This advert for the Royal Ballet is so beautiful I couldn't resist including it in my blog. I love the combination of gloomy lashing sea images combined with Britten's music. Sergei Polunin is stunning too of course! But the best part is the final shot with the fill in flash. Watch it!
What a brilliant idea! You can now take a virtual stroll along the wonderful High Line in Manhattan. Even the map whizzing along has the feeling of being on a train. It’s inspired!
Ok, so I know I look like either a funeral director, mad scientist, or a pigeon fancier, but I love wearing waistcoats! For anyone still awake, most of these are ebay finds. Although a few I bought must have been cast offs from Charlie Cairoli.
I love the challenge of finding a waistcoat that will bring together the colours in the shirt and tie.
Simple things… !
I have been working on website designs for a French nursery school called Le Herisson (The Hedgehog). The brief was to make the website fun for parents to look at with their young children, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to create some of my own hedgehog artworks (children-style).
The black line was sketched on scrap paper then scanned. The colour layers were added in photoshop so that I could change them easily. Each of the illustrations were then saved to the same size and uploaded to a demo website page for the client to see.
If the illustrations were in the same order it would look too tidy, so I created a small php script that made them appear randomly across the page. See the random version.
I also tried displaying whole screens of just one of the illustrations repeated – which gave a much more wallpaper-like appearance. See the wallpaper version. (refresh the page to see the effect with different hedgehogs). Have fun! Let me know what you think!
The website is now completed – so you can see the finished project.
Well as you might have guessed, they are all fake. When shooting products I often have to create images of items that don't actually exist.
From this selection the patchwork quilt was by far the most difficult as I didn't have samples of all the fabrics either. The white areas of the quilt are actually a mattress protector from BHS that I shot and manipulated to fit the perspective.
The giant foot stool in the middle was easy as it was just changed from pink to green, the peg bag is actually two napkins shot then patched together with shading around the edge to make it look more like a bag. The pair of pink slippers was actually only one slipper. The other is a duplicate. The oven gloves actually had stripes on the back so this is made up along with the faked quilting pattern too.
Finally the two tea towels at the bottom are actually from cushions twisted and duplicated with a small shadow to make them look convincing.
What do you think? Let me know!
My latest photoshoot for Maison was at a wonderful Georgian house near Goudhurst. The majority of the shots were hard-working ones showing their furniture in as many locations around the house as possible, so we can use them in the next series of adverts.
Towards the end of the day the weather improved so I was able to take some fun shots of Maison's day bed next to the pool. With such a fantastic location it would have been a shame not to have some shots in the garden!
If only Sharon Shoesmith had put as much effort into protecting children as she has in defending herself!
These shots were taken specifically to send to one of BD Foods' stockists, the foodservice company Thomas Ridley.
This time the sauces were from lots of different countries so there was no quick way to whizz through taking all the photos. Each one had to be planned in advance with props sourced from Ebay, in London or from my rapidly growing prop hire cupboards!
As the food itself is NOT the focal point of the photographs, I had to contrive a method of getting the sauces shown in a bowl or jug each time so that the customer would realise they were buying a sauce and not a ready meal.
The photographs are of sauces to accompany foods from: America, Africa, Britain, Mexico, Chinese, Japanese and Italian.
These beautiful, bespoke racing bikes were a challenge to shoot being shiny black, but looked terrific. I always worry about shiny black as it reflects so many unwanted highlights. This time I blacked out the studio completely and put a huge blackout between all the equipment and the bike too. Making everything behind the bike lit and everything in front of the bike black gave a good high-contrast, starting point. From then, the acute side lighting and black card was reflected onto the wheels and gears to bring out the details.
I took a series of close up shots of the beautifully engineered details too. Using a macro lens and by replacing one of the soft boxes with a spotlight I could make the metal parts sparkle.
For more details about the bikes see the VO2 Cycling website.
I asked Jasmine's mum and dad if they would mind her modelling a coat for me. Jasmine came along very excited and every single shot of the photoshoot was as charming as these. Being near to halloween I had a some pumpkins to hand so they seemed the perfect prop to go with this luxurious winter coat from Olivia Rose.
Jasmine doesn't know it yet but I think the coat might be her birthday present.
