Last week I was out shooting another portrait for my I Am Lyme project, this time with the wonderful Nicola Kathren, who owns Kathrens Rare Knitwear on Coombe Street in Lyme Regis.
I'd known of Nicola for ages but we'd never actually met, until Sarah from the Town Mill Bakery introduced us a week or so ago while I was there grabbing some breakfast. We hit it off straight away, got a shoot organised, and on the day my mate Anthony Crothers drove over from South Wales to lend a hand.
The idea
Nicola has this big desk where she sits with her sewing machine and all her day-to-day bits around her, so it made sense to photograph her right there seeing as I Am Lyme is about the people who make this town what it is; an environmental portrait of her in her own space, doing what she does, felt exactly right.
The setup
Nicola’s desk sits right by the shop's big front window, which looks straight out onto the narrow road outside. When the light comes through that window it's fantastic, but at the time we were shooting there just wasn't enough of it. It's a narrow street with tall buildings opposite, so they block a fair bit of the natural light, and at midday the position of the sun meant the shop front was sitting in shadow for much of the time.
The first challenge was actually the window display; we had to carefully reposition the mannequins so as not to disturb it, while still leaving enough of a gap for the light to come through.
Keeping things simple, I went with one light, but this time I put it outside, pressed against the window, essentially to create my own window light. The direction of that natural window light and what it did was absolutely stunning; I just needed more of it.
So I set up the Westcott Rapid Box 4x3 softbox and the Westcott FJ800 on the pavement, firing in, to enhance the direction that was already there rather than fight it, so it still read as natural, even though it was being lit.
Nicola's camera-right side needed a little lift, so Anthony stood just out of frame holding up a white reflector to bounce a touch more of that softbox light back onto her. I tried the silver side first, but it was too much … it flattened everything out and almost removed the shadows completely. The white gave just the gentle lift I was after.
The shoot
It only took a few minutes to get everything up and running, so Nicola sat at her sewing machine and we just chatted. It felt like a conversation with the odd frame grabbed along the way, rather than a "shoot."
Then, in a lull, she rested her head against her hand and looked completely relaxed. That was the moment, and it came about naturally rather than being posed.
I was aiming the camera at Nicola through a gap in the big overhanging fern because I really wanted to add some layers to the image and show exactly the creative environment she works in.
Shot on the 33mm on my Fuji X-T5 (50mm equivalent), on a tripod, tethered into Capture One Mobile so I could see everything coming through as we went. Start to finish, about 45 minutes.
A brilliant shoot with a wonderful person.
What's next?
Keep ‘em peeld because very soon the I Am Lyme website will GO LIVE with the dates organised for the exhibiton in Summer 2027, to be held in the Town Mill Gallery.
Onwards and upwards 😃
🚨 Check out Kathrens Rare Knitwear, Lyme Regis ( LINK )