Fashion photography – working with what Mother Nature gave you.

Some shoots require a lot of planning and pre-production, particularly if you are working away from the studio and in an environment that is new to you.

For the latest issue of Cloth magazine, we were doing just that - lots of planning, thinking ahead, and pooling of ideas.

For the magazine’s upcoming Summer issue, we decided on a location shoot - a beautiful beach on the north Somerset coast. This kind of location can represent even the most professional fashion photographer with some interesting and unique challenges.

Shooting on a beach (or anywhere near sand) can present problems for camera gear, kit, or anything delicate and expensive – which tends to include the vast majority of professional photography equipment. So, with this in mind, I planned accordingly and packed my gear carefully.

We also had to pack for every eventuality, including unpredictable British weather.

The Cloth team has been growing in confidence, and with every shoot the magazine strengthens its identity. The magazine has increased its readership by 100% month-on-month, a sure sign that the team are hitting the sweet spot with their target audience on a consistent basis.

It’s a great blessing that Cathy McKinnon and Scott Purnell, the people behind the mag, have a trusting insight, which allows each team member to work their magic and stretch their talent within the confines of the solid brand that is Cloth magazine.

One thing that struck me during the full-day shoot on the beach was when I said “We’ve got the shot” and noting the pure excitement from the team of seeing stunning images on the back of the camera.

This was a particularly creative shoot, and to date it was our most ambitious - two looks, two models, two different lighting styles, but one location, and only one day.

While Rebecca, a make-up artist fresh from the set of Skins, was preparing our first model, Angela, Cathy, Scott and I set about a quick recce of the beach, dunes, gorgeous lighthouse, and surrounding set - courtesy of Mother Nature.

I then co-ordinated with Harriet and Ros (the Editors of Cloth) with the production list. It’s always a good idea to make use of any down-time to add creative value.

This shoot contained some fabulous work and ideas from Harriet and Ros, who in case you didn’t know, also worked on Skins as costume designer and wardrobe mistress, they both have a fantastic talent for styling and for sourcing props.

On this issue, we can all agree that we all pulled out the stops and produced a strong body of work – with a little help from what Mother Nature gave us on the beach.

For a closer look at Cloth Magazine take a look here

Amango collaborates to create incredible sci-fi photographic image

Amango Photography recently teamed up with The White Balance, a Bristol-based creative CGI and post-production studio to produce a truly stunning piece of photographic and creative studio work combined.

It was a fascinating experiment, which highlighted the strong blend of creative, technical and design skills and expertise possessed by both Amango Photography and The White Balance. I asked their Creative Director Leanne Pike a few questions about the value added by working with us – here’s what she very kindly said:

Amango: Why do you think that this image/project is innovative?

Leanne: The image shows innovation between two disciplines collaborating together to create a solution. By using Photography and Computer-Generated Imagery, we were able to achieve a scenario which otherwise would not be possible.

Amango: What were the creative and technical challenges?

Leanne: We experienced difficulty in visualising the glowing neon tubes in daylight – as per the original photography. Using re-touching and matte painting techniques, we added a deeper forest and environment to the image – this helped the focus and composition.

Technically, the project ran smoothly, the communication between the photography stage and CGI development was vital: by the photographer telling us technical information such as camera model, lens types used on shoot, exposure, distance from subject, we could simulate the exact scenario in 3D by matching the image. This ensured accuracy of the added elements – in this case, the pivotal neon tubes.

Amango: Were there any other challenges for you?

Leanne: Sitting the neon tubes into the photography: we were able to achieve this by using elements of the photography to interact with the tubes, such as leaves falling from them, and lower coverage, which helped ‘ground’ the tubes.

It was a great collaboration, and as you can see from the shot included in the blog post, the results were absolutely incredible. It’s great to push visual boundaries.

Is your photographer adding value to your products with innovative thinking?

Not all photographers are cut from the same Cloth - new fashion magazine shoot

Cloth magazine is a recent addition to the newsstands, and it has been an absolute pleasure to be involved, and help develop an idea from the beginning – this is the second shoot Amango has completed for the editorial team at Cloth Magazine.

Cloth is unusual, in that the editorial focus is on vintage and customising; breathing new life into once loved clothes. Green, it would appear, is the new black!

The last shoot for Cloth was all about lace and stencils, lace collars and customised denim, straight from the catwalk of Dolce & Gabbana.

The first part of the shoot was in the studio, shooting the new pieces, including:
• ruff collar t-shirts
• lace-fringed clutch bag
• lace collar jacket

The second part of the shoot was on location with street art, covering:
• stencil art silhouette on a skirt
• ideas from the high street, with a ribbon bow cardigan

It was great to be working with Harriet de Winton and Ros Marshall again on the editorial team.

Their background is within theatre and television drama as costume designer and wardrobe mistress, so we were in good hands. We were fortunate enough to have Debbie the make-up artist from the set of Bristol-based hit drama series Skins, on hand to style hair and groom the models.

All together, a fantastic shoot, and once more proving that when it comes to Amango, not all fashion photographers are cut from the same Cloth! We will be working with the Cloth editorial team soon, having found a superb location for their next shoot in a fortnight.

Watch this space for the results – it promises to be a visual extravaganza.

Don't you just love it when a shot comes together..?

When time permits, I shoot my own work which allows me freedom to push the boundaries and be creative. It's a bit of a luxury and quite frankly essential, to expand one's skills, which can then be passed onto the client.
Here's one shot from a set of four, exploring movement. I often travel with work so why not with my own work...this was shot in a hire studio in London. Sometimes it's not easy for the client to come to me, so to make life easy, I travel to the client.