On a recent trip to New York, the main site I wanted to visit was the High Line. An old derelict railway line on the Lower West Side. The over-head freight line has been converted into a linear park with stunning planting overseen by garden designer Piet Oudolf. Some of the tracks have been kept and mixed with specially built concrete decking that follows the line of the tracks giving an energy and feeling of movement, enhanced by the swaying grasses.
The High Line's website describes the planting as, "Inspired by the self-seeded landscape that grew on the out-of-use elevated rail tracks during the 25 years after trains stopped running. The perennials, grasses, shrubs and trees were chosen for their hardiness, sustainability, and textural and color variation, with a focus on native species. Many of the species that originally grew on the High Line's rail bed are incorporated into the park's landscape."
The railway served various factories and warehouses along the track. In a few cases you can see exact spots where the old photographs on the High Line's website shows engines emerging from the warehouses. An old engine shed along the route has kept the tracks but built the ground up to level with the top of the rails, giving a safe, yet fun way to reflect its history.
I have shown some of the photos from the High Line's website alongside some of my own to show the dramatic transformation.
Let's hope this inspired project will stimulate minds in the UK to transform some of our own eyesores rather than knock them down.
I am now on version 4 of Turners catalogue. This time they want to have the prices printed separately so this left a large gap in all the layouts. I reworked the catalogue on a three column grid. Which also meant I could tighten up the of photos and add a lot more!
Ben at Bishop's Green Grocers wanted an e-commerce website but without the time to update the site with products each day I suggested a cut-down version that could be upgraded to e-commerce later when staff and funds become available.
When I took the shots for the website I used the lovely old baskets that were hidden on the top shelf to display the fruit and veg. I cheated a little by re-staging the displays to give a lush, rustic look.
Ben is aiming to refit the shop soon. Replacing the shop sign with my new design, which matches the website.
Shots for the A2B Local website were taken on a Sunday at the industrial estate. The roller shutters gave the perfect neutral, industrial-looking backgrounds.
Using a long exposure made the package blurred, making the logo and models the focal point of the shots.
I wanted a selection of images to choose from for the website so we also set up shots at various office doors as well. To light the inside as well as the outside bounced flash was used in the hallways to give a soft fill-in.
See how the shots were used on the A2B Local website.
I designed the website menu for BD Foods, based on a sample from each category of their product range. Initially I chose a selection of products of different colours and textures to make each one distinctive. I then shot all the background images first. This meant I could experiment with different textures and lighting without having to also worry about the spoons at the same time. A range of shots were taken of each background, I then set up the spoons, all shot on a plain grey background with the spoon held on a mould, so that it was always at the same angle and position, despite all the washing and cleaning in between photographs. All the spoon shots were then cutout and layered on top of their respective backgrounds in one file so that all the elements could be lined up accurately. Each of the backgrounds was then moved independently to achieve the best combination image. See how they work on the BD Foods website.
I am working on the website and designs for BD Foods in St. Leonard’s. Each of the products is supplied to different clients in different packaging, so to standardise the appearance on-line, I decided to shoot empty bottles and containers without labels.
Each of the containers was shot on its own, then cutout. This group shot was made up of different layers in Photoshop. By making some of the layers slightly see-through it was possible to give the effect of semi-transparent plastics. (See the two squeezy bottles in the middle of the group).
I have also shot example products to appear in the menu of the website. Plus a whole range of food shots to use on the website… more blog photos coming soon!
My latest brief from Nature’s best was to find a way to illustrate the supplement Co-Q10 known as the biochemical spark plug, giving an indication of its powers.
The previous packaging showed an actual spark plug. I suggested showing two tablets touching each other – inspired by the image of the fingers touching each other by Leonardo Da Vinci.
As the sparks were going to be the most unpredictable I shot these first. Making the whole studio light tight I pushed a sparker into black polyboard and shot directly from above. Sparklers only last a few seconds so I had to try a series of different shots to achieve the best sparks at the correct exposure.
This was the best shot taken at 1/160th sec at F3 ISO 200 using my fast 60mm lens.
The real capsules are tiny and covered in some sort of sticky substance that was a magnet to dust. The most practical solution, given the time, was to cheat and find a similar shaped capsule to use instead. The real tablets are solid opaque black, but the only ones I could find are these cod liver oil capsules which are clear dark bronze colour and not as fat as the real ones. None the less I felt I could fix all of these problems later in Photoshop.
I shot the row of tablets in different positions on black glass straight from above again, using flash this time. Two softboxes where put low down on either side of the capsules to give long thin highlights.
