Header photo: Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 9 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

J Downward is a hobbyist photographer based in Bolton, United Kingdom, with more than 12 years of experience.  

After sharing his shoot (featuring model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location) with the PurplePort community, John (from J Downward) generously gave us his time for a quick interview, where he shared how these fabulous images were created, the inspirations behind the shoot, how it was planned, the camera gear he used, and much more.

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 16 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 11 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

SHARE A SHOOT with J Downward

How did you come up with the concept? Did anything inspire you?

I had previously shot at Basford Hurst Cottage a few weeks before with Artemis Fauna. This allowed me to gauge the natural light coming into the locations myself and Miss C ended up shooting in, and it helped me envision what I wanted to capture with Miss C.

Thankfully, we had lovely weather on the day, which always helps. I also brought along the orange suit and the latex body suit as I felt they would suit both the location and Miss C.

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 5 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 4 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

What did you do to plan the shoot?

I tend to try not to plan a shoot to the letter. Instead, I have vague ideas, emotions, and styles that I would like to capture with a model. Sometimes, this will be off the back of the model's portfolio itself as they shoot that particular style well.

In this case, I had already met Miss C a few weeks before at the location, so it was more around what I thought I could do with the light I had seen at that time.

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 13 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 14 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

How did you arrange the shoot?

When shooting at Basford with Artemis, I asked Miss C if she would potentially like to shoot at a future date.

Once I got back from that shoot and had gone through and edited some images, I had an idea of what I would like to create with Miss C. At this point, I reached out to her on Instagram as she had shared some of the Artemis images there, and then we finalised the booking on PurplePort using the calendar.

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 9 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 6 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 15 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

What was it like shooting at that location?

Basford Hurst Cottage is a beautiful location. Both times I have been there now Miss C has been welcoming and friendly.

The light and locations are fantastic, in my opinion, and I feel like I have only scratched the surface of what I could create shooting there. I would highly recommend the location to anyone thinking about booking!

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 10 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 7 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

Tell us about the gear you used.

I have a Nikon D850. For the portraits, I used a 50mm 1.4 prime lens and an 85mm 1.8 lens. I tend to use prime lenses rather than zoom lenses, which means I have to shuffle around a lot to get the right framing. 

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 3 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 8 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

What's your favourite image from the shoot?

My favourite image is a toss-up between this one and this one (see below). It's hard to decide, and even if I say so myself, I feel Miss C and I created many great images on the day.

Miss C - Basford Hurst Cottage 1 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

Miss C Basford Hurst Cottage 12 by photographer J Downward with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location

Thank you, J Downward, for sharing your creativity, experience and images with us. We loved learning all about your photoshoot with model Miss_C at Basford Hurst Cottage Photography Location!

We hope you all loved it, too. Don't forget to check out the links below to see more of J Downward's work!

Here's where you can find more of J Downward's work

PurplePort: J Downward

Instagram: john_downward_photography

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