Ruth Ellen Psychic Readings - Publicity Photo Shoot

Over the last few weeks I have been busy updating my portfolio and giving the website a bit of a spring clean (yes I know its not spring). This has included re-arranging the layout and also having a bit of a rethink on where I'd like to focus my energies and how i present my work to reflect this.

I've always loved commercial photography and working with businesses large and small to create photographs which visually represent their brand - this can include images for promotional and marketing purposes, product photography and creating team and staff portraits. I want to showcase a few of my recent commercial gigs in a bit more detail and if you want to see my commercial portfolio then you can have a look HERE.

Recently I had the pleasure of helping my friend Ruth create some publicity and promotional photos to help launch her new business venture into the realm of pyschic readings!

We wanted to create a set of images which present Ruth in the context of the spiritual and give a visual language which relates to the services that she offers - and of course how else to convey a sense of the magical and mystical? let's get a horse involved in the shoot! I can take no credit for this idea or for the styling which was all Ruth's work! :)

We couldn't have planned the weather conditions better - it had been raining on and off all day, but the rain held off for just long enough to shoot with the appropriately named Horse 'Cloud' who was very kindly 'borrowed' for the shoot from Glint an awesome local Social Enterprise who deliver 'Horse Assisted Development' where Horses help people to deal with issues, build confidence and manage stress, check them out HERE

For the shoot I used a combo of my Pentax 645 medium format film camera and my Canon 6D DSLR - in fact this shoot has actually given me the opportunity to fall back in love with digital (I know I'm a fickle beggar) All of the above photos were shot on the 6D and all of the following are on the 645 using Kodak Portra 400.

The film shots have a character all of their own which I love - I hesitated to re-edit the digital shots to look more like the film photos, I like that the shots have a different look and feel across both formats, if they all end up looking the same then what's the point in shoot both formats?!

It was lovely to work with Ruth and to help create some images which she can use on her website and for promotional purposes for her new business - I wish her every success! Check out her website here https://repsychic.format.com/aboutruthellenpsychic

Conscious Hour - Huddersfield Speaks out!

I was delighted to photograph Conscious Hour last week, an evening of spoken word organised by Conscious Youth CIC a Huddersfield based Social Enterprise which empowers and supports young people to turn their visions and aspirations for themselves and their community into action, they're an amazing organisation that creating meaningful opportunities for lasting change in community life - my kinda people! For more details click HERE

Set in the amazing Hygge Tipi (basically three massive wigwams with a bar and a fire in the middle - it's ace) the venue is part of the 'Winter Wonderland' organsied by Huddersfield Live for more details check out their website HERE

The evening itself was an eclectic mix of talented  performers using the power of the spoken word to convey a combination of funny, emotional, deep and heartfelt messages - it was an amazing experience! If you haven't been down to the Tipi yet then make sure you pay a visit over the festive period as it's only around until the 1st Jan.

Supporting organisations like Conscious Youth is really important to me, helping them to spread the word about their amazing work and creating images of the inspiring events that they organise - a huge thank you to Sophie and Serena for organising the event and also to the amazing performers for sharing their stories with the world!

The Social Network - a people persons guide to running a photography business Or How to make friends and photograph people

Obviously all you need to run a photograpy business is a camera, right? Maybe it would help if you knew how to use that camera (maybe) but other than that you're good to go! Well that was a quick blog post...... good luck in your new venture!!! :)

If only it were that simple! A photography business is after all, a business and if you're serious about making a success of it then there's a ton of stuff like marketing, planning, financial management, customer service and all sorts of 'business' type stuff that needs to be in place however I'm assuming that you knew all that already as it's not exactly rocket science - and I'm not about to sit here and lecture you on the basics of business (or rocket science) "so what's this flippin blog about then" i hear you cry! Good question....let's see where we end up shall we....

a great way to network with people is to offer to photograph some networking events - it's a double whammy - you get to network with people AND build you portfolio up at the same time....

I'm a people person and for me one of the most enjoyable aspects of photography is being able to meaningfully connect with people - not just potential customers, but all sorts of people - in fact taking all of the practicalities of running a business into consideration I'd say that your ability to engage people is a a fundamental compenent of any business.

You can always team up with your mates and work on projects with them too - thisis my best mate Will James who is a magician/mentalist/mind reader - he was looking for some promo images and i was looking for willing victims to practice my photo-ing skills on! Win Win! we made some cool images that we can both use to help our businesses :)

I'm a firm believer that the more people you are connected to the stronger your business is going to be and a great way to do this is by intentionally building a network of people - i don't mean some surface level/speed networking thing - but a series of real, reciprocal and lasting relationships, partnerships and friendships!

In doing so you are increasing the number of people who are going to positively support you, refer you on to friends and colleagues, involve you in interesting projects and all sorts of cool stuff.

from my first TF shoot - i was mega nervous as it was also my first fashion shoot but the experience gained and the images themselves helped me secure some pid gigs later on. and the images themselves are not too shabby are they?

So having a great network of people is one thing but being a photographer is obviously a visual medium - it can be difficult to know how to start off.... where and how to build your portfolio of work, again it's about connecting with folk....

