References for Shaun Solent

siggy

Yes Yes Yes, I would definitely recommend Carl.

I was lucky to work with Carl for second time.

As we worked together before, I knew this shoot will be amazing.

Carl is absolute pleasure to work with - fun, professional, creative, great personality; basically - Awesome :)

I could stay in his studio for a week and we wouldn't run out of ideas. Im so pleased with result.

Carl, thank you so much for amazing day and wonderful photos. You are one in a million :) Cant wait for our next shoot.

Highly recommended

Wendy Louise Howard

I had the absolute pleasure of working with Carl on a recent Photographic trip to Portugal with Keira Lavelle.

We met Carl in the Airport in Portugal and we got along straight away, chatting about anything and everything.

I knew we would have a fabulous week as Carl had great Conversation, was Friendly, Respectable and great Fun to be around.

Carl taught me a lot about posing for Bodyscapes and Art Nude and gave perfect direction to get the best shots possible using myself and the natural light available in different locations and settings.

We first shot duo with the stunning Keira Lavelle at the Estuary and underneath an Immense Bridge giving fabulous difference to Art Nude shots during the trip. He is very good at directing to get the best out of the both Models at the same time, making a very happy Team. I loved all the images.

Next we shot solo on the Mountain Tops before heading to the Pier to get the best Bodyscapes I've ever received (Thank you very much Carl) They are some of the most Beautiful Bodyscapes I have ever seen and I'm really proud that the Model in them is me. We finished the day off with some totally awesome Glamour stye shots at the Beach playing in the Sea, again some of my best Glamour shots to date were produced here. (Thanks again)

Our next shoot was in the Villa. Here we managed to achieve a wide variety again. We played about with a Snooker table using the light to our advantage. We got Arty with Snooker balls for Bodyscapes, played with the light shining through the trellis, Bodyscaped on the Balcony. Played about on the balcony with some expressive headshots, shot some bedroom styled shots, as well as smashing some stunning Glamour shots in the Pool :D

Our next shoot was at an Abandoned Factory where we again achieved absolutely stunning work. We achieved a really wide variety of shots here. We played with Body Bandages allowing me to throw more attitude in to the images. We mixed it up with some Fashion Nude using a Red Cardigan that Carl provided. It worked really well with a lot of shots that we took, as well as allowing me to cover up as best as I could when we were spotted by a lady walking past haha. We Bodyscaped until our hearts were content, played with some Urban styles and shot against some amazing Graffiti Walls.

Our last shoot was a Sunrise shoot at an absolutely Beautiful Medieval Castle.

Here we achieved some of my best Art Nude and again Bodyscape images ever.

Again perfect direction was given to get the perfect angles for these. Carl has a really good eye for angles and light and its been hard to choose images to post as I love them all.

After being discovered semi-dressed with a bottle of Suncream in hand (lucky escape haha) we took a little walk to a Bridge with a River flowing underneath. Again, we smashed this set. Some of my fave images were taken here also.

Carl gave great confidence during our shoots and knowledge that I will carry forward on future shoots. I am really pleased to have had the chance to work with him and spend time with him, outside of shooting, in the Villa and out for meals as he is a genuinely nice person who grows confidence at a rapid rate. I look forward to working with him again in the future.

He also got the many images out in record time haha :D

Thanks very much Carl, its all appreciated.

If you get the chance to work with Carl, jump at it. He really knows his stuff and I guarantee he will get the best out of you.

Highly recommended by me with 5 stars *****

Thanks Carl, your an absolute Star

Renaissance xx

Keira Lavelle

Goodness me! each time I come to do this I feel like there are so many more things to say about working with Carl, yet it is always an extension of the previous reference because of the superb shooting experiences I have always had working with him.

