References for Gary Stuart

Ayla

Another amazing shoot with Gary at my home, this time on the theme 'covered in honey'. It was great to see Gary again after so long! He takes awesome shots and is so friendly and fun.

Highly recommended

The Attic Studio

Gary has been to the studio on many occasions and know his way around with ease. Todays shoot was with the talented Keira Lavelle. Well organised, prompt and always polite and considerate.

A pleasure to have as a regular client. We love seeing the results from Gary's shoot as he's a great photographer.

Pleasure to have in the studio, highly recommended to all and we will see you again soon no doubt.

Regards The Attic Studio Team

Keira Lavelle

My latest shoot with Gary! And amazing as ever... It’s a reoccurring theme now it seems that we have a whopping great shoot (usually on location) and then manage to pick up another cheeky session not long after! :D This time we revisited the awesome Attic Studio in Leicester as part of a mini-tour I was doing. My first since the apocalypse took place! It was really lovely and reassuring to get back in the swing of things with such amazing people on board my tour (Gary literally being the prime example!) So thank you sooooo much Gary for being crackers enough to jump on the Keira wagon again haha! :D

As has been the case with each and every one of our shoots: we churned our some sublime piccies. :P We pretty much operate like clockwork now: Gary is always visually enthusiastic and will throw suggestions at me of ideas and things to bring etc. And on the day the team rapport just sets in and away we go! This time we were hitting the gels, creative makeup, flouncy fashion... I’d barely got chance to show off some of the corkers from our last shoot and then Gary so generously left me with another batch of fab shots and the dilemma of which to upload first hehe! :P So yes: to say it was highly prolific and all happenin’ is a bit of an understatement really. Gary is just such a pleasure to work with and the drive he puts into every shoot just gets the buzz ticking with even more inspiration. I think it’s reasonable to say that it’s times like shooting with wonderful photographers like Gary which is the epitome of reasons to love my job. :D

Same ole’ situ: talking NON-STOP, having good friendly banter about herbal tea and all sorts, laughing and generally bouncing off each other. The working atmosphere is a combination of the mad-est madhouse, wavelengths galore, arty-farty nerdiness... And probs a good dollop of Cloud-Cuckoo-Land vibes to be fair. :D In the most tremendous way possible! What I’m trying to explain is: Gary is a true joy in every way to shoot alongside, and very easy to get on with.

Professional to the core, perfect communications every time, biggest heart you ever saw - yup! Shoot with Gary. He’s ENORMOUSLY recommended by this model person/thing. :P

You’re a ledge Gary - but I probably told you about 60 times this year already! :D

Thanks a bundle fella!

Keira

Keira Lavelle

You know what; I am legit going to sound like a broken record with my opening line because I bet you any money that I’ve said the same about all our other shoots... But whatevs! THIS WAS OUR BEST SHOOT YET!!!! :D

I was absolutely thrilled to have the chance to work with Gary on location again: this time braving the wilderness of Yorkshire and some cool new sites that I had only very recently scouted out. And you know something? This man deserves the medal of honour! Not least for putting up with an absolutely off-her-rocker model for a full day, but literally for surviving all the assault courses I gave him for getting to some of the more adventurous places. Climbing up waterfalls - with the water beating at you! Through crumbling buildings with 6 million steps and obstacles. HIKING TO ONE OF THE HIGHEST POINTS IN HALIFAX?!?! Seriously: Gary just smashed the lot and never once complained! He’s just the most easily pleased and down to earth person that he’s even down for a complimentary flask of my bizarre herbal tea. That’s what the real medal of honour is for. ;) There ain’t many photographers I can say braved a whole pint of the stuff as hydration fuel. Most people just look at me in disgust when I’m sat there with a grin and my own little flask. :P

So a little hint before about the type of places we visited, but it doesn’t cover the full breadth of productivity that we were blessed with. Not even close! So imma start from the beginning and ramble away...

