References for Adrian Crook

PinPoint

I joined Adrian and Carla for a two hour shoot with Carla followed by 2 hour tutoring with Adrian on editing in Lightroom. Overall the session was fantastic and Adrian’s input on the editing side was invaluable; I learned so much in such a short space of time, just wished I’d had the session a few months ago! Adrian was clear and comprehensive in his explanation and demonstration of the workflow process and various techniques; he is friendly and very easy to get along with and clearly has a vast depth of experience and knowledge. I will certainly want to work with Adrian (and Carla) again. Very highly recommended.

Chris T Photography

Attended my 1st group shoot with run by Adrian and Carla at Neon Dreams on the weekend. There were 4 photographers so everyone had ample opportunity to capture some great images with Carla modelling. The style was film noir, the atmosphere was very relaxed and friendly with plenty of refreshments definitely up there with one of the best group shoots. A real pleasure. 100% recommended thank you

Mark21

It would be a real disservice of me not to leave a reference detailing the contributions made by Mr Crook to the recent group shoot of Saturday 29th July 2023 10am to 2pm.

From transport to and from the station and location and everything else.

Most welcoming and professional. In allowing a group to photograph Carla Monaco and taking such a keen interest. This I find most enlightening.

In my experience, when a significant other takes interest in what their significant other is doing, that always means trouble.

Not here.

Such kind, happy vibes throughout the shoot and a good bunch of photographers, Chris and George if I remember correctly. Talked to them too.

Having been to a number of group settings and even where shooting has taken place.

This is the first group shoot I have been to, where I was and felt part of the group!

Offering tips but at the same time allowing each photographer to photograph how they want.

No pressure, no fuss, no rush. Seemed a lot longer than 4 hours.

Nothing was too much trouble. Holding reflectors or anything else.

Local knowledge of shoot locations was of course invaluable.

All group shoots should be like this!

I shall be photographing another group shoot like this as soon as I can.

More than simply recommended by me!

Mark

illuminatedbeauty-images.com

On Saturday I attended Carla and Adrian's 'Spring Assisted Location Shoot' and it was such a wonderfully inspirational shoot. Adrian and Carla are such lovely people and I enjoyed every minute of what was a wonderful day not only the shooting but chatting to both Carla and Adrian. Adrian drove me to some great locations around Wiltshire which were just perfect. Adrian assisted me in a number of ways even including carrying my camera bag and buying me a coffee! The locations were varied and facilitated different and inspirational images. Both Adrian and Carla were great in making suggestions during the shoot ensuring that for each set we made the best possible images. Thank you so much Adrian and Carla for your kindness, and help in ensuring that I had such an amazing day.

Bob Jack the Smudger

Adrian and Carla were great hosts at their tutorial workshop in Swindon, recently held on a Sunday, so it was easy to attend.

They greeted and fed us as soon as we arrived, and talked over the expectations and objectives of the shoot, again later in the afternoon during a break we discussed further possibilities available in the second half of the day.

Adrian was a very attentive tutor to the group of four, my co-participants and myself being a mixed level of experience he had a really good rapport going on throughout the group and for the whole shoot.

Working with one photographer at a time, Carla was as attentive to all the photographers in equal concentration, each experiencing that special attention of the one to one thrill of working with a beautiful experienced model with a lovely personality.

Adrian moved the shooting positions around to vary the subject matter, while Carla changed costumes for the different locations.

They both took interest in the shots produced with real care, with helpful suggestions passing on their knowledge, suggestions and assessments as well as complements, with care and understanding.

It is always a good practice to refresh ones experience and it would be difficult to find two better personalities to do that with, I recommend a day out shooting with Adrian and Carla, they make a really great professional tutorial team and the overriding factor to remember is you finish the day not only with five new friends or acquaintances you also have a battery of fabulous photographs upon which to base your possible future experience.

Rob Porter

I attended my first natural light photography workshop with Carla and Adrian.

I had a fantastic time shooting on location around Swindon.

Carla and Adrian are both lovely people who are extremely easy to get on with. The workshop was extremely well run and they did a fantastic job of catering for different experience levels amongst the group.

Carla is a fabulous model with lots of experience. I learned a lot from both Adrian and Carla and can't wait to work with them again in the future.

Joe Curtis

I attended a natural light photography workshop with Adrian & Carla. In short: It was a fantastic day and something I would attend again.

Adrian is very attentive to each member of the small (four photographers including myself) group. He really takes the time to discuss shots with you individually and creates an atmosphere that feels safe & comfortable to make mistakes and discuss them without feeling silly.

I liked how Adrian never simply ‘set up’ a shot and told you what to do, but instead allowed you to make all the choices and then discuss what went well or didn’t after. He was always on hand to discuss during, but I found it freeing to be able to create and experiment on my own first and then review after what I could do to improve. Furthermore each photographer was given 1:1 time to shoot with the model (Carla) which is brilliant.

Adrian was on time and easy to get along with/ very accommodating when answering all of my questions!

I would highly recommend Adrian as a photographer/ photography teacher for anyone contemplating going on one of his workshops.

Ian Oliver

I had my first 2 hour Photoshop Tuition with Adrian and I have to totally recommend him. He displayed great patience with me (I panic every time I open PS and that increased my capability to completely goof up the simplest instructions) We seem to have covered a great deal in the time we had, whilst I appreciate we have barely scratched to surface I am now confident to get in there and start practicing and experimenting. There was the old PC vs Mac bits to figure out which is useful encouragement to research a little more.

Adrians confidence and experience shows in his ability to produce great shots and teach professionally but with an empathy to understand what I needed.

Thank you Adrian for a great tutorial.

