New Blog!

Hello...

I now have a new blog over at tumblr. Click here to view and to stay in touch...

Breakfast in America – A photographers’ trip and at least 10 things you should know.

The old saying goes ‘ a journey starts with the first step’ but there is a great deal of preparation you should do before you leave or take your first stride.

America is one giant of a country and has many layers of government protocol to match! Being a photographer is not just turning up with a nice Leica and behaving like Austin Powers, then tossing your camera to the assistant proclaiming ‘I’m spent!’ It’s a serious business and to be taken seriously as a professional, whether you are a designer, art director, producer or photographer, these following tips will help when thinking about traveling abroad and commissioning a professional to shoot for you.

1. Visa – you can’t work in America without one. If you try and are discovered, you will be deported and possibly have a ban on entering the country again. So make sure your paperwork is in order and triple check everything before you leave.
2. Camera – sounds obvious but you need to think about what you are shooting and what gear you need.
3. Gear in the hold – again, this sounds obvious but if you are taking extra gear, lights or big equipment, it needs to be protected in the hold and you need to hire or buy the right baggage. Or do you want to hire your gear when you arrive? Depending on your plan, renting kit might be cheaper than flying yours across the world.
4. Weight limits and extra payments – this goes with the above. Extra bags or weight comes at a cost. Do you really need the extra gear and are you prepared to pay to the costs?
5. Flexible luggage and long arms – cameras and laptops and related fragile kit, should always be with you as hand luggage. Put it in the hold and it might not survive the trip or worse, it might not arrive. Most airlines only like one piece of hand luggage so whatever you take, it has to accommodate your personal items too. Choose something that is flexible to your needs and is easy to transport. No matter where you are staying or how far you have to walk, your arms will stretch, as carrying any gear/weight is not funny and will soon dampen your enthusiasm. Make sure it has wheels, straps and comfort pads to take the pain out of your journey.
6. Jet lag and getting enough rest to be ready for shoot/long days. Goes without saying. Jet lag is like a hangover without the joy of a night out. Make sure you sleep, drink plenty of water, listen to your body and lay off the booze.
7. Suitable clothing for shoot – research your destination, check the weather and pack appropriate clothes for the climate but also something you can comfortably travel and work in. What kind of shoot will it be – a quarry, beach, nightclub? These are things to consider when looking at an empty suitcase.
8. Time zones – obvious one really. Most places in the US are a working day behind the UK and links need to be kept open back home. I find keeping my watch to local time and my phone to UK time helps. Mid-afternoon I find my body wants to crash and knowing it’s 3am back home helps get a grip on things.
9. Cultural differences/similarities – although Americans speak English it’s amazing how different and equally similar life can be.
10. Keeping doors open and clients back home happy – if you are away for more than a few days, clients like to know you haven’t abandoned them. So remember to stay in touch.
11. Meeting deadlines and workflow before you leave. Don’t do work whilst away as this is almost impossible to achieve. Juggling too much can cause burn out. I like to meet my deadlines before I leave so I can have a clean slate and give my full attention to my current job.
12. Behaving appropriately, whether client is there or not. When you are away, you are representing your client's company and your own. Inappropriate behaviour and news of it will travel fast, and could damage your reputation.
13. Insurance and liability cover. This is an important one! Americans have no issue with lawsuits. Make sure your insurance is up to date and covers you appropriately for any eventuality. And get medical insurance too. Crucial!

The last thing you should know is go with an open mind, have fun and be flexible. Things will probably not go to plan and you have to be agile and think on your feet. Enjoy the scenery, eat some great food and have a ball but remember you are a professional and you are there to do a job.

See you when I get home.

Stock shots versus a real photographer

This is a guest blog by Bryony Thomas, Chief Clear Thinker at Clear Thought Consulting. Bryony works specifically with smaller businesses who need to make the most of their marketing budgets. With this in mind, we asked her to talk through when and why to use stock or bespoke photography in marketing materials.

In any business that wants to turn a profit, every penny counts. And, in small business marketing, cost control is a core skill. So, it’s easy to understand why people often choose stock photography over commissioning a photographer. So, what’s the difference, and when should you use which?