Before our shoot had even begun, we were faced with a minor obstacle/uncertainty which subsequently threatened part of our plan. Abiding by the rules at the time of booking: we wanted to also shoot some nice creative portraits at my home, replicating essentially a more studio-like setting with my light provisions etc. But then just days before - government guidelines changed to create some uncertainty about being able to do this (or even invite Gary in for a cup of tea/lunch as planned!) Whilst picnic ideas and the flasks of tea could be improvised for lunch and what-not, we reeeeeeaaaaalllly had our heart set on these portraits and creative makeup which I just love to model as a style. It was quite a blow to think that we couldn’t give it our all with styling and a careful lighting setup as planned... But nothing was to stop this team!!!!! One of the locations (old derelict/open air mill) was on the agenda anyway. So we improvised! We created a mini outdoors portrait set and you know what? Hands down those are some of my favourite portraits ever taken!!!! We were reliant mostly on the sun and how generous it was feeling on a rather unpredictable day, plus a bit of a continuous light to fill... But we got blessed! Lovely sunshine hair light and spectacular rays to bounce around the place as needed. Gary was just a soldier - this sun wasn’t staying constant, it was bloody in and out every two minutes! But Gary just remained cool as a cucumber; persevering, observing, adjusting... And not to mention bouncing off each other like a prolific team to get the best results possible!!!! :D Covid wasn’t about to stop that happening, even if it did mess up our plans! Talk about taking a “boooo” situation and making even more BANGIN’ stuff happen?! More than we could’ve imagined!

Now with all that essay you’d think that was the main highlight of the shoot... Oh no: just one haha! :P From here we went on to smash sublime nudes and edgy fashion in the urbex setting, before moving to waterfalls and water nymphs with a very magical feel (totally different to the first sets) and finishing up with a colossal view over Halifax before calling it a day. I really struggled to put my finger on my favourite part of the day... I was just buzzing about everything by the time we wrapped up. And remained full of energy that evening haha! :D

Now there’s nothing at all new with regards to the truly lovely company that Gary is for the duration of a shoot. :) He’s such a nice guy: professional and courteous where shoot etiquette is concerned, and a real barrel of laughs for the social value of a shoot. We had a good lot of catching up to do for sure, but I don’t think we actually ever shut up bahahaha! :P The entire day just went like lightening... It was all go with a nice chilled out picnic lunch in the countryside and aside from the beautiful images we produced: I just really like working with Gary and the utterly wonderful rapport that we have now.

Recommended? Maybe... HELL YESSSSS!

Legit gonna test his tea endurance next time though with a more stronger one. :P What we on now Gary, level 3?

Elle J

Another epic shoot with the lovely Gary this time at my home. He arrived on time, is great fun to work with and we had fun using different areas of my home to create images.

We also had fun using a new ring light that I had for Christmas.

I love working with Gary and I love his ideas and what we create together. He is highly recommended from me. Thanks Gary!

Rachelle Summers

After first meeting Gary on an event last summer he booked me on my recent tour of Birmingham last week :D

It was great getting to work with him on a 1-2-1 basis! He sent ideas he had in advance so I could pack the necessary wardrobe bits, and we worked our way through numerous different sets bouncing ideas off each other as we went.

Gary is super friendly and easy to talk to, and I really enjoyed our shoot :D

Happily recommended and hope to see him on my Manor event in April!

Artemis Fauna

I worked with Gary again recently in my new home studio.

We had a fabulous, varied and fun shoot and got so much done! The time flew by, many mince pies were consumed and a good old natter had :)

Really enjoyed the shoot and the results are super. Hope to do it again in 2020 :)

Ayla

I love Gary. He is amazing to shoot with, Ive lost count of how many shoots we have had together but his relaxed and creative energy always means we create something beautiful together,

Highly recommended

Elle J

Another fabulous shoot with Gary this time at The Boardroom. He arrived on time at my house to collect me and I couldn't wait to start shooting. We worked through different sets and outfits and especially loved doing portraits with a lolly pop ;) love working with Gary and I can't wait to work with him again real soon. Highly recommended from me. Thanks Gary!

