References for Calandra

Keira Lavelle

One more shoot down with the lovely Simon... It's always such a breeze organising our shoots because I normally get in touch to let him know when I'm heading further North for jobs in Aberdeen and beyond and Simon and I will get a lovely little session in either on my way up or coming back down. It's often quite limited on my part as to dates because I don't tend to stay around his part of the East Coast but Simon will always do his very best to get the time available so we can do it. There is 100% truth in the more times you work with someone the more productive that working relationship becomes: sure I can say I have posed on rocks, on a beach, in woodland dozens of times throughout my modelling career but it's not that which makes the shots - it's the rapport and what you achieve as a team to make the images magical. I think our most recent shoot shows that very well indeed! :D

Now upon arrival into Leuchars, Simon did the usual lovely favour of collecting me from the railway station and the first thing we both though is: how strangely warm is it for December in Scotland? Now neither of us had come prepared with a towel because you just do not expect to be throwing a nude model in the sea at this time of year... I was raring to snatch the opportunity given we hadn't managed to do much with water up to now so before we got down to shooting, Simon went searching on our way out of town for something to enable me to dry off. To follow was some absolutely stunning images on a number of wonderful locations: again Simons judgement was perfect which allowed us to crack on undisturbed making use of this superb opportunity. All the boxes were ticked: fine temperatures for us to work at a good pace and the beautifully dramatic skies which you get at this time of year. I am so pleased we took the plunge but it was Simon's great knowledge of the area that allowed us to achieve this so last minute. He is one of the easiest people to work on a photoshoot with and really does appreciate his models giving creative input too... it's a really big deal to have a good eye for shots when you're on location because there is so much more going on to think about and I can't give Simon enough credit for achieving that beautifully. No shoot is ever the same: if it's not a significantly different location then Simon will come up with superb ideas/bring along amazing props/outfits to add a touch of interest to the look.

Our shoots are always lots of fun: they normally consist of lots of chattering in-between sets, laughs and a laid-back approach. Simon is always aware of the effects of location on a cold day and will let models take amble breaks to warm up. He is such an easy going and respectful gent who I would recommend to anyone coming up this way. :)

Thank you yet again Simon!

Rebecca Lotus

I shot with Calandra as part of my Edinburgh tour. Unfortunately the weather did not work in our favour and our shoot was cut short, but I thoroughly enjoyed the time I did spend shooting with him. He was kind enough to have brought flasks of tea and coffee with him to warm us up when we couldn't bare the cold anymore. He was polite and courteous.

Thank you!

Saskya

Fourth shoot with Calandra this week and it was fantastic as always. This week was a bit different as I was joined by the model Peachpeach. It got quite mystical, I loved it as we were given the opportunity to create a story. Calandra is a great photographer to work with and brings lots of interesting ideas and props to each shoot. Looking forward to getting more creative in the future. I can't recommend him enough.

PeachPeach

YAY! Finally got to shoot with Simon after our diaries finally working out :D

Had a fabulous time in a great location and I look forward to shooting with him again!

Anna Johansson

I had my first photo shoot with Calandra yesterday. He is a very good, calm, quiet and dedicated photographer and I recommend him warmly.

Tink Kaos

Simon is a wonderful individual, very friendly, very down to earth and full of awesome artistic ideas - we shot for a few hours in my spacious Edinburgh apartment a week ago, and did a mix of nude, lingerie and artistic nude. With a princess and the frog concept thrown in! It was very lovely indeed. Simon is a brilliant individual, kind, full of knowledge and ultimately a fab photographer.

Highly recommended!!

Tink x

Helen Diaz

I worked with the lovely Simon at a beautiful location recently as part of my Scottish tour and had such a lovely time! We have worked together a few times before and always get on so well- with the shoot full of banter, laughter and mishaps! :)

Simon is such a great character to work with- so down to earth, friendly and easygoing that every shoot is really enjoyable. He is also so respectful, considerate and just great fun to work with on location! The locations he chose were beautiful and I really enjoyed modelling in them. We were also really fortunate with the weather as it was beginning to rain just as we finished the photoshoot!

Thankyou for such a lovely, memorable shoot and I really hope to work with you again on my next trip! Highly recommended, Helen x

Saskya

Loved my second shoot with Simon. He always picks amazing locations to shoot in. We started in a field full of blue flowers and bumble bees and moved onto a extremely derelict location to make use of my Ballet pointe shoes. I would definitely work with him again and would recommend him to anyone. I am looking forward to seeing the final images

Miss Sassy Su X

Katarina Marie Mannequin

I had a fab shoot with Simon yesterday!

