I recently attended a Session Days Noir event at AWOL studios in Manchester led by Graham Currey and Emma Finch. The intent was to create some images with that old Hollywood black and white film-star look and we had RJ and Cherie as our models for the day. The lighting setups are a little different to the modern, softer approach and involve a somewhat harsher light source which must be placed fairly accurately to gain the intended images. Images were created that certainly hit the mark with a few failures from not quite getting the lights in quite the right place or the pose not just so but these were all part of the learning process I suppose. Working in small groups is a little different to working on your own as I am always conscious of the other photographer’s around me and not getting in their way. There is always the minor issue of duplicate photographs coming out these events which can dilute the success of your own images in competitions and exhibitions – but I try to work harder to make mine visually different.

Prior to this session I had spent a few hours in another studio trying out my own approaches to lighting in this style with Faye Noir, again with good degrees of success. Below are shots of each of the models that I worked with and more can be seen here.