How a clifftop shoot lead to a campaign shoot

In May 2020, the UK lockdown was eased for the first time … and I was DESPERATE to create some new imagery. We were still very limited in what we could do, but we were allowed once again to meet one person outdoors.

I contacted a model, and my good friend, Lucy. She lived nearby (I was still in Cornwall at the time) and we met up on the most beautiful, sunny evening to shoot for about 2 hours. I couldn't go near her, there was no team, and we had no clothing other than my own clothes from my wardrobe.

But what I had done was planned. I had a vision. I had a shot list. I knew exactly what I wanted to create (I'd had long enough locked in my home to plan it all!!!). I wanted to capture the feeling of freedom, of the joy of finally being outdoors and embracing the beautiful landscape that we were lucky to be surrounded by.

The images that I shot on that evening were simple, but they remain some of my favourites. What's more, that exact shoot lead to a previous client approaching me, and asking for me to shoot their next campaign in the same spot, with a similar look and feel.

Wear Next had been a client of mine for a while already, so when she saw the images and approached me to recreate them for her, I was thrilled.

But more than anything, that showed me very clearly that taking the time to produce personal projects really did lead to client work. The evidence of that couldn't have been clearer than in that moment.