I have just finished a set of photographs for Nu-Style for a metal fabrication brochure. There was a long list of buildings and projects that used their products for eaves, soffits, ducting etc. There was also workshop shots and shots of the products taken in the yard.
For these, I took the shots in good lighting and then we created "cut-outs" of the items and replaced the background with a white background and used a drop shadow which made them look like shots taken in the studio. Click here to see examples of these or this link to see some of the workshop shots. Most of the shots I was able to get in the right lighting but for one or two of them, we needed Lukas’s Photoshop skills to enhance skies and lighting. For the workshop shots I used 2 or 3 flashes (Nikon SB-900 and Quantum TD5) and used gels to add a bit of colour to the background. There were also one or 2 buildings where I took several upright shots and then "stitched" them together in Photoshop CS5. Click here to see a selection of the shots. more…
Two recent posts have featured design and print for posters and it occurred to me that I should feature our own use of this means of promotion. I have 4 A1 posters on display in my own office. The 2 above feature my commercial photography and have examples of images taken for Aberdeen City Council to promote Aberdeen City and Shire (see blog post on this assignment here) and how the images were used,
Although I do not have a lot of visitors to my office, I would have 8-12 wedding clients in for appointments most weeks and these posters have stimulated conversation about the services we provide and I have booked photographic assignments for several wedding clients who were not aware that of our commercial photography. I have also supplied posters and the acrylic frames to visitors who liked the examples in my office. These sales are great example of how powerful point of sale promotion can be.
I am producing a book with some of the projects designed by Bob Fitzgerald, a client, and good friend, who sadly passed away last year. Bob's work is very well known and I was asked by the Kate and his daughters to present some of the jobs at his wake (click here for blog post). I decided to create a book for Kate and was very happy to do this but it is a testament to Bob how many people wanted to contribute and is now going to be from a lot of his friends and colleagues. Before sending the book design to Italy to be printed as a large format book with metal finish pages, it was decided that we should add something showing his home design projects which includes the home that is part of our premises at Wellington Road (click here for images). I therefore photographed 2 beautiful homes where Bob's design created great living spaces, with one of them even having a hot tub off the kitchen. Click here to see the images.
These images have been added to the book and the pages can be viewed here.
In March an agency contacted me to take photographs of a bus with advertising for Mecca bingo. This seemed like an easy job but after phoning First Bus, we found out there were only 4 buses with the advertising and only 3 were in service. The routes are not planned until morning and as we wanted to choose the backdrops this became difficult to arrange, especially with the weather problems in March.
Eventually we got something arranged and I was waiting for the bus at the appropriate location on Union Street only to find that the advertising was only on one side of the bus, and it was the wrong side. The solution was to take a shot of the advertising and then use Photoshop to cut this and add it to shots of busses making it much easier to get the type of bus shot required. Click here to see the shots.
Friday 16th April was a celebration of three years since Soul Casino opened it's doors. Jason Porter was singing and if you have not heard Jason sing before, you should make a point of going to hear him at Soul Casino on the last Friday of each month. The photographs taken are here, and a slideshow is also on-line.
David assisted me and he tried out the video capture on my D3s (blog post on the D3s to be posted soon). We have added a very short piece of video to the slideshow which can be seen here. This type of presentation is something we are developing for weddings and will be part of a new digital package which is going to be available for the incredible new iPad (blog post on my one bought on the launch day in the US is here) which was finally launched in the UK on Friday 28th May.
In April, Kenny Clubb (who's wedding I photographed many years ago) of Churchill Homes contacted with me by email with the heading crisis. He required shots of a development of houses at Maryculter to use for an entry to the Aberdeenshire Design Awards. The "crisis" was that he needed the images in 48 hours. I was in Edinburgh when Kenny phoned but I was heading home the following day and fortunately it was a nice day and I got the shots taken. Click here to view the gallery. The good lighting and the use of a polariser enhanced the sky to give the images more impact. The deadline was met and Kenny was delighted with the images -
I was commissioned recently to take images of the Inverdee House in Torry. Inverdee House is an innovative new facility in Torry, Aberdeen. The name Inverdee (coming from the Gaelic "the meeting of the waters") was chosen as a simple reminder that three environment organisations have come together, at the mouth of the Dee, in one building.
The project, coordinated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency SEPA, is a joint initiative between SEPA and Grampian Housing Association GHA, and sees the creation of new office accommodation, laboratory facilities for SEPA and housing respectively.
The shots were taken on a beautiful sunny afternoon in March and the lighting for the exterior was very good and the use of a polarising filter to enhance the blue sky and reduce the reflection on the building, gave me the exterior shots I needed. Including the harbour in the background helps to convey the location. Click here to view the images.
On Wednesday this week (12th May, 2010), Deeside Golf Club hosted the Colin Montgomerie Ryder Cup celebration. This event was organised to raise money for the Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation to fund the building of a Maggie’s Caring Centre in Aberdeen. Colin started the foundation in memory of his Mum who died of lung cancer in 1991.
A Maggie’s Centre is a place to turn to for help with any of the problems, small or large, associated with cancer. Click here to see how much their centres can help suffers and their families. Having lost my Dad to cancer at 51 (my age), and having to support my Mum through this, I realise how much a Maggie’s Centre could have helped. I was therefore delighted to provide our services and a photograph for every team member as a contribution to such a good cause. Click here to view the photographs of the golf and here for a few shots taken at the dinner.
Colin gives a clinic at the Deeside golf club driving range
One of the many products that we supply is digitally printed wallpaper. We have done several jobs where this has been used very effectively and I intend to feature several of these on this blog. Last year Bob Fitzgerald (see post) met with me to discuss his plans for the restaurant in the Craighaar Hotel. The theme was to be a garden room. After looking at various options, we decided that digital wallpaper was the best option.
We then looked for stock garden shots to use but could not find anything suitable and as large files were required, it was just as cost effective for me to take the photographs. We decided that very colourful shots would not be suitable and we wanted something more calming and muted, and possibly even with a early morning mist. I went to photograph Crathes Castle Gardens several mornings between 5 and 6am but never got the mist I was hoping for. Eventually I took a range of shots of the more overgrown natural areas of the gardens including some in a "panorama" type format where several shots are taken with overlap and these are joined later using Photoshop. On the way out I photographed the area on the right hand of the drive just as you enter Crathes Castle. The water, the bridge, and the "depth" to the shots was what I was looking for and there was also scope for good panorama shots and it was eventually these that were used.
In 2008 I received an email asking me to submit images of Aberdeen so that I could be considered for an assignment to provide a wide range of photographs to promote Aberdeen City and Shire. I sent these and then was asked to undertake a shoot of the Petrofac Tower and Riverside Drive. After supplying these images, and providing the quote, I was commissioned to undertake the full assignment over the next six months. I was not aware that the “test shots” were being undertaken by a few selected photographs and being assessed by the partners from local industry funding the project. I was happy to get this assignment but was even more pleased when I discovered how the decision had been made and the calibre of some of the other photographers I had been up against. more…
