Photographing World War 2 Veteran Philip Truelove - Bomb Disposal

Last week I drove to Bath, Somerset to meet and photograph a hero: Philip Truelove, a Second World War veteran who served in 215 Platoon, No. 10 Bomb Disposal Company, Royal Engineers.

I'd been contacted by his son Jez, a keen photographer himself, after he received the Fotospeed newsletter announcing my new partnership as one of their Ambassadors. He clicked through to my website, saw mention of the 39-45 Portraits Project, and got in touch. We exchanged a few emails and agreed a date for me to visit Philip at his home and take his portrait.

I'd been looking forward to this for weeks. I'm no longer actively touring the UK photographing WW2 veterans, but if I'm contacted about doing so, I'll always make the effort to get it done. Meeting Philip today was such a treat.

A warm welcome

As planned, I arrived at midday and left my kit in the car for now. Jez met me at the door.

"My dad is very excited about this," he said, and then led me into the living room, where I was greeted with a beaming smile and Philip making the effort to get up from his chair to greet me.

"Well, hello Sir" was all that was needed, and away we went. The conversation flowed easily as Philip recounted stories of joining up and memories of friends, and at times he became a little teary.

I asked him what made him want to join Bomb Disposal.

"I didn't want to have to kill anyone," he told me.

At one point he spoke about a time he was guiding a group of German soldiers who had surrendered, moving them to a new location. Philip was clearing the way ahead, making sure it was safe, when one of the soldiers stepped over the white safety line he'd put in place to go to the toilet in a bush. Moments later there was an explosion. The soldier had stepped on a mine.

"That was my saddest day of the whole war," Philip said.

Taking the portrait

We chatted over a cup of tea, and then, with Jez's help, I brought my kit in from the car and set up. Philip was a natural in front of the camera and clearly enjoyed the experience.

Space in the room was very tight, so tight that I couldn't use a tripod as I normally would. Instead I had to lean back against the patio doors and hold the camera about six inches from my chin, just to maintain eye contact with him through the lens.

By 1.02pm I was packed up and heading out the door. It wasn't a long visit, but it was more than enough quality time together. It was also a very hot day, and I was mindful that Philip was wearing his suit jacket and medals for the occasion. Despite my concerns, he was determined we should do this today, and I'm so glad we did.

KIT USED

• Fuji X-T5

• Fuji 33mm f/1.4 WR

• Westcott FJ400 Strobe

• Westcott 4’ x 3’ Rapid Box Switch Softbox

• Westcott X-Drop Pro Background Support

• Westcott Vintage Grey by Glyn Dewis (Background Material)

• Westcott Silver / White Collapsible Reflector

🚨 Check out my full Kit List ( CLICK HERE )

What comes next

I'll be heading back in just under two weeks to hand deliver Philip's portrait, mounted and presented thanks to my friend Trevor at West Street Picture Framing in Axminster. First, though, I'll be editing the portrait later today.

Philip turns 100 years old on the 21st December this year, and in a couple of weeks the street he lives on will be holding a party to celebrate his birthday early. That alone tells you the kind of man he is, when an entire street wants to celebrate his birthday.

I can't wait to head back and see him again. In the meantime, I'll be reading his self-published book, The Chronicles of a Sapper, which recounts his memories from when he joined up in January 1945.

I Am Lyme: Beach Yoga at Sunrise

There's something about photographing people doing what they love, in the place they love doing it, that never gets old.

That's exactly what happened a coyuple of weeks back, early morning when I met up with Pip, a local yoga teacher in Lyme Regis, for the latest instalment of my I Am Lyme project.

An Early Start on the Beach

Pip teaches beach yoga here in Lyme Regis, and there's no better way to capture that than actually being on the beach while the light is do`ing something special. So we met early, before the town had properly woken up, while the tide and the light were both in our favour.

The plan was simple. Get set up before Pip's students arrived, grab the shots, and get out of the way so she could get on with teaching her class. In reality, that gave us a matter of minutes. Her students were already turning up on the beach as we were shooting, which meant no second chances and no faffing about. Everything had to be right first time.

This is one of the things I love about the I Am Lyme project. It's not about staged studio perfection, it's about real people, in real moments, in and around the town. Pip fitting me in around her actual class, rather than a separate posed session, is exactly the kind of authenticity the project is built on.

The Lighting Setup

Shooting on a beach at sunrise sounds romantic, and it is, but it's also a technical puzzle. You've got a huge, ever-changing light source (the sky) and you need your flash to work with it, not fight it.

