Commercial Portrait Photography in London

Its amazing how important that first impression can be of a person you meet for the first time or intend on possibly meeting for the first time. Thanks to business owners wanting to appear more 'client friendly' and interactive these days, I find myself doing more and more Staff Profile Photography shoots, Commercial Portrait photography and even Personal Profile Photography. Everyone has a website, Facebook page, Blog, Twitter account etc etc and so the need to display yourself in your best light has never been more important. People are often surprised how quickly I can rock up with my kit create something striking of them and their team on their own business premises or in a location of choice. London is and amazing and powerful backdrop, so I use it whenever possible! So ... if you feel like you and your team deserve some fresh portrait photography in London or anywhere else for the fresh new year.... give me a shout!  ;)

How to shoot Events Photography

I do a lot of events work throughout the year, and its mostly great fun! The venues are usually quite special, and the people attending are always up for some laughs. Its my job to make them look their best, and also capture the essence of the event and the mood of the occasion. 9 times out of 10 when I'm working at these functions, someone or more than one person, gets talking to me about my job, photography, the kit I use and how I do it. So today I thought I'd share some basics and explain how I approach a night like this. Firstly, I get my running order from the client and do a walk through of the venue so I can  work a few things out!

Its going to be dark, so we need additional light/s .... but we don't want to blitz the available light out so much that we kill the feel and mood that's there!?.... So we need to find a balance between the ambient light reading and our flash power. To put this simply... you need to expose for the ambient light (background available light) and then add in some foreground flash to light your main subjects nicely and 'Freeze' the action enough to keep it looking crisp! This is where having a camera with a good low light iso range comes into play. My ever faithful Nikon D3 is still great at low light level performance although its now 4 years old.

I always try to use some form of backlight for these events so its adds some drama and life to the background .... so I look around for the best places to set up shots. There were some key elements to this job that i needed to cover...

• Establishing shots of the venue - in this case The Roundhouse at Camden, a fantastic event space!
• Guests at the reception area - excitedly meeting friends, all dolled up wearing big smiles!! (Time to interact and smile lots myself too !)
• Guests seated at their tables
• Awards if any...
• Dancing and partying

You need to be organised, plenty of spare batteries (as you will be hammering your flash)...... I also like to use a simple 'speed Gobo' bouncer from Honl Photo for my flash so that the light is 'bounced light' rather than direct (its just a bit softer and more flattering) .... experiment!

I also brought along my Elinchrom Ranger Quadra Kit (x2 lightweight, powerful and portable battery packs, x2 flash heads, x2 stands x2 brollies) so I could leave them set up on the top balcony ready for some cheeky group shots after dinner... guests are always more relaxed after a few drinks and then you can start to have some fun with them.

If you look at the info on each image, I have shown the EXIF data settings so you can see my exposure settings ... I hope this has been helpful, but please ping me a comment if you have any questions! Ta. :)

CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW TO SEE AT CORRECT SIZE AND SHARPNESS.

[caption id="attachment_3009" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 1100, F4.5, 1/50th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Bounced Flash in TTL Mode +2/3 power

Nikon D3, Handheld, ISO 3200, F5, 1/30th Sec, NO FLASH[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3007" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, Handheld, ISO 1100, F5, 1/30th Sec, Flash on Manual Power +1/3.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3023" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 560, F5.6, 1/8th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, 1 light to left front and 1 light to right front allowing even light, bounced into white brollies.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3021" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 560, F5.6, 1/8th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, 1 light to left front and 1 light to right front allowing even light, bounced into white brollies.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3020" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 560, F5.6, 1/8th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, 1 light to right to give side light, bounced into white brolly.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3019" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 560, F5.6, 1/8th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, 1 light to left front and 1 light to right front allowing even light, bounced into white brollies.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3016" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 560, F7.1, 1/6th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Bounced Flash in TTL Mode +2/3 power.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3018" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 560, F5.6, 1/8th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, 1 light to left front and 1 light to right front allowing even light, bounced into white brollies.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3017" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 560, F5.6, 1/8th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, 1 light to left front and 1 light to right front allowing even light, bounced into white brollies.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3013" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 560, F5.6, 1/13th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Bounced Flash in TTL Mode +1/3 power.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3012" align="aligncenter" width="665"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 1100, F3.2, 1/100th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, NO FLASH[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3015" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 560, F5.6, 1/13th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Bounced Flash in TTL Mode +1/3 power.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3010" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 1100, F4.5, 1/50th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Bounced Flash in TTL Mode +2/3 power[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3011" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 1100, F3.2, 1/100th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, NO FLASH.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3008" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Camden Roundhouse, Event Photography by Simon Harvey - Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 1100, F4.5, 1/40th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Bounced Flash in TTL Mode +2/3 power[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3014" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Handheld, ISO 560, F5.6, 1/15th Sec. Nikon D3, 24-70mm Lens, Bounced Flash in TTL Mode +1/3 power.[/caption]

