Channel 4 Big 4 Installation by Millimetre Progress Shots

Commissioned by Millimetre to produces a series of progress shots of the installation of artist El Anatsui’s artwork of printers plates mounted on dibond being attached to the Big 4 outside the Channel 4 building on Horseferry Road, London. Here are a few examples:

More images to come as soon as I have time…

Must wear a fluorescent jacket, hard hat on site and steel toecapped boots. I wanted to go up in a cherry picker but there was no time to go up as everyone was working full on to meet deadlines. I got a security pass to allow me access on site and inside the building (though not for long!)

I did a few hours session on a Saturday, and another few hours on the Sunday. I returned the following Sunday to take the final shots as a little more work needed to be done to complete the installation.

Channel 4 Artist El Anatsui The New ‘4′

The new ‘4′ designed by El Anatsui.

Born in 1944, in the Ewe-speaking area of Ghana, El Anatsui, is today recognised as one of the foremost contemporary artists of his generation. Taking the broad spectrum of indigenous African cultures as an extended canvas, his central themes concern the erosion of these inherited traditions by powerful external forces and the manner of their survival and transmission into the present. His deftly-organised and sophisticated work represents an original synthesis of the many diverse histories of African art with more modern influences picked out from the prevailing paradigm of contemporary western art. El Anatsui is currently exhibiting at the 52nd Venice Biennale.

‘8′ Photography Magazine Launch Party at Agnes B in Covent Garden

The ‘8′ magazine launch party at Agnes B in Covent Garden was awash with free champagne and beer. The glamorous side of photography! It was good to see high fashion and photojournalism side by side. I wonder what affect the images will have on the customers!

foto8 at Agnus B on nikon n95

Spoke to Adam Goff the picture editor at New Scientist magazine. He has his finger on the pulse, sourcing iPhones for £80 in Germany, unlocking, no problem, just slip ‘em an extra euro… he talked about Thatcher, the miners, powercuts, Don Mcphee, war, peace, Mercedes E220, democracy, communism, not missing the train to Dorking and then he was gone! I wonder if I can get something published in the New Scientist in the new future! New Scientist has been a favourite magazine of mine for a long time because of the way they have used photography (and the fact that they credit every image in the magazine). Adam’s been there 14 years… respect to the man! Only just realised it’s a weekly that’s a lot of pressure to work under for only two picture editors.

Jon Levy, founder of foto8 was looking dapper in his suit and shirt having shed his trademark casuals for the night. Seems too many years ago since foto8 nearly ended. Max was swan, preening herself as features editor for 8 magazine, teaching at University of Westminster alongside Colin Jacobson, formerly of the Independents Saturday magazine. I interviewed him when he launched Reportage magazine. Shame it didn’t last.

Liz Somerville beamed in from Photofusion picture library where my contributions should be more than I have made. My loss.

I hope young Tom does well in his photojournalism course at Elephant and Castle.

Finding Photography Work with a Photographers Assistant at Shoreham Airport as it goes into Administration

In a another strategy to find photographic work I visited Shoreham Airport and visited as many businesses as I could. I had Emanuelle with me, a photographer in the making, seeing what she can learn as an assistant.

Last week I made a lot of phone calls to potential clients. Cold calling is a difficult way to find work. And I maybe one of them may turn into work, I don’t know. People don’t appear t have money to spend!

So, today. Business cards, flyers (featured on previous blogs) and hope formed the basis of looking for work. The results: several potential clients…

• I’ll pass the flyers onto my father, he’s an engineer and may want his models photographing, as for this company, we use royalty free images… perhaps the company would like staff photographed…. they have an automated machine that knocks out images for staff passes…
• just had a load of photographs done!
• no thanks
• I’ll pass on your details to the Marketing person, she’s only in on…
• we just deal with IT problems, don’t need photographs but leave your card…
• no, sorry…
• contact this person who deals with…

…i’ll let you know if any contacts convert into paid work…

On passing though Shoreham Emmanuelle suggested visiting cafés/restaurants that might want photographs of their interiors… 3 out of 4 were positive…. will let you know what happens there…

Before we started looking for work, I took some photographs of helicopters courtesy of Fast Helicopters…

All planes were grounded at Shoreham Airport because the current owners had gone bust! ITV was there to report the misery. Not the best day to look for work at Shoreham Airport!

Magnum Photographer Chris Steele Perkins Liked this Photograph over 15 Years Ago

Scene on River Ganges, Varanasi

Chris Steele Perkins was in the Magnum office some time in the 1980’s when in my enthusiasm I popped in without an appointment to show someone at the agency my work. Out of some 150 transparencies he highlighted this one as a shot he liked!

The transparencies from that period need  to be scanned properly for archiving and usage.

Corporate and Location Photography by Gary Gladstone, Tips and Approach

Corporate and Location Photography by Gary Gladstone has a lot of useful tips in it. I like photography books that are biographical and take away some of the mystery behind imagery. Ten years down the line there are a lot of things in the approach to corporate/commercial photography that are still the same. Tips on organising kit, and approaching projects are very useful. Some of the simple approaches to lighting demonstrate the less is more approach.