This is a trade off between three key criteria:

1. Impact – does your photography stand out and can you get exactly what you want?

2. Time – how quickly do you need the shot?

3. Money – the total costs of the shot and how much you’re going to use it.

Stock photography has been shot by a photographer and then sold to, or via, a stock library (like Getty Images or iStock). When you want to use an image, you licence it. You can either go for a simple licence that lets you use it, but not exclusively, or for an extended licence which means that there are some restrictions on what other companies can do with it. I’m not a lawyer, and I’m going to steer away from giving legal advice, except to say that you need to really understand the rights of use that you have with the image in question. Most stock photography is bought under a very simple licence that just means you can use it… and so can anyone else who pays the fee. Amongst other differences, this is one of the real biggies. You could create an ad, spend loads of money buying space, or emblazoning it on the side of a bus – only to find another company using the exact same shot. This can cause confusion in the market, and could mean that your customers associate your ads with their company. You can buy an exclusive licence for stock shots, but if you do it often outweighs any savings.

A real life photo shoot commissioned and paid for by you will usually include either an exclusive perpetual usage licence or all-out ownership of the copyright. Which means that you can be sure that it won’t turn up on the stand next to you at your next event – which would certainly be embarrassing.

So, that’s the biggie, now for a few nuances. Not exhaustive by any means, but I’m sure you’ll get the idea.

Stock shots – the good stuff:

· Low upfront costs

· Immediacy – if you need it today, you can have it today

Stock shots – the bad stuff:

· Unlikely to have exclusivity, they turn up everywhere

· Often very staged and on the cheesy side

· Prices for large print format files to step up pretty quickly

· Cropping options are often limited (you can’t ask the model to move to the right to make room for your headline if the photo has already been taken)

· Often difficult to get a stylised ‘brand’ look using stock shots

· They will never be of your actual people

So, when should a marketer commission a proper photographer?

I’m sure that most business-savvy photographers will appreciate that budgets are tight, and for lower profile material a stock shot will often do the trick. But, what they will also tell you, is that there are very many times when looking for the right stock shot will be like the proverbial round hole and square peg. And, if that’s the case it’s time to consider commissioning a shoot. I would seriously consider commissioning a photo shoot for the following activities:

· Press photography: Your key spokespeople, your products and a few around your premises. These are extremely valuable in social media and PR, where a frequent repeat of a profile picture, for example, builds familiarity. It’s also true that in PR, a journalist may choose to major on the comments of the person with the best photo, rather than the most insightful input if they are under pressure from the picture editor.

· Ads, front covers, and main web imagery: If you are spending money of advertising, the savings on stock photography probably aren’t worth it. You really, really, don’t want to be in the same mag as a competitor with the same image (and yes I’ve seen that!) On key handout material, a bespoke shot on the cover, with similarly themed stock-shots internally can spread a budget. Online, think about using bespoke photography on key landing pages, and stock shots to illustrate articles and blogs.

· Events: Having a photographer doing reportage at any event you hold is a great idea. It gives you imagery with which to liven up post-event material (like Blogs, webcasts, etc.) or even use in social media during the event. This adds longevity to your investment, and even more opportunities to make mileage from the efforts you’ve put in.

So, some things to ask yourself to help decide which route is best:

· Do we want to feature recognisable people in this photo?

· Would it be a big problem if the image turned up elsewhere?

· How important (or far-reaching) is the piece that the photo will be used for?

· How distinctive (or not) do you want your brand to be?

· How quickly do I need it?

· How much do I have to spend?

A little investment in a professional photographer can really help to set your business apart, and to bring a real sense of your brand personality to your materials. And, with cropping, re-touching, extended licences and inevitable compromises – the difference in price between the two options is often much less than you would imagine.

Clear Thought Consulting works with small businesses, equipping them with the marketing strategies, suppliers, skills and set-up that they need to become bigger businesses. We do this at the fraction of the cost of recruiting into a full-time position by delivering one-off strategic projects, hands-on training, marketing support, and out-sourced marketing departments. We firmly believe that when you can’t out-spend your competition, you have to out-think them.

Creative inputs

No company can survive without some kind of creative input, whether you source yours from within or without. It’s the lifeblood of any company - particularly in the creative industries.

Fortunately, I have a studio space which can be used to workout experiments and stretch ideas. The best results from these exercises are when I work within a set of parameters or a brief, and inputs from other creatives.

