Work with Derby Arboretum

Working with paper plane Creatives, I have recently taken some photos for a website they are working on for a community project based in Normanton, Derby. All info on the project can be found here until the website goes live.

They supplied me with some of their new marketing material as well as full access around the site on a normal day. I knew roughly where my images were going to be used on the site so I kept that in the back of my mind when shooting. 

These are a few screenshots from the site in its current incomplete state. 

With these two images I knew the logo for the site was going to be on the left of the header so I kept my subjects slightly to the right which I think helps and makes them more consistent. I think the shallow depth of field helps attract all the attention onto the logo on the balloon. 

As this centre id run by deaf people for the deaf community I thought it would be important to show this somehow. The childen came in from the park and started a conversation with the woman behind the till about the price of sweets. I thought this was the perfect chance to show this and took a series of shots throughout the conversation. I felt this was the strongest as you can see exactly what she's saying and the children are engaged with her. 

Instagram

Following on from my use of an iPhone for video. I have also been using it for many quick snap shots. I use an app called Instagram which is a social photography app, after you take a photo there are many preset filters to give it a different and interesting look. The photos can then be liked/commented on in the usual way by the people who "follow" you. 

Its very quick and easy and for this reason I've found myself using it quite a bit and getting some rather good results. Here are some of my favourite images from the past month or two. You will notice that all the images are square in format and have had different filters applied. I have never taken great care in which filters I have used, I simply decide which looks best at first glance. The phone saves the original images so I can always fall back on that at a later date if I need to.

 Bracknell train station.

Mode BMX store, Derby 

McDonalds light fixture

 Vice magazine, Oakford social club, Reading

Sophie.

 Desperados, The Blessington Carriage, Derby

Piano Busker, Reading

Goalpost project

Recently I have started a project simply on footballs fields in public parks. It was the way in which the goals sat inside each other which caught my eye one day, and after shooting a few test shots it became obvious that it was a very strong angle. When I started viewing them all together I realised that because most of the goals themselves are roughly the same it was the landscape and horizon around them that were what was making it interesting. 

I went round and got at least one shot from all the local parks round here with the general set up, although I did not take a tripod I made sure that i kept the camera at a roughly consistent height to keep the horizon line in check. Unfortunately I do not have a copy of my contact sheet to hand to scan in, but when viewed like that you can see just how neat the horizon looks across 36 frames. 

Also as they are film prints, and I do not own a negative scanner, and my actual print scanner is out for repair, the best I can do to get them on here is to photograph each photo with a digital camera. This obviously means they are not very good quality and have marks and some bits of dust on them. Though, I decided this was better than nothing! The actual prints were printed on Illford Fiberbased paper so they have really strong deep blacks and a nice matte finish. 

Here are a selection of the top 5.

Something different

I recently purchased a new iPhone 4s which shoots both 8megapixel stills and 1080p quality video. For once rather than focus on the stills I decided to test out the video on the phone. I just wanted a quick and easy idea so I found a song made by a friend of mine and decided to make an video that could accompany it. I wasn't think of it as a "music video" but more a balanced than that, as in, both the audio and video were equally important. 

I simply filmed much of my day while travelling to and from work which I currently do every week. It was all shot handheld with no extra lighting of equipment. Though it is by no means perfect I am happy with the result and it has sparked an interest in moving photography as well as conventional stills. 

The video can be viewed here. There are some issues with sound (A constant popping sounds, due to the sound levels when it was exported I believe) but the overall message is still clear. 

Race Shirt retro website

I recently did some work with Paperplane, who are a web design company. They were doing a full new site for a company called Raceshirt Retro who sell merchendice from race teams from the 70s/80s. The job needed me to shoot around 30 shirts front, back and inside and then using photoshop to give them a transparent mannequin effect. 

First page of the finished layout for the website. 

The shirt and picture in the masthead change every few seconds

I did many test shoots in normal conditions before hand as we had a few different ideas about how the front page would look.

We then did the shirts one by one in the studio which took a long time. After that we had to cut the front and backs off the white background so they could be used with any backgrounds. To create the invisble mannequin effect we shot the shirts inside out with the necks out so we could use the label to give the look of depth. This then made the shirt look just like it was being worn by something completely see through. 

Original image of the T-shirt

Cutting the shirt off the white background. Including the neck area. 

Cutting the neck area to fill from the inside out photo to fill the gap in the previous image.

Putting the neck cutout behind the front version. This is where you need to get the angle right and also add some black shadow between the two layers to give it the effect of depth.

Finished product ready use as images on websites or advertising.  The whole process takes at least 30 minutes done carefully so doing a whole stock load was quite a lot of work. The final result was worth it though as they look good ob the pages and you can also zoom into them on the individual product pages. 

After the launch of the website, they also opened a shop in Derby city centre selling among other things the shirts I photographed. 

American Aprrel shoot

I have done a photoshoot in the style of American apparel and the photographers who work for them. The most striking thing about their advertising it that the actual photographs are usually set in everyday places. Somestimes in the photographers or models own home. This leads to most of them using mostly just natural light from the setting they are in. This is why windows are often quite a common feature in works like this.


I did some in the sutido first. Overall I am quite happy with them but I should of managed my time better and done a full day with more clothes and different set ups. I wanted these images to be very simple so I used little to no pros and only basic lighting. One thing I did wish I had was an external flashgun to mount on the camera its self. This technique is often seen in this area of photography where there is a strong shadow behind the model. I aim to use this further in the future.

Here I used the white box as a prop to try something different rather than just have her stand up straight. This makes her body more interesting and engaging.

Here is an actual American apparel photo where they too have used one simple prop to change how the model is in front of the camera. It is instantly more interesting that just simple being stood up straight

This image has the right mix of showing the product as well as the slight sexual implications. The product is in full view but it may not actually be that that would grab your attention first. There is plenty of space on the left for a logo and product info. 

Another real advert where the product is in full view but there is a sexual hint. 

My favourite shot from all the ones in the studio was this one. Funnily it was the only one which seems to be a mix of both styles. Studio and informal. I like how all the studio equipment has been silhouetted against the well exposed white area. I think this too would make a good advert.

I then did some at home in am more informal setting. Comparing it to the image below there are a to of similarities. The obvious difference is the lighting. Mine was using all natural light and shadow whereas below they seem to have used a strong direct flash. I like both ways personally and this is why I need to try shooting like this again using a flash gun. 

I wanted an image with lots of space and natural light so I changed to this room. I also wanted one lark source of colour and interest which is why I chose the bear. The bare legs lead up to the shirt which would be the product which would be described next to it. There is just enough showing for it to be obvious. I think it is similar to the image below. The type of light, simple pose and colourful object are all matching. 

Terry Richardson

Terry Richardson is an American photographer. His pictures usually feature women and a good portion are of a sexual nature. With his commercial work he has worked with brands such as Gucci, Nike, Levi's and Mercedes to name a few.

French Vogue

He often shoots and publishes a lot of personal works which I find are just as good on his websites and blogs. These are usually more casual behind the scenes type of photos with his friends and celebs. Here he often uses a plain simple white background with a very strong flash. Literally hundred of these as well as ones taken at public events end up on his personal

His rise to fame with the younger generation was helped by the likes of American Apparel and Vice magazine as his style fits hand in hands with theirs. He has produced over 10 photo books so far and worked with a wide range of famous models and celebrities from rappers to President Obama.

President Obama

He inspires my work as he shows how it is possible to bridge the gap between commercial photography and edgy fashion and everyday photography.

Nike advertisement work

Lindsay Lohan

Sisley advertisement