#bremridge

This is Ivan Massow. Ivan is a gay rights campaigner and London mayoral candidate. Photographed for Estates Gazette magazine just off Russell Square. 

                         JONO WOOD - SNOWBOARDER / ARTIST

Jono Wood is a London based graphic designer and artist from a skateboard/snowboard industry background. He's designed snowboards and skate decks along with other artwork for the likes of Nike, Redbull, Capita and Habitat. 

I wanted to shoot some really traditional style portraits of Jono and chose to do the shoot at Studio Dog House in West London. Its a great spot to shoot. Next to a pub (25% discount!) and it has both a white cove and a wooden floor. I'm a huge fan of wooden floored studios as you can shoot work there that doesn't look much like it's shot in a studio. We used my recently acquired distressed backdrop which works amazingly for the Rembrant-ish  moodiness of the photos.

I've started looking at a lot of classic art for portrait and lighting inspiration rather than just studying other photography. It's amazing how much you can learn from a stroll around the National Portrait Gallery in London. 

The last 3 are done in the white cove and with a totally different vibe to the others. I wanted to shoot something a bit more light hearted. The studio has a dog wandering around at all times and, due to being a huge dog lover, I decided to get him involved too.

Lighting:

46" Photek Softlighter - 4ft to camera left, 2ft higher than Jono