Many of you are aware that I specialise in residential interior photography however, you may not know that I also cover commercial interiors too.
Introduction
Recently I have undertaken a commercial interiors shoot for a construction company tasked with re-furbishing serviced offices for Regus. The purpose of this shoot was to complete a case study and other marketing material.
Follow the brief
It is of the utmost importance to work to the clients brief when undertaking this sort of work. You need to know what is important to them and how they want the finished set of shots to look.
Of course, the brief for this shoot was particularly exacting with annotated building plans supplied. Care needed to be taken as some of the rooms had been refurbished previously.
The challenges
One challenging area was to capture the foyer as it was a large space that occupied the full height of the building.
A specialist tilt shift lens came to the fore here. I could utilise the movement available to take a number of images covering each area of the space. The images were then stitched and blended later in post-production.
Of course you need to think outside the box on occasion as you are not in complete control of the situation.
On this shoot I had to rely on the office manager to gain access to certain areas. He was of course very busy, so a degree of patience was required.
You are also reliant on the British weather while working outside. In this particular case it was pouring with rain all morning and there was a requirement to capture the front of the building as well as the HVAC on the roof.
Of course, I had some appropriate clothing, and the camera is well waterproofed. The problem is ensuring rain does not get on the lens as this can cause problems.
I would love to hear from you
If your company has a need for some commercial interiors’ photography, I would love to hear from you.
It was perhaps my dream referral when I was introduced by a networking colleague to carry out interiors’ photography for an expanding chain of pubs.
Background
Initially, I was called to a meeting to discuss food photography. (See previous blog post –The Art of the food-photographer ) At the meeting I thought it best to set out my pitch by showing examples of work previously carried out for another pub. Although the idea was to show just the food aspect, their head of marketing seemed more interested in my interior photography. By the time the meeting was over I had confirmation of interior shoots for 8 of their 10 outlets.
Logistics for the shoots proved to be somewhat complicated. I needed to time all of the shoots to occur before each venue had put up their Christmas decorations. As the shoots were for their updated website, they needed to be timeless so full Christmas decor would be inappropriate. This extended to publicity material on display too.
Importance of a brief
For any client wanting commercial photography work, I always ask for a full brief as to what it is they want and how they hope the resulting images will be. This is very important as I need to get to know my client and their culture and ethos.
This is what sets me apart from others as I am tuned to their wavelength. I need to understand the ambience that they wished to create. For the client, the emphasis was that they were family-friendly pubs with an ethos based around excellent customer service.
All of the pubs are quite quirky too. There were lots of nooks and crannies where you are able to get a little privacy. They also have lots of knick knacks about so all those little details were crucial to capture in order to showcase the personality of the restaurant and owners.
The shoots
With kit packed and post code loaded it was off for the first of a series of shoots. For each shoot I was either accompanied by Rachel the marketing manager or else Ben the website developer. It was not long before I picked up on the consistent styling and branding across the pubs. I started to recognise the corporate blue. This was evident in every location usually in the bar area. Even though each pub had its own unique look and identity, the branding ran consistently throughout the chain. The company that refurbishes all of their premises had done an excellent job.
It was really important to get input from Rachel as she knew what was important which ensured each shoot progressed smoothly. She was also an extra pair of eyes to check all of the details. this is very important when you are engrossed in the job in hand. It would not be the first or last time that I would set up a shot and then find that I had left my camera bag in view. It is always best to check around the viewfinder before you commit to the shot. Other details such as marketing materials that would date the shoot needed to be checked and removed.
Gradually a pattern developed which lead to the photo shoots becoming easier to conduct, manage and overall flow better. Consistency became the name of the game in order to preserve the corporate look and branding throughout all of the shoots. With all of the little details picked out too, it meant that Ben had plenty of material to use to make each of the pubs really stand out.
So, what is the purpose of food photography when it comes to marketing?
This is an interesting question, as things have changed in the last few years. No longer do you find food photography with set up shots, often with fake ingredients – so no more mashed potato ice cream, sauces substituted by motor oil or use of brown shoe polish to give meat that fresh roasted look!
The modern food photographer has to work a little harder now in order to perfect their craft.