Ian Oliver

I first met Adrian whilst on a home shoot with Carla Monaco last year, we clicked immediately and I felt he wasn’t just a great photographer but an easy going, fun, considerate guy he was too. So when I had a recent location shoot with Carla I felt it made sense to ask for his assistance. Predominantly to check on my technique as a photographer but also for help to improve my photography and any editing advice his extensive experience could obviously provide.

I am so glad he came along, he was full to the brim with tips, was a huge confidence provider. Brought lots of extra gear (such as light and reflectors) to experiment with and was totally genuine in his help and advice. He has a fantastic sense of humour, is completely down to earth and straight forward. You know where you stand, something I value greatly. His experience and knowledge is clear and his patience appreciated. He knew when to help and when to give us space to do our own thing, his timing instinctive through his experience. It was also so good to have him there as a lookout when got to the location art nude bit so Carla and I could relax and focus more on what we were doing.

I absolutely recommend 100%

Thank you Adrian for a great afternoon and your amazing help, am looking forward to working with you again very much ☺️

Parkstone Photography

I had the pleasure of Adrians assistance today on a remote shoot with Carla Monaco. Adrians setup was quick, reliable and very high spec. I was made to feel very welcome in the shoot I had with him and his assistance was 1st class. I highly recommend him to anyone looking to work with him and I look forward to seeing how his journey in photography progresses in the future...

An Eye for Beauty

I've met Adrian on a good many occasions when he has brought his wife, Carla Monaco, to shoots with me, and have had his help when shoots have been in their home. This time I was only in their home virtually, because this was a remote shoot. Adrian made sure that the whole process worked well and the lighting was spot on. As a result I had a near perfect set of images. Thanks very much for your help, Adrian. See you again soon.

Goldenvalleystudio

Really nice to meet another local photographer, who shares the same visions and enthusiasm to get the perfect shot, aswell as the most from our outdoor studio. His ideas and views are were we want to be in 2021 and we here at the retreatoutpost are excited to work with Adrian next year and looking forward to showing off all the "new toys" .

Niall Harty

I (and two other photographers) had a great morning with Adrian Crook and Carla Monaco on the 25 Jan. Adrian showed us some great lighting setups and helped us produce some really lovely images. Carla was a delight throughout always obliging with extra poses and ideas on how to improve our images. Well worth the trip, and I will be attending further sessions in future. Thank you all that attended, I had a great time with some lovely people.

layla anne

Had the pleasure of meeting and shooting with Adrian on Friday - I am a new model and so I am still very much at the starting point with so much to learn.

Adrian made me feel instantly so comfortable when I arrived. He offered a hot drink and went through the different types of modelling with me before we started shooting, whilst showing me examples in his portfolio so that he knew were both on the same page.

His work is absolutely incredible and I cannot believe how much I have learnt already in the amount of time I spent with him. I couldn’t be more grateful!

He is so friendly, laid back, funny and just a pleasure to be around. I had a lot of fun!

Thank you Adrian. Would LOVE to work with you again in the future.

Inspire Studios Ltd

Adrian held an event at the studio with Carla Monaco for the first time and from the minute he walked in the door you just warm to his lovely nature and fun personality. He was brilliant with the clients and they all went away with some fabulous images that were thought out by Adrian and Carla and light very well to get the most from the styling. He put on an immense buffet lunch which went down very well. Would absolutely recommend on of his events and look forward to seeing him return next year hopefully.

M I S C H K A H

I can't recommend Adrian and Carla highly enough! I had a great time staying with them during my last tour and they kindly organised a group shoot at their home while I was there, the event was extremely well organised and ran smoothly, everybody had a lovely evening and I myself enjoyed it very much. The resulting images were also great. Thanks guys see you again soon x

TimDC

I arranged a 4 hour one to one training session/shoot with Adrian and Carla as a preparatory lead in to a photo shoot trip away with a model. It was bespoke training to learn more about making use of natural light outdoors and achieving good quality images mostly with relatively shallow depth of field. Adrian explained very clearly the fundamental factors such as direction of light, distance between model and background, aperture value and choice of lens and with his guidance I put all this into practice shooting a range of sets with Carla as model in the local neighbourhood and park. Adrian's way of training consists of excellent communication skills and taking the learner's individual learning objectives fully into account in a most productive manner. I came away with fabulous images across the shoot sets and refreshed enthusiasm in readiness for the photo trip a few days after. Very highly recommended.

Stacey-M

I had a 1-1 training session with Adrian and Carla. Adrian explained clearly with practical demonstrations the use of a single light in a small studio environment with plenty of time for me to practice what he was teaching. We followed that with a session using natural light outdoors.

Carla was delightful to work giving lots of encouragement to the photographer and allowing me to learn from my mistakes as I put Adrian's teaching into practice and enabling me to get some great shots.

This workshop has finally given me the knowledge and confidence to be able to recreate these shots in any environment using my own equipment.

Worth every penny.

Thanks Adrian and Carla

robCPS

I booked myself in for Adrian and Carla's four hour training at their studio. It has to be one of the best times I have had in the 40 odd years I have been taking pictures. You are never too old to learn and I learnt how to take great shots using just one light and in a small space and so much more.

Adrian and Carla are really friendly and helpful, I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Thank you both.

Cleve

So this was my 5th shoot with Carla since the summer and my 3rd with Carla and Adrian, need I say anymore.

Well actually most certainly.

Each time I have come away not only learning a huge amount from Adrian, especially about studio lighting, but the big bonus is being able to capture such stunning images of Carla whose modelling skills are so amazing.

The combination of working with this dream team is really quite phenomenal. As I’ve intimidated before the chemistry between is quite infectious, making the whole experience a true delight.

Having the ability to put into practice that which they have both taught me and produce good results, makes my relationship with these two wonderful people so worthwhile.

I so look forward to my next session to study with them.