Ninesprings country park in Yeovil, Somerset is a large park of over 20 acres offering a whole host of different environments and perfect for a photoshoot. It offers many areas of interest to a photographer, both in terms of portrait photography and nature photography.
I was shooting with a male model Ryan (@ryanpmodel) as a portfolio builder. We were in partial lockdown due to Covid so this was a socially distanced shoot in line with guidelines.
Equipment wise I had my Canon 5d Mk4 and two lenses. One of my favourite lenses, my Sigma 24-70 and an older Tamron 55-200 telephoto lens that I wanted to brush the cobwebs off and give it a go.
I met with Ryan for the photoshoot on a very cold, fogging morning at the end of November. It was really chilly so I was very happy to find the café open (for takeaways only due to Covid restrictions) but serving lovely coffee to warm me up and make me happy .
While I had never been to the park before, Ryan was familiar with the different areas and had lots of suggestions of places to shoot.
We started by one of the pond areas where the fog was still touching the water, giving a great backdrop to the images. A this point I was using my Sigma Lens. I love this lens as it is so adaptable, it gives me great pin sharp portraits close up but also the ability to blur the background if want. In this instance the fog did a great job with that itself.
We moved on up the path and through the wooded areas to find a fallen tree and some chopped logs, here we were able to use the logs to pose and also to clamber on to get a great high shot. I like to use lots of different angles some of these can be a bit wobbly at times but needs must!!
The park has other areas of built arches and steps which make great features, as well as the beautiful tress and winter foliage. I changed to the Tamron Lens. This lens I had had since the beginning of my photography journey and was a little worn out to say the least. I never use it nowadays; it is usually attached to my husband’s camera for holiday snaps. However, it reached the focal lengths that I wanted to try for this shoot so out it came, cobwebs brushed off. I was pleasantly surprised at the results I got with the lens, although not as pin sharp as a modern lens it certainly gave me some fantastic shots.
At the edge of the park is the local leisure centre and I had spotted some interesting louvre doors to one side of this building. We stopped by and took a few shots using these doors as a backdrop. We were really pleased with the arty, industrial effect this gave the images.
Through the park runs the disused Great Weston Railway track bed with a splendid bridge spanning the track. Here I could get some really good portraits with Ryan stood under the bridge lit by the light shining under the bridge. This allowed me to get a really dark background and clear shot of Ryan.
It is always great to shoot in locations that give so much variety, it adds interest to a portfolio of images but also gives me as the photographer interest and challenges with the different environments and lighting conditions.
Follow Ryan Pringle at IG ryanpmodel.