Elle J

I was really pleased that Gary had booked on mine and Marie Jean Taylor's group shoot and one to one sessions at Crossroad Studios.

Gary was kind enough to give me a lift all the way there and back to Crossroads and help me with my items. I consider Gary as a friend so the journey there and back flew by with us chatting along the way. During the group shoot he was considerate of the other photographer and shared ideas with him. For his one to one he had some really great ideas and I loved working with him. He is great fun to work with and I look forward to working with him again. Thanks for a fantastic day Gary!

The Attic Studio

Gary hired the studio to work with a model. Always great with communications prior to the shoot. Arrived on time with Keira his model for the evening. Gary has been before so familiar with the studio set up and only asks for assistance when required.

Great photographer who is always respectful to model and equipment. Recommended to all

Keira Lavelle

Two INSANELY epic shoots with Gary in one tour?? Like OMG, we were on a roll this time weren’t we! :P He’s just the best person and so much fun to work with; I couldn’t have had better company throughout both sessions if I tried... And that’s not to mention the wonderful opportunistic variety that we got to play with at two lovely studios: Natural Light Spaces and Attic Studio. :) There’s a little something that the saying goes “is the spice of life” and we utterly nailed that “v” word. From acrobatic/hangy-from-the-ceilingy art to conceptual portraits, to elegant boudoir to beach babe cheese!!! :D :D I think it’s fair to say that when we met up for the second shoot - the buzz was still crackling away from round one. T’was very productive indeedy!

Shoot number one: at the colossal daylight filled wonder that is Natural Light Spaces - this was the shoot that Gary and I had chatted about/planned for. And we’d certainly made use of pre-comms to discuss some wicked ideas and get suitably “revved-up” for such. :D Gary has always been a star with planning things; it’s always done and ready to look forward to the day in a matter of a few messages. Gary made the arrangements with the studio and kept me in-the-loop the whole time. Complete legend who is the epitome of a great communicator. :) The fun bit begun when we’d shared some ideas on what we could achieve; Gary is always totally open and welcoming of the models he shoots with to supply their ideas/be involved in the creative process so shooting with him is made so fun and mutually determination-driven. Shoots like this really are what make modelling a truly rewarding job - sublime rapports/bouncing off each other and equally striving to work together for the most killer possible results... Nuff said really! So it was that we kicked off session one of the tour with some aerial hoop stuff - quite a challenge for the photographer where you might have movement or an energetic/crazy model sticking one limb that way, then another the other way. :P Nonetheless, going through the previews on the back of the camera brought about some very exciting squealing and high-fiving... T’was in the bag! Then we went full-circle to make use of that lush natural light: sometimes it was simple shapes in the changing sunlight; otherwise I’d get some stupid idea to concoct a completely daft setup to which I would have totally expected to get some funny looks - but instead Gary maintained his routine super-chilled demeanour and took it his stride getting right into the zone and producing some ultra-top photos in the process. I mean, at one point he was literally changing the camera settings every half a second to keep up with the indecisive attitude of the sun, all the while straddling some moronic framing that the daft model had fixed-up and then keeping up with the silly specimen not sitting still! I think I need to be donating some of my magic herbal teas to Gary by the packet load (since he actually likes my tea! :D) for his troubles. He’s just the very definition of a star really. Finishing up this shoot with some corking portrait work - CLASS!!! Again: another completely different shooting session with this amazing gent which just kept on giving.

