Is white and vintage old school?

Are white backgrounds old school? Is retro furniture not so cool anymore?

These are two questions we were faced with after we had spent endless hours setting up our amazing studio, The Loft.

Some people may think that shooting on a white background is very commercial, dated and has no place in fashionable up to date photography. The use of props such as vintage chairs etc.. are out of place and add no quality to an image.

Not us.. We made a decision that we were right to go with our gut instinct and are very proud of our studio...(which includes not only white background rolls but grey, black, crimson, blue, yellow, green plus more)

Today, we had a little smile and chuckle to ourselves when we saw this image.....Sienna Miller sitting on a vintage peacock chair shot on a white background. (The image was taken by Simon Emmett)

So there is a place for all types of photography - Hollywood has spoken!

Its all in the planning

Whether you are organising an event, a lesson or a photography shoot.... its all about the planning.

Today we have been planning, number crunching, planning some more etc.. Its an exciting time for Steve and I...the club is almost up and running, the studio hire is going well and our workshops are usually sell outs.

I've been planning workshops for the next 6 months, making sure that we have covered all types of events that our customers want.

We are going to have workshops based around fashion, alternative, art nude, outdoor location shoots, indoor location shoots etc.. but also sessions based for smaller groups and individuals.

If you are reading this and have any suggestions as to what you would like us to include in our schedule, please drop us a line at tiptop-photography@live.co.uk - we are always wanting to hear what people want.

On a side note, below this text is an image of model Penny, having her bottom patted by a man on the wall!

After another long day at work...its time to go to bed. Adios.

Forthcomming events

Autum will soon be here :-( and TipTop Photography have lots of new events planned for the months ahead.

Saturday 22nd August is a workshop based on 'Through The Decades' where models will be styled from the 60's, 70's 80's & current day...1 place is remaining if you want to come along (get in touch via our website http://www.tiptop-photography.com/)

September will see a whole new set of learning activies in 'The Loft', the TipTop Studio, ranging from 1-2-1's, group shoots, etc.. along with a host of other things.

Watch this space for a list of dates.

'2009' v 'Old School'

WOW! What a response we have had to our posts about the TipTop Photography Club!

We woke up this morning to emails, comments, posts on forums etc.. all from fellow photographers who want to put a bit of fun back into photography.

I think we just need to make things clear that Steve and I are not anti societies...I think there is a lot to be learnt from going along to regular society evenings which are on a larger scale. We certainly did when starting out and learnt some great stuff.

The TipTop Club is going to be about having fun. Putting the enjoyment into photography. Sometimes its easy to forget why we all love taking pictures so much - we all get carried away with taking the shot, editing it etc.. without remembering why we took the shot in the first place.

So... to all of you who have contacted us - check your inbox in the next few days for the first of TipTop Club communications.

I'll also be setting up a Flikr page for us - to showcase our work but also as a way of introduction to everyone... so we can all see what floats your boat in the way of an image.

Its time to hit the sack now...tomorrow is another day for planning in the mind of a TipTop Photographer :-)

Over and out.

Lovin' the lighting

Today inbetween shoots we asked model 'Pippa' to join us in the studio to try out our new beauty dish. Its not very often that we get to 'play around' in the studio so to have a spare couple of hours was a luxury.

WOW! I am impressed with the new piece of kit... Steve and his dad have worked wonders.

We tried various set ups... against brick, natural light, fabric, general background etc. all proving to have amazing results - the variation by moving the dish just a fraction was awesome.

Pippa.. if you read this, thank you, you were so patient but as always gave us some exceptional results.

Here is one of the first images we took, I am sure you will agree, the lighting is stunning and Pippa even more so!

New toys

Steve has a new toy!

A beauty dish.....after a day at the weekend spent with our new strobist friends admiring their home made beauty dish, Steve and his dad have designed their own and its now being tested - Molly our lovely dog is posing for Steve. Poor Molly is going to be star struck.... I hope she doesn't expect to be photographed every day of the week!!

Here she is, Molly, 13 years old - her teeth and eyes are looking a little tired but she can give our 2 year old terrier a run for his money.

Custard Factory 1960's shoot

Well...today has been a great day.....up there with some of our best shoots!

This morning, Steve and I opened up our studio to a selection of photographers and models to use our facilities before moving on to the Custard Factory, Birmingham.

The 1960's day was organised by Duane, a model from Purestorm. Duane had co-ordinated the day to allow models and togs to be able to shoot in a great setting....with a retro 60's feel.

We had 8 photographers and 2 models in our studio - all lovely guys. We chatted, drank tea and shot some great images before moving on into the city at mid-day.

Here we met Duane, Mel and all the others. All of the models had made a huge effort to recreate the feel of the swingin' 60's. Short skirts, pyschedellic dresses, kinky boots and sharp suits were all being worn.

The weather was pretty poor but it didnt dampen anyones spirits...having full access to the Custard Factory (including all the little corridors and behind the scenes areas) were priceless.

Both Steve and I made some new friends today, people had travelled 100's of miles to get to the shoot...it was certainly worth while.

We've already looked at our images and cant wait to edit them. As a little taster... here is one of them: