Love Umbrellas 2011

I have recently worked with Love Umbrellas to create images that feature their beautiful umbrellas in. 

It is suprisingly difficult to shoot models when you are trying to keep the focus on the umbrellas, having the umbrella at the right angle to show both the inside and the outside was quite difficult to get to grips with at first especially as these umbrellas had a unique shape.

This image and the following image are up there with my all time favourite photos I have ever taken.  I just love how summery the image looks and how elegant and pretty the final image became! 

If you could have seen the actual location, you would appreciate this image more! in real life the location was not as beautiful and meadow-like as this, it was off a very busy main road and these were the only visible flowers.  By taking the image from the ground up, I was able to mask out the passing cars, the road and the nearby houses and create a look as through the model was wandering through the meadows.  In retouching I edited the colours of the flowers etc to match the umbrella and altered the model's dress colour.  By doing so, this made the image more deliberate looking and everything coordinated beautifully.

I laboured intensly to add raindrops to this image during retouching but I was never happy with the final image as I didn't think it was authentic enough.  I then decided to go for a more eerie look in terms of colouring and added texture to the final image to create a subliminal feel of rain rather than actually adding rain and making the image look rubbish.

This image became one to be proud of after retouching.  By adding in a spotlight and enhancing the colours I was able to bring full attention to the umbrella, making the image funky and different.  The model adopted a relaxed but deliberately awkward pose which added to this quirky final image.

To view more or to purchase one of these beautiful umbrellas visit http://www.loveumbrellas.co.uk/

Mash xx