References for Thurston Lodge

DileshSolanki1985

The team and I had wonderful shoot at the beautiful Thurston Lodge. The lodge is one of a kind, which lets in copious amounts of natural light. Mark is a fantastic host and was very accommodating to us all. Would definitely recommend shooting here! Top class!

Tarmoo

I had my second shoot at Thurston, this time with Tillie Model, who is local to Thurston. As before, it was an excellent shoot and Mark was on hand with teas and coffee and very helpful.

Thurston is a great location for fashion and art nude. It is secluded, but easy to get to. It took me about 1hr 50mins to get there from Kent.

Into Darkness

Always amused by the option to suggest whether a studio showed up for a shoot or not. It's a building... Yes, I do realise that it also includes the person running it though...

Anyway, Mark was brilliant, gave a guided tour of the facilities, made a great cup of coffee, excellent communications and clearly looks after the place fantastically. 11/10 easily.

The studio/location itself:

Well, you always see beautiful images of beautiful locations and you do wonder how much of it is actually just post processing and subtle cloning here and there until you actually see the place.

Thurston Lodge is a stunning location. It has amazing natural light, everything is nicely arrange, there's so much to do in the place that I actually struggled to use all of the potential options in a 4 hour shoot. There is no photoshopping here, unless of course Mark has mastered the art of holography and/or illusion - which would be impressive in itself anyway.

I travelled all the way from Somerset to shoot here (250 miles) and would definitely do this trip again - already plotting and scheming the next big journey!

Nicola-Jane

I had the pleasure of shooting at Thurston Lodge on Wednesday....a birthday present for my talented hubby, as we've been wanting to shoot here for a while now.

The house is absolutely stunning and I had a blast taking full advantage of all the lodge has to offer. I even tried a bit of cosplay, and got into full rocker mode!

Mark was the perfect host with plentiful tea and coffee and I look forward to returning. Highly recommended :)

Thanks Nicki

Nick Hill

My first visit to the beautiful Thurston Lodge. A wonderful location with tons of charisma, character and beauty. Mark is wonderful host who was most accommodating.

The rooms are an incredible group of settings, with plenty of natural light and furnished in style. The gardens are beautiful, and i'm sure they will take on totally different personas as the seasons change.

I will be booking again very soon, this time hopefully for the full day as 4 hours just isn't enough.

Thanks. :)

Howard Perry Photography

Two days of filming my period Drama at the amazing Thurston Lodge. Mark is a superb host and made sure that cast and crew were made very welcome. I cannot thank Mark enough for allowing us to film in his wonderful house. It is a ready made film set and required very little by way is set dressing.

I have now shot stills and video at Thurston and can totally commend it for a totally epic backdrop to your photography.

Can’t wait to go back for future projects.

G J Photography

I had a shoot today at Thurston Lodge and what a fantastic studio it is. So many beautiful rooms with multiple places to shoot in each. Pictures do not do it justice. So much beautiful light too, it was a pleasure to use.

Mark the host is incredible and can't do enough for you, I would shoot here again in a heartbeat.

Thank You.

Nicole Rayner

So I was lucky enough to have 3 days working at Thurston Lodge, with 2 overnight stays! I don't quite know where to begin! What an amazing time I had! I felt like I was on a little holiday and boy did Mark make me feel like a queen!!

Okay, so firstly, the house itself is just beautiful!! Such beautiful colours, wonderful decor which is just perfect for shooting! I love that each room has its own striking design! I also love that the house offers SO MUCH in terms of places to pose! The natural light is just incredible and so very flattering! The furniture is beautiful and lends itself to being posed on! This list I was able to shoot lots outside as the weather was so good, and wow! again, stunning light and perfect surroundings for photos! The grounds and house together offer SO many places to shoot! I shot there for 3 days, with 6 different photographers and I was still able to get smoothing different with them all! which is just brilliant! Being able to move the furniture and things around also really helps as it means that its easier to get something different!

Mark the owner is just brilliant! one of the loveliest of people ever and nothing is too much trouble! He was always there to welcome photographers! Kept popping in lots to ask if we needed tea or water! He was so sweet in giving me a few extras that I had forgotten, like toothpaste or suncream which was much appreciated! As I stayed at the Lodge for 2 nights I got to see the b&b side also and I felt like a queen! An amazing breakfast each day, a wonderful welcome and one of the comfiest beds ever!

Most defiantly 3 on my favourite days of the year all thanks to Thurston lodge!! I do hope to be back again and I would highly recommend it!!! :D

James Box

Inspiring location to shoot at!

