Saturday 29 May 2010


As a professional photographer I feel a real duty to give my clients the very best pictures that I can from every job I'm commissioned to work on from large commercial buildings to portrait shoots through to pack shots and product photography. The deal is that a true pro should deliver consistent results every time that meet the clients brief and uphold the reputation of the photographer at the same time. I always aspire to this theory and always put my heart and soul into every single job every time. But as any photographer will tell you (those that are honest with you anyway!) you only really capture a small number of really stunning pictures each year - ones where everything comes together and everything just works really well.

I had one of those special days on Friday (yesterday) when I was lucky to spend the day with a very beautiful and energetic model called Annalie. We spent a couple of hours in the studio then headed out onto location and took some shots at one of my favourite haunts on the old railway line at Swanbourne Station. I used the Bowens Travel Pak for the location work - basically a portable battery that lets one use a studio flash head out in the open air.

I've attached a picture from the shoot which I took under the old railway bridge on the Little Horwood to Mursley road (for those of you who are geographically minded) and I converted the colour in Adobe Lightroom to resemble good old fashioned slide film (for those of you who are photographically minded!!).

Tomorrow I'll post one of the studio shots that I took with the Bowens ringflash adaptor.

Thursday 27 May 2010


I spent most of today sending out a marketing email to each of our clients individually (each one was personalised - I hate those bog standard emails you get that feel so impersonal) detailing a special offer I'm running throughout June and July. These are always quiet months for me so I'm offering a discount if any client books two days photography or more any time in June or July. I haven't tried this before but I want to keep busy through out the summer so I figured I'd give it a try. I've already got several days in the diary for June but any extra work is always a good thing.

I'm also shooting my first viral video in June which will take up a few days and I'm very excited about this. The Canon EOS 5D MK2 (my camera) is being used to create some stunning movies at the moment - if you're interested in DSLR movies check out a guy called Vincent Laforet who's made a film called Reverie which is very arty and romantic (no shooting or bombs going off unfortunately!) but beautifully filmed with a great sound track. You'll find it on Google easily enough and I highly recommend it.......... OK I give up - here's the link :-http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=2326

Tomorrow I'm photographing a beautiful lady called Annalie and I'm really looking forward to it - I'll post a picture from the shoot tomorrow night if I get the chance.

In today's blog I've posted another picture of Amy - she looks stunning in this shot.


Wednesday 26 May 2010


It was video time yesterday as I spent the day at the NEC shooting video and stills for a short movie featuring George Clooney......only joking featuring some switch gear components. OK so not the most exciting content but I'm filming it as artistically as possible and hopefully we can edit it creatively and add some exciting effects to improve things even more.

Today I'm post processing the Oswald Boateng shoot from Monday where I photographed their superb designer suit store on Savile Row in London. The interior is very dark and minimalist and I'll need to dodge and burn bits of the interior to really make it look as the eye sees it when you walk in.

Tomorrow is video editing day and then I'm shooting a great looking lady on Friday called Annalie so I'm looking forward to that - we'll do some shots in the studio and out on location too.

I've attached another of the products that I photographed last month as they are now launched and no longer under wraps. As with the product in Monday's blog we wanted a dark and moody look so I used a large softbox very close to the product with a silver reflector on the opposite side to give some fill. The background is a piece of black velvet which is great as it sucks up the light and gives a pure black background as opposed to black Colorama paper rolls that still manage to reflect light!.




Monday 24 May 2010


I post processed the pictures from Thursday's shoot at the Army HQ in Andover this morning and I'm really pleased with the results. The building has been refurbished and looks immaculate and on every glass wall and on most of the painted walls there are beautiful graphics and pictures showing scenes from the Battle of the Somme right up to Afghanistan. The new furniture looks great too and I tried to include the wall graphics into the shots to illustrate the fact that the project is for the MOD.

When I walked around the site with the Major and the Brigadier I did mention the fact that I played in a Territorial Army band for a couple of years but I don't think they were terribly impressed!!. Hopefully though they'll be impressed with the pictures.

This afternoon I travelled up to London on the train from Leighton Buzzard station and photographed the interior of Ozwald Boateng the menswear shop on Savile Row. The interior was dark and very minimal but also very stylish and I think the pictures should look good - I'll post one tomorrow if I get them done in time.