Shooty-madness session number TWO of the tour... We planned this one quite impromptu as it happened: after we had already done our first shoot of my trip! I think I need to hurry Gary to see a specialist - the teas of mine that he’s been trying a clearly having a catastrophic impact on his ability to think straight!!!! Is he mad?? You had the chance to escape the nymph of madness Gary: WHY OH WHY didn’t you take it?!?! :P Beats me, but I’m sooooo glad he didn’t. We had a FABULOUS time working at Attic studios, and achieved completely contrasting stuff to what we had just blasted at NLS. Completely off-the-wall and momentary style choices... As I turned the changing room into a floor-drobe, Gary figured out the set and lighting: getting into the groove and experimenting further with moving things around. This is just what makes shooting with Gary such an inspired experience - he’s down for all manner of creative faffing with the scene, and it’s this that usually bags you something cool/different. :) Our time flew by so much so that we actually extended in the end: we had just got so focused and in-the-zone that we didn’t even realise what time it was! Gary took elegantly beautiful photographs, he took colour-popping cheeky “cheese” shots, and he took “arty as can be” shots with the same determination, the same creative enthusiasm and the same drive as he literally always bestows in every shoot that he undertakes. :) I couldn’t have been more happy to have got this extra time working with Gary and having our brains work in yet another different location: it’s fun, it’s innovative and it’s just an enjoyable stretch of time spent with a truly lovely person who is endlessly passionate about his photography.

And I’ll reiterate on what I’ve said on every other shoot with Gary (and certainly will say over and over again following future shoots as well)... He comes with the most profound levels of professionalism, and kind-hearted courtesy for the people that he works with. You could not, hands-down, meet a nicer guy in this industry. Heart of diamond, never mind gold! He’s someone that I would rush back to work with again and again, without putting a second thought into it; and of course I 1-million percent recommend him. I cannot do so enough in fact. :) He makes life so easy with his clear, quick and straight-to-it messages, striking a working relationship with Gary to get the results is no bother at all and he is exceedingly generous in sharing the images he takes as well. WE CERTAINLY CAUGHT SOME MEGA SHOTS THIS TIME TOO GARY! :D

I hope to see a fully converted follower of herbal tea sludge when we next shoot! ;)

THANK YOU A BILLION GARY!!!!

Keira

Elle J

Another fabulous shoot with Gary this time at PGD Photography Studios for my model day there. I love working with Gary, he is true gent and just a joy to work with.

He is so kind and offered me a lift to the studio which is really helpful. I felt safe in his car and he looks after the models he works with. He made sure I was warm enough too which is really kind. During our shoot we worked through different sets and it is so great to be creative with him. The images look great and I can't wait till our next shoot. I would highly recommend him to anyone! Thanks Gary!

Elle J

Had a lovely shoot with Gary with another photographer and model at Image Red recently. I always look forward to working with Gary and we get on so well. He is a gentleman, polite and chatty. He always offers to give me a lift to where the shoot is and this is very much appreciated. He is a good driver and I feel safe in his car. Gary is highly recommended from me and I look forward to another shoot with him very soon. Thanks Gary!

Rachelle Summers

I had a great time working with Gary for the first time on Nicole Rayner's Guys Cliffe event last weekend!

I only briefly worked with him during the duo and the 4 model shoot, due to the layout of the event we didn't get to shoot 1-1 but I would love to work with him again in the future :)

He was very friendly and easy to work with!

Happily recommended by me!

Keira Lavelle

After a tremendous first shoot with this kind and gentle human; there was no end of excitement erupting for a second shoot - this time on location!! :D Gary had been inspired by the potential of dramatic scenery and terrain so as we began setting things in stone via communications for round two, the enthusiasm and creative drive was heightening up for sure!

Gary was fantastic in the lead-up/prep for the shoot... I was due to be touring the Midlands on the date we planned to work together and thus relying on his recommendations/better local knowledge of locations for us to utilise. The site he planned was a jaw-dropping old priory and surrounding woodland/nature trails! It didn't stop there either: cornfields/streams/sun/rain - we had it all! And we certainly made utterly EPIC creative use of it too! So well played by Gary for putting everything in place from an organisation perspective as there's more to location shooting than folk initially think but he had everything covered with elite professionalism and thoughtfulness on my part. Any model who is planning a potential outdoor photo session with this lovely photographer can completely rest assured that they will be in good hands and have a TOTAL blast slaying it with beautifully inspired pictures on a productive team-work level but being impeccably well looked after in terms of comfort and safety every step of the way. :) I honestly cannot wait to get out on location again with Gary at some point in the future if he's mad enough!!

