Sun, wind, scenery, portraits

Last week, I undertook an assignment photographing a couple on their Wedding day. This came about as the result of a referral passed by one of our corporate clients some months ago, and just goes to prove the value of networking and the power of recommending trusted suppliers.

This was not a 'Wedding photography' job, per se, as the couple were having a very low-key ceremony and did not require our coverage at the West Sussex registry office where they 'tied the knot'. Instead, they asked us to meet them at a rather grand five-star hotel about an hour and a half away, up in the glorious Bedfordshire countryside, where we would simply concentrate on some nice relaxed portraits within the picturesque grounds.

One thing which I did take from the 'Wedding photography' check-list was the need to have a look at those grounds ahead of our meeting. We always insist on conducting a recce with every couple we photograph, taking in all locations where photography is required (for example, the Bride's preparation address, church, Reception location etc). Typically, this occurs about one month before the Wedding day, and let's us make an initial connection and look for possible areas for photography, as well as taking stock of potential issues and considerations such as the need for a contingency plan, should the weather be less than favourable.

On this occasion, though, logistics dictated that it was not feasible to make two trips and so I simply arrived about an hour ahead of time, in order to have a wander around and see what photographic opportunities awaited us. What greeted me was something of a photographer's playground - rock gardens, freshly-mown lawns, stone statues and gardens created by the famous landscape designer Capability Brown. All good stuff, and I couldn't wait to make some images!

There were two main obstacles that we faced here: One was the strong overhead sunlight - lovely to walk around in, but less than ideal for portraits, as it casts heavy shadows at every opportunity and people have a tendency to blink! No worries, though; I simply 'filled-in' these darker areas with some complimentary subtle flash light, and took the couple into shaded areas where suitable. The second concern was the wind - it was a very breezy day; but again, we made use of natural shelter where possible and exploited those moments of facing oncoming headwinds so as to inject a little humour into the images. Hey, you have to make the most of what you're given!

Following that day, the pictures were placed in a secure, password-protected album on our website, allowing the couple to take advantage of the Slideshow function and share them with friends and family.

A printed Preview Album is also on its way to them, together with suggestions of how best to display these pictures. And our services do not simply end at 'pressing the button' - as I have often said, pictures are there to be looked at; because we want our clients to get the most out of images, we will happily discuss the wide range of presentation options available to suit all tastes and budgets.

It's a team effort

As I have said many times here on the GBP Blog, the clients we work with aren't always of the 'shirt and tie' variety. One of the greatest joys of what we do is the range of assignments we undertake. For example, one day I could be on the beach shooting informal portraits, the next I might be thirty metres up in the sky perched on a crane and swaying in the breeze. As I said in yesterday's post, indoor work is all well and good, but give us half a chance to get out of the office and into the fresh air with our clients and we'll take it.

Another quick example from last month, then, which saw me working with a local football club one Sunday morning. Nothing too challenging or remarkable about the job itself, but a prime example of the need for simple yet effective pictures which could be used widely in all manner of marketing activities.

We were very lucky with the weather on this occasion - blue sky, puffy white clouds - all of which worked very well with the team's freshly-washed, colourful kit. In terms of a 'shot list', we had already outlined three sets of images to capture during our time together - team shots (as a whole), player profiles (individuals) and supportive imagery (game action). As is often the case, organisation was the key here; I turned up early in order to meet my contact and make introductions with the team, and the players themselves were already in place, warming up. It was then simply a case of getting everyone into position for the first 'group' shot, followed by individual portraits in quick succession.

Given that all anyone there really wanted to do was play football (i.e. not stand around being photographed!), I kept things very simple. Setting up two cameras - one for the portrait stuff, the other for the action - the D2H was again brought out of the bag for the latter, making the most of its ability to capture the fast-paced action. On this occasion, I seem to recall, it was set to a rate of 4 frames per second and I shot in bursts of 2 frames in succession.

The resulting images from the hour or so that I spent on the sidelines have since been used on the team's website and in the local press, with plans to use them further in newsletters and printed promotional matter.