Tomorrow I'm working in Birmingham at the NEC where I'm making a short video for an electrical component manufacturer and as I'm now really into video I'm looking forward to filming and editing it.

I've attached a picture from one of last month's product shoots in the studio. At the time the product had not been released and so I couldn't post any of the pictures but now it's launched here it is!. It's called Ratio and is a beautiful street and car park light that has LED's instead of a lamp. The lighting is very moody and I used one main light to camera left with a large softbox, a reflector on the right of the product for fill and a second light bounced off the ceiling to light the fins on top of the product with barn doors attached to stop any light spilling directly onto the product.




Saturday 22 May 2010


Thursday's job at the new HQ of the British Army at Andover was a really interesting shoot and turned out to be great fun. The brief was to photograph all the new furniture that has been supplied and my client and I were shown around by a Major and a Brigadier!. Both the officers were really helpful and made us very welcome - mainly I think because the furniture looked so good and my client had not only supplied the kit but also built all the tables etc on site and the install went very smoothly.


It was a lovely sunny day too and the drive across to Andover on the A34 from Bicester was really enjoyable so happy days all round!.


On Friday I photographed some LED lighting products in the studio and attended a business lunch in Milton Keynes - one of those networking events. I don't usually like these kind of do's but the Business Live one in MK is pretty laid back and the food is always good so I go when I can.


Last night I photographed a band called Lower Than Atlantis at a gig in Wolverton and although I'm not a heavy metal fan I have to say they were superb and I'm looking forward to processing the pictures.



I've attached another shot of Amy from our shoot last week.








Wednesday 19 May 2010


Yesterday's shoot in Gland (Switzerland) at the new IUCN HQ went very well even though the day began at 4am!. I flew out on the 8.00am flight to Geneva then caught a train from Geneva to Gland. The shoot went really well and my clients Marc and Katie came along to help out. We began by shooting some video interviews with the lead architect on the project, then we shot some stills and video of the building to add to the shots we took last time we visited site back in February. The final video is going to be a 15 minute movie and I saw a rough cut of the film so far yesterday and it looks good. The editing is being done in Sweden and they've made my video work look good so I'm very happy about that!.

I got back home at 11.15pm so it was a long old day but it felt good as I think we did a good job.

This morning I post processed the stills pictures and sent them off to the client (although Yousendit managed to loose the files twice!) then in the afternoon I did a shoot with Amy who is a top video editor, radio program producer with the BBC and very cool model all in one!. We headed down to the disused railway line at Swanboune Station and also the old railway bridge in Winslow and then ended up in a spooky old disused cow shed which has been heavily graffiti ed and left to fall down.

I used my Bowens Travel Pak and 500 W/s flash head to overpower the daylight and to make the afternoon light look like dusk.

Tomorrow I've got a shoot in Andover at the MOD so that should be exciting. I always like driving out in that direction and I hope the sun shines as the scenery out near Oxford is beautiful.

I've attached a picture from today's shoot of Amy in the old cow shed.

Monday 17 May 2010


Last week was a bit quieter than normal and I'm hoping that things are going to get back to being crazy again pretty soon.

I spent Friday over at a client's office in Essex shooting a few portraits of a couple of members of staff, then we ran through a video concept I've come up with for a viral video campaign which the client liked and has now signed off. We will start filming in a couple of weeks once I've finalised the script and cast the actors.

Today I'm getting everything ready for another visit to the IUCN HQ in Gland Switzerland tomorrow where I'll be shooting both stills and video for my client. I need to double check everything as it's a there and back in a day job and that means I can't afford for anything to go wrong.

I'm spending Wednesday in the studio working with Amy (a video producer and model) on some video editing then we're heading out for a shoot on location at the disused railway station near Swanbourne.

I've posted a picture of Jade from the shoot on Friday.

Wednesday 12 May 2010


I spent the first part of the day working through some studio shots I took of a lady called Emma who came in for a portfolio shoot a few weeks ago and she's just chosen the pictures for the final edit. I'll post one of the retouched pictures in tomorrow's blog (if I get them finished!).

