OK......... so normally I take Landscapes (couple of examples below), I had just bought myself a set of studio lights with the intention of getting into portraits, family shots etc.

I cannot recall the exact occasion but I’m down the pub with a few friends and one says “we want to do a calendar and we want you to take the photos.” Now unfortunately at the time of being asked I had consumed enough beer for the reasoning side of my person to have left me. “No worries, I can do that” I replied in an alcohol fuelled confidence that I knew what I was talking about. Concepts were discussed, artistic ideas exchanged.

That would have been that, if the person doing the asking hadn’t been a certain Miss December. There are two facts about Miss Dec that I should have been wise enough to have recalled before opening my gob. Firstly she awakes the following morning with total recall of offhand pub conversations. Secondly she is a force of nature, which once stirred up, will not be denied.

My mobile rings at 09:30 the following day (I really just want to be left alone to finish the hangover I started earlier)..........”This calendar then.... when can we come round and make a start ?” There was an insistent tone to the ensuing conversation which dared you to ignore it.

I put the phone down with all the joie de vie of a condemned man too indecisive to contemplate a last request. I can do this, I buy books, I scour web sites (artistic ones !) .
I can do this, I talk to other photogs and artists, read my wife’s magazines, even perusing page 3 of The Sun takes on a new significance.
I can do this, it becomes my mantra, I chant it every time I am becoming consumed by fear of the knowledge that I haven’t got a clue ! All prevarications aside, the day of the first session arrived. Six girls.....! yes six ...! arrive at my house, I would have preferred two but Miss Dec was on a mission, my state of mind was not her problem. Preparation is always important, I had ensured that my garage/studio was littered with enough cameras, lenses, tripods, flash guns, reflectors and the like to give the impression I knew what I was doing. Nothing else for it, I randomly select a lens and camera from the photographic flotsam and jetsam and start shooting. It goes without saying that there was nothing from that day which we were able to use. But we were encouraged. During many sessions (with only two girls maximum) throughout the Summer we got better, I learned a lot, the girls relaxed, I even started to feel a bit professional.......... well the girls were fooled.

My lack of a professional bedside manner aside, all the pictures we needed were in the can. Publishing was not without its problems but we got there.
The girls look gorgeous, really gorgeous, I must stress how brave they all were, I wouldn’t do it, not that you would want me to !
But above all it is in aid of a very worthwhile cause. I cannot commend this appeal to you enough. If we have in any way entertained you, please buy a calendar or make a donation.
Piers’ family are special people, the ability to turn your grief into a positive force is such a rare human quality.
They have our support.
Please add yours by buying a calendar.

Terry Reis