WHO THE FOOK? My name is Paul Corkery and I’m a specialist in creative fitness modelling portfolio shoots at gym & studio locations. Initially I started off shooting action photography and have an extensive background in adrenaline sports spanning ten years, where I travelled the world and worked with a multitude of premium brands such as Adidas, Redbull, Nokia, Mercedes, Barclaycard etc. My mission statement is very simple.....each and every shoot is treated as though it’s a rehearsal for the big one. In other words, striving for excellence is focal and being happy to just sit within the comfort zone of producing what’s deemed acceptable, is never an option. ‘BE DIFFERENT’. I can be reached at paul@paulcorkery.com If you’re mad enough to want to stalk me, I can be found at: My website - www.paulcorkery.com Facebook - www.facebook.com/ezstyla Twitter - www.twitter.com/fitographer Instagram - www.instagram.com/ezstyla Pinterest - www.pinterest.com/ezstyla
FIGHT CLUB This shoot with Davina Ward proved to be great fun. I had an old buddy in the form of Tim Marquis, come down from Birmingham to do the blood fx with his assistant, Wendy-Anne Hart. While I expected it to look good, all expectations were surpassed and this was clear when we arrived at Maximus gym to shoot on location. You see, Davina was wearing hot pants, boots and a tight vest. Countless guys were checking her out but then did a double take when they realised she was covered in cuts, bruises and copious amounts of blood. The looks on their faces were priceless and the shoot itself produced some great stills.
TRIBAL The idea for this shoot came from a make up artist called Claire Whitaker, who I collaborate with quite a bit. She had a friend called Sam Betts, who she wanted to use for a tribal styled shoot. I suggested the local woodlands as opposed to using my studio, as it’d open up the possibilities to capture some magic. It turned out to be a double edged decision because whilst we managed to get some great shots, the local wildlife in the form of fire ants and mosquitos had other ideas and attacked with unrivalled ferocity. A lot of blood was shed on that day.
THE GUN SHOW For ages I’d kept putting off the idea of really getting into dodging and burning my images but after a little bit of help from a friend, I dived in and went back to edit some old stuff with interesting results. So I started to think about doing something fresh in a strike while the iron’s hot manner. I spoke to a local bodybuilder mate called Kris Miles and suggested an Arnold style cigar image to shoot. He agreed and then told me he had a friend who said we could use some of his guns. To be honest, I expected something crap and plastic looking but when he arrived and showed me this automatic rifle in his boot, I knew it’d be perfect and we had a blast (literally).
DEBBIE HULK I’d been friends with Deb for ages on Facebook and she’s one of the most proactive people when it comes to posting new content. I told her that we should shoot one day and when Deb announced that she was coming to London with her husband to compete at a WBFF event, it was game on. A couple of days prior to the event, Deb came over and we spent the whole day shooting while talking and laughing loads. In front of the camera she possesses the rare ability to exude sexuality without even trying. Pretty much every image produced was a money shot.
READY FOR WAR This shoot with TFE Pro athlete, Dan Hammaecher, was ultra productive and so much fun to do. Here his motivation for the shot was to ‘prep for war’. The helmet was authentic and was also used for a theme wear round he did on stage at one of his competitions.
NO COMPLAINTS This shoot with the beautiful Katie Chimes, was just after she’d won at the Miami Pro event. Shooting Katie was an absolute pleasure, as she was receptive to trying out so many different ideas on the day and pretty much every shot we captured was a winner. For this shot, don’t let the lighting fool you. It was freezing cold and if it wasn’t for my Elinchrom octabank light, the woods would have looked dark and dull. Despite being cold and having droplets forming on the end of her nose, Katie didn’t complain once. A true testament of a professional.
SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET Another really fun session to shoot. This one featured the gorgeous mighty atom that is Cheryl Teagann, with outstanding make up being done by Ellie Dutton. Originally I invited Cheryl over without saying what it was for. She asked what she needed to bring and I said nothing apart from herself. Her reply was “I don’t mind going topless but I’m not going fully nude!!!” I laughed and told her not to worry. I explained that it’d be a shoot worth doing. I then told Ellie to keep it under wraps and when it came to applying the make up on the day, Ellie purposely positioned Cheryl away from any mirrors so she couldn’t see what was happening. It was only when it came time to applying the arm make up that Cheryl realised and I think it’s safe to say she was more than happy with the results. My own reasoning for this kind of theme was that we could easily do gym style shots at any time, but these themed shoots are one off opportunites to stand out from the crowd and to look back on when older.