The only part left to do now was choose the best shots and combine them in photoshop. The dust was still terrible despite all the cleaning along the way. For the final image I combined seven layers to produce this version, putting two sparks on top of each other and blending with vivid light to make them extra sparky.
Nature’s Best (the vitamin and food supplements company) asked me to take a series of photos for their January front cover, featuring of one of their range of winter-warming products – embedded in a giant ice cube!
I shot the ice cube on a sheet of frosted class, lit from below, with two other spots for back-lighting and a fill-in flash at the front.
The beauty of using frosted glass is that when the surface gets wet it turns nearly transparent – making the pool of water below the cube much more defined.
I had worried that the ice might melt too fast, but in fact we needed to use the client’s blowtorch to speed up the melting process!
I am forming a new opinion about what the less well off people of this country really need. Previously I had thought the obvious answer of money, but with recent experiences I think what a lot of them need is JUSTICE.
Three of my friends have been forced into their financial predicaments due to no fault of their own, but due to the greed and bullying of large companies or rich business men. One has been forced into bankruptcy by a deceiving corrupt business ‘partner’ and is now at the behest of an unscrupulous landlord.
Another has been suspended from work on a trumped-up charge, supposedly on full pay for months, now only to find the charge has been thrown out but he has not received the pay for the months he was suspended
Where is the legal system in this country? everyone says try citizen’s advice. But no one seems to have noticed in these instances we have no entitlement to legal aid.
If you have no money, debts and someone swindling you – and have no entitlement to legal aid – what are you meant to do? Well one answer must surely NOT be to spend millions on creating the new Supreme Court. This will do absolutely nothing to help those without legal aid.
I discussed my shortlist of ideal policies for the next election with a Labour party candidate yesterday. Apart from legal aid for all that need it (see above) my main tick-box requirement would be for FREE EDUCATION to degree level for everyone.
I was lucky in going to art college in the days before tuition fees. I also got a full grant, so when I left with my degree all I had to pay off was the overdraft. I certainly would not be where I am today without this help in getting a foot on the ladder.
My Labour party candidate said where would I get the money from to pay for this?
Having set off on the train back to Warrington, I think I can make a suggestion… SALT! I have seen dozens of posters, billboards and buses with the new ad asking us all to think about our salt consumption. Can anyone really stand up and tell me this sort of advert is a good use of our money? Apparently the government is the largest buyer of advertising in this country.
What happened to ring-fencing the ideals we all strive for? it seems bankers bonuses (still) get a higher priority, along with funding for patronising us all by telling us not consume too much salt.
I love my job – especially when I have fun products like these to photograph from Swallowtail Hill (who’s slogan is “ethical products won’t hurt the planet”).
I have photographed all the products on their website. Each one has been shot in a natural setting, to reinforce their ethical brand. I was lucky to happen across a cricket match while on the common looking for nice long grass, so couldn’t resist these shots of Donkey and Pig keeping score…
David Janes at Classic Filters gave me the challenge to make their filters look appealing. The main problem with this kind of lighting is the DUST. Thankfully David brought some stainless steel polishing gloves which helped to buff them up and remove any finger prints. I shot each combination of filters on four different coloured backgrounds. Both as a shallow depth of field (as here) with lovely blurry backgrounds, as well as the more predictable pin sharp version. Once I was happy with the background and lighting I moved around the products to find their most flattering viewpoint. The filters are very heavy stainless steel, incredibly well-made and beautifully tactile. I think they could easily be sold in the Conran shop as works of art !
Congratulations to Olivia and Jack Gillies!
We all had a great time, thank you for inviting me. I hope you like the photographs! X
Copenhagen candles are launching their completely new range of scented candles at the Harrogate Home and Gift Show.
This time I had to create an advert using just the four products that had arrived so far. Unfortunately each one had something wrong with it, so a lot of retouching was needed to complete the shoot and the finished advert in a morning.
I used ultra-bright backlighting, under frosted glass and slight under-exposure to produce saturated colour. I particularly like how vibrantly-acidic the lime zest candles came out.
When the rest of the range arrives I will be re-shooting their entire range and creating their second catalogue. Read more about the first catalogue. Read more about the Copenhagen Candles website.
