References for Calandra

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

Maleficent

Finally got to work with Simon after several months of discussions and shoots cancelled due to bad weather. Whilst it wasn't the outdoor shoot we had planned, Simon came along to my studio day with Candy Heart and he did not disappoint. He is an absolute pleasure to work with, really polite and friendly and even though it was my last shoot of a seven hour day he still kept it fun. I really hope to work with him again soon :)

ClaireMarie

Our 3rd shoot! A 4th is already half planned haha!

I want to personally thank Simon for being one of the biggest supporters of my work and wanting to work with each other continuously. I really appreciate his support

The work we've done together has been at some of my fave locations. So excited to experiment more in next few months. Thanks again!

Keira Lavelle

What can I say: each time Simon and I shoot... The results just get better and better! :D This is no lie or exaggeration! There can't be many locations left in Fife and the East Coast of Scotland that we haven't tackled but one things for sure: it's always written in stone to be a fantastic session!

This time around Simon made arrangements to shoot at a stupendous place in Montrose which got me excited before the shoot even happened

because he had mentioned it before: obviously being a fair drive from Leuchars station where we would normally meet when I toured Scotland before meant that it was a tricky gamble to take cutting into a big chunk of shoot time but it worked out beautifully this time because I was travelling by Montrose station anyway which meant we where able to fit in a range of different looks/location stops once again and make a really productive session out of it! :D Simon kindly dropped me off in Dundee too where I needed to be for the next leg of my journey and this made life so much easier to a hectic day. Simon has always been ready to help like this and it's always a pleasure working together when I pop by the area. I'm really sad if ever we can't match up dates!

The back of the camera was just total WOW! Then Simon sent some images across and the real buzz hits when you see the fruits of your teamwork up on the big screen for the first time. We rocked it! Simon is so epic with his angles and that's the thing about location photography: he captured the grand scale of the location as well as shots which show the model off well and has a great eye for light. This is probably the 3rd time we have had really challenging dappled light to content with (looks amazing if that's what you're going for but tricky to manage if it's not the look you're going for) and we were on it in no time at when the clouds drifted over in a split second to soften it for us. Simon's work always shows off the beauty of a model plus the environment and this is a hard balance to reach sometimes. Location work is easy if you just want a snap of a girl stood outside somewhere but to bring a shot to life it takes quite an eye: an eye that Simon has most certainly shot to make beautifully picturesque work! :D

Already chatting about getting the next shoot underway! Whatever will we be making pictures of next!

Thank you Simon, awesome as always!

Joy Draiki

I had a very lovely shoot with Simon. We almost couldn't shoot because of some plane trouble. I'm so happy it went through!

He was kind enough to pick me up at a trainstation with his car. We first drove to a gorgeous grainfield. It was unusual sunny for Scotland. Simon was more than happy to listen to my ideas and be brought a nice arrange of props and jewelry to use at the shoot I could use. We did a goddess type shoot which suits me perfectly and we had lots of fun. It felt like a nice collaboration and we where both happy.

After that we went to a little forest/heather area. We both just fell in love with the ferns!

Simon is a very kind and cheerful man. We worked at a relaxed but productive pace. We had a lovely shoot. Thanks Simon!

Angel.

Had an absolutely lovely shoot with simon in leuchers. We created some moody shots on the beach which worked beautifully and then finished off with some goddess style shoots out and about in the woods

Simon is a great person to work with, super friendly, relaxed and interesting to talk to you.

I look forward to the results and would love to work with him again!!!

Angel

Ivy Lee

Wow, what a fantastic shoot I had with Simon. We had tried to book a shoot in the past but things didn't quite work out so when I announced that I'd be touring Scotland this summer, I was so happy to be instantly contacted by Simon to organise a shoot. We had such an awesome 4 hours together at a stunning location in Scotland. It was my only location shoot in the whole Scottish tour so I was so happy to see more of rural Scotland and surrounded by beautiful nature. Lucking the weather was good for us!

I knew Simon was going to be awesome, you often get a feeling through pre communication. I'm happy to say that my instincts were not wrong. He's such a lovely and interesting person, so easy going and really fun!

We had a really productive shoot, covering many different looks and sets and Simon had even bought some stunning new accessories for me to wear during the shoot. He gave me a mini tour on our drive to the location, it was truly stunning and so lovely of him to give me this information.

I'm so excited to see the images as they were so lovely on the back of the camera!

Top shoot and top photographer and I would work with him again in a heartbeat.

Thank you sooooo much Simon, hopefully we will work together again soon x

Scarlot Rose

I shot with Calandra during my Scottish tour again this year. His pre-coms were efficent and he was kind enough to pick me up from the station and drive me to the locations.

We spent the first few hours shooting artnude style images in various fields/locations before meeting DarrenS for the second part of the shoot.

Unfortunately the original location was too populated to shoot at but we found somewhere a little more secluded not too far away. We had a lot of laughs shooting in the sea with DarrenS and Calandra had the perfect props to bring this style to life! We had a few issues with the tide coming in rather than going out, but overall it was a fun afternoon! <:-)

Thank you again!

