No issues with the ancient technologies associated with PAL or NTSC either :)
Cheers,
Damien.
Like a carousel of variety… one completely different look after another.
Am intrigued to hear an update on your discipline of late in vision casting . Any new locations from which to envision? Any interesting sites from which to cull material for your mood board? Books or websites on creativity? Any accidental, unexpected “aha!” moments?
Sean
Thanks Sean :) I’m not sure what you mean by ‘late in vision casting’ It’s not a phrase I know and Google came up with Evangelical recruitment ;)
I’m currently studying the work at this exhibition. I’ll be blogging about three of the pictures later this week but 20 or so Hollywood pictures from the 40s, 50s, and 60s are now in my mood board reference albums in iPhoto. Have a great week.
Damien.
Inspirational as always. Thank you for sharing Damien.
Excellent work as always Damien, thank you for sharing this. I am looking forward to your Studio Lighting workshop in November.
Thank you Jeremy and Chris :)