You can see more photos from this shoot here: http://fairieswatchoverme.deviantart.com/gallery/#kevin

I just wrote an article for a local magazine about working with this guy so best thing is probably to paste that here:

When Kevin first contacted me last year asking if I'd like to do a photoshoot with him I was a little apprehensive.  Kevin has Cerebral Palsey, which effects his body and speech and my normal comfort zone is fashion and editorial style shoots so I wondered whether I was a little out of my depth here.  But I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to push my boundaries so I agreed. 

We made arrangements to meet at our studio on Mutley Plain and just before 2pm I wandered up to the entrance to the studio to look out for Kevin and was somewhat surprised to find him pushing himself backwards (and unassisted) in his wheelchair down the road towards me!

He got himself into the studio and quickly into position and away we went.  Asking mainly yes/no questions made communication quite easy and when necessary Kevin used a paper keyboard to spell out words by pointing to the letters with his nose.  I've worked with many models over the last few years and rarely have I found someone as confident and aware of their own body as Kevin.  From the word go he was confidently moving into different poses, pushing his body to express such wonderful angles, positions and emotion.

The shoot became one of the most inspiring shoots I have done and working with Kevin was a humbling and pleasurable experience.  Since our shoot Kevin has become a regular life model at Plymouth College of Art & Design and has just been accepted on the dance and drama degree at Plymouth University.  You can watch an awe inspiring movement / dance performance by Kevin as a model at http://tinyurl.com/ndfvv8

Kevin is no stranger to performance though - he starred alongside Robert Carlyle in a ITV drama screened in 2005 and previously modelled for a national Scope campaign.  He has also travelled the world, stood for MEP and writes political and motivational speeches.

You'll often see Kevin pushing himself around Plymouth in his wheelchair.  If you see him - don't be put off by his disability - he really is much more about his abilities than his disabilities and he is very receptive so stop and say hi.

You can find out more about Kevin on his website at http://www.disabledkevin.com

Bumping back this very informative and entertaining thread. Who's next?

I've just finished reading this thread, and wow!  Please, people- do not let this thread die!  It is too good a thread for that to happen!

Four months and no postings - what a shame - a very informative thread.

Maybe this will highlight the thread to encourage activity. :-)

Some really beautiful work.

I wish this thread was updated more often - it would be very helpful for people looking to learn various aspects of image creation. I'll contribute with a recent image:

Here's the before and after versions of the Pic of the Day winner from May 4th, 2011 - I was lucky enough to win both contests, the original and main edition.

Fairly standard photoshop work (although somewhat time-consuming). Still, I thought I would put it up - if anyone has any questions about the process involved in the creation of this image, be it makeup, hair, camera, lighting, or retouching, feel free to ask.

/\/\/\/\  that's tough act to follow /\/\/\/\

AMAZING! I WISH I COULD EDIT LIKE U! NOT THERE YET. WOW!

David Hirsh wrote:
I wish this thread was updated more often - it would be very helpful for people looking to learn various aspects of image creation. I'll contribute with a recent image:

Here's the before and after versions of the Pic of the Day winner from May 4th, 2011 - I was lucky enough to win both contests, the original and main edition.

Fairly standard photoshop work (although somewhat time-consuming). Still, I thought I would put it up - if anyone has any questions about the process involved in the creation of this image, be it makeup, hair, camera, lighting, or retouching, feel free to ask.

It's sad that this thread died.  I recently submitted a pic of the day and won for this image. (I think August 9th 2012)

I shot that image close to sunset on a hill by the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC.  One light, elinchrom ranger with a a maxilight reflector held camera right and about 8 feet high by my 6'5" assistant.  I shot it with a tokina 11-16 lens on a d300.  Like almost all of my pictures I did very little post production.  Here is the original.


That's straight out of the camera.  You can see that I cloned out some of the background trees on the right and added a little contrast to the sky.  The key, I think was just getting the right sunset behind her, and the positioning of the ultra wide lens.
For sunsets, I like days where it just might rain, or it just finished raining.  I use applications like light trac to tell me where the sun will be setting, direction and time. 

As far as the wide angle lens is concerned, you have to make her look like she is standing at the top of the world by shooting from ant-height. You have to get the horizon right at her feet, or you don't get the drama. 

The makeup artist - Anthony Payne helped get her pose, and we just shot from there.


We shot some other outfits that day including my white shirt.  That's the shirt I use when I can't think of anything else.


So this picture was relatively easy because the sunset provided the beauty of it. 

Other pictures from the day:
http://spinero.smugmug.com/Fashion/Mand … 24&k=BejHM

And tips from my blog: http://blog.sampinero.com