Every now and then a job comes along that is set to really test your metal as a photographer and today was one of those jobs. Everything went wrong! This was a short notice commission from In Touch With Health, an innovative communications and IT firm that work closely with NHS Trusts, and the brief was to shoot a team that have won an award within the industry. The problem was that the request for the shoot only came yesterday and due to mobile phone difficulties, traffic jams on motorways and just bad luck really, the confirmation phone call and instructions I should have had today never arrived. I couldn’t get through to their man and in the end I assumed that the job was off . Then came the call from the director of Pontefract hospital saying that I was expected after all at 14:00hrs. Holy Moly! It was now 14:20 - I said I could be there in 10 mins which was ok as the director from In Touch had failed to arrive due to traffic so I had chance get it in the bag after all.
A swift drive through Ackworth and down to the new hospital at Pontefract and I was there by 14:33 but couldn’t find the reception. No problem, I saw two hospital porters and asked them for directions but they were the only two porters who had no idea where reception was and they sent me way off course. Another phone call from the director and navigational assistance from a nurse and I was there - 150yards from where I’d asked the porters for directions! Its now 14:45, everyone had to go by 15:00 so there was no time for any fancy photography and all my ideas of power posing (them not me!) went out the window. Sheesh! Quickly stick a flash on a light stand with a radio trigger aiming it into a silver brolly because I’ve just found out my softbox attachment screw is lost, then realise in the dash from the house I haven’t brought the bad boy Sekonic flash meter, so its down whacking the camera into manual, checking the ambient and dropping it a stop before popping a test shot at 1/4 power from the flash, chimping the histogram, notch the flash up to 1/2 power and we’re away for the first shot outside the building. Only time for two or three shots before we move indoors into reception to shoot the team in the spacious and airy atrium. Couple of quick test shots here and then three or four actuals and job’s over! Team dispersing at 14:57 to go back to Pinderfields etc. The hospital cafe is right behind me and as I turn to pack up I see the two porters sat there having coffee and watching me work! Obviously I should have asked for the canteen not the reception! Oh! And did I mention that one of the key guys was not there and needs to be ’shopped in in post? :¬\
A quick press style photo shoot for Simon Wilkes of The Wilkes Group who has just landed a contract with Prince Charles’ privately run company Duchy of Cornwall to supply weter coolers on the Duchy estate. The full story will be in the Wakefield Express but you get a heads up here first
Got a call from Citigate, a London PR firm, to shoot some images for Santander Bank but unfortunately it wasn’t to be snapping Lewis Hamilton and the F1 team! Instead, I was shooting PR images for the bank for a press release to cover their deal helping local plant hire firm AFI Uplift with their expansion programme. The shoot took place at the AFI premises at the Europort at Normanton where I was tasked with photographing three representatives of Santander and the Financial Director of AFI Uplift. The brief was to get the typical PR shots of the guys shaking hands and closing the deal, however, the chaps wanted none of that, so instead I went more for the ‘power’ group shot with folded arms and all very “Dragon’s Den” like. The difficulty was in getting the huge brand new cherry picker in the frame while keeping the guys as the main subject. Here are a few images from the shoot.
It was a real girlie day in the the studio today - the whole place was awash with diamonds, furs and make-up for the shoot for a local jewellers in Huddersfield. Jodie, who works in the shop, was to be the model for the day and we had a top MUA & stylist Jessie Young who, although sounds like a wild west outlaw, was no cowboy when it came to the make-up! The shoot was to be a mix of high fashion and close-ups of the jewels and the idea is that the pieces being worn in each shot will be photographed individually and then the graphics guys will create brochure pages with each of the pieces blown up big alongside the main fashion image. Here’s a few of the fashion style images we did to be going on with.
Abi dropped by the studio for a professional portfolio shoot today. She’s had a couple of shoots previously with amateur photographers but after not being happy with the results, she decided to take the plunge and go with a pro! Digital photography has made photography available to the masses and there’s lots of ‘guys with cameras’ that will happy to take a few images of you, but in the end, average shots, no matter how they’re processed on the computer, are still average shots! The advantage of shooting with a pro, is that images are correct at the taking stage! I’ve shot with film cameras as well as digital and I have experience in lighting, composition and even posing, so you will definately come away some some awesome images for your portfolio. All these shots of Abi are straight out of the camera with little post processing other than saturation and vignettes added. Abi had a pro make-up artist work on her before she came to the studio and the result of that is obvious too. All in all, it pays to go to a pro :¬) If you’re thinking of a glamour portfolio, just give me a call on 01924 229800 to discuss your requirements or visit the portfolio pages for some more examples.
This evening I was in the studio to shoot Faye Johnson’s fashion collection. The set of three dresses were her unique designs that she was submitting for the final part of her fashion degree and Faye needed some high quality fashionista images to go in her portfolio. The studio seemed full of people all bustling around as we shot the images using two models, Bryony & Emma, and there was just a great sense of fun and pride as the girls strutted their stuff for me as I clicked away. Here’s a video clip of the shoot along with a few stills.
Hit the college again today for the second half of the shoot to mop up on the departments we didn’t get round to on the first shoot. Once again we had a hard day having to nip in and out of classrooms and shoot students and teachers in as little time as possible while trying not to disturb the class too much - some were even sitting exams as we went in! Talk about pressure shooting! Anyway, came away with another 20gb of images to edit through so we must have done something despite the day going by in a blur :¬o
Abi was a bridesmaid at Scott and Amy’s wedding a while back and my friend Jannine whom I shot the wedding with over in Keighley asked if she could bring Abi over to the studio for a bit of a practise session with the studio lighting. So tonight they came over and we also had the company of Sarah Aveyard as MUA who did a great job on the make-up for the shoot. Here’s some footage from the night and a few of the images we did for Abi. If you’d like to book a portrait shoot, just give me a call on 01924 229800 or send me a mail.
After threatening to do it for ages, I’ve finally organised a group portrait night for photographers wanting to come to the studio to have a go at shooting with a model using the studio lights. The shoot will be on Wednesday 19th May and will have space for 5 photographers. Anyone shooting Nikon will have the chance to use some of my fast pro glass if they wish. To avoid disappointment book early by sending me a mail. The model for the night will be Maddy and I’ve done a small video from our recent shoot to give you all an idea of what you’ll be shooting!
STOP PRESS: All places are fully booked. If you want to be added to the list for the next shoot just drop me a mail.
Today I was at Pontefract New College for the first half of a commission to shoot a selection of images for the update to the college prospectus. I spent the day on campus shooting in the grounds as well as in the classrooms and, as always with these kind of shoots, its high pressure with just a few minutes allowed to go into the classes and get a few images that illustrate that particular part of the college. As a photographer, I have to be able to enter the room, assess the layout and decide on the lighting as well as picking out the best subjects to be included in the shot and the subjects must reflect the diverse culture of the school, so not just going for the class beauty! I’ll be shooting on campus again later in the month when we will pick off the classes not done today such as the art department, the library and even the photography department!
Today’s assignment was made tougher by the fact that outside it was very bright and sunny which means a lot of contrast, burnt highlights and black shadows, while inside the building is lit by flourescent tubing which gives a really sickly green feel to the images! I chose to shoot most of the images with a few speedlights used off camera, mainly using a shoot through brolly, but outside things were tricky for flash with the bright light meaning shutter speeds way above flash sync speeds. Anyway, we coped and here are a few images from today showing life on campus! Thanks to James and Claire for lugging my lighting stands around.
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