Here's what I used:

Camera right: A Westcott FJ800 fired into a Rapid Box Switch 4' x 3' softbox.

This was doing the heavy lifting as my main light on Pip.

Camera left, rear of Pip: A Westcott FJ400 II into a 1' x 4' Rapid Box Switch softbox.

This one was there purely to fake a bit of rim and separation, mimicking natural sunlight catching Pip from behind.

To get the aperture I wanted (f/2.8) at native sync speed, I dropped in a 4 stop NiSi ND filter.

Without it, shooting that wide open at sunrise would have blown out completely, even with the softer early morning light.

Both flashes were run in TTL, with the rear FJ400 dialled up to +1 stop compensation. That extra push made sure the rim light actually read as light, rather than getting lost against the brightness of the beach and sky.

Why It Worked

With only a few minutes to play with, having the lighting pre-set and tested before Pip even arrived (5.30am) made all the difference. There was no time to chase settings once she was in position, ready to switch straight into teaching mode. Everything from stands to softboxes to flash power was locked in beforehand, so once Pip stepped onto her mark, it was simply a case of composing, shooting, and trusting the setup.

It's a good reminder that a "quick" shoot still needs proper preparation behind it. The speed on the day only works because of the planning that happens before anyone presses a shutter button.

Part of Something Bigger

This shoot with Pip adds another face and another story to I Am Lyme, my ongoing project documenting the people connected to this town. Different job, different backdrop, same idea: real Lyme Regis people, captured as they are.

More shoots to come soon.

Photographing Harry the Potter for I am Lyme

Such a gentleman.

The delightful Harry Anderson (@harrytownmillpottery on instagram) of Town Mill Pottery, Lyme Regis, photographed for the I am Lyme project.

Harry Anderson - Town Mill Pottery, Lyme Regis

💡 The lighting

I kept things simple here, one light only.

I positioned it so the feathered edge lit Harry, giving soft light with shape through highlight and shadow.

This also avoided flooding the area with light and flattening the picture.

The position also matched the direction of the lamp light bouncing off the wall behind him, visible in the shot.

Town Mill Pottery has such a calming feel to it, and talking with Harry is the same. I wanted the lighting to reflect that, soft and subtle, hence the 4' x 3' softbox.

❓Why the tripod

As always, the camera was on a tripod; not for sharpness, but so I could keep eye contact with Harry throughout. Hiding behind the viewfinder would have brought on that "I'm about to be photographed" feeling, and I wanted to avoid that.

I haven't looked through a viewfinder in years. I trust the kit to nail focus, and I can check it on the iPad anyway.

📷 Kit

• Westcott FJ250 Strobe

• Westcott 4' x 3' Rapid Box Switch Softbox

• TTL, -1 flash compensation

• Fuji X-T5 with 33mm f/2.8 (roughly 50mm equivalent) at f/2.8

• Tethered into Capture One Mobile on my iPad Pro

Big thanks to my mate Steve Healy for the Behind the Scenes pictures.

Photographing a Lyme Regis Legend - Harry May

Tuesday morning I was out early to meet up with someone that can only be described as a Legend when it comes to Lyme Regis ... Harry May.

Just as with the Scallop Divers, for one reason or another, including Harry having knee replacement surgery, it had taken almost 2 years to get him in front of my camera, but it was so worth the wait.

What a super nice guy!

Honestly ... despite it being the first time we'd met and spoken in person, it felt like I'd known him for years. In fact, when Harry arrived, it was easily a good 20 minutes if not more that we chatted, before I started taking photographs. Sorry for keeping you waiting, Steve 😃

Keeping It Simple, Keeping It Classic

The brief for this one, set by me, for me, was simple: keep it classic.

It was a glorious sunny morning with just enough cloud cover to give beautifully soft natural light. To match that softness, I used my 4x3ft Westcott Softbox, positioned about one and a half arm's lengths from Harry.

I shot at f/4.0 to soften the background slightly. Rather than using High Speed Sync (HSS) to let me shoot at a wide aperture in bright light, I opted for a 4-stop Neutral Density filter instead. The light was consistent and I'd had everything dialled in well before Harry arrived, so there was no rush and no need for the extra flexibility HSS gives you; it's simply a different way of solving the same problem: too much ambient light for the aperture you want.

