Documentary Photography

Funeral Photography and Video

March 26, 2024 in Documentary Photography, Funeral Photography Video

Documentary Storytelling Funeral Photography and Filmmaking.

This isn’t normal is it?
It’s not every day that someone dies within your close circles but when they do, you, your friends, families and communities come together to unite in grief and also celebrate the lives of those that have left this realm for the next.

On their final day with us, following the departure of their soul, some people find it in their hearts to want the day recording with photography and or video to tell their final story.
Sure it’s a sad affair with plenty of tears but also a time of love and togetherness.
One local lady commissioned me in 2022 to do some photography at the funeral of her son who committed suicide, which was devastating for her and his young family that he left behind.
Sadly her husband also passed away less than two years after her son and I was invited back to document his final day.
This time I took it a step further and created a highlights film.

Here it is, but please only watch it if you don’t mind welling up with tears and be strong….

Hybrid Funeral Photography and Video Film

If this is something that you might wish to consider for your loved ones or recommend me to someone else that might be interested, please point them towards this page on my website….

Funeral Photography and Filmmaking

Hinckley & Burbage Photographed Is Going To Market

August 25, 2020 in Art Products, Blog

Developing An Art Project

I’m expanding the Hinckley & Burbage Photographed project to have a physical shop front on Hinckley’s traditional market.

For quite a few years now, my project Hinckley & Burbage Photographed has been going through some major transformations. I’ve gone from making photography for fun and to practice the art since the project began in 2012 to selling art products with my photographs in 2020.
The journey has been wholly experimental, pushing myself to always do better next time.
Last year in 2019 I produced the very first calendar for Hinckley in Leicestershire, the first the town had ever seen. It all started when I discovered a supplier that operated a special scheme for photographers to produce calendars, where they only allow one per area and create incredibly good quality products.

I never intended this project to make money and it was always about the community, documenting life and the environment surrounding us and enjoying the connection between our environment, photography and humanity.

Life has changed already for many of us experiencing this new Covid world. Much the same for myself in losing all of my commissioned work for the year and haven’t earned anything, also falling through the cracks of self employment grants. I began to innovate and developed a new product range from the one thing I did have; an archive of photographs.
When I produced my first calendar for 2020, I never thought for a minute that they’d be the least written on calendars of all time!

As time has progressed, my suppliers have introduced 1,000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzles to their product line, which I went straight ahead and created my first series.

I now have 9 puzzle designs available, which can be found in my online shop…

Jigsaw Puzzles

The puzzles have really taken off and has had an influence on my style of photography. To make good puzzles, I”ve had to learn what makes a good puzzle and then translate that in to the physical landscape. It’s a tough challenge to find good ideas and I’m really enjoying the journey.
I have two collections and 9 different designs. Some of the designs work better than others and all have a puzzle rating of between 5 and 10. I think I have one puzzle that reaches 10 on the puzzle scale, which is Hollycroft Park. It’s supposed to be very difficult because of the tones, colours and shapes in the puzzle. It was one of my first ones and since then I’ve created and developed new designs that really have caught the attention of a new local audience.

This next puzzle in particular is has already started selling on a pre ordering system.

The Horsepool in Burbage.

This particular puzzle is a beautiful romantic wintery scene with snow and Christmas lights decorating the scene.

Market Stall

I’ve been building stock levels, investing in the idea of selling my new products on a market stall in Hinckley every Saturday and possibly in the week on a Friday or a Monday on occassions.

I’ll also be selling my latest calendar for 2021 on the stall.

Jamie Hunt, owner of Brookfield Signs & Graphics has agreed a deal to sponsor Hinckley & Burbage Photographed and donated this banner to use on the front of the stall.

Myself and Jamie Hunt from Brookfield Signs & Graphics, who has become a sponsor of Hinckley & Burbage Photographed. Jamie has donated this banner to help with the aesthetics of my new market stall venture.

Visit my online shop to purchase a calendar.

Shop

I’ve also created a book called Locked Down, which is a collection of portraits showing 36 different families through their windows, juxtaposing them against the reflections the world their locked away from, during the Global Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. Accompanied with personal text about how they’re all surviving lockdown and what their thoughts were surrounding the major events as the virus broke out in the UK.