Another great aspect of being a photographer is the opportunity to work with other creative bods such as models, make up artists, hair stylists and designers, working together to create images that you can all use to build your portfolio, there's a short hand term for this 'TFP' which in ancient times stood for Time For Print - harking back to a bygone age when people actually 'printed' images (i know, strange innit) therfore it's more commonly shortened to 'TF'  however the premise remains in that everyone commits their 'Time' in exhcange 'For' some (hopefully) great images! TF projects are another great networking resource and way to build up your business contacts too - I've been refered on to loads of paid work by people who I've met through TF projects.

i use this image as the home page for my site - i love the impact, the motion, the setting, the pose - all of it!! this was a TF shoot for some fashion students taken at The Hepworth Galler Wakefield - we had free run of the building! an amazing space to shoot in and a great experience all round. it grew my network of contacts and this image alone has helped me secure business so it's a win win, erm win!

I hear a lot of photographers complain that "i do loads of TF work and it never leads to any actually paid work" well i say to those people that you must be doing it wrong then!! People who work with you TF should be in a position to help spread the word about your business and how great it is working with you to others in the industry and I gladly undertake TF projects if i can use it as an opportunity to create images that will emebelish my portrfolio (which for a photographer is basically your shop window) or to try out new techniques which i might use on a paid project later on.

So the trick is to be discerning about who you collaborate with on a TF basis so that you are all going to benefit from the images - i think a common mistake some photographers make is to only work TF with relative newcomers to the industry and in that sense of course the project adds little to your portfolio and doesn't give you any traction with other potential clients.

Events are another great source of experience and networking - I was very happy to support local charity events as it's a great way of building up your portfolio, raising your profile and meeting new people and have fun too! It can often lead to paid opportunities too

Another great source of TF projects is events - if you're wanting to get more events work but you don't have enough images in your portfolio then you should approach some charities or local businesses who are running events, they'd bite your hand off for photography! again it's creating a win-win situation they get some good images and you get some good images out it, you will also meet people at the event and market your photography services at the same time - I offer Charities and Community groups free/heavily discounted photography services because a: I like to support good causes and just generally get involved in community stuff and b: it helps me refresh my portfolio and network/promote myself... oh and c: it's bloody good fun! :)

I shot some promotional photos for a Social Enterprise 'Conscious Youth' who run some amazing projects for young people to get involved in - very inspiring!

You need the ability to create some strong images and working on TF projects is a great practical way to make sure your techncial abilities are on point without the pressure of money being involved - people are a lot more forgiving if you're offering time for free! Also sometimes the only way to develop those photography skills is by getting out there and shooting - and a great way to start out is by working collaboratively with other folks and getting that Win-Win situation..... A lot of my techniques for professional work have been developed on TF shoots, paying clients aren't paying you to learn how to shoot their projects they expect you to have this sorted already (quite rightly)!

You may have seen my recent blog about photographing the Slaithwaite Moonraking Festival - it was a pleasure to sponsor a local community event in this way, offering to share my skills to help promote a great community get together (and of course adding to that portfolio all the time)!

I see a lot of photgraphers starting out on the basis that once they've bought a decent camera that they are basically good to go but it's so much more involved than that.....there are of course many other factors involved but here we've focussed on building a network and your portfolio - two vital areas for photographers! there's other important stuff like marketing and deciding what you're going to specialise in (or not) maybe that'll be a future blog....

Going back to TF projects my biggest commercial job to date came about as a result of doing some TF work so there it is definitely a worthwhile exercise- i think you've got to be able to produce string images that people will value In future posts I'm going to take you behind the scenes on that particular job and also on a relatively recent TF shoot too - you lucky, lucky people!

That's Entertainment

You know how much I love to keep you up to date on my latest photographic shenanigans and today is no exception. We're going behind the scenes on a commercial shoot I did recently for the lovely people at WDC Entertainment.

Let's do the introductions first shall we? WDC are an DJ Agency and Events Company which was set up by an old friend of mine Dominik Sobanski. Dom has organised large, high profile events in the UK and has DJ'd in front of thousands of people in some of the world's most exotic places. By teaming up with leading radio brands like Radio 1, Capital FM and Galaxy FM he's gained a vast amount of knowledge and experience. Dom has also worked alongside headline names such as Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), Pete Tong, Groove Armada, Calvin Harris, Pendulum, Chase & Status, Ms. Dynamite, Reverend And The Makers, Example, Armand Van Helden, Annie Mac - and of course he can now add my name to that list ;)

For more info about WDC check out their website HERE. 

I've known Dom for a long time and it was really great to work with him and his team on this project, I love how he's developed his passion for DJ'ing, Music and Events into a thriving business and of course it was a good opportunity to catch up on life, the universe and everything.

The brief for this job was to create some images of WDC's DJ and Event packages - Decks, Speakers, Lighting - there's even a Star Trek option which you'll see later on. We used Unit 4 Studios for the shoot - a HUGE studio space tucked away on a side street in Dewsbury - it's well hidden but well worth the visit! you can check their website out HERE 

Loved working in such a large studio space (although I'm glad i don't have to pay the heating bill)!

To infinity and beyond!!! the main studio space at Unit 4 Studios replete with Infinity Cove

The Kitchen where Jamie Oliver filmed the Naked Chef - True Story... sort of... well it could've been....

The format for the two day shoot included stills (taken by my good self) and video shot by PEMCO so while the video guys did their thing i took the opportunity to grab a few behind the scenes shots. PEMCO were great to work with and I can't wait to see their finished videos!

I don't shoot video much as stills Photography is my thing so I was really interested to see PEMCO at work and the process in setting up for a video shoot which not only re-enforced my admiration for those that do shoot video but also confirmed to me that stills photography is where my heart is - there's something about the process of squeezing everything into one single frame that appeals to me :)

I hope you've enjoyed the peak behind the scenes on my latest commercial job, i think that's probbaly enough rambling from me so I'll shut up now and let the pictures do the talking!

The WDC Team :)