Sun, Sand and Kick ass moves

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of shooting Katie Bradley for my second time. For those that don’t know who Katie is.. She is an up and coming talent in British WTF style Taekwondo. At 14 she is already a British National Champion and has recently competed for her country in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Andy Bradley, Katie’s father, contacted me to arrange another shoot to celebrate Katie’s recent successes and to capture some exciting imagery in her Great Britain kit. I was more than happy to oblige as Katie is such a performer and really gets into the spirit of the photo shoot.

First of all, we met up in my hometown of Kingsbridge and ran the gauntlet of country lanes to Thurlestone Sands for our first shoot of the day. The shot above is one of the first, with Katie barely even warmed up!.. and wearing her official Great Britain tracksuit.

We shot various images on Thurlestone sands, but with it being full tourist season now, I felt the beach was a little too crowded to allow Katie to really shine. So we packed up our gear and trudged, skipped and hiked our way over to a quieter beach near the golf course.

With Katie warmed up (from the walk), she changed into her GBR competition dobok. Facing out towards her competitor for the shoot.. The Sea. It was now time for the shoot proper to begin!

Starting Katie off on dry land seemed a good idea, although dry land didn’t stay dry for long.. with Katie running away from the waves to protect her dobok. on the plus side it meant the beach was swept clean on a regular basis.. on the down side, I was less fortunate avoiding the waves!

As those who have been on shoots with me before will know, I have a tendency to come back from a shoot soaked from head to toe. Maybe I am a little mad, but I am more interested in getting the shots than in staying dry. I also think that it can lighten the mood somewhat when I get caught by a passing wave or ten.

..and if being caught by waves wasn’t enough.. Katie decided to spray me (above) for good measure 😉

I must admit, I was very impressed with Katie’s abilities.. she was on shifting sands, waves hitting her while she stood on one leg and kicked for the skies. That is, I WAS impressed, until..

Yup! Down she went! and great credit to the girl.. she burst out laughing! I really think she was enjoying herself, the wetter we got.

True dedication shines through and soaked or not, Katie went on to pull out yet more cracking high kicks

A really enjoyable afternoon’s shooting with people who really love what they do.

I would like to thank both Andy Bradley and my girlfriend Juliette Kuil for being fantastic assistants, carrying gear, holding lights and laughing at our antics.

Last, but very much not least.. Katie is looking for your help. She is a talented fighter and has a great attitude towards training. A Devon girl with aspirations to compete and win championships for her country. If you’d like to help Katie, please visit her funding site to fund out more.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the photos and read the back stories of Katie & Juliette to see how close to the water I actually get.

Cheers,

Scot