References for Calandra

Helen Diaz

I worked with Simon again on my MAMMOTH Scottish Tour recently and had an absolute blast!! This time it was working at an amazing Scottish Castle that fellow photographer and event organiser: Candyheart (Claire) had sourced and booked especially for the day! Simon was one of the lucky photographers who had managed to grab a space for the day!

Each of the models and photographers had time slots over the course of the half day using the many amazing rooms that it had to offer. Groups usually make me quite nervous but I was made to feel very welcome and we had such a lovely group of people to spend the day with! The timetable was really productive and super enjoyable for the time we had together. The location was sublime- and I know everyone wants to return!

It had been 2 nearly years since I had last worked with Simon and as a result this was the THIRD shoot which he booked me on my crazy long tour of Scotland! 3 shoots in 2 weeks- thanks sooo much!!

If you haven't shot with Simon yet, definitely do!! Hes such a FUN, engaging person, he always makes me smile and we share a similar mischievous sense of humour which always leads to much laughter on a shoot! He is also very reliable, respectful and professional to work with- the best kind of mix! Plus the photos are beautiful!

Highly recommended to all models and creatives and I really hope to work together again on future trips! Helen x

Amber Lilly

Was very pleased to work with Simon yesterday at a group shoot . I have been admiring his work for some time and was hoping to arrange a on location shoot with him in the future . Simon was great to talk to , friendly and had some good ideas . The time flew by and I wished I had a bit more time to spend with him . Hoping to work with Simon again very soon .

Dorinka

Had my first shoot with Simon this week. That was group shoot organised by Claire Candy Girl in Plane Castle in Stirling.

He made me feel very comfortable throughout and was great with giving directions. Simon obviously has a great eye for detail.I was really impressed with his professionalism. I am excited to see the photographs.

100% recommend. Very talented gentleman. I am happy to shoot with him again.

Thanks xx

Aurora Violet

I finally had the pleasure of working alongside Simon for the first time at a group shoot event he attended held at Plane Castle, Stirling hosted by Candy Heart with models including myself, Erin Clark, Amber Lilly, Dorinka and Helen Diaz.

Simon was on time and ready to go with loads of enthusiasm, he is professional and lovely to chat with. He took some lovely images and used the allocated time very well. The whole day went so fast and so did our time shooting together so even though it was short and sweet I really enjoyed my first time modelling for Simon.

He was great at giving direction, letting me pose freely as well and really knows what he is looking for, a complete gentleman, professional and fabulous person. I highly recommend Simon. Do not miss a shoot with him.

Thanks again and I look forward to our next shoot.

Aurora :)

Helen Diaz

I worked with the lovely Simon on my MAMMOTH Scottish tour recently! Simon was INSANE enough to book me THREE times during my trip which was my first trip back to Scotland in 2 years!! :)

My first booking was on a studio day with Simon was on a studio day at Synergy Photography Studios and the second run by Candyheart at a local performing arts studio. (The Third at a Castle event towards the end of my trip)

Simon is like an old friend so it was really lovely to catch up!! He brings SO much fun and humour to the shoot and we always get on like a house on fire! It was really lovely to work together a few times over the 2 weeks I was in the local area- I always go away from the shoot with a big smile!

Thanks so much for your support Simon and really hope to work together again soon!

Highly recommended to all models and creatives, Helen x

Synergy photography studio

It was great having Simon back in the studio for Helen Diaz's studio day. This was his first time in the new premises using the infinity cove. He experimented well with the different lighting and modifiers in the studio. He is very easy going and chatty. We are looking forward to see him again soon for future events. Highly recommended.

freespirit

Had a wonderful first shoot with Simon- finally, after admiring his work for years. I've long loved his mythological, romantic, story- telling imagery, and it was great to have the opportunity to be part of his creative process.

Simon kindly picked me up from the train station, and took me to a fantastic forest location with a beach right next to it, which enabled us to shoot a great variety of sets, from Celtic raven goddess, to Red Riding Hood, and finally, beach ballet- which was challenging in January, but well worth it! :)

The images Simon kindly showed me on the back of his camera looked beautiful, and my only regret is that we did not have more time at the end, as I think there was much more potential there for great work. Simon has terrific talent for natural light photos- the effects he got with backlighting on my red cape, for example, were really lovely, and I hope we will be able to work together again soon.

Highly recommended, and Thank You. :) Xx

CherModel85

Marla and I have just finished a duo shoot with Simon at Marlas home today and it was really a great day with a good amount of amazing images created.

We have all worked together before but when Simon had booked us for solo shoots, today we gelled well together sharing ideas and using different props to create some stunning poses and images. We used purely natural light today and all three of us are happy with the images before even seeing the final edits.

Simon as always is relaxed and easy going when shooting but also has a good idea of what he would like to achieve from the shoot which is always a great start when shooting.

A great day and I will hopefully shoot with Simon again later in the year

A Highly recommended photographer with a passion for his photography

Eryn Rose

I had an excellent shoot with Simon as part of my Scottish tour. (Sorry the reference has been a while coming!!) He picked me up from the station and took me to some beautiful locations which were perfect for our shoot ideas. He was very open to my ideas but also had a clear plan of what he wanted to achieve which helped us get a lot done in the short time.

His pre-coms were excellent which meant I was able to bring costumes that fit his themes well and still not end up carrying more than i needed to. He was very enjoyable to work with and the images he showed me on the back of the camera looked wonderful. I was very glad I finally got to work with Simon and I'm hoping I can get back up to Scotland next year to do so again. Highly recommend!