You just need a great set up, good organisation and perfect timing to get the food looking at its best.
In the last few years food photography has become very popular. This is in part due to the success of the Pink Lady ‘Food Photographer of the Year’ competition. It has spawned a whole new breed of food photographers. The emphasis is not just on the food itself but to the aesthetics surrounding the plate. They are looking for colour and texture. They use raw ingredients to help tell the story. The rise of social media has helped with many sharing their images on Instagram and for many it is a great hobby.
So, what is the aim?
You should aim to make it look so real that the viewer can almost smell the food and hear the sizzle. For the client they are looking for a realistic representation of their craft. The food should look fresh and succulent. It should look inviting and make the viewer hungry. It should show the context and include a hint of the surroundings – vitally important if you are working for a restaurant.
The context for the shoot
I was commissioned by the Barons Pub Company who are undergoing re-development of their existing website. They had realised during the review that there was a distinct lack of suitable food photography on their site. While preparing for the shoot I referred to the points of culture from the client to ensure that the images fitted their ethos and reflected their branding. For them the importance was to show the food in a way that appealed to families, so they included items from the kids menu. They also wanted to emphasise the surroundings of a friendly welcoming pub. The food needed to be presented in a way that gave a lasting impression.
As the aim was to highlight the food and to make it look very natural, I decided that natural light would play a role in the set up – so found a table close to the window which luckily was north facing. This provided a nice back light to the food, but it was not enough to light the food as I wanted.
The decision was made to add some artificial light which needed to be as natural as possible. This was achieved by using a Lastolite highlight background to give a very soft flood of light. These are designed to be a background for high key portrait photography, but they are also excellent at producing what looks like natural window light.
To fine tune the lighting, I also used some small reflector panels and black boards to remove light where required.
I was recently given the privilege to undertake some Christmas concert photography covering the annual concert for the two Elmbridge choirs.
This was a spectacular event that took place in Christ Church in Woking. The two Elmbridge choirs are very well known in my home area.
The evening boasted a full house of 300 who enjoyed seasonal music from the superb 90-voice Elmbridge Ladies Choir and the marvellously entertaining 130-strong Elmbridge Choir, led by Cliff van Tonder – Founder and CEO of Surrey Music.
Surrey Music was founded in 2005. The founder’s drive, ambition and exuberance are well recognised, not only to the members of Surrey Music but to the local community as a whole. Over the years more than £175,000 has been raised for charitable causes and many hundreds of people have benefited from his commitment. Cliff has recently been honoured with a British Citizen Award for services to the Arts.
Guest Artists: Chase Adams and Elite Elton
Chase Adams is an up and coming singer/songwriter who hails from Brighton. Chase has been performing for around 12 years and lists his influences as Bruno Mars, Adam Lambert, Maroon 5 and Ed Sheeran. Elite Elton is the UK’s premier Elton John tribute act. Kevin Clay (‘Elton’) is a very close lookalike who performs a huge repertoire of Sir Elton John’s songs. He took to the stage in typically flamboyant fashion and at the end had everyone on their feet for Crocodile Rock.
The concert
The concert was opened by Chase Adams who gave a very soulful performance, delighting the audience with his superb voice. Following this was the spectacular entrance of the 90 strong Elmbridge Ladies Choir to the tune of ‘Here Come The Girls’, led by their Musical Director Christine Parker. Their repertoire included a varied programme, from traditional carols to an African lullaby with percussion accompaniment.
It was then the turn of Kevin Clay and his alter-persona of Elite Elton. His entrance was even more spectacular as he was wearing a sequined jacket and topped with a straw boater. On stage there was a baby grand piano surrounded by the choir. He performed the majority of Sir Elton John’s best-known songs of which there are many and returned later as an older Elton with a sparkly purple shirt.
The highlight of the evening was the 130 strong Elmbridge mixed choir. Their repertoire included traditional carols and some songs featured in Frozen and The Greatest Showman. Cliff van Tonder was absolutely mesmerising as their conductor and knew how to get the best out of all the performers.
The evening turned out to be particularly brilliant and it was a total pleasure to be involved in the Christmas concert photography for both of the choirs.