I thoroughly enjoyed my half day shoot, and the host kept us topped up with tea:-)

I can highly recommend Thuston Lodge, the place just adds something special to your images.

dirk glassly

Always a great pleasure to shoot at Thurston Lodge, and especially with a great model like Nicole Rayner. As you can see from the photos Thurston Lodge is a very attractive house with fabulous windows, tons of natural light and a multitude of shooting opportunities. The rooms are very tastefully furnished in period, and the polished wooden floors are stunning. The arched stairwell and grand piano offer something different. Moreover, the house is exceptionally clean throughout. Outside there are private grounds with lots of places to explore for shoots. And secure private parking is a real bonus. Finally, host Mark is always very friendly and a great pleasure to meet and to talk to. Nothing is too much trouble but he doesn't intrude on your shoot at all - the perfect host. I look forward to the next time! Recommended 100%.

Laurence

I finally managed to arrange an all day shoot at Thurston Lodge with Joceline on Tuesday and what a delight it was. We had full access to some amazing rooms and a private walled garden. We were blessed with fine weather which gave us good natural light indoors and nothing too bright for when we worked outside.

Mark is an excellent host ensuring that we had everything we needed supplying us with hourly teas and coffees and then drifting onto the background until needed again.

My wife and I took advantage of the B&B facilities and stayed for a couple of nights to avoid two long journeys on the same day and also gave us a mini-break in an area that we were unfamiliar with.

Highly recommended and we are already looking at options for a return visit.

Landicaa

Luckily Junea was able to step in to pose for me as I had Thurston Lodge booked with no model! Scrapping of shoot plan last minute and we had a great fun shoot upstairs and downstairs, even on the stairs as well as out in the garden, lol. Mark was an excellent host and appeared with plentiful tea - we will definitely be returning there as had more ideas than time...

Second Glance

Photographic Nirvana :)

Mark is a terrific host who couldn't have made us feel more welcome and the property is seriously great

The weather was fantastic (unusual, I am told) and so we used the grounds more than I had expected to but, inside or out, this is a wonderful location and impossible to recommend too highly

I certainly look forward to using the charms of this place again as soon as possible

jhphotography

This was my second day at Thurston Lodge and it was as good as the first (though the full english breakfast to start the day off might just have put it ahead :) ). Even though I'd shot at the lodge over two days, there are still places within it and outside that if I got the chance to come back to shoot I'd still find new places to shoot in. Once again the weather was on our side, but I found that even a short distance from the local station by car or walking, it is still a peaceful place to visit, if just a few hrs for a shoot or if you're shoot over the course of a few days, just to relax and enjoy the place.

Mark once again was a great host and it great to chat to him between the shoots and experience Thurston Lodge first hand as you really do need to see it in person to see it as a wonderful location.

jhphotography

Finally got to shoot at Thurston Lodge today after seeing images of the location through various PP accounts of models and hearing rave reviews about it. You really do need to see it in person as each room that you can shoot in has huge potential for images and that's not even talking about the outside areas as well. So happy to finally shoot at Thurston Lodge and will be back again.

Mark is a great host and made sure we were okay ever now and again, but left us to do the shoot after a quick tour.

If you ever do get a chance to shoot at Thurston, do so. You will not regret it and you'll come away with great images.

SalisburyPhotographer

I had the good fortune to shoot at Thurston Lodge last week. Mark is a very hospitable, friendly and extremely helpful.

Thurston Lodge itself is simply marvellous - it is very stylish and provides a huge variety of wonderful settings for interesting images. It was an overcast day and the huge windows provided lots of lovey soft natural light.

I will certainly be returning.

Tarmoo

I have been wanting to shoot at Thurston Lodge for some time and today I was delighted to have the opportunity to shoot there with Natasha Oliver.

There is plenty of scope to shoot both inside and outside in the private grounds. Mark was very helpful and kept us supplied with tea and coffee.

There are some excellent rooms for natural light. Highly recommended and I hope I shoot again there in the near future.

Mawphotography

I had my first shoot at Thurston Lodge this week with Tillie Model and what a great location it is.

Mark is a very welcoming host who kept us well supplied with tea and coffee throughout our 4 hour shoot.

There are endless opportunities to produce interesting images in the various rooms available, all of which are decorated to the highest standard, and there was not nearly enough time with my model.

Highly recommended and looking forward to arranging further shoots here :)

MattB

I finally got the opportunity to come back to Thurston Lodge, and I was as impressed as the first time I came here. There are so many options available I was able to get quite different shots from last time, and all while using the excellent natural light we had.

Mark was friendly and welcoming as ever, keeping the tea coming but otherwise leaving us to get on with it. Every part of the house is a joy to shoot in, with so much space and so much light, I really enjoyed my shoot and would heartily recommend the location to other photographers!

David M...

What a place, Mark's home is a photographers dream location and Mark is welcoming and attentive without being at all intrusive. The perfect host. Natural light and space to work in, in every room. Communication was superb, with clear directions and nothing was too much trouble. This is a location I shall definitely use again (soon)!