Hosepipe ban

We had a very dry spring here in the Lake District which meant the reservoirs running very low and our trusted utilities company slapping a hosepipe ban on the entire North West. What has this got to do with photography I hear you ask? Everything.

From the day the ban came in to force it has rained. Heavy rain, light rain, drizzle, we've had the lot which makes booking a model a fraught procedure. As I mostly shoot outdoors, keeping an eye on the forecast is mandatory. So when one of my favourite models emails to say she's got a cancellation for 3 days time, would I like to shoot, I have to weigh up the odds of a downpour interrupting us.

Still it was Raphaella and for some reason the sun always shines when we work together, so despite a very poor forecast I went ahead and committed. And yes, as I met her off the train, the clouds parted and the sun came out - briefly.

The shoot this time was a little different for us both. There are plenty of quiet places I know of but I wanted to do something in a more classical setting. I have had a location in mind for quite some time that was ideal, the only problem being that it was in a public area and there were quite a lot of folks around, it being the middle of the summer holidays. Anyway we got an early start and actually managed to shoot an amazing amount of images in a very short time.

Not wishing to push our luck, we quit whilst we were ahead and moved on into a woodland area where the rain had made the vegetation such a lush green that it formed a sumptuous background for Raph to pose in.

Then it was quickly back home to meet the family and the briefest of shoots in the studio before getting her back on the train and off to her next shoot. These are a few of the images, hope to have some more on my site soon.