Indoors, up-country

With the weather getting better (well, I am an optimist!), it would be nice to think that all our assignments will be set outdoors from now on. Being realistic, of course, this won't be the case - by default, some projects dictate an indoor set-up. Think product and food photography, room sets and medical sector - that sort of thing.

April saw a trip up-country to Cumbria, to undertake a follow-on shoot for a hotel set in the glorious Lake District. I love the outdoors and this area of the country always holds great appeal, so the long drive up there didn't seem half as bad when faced with such a backdrop.

The task at hand was to photograph a number of recently-refurbished bedrooms and some of the finer details contained therein. For this, I used one of my favourite setups - one tripod-mounted camera, two lenses (wideangle for overviews, standard for closer details), and one/two mains-powered lights, each bounced off the ceiling.

Now, the joy of lighting any subject is that there exists a great deal of flexibility - and therefore potential visual results - in the equipment we can use. On location outdoors, for example, regular readers will know I am a great fan of using small, lightweight flash guns, making the most of wireless technology.

However, when photographing room sets, I nearly always turn to the use of 'continuous' lamps, specifically a set of 1000-watt halogens. These are great, and typify the essence of lighting. Simple and 'no-frills', they produce a very natural light, enabling me to see immediately how the subject is looking, where shadows are falling and where any unwanted highlights might appear, even before I take the first test picture.

Having spent many thousands of pounds on the refit, it made sense for our client to again make use of strong imagery in the marketing of their hotel. And as GBP produced the previous set of pictures, it also made sense to have us back so as to keep a continuity.

In these tough economic times, there is a tendency for businesses to hold back on their advertising/marketing activities and, unfortunately, one of the first casualties of this action is frequently professional photography. Out of this, two observations can be made:

• Firstly - 'in-house', 'DIY' photography often has a negative effect on your business. For example, you might have a nice website and a great product, but many is the time we have seen poor 'snap-shot' imagery not just completely undermine the efforts of a web paid designer, but also make a company's product/staff/service look second-rate and amateurish when compared to those of their competitors.
  

• Secondly - any marketing company will tell you that when times are tough, the last thing you should do is cut your marketing spend. Rather, you should invest (within your budget, of course) in keeping your product/service in the minds of existing and potential clients. When things calm down, you will then be ahead of those competitors who have held back - clearly an advantage.
  

A final note about these last points, in something of an ironic twist - It doesn't have to cost as much as you think to employ such professional services, but not heeding these warnings can/will have a profound effect on your business, to the point where it is very difficult to recover from such a 'cutting corners' approach.

It doesn't cost anything to ask for advice or opinion, so feel free to get in touch or speak up in the comments section of this post!

Giles interviewed on the Vobes Show

Yesterday was a fun day. After spending the morning taking care of a few things around the office, I made my way over to see Mr. Richard Vobes, who interviewed me on his online radio show, ready for airing today. I say 'interviewed' - actually, it was very much relaxed, with a feel more along the lines of a chat among friends.

For those who don't know of him, Richard is an award-winning internet broadcaster, multi-talented to say the least. He also happens to be an all-round nice chap. Regular readers may remember I spoke of him in this post a couple of months ago.

We discussed all manner of things throughout the course of our time together - including traditional & digital photography, the media, networking & online social networks, and a number of topical stories hitting the headlines. Oh, and as for me being referred to as 'Babbington'... bit of a long story!

So pour a cuppa, sit yourself down and enjoy an hour of laid-back, informal conversation. Simply by click here and the audio will open up in your chosen player.

As ever, I'd really like to hear your thoughts and comments. And for more of the Vobes, be sure to check out Richard's site.

GBP featured in Making Money magazine

As many of you know, I am a great believer in the use of networking as the fundamental basis of generating interest and activity in one's business. I am by no means an expert - no more so than the next active networker, at least - but I'd like to think I have built up some worthwhile knowledge which can be passed on to anyone interested in the topic.

In a roundabout way, it is thanks to networking that we came to be interviewed for the current issue of Making Money magazine here in the UK (cover date May 2009). The subject of the article: networking.