Then I headed over to the studio where I spent an hour trying to fix the focusing gear mechanism on my 5x4 view camera which involved replacing a couple of tiny screws - simple enough you'd think but it was so fiddly and it took me ages.

My next move was over to Calumet (the camera dealer in Milton Keynes) to return my tripod and shiny new tilt and pan Manfrotto head. I bought the new head a couple of weeks ago to use when I need to shoot video but the bloody thing just wouldn't come off after I used it on a job a few days ago. I've tried loads of times to get it off to no avail and got to the point where I lobbed the whole thing across the floor and called up Dan at Calumet to arrange to return it for some expert help. It was still jammed on yesterday when I last tried so today I finally had a chance to get back to the shop and get it sorted. I walked in, took the tripod out of the bag and said something like "It's well and truly stuck -there's no way it's coming off.." then turned the head to illustrate the point and it unscrewed perfectly!!. I can't explain how that happened but I'm just glad it did.

I've attached a picture in today's blog that I took at the Liverpool One shopping development a couple of years ago. The scheme has been shortlisted for a major award and the picture featured in the Guardian but they cleverly credited my shot to a different photographer!.



Monday 10 May 2010


I had a shoot at the National Anti Doping Agency building near Trafalgar Square today which went well and although the interior was quite small I took some good shots for my client who has supplied the furniture through out the building. The Anti Doping Agency are the guys that ban athletes and footballers etc who get caught taking drugs so some areas were sensitive and we weren't allowed to photograph a couple of the offices due to the sensitive nature of their work.

It was great to be back in London again and the UKDA offices are right next to Trafalgar Square. I walked through the Square in the bright sunlight and I realised just how smart London is.

After the shoot I popped in to The Camera Cafe (Aperture) on Museum Street and looked at all the beautiful second hand Leica and Hassleblad kit they have. If I was a millionaire I be buying stuff in there every week. They do have a few famous customers I believe including the great photographer David Bailey and Eric Clapton.

I've attached a picture from the shoot to the blog.

PS Please look me up on Twitter at Redshiftphoto.



Thursday 6 May 2010


Tonight I photographed a charity fashion show for a small charity called Mercy in Action who raise money for children living in terrible conditions in the Philippines. They have three charity shops near to where I live and I've got to know them as I often buy clothes from them for the studio and location shoots that I do with models when we want to ruin the dresses or distress them a bit!. I also donated a studio shoot to the auction and that raised another £50 which was great.

Yesterday I spent the day with a client planning a viral video and advertising campaign which I'm very excited about. I've got some ideas for a 30 second advert which I will film and direct and we're hoping to start filming within the next month. It's going to be a bit risque so should be fun to make!.

Tomorrow I'm back in the studio again photographing some more still life shots for Arcangel - a European agency that sell pictures to paperback book publishers. They like shots of rusty padlocks and blood stained knives etc as their main market is the novel and fiction sector.

I've posted a picture from tonight's event -the lighting was very poor but some fill flash helped to save the day. The models were all volunteers and had never walked the catwalk before so I think they all did really well.



Monday 3 May 2010


I had a late night in the studio on Saturday as I did a shoot for a young lady's birthday and she came along with three of her mates and her Mum and Dad for a studio session. We started at 8.30pm and went through until around 11pm. The great thing about working at the weekend is that I can run the stereo up to full tilt so the place rocked and we got some really good shots of the girls which were full of energy.

I used a basic three flash setup with two heads fitted with long strip softboxes lighting the white backdrop and one flash mounted on a boom above the girls fitted with a large softbox for the key light. We also used two 6ft x 4ft silver panels to add some extra softness for some of the shots.

Yesterday I took my old but much loved Canon F1 out for a shoot loaded with black and white film. I took lots of portraits of Harry my son which I will get developed today and I'll post one in the blog tomorrow. It's always great to load up a roll of film and the old Canon FD cameras feel so chunky and solid and the lenses are lovely and smooth to focus.

I'm heading back into the studio tomorrow to shoot some product photography on the 5x4 view camera so I'll be using film again.

I've attached a picture from the Shoot on Saturday night taken with my Canon EOS 5D MK2 and 24-105mm F4 L Lens.