To give an idea of the range of stunning shots we bagged throughout the full day: well we bounced from acrobatic arty to atmospheric and emotive, lifestyle and even class portraiture! It's especially tricky on location to smash so many different looks that rely on such a diversity of lighting type - you are at mercy of that big light in the sky and the weather modifiers thrown in the mix! I kid you not... One moment it was soft and hazy, then it's like the strong contrasting sunlight has just slapped you one... Shooting into the light/out of the light/in dappled light - Gary barely even blinked with worry and we worked through each opportunistic situation hard to bounce off each other and make something superb in the back of the camera! Gary dashing between angles/trying not to fall into a swamp in the process or trip over planted stonework. His patience is just next-level and his openness to working together on a creative visual level to share ideas/run suggestions by one-another makes every shoot with Gary just a dream!! He propositioned every challenge with total focus (and we were hit with probably every challenge in the book from that pesky fine rain to crazy shadows and the occasional spectator) which all made looking at the pictures after the event the biggest buzz of excitement ever - and the very reason why I model in the first place! High-fives in plentiful supply and creative unity with awesome people like Gary. :) His artistic passion and appreciation deserves a HUMONGOUS level of compliments!

As per:- Gary and I pretty much didn't stop chatting. We worked at a relaxed and non-pressured pace - although what we did do shone of tremendously good yield but the breaks were taken if needed, and the kind and profoundly generous gentleman that he is even bought me lunch at the nearby pub/restaurant from where we'd met at the morning. He is wonderful company on a shoot/extremely sociable and sweet-natured, as well as being the safest and most professionally characterised photographer that a model hopes to be met with on any shoot. He genuinely sets the example of a star person to work with on so many levels - I could just ramble on and on about how very highly I recommend him! But then you just need to read the other model accounts of working with Gary (including another from myself) and that sums him up/says it all saving him from the long-winded blabber that I could easily go an and on about relative to Gary's awesomeness as a photographer and creative being. :D

We proper rocked it Gary! Thank you so much again!

Keira

Ivory Flame

Lovely working with Gary at Guys Cliffe organised by the fab Nicole Rayner!

He was once again a pleasure to shoot with - friendly, considerate, collaborative and positive!

Many thanks for booking on Gary :-)

Nicole Rayner

Yet another wonderful shoot with Gary!! Today he attended an art Nude event that I organised and I was so pleased he did as Gary is always a pleasure to have on any shoot!

Gary is so lovely to work with - very relaxed and a lovely appreciation for models! Super respectful and always aware of the models wellbeing and aware of his fellow photographers which is really great on a big event like today’s!

Always had a smile and a warm persona - just a wonderful person and having seen the shot he took - a great photographer also!

Highly recommended by me!

Ayla

Another wonderful shoot with Gary! This time on Nicole Rayner’s 2019 Guys Cliffe event! It was wonderful to have him there as we always get wonderful images together and I just love working with Gary!

He is so easy to get on with and lovely to be around. He’s always happy to take on my suggestions - he has a lovely relaxed approach to shooting and is always respectful. He is considerate of models wellbeing and safety and always has a positive attitude.

Highly recommended me!!

Kitty Dawson

I had a great shooting with Gary at Joel hicks photographic studios.

We shot outdoors in the nature, including in the lake. Even though it was raining, I was still up for getting into the lake.

We started off with some fashion, then a sheer set and then, art and sensual nude shots.

Gary is kind, respectful, professional, easy to get on with and generally good company too!

Thank you Gary for a great shoot, I really enjoyed working with you.

Highly recommended :)