Calander shoot with Sarah

I was asked by my good friend and flat mate Sarah whether I could help her out to make some pictures for a calendar she was making as a Christmas present. If you know anything about photographers then you will know that this is the kind of question which would get any photog's heart pounding and I had the time on my hands (or at least I thought I did) so of course I jumped at the chance for a new project to work on.

Now I'm not sure what she was expecting, I think she was half expecting me to pull out a point and shoot and fire off some quick pictures and that the whole process would be over in a matter of minutes ... haha little did she know what she was signing herself up for :)

No, actually after the initial shock of just how much time this project would take to complete, she was really helpful and came up with some great concepts and was really open and willing to give things a try. This was my first "major" solo project so the learning curve was pretty steep. Never the less we managed to work well as a team after recruiting in some help from our friends to take up the roles of photo assistants - mainly VALS (voice activated light stands) because at the time of the shoot, I did not yet have any light stands to mount my speed lights. We were also lucky enough to welcome on board MAC Cosmetics make up artist and body painter Tristan Eckert who did a great job with the make up for the shoots. Tristan's latest exploits can be found at http://www.20min.ch/life/lifestyle/story/24919783

Massive thanks guys - without you, this project would not have been possible!

Here are some of the shots which I have been aloud to show, due to the private nature of the shoot, some of my favourite shots will unfortunately never see the light of day but the lessons which I learn't both in regards to lighting and project management will never be lost :