I have enjoyed access to a studio for many years, I was lucky to have had one in the grounds of my old house in Wimpstone till I moved in 2007, then it was somewhat 'interesting' with moves to Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, London and Spain. Then back to Stratford on Avon! In 2013 I helped set up a studio near Stratford and until the owner sold and moved away in 2019 it was a great base and I was able to shoot most studio portraits and product shots there.

As change happens, I managed to work from a home base with a great production facility and use hire studios, however I did miss a studio, a place I can easily set up, have kit on site and feel it is my creative space. I still shoot most of my work on location, however when a suitable location recently became available I...

What Professional Photographers kit do they use for Headshots?

A simple headshot can be taken with a smart phone, and in the right hands a decent result can be delivered, however if you want a professional headshot that is suitable for all uses, such as your Linkedin profile and printed in a brochure for an annual report, you require an image that is taken on something more serious.

For all the headshots I take for professional use, I shall use a full frame or medium format digital camera. I shall always have a back up body and lens, just in case.

The glass I use is dependant on what the location is, but usually I shall have a prime 85mm or 105mm lens on my FX ( Full Frame) Nikon or at least a 120mm on my Medium format Fujifilm GFX.

I am aware that there are...

'Headshot Photographer' is one of the most searched phrases over recent years, although everyone is a photographer it seems that for all sorts of reasons people require a headshot and are searching for a professional photographer who can deliver a great portrait. Almost everyone who has a business requires a decent headshot even if it is just for a picture on their Linkedin profile page. Most companies require a portrait of their staff even if its for security and to be put on their lanyard security ID. The company especially that sector that has only on line connection with customers, often use a small headshot that is used on website or chat line when in communication with that member of staff.

All need Headshots and just taking a picture with a smart phone...

Industrial photography seems like an old fashioned term, a remnant of the days when the UK was a manufacturing powerhouse, places like Birmingham with its 1000s trades and the motor city of Coventry, Crewe and Derby were the bases for the aeronautical and rail industries, but times change and specialist industries can be anywhere, not just heavy industry but nano technology and research & development for all businesses. The M40 corridor has most of the worlds Formula 1 teams based there as well as Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin.

Any industry shall need to market and communicate what it produces, even if it is just a service to an industry in a very narrow niche.

So today's Industrial photographer needs to be able to produce, stills and video of products, services...

Back even before the Pandemic, there have been certain people who have given business advise and insights, not just as marketing strategy but with genuine generosity.

The Pandemic arrived and business’s were decimated , however some people set up on line networking and support groups. These were a life line to many and at the time I thought it was worthy of acknowledging .

Move on to opening up and I met my friend and fellow photographer Charlie Budd who stood out as one of those who facilitated many zooms with creatives and was always a positive fellow!

I was setting up for a shoot and asked him to step in so I could check the lighting, and I managed to get a strong portrait of Mr Budd and that began the project that is...

Another year comes to a close and thankfully the Pandemic has abated and normal service has resumed,? I have managed to cover the two events for Stratford Literary Festival and continue my Festival Faces project, it is a great privilege to be able to set up a pop up studio and photograph the Stars of the event, I also manage to capture portraits of those behind the scenes too.

The images are destined to be archived as part of my work at the Birmingham Archive in the Library, it is also my ambition that Stratford upon Avon has access to the collection, this is work in progress.

I am often asked who are my favorite subjects, but I certainly don't wish to single people out, each person is unique and often the resulting image is much stronger because of the...

Big Skies Glamping - Cheltenham - Cotswolds

The summer seems to have flown by, it literary did with new Drone work on some projects.

The super heat may have impacted a few days, but I for one was very happy about lack of rain as days were only cancelled for too much heat (In kitchen) and some clients just changing plans.

One delightful commission was for Big Skies Glamping, a new Glamping campsite near Cheltenham, a family business run by Vicki Pettigrew.

The wonderful venue already had a website but needed an update and more images for social media, so after few visits I was able to deliver an image bank that would refresh the site and provide much more material for next seasons launch.

My drone investment and training certainly came in use although just...

Portraits on Location

Last year the Commonwealth Games was a dream, something that seemed ages away, I was inspired by the fact that a new Aquatic Centre was going to be built and it would be a great legacy for the region. The next generation of swimmers would have a world class facility to use and it was not just the swimmers that shall use it, I know from personal experience as I grew up in West Bromwich, and Birmingham but I was always a fan of all things Aquatic, I watched Jacques Cousteau and from about 9 years old wanted to be a scuba diver, not just an enthusiast, but a professional. So I joined the West Bromwich Sub Aqua Club and would practice the sport in the pool at West Brom, that pool has long since shut, but it reminded me of other pools we used, Rolfe Street...

I have had the privilege to photograph the authors and celebrities at the Stratford Literary Festival since 2015, I approached the festival then as I had enjoyed a successful project with Stratford’s Art Festival with a series of portraits shot at a pop up Studio in 2014, sadly the Arts Festival did not plan to continue so an alternative annual event such as the Literary festival seemed like a natural choice. The director of the festival, Annie Ashworth kindly agreed to let me try out a season and it seemed to work well, the aim was to create a body of work that documented the subjects that visited the festival and in the long term archive the material for the town.

Now in 2022 there is another year of the festival and it celebrates its 15th year, sadly I was not involved at the...