Leaving Studio – New Studios !

Sadly, I have now left my studio in the Cotswolds, because my lease has expired and an extension is not possible. I have returned to my main base in Welford on Avon and shall continue to use Pop Up studios as required. I have a small studio set up at my base, but it is certainly not the space I can use for larger product shots or group shots; I prefer to work at the client’s location, where I can set up with the studio backgrounds and lighting that I have used for years.

This is sad, as having a studio is useful, but certainly not essential. I have always worked on location, going to where clients require me, and that is certainly increasingly back in my home city of Birmingham.

I have access to a number of hire studios across the West Midlands, and naturally when I work in London I often hire a studio or just set up at clients’ offices.

The way my work has changed over the years has always been led by the market; my deliberate shift to become known for my people photography also coincided with more businesses realising that the people they employ are a valuable asset, and photographs of them on company websites have become much more important.

Not just headshots, but portraits that show the person clients may only chat to, or even just communicate with via email. Images that reflect the company’s brand and communicate the sector the business operates in.

In the last 12 months, I have worked every month in Birmingham, working with businesses in the financial sector as well as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and, naturally, industrial work, as you would expect in the vibrant city that was the workshop of the world. Now, many companies are relocating to Brum: software, cybersecurity, and AI start-ups.

The majority of my work involves people and setting up a background on location has become very efficient as I have pop up backgrounds, portable battery operated lights, so cables are a thing of the past, I do travel much lighter than I did say 3 years ago, but I still ensure I have the lighting capability that I had in my studio, I would like too think that anyone looking at my work would believe those shots that have a plain ‘studio’  background were shot in a studio, but 90% of my work is shot on location in offices, hotels, warehouses or factories.

It is obvious that when the images need to be in the context of the office or factory then it is essential to light the subjects as naturally as possible, but ensuing the subject look ‘good’ ie appropriate, working in a Hospital, the lighting is usually high key, so appropriate lighting needs to ‘fill in’ but look natural, but if the subjects were lit with the existing lights, there would be top lights, eyes would be in shadow, and faces would look unflatered. Hence, using my extensive lighting, even creating large banks of light to simulate the window light the Dutch masters used.

Lighting on location is so very important; with years of experience in studio, locations and especially challenge interiors, getting the lighting right is subjective, but often what lets an image down, iPhone images are great at making a location look good, but making it great requires professional quality cameras and optics, even the best optics are limited, especially when architecture is challenging, that is when Tilt Shift lens are useful, if not essential if you don’t want to make a scene look distorted the way most smart phone cameras do or even most professional quality cameras, they use the standard lens that are great for most jobs but when quality controlled images are required, specialist high spec lens are needed.

One aspect of working on location with a pop-up studio is controlling the ambient light, in order to asses the flash lighting that only emits low light for what is called ‘Modelling’ ie provides a guide as to how the flash light shall look, so well lit offices can be a problem however if they are on automatic, I have learned tricks to ‘fool’ the light controls into thinking there is nobody in the room and so the Auto light does not come on, and therefore allows the flash, model lights shall be seen in the low light so helping guide the subject.

I digress; studio or not I shall continue to deliver images that my clients require, lit with whatever the subject requires for the purpose of marketing and communication.

I shall miss my neighbours (see above)  near Chipping Campden , but I know I can visit this wonderful part of the countryside any day as it is only 5 miles from home.