Amango wins international photographic recognition using iPhone camera

The recent submission of our stunning panoramic shot (see above) of Bristol Cathedral and College Green to the Epson International Photographic Pano Award brought some surprising news – a Bronze winner for Amango. Great recognition.

The more surprising fact was that the image was taken using my iPhone camera, with some expert re-working using the iPhone imaging software app Hipstamatic at the same time. No expensive equipment, just a photographer’s eye and imagination in combination.

It’s always interesting when a photography competition comes around, as it always throws up lots of questions about what to submit - Do I shoot something to order or apply an image in my archive, What will the other photographers be shooting, and How creative can I stretch the boundaries?

The main question I ask myself is: What would the judges like to see, and does my style fit in with the brief?

Occasionally, I throw caution to the wind and apply myself as though I was an art student, disregarding all of the above. As a conscientious working professional, this rarely happens - but I wanted to do something different, and the Pano Award required a different approach.

The Epson International Photographic Pano Award is a photography competition run by Epson in conjunction with Lonely Planet. It attracts lots of photographers who shoot beautiful landscapes on panoramic cameras.

Seeing as my speciality is shooting people, I wanted to apply my own take. I usually have enough gear to sink a battleship, but the panoramic cameras and 360 VR numbers weren’t in my kit bag, so I decided to get inventive.

I have always loved the look of Polaroid’s and spent my final year dissertation on further and alternative uses of Polaroid film.

So this was my chance to develop my idea further - except I shot them on my iPhone.

Quite a cheeky move, but I wanted to challenge the judges and myself; this was a competition that said ANY camera, so I took it literally.

With any piece of equipment and a creative eye and imagination, a fantastic shot can be made from the most straightforward of tools.

Bearing in mind that there were 2,740 entries from 945 photographers in 79 countries, a Bronze award was an excellent achievement. And using my basic iPhone camera too. The Hipstamatic software helped to provide the final effect on a stunning shot.

Top five photography tips

It’s been a while since I offered a top tips blog post, so here’s part of a recent article which was published in Computer Arts magazine.

1. Shoot Raw. Shoot the largest file size you can, RAW is best as it retains all detail, and is the best quality. Failing that shoot large jpegs. Jpegs are a compressed file format and contain less detail than RAW but have more info than small jpegs.

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2. Exposure. If in doubt of your exposure, shoot slightly darker, to within one stop underexposed. It’s easier to brighten a darker image than to rescue an overexposed image with burnt out highlights. You can’t put in detail when it hasn’t been recorded by the camera.

3. Cut-Out. If you are photographing a person or item that you know will be cut-out in Photoshop, shoot on a clean, white background. This will make your life much easier later on, as you can see the definition and edges of the subject.

4. Layout. Are you working to a template or design layout? If so, consider where text or other images will go when you are framing your subject in camera.

5. Shoot full frame. Bearing in mind the above, also allow yourself a little extra space around your subject. Try not to crop too much in camera. This is in case you need to crop in slightly afterwards. This gives you options, when designing or laying out your pages.

Why Fashion & Music Niches Work Wonders

I am often asked why I came to focus on the niche areas of music and fashion in photography, rather than launch a general photography business back in 1998. My answer is always the same, and it’s the masterfully wry Bill Crosby who explains my ethos effectively:

‘I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.’

I agree with this, but in terms of finding and developing a niche or niches in commercial photography, it makes business sense to deliver in the sectors where your professional passions are most noticeable.

For me, fashion and music represent the very best innovations and impactful developments to be found in photography today: the reach of fashion and music are global, all-encompassing, and affects everybody. Fashion and music are driving forces in so many areas of all our lives.

To be involved in recording and creating lasting images which highlight the importance of these industries has been a personal passion for me, since I was given a Minolta 35mm camera for my 15th birthday.

That passion has remained with me and is a vital part of the services offered at Amango Photography. Without passion and purpose, photography is meaningless.

So, back to niches.

Niche photography represents the best possible way to deliver outstanding work to fashion and music clients across the UK, North America and Europe.

Since Amango launched, it has been a deliberate business decision to work within established niches, and remain focused on providing the very best possible service within those niches.