Book info

I hope to see you on the market soon.

What Can Street Photography Do To Help?

June 10, 2018 in Street Photography, Documentary Photography

Street Photography Skills Are Transferable

It's the hardest genre of photography to pick up!

Firstly, the genre of Street Photography is the single most difficult genre of photography to do, be good at and to practice because you're simply pointing your camera at strangers in the street. In today's society, people are becoming more and more aware of their image appearing on the internet and usually, object to having their picture made by a stranger on the street.

In this picture above, I noticed the man approaching this painting and realised that he looked incredibly similar. The moment happened in slow motion and I couldn't believe what was happening at the time. I was completely tuned in to the environment when I came across this scene in Artists Square in the Montmartre district of Paris. I had to make sure the exposure was right, using manual controls on my camera, get the focus in the right place, frame the shot and make the picture, all without being creepy, obvious and with respect.

I noticed this dog in the window, while scouting the centre of Birmingham, looking for street photographs and because there was a reflection in the window below, I had to position myself so that I wasn't in the picture as a reflection but wait until the right person passed the scene to get them in the picture. This was a necessity for the image because the general consensus for a street photograph to be classed as that, there needs to be a human element in the frame.

Most of the time a street photograph works best in black and white. There's an old saying that when you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes but when you photograph them in black and white, you photograph their souls. For a picture to work in colour, the colour in the picture has to matter. The colours in this picture (above) matter because they're quite striking and demand attention. In black and white, this picture would just be a very average one, even now, it's still an average picture by comparison to others work.

Where I've said that Street Photography skills are transferable, I'll explain. You see, to make a street photograph, you have to really tune into your environment, slow life down and watch humanity passing your eyes. You're effectively people watching but looking at the world and these people with an artistic eye. You look for meaning and a way of making sense of life. You have to be very quick with your camera too and learn to move unseen around the city. Using the skills of a street photographer, you can learn to apply them to a commercial setting. For example, I do a lot of documentary photography for my clients, telling real stories with my camera for promotional and positive reasons. I often get commissions that require my street photography skills because it tells a certain amount of truth as opposed to designing a photograph and this is a valuable commodity for certain organisations.

The above picture is purposefully blurred because it was made in Amsterdam and it was towards the end of the evening, with this demonstrating how I felt at the time. There's a human element and it's not close up but I've photographed the environment and placed a person for the human element within the frame.

This picture is also blurry and was made in the red light area of Amsterdam. The blur is from an intentional camera movement designed to create a hectic vibe in the picture. Its design is to create tension in the frame, to make the viewer feel the chaos of the night in that place.

I made the above picture in my hometown of Hinckley Leicestershire at the end of the LOROS Colour Fun Run. The light was low and casting long strong shadows. The floor was covered in paint powder from the race and it made an interesting picture. I stumbled across a child rolling around on the floor in the paint and loved the frame with the bollards, almost creating an invisible box.

The above picture was from the same fun run as the photograph before and catches a very unique moment in time where these three girls are holding hands passing through the place where they're doused in pain powder. The paint itself is flying through the air and offers strong evidence of time stopping. There's also an element of the environment in the top left corner for reference, it also provides context as opposed to the paint blocking out any visual reference as to where it is. These are strong skills that can be applied to photographs for a commercial setting, especially within the events genre.

So in essence, Street Photography skills are the hardest to acquire and learn. I remember the first time I pointed my camera at a stranger in the street. I was so worried that they'd be offended and it wasn't until I learned how to do this properly without them realising and even noticing me that my pictures started to work. It's all about getting close to the subjects and telling the real story or even making up your own. To make a picture instead of taking one is the difference. Anyone can take one but making one is the difficulty and why only some pictures work and others don't.

I don't shoot weddings anymore, I used to but fell out of love with it through some awkward clients being painfully interfering with the process. My point here is that if you shoot weddings, Street Photography can really help your style, it's how you need to shoot a wedding really. Once you've done all of the portraits and the time comes to make natural looking pictures of the guests and wedding party enjoying themselves, these skills come in very handily.

I've always found that by learning to shoot street, it's sped up my decision-making process and the way in which I think visually, happens so quickly now. I can only put this down to the skills being transferable.

