Now, this is not sour grapes – I promise you -  and if you think I’m out of order, please, don’t be afraid to tell me. read the rest of this article…

Win a prize in our Charity Calendar competition!

When we were shooting the 2008 Cheeky Chappies Charity Calendar last autumn, one of our “models” had to pull out at the last minute.  We later discovered that the reason was a directive from his employers that fire-fighters were now banned from such projects.  So I decided to get a little cheeky myself and planted a number of “firemen” on some of the pages of the calendar.  What surprised me was that no-one seemed to notice these firemen lurking in the background of some of the shots. 

Can YOU spot them?  There’s a voucher worth £25 to anyone correctly identifying which pages they appear on.

There are four “firemen” in all.  They appear in many forms, but are identifiable by the fireman’s helmets they are wearing.

You can enter by filling in the form on the Cheeky Chappies web site www.beautyphoto.co.uk/cheeky

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Nice little job in the studio this afternoon, shooting half a dozen leather jackets for the Blue Moon Leathers website.

I’ve worked with Holly and Christian on a fashion shoot before.  Both amateur models, they are incredably easy to work with – better than many professional models!  Maybe it helps too, the fact that our main work is shooting portraits, so Jayne and I are quite used to working with non professionals.

Black leather - in fact any dark material – can be really difficult to light.  Leather, of course,  has to look like.. well, leather. 

After carefully balancing the Exposure and shadow sliders in Lightroom, you can bring just the right amount of detail into the darker folds of the garment using the “Fill” slider. 

Adobe Lightroom makes post-production an absolute breeze.  read the rest of this article…

Jayne and Chris are looking for volunteers to help produce some exciting new images for their portfolio.  read the rest of this article…

Myleene Klass has followed in the footsteps of Demi Moore and Britney Spears by gracing a magazine cover whilst pregnant and nude.

29 year old Myleen, who was seven months pregnant at the time of the shoot, said: ‘I’m proud of my body. It has made a new life and I find that exciting.’

Of course, you don’t have to be a celebrity to have some beautiful maternity portraits to remind you of this wonderful time.

Jayne & Chris Birchall are offering a brand new studio session designed to bring you the sort of maternity portraits hitherto reserved for the rich and famous.

Quite aptly, Mr February is professional (pancake) tosser Tom Shepherd. 

22 year old Tom  can be found serving up some delicious meals at Ruthin’s Bar-W (formerly the Wynnstay Arms)

Congratulations to the Fron Male Voice Choir who’s album
“Voices of the Valley” shot straight into the Top Ten in the national album charts

Jayne & Chris were commissioned to photograph the choir for an international press release, at the beginning of December, announcing their outstanding success. 

The lads, who all hail from the Wrexham and Llangollen area, were pictured in the stage outfits and in their “civvies” to illustrate the fact they just ordinary guys with ordinary day jobs.  Their album is also featured in a TV advertising campaign.

January 2008 UPDATE: 

Jayne & Chris Birchall’s photographs were recently used in Virgin Air’s in-flight magazine “Seatback”