You can't fail to have seen the growing interest in cycling in recent years... indeed the Tour De Yorkshire has only just finished for another year... and that grew out of the amazing support the Tour De France gathered when it came to Yorkshire in 2014. However where you park your bike has become a little more challenging... if you want to find it there when you return from your coffee!
A recent phone call from Greg Villalobos reminded me that with imagination and some talent solutions to problems present themselves. A video producer, designer and BAFTA winner Greg was interested in a friend's problem of where to store her bike in a house without a garage... typical of many city dwellers. That his friend was a talented sportswoman and therefore rode a highly valuable bike made the problem a little more challenging then simply leaving the bike outside against the fence!
I'd first met Greg a couple of years ago.. it was easy to identify him as the rider of the Triumph motorbike which everybody was admiring from the windows... he was the only one in the room with a crash helmet!
Later he asked if I could help him create images for a website Gregory North, as his bike rack designs were gathering interest and sales enquiries from those who had seen his friend's example.
A clean, simple design, hand crafted in plywood we discussed the type of client this would appeal to.... and decided the white block walls of the studio would work well... so out came the drill and in a couple of minutes we had beautifully engineered bikes hanging from the studio walls... simple!
And the recent call from Greg... well that was about a technical issue he was having with a new project... unfortunately he's not just a nice guy but also one of those infuriatingly creative individuals who sees something that interests and inspires him and he jumps straight in... as was shown by the recent award from The Motorcycle Film Festival for his short documentary film on The Coast to Coast Trail.
I'm glad I'm a photographer and this
blog is where I can talk about ideas, lighting, lenses and things like that...
political this is not!
But working as a photographer is punctuated with meetings and conversations... large and small... and they can be interesting and
thought provoking discussions.
This image hangs on the office wall of an engineering company Managing Director. It was originally shot as part of a series
exploring the Tees Cottage Pumping Station... one of the last remaining
operational beam pumping engines and used to draw water from the local River
Tees. It secured a reliable water supply for the town of Darlington and local
area.
It's the case that the town in which we have
a studio has been at the forefront of several ingenious engineering advances in the
past... and indeed several social and financial ones as well. We are even now seeing a nearby return of the railway industry it so famously pioneered. But it will not have gone unnoticed that elsewhere in
the Tees Valley industry on which the region has built it's
history has been making the news for entirely other and more terrible
reasons.
So what does an image of another time have to offer today's engineering new world... apparently it reminds my client "that nothing
lasts forever... and just exactly how far we have come..."
It had been whilst recently working with
Claire and a crew of young talent in Northumberland... but I'm sworn to secrecy...that I discovered
we had been in the middle of "National Chocolate Week".
What fun was had...for as long as I could
convince all the crew that actually it was a week for abstinence...National
Chocolate Week meant no chocolate for a whole week!
Surrounded as we were by excellent catering
and an abundance of coco bean products this probably wasn't the best
idea...as I would be required to abstain myself! However this lasted for about
as long as a chocolate bar can survive when surrounded by "chocolate deprived"
females...they quickly decided I was being very cruel...normal consumption
resumed and the whole world continued turning!
However it got me thinking... chocolate and photography have often
gone together...or at least if I have a chance they do!
We had a client ask about creating images
for a new chocolatiere they were opening...a particular speciality being chocolate dipped fresh strawberries...could we create images of the process? Could
they bring a large supply of chocolate and strawberries to the studio...all in
the interests of getting the shot right you understand!
I'm not sure if we'd got the shots in the
bag after the first 12 chocolate dipped strawberries...or if the whole tray of
fruit was actually needed...but if it's there we might as well use it! I do
remember having absolutely nothing left in the studio to take home after the
shoot... Oops!
The local French patisserie chef and
his partner had obviously worked with photographers before...the look on my
assistants face as she cut into the cake...after we'd finished the shoot...to
discover the cake was made up of a polystyrene core with just an icing layer,
was priceless! I really should have taken an image for the studio wall...but was
laughing too hard! Which reminds me of the assistant and the crayfish... but I think I'll leave that one for another post!
Working with great chefs, in fantastic
hotels, means we often come across the magic that results from the simple coco
bean...but opening the bedside drawer to find a convenient supply of chocolate
during a long shoot was a welcome respite...it might have been called "The
Chocolate Room" but I'm sure it had been created just for passing
photographers... or National Chocolate Week!