ClaireMarie

Just finished another shoot with Simon. And I'm so glad we went through with it. Nearly cancelled as I wasn't well, but we ended up having and an amazing shoot in a beautiful country cottage with quirky styling! Was so so worth it! Thanks again! Xxx

Stephanie Dubois

Simon and I have been chatting on and off ever since I started modelling really, and this time the dates aligned!! Due to the time of year, we booked a wonderful hotel room to shoot from and I dont think we could have chosen a better place to shoot. The light was incredible and the colour palette of the room was amazing. Everything just came together so perfectly for our shoot. Simon is a lovely person to work with... we chatted through some ideas and he was happy for me to give some of my own ideas. We checked the camera regulary to make sure each set was working and the light was right and dranks lots of tea and chatted away. It really was a lovely shoot and I very much hope we can shoot again (location?) when I'm back up mid 2018.

Highly recommended.

Daisy Bright

I really enjoyed working with Simon on a rather epic shoot recently on my Edinburgh tour. We went out and braved the Scottish elements and i'm so glad that we did! We have produced some fantastic images!

Simon is a really lovely guy to work with, lots of fun and he is full of great ideas. He was very conciderate of my temperature and found some sheltered woodlands to start off in. I highly recommend Simon and I look forward to working together again,

Daisy

Minh-Ly

I had an awesome shoot with Simon today! Despite the early cold weather of November, we got to shoot in the beautiful locations he showed me and from the back of the camera, there are some great ones! Professional, communicative, friendly and respectful, it was a real joy creating with this lovely person.

I can't wait to be back in Scotland for more of this!

Valis Volkova

I had another amazing shoot with Simon, this time in a studio!

It was our first time working together in a studio as we usually do location work and Simon was excellent!

He truly is a pleasure to work with: Friendly, polite, chatty, professional and enthusiastic. Simon turned up on time and was great fun to work with! His communication before the shoot was excellent and this allowed me to choose outfits and hair and makeup designs in advance that specifically suited the exotic, bohemian and middle-eastern looks that we achieved!

Simon travelled miles to come and work with me and brought lots of fantastic props to dress the set and truly made it look amazing!

The shots that I have seen so far look STUNNING! I thoroughly enjoyed working with him and I can't wait to see what we come up with next time. Highly recommended!

Thank you Simon for a great shoot.

Valis xx

Jezebelle

Shooting with Simon is always a pleasure!

He came to shoot myself and Bad Dolly on our recent tour up in Scotland and he brought some epic props to work with, shooting the scenes and light with the utmost perfection - I can’t recommend this awesome photographer enough to all, Si is super respectful and the images are always beautiful ♥

Bad Dolly

After years of waiting for our locations and diaries to coincide I finally got to shoot with the legendary Simon while on tour in Edinburgh. From my first communication with him I knew we were going to work well together, he is an absolute gentleman and a talented and creative photographer :)

Simon's ideas are brilliant and we bounced off each other collaborating ideas and getting the best from our few hours. I've been a huge fan of his location work for years but after shooting with him in an apartment setting I can see he is one of those photographers who can take to any setting and make it awesome.

I cannot recommend Simon enough, he's laid back, fun and professional. What a wonderful day to be a model! Thank you xx

Pippa.

Another epic shoot with Simon this time at a beautiful coastal location, complete with rocks and a farmyard!

I had been looking forward to our shoot for a long time, after earlier in the year he produced one of my favourite images, I couldn't wait to get about and explore and create more awesome work!

Simon was very thoughtful and made sure I wasn't feeling too cold or exposed and we had a hugely enjoyable 4 hours.

I would work with Simon again and again, he comes highly recommended from me :)

Thank you!

Saskya

Wonderful shoot with Simon today :) We had been trying to arrange a shoot this year for some time but unfortunately the elements were against us. Today was my turn to pick a location and we got lucky with the weather with a beach shoot. There were some very dramatic storm clouds in the distance that I hope worked well in the shots. Hopefully we get to shoot again soon and get an opportunity to shoot in the snow. It was great to shoot with Simon again :)

Scarlett Fox

Well my oh my, I finally got to work with the legend that is Simon! And it was a freaking awesome day!

Pre comms were great, despite my house being difficult to find Simon arrived on time, we had a quick chat over tea and then set off for some location fun :)

Within our few hours together we got through tons of sets from dance, fashion, fashion nude, topless, and art nude, and managed to fit in five different locations with two bridges, one abandoned cottage, a sun flower field, and we found a brand new location with an awesome set of hay bales that looked almost castle/fort like to finish off the day! So a huge thanks to Simon for being one of the most patient photographers I've ever met that was happy to walk for a few minutes extra just to get those perfect shots.

Simon is one of those people I can only describe as being one of the good guys, he looks after his models, he made sure I was warm and comfortable throughout and happy to grab my coat (throw clothes at me when we got caught by teenagers lol!), so polite and thanking me (this can be so rare!), and just being so easy going, and fun to chat to as well!

I'm super excited to see our shots from today as I know there are some cracking pieces of work in there :D

So I guess I'd have to say Simon is recommended by me, in fact he's very highly recommended by me which means I'll have to get myself up to Scotland soon so I can play in his locations!

Thanks so much for an amazing and quite inspiring day Simon,

Scarlett x

Everly Rose

I have recently had the pleasure of spending 2 days with Simon on the beautiful Isle of Skye.

Simon organised the trip, sorting fantastic accommodation or us in a amazing location and the whole trip went smoothly.

Simon is a lovely person, easy to talk to and very knowledgeable I felt totally comfortable in his company, we had some great laughs and were never short of conversation.

Simon took me to some of the most breathtaking locations I have ever seen, the landscape was out of this world and he had no problems being up at the bak of dawn and climbing rocks and hiking trails to get the best shots. Simon is a wonderful photographer and from the back of the camera I can see we created some magical shots.

I cant thank Simon enough for choosing me to work with him and we have already discussed a second trip.

Highly recommended and I can't wait to shoot with Simon again xxx