One of our favourite photoshoots to date is the one we did back in 2018 at Umberslade Estate in Tanworth-In-Arden. We are lucky enough to live right by Umberslade and spend a lot of time there, it's a special place with lots of fabulous opportunities for a photoshoot- and the convenience is an added bonus for us. 

Back in 2018 we used the tree lined drive that leads up to the farm for our shoot, this time we wanted to utilise one of the fields on the land that had some scraps of corn left over from the last harvest. Having a neutral colour palette for the backdrop works really well and different textures look great on film. The estate owner, Ollie, was an absolute star and made sure there were some large bales of hay in the field for the model to lean on.

 Scouting for the perfect patch for our shoot

In 2018 our prop of choice was a vintage Fiat 500, in 2021 we went for a vintage piano in a field. Now, a glorious model playing the piano beautifully in a golden field wasn't our vision from the start- because that would be making things difficult for us... it was an organic choice after seeing how well our chosen model could play the piano on her Instagram page. Call it an added bonus if you will, but as it turns out it was a game changer for the direction of the shoot. Our model, Cairo Dwek, is not only beautiful and incredibly lovely to work with, she is also an extremely talented pianist and artist. 

Finding a local company to bring an old piano down to the field wasn't too difficult, but the practicality was a little more trying. The delivery van got stock in the mud trying to load the piano onto the filed and had to be pulled out by Ollie (to the rescue) on his tractor and the piano had to be forklifted onto the filed. But, it was well worth it. The scene was now set for another magical photoshoot.

Our usual dream team came up from London, photographer Michelle Beatty, videographers Jack and Gregory from Nice Productions and make up artist Jessica Kell. Our talented friend Sally from Mor Style helped us with the styling to create a romantic wardrobe full of embroidery, interesting detail and voluminous shapes to complement the setting and the jewellery. Standout pieces included Aqua by Aqua Bendita dresses, a full length gown by Luisa Baccaria and Zimmermann (of course!).

 The most beautiful Luisa Baccaria Gown

The shoot began with filming the music, Cairo played 'Marriage D'Amour' with passion and flair, even though she was trying to hide her shaky hands. You wouldn't believe it from watching the video or seeing the images, but it was freezing! We worked through the shoot quickly to combat the cold, covering Cairo in a duvet coat in-between shots and warming her up in the location van with a hairdryer.

Our last shot of the day was Cairo sitting on the ground wearing a cream crochet Zimmermann dress, at this point the sun decided to make an appearance, we didn't get golden hour but we did get a golden minute- where the setting sun cast a wonderful hue on the field for that final sunlit shot. 

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Photographer: Michelle Beatty

Videographers: Gregory and Jack Nice Productions

Model: Cairo Dwek at Nomad Management

MUA and Hair: Jessica Kell 

Stylist: Sally Morrall 

Location: Umberslade Estate