• Did you see my High Speed Sync versus Neutral Density Filters Infographic ? ( LINK )

My Westcott FJ800 strobe handled it perfectly, run in TTL with +1 stop of compensation added.

Natural Direction

If you've ever been to Lyme Regis, there's a good chance you've spotted Harry leaning on the railing further down by his Fishing Trips board. So, having him lean the same way where we were shooting felt completely natural to him. Direction was barely needed, just "lean yourself on there and get comfy."

That's really the whole trick with portraits like this: find the pose someone already does in real life, and let them do it.

The Stunt Double

Before Harry arrived, my mate Steve Healy stepped in as stunt double, so I could get the lighting and exposure dialled in properly. That meant when Harry turned up, we were ready to go straight away rather than running test shots on the actual subject.

Three Shoots, Five Days

I'm on a high right now. This was my third shoot for my "I am Lyme" project in the last five days, and the best part is word is starting to spread. More people are hearing about the project and wanting to be part of it.

About "I am Lyme"

"I am Lyme" is a community-focused portrait series centred on the coastal town of Lyme Regis. The idea is simple: capture and celebrate the local faces that give the town its character, from fishermen and restaurateurs to B&B hosts, cafe owners and more…

The Fisherman's Tale 🐟 New Compositing Workflow

Yesterday morning I popped out for breakfast and to meet up with a friend, Steve.

After a great bite to eat at one of my favourite haunts, Town Mill Bakery (Lyme Regis) I sprung it on him that I had an idea for a picture I wanted to put together and that I needed him to be the subject.

The idea was to create a portrait of a Fisherman and to do this with a combination of Photography, Lightroom, Photoshop and AI, to test out a new workflow.

So, here’s the resulting image, and below is a breakdown of the steps involved using Lightroom, Photoshop, Google Gemini AI and Magnific (Upscaler)

The Process

• Taking the portrait of Steve with the desired background

• Initial Edits in Lightroom

• Export into Google Gemini AI and add Stock Photographs of Fisherman’s clothing onto Steve. Create image in 4K and then Upscale 2x

• Create aging, weathering on the Overalls and Hat using Gemini AI and then selectively paint this onto Steve using Masks in Photoshop

• In Gemini AI generate the fish and Steve’s new arm position, then mask this into the main image in Photoshop

Extend Background in Photoshop and add finishing touches in Lightroom including Colour Grading, Adjusting Lighting, Lens Blur, Adding Grain etc …

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No Limits Creativity and Visual Storytelling with Kirk Nelson aka The Pixel Pro

Watch the recording of this LIVE Broadcast from when I chatted with Photographer and Photoshop Artist Kirk Nelson aka The Pixel Pro and discovered how we creates his Fantasy Art Composites and creates Special Effects in his Images …

links mentioned in the video:

• Kirk’s Website: the pixelpro.com

50% OFF Courses, Overlays ans Bruashes in Kirk’s Store using code: friendsofglyn

• Kirk’s Store: thepixelpro.com/shop

Kirk’s link for a FREE PASS at the Photoshop Creativity Virtual Summit:
https://bit.ly/pixelpro-creative

• Eric Pare ( Light Painting ): https://www.youtube.com/@Ericpare

• Eric Pare Store: https://lightpainting.store/

My First Photography and Print of 2025 : Stormy Sea on New Years Day 2025

There’s no better way to kick off the New Year than doing something you love, and for me, that means grabbing my camera, which in this case was my iPhone, and heading out to take some photographs; and this January 1st did not disappoint with a stormy high tide.. How could I resist?

My wife Anne, who’s as much of a storm lover as I am, joined me to not only keep me company, but she also helped capture some behind-the-scenes footage, which added to the fun of the morning.

We headed down to The Cobb ( Lyme Regis) and straight away it was a WOW moment!

The waves were crashing hard against The Cobb sending water shooting high into the air like fireworks. The sound was thunderous, the kind of deep, powerful roar that makes you feel alive just being near it.

I knew where I wanted to head to … the only issue was getting there; the lower part of The Cobb to the side of the Aquarium. The problem here was that water was crashing and pouring over The Cobb wall into the Harbour like a giant Ice Bucket Challenge ( remember that??? ) , however I’ve learned my lesson and now travel with full wet weather kit in a bag in the boot of my car.

Still, even though I was weather-proofed it meant timing the run to perfection to avoid the weight of the water crashing down on me … which I’m rather proud to say I managed to avoid.

Weather like this always fills me with excitement BUT that said you do still need to have your wits about you. No photogbraph is worth putting yourself and others at risk. I never want to be THAT guy!

