Composite cover

A quick dip into the archives for this post, and another illustration of how composite images can be created for promotion and/or product placement.

The magazine cover shown here was produced for a company taking the lead feature in this particular edition of trade publication "Call Centre". It was made up of three separate shots.

The 'main' image was first created with focus centred on the foreground monitor, adding separation from the background and so depth to the picture. For logistical reasons, the two screens were left blank at the time, knowing that I would drop specific displays in later.

It's always important to remember, when setting up a shoot for cover publication, to leave plenty of space for text and title banner to be dropped in - the last thing you want is a cluttered appearance. For this reason, we shot all images with roughly the top third left 'empty' (as it happened, the company in question had a nice neutral ceiling and windows - sometimes you just get lucky!)

Lighting on this occasion was supplied by one 800-watt tungsten lamp bounced off the ceiling. I often work in this way as the diffused constant-light approach works well for ensuring continuity across multiple image elements in composite pictures. No additional lighting was required when photographing the screens themselves.

Being a feature piece, we also needed supporting images - these were created in and around the premises, and included informal portraits of key members in the team, general office location shots and pictures detailing a bank of monitors which was arranged along one wall.

Virtually all industries have their own trade publications, with content supplied by both small business and corporates alike. As ever, all it takes is a little thought, planning and know-how in order to promote yourself to a wider audience... and for this, you can be sure of reaping the rewards in the months and years that follow.

Simply done

Big studios, big lights, big fees - that is the perception a great number of people have when they consider commissioning professional photography.

Of course, we could exploit this and charge a small fortune - but how would we sleep at night?! No, we're far too honest for that. However, it is true to say that, in all reality, the elements of time and money are big factors for most people - and often at least one, the other or both is in short supply.

When thinking about your photography, two questions are no doubt going to be at the forefront of your mind - "how long will it take?" and "how much will it cost". Simply put, it needn't take a long time. Nor does it have to cost a lot. Tip: Planning is everything!

The images displayed here (view larger) were shot in the corner of a back room on-site, at short notice, and were lit with a single light. Nice, bright displays were dropped into each screen as required after the shoot; it was then a matter of arranging the 'complete' pictures in the layout of the promotional brochure, before sending the design off to print.

A simple set of photgraphs, simply approached - and simply effective.