With my mother’s 80th birthday coming up soon I have been looking through my dad’s old slides. At every family gathering out would come my dad’s Kodak rangefinder camera. He was very meticulous, being obsessed with photography, even building his own darkroom and enlarger for black and white prints. The slides have been very well preserved, all carefully labelled with the date and event. This one was taken on the 7th April 1962. I am in red.
Thanks to Paul Spencer at PDScanning for the scans to bring these memories back to life.
One of my favourite stalls at the local farmer’s market is of wonderful hand-made ceramics made by Jayne Crookshank. Over the years I have bought numerous mugs and bowls. After failing to find the perfect rustic plates in Fez I suddenly thought of commissioning Jane to make some plates for me.
Armed with my camera, as usual, I went to Jayne’s Oast House to decide on the design and colour of the plates. Jane kindly showed me her studio in an old cow shed and gave me an impromptu demonstration by throwing a mug for me.
I used a long-ish exposure to show the blur of the wheel and risked hand-holding the camera. Back on my computer I processed the shots and also tried converting them to black and white – shown here, which I prefer.
I can’t wait to see and try the plates – will post a photo when I get them!
I love rhubarb. Not only does it look fabulous, taste gorgeous, but costs next to nothing!
The £1.50 worth of rhubarb chunks shown here being washed were roasted in sugar, then sprinkled with ground ginger, topped with crumble and cooked until brown and crunchy. The pudding fed six hungry folk and second helpings all round. Mind you it was so delicious I could have eaten the whole lot myself!
Its something about the sweet – tart combination that really hits the spot. Next time I am going to try roasting in honey instead of all that sugar. Another thought was to make chutney of course! my favourite salad accompaniment.
I still don’t think MPs get the point. There is more to it than effectively stealing our money – although some of them should be arrested for fraud. The problem is their lack of moral consideration that would tell them it is simply not acceptable that they should charge for US for THEIR benefits – hanging baskets, moat cleaning and the like.
Margaret Beckett on Question Time epitomises the problem. She is completely oblivious of public mood and has NO contrition. She should go – not at the next election, GO NOW.
And as for Michael Martin? you can imagine my opinion of him. The often-quoted Oliver Cromwell line is very appropriate:
YOU HAVE BEEN SAT TOO LONG HERE FOR ANY GOOD YOU HAVE BEEN DOING. DEPART, I SAY, AND LET US HAVE DONE WITH YOU. IN THE NAME OF GOD, GO!.
Oliver Cromwell. April 1653.
While we were all disgusted at the claims for none-existent mortgages and £400 taxi trips – Michael Martin was concerned about who leaked the details. How out of touch can he possibly be?
Labour tell us how well they have dealt with the economic crisis – but we are in such a financial mess now, I am sure this could have been done better. Why didn’t labour stop the crisis earlier? why didn’t they bring the FSA to account earlier? why are bonuses STILL being paid?
I feel the whole lot should go. Not just the government, not just the parliament, but the whole darn system. The Dickensian system is so out of touch. Everyone should be voting proportionately, members (if we have to have them at all) should be in their constituency FULL TIME and go ON-LINE to debate with other members. If millions can vote for their favourite x-factor contestant by sending a text, the same millions can decide political decisions too. If there really has to be face to face debates they can either all stay in hotels (Premier Inn at Country Hall currently costs £119 per night). Or take over one of the many empty office blocks and house the whole lot there. Consolidating all the services and security into one building would save millions.
I don’t feel ANY MP represents my views – not even fifty percent of my views. Who am I meant to vote for? I feel the closest to anyone sensible and honourable would be Vince Cable, but he is in a party mired with the same smell as the others. He would do better to be INDEPENDENT and ditch the party allegiance.
The threat of letting in the BNP in by the back door is not showing the strength of the BNP, it is showing the weakness of the main parties.
For me the nearest party is the GREENS. Even my previous party – the Lib Dems – aren’t pushing it far enough. Although I don’t agree with all the policies of the Green Party. I think we SHOULD have nuclear power.
I will definitely NOT be voting Labour or Conservative. I think its time to put the deck chairs away, they have been arranged enough, the ship is going down, run for the lifeboats now!
The little box I bid for on Ebay has been delivered in the nick of time so the missing label for Copenhagen candles has now been shot.
I took out the red lining to the box and packed it with the faux resins made from sugar crystals and dried apricots. With some sparkly side lighting and a few drops of water the treasure looks fit for a King…!
Spotted when I went to vote this morning.