I’ve shot together with fellow photographer and friend Nigel Fleming a few times in the past and we had talked about getting together again over the Christmas holidays as we were both off work. As it turns out it didn’t happen until the very last day of the holidays. Nigel had mentioned an outdoor location and I suggested a few around Lurgan and the one we settled on an abandoned, derelict build. This was my old work place and did bring back some great memories of my time there.

Nigel was able to source a model for the shoot, the lovely Zoe. On the day Zoe arrived with her mum, Fiona, and we all made our way down to the building. It was very cold and the ground was very slippery, so a precarious walk it was but we made it safely. We found a room were Zoe could use for changing and while she settled in Nigel and myself did a quick recce of the place.

The building has been derelict now for around 10 years and most of it has been knocked down, and the inner walls had been ‘punched’ through and the walls were covered in some very nice graffiti, which we were to put to good use.

And so on to the first setup of the day. This was a simple single light setup against a wall.

	Single light to the left of camera shooting through a softbox
Here the light was moved to outside through a door and shot through the broken frame of the door
Just to the right of this first location there was a very colourful wall with a large hole in it. I thought this would be ideal to frame Zoe against the graffitied wall. Again these were a single light set up.
	Single light was placed just to the right of Zoe.
Nigel had a different idea for this location. He had Zoe perch on the demolished wall and lit it again with a single light.
From this location we turned 180 degrees to another large hole in a wall and a wardrobe change. Again a single light set-up.
A simple head shot but one of my favourites from the day.
Just to the right of this wall was a long corridor which I wanted to try out. I initially took a couple of natural light shots but they weren’t ideal. Nigel suggested a single light placed just to the left of Zoe and slightly behind her. As usual Nigel’s judgement was spot on.
This finished us with this location and the upper floor. We headed down to what used to be the factory canteen and to be honest produced, for me anyway, the best shots of the day. These shots were a two light setup. One light was placed behind Zoe and to the right and used to illuminate the back wall. The other light was used to light Zoe and it was placed to both the left and right of Zoe.
Zoe barefoot amongst the dereliction. A masterful suggestion by Nigel. This is my most favourite shot of the whole day.
Many thanks to Nigel for the company and encouragement. A massive thanks has to go to Zoe. Unfortunately the photos don’t show it but the temperature on the day was only a few degrees above freezing. She soldiered on through the cold and never complained once.