I am pleased and proud to present the pictures of Carolina taken on our Tuscan adventure by my friend and expert photographer Chris Hanley.
Words and pictures by Chris Hanley…
Last week I was in Tuscany teaching. Alongside my good friend and legendary photographer Damien Lovegrove, we had hired a beautiful old villa high in the hills of Tuscany just north of Lucca. Our mission was to teach bridal portraits, street portraiture and feminine beauty. With 12 delegates, we had 3 nights and two creative days shooting, eating, drinking, laughing and putting the world to right. I was blessed to have such a beautiful and professional model Carolina Rosini Here are 60 of my photographs
We were also incredibly privileged to have an exclusive bridal gown designed and made by Linda Davey of No9 Bridal Couture The dress is call “Tuscany” Below are my bridal portraits from the workshop along with a few words. Later this week I shall post my non bridal portraits and street portraits from Pisa. Enjoy and please do feel free to comment.

I wanted a big environment picture to set the scene of the workshop. This would also make a great cover should the collection be printed in a fine art album. As well as teaching the art of the big bridal picture I also had very much in mind pictures for the designer Linda Davey of No9 Bridal Couture 001above pic looks equally good in monochrome.
002 & 003 above. These were some of the very first frames of the workshop. My group assembled on the roof terrace. 50m away behind closed shutters my assistant Francesca was waiting for my signal. As I got the group to raise their cameras, she opened the shutters and into the limelight stepped Carolina Rosini in the exclusive gown “Tuscany” The silence was broke by gasps, shouts of Bellissima, applause and camera shutters. We were off.
004-0007 above. We made full use of the cadmium yellow arch on the terrace. Inside the light was rich with fulvous hues. Little areas like this are perfect for showcasing the dress from different angles and makes a perfect page in an album to play a cameo roll.
0008 0009 0012 above. The first session in the morning started off damp after overnight torrential range. Our weather pro app told us the sky would clear by 10.30. Right on cue the sun began to shine. The first shot you can see the break in the clouds, however the scene was still overcast. I used the opportunity to create a back of the dress shot. Placing Carolina between the lemons and the Castello also gives a great scenic image. By 11.30 we were in full blazing sun. With the second group I demonstrated the fantastic Lastolite panelite. I use this bit of kit probably more than any other on my Cherish the Dress™ shoots.
0013-0018 We moved into the garden terrace and the fantastic wisteria arch. A huge cannula of green vegetation supported by the gnarled ancient branches. Using the directional dappled light I carefully placed Carolina to produce some beautiful and fun portraits of a girl in love with her dress.
0019-0031 below. We explored the Limonaria. What a wonderful word. In these pictures we had divine low angle sunlight, formal garden structures and a beautiful happy model. I soon got to work making Carolina smile with my stock Italian Phrases and I even introduced her to a Cheeky little Kelvin as she relaxed on the wrought iron garden seat. I love 0025. 0029 and 0030 Carolina is high on the terraced paths above the garden. We all stayed downstairs and used the lastolite panelite to bounce sunlight onto her about 50m away.
0032-0039 below. On day two we ventured onto the village streets. Steeped in Etruscan history we were surrounded by textured walls, haphazard paving and hues of Terracotta through to verdigris. The via Umberto was to be our catwalk to create fabulous destination wedding dress pictures. With a constant exposure it was time to let that dress talk.
0040-0045 below. Here I am revisiting the the location from my opening title. A dramatic and breath taking view over the olive groves to Florence in the far distance. An old wall, topiaries of lemon trees set the scene. With Carolina wearing “Tuscany” beautifully we posed them both on the wall. There was one question to debate. Shoes or no shoes?
0046-0056 below. The final session of day two, both groups assembled together to make the most of “the golden hour” in the Olive groves underneath the walls of the Castello. Once again we demonstrated how to shoot into the light, how to utilise colour temperature and create romantic portraits. Three images worth noting. 0051 is a popular technique we see on lots of blogs these days. With the technique explained it was fun to see delegates having fun creating hilarious cliched versions. 0053 This shot was created using a panelite. As Carolina ran towards me in the Olive grove she crossed into a patch of directional light. I rested the reflector against the tree. As she drew level she turned to it and was bathed in the most glorious warm light. I must mention 0047. A “Lovegrove” in an olive grove. I shot this 2 tops over, I did think about making it black and white, but 2 stops over in black and white is for another post :)
0057-0059 below. And as the day closed to an end we filled the last few minutes of golden hour warming our backs whilst we took the last frames of Carolina Rosini wearing “Tuscany” We celebrated two fantastic days of shooting with prosecco on the terrace watching the afterglow followed by a fabulous evening dinner and much drinking and chatting into the early hours.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures. My very special thanks to Blaise Parsons for all her behind the scenes wizardry. Francesca for being an excellent assistant, Linda Davey of No9 Bridal couture for providing that exclusive gown “Tuscany” Carolina Rosini for being a superb professional and last but not least the Tuscany 2 crew. It was a cheeky little week.
Ciao for now
Please feel free to comment on these pictures below.
Love the Tile picture the warm feel drew me in. There are several fantastic images. Good work.
Lovely shoot. I really like the penultimate shot against the red wall.
Whos that lovegrove fella Chris :-)) brilliant work, the light makes all the difference, great to see some behind the scenes shots as well, that panel is amazing, I can clearly see why its a fave piece of euipment.
Stunning photos great models brill results.