I’ve just returned from an amazing week in Fuerteventura, an island with a backbone of volcanoes and wild locations all surrounded by black sand beaches and hidden canyons. The nature of its location means it comes with unpredictable weather and lots of wind. The skies were often very moody, not ideal for tourists looking for a nice beach holiday this time of year, but volcanoes and black sand with soft light… that is my idea of a good time.

I had this trip planned for months. I’m pretty good at a remote recce, building a set of locations and travel times, when the light is best, plus what the tide timetable is like, if necessary. But none of that is needed if you don’t have someone to shoot with. So that is where this story starts.

It was back in May last year where I first met Irina Lozovaya. We shot together in a Chateaux in the South of France and despite the gorgeous building, we spent most of the time shooting outdoors. Both of us favouring nature over fine furnishings. Irina has a very natural way of connecting with her surroundings, it’s instinctive and I knew then that she’d be a great fit for my otherworldly project.

I believe a productive shoot isn’t about rigid planning , it’s about some basic preparation, trust and knowing when to seize the moment.

This post walks through my workflow when shooting with a model, based on a half-day studio session with London-based model Saida. The images below are just some of what we created together.

I put this post together as I often get asked how I shoot and the honest answer is I have a few simple rules and let my instinct fill in the gaps. Read on to see those steps and how Saida and I made the images you will see in this post.

Twenty twenty five began with the assumption that I wouldn’t be able to repeat the number of photographic adventures I squeezed into the year before. 2024 felt like a one-off, and my goal this year was simply to shoot once a month and, if possible, fit in a small elemental trip around the demands of the day job. Work was busy, and I assumed the camera would need to take a back seat.

But now, sitting here in the cold of December, I realise how wrong I was. I’ve always said my favourite thing about photography is how it opens the door to meeting like-minded people, and while I may not have racked up the air miles this time around, I unintentionally traded places for people and what an incredible mix of people and talent it’s been.

I create this book each year to measure my own development and to document the journey, something I’ll look back on later in life. And despite travelling far less, this year’s book is already twenty percent bigger than last year’s. By that simple metric alone, 2025 has been a bumper year, full of creativity, connection and an ever-growing network of friends who’ve become part of my ongoing photographic story.

It was the end of July and I was in a cinema foyer trying to get my head around the price of popcorn when my phone vibrated. It was a voice message from Tezz, her gentle tones a welcome respite from my vibrant surroundings. She had been chatting to Elena and learned of our planned trip to Tuscany in September and was asking if this could be the opportunity for us to shoot together. Tezz is not native to Tuscany but her boyfriend is so she spends a number of months a year there.

I had not met Tezz before but we had exchanged a number of messages, shared views on a few photos and a failed attempt to try and find a time to work together in 2024. But I’m someone who recognises when stars align, plus if Elena thought this was a good idea, I’d have to agree, afterall (as she would remind me many times in Italy) she is always right.

This is a transcript of a conversation I had with Nausicaa Yami (Elena) and Tezz and her boyfriend Giona, recorded over dinner at the end of a three-day shoot in Italy. What started as a simple chat turned into just over an hour, gossiping about their unique connection, how each of them found their way into modelling, and the experience of having books dedicated entirely to their work, and why those books matter.

It was part serious, part silly: one minute we were talking about trust and vulnerability, the next laughing about worms in the water, taking me to a hospital and how they enjoyed sharing a bedroom together. Pull up a chair and join us at the table for a chat.