I was encouraged to join a group on Facebook, the Burlesque Big Sister/ Brother project, where I could give something back to the community that I have been a part of for a good number of years now. This year I offered a photoshoot per month, winners are selected and I contact them for a date to shoot.

Photography has taken me to many places and this time it took me to North London, at Cockfosters tube station to meet Lacey Noir. This would be the first time in Cockfosters and I knew nothing of the area so a quick look at Google Maps showed me that there was a footpath just around the corner from the station which led to a large wooded area. We could use that!

Lacey Noir arrived in a red dress which would contrast brilliantly with the greens and browns of the forest. Lacey had also brought her husband along as a 'caddy'. (her words not mine) so as we walked along the path to the forest we chatted about shows and cabaret. The caddy was useful in helping Lacey navigate the slightly muddier areas of the pathway.

The end of the pathway opened up to a large vista of the area, lots of grass and a couple of solitary trees around. I had Lacy stand next to one and tried a landscape shot with a lot of contrasting yellows.

Moving further down the field I noticed a path through a line of trees, I had made a note to try the Brenizer effect, a method where you would create the look of a shallower depth of field than the lens you have can create. I had Lacey stand at the end of the path while I put the camera into manual after taking a reading. I then shot a frame of Lacey then a row above, left and right and one row below where she was standing.

Further down we could hear lots of children screaming and running about the wooded area, not wanting to disturb them we moved away and found two rows of trees that formed a tunnel effect. Again Lacey was positioned in the middle and we ran through several poses. It was at this time we were checking the weather as a very large and ominous cloud had decided to come and see what we were doing.

Moving further up we found a field of grass, Lacey was also wearing a corset so we took a number of shots with that too. I positioned Lacey a few yards away from the path then knelt down so I was shooting upwards to give the impression she was standing on a hill.

With the air growing colder and the wind picking up we finished off with a few portrait shots and headed back.

I got a message from Lacey saying they had been caught in a downpour before getting home. I was safe on the tube line but it seemed that the ominous cloud had followed me home so I got soaked too!