Paul Saxby Photography
Stunning Fine Art Wedding and Portrait photography by Award Winning Photographer Paul Saxby.
Paul creates sophisticated yet informal and highly imaginative portrait and wedding photography in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Leicstershire, Warwickshire and Derbyshire. Paul has worked all over the UK and has accepted commissions in Europe and the US.
Despite being constantly in demand, Paul limits himself to 14 wedding commissions each season and 16 portrait commissions each month.
Paul is also the official baby photographer for the Emma`s Diary baby program for the Newark, Mansfield and Grantham areas. Paul has a comfortable , family friendly studio within easy reach of Newark town centre. The studio offers extensive facilities including free refreshments and baby changing facilities as well as ample parking and ground floor access.
Paul is proud to offer a wide range of superb quality, high value, photographic products at an affordable price.
East Midlands MPA Portrait Photographer of the Year 2010
East Midlands MPA Pet Photographer of the Year 2009
East Midlands MPA Licentiate Wedding Photographer of the Year 2008
My Favourite Portrait
22 July 2010
A Simple Portrait
My favourite images are quite often the simplest. This portrait was made whilst enjoying a musical interlude at Janina`s home in Finland. I had been invited to a barbeque the day after her wedding and I took the opportunity to photograph some of the guests enjoying themselves.
In the Pink...
13 May 2010
Back to work with a bang.... several months out of the studio with a severe back injury has been difficult, but thankfully I`m on the mend and back to work.
One of the first jobs I took on in the newly refurbished studio was to photograph Olivia. 8 going on 18, Olivia has loads of character and is full of fun. Pulling faces and playing up for the camera was not a problem as the photos demonstrate.
Before the photoshoot I had spent sometime discussing with Olivias Mum exactly what they wanted and we came to the conclusion that a simple pink backdrop would be perfect to show of Olivia`s personality, especially since it is her favourite colour.
For the photo geeks amongst you, I used an Orbis Ringflash to light this shot. Olivia was backed right up against the pink backdrop which shows the soft shadow created by the circular flash.
Olivia`s face lit up everytime I lifted the camera, I didn`t need to direct Olivia to pose for most of the photos, I just gave her some ideas and she just went with it.
A change of outfit didn`t slow Olivia down. The photographs just kept coming...
A change of mood came with the next outfit change. I simply asked Olivia to look out of the frame while I moved in close with my favourite lens. The simple Canon 50mm f1.4 is incredibly sharp,even wide open, allowing me to isolate Olivia`s eyes and let her face blend into the pink backdrop.
I love this shot. I had suggested to Olivia`s Mum to bring along a range of outfits and props that mean something to her and Olivia. I was surprised to see a riding outfit including a proper riding hat with a lovely bright pink cover which perfectly complimented the chosen backdrop. The simplicity of the pose,as well as the lighting, really makes Olivia appear older, and probably wiser, than she really lets on...
If you think your 8 year old would enjoy being photographed, feel free to give me a call...
Iron Psyche - Emma James World Champion Power Lifter
05 March 2010
Yesterday I was lucky enough to photograph one of the most interesting women I have ever met.
Emma James is a World Champion Power Lifter, and a NLP Coach who works with Elite Athletes, in particularly Power lifters like herself. Emma is in the process of releasing a new DVD about her work called Iron Psyche.
Emma drove down from Manchester to my studio in Newark to have her photograph taken.
I photographed Emma using a single Bowens Studio Flash with a simple Grid Spot attachment. The Bowens was a little too powerful for my needs so I had to stuff the head with some diffusion material to knock the exposure down which allowed me to record Emma without blowing out her skin.
I directed the light to skim across Emma`s body to show the contours of her muscles. Emma admitted she is no longer a body builder so her muscles are not as defined as they used to be, even so, she has an incredible body which made an interesting subject to photograph.
I have always found athletes interesting. Anybody that can apply so much dedication to shaping there body to acheive a particular aim, such as power lifting, long distance swimming, or running deserves respect. I know I used to be fairly fit, but know I am a wreck in comparison to these guys.