2 day Travel Photography adventure in Magical Marrakech

I went there with dreams of colour and life... but its was SOOOOO Hard to shoot there! Any of you that have been there, know that taking pictures in Marrakech is far from easy... and not the romantic holiday destination you would think of ... so armed with a hulking great big Nikon DSLR and a long lens, i hardly blended in... and these people are hyper sensitive to cameras! You either get a "NO PICTURE" and a hand raised over the face, or a hand out asking for money the second they see you!! So ....with only being there for 2 days I had to adapt quickly, and learn to be very quick to seize any picture opportunities ... Its still a great place to go to though if you like a challenge!! ;) Enjoy, share and rate please :)

Tankus The Henge - Music Photography on The Thames

What can I say .... other than I LOVE these boys!!!! ... Everytime I meet them and work with them, I leave with a big smile on my face .... they are just loveable, bonkers, creative TALENT!! They always make my photography look good because they are just so colourful and interesting!! Check out their facebook page here and lookout for a gig soon .... I promise you will LOVE them!

Burlesque Photography with Lady Cave at Volupte Lounge, London

Last weekend I undertook my first burlesque shoot.... last weekend with the amazing Lady Cave! I have always been mesmerized by the detail and beauty of this styling. The costumes and outfits are so classy and elegant, and the girls on the burlesque scene are known for their attention to detail.  Kate (Lady Cave) was no exception! just Fantabulous!! We had the run of very chic and cool Volupte Lounge for the afternoon last Sunday... so armed with my new best friend (my Fuji X-Pro1 and my Ellincrom Rangers, I set up out to create some moody, smokey images re-creating the feel of an old vintage club from yesteryear!I shall certainly be doing more burlesque shoots now, so watch this space! In the meantime enjoy these images and hit the like button on Lady Cave's facebook page too :-)

Food Fight at Verru

Yesterday i was back to the amazing Verru restaurant in London's Marylebone Lane! Except this time for some slightly different 'profile shots' of the owner, 'Andrei' and his merry band of men! Andrei said he didn't want to have boring, serious portraits, so wanted to try something a tad 'different'.... at the mere mention of a food fight, the boys seemed ready for it... as you can see.... this is all in jest and their obvious great relationship is plain to see!! As i've already said.... the food here is amazing and so are the people.... get down there!!

The Key to commercial portrait photography

I often do Commercial Portrait Photography of business owners and their staff ... and very often they want to be seen as serious, upstanding individuals... but this doesnt mean you can't use the surroundings to add some colour and a bit of a twist! Here are some recent profile shots I did for a business owner ... I tried to have a bit of fun with him in the environment we had... hope you like the images.

Set Stills Photography with lovable Aussie boys, Hamish and Andy

Some of you might know, that during the summer, Aussie TV and Radio sensations - 'Hamish and Andy' were over here in London filming their new TV show 'Hamish and Andy's Euro Gap Year'. I was pulled in to do some Set Stills Photography, Promotion shots and some behind the scenes photography too. I have to admit, before I got the call about working on the show - I had never heard of them. After a quick Google and Facebook search, I soon realized that these cheeky smilers have a big following on the south side! 1.6million facebook likers and half a million followers on twitter! Zoiks... i hoped they were cool!?

Our first shoot was set for some calamity capers around the London Eye, Westminster and then onto St Johns Wood for some Beatles Abbey Road fun! within 2 mins of meeting the guys i was pleasantly surprised at how absolutely lovely they were! Grounded, polite and great fun! from there on in .... it was all easy!

I hope you like the images and will check out these chaps... Hamish and Andy's Euro Gap Year is showing on ITV4 at the moment, and i guarantee you'll be smiling if you tune in! Enjoy!

Verry Verru Food Photography! Yummy!

One of my fave types of work..... and I wonder why!! ?? ;) I LOVE shooting food, especially when its this amazing!! As you can see the chaps down at Verru really know their stuff ... This is Posh nosh at very, very reasonable prices i must add! Food photography is all about making it look beautiful and inviting, so I hope you feel hungry now!?

If you fancy a nibble yourself, get down to Marylebone lane and taste the Verru cuisine. its delightful!

Wet Wedding Photography in Seven Dials, London

I was walking through Seven Dials only yesterday doing a job when i happened across this lovely couple walking up Monmouth Street having their wedding photographs taken!! The photographer was using flash close up with them, and i knew he was missing out on all the beautiful ambient light and reflections... so had a cheeky word and asked the couple if they minded if i took a quick shot of them on the Zebra crossing!! :-) I hope they get in touch so i can send them the shot .... i think you'll agree, the light is beautiful and it makes for a great shot! :) Good luck to them both!