December Updates and it is Christmas Again !

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Seasons greetings and welcome back to my little rant … sorry blog …. on the web

Is it just me getting older or is time moving faster? It does not seem long ago when it was last years Christmas period. So not only is it Jesus birthday but it is also the time when Mariah Carey and Michael Bublé come out to play again alongside some golden oldies from Slade and Roy Wood of Wizard. Its all a bit much for me and try my best to ignore it. But when you hear one of those tunes its like an ear worm and it plays over and over again in your head. Very annoying when you are trying to get some shut eye. As a seasonal treat the other day I ate a 'Snickers' Chocolate bar and was hugely disappointed. I can remember when they used to be called 'Marathon' bars. They were huge, so big that you could beat a man to death with one and needed to dislocate your jaw like an anaconda to eat it. Now its this small pathetic little thing that is twice the price it used to be. Or is it that I am looking back through rose tinted glasses? Never mind, nothing lasts forever … except B.O..

Its been quite a busy year this year with plenty of shoots and still more to come in 2024. I am already booked up till May. Looking ahead we will be working with Zoe Birtwhistle again in February and saying hello to a model who first contacted me twenty years ago. From Manchester the amazing singer and celeb Alexis Victoria Hall. After all this time, we are finally going to be working with each other. I just pray the weather is decent and it is not snowing?

The street photography website is coming on with even my wife Amy taking the camera out on her own and doing some great shots. So much so that I have had to add her name to the website as a contribute. To remind you all again the site is called 'Streets Of Your Town' (See it here).

That s about it for now, so here is wishing you all a great Christmas and even greater New Year. Thank then to all of the people who have collaborated on my work this last year. I could not have done it without you (for sure !). To many to mention, but you know who you are. Thank you.

Enjoy this months blog.


Digital Art - Update

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Turn back the clock to Novembers blog when I spoke about a shoot I did in the Boardroom Studio and Zavod Studio on the same day? One was with tattooed model Izzy Holliday a recreation of a panel from a graphic novel called 'Judgement On Gotham' (Judge Dredd vs Batman) where Judge Death is being tormented by his fears (Cuddly toys) With Izzy we also made a pictures with Izzy kicking a vending machine in Death Valley. picture is called 'Shit ! …. and I came all this way …?' Notice the child's tricycle and UFO's above. So who has come all this way?

Check out also pictures of taken of Xenia Model in the Debbie Harry 'Koo Koo' inspired LP, shot in her Zavod Studio in Sheffield/.The pins through her face were created by using knitting needles and added to the portrait in post production (Photoshop) edit As well as a simple portrait that stops and makes you look twice … asking what is wrong with this picture? There is also a one of digital creation featuring Mercybongo. That I will go into in the shoot section below.

Still Life – Update

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A few still life pictures for you all. I was inspired by something I viewed on Instagram of a still life using pears. I could not stop going back to it and studying the way it looked, light, angle, grain and colour. So then I wanted to do one for myself only better if I can? Here is the result thrown in with a few Still Life Daffodils I did also, but will only use one of them in the Still Life gallery (the blurred one)y. Please enjoy.

Mercybongo, Together Again & Vogue Scandinavia Shoot

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This here is Decembers studio shoot and again we are back with Mercybongo, who always looks and puts in 100 % to any job she does. Here we were creating an editorial style look in a red dress and black Vogue Scandinavia bag. The bag was padded out inside with rolls of toilet paper to give it some body, at no expense spared ! We also made a one of image based on a segment of the Janet Jackson video 'Together Again' where she is sitting under a tree in Africa, cuddling another double of herself. It pretty much worked and can be seen in the Digital Art section above. So thanks then to all there that shoot. To Mercybongo, to Shadrine at Kavour Beauty. To Phil Lynam at the Boardroom Studio and to both Amy and Carl for their help.