I have another almighty essay to write about our trip to Namibia yet, but I wanted to get simultaneous references out in relation to mine and Carl's latest shoot together whereby he joined myself and Renaissance in Portugal for our self-run creative photographic trip. Before now, I had shot with Carl several times on various road-trips/week-long trips abroad and single days at various studios (including his own stunning setup) and on location). This one was to be a little different because even though we had done one "shared shoot" late last year, it was technically more workshop format so working in conjunction with other photographers being onsite and working adjacent to each other was something completely different from the totally exclusive one-to-one format that Carl and I had normally worked by on previous aboard work and road-trips. In fact my self-run format on the trips away was in fact heavily inspired by the completely priceless rapport I have always had when working with Carl on these multi-day shooting trips... I felt that there was nothing comparable to having the complete one-to-one freedom which allows you to spend that extra care as a creative team to perfect the lighting/the pose/the concept. You are not conscious that there are others waiting to shoot or that an idea might not be try-able. It truly is the most productive way to work and my prolific shooting experiences in Wales, Iceland... More recently Namibia with Carl truly were an eye opener for exerting the best out of your shooting time when you have gone to the effort of arranging to go to such a stunning place. As such, I was over the moon when Carl was able to confirm his attendance to Portugal. There were many stupendous photographic opportunities to come solo and duo on the trip and knowing how Carl had always rocked-it on location work before, it was an exciting 10 days to look forward to for sure whereby everyone attending could work harmoniously parallel to each other but not "interfering" with each other. You still have the benefits of the creative chin-wagging and comparing notes in-between however which is just awesome! :D Particularly between Carl and Gary H who shared their 7 day trip period... Both being technically-minded engineers, they were in their element gossiping away about all things technical for the first few trips in the car to locations. It was a truly fabulous automatic "click" with everyone from the start of the trip which begun with Gary and Carl, myself and Renaissance... There was total harmony in the shooting days as photographers got their one to one time with the models on the different days including duo. It didn't take long for the banter to form and us models made it very clear that we would be marching around the villa banging a wooden spoon on a saucepan at the crack of dawn if the photographers were to take liberties with wild party-hard evenings! :P Fortunately we were all a mutually hard-core bunch and were off to hit the deck virtually the moment we returned from dinner each evening. It's tiring work this quality picture making business... and not just for the models I might add!

As always, Carl and his eye for the light sprung to life with complete creative enthusiasm every single time an opportunity presented itself. Whilst being a very technically-tuned in genius mind which could literally tell you the entire science behind photography and lighting... Carl has an unquestionably strong vision for a beautiful moment and he works with the models so carefully to paint the perfect picture based on the resources available at the time. It's his fault entirely the fact that I would automatically come up with such a crazy idea like sourcing a crab from the beach and having a picture taken of it crawling across me... Because Carl will make it look spectacularly artistic! He is so selective with the moments he chooses to shoot and will never have a model being uncomfortable/straining themselves unless he's 100% confident it will make a good picture, but on the contrary he would honestly make a good picture out of anything which is why I tend to just get climbing before he has the chance to say anything now! :D But yes, in terms of being completely in-tune with gorgeous lighting/composition and direction... Carl is a star for it 1000%.

Renaissance and I both had a lovely time shooting with him and would be well and truly over the moon to have him on-board again! He is one of the most passionate photographers I have ever met and he genuinely appreciates hard work and mutual enthusiasm from models... When a shot is working the excitement just fills the room with Carl. Towards the end of the trip I did the airport-runs to take him and Gary back to catch their flights home which was so sad to see them go! Carl's flight was much later because based on the schedule, he and I still had a half-day to shoot. But, even Carl had felt he had got some amazing results from the week as a whole and was happy to shorten the afternoon off and grab a coffee over a last sit-down instead which allowing me to get back to the villa/back to hosting earlier than anticipated. For me, that was a big thing knowing how into his photographer Carl is and how he will normally be right the way into the flow until the very end but he was full of satisfaction for the shooting experiences he had got on the trip and happy just to have a relaxed end. But I also recall the same appreciation in Iceland after one of our longest days shooting in the field, he really does appreciate the work models do.