Pre-shoot comms were straightforward and Simon was clear with the sort of looks he wanted and also gave me information about locations and was happy to have a conversation about what we both thought would work best.

He picked me up from the train station and we drove out to location - Simon is easy to speak with and also highly intelligent but in a softly spoken way, which I always appreciate in a travelling partner! On location Simon was polite and respectful throughout and great conversation. He communicated what he wanted very well but everything we shot felt like a real collaboration of ideas. Also had loads of fun with acrylic paint, which was great fun!

Simon comes highly recommended from me & I look forward to working with him again soon!

Katarina xx

Keira Lavelle

I have actually lost count of the number of times I have shot with Simon now... all I know is that it has become part of the standard practice when I tour Scotland and that we nail it on an even better level each and every time we work together. It is like WOW!

Simon, as always, had a wondrous location lined up for us to get our teeth stuck into... And something different as we hadn't done a beach shoot properly up to now. Plus this one had delightfully wonderful rocks and mini mountains for me to climb = happy Keira! :D So Off we went, I got myself a nice perch some 20 feet up this stunning natural sculpture and Simon conquered some sensational images with epic use of angles and an eye for the light. I knew he would as Simon sees and appreciates the artistic picture and a whole hence nailing perspective, and framing with perfect creative touch. Then we took a leisurely strole on this pretty pebble beach stumbling across many nooks and crannies to pretty images of a different quality using the rock pools, washed up trees, bladderwrack... you name it! I think it's the most productive two hours I have had within such a small radios on location. Everything we could have possibly needed to make a pretty picture was there and Simon caught these moments so beautifully.

It was the standard procedure in that we had a real laugh throughout the course of the session... further still Simon did his usual kind hearted duties of collecting from and dropping me back at the local railway station for me to be on my way with the rest of my tour. This was my first shoot of the trip and it couldn't have been a nicer session to ask for, what a way to start a working trip with such prolific positivity and creative thinking in the beautiful Scottish landscape. :)

The recommendations I give to Simon as a photographer will literally stand for as long as we work together: he is so easy to get along with, respectful and professional in his approach... He allows models to shine with their own ideas/suggestions as well so it doesn't just feel like a one-way thing and another job. Our shoots are genuinely a lot of fun!

As always, I really look forward to working with Simon again the next time I wander up North! :D

Thanks again Simon!

Keira x

Valis Volkova

I recently had an AMAZING shoot with Simon on my first trip to Fife.

It was a Lord of The Rings inspired shoot for the first half, so we did an Elven Queen look in one of the most beautiful locations that I have ever seen. For the first time in my life, the weather was on our side, so I bathed naked in a river/rapids and we got some incredible shots, that I'm looking forward to seeing.

The day flown by as Simon is super lovely and really easy to work with. We visited lots of beautiful locations in the area and had a few variants on different types of Goddesses.

Highly recommended and I would happily work with Simon any time!!

Thank you Simon for a really fun shoot! x

Scarlot Rose

I first spoke to Calandra about arranging a shoot around 4/5 years ago! When I returned to modelling we got in contact again and I ended up building an 8 day tour around this shoot!

Simon's communications were spot on and he really helped me to get the ball rolling for what has turned into my biggest tour to date. He has bee very polite and friendly from the first exchange right the way through and I had a great time shooting with him!

Simon has come fantastic locations, and we shot a whole variety of styles in each! He has a good eye for finding places to shoot but was also happy to let me have some input! I had a lot of fun shooting and he's also a lovely guy!

Unfortunately I had a bit of a fall on our last location so after continuing for a while we cut the shoot a little short and Simon drove me to a pharmacy and ensured I was okay - I'm really grateful for his patience with this and am just sad we missed a bit of time at the end.

I'd love to work with him again and highly recommend him to other models!

Thank you for a great shoot!

Miss_Rose x

Saskya

Had an amazing shoot with Simon last week. We have been arranging a number of different shoots for sometime and his communication is always good.

This was my first artistic nude shoot on Purpleport. He chose beautiful creative locations and made me feel very at ease.

I would definitely recommend Simon to all models especially those branching out into location based Art nudes.

Looking forward to work with you again soon :)

Sophia.

What a great start to my Scottish tour! Calandra was lovely to work with. We did art nude in some stunning locations and the pictures on the back of the camera are awesome! cant wait to see them and edit them! I felt completely comfortable the whole time and even got to see a bit of wildlife

Highly recommended!!

tigerbelle

I had been in communication with Simon for probably nearly two years about shooting together so was very pleased when we managed to set a date on my recent Scottish tour :)

Simon's pre-shoot communications were great and he has knowledge of many beautiful locations.