December Flower Updates

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So t his pretty much brings us to a close for this months session and another productive year. I know it always seems like I am handing out applause like a kid in sweet shop, but this really is team effort. Brambles Florist and Flowers To Yours go out of their way to get me some truly lovely flowers to photograph. They have never let me down. So huge thanks to Chris and all the staff at the Brambles and Flowers To Yours. A mention and thanks also to my dear wife, who help is invaluable.

I do hope you enjoy the four slide shows above for some of this years highlights and see you all next month … and see you all next year.

Seasons Greetings …. Bye for now x

November Updates and two shoots in two studios in two Cities and my final say on Parcel Farce

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Welcome back to my little piece of the internet, the Lujon Rael Portfolio site. Your all welcome x

Its been a busy month this month culminating with a three model shoot in two studios, in two cities.

Firstly we were at The Boardroom Studio in Derby to photograph the extraordinary Izzy Holiday model. A model full of tattoos she was not like the other models I work with. I normally have a preference for non – tattooed models, but Izzy fitted the job description to a tee. Sadly I have not finished editing them, so I shall have to share them with you at a layer date.

What we do have however is two sets from two models I shot with the team at the Zavod Studio in Sheffield. Zavod is owned by my friend a lovely model we have worked with before called Xenia. She is Russian (like Izzy Holiday) and has some strong opinions on the ongoing war in the Ukraine. Its safe to say she is not Vladimir Putins best buddy !! Anyway, Shadrine from Kavour Beauty did all the hair and makeup fro all three models, and we went for a very sophisticated look for both models at Zavod. The second model as a brilliant rising talent named Holly Whaling from Leeds. She reminded me of the young Jane Seymour actress, when she was in 'Live and let die' James Bond movie. Both models were oozing class and sophistication, which I do like in pictures. So please enjoy the the team and I created.

So that brings us to the ongoing disagreement with Parcel Farce as I like to call them. They paid £50 for my loss of the camera in their care. Yes they wiggled out of their customer responsibility and showed themselves to be a thoroughly bad player all round. And that is where I have left it. I was going to go after them and get my pound of flesh like Shylock, but that way leads to frustration and illness. I am reminded of the old Jamaican proverb … when you go after vengeance, be sure to dig two graves. I am also aware of the other adage, Dont waste your time flogging a dead horse? I have lost that camera. I will never see it or use it again. I am never going to get the money owed to me for its loss. But I will not get myself ill over it. Life really is too short for that. I have let it go. My only satisfaction is to let everyone know who is going to post a parcel, not to use the services of Parcel Farce from the Royal Mail..

Anyway enough of that BS here are this months photo offerings from the team I hope you all enjoy them and come back for more next month with a year ending shoot featuring the amazing Mercybongo.

Enjoy ...

Still Life Update

Some fresh still life images hot of the press. Featuring some flowers from the Brambles Florist and stuff Amy found in the hedgerow Do not get me wrong, I do not send Amy out to rout through the local hedges in her spare time, but she finds something interesting like a gnarled old stick or some berry's on branches that have fallen. Then bring them home and see if we can put them to good use in still life shots or even at studio photo shoots we have done in the past. So here are the results of this months offering, I hope you enjoy them. They were all taken in natural light and using several filters, some with Vaseline smeared on them so as to add a blurred effect. I am pleased with them and hope to do some more very soon if we can. Thank you Amy x.

Xenia Model Shoot at Zavod Studio

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This is our second shoot with Xenia Model and this time on her patch. We hired Xenia at her own studio in Sheffield, Zavod Studio. This being the second shoot of two Cities and two studios in one day. It exhausted me out, but worth it.

There are some specials for this part of the days work, but sadly at the time of publishing this blog for November, they were still not edited. I shall have to show you them with Izzt Holidays specials next month.

So thanks to all there. Xenia model. Amy and Shadrine from Kavour Beauty for her sterling work on makeup.