I cannot thank him enough for a truly fantabulous week packed with laughter and the standard high-quality image yield. I will make a separate note about Namibia, but just to say... What a photographer!

Claire Mundy

Ive just got home after a 6 hour shoot with Carl, I can honestly say i had the most awesome day!!

Carl is so helpful in giving direction in poses he wants to capture, I was honoured when carl asked me for a shoot and i have learnt so much and taken away alot from today so thankyou carl.

Cant wait for the next time!

Claire x

chloesul

Had my third shoot with the phenomenal Carl

Grim. Every time we mention to shoot I get a buzz of excitement as I know we will have a fabulous shoot with great outcomes.

This shoot we had was a duo with the lovely ruby rebel.

Carl has an absolutely fantastic studio and my god he knows how to work it.

We worked through a shower and rain set and Carl

I’s so hardworking and I absolutely love shooting with this fantastic guy.

Carl even complimented me on how hard I have worked on my figure since he last shot me and that was the biggest compliment I’ve received.

Sorry for rambling on I highly recommend Carl grim as you will never be disappointed!!

Ivy Jane

I had my second shoot with Carl yesterday.

I'm lost for words and how amazing this photographer is!

We had a duo with chloesul this time working with water which is hard to do alone but with two models is even harder!

Lucky Carl Knew what to do the

Lighting was amazing everything not to mention he makes a killer cup of tea!

I couldn't recommend this photographer enough to everyone and I'll definitely do shooting with him again!

AntPics

Having been an admirer of his work for some time, I booked a Lighting the Nude workshop with Carl. Great decision.

Carl is fun, friendly, good company, and explains his approach both to shooting models and lighting in an easy to understand way. Happy to explain terms that I'm not familiar with, to create the best learning possible experience.

Only downside: you will come away jealous of his studio set up. ;)

Keira Lavelle

This shoot trip, honestly… How does one even put it into words!! I don’t think there is the worthy vocabulary out there to be quite honest but I will do my very best for sure!

Carl asked me to model for him on a trip to the indescribably magnificent region of Namibia in Africa. Honestly, I was flabbergasted when the email popped up and the proposal was there – with the countless sensationally fantastic shoots I have had with this lighting genius of pure talent and the memories created in the process – this was a moment that truly silenced me for that point in time. Now that is hard to do because I qualify as quite the chatterbox on a day to day basis as many photographers/fellow creatives will be able to back up. :P I’m sure Carl will certainly vouch for that, though he’s just as big a chatterbox… Especially for talking to himself/his lights. Sorry Carl!!! :D So when the initial blur eased of: the buzzing feeling of pure thrill and excitement was simply impossible to contain! We were going to probably one of the most spectacular places on this entire planet to make pictures: I could say that easily a week or two later it still had not properly sunk in!

OOHHHHH MYYYY GOSSHHHHH!

It’s quite safe to say that I have enjoyed so many wonderful shoots in my modelling career including trips abroad for extended periods, but I tell no word of a lie when I say that this is one emotionally-touching experience which will host a place in my creative soul until the end of time. It will be one of those magical experiences that I look back on in years to come and think: yep! My contribution to art back in the day was running around the desert nude! It will trigger many laughs, applauses perhaps, maybe a few jaw-drops… But I will be just picturing that out-of-this world light that the master of lighting Carl Crim captured in so many sensational photographs smeared across a scene of pure awe. I’m not kidding – even now I still think back and have to remind myself – OMG, I actually went here and made pictures! When reminiscing over some of the unbeatable work we produced. What a shoot, what a place, what an amazingly outstanding photographer, what tremendous company for the duration of the trip… I could fill pages and pages of this shoot. I could ramble on about it until the end of time! THERE JUST ARE NO WORDS!!!!!!!!!