Mezzo Soprano Victoria Gray
21 February 2010
This weekend I had the pleasure of photographing Victoria Gray. Victoria is a Mezzo Soprano Opera Singer and is touted as being the new rising star of Opera singing. Not only is Victoria extremely talented, but she is stunningly beautiful and extremely professional in front of the camera which makes my job so much easier.
The photographs were taken shortly before her performance at The Queen Elizabeth School in Mansfield at the weekend. I had worked at the school before and I knew that the school was a lovely old building with loads of character, but the main hall is lit with a mixture of horrible overhead tungsten and fluorescent lights which means the colour is all over the place, so just to be on the safe side I took my Vivitar 285HV`s and my Al Jacobs Black Box. This kit incredibly simple, but allows me to provide studio quality lighting in almost any environment.
To make the photographs, I simply fired the Vivitar 285 through a white shoot through umbrella. I deliberately underexposed the available light by setting my camera to its top sync speed of 1/250th which allowed me to totally remove the horrible yellow/green light that lit the hall.
After the official portrait session, Victoria left to prepare for the concert. While she got ready I set up the Vivitar just right of the stage. I removed the umbrella and zoomed out the reflector head to its maximum setting so that the flash cast a tight beam of light across the stage. This allowed me to highlight Victoria as she performed and create some atmosphere in the photographs.
More photographs from Victoria`s performance will be in a forthcoming issue of Life and Style magazine, available from most good outlets in the Newark and Nottingham area.
Pole Dancers - Entertainers or Athletes?
21 July 2009
I don`t often get jobs like this one, photographing a scantily clad young lady... and getting paid for it!!!
This job was to shoot some photographs of Roseanna, a Pole Dancing Instructor, for her promotional material. Roseanna only opened her school, Vertical Fitness, a few weeks ago and has had a flood of enquiries from ladies of all ages wanting to do something a little different to keep fit. Working out in the gym is often boring, or expensive or even both, so Roseanna has set up this new facility in Newark so girls can exercise in a safe environment and have fun at the same time.
The dance studio had been fitted out with plenty of shiny new poles, but still had exposed breeze block walls, so I set up a white backdrop against the wall to hide the brickwork and clean the image up. I kept the lighting simple with a single 50 inch softbox lighting Roseanna and the pole and a pair of Vivitar 285HV`s lighting the white backdrop. Roseanna is extremely fit, and was able to hold almost all of her poses for several seconds while I shot multiple images from different angles. Before long I was beginning to feel terribly old!!
I also photographed a few images with a dark background. To do this I simply moved my lights closer to Roseanna, this forced me to close the aperture, which means the exposure falls off rapidly, making the backdrop go black. I also moved the Vivitars behind Roseanna for some shots to silhoette her, this gave a raunchy night club feel to the images.
Kieli and Ben.... just too good looking to be fair....
19 June 2009
Some people have all the luck.... great jobs, amazing homes, good looks..... I`m not jealous... really...
Kieli and Ben are due to get married this weekend, so we decided to get together at the venue to discuss their plans and discuss what they wanted from me as their photographer. I really appreciate clients like this, both are talented professionals, Kieli is a professional Graphic Designer so she knows exactly what she likes in an image, which also meant she understood me and my style of photography.
Ben is extremely comfortable in front of the camera. Easy to photograph with rugged good looks he is perfect `man at millets` material... which makes my job a whole lot easier. Most men are uneasy infront of a camera, they often become stiff and lifeless, while Ben was easy to direct. Soft but direct light in the shade cast by a huge fire escape, creates just enough modelling to accentuate bens features, but not too much as to dominate the image.
Photographing Kieli in the same space was easy, yet again Kieli was easy, if not a little giggly, in front of the camera. Kieli is tall and elegant, her body language was relaxed and friendly, not at all nervous about the big day which was due any day. Ben and Kieli teased each other as I shot away. They laughed and joked with each other as I positioned them in the alcove under the stair well giving me the chance to capyure some lovely portraits.....