Scarlot

Darren S

Had the pleasure working with Simon today, along-side Scarlot Rose. I found Simon very welcoming, easy to get on with and a pleasure to work with. He had great ideas for the shots in the sea and we all bounced ideas off each other, bringing a lot of variety to the shoot.

I highly recommend him.

Nicole Rayner

I had a great shoot with Simon on my recent tour to Scotland. We had a full day together, but unfortunately we had pretty bad luck with the weather. We waited a bit but the wind and rain did not seem to calm so we braved it. We shot at the beach as well as a forrest and some great graffiti covered buildings. We first decided the spots we would be shooting, I quickly undressed and we shot then ran from one to the other to shoot again. Simon was quick and made sure he was ready for me to quickly pose. He captured lots of great images! The second locations were a bit easier as we were more sheltered. we really got a great range of stuff! Though as we, and our clothes were both getting wet we decided to do an impromptu studio shoot. Simon first took me for a lovely coffee though to warm up first!

The studio session was fab. Simon was quite new to studio work so really listened to anything I or the studio owner had to say. he picked it up very quickly indeed and really produced some beautiful work.

Simon himself is very lovely, he has a warm heart and is lovely company. I enjoyed his conversation and really enjoyed the shoot. He was really kind and dropped me off right at the door which I really appreciated. I would love to shoot with Simon again and hope to next time I'm in Scotland but hopefully later in the year if things go to plan. Highly recommended by me!

ClaireMarie

Again working with Simon was a joy!

Such a sweet man, with a wonderful eye and an amazing knowledge of beautiful locations

Thanks again and we need to start at the drawing board for our next shoot

Would recommend

Beth Smith

I worked with the fabulous Simon on my tour recently!

Communication beforehand was super, we bounced ideas off of one another and I had a clear idea of what we were doing!

I was in complete awe over the location Simon had picked for us, a gorgeous poppy field in Cupar, it was absolutely stunning and I was so excited to create images!

Simon was so easy to get along with, friendly and a gentlemen. I may have chewed his ear off a little bit too much (sorry Simon, I'm a talker) but Simon wasn't phased by this at all!

Simons photography was absolutely excellent, I was so please with the images when Simon showed me them off the back of camera, very excited to see them!

Simon was great to work with and I would happily work with him again when I visit. Highly recommended from me

Arabella

Can't believe this has taken me so long to do! Big apologies Simon!

But anyway I had an absolutely wonderful shoot with Simon whilst on my Scotland Tour. This was my first shoot of the tour and I believe my first booking, we had spoken on and off previously about shooting. Comms from Simon were fabulous, lots of details and all the arrangements were done and dusted without any difficulty or fuss. I had a real idea of what he wanted to create so this allowed me to pack outfits that just worked so well during the shoot.

On the day Simon kindly collected me from the station and we drove off to our location, during the drive Simon was friendly and chatty. I felt like I'd known Simon for years and didn't feel like there were any awkward silences etc...

The shoot itself was absolutely awesome, the location was amazing surrounded by cotton grass and stunning Scottish landscape we managed to create some beautiful images, have a giggle and I thoroughly enjoyed it, the shoot just flowed perfectly!

I felt safe the whole time we were shooting, which is very important when working out on location .....

I would certainly recommend Simon to others, he is a really genuine person, relaxed and chatty along with being a talented photographer!

Thanks again Simon & I really do hope to work with you again when I'm back!

Arabella X

Megan-C

I just came back from a brilliant shoot! Me up visiting Scotland, and calandra was kind enough to meet me from where I'm staying and drive me to the location we were shoootimg from. If the views were not beautiful enough coming to the location they sure were when we were there! Calandra was such a lovely man! Very welcoming and kind. Full of conversation. And made it a really lovely first day in Scotland! I would highly reccomend. If I lived closer I would be sure to shoot with him again :)

Pippa.

I did my first Urbex Ballet shoot with Simon in the beautiful countryside of St Andrews. Initially I was a little worried about being too cold to shoot on location, but as soon as we got to the old Army Bunker, I fell in love!

It was great bouncing creative ideas off of each other, I felt truly ontop of my creative game.

Thank you for a wonderful couple of hours,

Pippa

Rachelle Rogue

I finally got to meet and work with the lovely Calandra after much communication and love spread on the site! He made me feel completely at ease and was a joy to work with.

I can't wait to see the images we've made together and for the next chance to make more!

Thanks for a brilliant shoot,

Rachelle Rogue

Jezebelle

Working with Simon is an absolute dream - he is super relaxed and respectful, with ideas that are fun to put into practice and his direction is wonderful!

I do love working with this lovely individual as he is so easy to talk to, he also uses the scenes so very beautifully and has a stunning way with the camera!

I can’t recommend this fab human enough to all models - what a super awesome photographer he is :)

Em x

Zoe Jay

Great shoot. The guy communicated really well in the run-up to the shoot, and showed up on time. The shoot went really well, it was good fun and creative. Great images. I felt really safe with the guy, completely non-creepy, he has a very professional attitude, organized, paid the agreed amount with no fuss, and he was kind enough to give me a lift home afterwards. All around great shoot.

Odette Flaur.

Calandra is so easy to work with, captures stunning natural looking photos and knows some of the most beautiful locations to shoot from :) Time simply flew by and I had a amazing time :D

Very highly recommended to all :)