The chilly wind wasn't kind to us on our shoot but I think we accomplished a fair few sets considering.

Simon is lovely to work with being kind, respectful and enthusiastic about his photography.

Hope we get the chance to work together in the future! :)

Keira Lavelle

My 3rd shoot with Simon now and there is absolutely not a single shadow of a doubt that we just nail it better and better each time we shoot! :) Working with Simon is so lovely because he always puts so much effort into his photography ideas with wonderful outfits and props, it's a tremendous spin on location art nude (which I love anyway) but the fact that we get to create some beautiful story telling images really does make the shoots for me. We had a whole new range of locations to shoot at this time - Simon puts so much effort into discovering new and beautiful places locally, models that are due to shoot with him can always anticipate being taken to some stunning scenery.

So this time was very much the peak of our success rate so far! The sun was shining, the looks all worked wonders and we got several lovely locations done, as well as a wet set right at the end on the beach. It was certainly one of those days where everything just worked beautifully, Simon did not miss a single opportunity for a lovely shot; as I resumed my position he did his usual careful composing of the shots to get the nicest backdrops and feel to the images. His eye for the light was fantastic, despite the fact that the sun was a challenge at times. Our rapport just goes like clockwork now like we read each others minds as we go from one set to the next, Simon just needs to hand me his recent collection of goodies and he's got my back as I pose away with the look.

Always lots of fun, always a great pace with the sets and Simon is so kind and respectful helping out wherever he can by doing drop-offs/pick-ups at train stations etc. I couldn't ask for more in terms of a shoot being such a breeze. I always look forward to shooting with him again in the future, the images we did this time looked absolutely amazing on the back of the camera so watch this space everyone! :D

Very highly recommended!

Thanks for the 3rd time Simon.

Keira x

Ella Rose Muse

I really enjoyed what I think was my fourth shoot with Simon. He is always lovely to work with - thoughtful and considerate (which was appreciated as it was very very cold!!!) and he is appreciative of the kinds of styles that I myself love, so we always work well together. He is also very in tune with nature and the landscape, and gives good tours of beautiful parts of Britain! I don't know when I'll next be in Scotland to shoot together, but I will definitely be in touch with him as always! Thanks Simon! :-)

Nicole Rayner

Well...where to start? As soon as I saw Simon's work I knew I wanted to be part of it! He has a skill of finding the most beautiful locations for art nude photography as well as being able to capture it! He is an artist indeed - his work is everything I love about art nude - putting the female form with locations which either contrast of compliment, or even both!

I had 2 days in Scotland with Simon which I thoroughly enjoyed! He is a lovely man, who made sure I was happy! It was very cold on our shoots (much better on the second day thank heavens) but Simon made sure that I warmed up when I needed to! He was very considerate! He happily let me do my thing whilst he captured it, which he did quickly and efficiently which is greatly appreciated when out in the cold! He was also on hand to give direction when/if he wanted something specific. Looking at the back of the camera it seems we have been able to create some great images which I am so excited to see in their final form!

I had A LOT of fun with Simon, and I'm very grateful he took me to so many beautiful places - I think we did a grand total of 7 amazing locations - all very different, which made the trip very exciting indeed! I would recommend Simon to anyone! He is a pleasure to work with and is very talented. And I look forward to working with him again hopefully in the summer!

Thanks for a great time Simon! Highly Recommended!!

Jaime

Jezebelle

I shot with Simon in a beautiful hotel in Dundee, whilst up on my recent tour of Scotland....after some great pre-comms, he came prepared, with some lovely ideas in tow.

He is very professional and relaxed, using the available rooms to their full potential with the various levels of natural light, whilst directing wonderfully and precisely....he has a way with the camera, using perfect angles and framing to capture the most stunning natural light that was filtering in!

I can't recommend this lovely photographer enough, Simon is a joy to work and he brings so much to a shoot, I recommend him to all :)

Em x

Rosa Brighid

I'd been meaning to shoot with Simon for such a long time! I finally got myself into gear and flew to Scotland where we got to shoot. He booked this absolutely breathtakingly stunning manor house room which was perfect for artistic nude and glamour. It was such a joy shooting with Simon; he is so friendly, laidback and great to work with. He let me pose away and really get into it, and I saw some lovely shots on the back of his camera- so looking forward to seeing them properly. Communication before the shoot was excellent and I am so grateful for the reference, so thank you Simon! I'm really happy we were finally able to shoot, and hope to make a second trip next spring to shoot some beautiful outdoor nudes.

Thanks again, highly recommended.

A pleasure to work with :)