Once at the side of the aquarium I was able to photograph the small beach area behind it and still be safe, protected by a wall and railing. I managed to get the composition I wanted, grab some shots but then the wind seemed to pick up a bit more. So, I decided enough was enough and timed a run back to Anne ( who was near the RNLI Station ) without getting hit by any waves breaching The Cobb Walls.

Actually on this, I’d heard some time ago that waves come in 7s and it did see to be the case. Running there and back I initially counted 7 clear waves breaches and then ran and managed to avoid getting soaked so, clearly there’s some truth in it; if not and it was pure fluke, I’m getting an extra Lottery ticket this week 😃

As for my iPhone, I used the native 0.5 ( 14mm ) lens and the native Apple Camera App set to Apple ProRaw. The image was edited using Lightroom Mobile on my iPad Pro.

So now I’m up and running; first photograph and print of 2025 is ‘in the bag’ 😃

After walking around a bit more, grabbing some extra shots and some video footage, it was time for breakfast at our favourite spot … Town Mill Bakery.

So here we are in 2025. I’m now really looking foward to the coming months as I plan to be visiting some other coastal locations across Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and Wales ( West and North ) … and my thoughts are that I’ll be doing this with my iPhone to push it that bit more and see what I can get with such minimal kit.

I’ll keep you posted.

Happy New Year!

Ragnar - Viking Composite using Photoshop

Following on from the earlier article I wrote ( LINK ) showing the Behind the Scenes of a recent Viking Photo Shoot, I’ve now finished the 2nd image so thought I’d share it here for you to see …

This is a composite made using Photoshop and is a combination of several images comprising the original studio photograph of my friend Simon ‘Foxy’ Fowler dressed as the Viking, the Location Shot and several Sea Bird Photographs.

Here’s the studio photograph of Simon …

Here’s the location shot which is a part of the coastline at Three Cliffs Bay, The Gower, South Wales …

To make sure that I got the angle and height correct, when at Three Cliffs Bay, my great friend Anthony Crothers stood in the spot where I would eventually place Simon …

In the studio when photographing Foxy, my camera was on a tripod and at a height where the lens was in line with the top portion of his nearest thigh.

When on location photographing the background / scene, Anthony was stood on a rasied area of ground …

(Note: it looks precarious but actually isn’t … to the front of Anthony on the other side is a flat area that you can comfortably walk on)

… so to get the angle / height to look as though Simon was photographed higher than he actually was, the camera lens was level and aimed just below Anthony’s nearest knee.

My new compositing workflow

Returning to some compositing has seen me now approach them in a different way especially when it comes to potentially time consuming cutouts such as hair anf fur.

My new workflow sees me leaving this part to the very end and getting great results in literally a fraction of the time …

This is something that I’ll definitely be going through in my Combining Old and New : Mastering Selections and Cut Outs in 2024 class in the upcoming ( FREE ) Photoshop Virtual Summit 6 …

If you’d like to see a larger version of both images created from this photo shoot, I’ve now added them into my PORTRAITS PORTFOLIO ( LINK )

Thanks for looking in,
Glyn

Returning to Composites: Ragnar Viking Portrait

It’s been a good few years since I did any compositing but recently I’ve been getting the urge to get back to it again. I don’t know if it’s because of all the updates that have come into Photoshop over the past few years or what, but something is drawing me back to start working in this area again … and I’m really excited about it.

So rather than just start creating random images, I’ve taken my own advice and decided on a project that brings together my photography, retouching and something outside of that world that I have a genuine interest and fascination with … and that’s Vikings. I’m a BIG fan of the Vikings Drama Series on Amazon Prime with incredible characters like Ragnar Lothbruk and Ivor the Boneless.

So not being one to hang around I started gathering ideas for the first pictures I wanted to work on and so for this I made use of technology that wasn’t available a few years ago when I was last doing composites … Adobe Firelfy AI and the ‘Text to Image’ technology.

This is such an incredibly useful piece of technology for coming up with concepts by simply writing your idea.

So using the Generate Image function in Photoshop I wrote …

Viking with beard and plaited hair and holding an axe stood on cliff looking down onto the sea

… and this is just some of the results that were created …

Now with images of what ideas I had in my head it was so much easier to first of all message my friend Simon Fowler aka Foxy and send him a picture of what I wanted to create of him as a Viking.

