Roadtrip: VW T25 Campervan in the Snow
We drove upto Wasdale in Cookie, from Warwickshire on the Thursday night, arriving in the dark about 9pm. The views there are stunning but arriving in the dark we couldnt see a thing, we were excited to wake up and see our surroundings. The wind was really starting to get up and made the last [...]
Latex Location fashion photoshoot
Mery is a young lady I met through Purpleport, who was keen to arrange a location shoot to shoot some clothing a local designer had loaned her. The outfit was provided by ASD Latex, so I packed the car and headed over to Birmingham. It’s safe to say it was extremely cold and I wasn’t [...]
February SWPP Monthly Contest – 3 highly commended awards
Very pleased to hear I received 3 highly commended awards in the February 2013 SWPP monthly photography contest, in the categories Monochrome, Portrait Avant Garde and Open Avante Garde. The first photograph on the left I called Aspire, and is of musician and actor Simon Hall Jr. Simon is a very talented guy, and working [...]
Free Skin Soften Action for Photoshop
Please view this tutorial in 720p to ensure you can see the detail. It is a very quick tutorial on how to use a very simple skin softening action that I created. Now don’t let this fool you I dont just run this action, there are a great deal more layers of processing that I [...]
Snap Out Of It Project, a message from Matthew
So it begins… Snap Out Of It is a project that is very close to my heart, and the more I discuss it with friends and family, the more I realise that most of us have been touched by depression in one way or another. For some its a direct experience, for others they have [...]
Experimental art nude body painting make up shoot
Sometimes its good to just setup the studio and collaborate with other creatives and see what you can come up with. Sunday was just such a day, meeting up with Loretta Hope and MUA Helen Ginder. Helen trained with my good friend Neil Hughes and was keen to shoot something after a period away from [...]
The Silence: Speak out, beat depression.
Depression is something that can be different for each individual, and each person will find different ways of coping. However with advice and support the ability to cope, manage and even eliminate our symptoms can grow in strength massively. Often when we are feeling at such a low, the world can appear somewhat different to [...]
Merry Christmas and here’s to 2013
Well 2012 seems to have vanished in the blink of an eye. I had big plans for 2012 and I am sorry to admit I only dented the list of things I wanted to do. I am fortunate that photography is not a job for me but a passion that gives me great enjoyment. Photography [...]
Snap Out Of It – Project to raise awareness of mental health/depression – First Look
The above image is the first look at forthcoming images to be released as part of the Snap Out Of It project What is “Snap out of it”? It is a new photography project conceived by Matthew Bridge-Wilkinson to highlight and explore the issues and stigma attached to mental illness. Most specifically to focus and [...]
Autumn Location Shoot
Roxana in autumn colours at St Paul’s Square Birmingham I feel I must start this short post with an apologise for the lack of updates. It is safe to say that I’ve been incredibly busy and sadly not as much with photography as I would like. I’ve been shooting some actor headshots of late, very [...]
Portraits in the Park – urban environmental
It was a stunning day when I travelled out of Warwickshire and down the m40 to London, to shoot some portraits in the park. It was my intention to attend a training day organised by Tim Hoy but as it turned out I ended up giving a short talk and demonstration in Off camera flash and [...]
Coventry – Urban Environmental Portrait Photography
Today saw me heading out to shoot some on location in Coventry to shoot urban environmental portraits. An environmental portrait is simply a portrait ahot on location out in the real world as opposed to a studio. The locations can be anywhere, be that a stately home, your own house, the beach, out in the [...]
How to improve your photography, its about investment in you
I am writing this to all the aspiring photographers who occasionally read my blog. It’s safe to say that the interest from other photographers in my work has grown massively in the last 12 months. The more my work improves and the higher my standards, the more I receive mails and contacts from other photographers, [...]
Spring has sprung and an announcement or two.
Spring has finally sprung (fingers crossed), and the sun is once more shining. It’s been a busy few months for me and I admit I haven’t had much spare time. Still it has been for good reasons, so I am happy to make several announcements. Firstly effective immediately I will no longer be taking [...]
Environmental Portrait Photography in the Snow, Coventry
With the weather turning warmer and spring… erm springing, or at least trying to, I thought I would blog about a recent shoot I did on the street of Coventry, close the cathedral. It was during the brief but heavy snowfall that hit us and despite being unable to feel our fingers I just had [...]
Mayan inspired body art/painting
This was an interesting shoot in that it was shot in a tiny meeting room in a Redditch hotel, to create and capture some Mayan Inspired body art/painting. Despite the limits on space, the possibilities are still endless. I teamed up with Makeup artist Liz Sifford and Simon Hall Jr. musician from Birmingham. The makeup [...]
Boudoir Photoshoot
Whilst I was in Venice, far from the comforts of my Warwickshire home, I had had the privilege to shoot my friend Loretta, you will have no doubt already seen those pictures. On the last day we also took a short break to shoot some images inside the apartment we stayed in. Boudoir photography is [...]
Charlie – On Reflection – portrait photography with a twist
This is an image I just had to share, it was shot recently at Damian McGillicuddy’s studio, and was done during a mentoring day (Mentor Me On Steroids – MMOS). This day was particularly exciting in that the shoot was unsupervised. I was given one hour free reign in the studio, from choosing the wonderful [...]
Streets of Venice – Location photoshoot
Wow I must admit February is usually a very quiet month photography wise, its often the build up prior to the start of the photography season in spring. This year however was different, a trip to venice was on the cards. I was fortunate to share an apartment with 3 other photographers and 2 models [...]
Canon and Off Camera Flash, The flaw, the sad truth
I have used Canon SLRs since I started photography a little over 4 years ago. I have owned many cameras, starting with the 350d which was my first and at present I use 7d and 5d Mk2 cameras for my work. I have a variety of L glass and 2 Canon speedlites. I dread to [...]
Looking forward to 2012, New Project
It seems to have been a particularly mild winter this year, and I even managed to get a little time off to attend the SWWP Photography Convention in London. The convention really gave me a chance to meet fellow photographers, network and find inspiration for 2012. The year is certainly an exciting prospect for me. [...]
The Seasons, make up shoot in Redditch
If you have followed my blog you will know I adore working with make up artists, especially if the work is a something a little less ordinary. So todays shoot wasn’t in Warwickshire but just down the road in Redditch. There were four of us involved Lizzie Sifford a young but talented makeup artist, Loretta [...]
Another Gold Award! Photojournalistic wedding image
Proud to announce yet another Gold Award in the SWPP monthly competition. This image was entered into the wedding photojournalist category and was taken at Clearwell Castle on a wedding with Treasured Forever. Although originally awarded a silver was upgraded to a gold following a review of all silvers by the senior judges within the [...]
SWPP November Competition – Gold Award
November see’s the last monthly competition with the Societies. Being a member of the SWPP I thought it was about time I entered a few more images and the last one of the year seemed fitting. I entered a few images and am pleased to announce I was awarded 1 Gold award for this image [...]