Adrian Heapy Studio Visit

The amount of times I have heard myself and other students say "How on earth does any body make money from photography".  We were answered today.

Adrian Heapy photography has been established since 1976, his studio is now based within a 8000sq.ft. space in Belper. Adrian began life as a photographer taking and selling black and white portrait shots at a holiday destination. From there he studied a City&guilds qualification in photography and slowly began to pick up work.


He now works for clients all over the UK and internationally. He describes himself as a jobbing photographer, not specialising in a certain area but taking the work that is offered to him. His portfolio ranges from food photography, jewellery to industry and room sets.


At his studio he showed us first hand the amount of work, preparation and organisation that it takes to go into not only completing a job but running a photography business.


A small percentage of time within the studio is spent taking photographs the rest of the time is taking up planning a shoot, communicating with clients, searching for props, building sets, working with stylists or designers, 

Photographers are known for being collectors but Adrian puts this to use. With a huge collection of items from rocks and shells to doors and windows which allow him to easily add in props for a shoot at no extra cost to him. Cost is obviously a big part of running a business, over priced costing and be the difference between getting a job and not. Yet at the same time the business needs to earn enough to keep going.

I had heard people talk about being a photographer and running studios before but to be in the environment, see the ins and outs. You begin to see clearly how the process has evolved from brief to set built, to styling, props, lighting and shooting. To then be shown how they post product images for the final result was interesting too. It seems that listening to Adrian talk, in the style that he works, not tying himself down to a particular genre of photograph he needs to be a man of many skills.

Furniture and room shoots he builds the sets from scratch. For a cookbook he bought all the ingredients and cooked the dishes before photographing them. Of course the costs for all material and ingredients get passed onto the client, which in some cases could result in the price being less than bringing in a professional chef, or set builders.

This is something else he hinted on, knowing your client, knowing what they can afford. But also educating clients, to what is possible, for the money they are offering or for the expectations they are asking.

After the visit I find the idea of working in a studio a little more interesting than I had previously. I think the idea of being creative and making things draws me in but it's not the type of photography I see myself taking. However I am thinking a lot about life after education and my biggest concern at the moment is kit and working space. I'm still torn if to continue onto the top up year. I have a couple of projects in my head that I want to start working on. After today I am considering looking for studios to offer my time to, in order to gain experience, confidence and the opportunity to work on some personal projects.

Hasselblad

Hasselblad has always been the camera that people aspire too. For years some of the worlds most successful photographers have worked with Hasselblad.

The Beginning

Victor Hasselblad’s vision was to create the finest camera in order to offer the best possible tool to help photographers capture their images.

In 1841 the Hasselblad name began as a trading Company only later did they start supplying photography products which hugely increased trade when Victors son, Arvid met with George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Hasselblad agreed on a handshake to be the sole traders for Eastman in Sweden.

In 1906, Victor, great grandson to the founder was born. He took the family business a step further due to his determination to improve the standard of photographic equipment that was available at the time. It was his destiny to take over from the family business when he was old enough, until that time his father encouraged him to discover a deeper understanding of the world of photography. This lead to him working in France, Germany and the United States, working in various areas such as labs, factories and shops.

Victor went onto produce exhibitions about his other passion, birds and began to make a name for himself as a photographer. After returning home Victor split away from the family business and set up a company of his own.

Following the war the Swedish government approached Victor with the challenge to recreate a camera that fell into their possession from a German plane.  As a result the HK 7, the first Hasselblad camera was made. In years to come Victor would gain owner ship of the Hasselblad company after his father died, this spurred him onto creating photography equipment for the consumer market as well as for the military.

It was not until 1958 that the first consumer Hasselblad was introduced, the 1500F. However it was the second camera to be produced that really put Hasselblad in the spotlight. The 1000F had great reviews for both its aesthetic and technical abilities. From then on Hasselblad began to be at the forefront of photographic engineering. Which is why Hasselblad is the preferred choice of many professional photographers today. 

Food Stylist

When I approach clients unfortunatly I wont have a mega budget to afford a food stylist so this is something that I need learn myself.

So, what is the role of a food stylist?

The food stylist is responsible for sourcing the best quality and sometimes unusual ingredients, before preparing the dish to then be photographed or filmed. 

For a stylist the appearence of the food is always the priority over taste. Some stylist use trickery to add to the appearence of the food, defering from the original recipe without changing the look of the final product. For example when photographing cereal, some stylists might use cream instead of milk as it looks more glossy and appertising, or adding asprin to champagne to increase the fizz.

Not only is it about making the food look good, a big part of the stylists job is about props such as table clothes, cutlury, plates, etc. They need to work quick to ensure the food stays looking its best under lighting and patience with small, constant tweaking.

Here are a few tips I have discovered:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/food/2011/10/the-glamorous-life-of-a-food-s.shtml

Alison Clarkson

Claire Ptak

Mari Mererid Williams

In the studio

This evening the group has been in the studio working with a range of lighting and the Hasselblad camera.

The camera and lighting was set up and it was up to us to take it in turns to alter the f.stops and shutter speed in order to correct the exposure.


The idea of this exercise was for us to try out some new equipment and work on our skills in the studio. 


From this exercise I have realised that I should take advantage of the studio while I have it easily available to me. Therefore I have spoken to my tutor about arranging a food shoot in the studio next week using cold lighting.

Before then I need to make a decision on what I want to photograph, what lighting effects I want to create, what props I might need and come up with a few ideas for styling the shoot so that I can make the most of the time in the studio.

I decided to try out some photographs to see what problems I came across. That way when I am photographing for a client I can be prepared.

