Dancing through Surrey – Megan Coates – Newlands Corner

Dancing through Surrey – Newlands Corner

Following the shoot in Guildford, I chose Newlands Corner as the next stop in my Dancing through Surrey project. Newlands Corner can be found just outside Albury and Shere villages, about 4.5km east of Guildford. This place offers picturesque views across the entire Weald.  Standing at this beautiful spot again it felt as if the time had stood still. It has been nearly 15 years since I arrived here with my husband, and the view now is as spectacular as it was back then.

I met with Megan, a beautiful and talented dancer who trains in London to become a professional dancer. I had a few ideas in mind ahead of the shoot, but many more came up when I arrived at the location. I knew we would end up with more photos than I had planned. I spotted a sequence of trees right in front of me and asked Megan to show me a pose that would compliment the view. One particular tree was very interesting. Megan didn’t hesitate and climbed it right away. Together we came up with a few frames…

It was time to move on, so I suggested some frames with variety of jumps. I think I now roughly know how the C jump and the Firebird should look like. I love learning about different poses! When shooting, I spotted a family playing with the kite nearby, making most of the windy conditions. The kite accidentally entered my frame and it gave me an idea! What if Megan tried jumping with a kite? It took us a few attempts, but we ended up with some amazing photos. She admitted, it wasn’t easy but in the photos, she makes it look like it had been. Do you agree?

Agatha Christie

Newlands Corner is famous for Agatha Christie’s disappearance in December 1926. She had a car accident and run off the road into a bush. The car was found abandoned the next day. Days before the shoot with Megan, I had this vision in mind to create a photograph which would symbolise the novelist’s disappearance. I wanted to have Megan sitting on a vintage chair and reading “Three Act Tragedy”, by Agatha Christie. I had been looking for a perfect chair for a few days and eventually found one seller in Shere one day before the shoot. It was meant to be! The wind blowing the sheets from the book was going to represent the accident from 1926. The weather was perfect for this occasion. It started to rain, the atmosphere was very mystic, and we added one extra prop, an umbrella.

I wanted to finish the shoot with a few more photos in the beautiful village Shere, but unfortunately the weather prevented us from shooting. Megan managed to make a few jumps and we had to call it a day. We will come back in May!

Hope you like the gallery below as much as I do. Please leave the comment and share the post if you enjoy it.

If you would like to take part in the “Dancing through Surrey” project, please contact me here. If you would like to see more photos from other shoots, please click here.