“I used to play the working men’s club round here…” not
quite what you expect your childhood hero to say…particularly as I’d spent many afternoons lying on the living room floor after school watching
Johnny Ball explain some amazing science…
I’ve often said that commercial photography is a license to
access all areas…particularly those which perhaps without a camera in hand
you’d struggle to see…say behind the scenes of a location television commercial shot by
Dene Films for HELP LINK and starring Johnny Ball… another one of the thousands (yes, that’s right…0000’s!!) they have
produced.
So being asked to shoot a “stills package” for a commercial
was an amazing opportunity to see exactly how a large crew works together...and
I do mean a large crew, as unlike many photoshoots where “3’s a crowd” with
even a small television commercial there’s quite a crowd!
It was only really clear just how many people are involved
when they all managed to squeeze into our studio (and here’s a reminder of what the studio could look like) to shoot some “green screen”
images for later compositing! As the fleet of vans the crew travelled in "occupied" the carpark behind the studio it was amusing to see the shocked look on our usually unflappable security!
Earlier in the day we had taken over a small quiet cul-de-sac in a housing
estate, found by a location scout…with house exteriors dressed and prepared…which effectively “detained” the homeowners inside for the
duration…though they could be seen peeking through upstairs windows all day!
My role had no requirement to direct events…unlike a commercial location photoshoot…so it was great to watch and record the whole process…the
professionalism of the “talent” Johnny Ball, who was just as funny as I
remembered…both on and off camera…and the combined efforts of the Director Mark Lediard and all the crew to make the shoot a creative and technically successful.
This despite
the sun deciding to play “hide and seek” which made continuity between set-ups
a little too exciting at times…and here it was interesting to see the use of
large scrims (diffusion material stretched across frames used to soften the
direct harsh light…I know, I know...but yes we had some...several of the crew and myself had the sunburn to prove it later in the day! ) to help balance later scenes shot under harsh cloudless sunshine with the earlier soft, cloudy
light.
There was also a cheeky appearance from the Director's Canon 7D, apparently great for scouting shot angles before rigging the expensive Arri pro camera... easier and lighter to carry up ladders to check the viewpoint!
The day ended at our studio, where the crew used our “green
screen” to shoot Johnny apparently interacting with the on screen graphics…and
I shot some portraits for the web site. It was interesting to see how the Director of Photography, Si Bell and lighting grip Richard Haigh chose to light the shot…using KinoFlow and our own
studio bounce boards to achieve “key light” and “fill” all from the same single
source…you re-learn something everyday!
So to see what the final result looks like … and no you will not spot me… there are definitely no "close-ups" of me…anywhere…!
Bit of nostalgia this…but back in the early 80’s…the 1980’s
before you suggest otherwise…my mates and I had just learnt to drive, passed
our driving tests and were relying on our Mum’s to let us practice our skills.
After all Mum’s car was just there, parked outside…
Unfortunately my Mum’s car was a maroon metallic Austin Rover METRO…not cool!
We’ll gloss over the fact this replaced her Volvo, which I
crashed…though in truth the sight of the Police car passing the crash site…backwards…followed
by the appearance of the two officers…walking…clearly “upset”…carrying the
“Road Closed” sign...along with the expleatives with which they described the
road…suggests it wasn’t all my fault…honest Mum!
With new found opportunity and interest in all things
smelling of petrol we quickly developed an interest in all motorsport,
particularly rallying, as around us…well a short drive away…in Mum’s car…you’re
seeing a theme here…were the great forest stages of North Yorkshire.
I still vividly remember the blaze of lights and blarring howl which heralded the sudden
appearance of the first AUDI Quattro we’d ever seen…”seen”
being a slight exaggeration, in the freezing cold and driving rain of a night stage in
Cropton Forest! Too quick even for the whistled warning of the marshals…the shockingly
efficient appearance of four wheel drive was a revelation…the future in
rallying was clearly 4x4!
So when Rover unveiled the “visually challenged”
Rover Metro 6R4 I didn’t feel quite so bad…because it was my Mum’s car…well the roof
was, but apparently not much else! When Aytron Senna got behind the wheel of
one… well that was it, Mum’s car was clearly a bit cool…ish!
I’ve always had a soft spot for the “ugly duckling”…I think
it’s got charm, character and looks great…purposeful. I did back when I first tried to capture them with
a Pentax ME Super, Fuji 400D E6 and with “on camera flash” (moving on
now…nothing to see here…quite literally, most times!!) Better above…Canon 5DMk2, EF 400 F4 DO IS…a few years of practice helps...and whilst shooting a stills package on a video shoot last month I
met a kindred soul…who actually now owns one…but that’s another story…