Firstly, I knew that I wanted to use natural light and the biggest problem this gave me was shadows. I would like to try another shoot using a reflector. 

I also need to think more about the food I am going to be photographing and sorting out a variety of props before the shoot. 

However I am happy with these photographs and feel that they work well together.

Jonathan Gregson

After speaking to Steve about working on my food photography skills he feels that I should be conscious to keep the style that I have produced for the Eden project images. I agree with him, this means working in precise ways, keeping the soft focus and using natural light. This could prove difficult on days of bad weather but I will need to work on manipulating the light I have available at each shoot using a variety of props such as reflectors, white screens or foil boards.

I have a few clients in mind that I am thinking about approaching but before I do that I am researching photographers work that I find inspirational to gain ideas. Jonathan Gregson is a food photographer and has produced images for Jamie Oliver's magazine. I like the layout, design and style of jaime magazine. This was the look and feel that the Eden project were seeking when I was  photographing there product shots. 

Jonathan's photography is contemporary and relaxed. I like the tones within his work and his use of props complement the shoot rather than deter from its focus.

Things I need to think about:

  Where to source props

  How to guarantee correct lighting

  Composition

  Timing

Portrait

I was asked a few days ago about taking some portraits. They have a pretty certain idea about how they want the photo to look which is always a bonus!

The shoot will also be involving a dog, never worked with a dog before...could be interesting.

I have sent them a quote that details price for the shoot and a second price should they wish for me to print and frame.

Currently waiting to hear a date and time but I know they want it soon. I will be chasing this up later today to see if we can arrange a time for the shoot to happen this weekend to make the most of the good weather.

Products and Food

Ever since working with the Eden Project I have been thinking about improving my skills within product photography.

Looking back on those photographs I learnt a lot of new skills and learnt that there are a lot of things that I don't know or that I'm a little weak at.  Which is why I am going to take this time and opportunity to seek a client for who I can produce some product shots or possibly food shots for. 

When it comes to food I think you need to have good food to photograph, it's going to be very difficult to make bad food look good, (not that I'm a bad cook) but it's the same with products, yes I could use products lying around the house but there is no real purpose behind that. No theme, style or audience, so while I have Steve's feedback and experience I'm going to take advantage and try something that doesn't come naturally to me, while at the same time networking with a new client and getting some work out there.

NHS

Over the summer break an opportunity was offered to me from Chris to do some work with the NHS and the Queens Hospital in Burton.

I had heard bits about this for a while and figured all experience is good, so I took up the opportunity figuring it could lead to better things.

Today it did just that.

After photographing at the NHS annual public meeting on the 14th September, arrangements had been made to visit the photography department at the hospital to gain a deeper insight into the role of a medical photographer. Looking at the sort of photographs they take, how they are stored and how they can be used to diagnose medical problems.

During the visit I presented a selection of photographs that I took during the annual meeting. I was grateful to receive positive feedback while being informed that the images I took could be used for publication.

Following on from this a further opportunity has come up to photograph a number of portraits around different departments within the hospital. These photographs will then be used on posters and displayed on big screens during the awards night held in February 2012.

...but who?

So I need to find potential clients. 


Who am I going to approach? 
What sort of photography am I going to produce for them? 
When am I going to do this? 
What will be the final outcome of the photographs?

Previous Clients

I guess the first place to start is to look at what work I have done before and to figure out what I can offer potential clients.

Going back to some of the first clients I worked with I can see how my style has changed. Back in 2009 I produced photography for Derby County Football and Cricket Club's "Playing for Success" clubs. The brief was to capture the children taking part in a number of activities to be used for promotional material.

BRIGDENS

Working with Brigdens was my first experience of working with models. After this shoot I learnt that success was all in the planning!

BNP PARIBAS REAL ESTATE

I was asked by BNP Paribas to photograph their Christmas Party. I wanted to produce something that had a little more substance than  a disk of images and so I presented them with the idea of a book that encapsulated the event. I took general photographs of the party while also taking portraits from a pop up studio space. This was a big hit after a few beers!

The book was produced in sequence with the time stamp on the opposite page creating a real time account of the night.

NATIONAL FOREST ADVENTURE FARM

Over the last couple of years I have done a few things with the Adventure Farm, mainly press work and images for their website.

These photographs were shot for the promotion of last years Fright Night event.

The following images were taken to promote the new Shaun the Sheep Maize Maze that opened earlier this year.

EDEN PROJECT

Eden was a chance to try something new, products. I found this more difficult than I thought it would be. The placements of the products and composition began to drive me insane by the end of the week but it was slightly addictive and I definitely want to pursue products some more this year.

I have also worked with others such as Marstons, Country clothing, Ockbrook Gun Club and Burton College but they are all similar sort of work to the examples I have shown.  

    

Most communication with the clients I've worked with are still good however I've not chased them for work, this could be a good way to secure some more work. Alternatively I could look for similar clients and pitch ideas to them using previous work as examples of what I could offer.

Here we go...

Having just got back into the second year it seems Wednesday evenings are going to be spent with Steve. The idea of these lessons are for us to source our own work. To approach clients and work with a professional manner to investigate, plan and produce quality photographs to the standards and expectations of the client.


All aspects of the process will be documented here in order to hit criteria for the module and to gain feedback from other class members.


This work is going to be a big boost, it has been something I was concerned about coming back into this year. I know how much I get consumed into assignments and projects that I get distracted from looking for work. These sessions will give me chance to focus on finding work, networking and help to give a better feeling of what direction I want to take my photography.