On the bright side Gary Gladstone was very positive about the portraits on my website:

“I especially like the playful feeling in your portrait work. Good pictures of people are always harder than places.”

The book is still available through Amazon. It is part of the Kodak Pro Workshop Series.

Namesco Broadband Speed Testing, not 8Mbps

The speed of my broadband feels sluggish, it doesn’t snap onto the screen with ease. So, I emailed Namesco, my ISP provider, and they said:

Slow speeds can be caused by a multitude of factors, including but not limited to:

• Exchange congestion
• Contention ratios
• Server load
• General internet traffic
• Hardware issue/traffic
• Network issues
• Quality of telephony systems/installations
• Software installed on the local machine
• Virus or trojan activity

I guess that provides us with a few things to consider! Funny they don’t suggest any of these things being an issue when they use the phrase UPTO 8Mb..

I just did a test on http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/ and it came up with a download speed of 4537kbps.  This morning it was nearer 6000kbps. I went to Namesco’s recommended broadband speed tester: http://www.speedtester.bt.com/ but couldn’t get onto it!

In order to sort the above list of joy I have to:

Before we can investigate your slow speed issue, you will need to run a full virus and malware scan. Make sure that you download the latest engine and definition updates for your software before you run the scans. Good examples of antivirus and antispyware packages, include Grisoft AVG (http://free.grisoft.com) and Lavasoft AdAware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/).

Then there’s more joy to follow:

Once you have carried out a virus/malware scan, you will need to carry out some speedtests using the official BT Speedtester tool. This tool allows you to measure your speeds and the results are logged against your phone number for analysis by BT and ourselves. In order for us to escalate a fault to BT or investigate further you must perform a number of speedtests. It is recommended by BT that you perform a minimum of three speedtests per day for a period of three days. These tests should be spread throughout the day where possible (for instance, one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening), to ensure a rapid resolution to your issue.

I guess I haven’t got enough to do as it is!

Photograph a Watch under Studio Lighting, Studio Photography with Softbox

The watch was photographed using a single softbox above as the light source. Pieces of white and some black card were used to change the nature of the reflections. It’s important to look through the viewfiinder as you compose. When photographing small items, little movements change the image. Stands are useful for positioning card or mirrors

The ideal way to photograph the watch is to take several shots using different lighting set-ups, without moving the position of the watch, to capture different aspects of the watch, and then to composite them in Photoshop. A time consuming job which requires a fee to match the amount of work to be done.

How Long Did It Take Paul Hartley to Become Englands Finest Watch and Jewellery Photographer?

I asked Paul Hartley how he carved a path to becoming the country’s top watch and jewellery photographer. Here’s what he said:

“I graduated with a BA in Photographic Art from the Polytechnic of Central London in 1976. Then it was one of only two places in the world offering a degree in Photography, the other being Rochester, NY (home of Kodak).
My first job was working as an assistant in the then fledgling AV industry shooting animated stuff for car launches and conferences. Pretty soon I went freelance and capitalised on the niche skills of that sector, but the writing was on the wall with video becoming more affordable and I moved across to general advertising still life. 20 years ago I was shooting cosmetics for Yves St Laurent and ten years ago shooting 3 Ton fork lift trucks for Hyster world advertising. At the same time I started jewellery which has grown and grown till it’s 90% of my business.

The turning point was when I went completely digital in 1999. I’d been learning Photoshop since 1992, but the introduction of the one-shot Philips chips made digital feasible. I guess I was one of the early adopters, suddenly I had the chance to create the whole look and feel of digital jewellery photography from scratch. The thing I realised was that digital is not just a substitute for film, it’s a whole new medium with new rules.

The other thing it did was, as far as I was concerned, blur the boundaries of who did what. There are still guys who hand over the shots and let the client retouch. To me that’s commercial and creative suicide. I only hand over the retouched job and never release the raw files and that’s given me far more control over my business.

Since 1999 it’s been a constant push to do better, buy new technology and make better pictures. I wince when I look at my early digital attempts, but that’s how it should be. It means I’ve got better.

What’s the most expensive thing I’ve shot? Well, I was called in to shoot the Millennium Star diamond and 11 blue diamonds that were displayed in the Dome. Had to go to DeBeers for that of course!”

One of the key points that Paul makes is his reference to digital photography having a different approach to that of film. Amazing to think that photographers are still trying to explain to clients the need for post production. Pauls outstanding images illustrate the power of Photoshop in the hands of a professional retoucher.

The ‘look and feel’ of digital photography is something to ponder on. I recently mentioned photographers using the Aptus digital back refering to the film like quality of their images.

Architectural Photography Jewish Museum by Daniel Libeskind in Berlin

The Jewish Museum in Berlin was designed by Daniel Libeskind and completed in 1999. It is shaped like a bolt of lightening. The main surface is made of zinc plating. The window spaces appear to be random slits and opening in the facade of the building.

(I will re-scan the images I took of the Jewish Museum and put them on the blog as soon as.)