Carl organised the trip with elite precision and perfect scheduling. He had planned outside the box extensively even before we went because on a previous trip he had made connections with a keen and also very skilled landscape photographer Matt who had been able to grant us with exclusive access to some of the arguably best locations that this part of the world had to offer. The plan was to head out each day to a different incredible site as guided by Matt and his expert knowledge of the area, and Carl was delivering tuition throughout our days with Matt who had expressed an interest and appreciation in his model photography work (completely unsurprisingly of course!) So it was a plan! Each morning we hit the road to get to the various dazzlingly gorgeous places for sunrise; we shot in the early morning mist, we shot in the first appearing sun, we covered an insane level of productive ground at one site and then moved onto the next: Carl is just a true expert in what he does and we enjoyed the same highest quality yield that we have had in all our previous shoots, he also continuously kept Matt in the loop throughout with fantastic photography know-how and teaching… Certainly it goes without saying that if you want to understand how light works and what light does: Carl is the person to speak to!! His pictures are like something sent from the art world of the gods – OUTSTANDINGLY MAGICAL every day of the week. Period!!!!

Our schedule was flawless, Carl and his family had really put so much love and dedication into making this a huge success. From the management of time to the organising of accommodation, allowing for travel (and the huge amount of it which was taken on tirelessly!) Several flights, goodness know how many hours driving, navigating off to a tee, and then all the shooting which took place in-between… How do human beings even manage all that! Seriously, I have no end of credit to give for the impeccable planning of this adventure. And an ADVENTURE in every sense it was – my mind just melted into complete awe of the entire event! But not only was there a lot to take on during the trip – the putting together of the trip beforehand would have also taken hours of articulate care and my credit also goes out to that! Carl and his family just rocked this whole thing with prime success to the starts and beyond. And believe me… You realise how far away the stars really are when you’re looking at hundreds upon millions of them beside gas giants and planets in the Namibian night sky! Apologies… I keep rambling on about the beauty of this place and throwing the occasional random point in. But it’s still there within my mind pride of place!

As a model, I was treat like family. I was really well looked after on this trip and my heart really goes to Carl’s whole family for really making me feel at home and comfortable from when the adventure begun. Rita, Carl’s lovely wife, would day after day prepare delicious meals for everyone at the apartment where we stayed, I spent a lot of time in the car travelling with Rita as we made the 9-hour journey from Windhoek to where our base would be and she’s the sweetest person ever who you could literally chat to all day. I felt terrible taking the opportunity to sleep on part of the drive because I know how tiring long car journeys can be and felt I needed to be awake to chat/help keep concentration up but Rita encouraged me to get my head down even giving me her plane head-cushion! Graham, (Carl’s brother) assisted us on the shooting days and was a total god-send! He held the reflector where direct light was posing a bit of a challenge and as usual Carl’s direction as to where to position the light to get everything spot on was just the best – but a few days in Graham was on it telepathically! :D He was also so kind to me and helped me in many ways with running after me with my shoes, grabbing my coat for me and being there when I was doing all my crazy climbing and scaring everyone! :P I honestly cannot stress enough how everyone played such an integral role in making this trip a massive success and one that will live in my heart and memories for good. The company was just so amazing, it felt like being away with friends. My wellbeing was always highly thought off and looked after by everyone. I just cannot thank everyone involved enough! Even the associates we met on the way: Matt, the people that hosted us… Everyone just made the whole trip more magic. If that was even technically possible?!

Now I just cannot sign this essay off without going into insane detail about Carl’s merit as a photographer again. From the first shoot I ever had with Carl, it was evident to me how much he appreciates producing nothing less than the best work that he is physically capable of. The combination of his exquisite eye for beauty within an image… plus his unbeatable technical understanding of the science of light makes him very much the top of his game. He works light like he has a magic wand on the stuff! Seriously! It’s bordering witchcraft what he can do with the stuff! Even in the wilds of a location like Namibia where the sun is going to do it’s thing regardless of what you do as a creative team: he sees the angles and sees the moment – I can read Carl’s thoughts now when he’s assessing a photographic situation because we have worked together so many times so I’ll jump in and throw the poses that just work with his epic photography skills, Carl can direct with dynamite perfection to get the light on a figure at it’s very best in every situation without fail. I do have to throw some of my mad shapes in before we leave the site though. :P Carl forgets that he is brilliant at making a stunning picture when the model is pulling an innovative pose so I just sit there in-pose until he takes it. :P

It's genuinely taken me some time to actually process the whole shoot properly, I think putting down in words how such a shooting opportunity has hit you deserves some genuine care/thought.

THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH JB FOR SUCH A FFT OPPORTUNITY!!!!!!!!!

Aya

I had another brilliant shoot with the King of light. Where he showed his tremendous eye for detail and composition and his innovative use of every day things in close up body scapes. He is constantly innovating and seems to have endless ideas and limitless imagination, all drived by his enormous enthusiasm. Phenomenal results!!!

As usual Carl was an absolute gentleman and it was an honour to work with him.

We already have planned the next shoot and I cannot wait.

Highly x 10 recommend!!!!!

Ivy Jane

I had a shoot today with Carl and wow where we I begin.

He picked me up and dropped me of at home again.

He's a very fun chatty guy who is so amazing at what he dose.

Honestly if you only even shoot with one photographer it has to be Carl I could not recommend him enough.

Aya

It is going to be one year since I had my first "Dream Come True" shoot with Carl yet I still cannot believe he continues to work with me. He has transformed an ordinary (mature) hobbyist model into unbelievably beautiful model in his images. There are no words that can express how much I appreciate this. The shoots with him have highly motivated me to strive to be more fit and toned.

I hugely respect Carl both as a person and as a photographer who has a huge positive influence on his models.

This time I was a model for his lighting tutorial with AWpix. I got the chanced to learn some of the reasons why Carl is so good. His motivation to teach is to learn; to continue to improve his own work. He unselfishly imparts all his knowledge to his pupils without keeping anything back in order to maximise his learnings from the lesson. He also teaches his pupils how to treat their models which is a very important part of getting the very best from his models.

Unreservedly highly recommended and I hope for more shoots in the coming year.

AWpix

Carl’s reputation for creating stunning images is well known and I was lucky enough to attend one of his 1on1 “lighting nudes” tutorial sessions. After getting over the shock of his stunning studio I was instructed on the finer points of low key lighting. Then, following a delicious lunch, we broke from his standard tutorial schedule and delved into the exciting and technical world of nude water photography, ending with some epic images of the lovely Aya.

Carl doesn’t hold anything back when teaching; both his knowledge that he generously and openly imparts revealing all his tips & tricks that he has mastered over the years, and in his enthusiasm with his voice ringing out “Wonderful!” & “Shoot!” clearly over the thunder of the water.

I have no doubt that I will be doing another shoot with Carl, neither do I doubt that any photographer would be lucky to have a tutorial from him.

art65

Yesterday I had a tutoring session with Carl Grim, a lighting masterclass. Brilliant, the magic of studio lighting revealed ! Not only did Carl hand me the keys to the treasure chest he did it with great charm and warmth. Thankyou Carl. Highly recommended.

Aya

I had another brilliant chance to work with this great photographer who I just purely and hugely respect.

He always welcome me with huge warm smile with nice cup of coffee and professional enthusiasm towards the shoot.

The 1st day we had an amazing morning session with variety of ideas and creativity and as always Carl is very good at finding nice parts of a model(me) and made my body look awesome using his magic in his images! And then our afternoon session he and his friend, Ken Clarke, the internationally renowned body sculpture artist made me into gold statue and the shoot was just speechless....the images were created by two talented artists....no chance to go wrong and they were gorgeous and very creative!!!

The 2nd day we worked with Paul Williams Photography for his lighting session. Carl is a brilliant tutor as well as a great photographer and I thoroughly enjoyed being involved in this session and learned a lot about posing as well.

