News: Peterborough Community Police Ad Campaign Commission

At the beginning of August 2009 I was asked by Cambridgeshire Community Police’s marketing department to photograph portraits for their forthcoming Ad campaign to highlight public awareness and vigilance in the community. All the portraits were taken over the course of a day and were taken of various members of public posed looking at camera from ice cream vendors, community police officers to park wardens and students. The setups were straight forward and all except one used available light. Images and resulting ads are below.

Portraits Cambridgeshire Community Police Advert

Portraits Cambridgeshire Community Police Advert

Portraits Cambridgeshire Community Police Advert

Portraits Cambridgeshire Community Police Advert

News: Cambridgeshire Mencap Photography and New Website!

At the begining of the summer of 2009  I was asked by the marketing and communications team of Cambridgeshire Mencap to undertake photography for a new website and to update existing library images. The work involved visiting many of the homes, services and activities of the service users over a period of just under 3 months. With the aim of the photography to capture creative natural and fun images of volunteers, activities and service users.

Work is now complete on the new Cambridgeshire Mencap website and the site is now live. Cambridgeshire Mencap is a charity based in Cambridge, UK and supports local people with learning disabilities. Their important work encompasses supported living, access to community activites and training. They also support parents and carers providing them with information, advice on relevant issues and backup when they need a rest. Undertaking photography work for Mencap was a real joy and great learning experience for me, and gave me a better insight into the lives of those with learning disabilities and the conditions associated with having a learning disability. As well as the parents and people who support and care for them.

More information about this interesting commission and examples of the results can be viewed here.

Family & Children Portraits

As well as shooting corporate commercial projects in Cambridge and beyond. I get the opportunity to photograph family portraits. This can be great fun for me and hopefully the recipient families. Working without the pressure of a commercial shoot and the weight of masses of equipment I can often photograph with just the available light. Making for relaxed and natural images. Below are examples of some wonderful families from Bristol and Cambridge. More can be seen here Family and Children’s portraits

Baby portrait - Cambridge Series

Baby Portrait - Cambridge Series

Mother & Baby Portrait - Cambridge Series

Mother & Baby Portrait - Cambridge Series

Baby Feet

Baby Feet

Sleepy Baby

Sleepy Baby

Its always good to have an assistant when taking family portraits.

Fun family portrait with help from assistant

Fun family portrait with help from assistant

Cambridge Museum of Technology – Lighting on Location: part1

New images for the Cambridge Museum of Technology. No specific brief for these images. The room used at the museum was full of old radios and television sets,  unfortunately none were working. The children had fun though despite the lack of interaction in the exhibits. I asked them to pose and they really got on with finding ways to look intersted. I used x2 Nikon SB800′s without modification placed on stands on camera right to provide side and backlight while filling shadows from window behind the exhibits. The use of off camera flash helped also to separate the subjects from the background. I also used 1 SB800 fired into the window side wall to help lift the ambient light. See lighting diagram below, handrawn! More example lighting set ups in Part 2

Children enjoying exhibits at Cambridge Museum of Technology

Children enjoying exhibits at Cambridge Museum of Technology

Children enjoying exhibits at Museum

Children enjoying exhibits at Museum

Lighting Setup diagram

Lighting Setup diagram

Volunteer Photography – Cambridge Youth Games

Every year Cambridge District Council’s Sport Development in conjunction with Living Sport host a sports day for children with disability. I volunteered to take photographs of the event. It was great fun!!! As a photographer based in Cambridge I hope to have more opportunities like this!

South Cambridgeshire District Council Sport Development

Prize Winners

Prize Winners

Bowling

Bowling

High Five

High Five

Excited

Excited

CAMSAR-Cambridge Search & Rescue Photography

Cambridgeshire Search and Rescue service training day – All images taken illustrate the service in action and methods of search and rescue for the CAMSAR website and other publicity. It was a very wet start to the day with continual rain making the protection of the camera and lens a priority as well creating well composed images. Everyone was in good humour and seemed not to mind being outside in the continual rain. Much of the day was spent following the various training activities culminating in one of the team groups finding a volunteer missing person. I documented event as they happened and also set up and posed key images.

Search & Rescue Team Briefing

Search & Rescue Team Briefing

Rescue Team Leaders Check Map

Rescue Team Leaders Check Map

Trained volunteer search technicians are assisted by a central control room providing up to date information from the local constabulary and GPS radio tracking technology.

Cambridge Search and Rescue Incident Control Room

Cambridge Search and Rescue Incident Control Room

Volunteers undergo training to track a persons movements.

Search Technicians examining foot prints

Search Technicians examining foot prints

Lighting for the two person portraits below was provided by off camera flash and the ambient daylight. Two flashes were placed behind and to the right/left of the subject and one overhead of camera position with softbox. Sunlight provided intermittent overhead backlight.

Search & Rescue Team find missing person

Search & Rescue Team find missing person

Cambridge Mencap Photography Commission

2 month Cambridge Mencap photography commission close to completion. Results and insights posted here soon. Currently completing final images for the new Cambridge Mencap marketing campaign with new leaflets and website.

CamCreative – Cambridgeshire Meet Up

Went along last night to the Art Picturehouse, Cambridge for the CamCreative – Creative Industries Group meet up. Excellent talk by Sarah Lightman on ‘women in comics,’ enjoyed the insight into her world and the world of women in comic book art. Met with some very creative people in the arts and digital media profession. Looking forward to the next meet up, thanks to Paul Smith for organising the event!