I had an absolutely lovely day in Kirkby Lonsdale last week, having been asked to take some advertising photos for Kirsty Allan at her home.

Kirsty lives in a fantastic old house, a little bit kooky and oozing with character, and her family were so warm and incredibly welcoming. I was even treated to a gorgeous lunch, eaten outside on the lawn!

Kirsty is a University based researcher who has just completed her PhD, as well as a coach and consultant on sensitivity, psi (ie extra sensory) phenomena and the capacities of consciousness. She is the owner of Kirsty Allan Consultancy & Coaching and The If Crowd, a tribe of which I am delighted to be a member.

I’m not used to doing location shooting and usually take all my portraits and creative shots indoors in my little studio, with fixed lighting. It’s much more challenging shooting outdoors, with the unpredictable and contrasty sun, or with portable lights and soft boxes. However, I tried to provide a mixture of types of photos so that Kirsty had a choice of images to use, some of which are shown below. We had a chat first about the kinds of pictures she had in mind, which were mainly natural outdoors shots, but we also agreed I could have a little creative licence and see what I came up with.

Kirsty even owns a snake called Deliah, who decided to get in on the act, and I also took some shots of her two delightful boys. It really was a fun, relaxed and interesting day and I hope not the only time I get to visit.