The creative Gothic-styled shoot idea came about from a chance meeting in the most unusual of circumstances. You would not normally expect such an encounter from the dull atmosphere of a local business exhibition. It is true though! I met Victoria whilst exhibiting at ‘Woking means Business’. I had been thinking of a new creative project and this was a dream come true.
Background to the shoot
Victoria was introduced as someone who was just starting out in business. She was looking for advice on local networking opportunities. Of course, my eyes lit up when I asked Victoria what business she was starting and she replied that she was a personal stylist. This was just the person I needed to enhance the team of creatives I was building. I swiftly introduced her to one of my networking groups, which she promptly joined.
A meeting was arranged where we could discuss collaboration. It was an interesting meeting where we found we had lots of mutual interests. This is where Victoria revealed that she was a goth in a former life. I then introduced the idea of the creative gothic-styled shoot to which she replied, “Yes, a million times Yes!!”.
Preparation for the shoot
The wheels were set in motion and Victoria was introduced to my model Lora and make up artist, another Viktoria.
The next step was to create a Pinterest board where we could share ideas. This provided a basis for our plans and was somewhere where everybody could reference progress. Lots of ideas soon appeared relating to styles, fashion and make up.
Meanwhile Victoria busied herself sourcing suitable fashion and accessories from various outlets. It was helpful that she would probably want to wear the items after the shoot and it was also fortuitous that Victoria and Lora were of a similar build. This was the start of building a dream team for the shoot. Ideas for locations were also discussed and it was agreed that we would shoot at Waverley Abbey (ruined Cistercian Abbey) and the military church in Deepcut (of ‘Kingsman’ Fame.
The day of the shoot arrived and Victoria picked me up from home as we were travelling down to Hambledon in one car. The boot was packed with clothing and accessories and on the way down Victoria excitedly described all of the looks that she had created. Some concern about the suitability of the church were raised. We had found that there was a service at 10:30 and felt that it might be somewhat inappropriate that we were conducting a photo-shoot.
By the time we arrived at Viktoria’s house Lora was already there and the make up had started. Whilst this was going on Victoria unpacked the car and began to lay out the fashion for the shoot. Further discussion took place about locations. Then Viktoria’s husband had a stroke of genius. “Why don’t you try the church in the village, that has a decent graveyard.” So we had a plan.
The make-up took around an hour and we were then ready to try the first look. This was a traditional Victorian dress complete with choker which we thought that it would be very suitable for the shots in the graveyard.
How amazing was the graveyard!! It was absolutely perfect for the style that we had created. We immediately found a chest tomb covered in ivy and featuring weathered stone. The first shot in the bag was awesome.
We then found a cross which Lora instinctively wrapped herself around. She then moved and I said “No, do that again”. I then took the shot with thoughts in my mind of “It looks like the crucifixion”
We then found another equally weathered and rustic headstone. Lora leaned against this, and I asked her to place a hand against the stone, to look distant and forlorn. I named this shot as a love lost. It was very poignant. We then found a hollow in the trunk of a yew tree which Lora squeezed into. A few shots were taken but they did not really work out. It was at this point that people started to appear from within the church, so we decided it was time to move on.
The next stop for our gothic-styled shoot was Waverley Abbey. Here we continued with the Victorian outfit for a few shots, before Lora changed into a more modern Goth style dress.
I then started to introduce gels over my flash to try to produce some bizarre effects. The aim was to use an orange gel on the flash with the camera set to a tungsten white balance.
This would mean that Lora would look quite normal, however, the background would turn rather blue. We then looked around us and found something that was rather disturbing.
What we thought was a bundle of sheep’s wool turned out to be human hair. We also found the remains of some burned down church candles too.
What strange events had occurred here? Anyway, not being one to let an opportunity pass me by, I utilised the old candles with a view to creating something special later.
The next costume change was something a little funkier. Victoria had sourced a dress that was somewhat brighter with coloured lightning bolts on it. We took some shots with the candle before moving into the middle of the cloisters. Here Lora spread her arms out and looked up towards the heavens as if seeking some sort of divine intervention.
In conclusion, all parties involved felt that the creative gothic-styled shoot was a great success providing everyone with plenty of images for their social media campaigns.