Some years ago, when I was at university, I got chatting to one of my lecturers. He was an active photographer and journalist, with a wealth of information readily available to be shared with any student willing to show the initiative. Well, me being me, I did just that - staying back after class, following up the topics discussed in tutorials and arranging further meetings as part of my post-grad activities (i.e. setting up in business).

In the course of our conversations, it transpired that my tutor actually lived not too far from my family home and I was invited to get in touch any time I needed advice. Long story cut short, I was building on this connection week-on-week and within months we were working together on a regular basis.

Why am I sharing this story? Well, in many ways networking is all about chance meetings. Sure, you can check out who might be at a particular meeting you wish to attend - you can even research them beforehand via their websites, blogs, Twitter feeds etc. But often, day-to-day networking really is about these chance meetings, a matter of being in the right place at the right time and simply making the effort to take those meetings one stage further.

The exciting thing about the process of networking is that you never know who you might bump into; in turn, you never know where such occasions might take you and you product/service.

Oh, and in case you missed the connection, the author of said Making Money article - my university lecturer who, thanks to our symbiotic working relationship has just put GBP in the minds of an estimated readership of 50,00.

If you have any questions about networking, feel free to email or drop a few lines in the comments section of this post, below.

Wired Magazine comes to UK

A quick public-service notification: Wired Magazine has finally been released in the UK.

I have been reading the US edition (launched in 1993) for some time now and it is without doubt one of my favourite regular reads. In American parlance, you could say it is my 'go-to' publication when I want to find out what's going on in the world of popular culture, technology and the people/developments who are shaping the future - and it has proven itself as a source of inspiration time and time again.

This post is not going to spread out into a review so I will keep it short and sweet simply saying that the superb-quality launch edition shapes the magazine up to be every bit as informative and pleasing to the eye as it's US counterpart. Not exactly a bargain at £3.99, but it is very much worth a read. And besides, when was the last time you found such a publication for under £3 on the news stands?

If web versions of magazines are more your thing, you should definitely check out the Wired UK website.

Mine is a WiFi world

Funny how we come to rely on things without realising, isn't it? Case in point - internet access.

Regular readers and subscribers will have noticed that the GBP Blog has been somewhat quiet in recent weeks; there is a very good reason for this. Well, several really. But most importantly is the fact that, due to an impressively disruptive combined-effort cock-up on the part of our phone line and broadband suppliers (let's not mention names, eh?), we have been without internet access for the best part of a month. I won't go into the messy details here, but if you see me around and really want to know, you might want to buy us a coffee because the story is a long one!

Getting back to the point, then... Without this service in the office, we have been lost and our productivity has dropped noticeably. Don't get me wrong - we've not been sat twiddling our thumbs, but not having internet (by default creating the need to venture forth from the office) has meant that our days have certainly been longer and more tiring. Clearly, we multi-task more than we know, conducting web-based activities whilst waiting for imaging processes to run their course - simply put, saving time and energy.

In this tech world, it is no stretch of the imagination to say that we cannot make do without the internet in our business - certainly, 95% of GBP's marketing endeavours are web based, for example the website, YouTube , Twitter and LinkedIn.

So when we get no connection, this spells potential disaster... or, rather it would do, were it not for the WiFi service available in many hotels, restaurants and cafés. If you have received any communications from us in recent weeks, including our newsletter, then these will have reached you thanks to this technology. The above picture shows my all-too-familiar coffee house 'workstation' set-up - an Asus Eee PC, BlackBerry and a nice cup of tea (well, you have to make the most of what's on offer!).

But this inconvenient need to use other people's facilities rather than our own is not all bad. There is an expression, something along the lines of 'out of necessity comes... something-or-other...' (answers on a post card please), which alludes to the fact that a change of circumstances generates fresh ideas, insights and positive developments. I have certainly found this to be true and as a result of my 'location office', I am now seriously considering making regular use of my net book (the Asus), a mobile broadband dongle and online cloud facilities to control such things as email, calendar and general marketing activities.

It's all food for thought.