Strid Wood tea rooms needed appetising food photography to show the effort they put into catering in their tea room at Bolton Abbey near Skipton. I duly stepped in to assist, as well as generously dispose of cakes, scones and sandwiches after modelling duties (for food hygiene reasons of course).
We agreed to mimic a contemporary style of food photography – the sort you see in ‘Great British baking’ style cook books, so creative depth of field and plenty of crisp, clean and consistent lighting. For this I used two strobes (portable flash); one key light to give an accented highlight and one for fill to make sure the overall photo is correctly exposed.
Strid Wood were elated with their food photographs which you’ll eventually see working hard to attract visitors on their website and brochures. In fact they were almost as elated as I was with the box full of lime and pistachio cake they let me take home.
Suzy is a professional singer. She needs photographs to promote herself at agencies and secure bookings at events. So we opted for well-lit clean and professional images, enhanced with three and four point lighting set ups to add depth to her profile.
Each time I pay for service from a person I’ve decided to thank them for their time. That’s because no matter how much of the transaction they benefit from financially, they’ll never get back the time they gave to me. Photo by Materials Aart
To me money doesn’t feel like adequate recompense for a resource as finite and precious as someone’s time.
I pondered this conundrum while costing up an estimate for a new job recently.
When you’re estimating how much your resources are worth, the calculation must take into account that some intangible items are tricky to put a price on.
Value is more than the sum of the parts
When freelancers like me work on a project we invest more than just time into it. Things like skill, passion, patience, effort and experience all contribute immeasurably to the overall quality of my finished products.
Copywriting and photography are artistic pursuits too. So as a freelance copywriter or photographer you inevitably invest part of your soul in the copy or photos you produce. That’s why it’s sometimes saddening when our craft gets misused or altered in ways we never envisaged.
For all this existential despair there is hope though. When a job’s successfully complete, the feeling of satisfaction from happy clients and genuinely heart-felt comments from my photographic subjects means the exchange of time becomes a much fairer deal.
Surging through me is that euphoric buzz which follows an intense session behind the camera. But I’m doing my best not to let it distract me from another delicious slice of hot doughy pizza freshly cooked in a wood-fired oven.
It’s about now when I get that sneaky feeling of guilty pride; that I get to do this as part of my job.
We’re on-location at Crosslanes Organic Farm in Barnard Castle for my first photo shoot with Ecology Building Society. And what is an exciting albeit dauntingly ambitious project (to photograph their members at seven disparate locations) is also proving to be a fascinating voyage of discovery.
The brief
Ecology Building Society want to tell stories of people with strong social conscience doing radical and exciting things with their money. And they’ll use my photographs to complement case studies and marketing material on their ethically-led and mission-driven savings and mortgages.
The challenge lies in how to capture snapshots of their members’ lives that illustrate intangible feelings like contentment and satisfaction on camera.
Reportage photography
Natural and informal photographs work best for this kind of brief. So my unobtrusive photojournalistic style was a good fit with Ecology Building Society’s honest and authentic culture.
In the sample photographs here you’ll see relaxed people engaged in activity or conversation which diverts their attention away from the camera. With a little gentle encouragement your subjects feel more comfortable in front of your camera lens and that means better photographs. On-location at Crosslanes organic farm for Ecology building society
Ethical discoveries
Four shoots into the photography project, I’m increasingly intrigued by ecologically-sound homes which are sympathetic to the environment. Yet are ambitious and practical.
I’m impressed by the commitment of Ecology Building Society’s members too. They’re passionate and interesting folk who share virtuous common values, like sustainability and putting their principles first.
Now I want to build my own eco-home. Because I’ve realised that investment in responsible building projects align with my own desire for a healthy balance of realism and enlightened imagination.
Plus the experiences I’ve had so far reassure me that doing the right thing can be affordable as well as rewarding in rich new ways. Bryn Elltyd eco guest house in Vale of Ffestiniog