Being in the magical creative world for two days and being a part of Carl's creative art was exceptional experience for me as a model. I cannot wait the next shoot with him.

Thank you for the warm hospitality to Carl and his wife Rita from the bottom of my heart.

Highly highly highly recommended!!!!!

Boudoir & Glamour Photography

I messaged Carl a couple of weeks ago and arranged a bit of one on one tuition at his AMAZING studio.

Carl is a fabulous teacher who really enjoys sharing his welth of knowledge and cares that you take on board what he is showing.

Its the first EVER workshop I have ever been to where the instructor NEVER takes a photo. - The whole day was totally about me :-)

Loved ever second, been playing with a few images today and boy o boy and I thrilled.

If you ever find yourself thinking should or shouldnt I, well just do it, it will be well worth your time and the money invested.

Highly recommended

Monsieur E

Ridiculous, how is one human being this talented, ridiculously talented.

Great pre comms, looked at art nude, bondage, fetish, erotic nude alongside Serenity.

A brave shoot because a lot of the poses that we were aiming to achieve are not the type of poses most models would attempt as technical aptitude, experience, bravery. We aimed high, we achieved heights.

Works enthusiastically and very specific with angles, lighting and that why he achieves the effects he does.

Highly recommended by me and I look forward to working together again hopefully!

Legend.

Serenity.

Gosh - where to begin with this man?! His references say it all!

This was my second shoot with him and wow it was even better than the first! This time I shot duo alongside Efe.

Carl is so amazingly talented and full of lots and lots of enthusiasm! The amount of times I’d hear him shouting with happiness because of shots we had taken.. it was so hilarious.

Carl is always super welcoming, chatty and has a clear shoot plan/ideas. We all worked together incredibly well and covered a number of different styles/sets.

It’s obvious when you shoot with him that he’s a master at lighting and knows how to nail it 100%. His home studio is just spectacular and never seizes to amaze me.

Not only is Carl an extremely incredible photographer, he’s also a really lovely person. You are guaranteed spectacular images and also a really fun yet productive day!

The images speak for themselves and I’m so glad I was asked to be part of it :)

Highly recommended as always and hope it isn’t our last!

Serenity.

Gosh - where to begin with this man?! His references say it all!

This was my second shoot with him and wow it was even better than the first! This time I shot duo alongside Efe.

Carl is so amazingly talented and full of lots and lots of enthusiasm! The amount of times I’d hear him shouting with happiness because of shots we had taken.. it was so hilarious.

Carl is always super welcoming, chatty and has a clear shoot plan/ideas. We all worked together incredibly well and covered a number of different styles/sets.

It’s obvious when you shoot with him that he’s a master at lighting and knows how to nail it 100%. His home studio is just spectacular and never seizes to amaze me.

Not only is Carl an extremely incredible photographer, he’s also a really lovely person. You are guaranteed spectacular images and also a really fun yet productive day!

The images speak for themselves and I’m so glad I was asked to be part of it :)

Highly recommended as always and hope it isn’t our last!

BexWhite

I finally made it down to Carl's wonderful studio last week, after wanting to work with him for as long as I can remember. We shot for a full day, and a thoroughly enjoyable day it was too! Carl is a master of light, passionate about his work and highly skilled. This, coupled with shared styles and drive to make some magic, makes working with him a joyful experience. The day absolutely flew by, and we really did create some truly exceptional images.

Whole heartedly recommended!

Jay Bee

So I finally got to shoot with Carl! Absolutely love his work and I can tell you it was well worth the wait.

Carl was an absolute gent throughout the whole shoot and always made sure I was comfortable and warm.

Not only is Carl himself amazing, but his studio is something else as well - any idea I am sure you can shoot it here be it a vintage setting in a tin bath to a strip in pouring rain. Endless possibilities.

We created so many awesome sets today which all looked fabulous on the back of camera and I cannot wait to see them finished.

Very highly recommended!!