I like to work with stylists, make-up artists and art directors, as they always have an idea or two up their sleeves, wanting to see the light of day.

I take my wisdom from wherever I find it, and if an idea comes to light that inspires me, I will make notes, do research, put together a mood board or a scrapbook of ideas, until I feel the idea is ready for action.

Creative input is very important for me and without it, my job would be a lonely one.

Finding inspiration can be tough without others to bounce ideas off. So, with this in mind, grab the iron whiles it’s hot and:

• Take your laptop and find a place you can hot desk with like-minded souls
• Take a coffee with someone you admire
• Assist someone who you find inspiring
• Attend workshops, this always help fire up my imagination
• Visit your local art gallery or see an awesome exhibit in another town
• Check out the magazine section in the newsagent and treat yourself to your favourite titles
• Buy an art book from your bookshop or if strapped for cash, join the library

No man is an island, an old saying - but true nonetheless. Get out there, find your mojo with the help of others, and set up your source of creative inputs. It really is worth it.

How to get the most out of your website using the power of photography.

One of the most crucial elements that people can overlook on their website is photography. Image paints vivid pictures for a visitor to your website - nothing captures your eye or imagination quicker that an image, whether it’s an illustration, painting or photograph.

It’s this principle that works for billboards, magazine covers and newspapers: an arresting image catches the corner of your eye and makes you look. The message is delivered promptly, in seconds.

Much more can be conveyed/interpreted than say, a paragraph of copy.

And for the web, where everything is searched and found in seconds, patience is something scarce. If you are presented with two magazines, one with lots of copy and one with lots of photographs, you will naturally pick up the one with pictures, it’s more fulfilling, and we are affected by the Magpie Effect: something bright, eye-catching or shiny we will gravitate towards.

Just have a look at the covers of magazines when you are next in your newsagents, you’ll see.

The look and feel of your company brand can be portrayed effectively in an image or a series of shots. People browsing the web are a bit lazy and on a mission: they want to find what they are looking for, in record time, and speed-read the text for relevant information. An image will always deliver this more rapidly.

Finally, don’t forget to tag images on your website too: we all know about SEO and having the correct search words and tagging for our sites, but many forget to label images.

This is often overlooked. All images can be tagged with meta-tags, information, links and SEO keywords - then picked up by the search bots and spiders. When searching on Google, if you are looking for photographers, it helps you stand out if you have a strong image with your listing, particularly with Google Maps.

Professional photography can help make the difference between a website visitor and a new customer. Making sure your website has the best possible images is a basic (but essential) requirement.

Great rock photography is all about capturing the gig buzz – use it or lose it.

Capturing the essential buzz created from an electrifying rock concert on photo can be tricky, but after a few years behind the camera, plus working with superstars such as U2, Slash, Muse and Slipknot, I know how to get into a gig with the right equipment and walk out three songs later with killer shots in the bag on brief and on budget.

My recent shoot with rising rock-dance hybrid stars Pendulum, however, posed a few interesting questions when they performed at the Southampton Civic Hall.

For example, how do you transform a beautiful civic building into a wild anarchic music medley – not forgetting the cracks appearing in the ceiling?

There are lots of high-octane bands around, but not many make the mercury rise as much as Pendulum. Their performance in Southampton was totally electrifying.

In case you are wondering, I shot Pendulum for a front cover of Future Music magazine: a feature and the cover.

Shooting anyone live is a big challenge; there are many factors outside of my control:

• The lighting
• The pyrotechnics
• Where they are standing
• What the audience are doing
  

But it’s a question of being in the right place at the right time, to capture the buzz and the electric atmosphere. So, how do you that? There is no right rule, but following your own instinct for what feels and looks right has always worked well for me.

You know if the shot works, just looking down the lens, because you feel it as part of the gig. It’s hard to explain in technical terms – in comes from years of experience.

And that is what you have to listen to: when the music is cranked up, the audience is going wild, the air is buzzing, and the band is on fire. That’s the moment to capture.

Personally, I like to capture the essence of a gig with the lights; this is like trying to read the mind of a lighting technician, almost impossible – but not implausible.

And to try and get some of audience, too – but the main focus (pardon the pun) is to get the exact shot illustrating the band coming together, building up, before they blow the ceiling off the venue. This is the absolute money shot in rock photography terms.