Then it was time to source the appropriate clothing for Foxy to wear, and for that I headed to Marigold Costumes in Cardiff and arranged to meet Simon and another friend Anthony Crothers there.

I’ve used Marigold Costumes a few times in the past for other photo shoots as there’s such a huge choice of costumes, and sure enough within no time we’d sorted out what was needed …

With clothing sorted it was then just a few days until the gang were all together in the studio for the photo shoot.

Here’s a look at the set up for the first image which is the one where the Viking will be looking down from the cliffs onto the sea below …

Doing this using the LED Constant Lights made it so much easier for everyone to see what was being captured … before it wss captured. It also made setting up so incredibly easy.

kit used:

• Westcott L120-B Bi-Color COB LED

• Westcott Rapid Box Switch 3x4 Softbox

To the front of Foxy I used the light and soft box combination below …

• Westcott L60-B Bi-Color LED

• Westcott Rapid Box Switch 1x4 Softbox

This was used to mimic the light / highlights coming from the sun.

Now when it comes to composting, I was always someone that liked to get the backgrounds first and then photograph the model / subject. I did this because having the background first meant I then had a light style and direction to mimic in the studio.

However I knew where I was going to photograph the background location … Hartand Quay in North Devon.

This is a location I have been to many times and know really well. It’s perfect for the picture I had in mind. I also had a good idea of where the sun would be located at a certain time of day which is why I positioned the light as I did to the front of Foxy.

I did check using the PhotoPills App though just to be sure …

And here’s one of the ‘out of camera’ shots, which as you can see shows that I also photographed Foxy against a grey background.

The reason for this is two-fold; firstly it contrasts against Foxy so makes it easier to cut him out later in Photoshop. Secondly, because it enables me to capture the real cast shadows, and being grey gives me the option of using a blend mode later in Photoshop to retain them and have them appear in the final composite rather than me paint them in …

The background / scene

As for the background I intend to add the photograph of Foxy into, I headed over to Hartland Quay over this past weekend with my friend Brian Dukes.

Conditions ended up being perfect with the clouds and incoming tide, and in addition to getting the shots I wanted, it made for a great day hanging out with a close friend in a fabulous location …

back to the studio

Anyway, back to the studio, there was one more shot I wanted and that was with Foxy stood facing directly towards the camera. I had an idea of creating a movie poster type of picture.

the set up

For this picture I changed the set up having rim lighting on either side of Foxy and a single light infront …

I really should get another 1x4 Softbox to use for the rim lighting, but as it happened, just using the 3x4 softbox and positioning it facing directly across the back of Foxy and him slightly forward worked out just fine. The other 1x4 I positioned on the opposite side, again facing directly across the back of Foxy.

The light directly to the front of Foxy was another Westcott L60-B Bi Color LED and this one was in a Westcott Rapid Box Switch Medium Octa (36”).

With it being on a C-Stand and on a boom, it was easy to get the camera on the tripod directly below so the light was on camera axis.

Here’s the out of camera photograph …

And below is the final edit.

Genuinely loved working on this adding textures, shadows on the background, dodging and burning, lighting effects, colour grading and creating the text from scratch along with the glow from the fire below and the sparks.

It was so much fun seeing how the updates can help with what I’m doing such as using Adobe Express for the fire and sparks and also Generative Fill AI to change the look of the axe head. Loved it!

So that’s my new Viking Series officially started and I cannot wait to get working on the other picture from this photoshoot.

Needless to say I’ll share it once finished. I’ll also look at creating some tutorial walk-throughs going through all of the retouching for both.

It sure feels good to be back doing this kind of work 😃 and as always a BIG thank you to my ever supportive friends … Ian Munro, Foxy, Anthony Crothers, Gerwyn Williams and Brian Dukes.

IMAGINATION and CREATIVITY making the IMPOSSIBLE ... POSSIBLE with PHOTOSHOP | Uli Staiger

Watch the recording of this LIVE Broadcast as I chat with Photographer and Digital Artist Uli Staiger and go Behind the Scenes to discover the WHAT, HOW and WHY that goes into creating his Digital Masterpieces that defy reality!

links mentioned in the video:

• Uli Staiger’s Website: ( LINK )

• Uli’s Video Training ( LINK )

DEFINITELY check out Uli’s Bēhance page to see the ‘Making Of’ for his images …

• Uli’s Bēhance Page: ( LINK )

• Uli on Instagram: @uli.staiger

Slideshow / Promo I made for Uli’s Guest Appearance