Also here is wishing Xenia a great wedding day this coming Saturday. All the best sweetheart x

Holly Whaling – First Shoot

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Its always good to work with new people from time to time and Holly Whaling is a fresh new face on the block. Elegant and sophisticated for someone so young, she looked great in front of the camera. We shot again at Zavod Studio in Sheffield, as Holly and her Mum Emma had to travel down from further north. So it was like meet in the middle. Holly was lovely and brilliant to work with. I got some pleasing results and dearly hope to work with her again in the new year. Thank you goes out to Holly and Emma as well as my team, Shadrine from Kavour Beauty on makeup and Amy for assistance. A shout out also to Xenia Model for her studio and lighting.

November Flower Updates

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Its getting mighty close to Christmas season, the season when Mariah Carey comes out of her cave to warble at us again. But not before we have just had Halloween and Fireworks night. And that is represented in the Brambles flower shop who have once again provided us with some really great flowers to work with. I am especially fond of the three football shaped plants on sticks that I have photographed before on their own and singulary, but never as a set of three. I even added them to the ever growing carousel pictures on the landing page of this web site (its the third picture in!). So a big thanks then goes out to our friends at Brambles Florist and Flowers to yours, Chris and the team for all of their input. Thanks also to Amy for helping with the shoot and organising the preparations to the shoot as she often does.

See you all next month for a festive season offering. X

October Updates, and adventures with Parcel Farce as well as a brand new website to look at !

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Welcome back to this months updated blog for October.

The season has defiantly changed, not that we had much of a Summer in the first place, but it is obviously autumnal now. So what has been going on this October? Well medically speaking I have been quite good this last month with only a few off days. Although I did have my thumb nail fall off. I had caught it in a Taxi door I was exiting a while back and bruised it. It did not hurt, just throbbed. But this month the whole thing just gave up and dropped off. Oh well, I never liked that nail anyway I keep telling myself.

I have been engaged with an ongoing battle with Parcel Farce this last month, trying to point out that I no longer have proof (from 2010) that I purchased the camera went missing. I attempted to point out that when I took out the extra insurance on the camera for its safe delivery, they never asked me if I could prove ownership. They only asked what is in the box and its cost. I then learn that the insurance the post office counters sold me was not in fact insurance, but instead a 'compensation scheme.' This is all semantics I pointed out as that is different from the policy I was told and sold by the Post Office. So on that grounds they offered to pay me a whopping ten pounds more for my troubles. So the amount went up from forty pounds (camera + P&P = $450.00) to a staggering fifty pounds! Well their generosity knows no bounds and I am left feeling completely shafted by them. They sent a cheque to my door even though I rejected the pittance they offered me – just to prove a point that their customer care was not worth the paper it was written on and that the great British public should watch out as they are being misled and lied to by Parcel Farce and its agents.

But on a more positive note, I have a brand new website for you all to see. Its called ‘Streets of your town' (www.streetsofyourtown.co.uk) and it features the street photography I have been doing for a while. There is a blog with the site, but it will only get updated when something new is added or I have an observation to tell you all about. Certainly not religiously at the end of every month as this blog is. Most of the images were taken locally to me and its still a work in progress. It also gets me out of the house more and getting some fresh air for a change. I thought about starting a new project page for it here on this website, but decided that to give the subject its own web space was better, as this website is almost full to capacity. Please go and have a look, I hope you enjoy it.

So more shoots coming up in November with two happening on the same day and in two different cities. I shall tell you more when they happen, and after it has wore me down for the week. A thank you then this month to the usual suspects. To Amy for her help. To Chris and the staff at Brambles Florist and Flowers To Yours. To model Marie Jean Saxton and studio owner Phil Lynam. A special thanks also to James from ACEABC taxi firm for getting us safely to the shoots every month. .

Keep smiling and enjoy the rest of this Halloween blog. Thanks x

Project – 'Architectural Metaphor' Update

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Do you ever look above eye level when your going about your business in town centres? You should try it some time. I found the architecture of our local library quite interesting and a surprise to me. Its something I had never noticed before and although a bit Brutalist in design, it does take a good picture. Featured here are also so images of local beauty spots (?) like the Bus Station, the Probation Office and the back of an old inn of renowned destitution opposite the probation office hang out for naughty boys and girls in the area. I hope you enjoy them.