I was recently commissioned to cover the HC Health Informatics Congress in London. The brief was to capture all the major speakers ( 40 plus ) over the 2 day event, Overviews of the exhibitor stands ( 70 plus ) with and without people and general images to be used for Press and PR marketing.The images were taken over 2 days and then Processed, Edited, Captioned and delivered by DVD the next day, how’s that for service! This image is of Lord Earl Howe, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State.
Clock details
A Clockmaker contacted me to come over and take some photos of a clock he had just made. The gold and silver dialled clock was a masterpiece of miniature engineering and proved quite a challenge to get the right lighting.Careful use of natural light worked best and the resulting images were exactly what John had been looking for.
Neil McCulloch Insurewise
I have just finalised a commission from Neil McCulloch at Insurewise and Naina at Balfour Law to photograph all their staff and building premises.The brief was to capture the staff in relaxed but business like poses to show customers on their web sites who they were dealing with over the phone.
Winter Welney Washes
Fenland District Council contacted me to update all their Tourism Brochures with fresh images from the Fenland Towns of Wisbech, Chatteris, March and Whittlesey. The brief was to provide high resolution digital images of the Landscapes, Towns, Attractions and Events that go on in and around the Fens area. The Timescale was to be 7 months to incorporate the 3 main seasons of tourism. The commission was completed on time and to budget, with over 500 images from the area delivered to Vicki Whittingstall the tourism manager.
Imperial Bento Food
I was recently commissioned to take the new food menu for a Chinese restaurant in Peterborough. The brief was to photograph the food dishes in interesting compositions suitable for a web site and advertising campaign. The shoot took 2 hours and the food looked and tasted delicious!
4 Fender Stratocaster Guitars
A collection of 32 Vintage Guitars proved another challenge, just lifting and positioning them to start with. Studio lighting and a neutral backdrop worked fine for these. Some were very reflective but getting the right camera angles sorted the issues.
Bannatynes Gym
Bannatynes Gym contacted me to go over and take a photo of one of their staff who was running the London Marathon. This image was the one selected for Press use showing the Gym sign, person and running shoes.
Annabel at Metcalfe Copeman & Pettefar Solicitors contacted me to enquire about taking Staff portraits for their web site. After a chat to find out how many, where, when and what size image she would like, I went over to their offices in Peterborough and took 23 members of staff with a mobile white background and studio light, and they only had to stop work for a couple of minutes each !!
Peterborough Care Home
Amar Majara the director at Peterborough care, wanted his brochure, advertising and promotional material updating to better portray the caring aspect of his 2 care homes. I spent 2 days photographing the staff, premises, facillities, food, entertainments and the residents. This is just one of the candid images from the 200 or so TIFF files I presented to Amar. He was so pleased with the results, timescales and overall commission that he gave me another home to photograph.
Sir Keith Pearson Studio Portrait
Sir Keith Pearson emailed over a request to photograph him in his uniform of the Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Cambridgeshire. I went over to his home in Peterborough with a white backdrop and studio lights to photograph him. This is one image from Sir Keiths session that he was going to use in his promotional literature. A High rez DVD, Canvas framed print and numerous photo reprints were requested and delivered. Sir Keith was knighted in 2010 for services to healthcare.
CO-OP Long Service awards
I undertake a lot of photographic commissions for ARCS (Anglia Regional Co-Op) they have a long service awards ceremony every year and this image was of 2 of the award recipients. The glass in the frame is very reflective and needs careful placement to avoid a flash spot on the frame.
PR Childrens Competition
A PR firm contacted me to enquire about taking some photos of the winners of a children’s colouring competition held at Crowland Garden Centre. I was asked to get a shot of them all with awards, pictures and a cuddly rabbit, this is one of the 20 different images taken and submitted on a high rez CD Rom. The PR firm were very impressed with the images and promptness of delivery and have since given me 10 other commissions for similar projects.
Fitzwilliam Hospital Interiors
The Fitzwilliam Hospital in Peterborough has been renewing some of their recovery rooms and I went over to take some images of the rooms with the emphasis on the whole room which meant the use of a wide angle lens. The only downside of these lenses is that they can make all the vertical lines in the image look warped, to counteract this you have to get the camera at the right level vertically and horizontally, quite a task to get perfect at the time and they nearly always need a bit of correcting on the computer.
ESP Magazine Xmas Lights
I am a regular contributor to ESP Magazine in Peterborough, Sharon the editor calls me up to take some promotional, press and editorial photos for the mag, mostly at short notice and early mornings or late evenings. This is from the Queensgate Xmas light switch on and was used in the Dec issue of ESP.
The Occulist Opticians
The Occulist Opticians have been another client, these 2 images were taken at the shop for some advertising literature. The staff were taken in a relaxed pose against a backdrop of glasses and displays, and some more detailed images of the process of getting the right glasses for their clients.
Esporta Gym Interiors
Esporta Gym needed some photos of the facilities they have within the Gym. This is the Whirlpool next to the swimming pool. The brief was to take images with and without people and deliver High Rez TIFF files large enough for glossy A4 brochures and also Low Rez JPEG files for web site usage. Commission was completed within 2 days and the images were delivered 2 days later, how’s that for service !!
Tower cranes Construction Co
A Construction firm needed some images of their cranes in-situ working on a building site. The sky was a very important part of the image and the deep blue against the yellow and red of the cranes really makes for a striking image, a pale washed out cloudy sky would not have been as effective, the colours complement each other and provide the WOW factor.
New type of Lettuces
Got to admit, one of the strangest shoots was this one. The phone call of enquiry was very vague, but I understood why when I met a man in a car in the middle of the Fens near Ely one day. I was given a grid reference and picked up by car. This is a new strain of Lettuce genetically engineered to make it last longer and taste sweeter. The patch of soil it and the 100 other “test” lettuces were in the middle of the flattest part of the country and it took 25 minutes to get to by car. The shoot was all completed and sent off, I’m yet to see these in the shops though ??
Sensory Room, Care Home
This is a Sensory room in a care centre. Quite a challenge to photograph with different coloured lighting and dark shadows. This was overcome by a blip of flash and a long exposure to capture detail in the shadows but not burn out the highlights in the lights.