The thought of expanding into different commercial sectors, trying to please everybody out there, is totally unthinkable. It’s been a dominating force in the studio, to retain close links with the fashion and music industries, with their accessory sectors, and to provide expert counsel.

Far better to excel in one or two key areas than to try and grab a multitude of revenues from commercial sectors in which expertise are not solid. My focus remains unfaltering.

Using Social Media

How social media can help photographers to find an ideal client

This might be one of the trickiest questions to face photographers engaging with social media platforms – after all, although raising profile, increasing online awareness, and positive impacts on Search rankings all come as part of the deal with social media engagement, some tangible return (such as an ideal client) via social media activity is a bonus we can all relate to in the competitive photographic marketplace today.

Here’s how I look for an ideal client via social media:

It’s all about relevance, and thinking like your customer. Start by looking at which social media platforms you’re engaging on, sharing links, posting blogs, and ask if your ideal client is likely to be exposed to your offerings.

Make sure that you’re posting material which is relevant to them – their commercial sector, their niche, their industry. Use relevant keywords for their business in your social media content, and connect with key players in their industry.

Observe the conversation, see what’s being discussed in your ideal client’s sector. Add value and expertise into the online comments, highlight how you can help – without selling – and point towards useful content across the web.

Leave any agendas or hard sell out of the conversation, engage, and add value. Consider, for example, connecting your ideal client with contacts in your network which might benefit their business. It’s likely, for example, that you will have at least one contact who could buy services and products from your ideal client. Connect them up, leverage your network links.

Have a plan and stick to it. If you’re going to target, for example, fashion houses or bands (as I do) then engage a dozen of them with a view to converting one into a paying client.

Remember, the sales cycle via social media is longer than other marketing routes, but it usually provides a lower cost of sale and longer client retention, based on a more personal, trust-based business relationship. And photography is a very personal business, if done well.

One of the hardest things about finding an ideal client social media is the perception of having to let clients come to you. This is only a perception. You can gently speed up the process.

If you’re working your social media platforms with defined strategy, your inputs, comments and networking advice to your targets will draw them to you over time, leading to increased conversations, added value, and that most valuable question: ‘So, what could you deliver for us, then?’ which is the sweet spot of social media engagement for any photographer.

Here are the key facts, in my experience, for finding ideal clients via social media:

• Forget all traditional marketing thinking and techniques.
• Don’t use sales-based language, and don’t ever write a proposal.
• Observe, then engage.
• Add value, help, network, use Search keywords in your content.
• Work social media platforms with a defined strategy, not randomness.
• If you’re looking for a quick win, re-think why you’re using social media.
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So, the next time you wonder if social media engagement is really worth it, ask yourself - am I really working it, or just present without a purpose? Is my online content attracting attention? Am I targeting niches across social media platforms, which could convert into paid business?

Getting it right on a photo shoot means keeping it Brief

There are many things to consider when getting it right, particularly for a photo shoot.

In this instance, the Brief: getting all the required shots and meeting the deadline may sound like a straightforward task, but with countless intangibles usually popping in to disrupt a photo shoot, sticking to a Brief can become a tricky task.

A lot of pressure is on the photographer to deliver, and not just the shots. They have to have a creative edge to them, as well as being correctly composed, exposed, and delivered ‘ready to eat’ by the client’s audience (as in ready to see/experience) in record time too. On time, on budget and most importantly, on Brief.

It’s a real pat on the back when a client praises me for keeping my cool, and not letting the pressure of a deadline, or getting the right look for the shot, get to me. It’s crucially important to keep calm, and not lose your head whilst on a shoot. An effective Brief will assist a professional photographer in achieving this end goal.

The photographer has to come up with the goods, no matter what is going on - erupting volcano, stroppy model, inconsistent British weather. The motto ‘Keep Calm & Carry On’ is a useful one to bear in mind at times, and it’s carried me through in the past.

One useful way to prepare for such a potential calamity is to have a crystal-clear client Brief: a list of shots needed and a template or layout into which the images will go. Also, schedule - this is essential, because you need to know what to shoot, when, and where.

Clients – ensure you get the very best from your photographers by Briefing them well.

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?