Rooftop Photoshoot 2

(DISCLAIMER: As an overall nice human being, I do not force entry, vandalize, steal, or disclose means of entry or location if it isn't obvious. I do this to protect locations and respect them. Trespass without forced entry is a civil offense rather than a criminal one, which isn't worth acting on unless one causes damage, steals, has ill intent, etc. I simply photograph and leave everything as I find it. I do not condone breaking and entering, and I do not condone what I do. I'm a danger to myself and a terrible role model )

Sometimes I'll try something different such as actual photography of actual humans, with pulses and everything. It's a step in a slightly different direction but I try to keep it consistent with the usual "forbidden tourism" theme of the blog by doing it on a rooftop or something.
It's not something I'm particularly great at, but as the saying goes, your first 10,000 photographs will be your worst. I've done two rooftop shoots now, and the photos have just sat on my computer and done nothing, although I did publish my photoshoot with Isla last year.

This photoshoot predates my shoot with Isla, and as such the photos have gone mostly unseen for longer. The models name is Jess. I met her back in the days when this blog didn't really have much social media presence.  Jess was one of the first to follow the blog on Instagram, and we got talking. Jess is pretty cool, and her life is one massive adventure. She's the kind of person who, if one happens to see her for the first time in a long while and say "Jess, it's been ages, how have you been?" it's not at all unusual for her to respond with something like "Ah yes, I crashed a helecopter into Guam, and had to live there for two weeks until I could afford a boat. On the way back I made friends with a homeless person, and we decided to hitch hike across Europe together for a bit. But I'm back now, and I have a new hat."

Obviously simply being on a roof isn't illegal. It's a bit like gay marriage, in that it's victimless and only bothers people who don't know how to mind their own business. If safety is a concern, then that's fair enough, but rooftopping is arguably safer than driving, in that we're not being hurled forward at speeds faster than humans can naturally go, with the only things saving us from a head-on collision being a stripe of paint and blind faith in the common sense of other motorists. With rooftopping, one only has their own common sense to rely on. In fact I think the only way to fall from these locations is to actively try, and that would be silly.
However I take full responsibility for the safety of someone who I'm photographing. In spite of how it may sometimes appear, Jess is never in any danger of any fatal drops. Most slopes and drops just lead to slightly lower rooftops.

Anyway, enjoy the shots that me and Jess made together. They capture the true enormity of the playground that is the world above the floor-walkers, and possibly even a sense of detachment from humanity, not necessarily in a negative sense but rather just a feeling of disassociation with the nice normal folk in spite of being among them.  Click a picture to see it big.

There's a few more shots that we took in the Knights Templar cave, but they're far more experimental. 

And that's it. Rooftop photoshoots are actually loads of fun, and a step in a slightly different direction for me, while keeping consistent with what I do. 

I'd love to keep doing it, and maybe even integrate more steampunk / dieselpunk / cyberpunk fashion into it, much like some of the photoshoots I've done at Whitby. But time will tell. Purists need not worry, I'll still be doing location explores, of course. In fact next I'm blogging about an abandoned school in Shropshire.

On a final note, you may remember in a recent blog post, I mentioned the passing of a good friend of mine, Becky Wood, whose life came to an end at the age of 26, shortly after giving birth to her daughter Ellie. Recently I've been made aware of a fundraiser in her honour, called Remembering Becky. My understanding is 50% of the funds raised will go to Leonard Cheshire Disability, which was a charity Becky supported. The remaining 50% will go to young Ellie, who has to grow up never knowing her mother. Since Becky was important to me and to a lot of people I'd love it if people could donate whatever they can, and failing that, share the fundraiser page.

In the meantime, that's it from me today. If you like the blog, share it wherever you want. And follow me on Instagram, Twitter and like my Facebook.

Thanks for reading. See you next time.