TOO HOT IN THE KITCHEN A day prior to this fire session in the woods with Dan Hammaecher, I was shooting him and his partner Sammy Lee at my studio. We captured so many gems but missed the opportunity to get any ‘spit fire’ shots, as the liquid needed was back at their hotel. We agreed that the day had been great and that it was a shame but not the end of the world to miss out on the fire opp. As I edited away and fired over images of the day, we all became more enthusiastic about the prospect of them coming back just to shoot the fire stuff, so we set it in stone and made it happen. Fast forward to standing about in the woods and waiting for the wind to ease off to allow this to be done safely. We eventually managed to bank a load of great shots and had more fun in the process. One of my fave shoots to date.
WILD AND FREE Sammy Lee was over in the UK from France with her partner Dan Hammaecher, to compete in some bodybuilding events and to attend Bodypower. Prior to arriving, they booked a session with me. Sammy has been shot loads in the past and for this one she wanted something a bit different from anything else on the circuit. We ran through a few ideas and this one in the woods was something I suggested but expected her to baulk at. She didn’t and the woodland shoot ended up being highly productive with many great images being captured. I especially like this because it gives the impression of an animal completely free in the wild.
REALITY BITES Anyone who knows me well enough, will be aware that I’m at home in real life situations where there’s an edge. In the past it came from living dangerously as a fighter and then shooting adrenaline sports. For this shoot with Andy ‘Ironmac’ McKenzie at the Training Lab, I wanted to focus on real training. My thinking is that anyone can pose and prance about for the camera to look pretty but for me, there’s something a bit special about capturing the raw essence of the blood, sweat and tears involved in this game. In this instance the pain on Andy’s face is clearly evident (and real) as he completes the last rep of a 20 rep set using x 100kg,
FREE DIVING My friend Jon Slayer, is someone I’ve known from my time at the Royal Marines HQ, were I did some filming and training. He’s now an actor, model and free diver. When he got in touch with me, he wanted to shoot some promo images for a pitch he was making, in order to get funding for a diving documentary project in India. He said that he wanted a shot that gave the impression of him making the ascent from the abyss. Originally I told him it’d be near impossible in a studio and reasoned that we should shoot in a pool. Timing didn’t allow for that so we carried on and did a bunch of portfolio stuff. Then he showed me a video he’d shot and the styling he was after for his pitch. When I saw it, it was a eureka moment and I said that I had an idea that might work. We tried it out and it looked promising, so we positioned some boxes for me to stand on and when we got the posture and angles right, we wet his hair and then got the trusty dry ice machine out for a cool background effect. Straight away he was happy and with further editing, we produced a few composites to show fish in the background. Personally, I like this one best as it’s pretty much unedited apart from a few minor tweaks.
MASKED BEAUTY Featuring the lovely Carla Curva from a collaboration project called GOG that includes fellow photographers Simon Howard, James Conci-Mitchell, Toby Harrison and I. It’s basically an excuse for us to get together and shoot experimental stuff and in this case, Carla brought out this mask to play about with.
FUK AS Nicholas Frattaroli suffers with a condition called Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) and training is an essential part of his life now, to help him manage it. During our shoot together he wanted to show something in your face/aggressive to highlight the fact that it won’t be allowed to conquer his life. I like the balance of this composite shot.
BRIGHT FUTURE Cheryl Teagann ponders her next move. No matter how dark or bleak things may seem, there is ALWAYS light at the end of the tunnel.
PRETTY VACANT I like this image of Victoria Stockwell, as the vacant stare has a haunting feel about it. Simple but effective.
A SPLASH OF COLOUR This collaboration project was the first time I’d worked with a bodypainter and was also the first time Mirella Clark, was to be completely nude on camera, so extra care was taken to do so tastefully. The bodypainter (whilst skilled) turned out to be a complete muppet but I’m happy with the resulting imagery, so not all is lost.
DON’T JUDGE My friend Piers Ravenhill, a colourful charater to say the least. Once a fighter always a fighter. No more words needed.
ELEGANCE PERSONIFIED Nicki Bell ahead of going over to Denmark to compete at the WBFF event. Such a class act and always a joy to shoot.