Try it for yourselves.

PR Photographer, Midlands

May 01, 2018 in Professional Photographer, Public Relations Photogra

Public Relations Photography Midlands Service

All good leading brands need to self promote

How my PR photography service can help your brand?

I'll answer that question easily enough, I'm great with candid photography. I'm a street photographer at heart and this genre of photography is a very fast paced pictorial style that can't be done well by just anybody. The snapshot is often and incorrectly disregarded because of the quick nature in which they have to be created. It actually takes great craft, skill and observational techniques that can only be grown by a practicing and experienced photographer.

Sajid Javid (Home Secretary) & Phillip Hammond (Chancellor of the Exchequer) at Morris Homes, Leicester.

The story is always the important part of the picture and in the image above, Sajid Javid who was at the time of this photoshoot, was the Secretary of State and Phillip Hammond who is still the Chancellor of the Exchequer. They both visited Morris Homes in Leicester as part of a PR stunt aimed at boosting the new Homes England campaign by the government. In this picture Hammond and Javid spoke with house building apprentices in one of the show homes. They were genuinely interested in what the apprentices had to say.

I had to light this image with a speed light in order to bring out the details of the people with this being inside a fairly dark room (for photography). The PR shoot was mixed and based both inside and outside, with me moving quickly between environments. Many lighting factors had to be considered and worked around to get the images clean and crisp enough for professional usage.

Sajid Javid, Home Secretary, Public Relations Photography Shoot.

The above image was made outside and extra lighting wasn't required to get that candid feel. Lighting always make everything look staged. I was hired purposefully to create a documentary feel to the images.

David Treddinick Politician Hinckley & Bosworth MP

David Treddinick visited an event that was held by Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council at The Royal Arms in Sutton Cheney in the district of Hinckley & Bosworth. The event was a celebration and event for the tourism industry, filled with many local businesses in the district like Twycross Zoo, Bosworth Water Park and Tropical Birdland. I was hired at the last minute, and luckily I was available and always happy to cater for emergencies and urgent requirements.

Employees at JJ Churchill Aerospace Engineering Ltd.

I was hired by a marketing agency to provide some pr photographs, product shots and studio styled headshots of the Directors for JJ Churchill Aerospace Engineering in Market Bosworth. Churchill's required imagery for their website and also for some marketing material at a trade show. This was also a last minute booking and I was hired urgently with a premium request for the turnaround of the images within 24 hours. I provide an overnight service that helps companies complete their marketing needs at late notice and with precision.

Diabetes UK booked me to provide documentary styled images that could be used for public relations and to help push focus towards their charity, hopefully gaining support, donations and convince parents to pay for their children to attend their type one events.

What ever your visual requirements are, what ever your budget is and whether you need still or moving images. I can provide you a tailored service that gives you a service and product that meets your budget.

My diary is very busy but I do have spaces for new business, so if you have any pr photography requirements, then please don't hesitate to get in touch.

I also provide services for:

Website Imagery
Marketing Photographs
Public Relations
Moving Image
Documentary Photography and Filmmaking
Corporate Portraiture / Headshots
Landscape Photography
Street Photography

The best thing to do if you think you might be able to use my services is to make a note of my contact details and / or just get in touch now.

Contact Me

Photography Adventures

November 30, 2017 in Astrophotography, Documentary Photography

Immersing in Photography

Photography is so yesterday

I covered a roof top party for Mode Transport Planning at their head offices in Birmingham during the Summer and towards the end of the night, my wife Lisa discovered these cool stairs. This week I hand delivered a framed print for them and was proud to hang it on the wall in their office.

I've managed to raise £1500 for a photographic project around my home town, involving 60 local business owners. The project is to create environmental portraits of each self employed business owner.

I'm running a niche workshop on Monday evening, creating low light urban photographs.

The documentary styled short I've been working on for Diabetes UK is finished and we're awaiting news of a release date. I'm looking forwards to sharing this with you, it's been one of my favourite assignments this year.

I can't forget graduating from university as a mature student this year. Studying photography has been a long old slog in the establishments. I've loved every minute of it, even the minutes I wasn't that tickled about.

I've enjoyed getting creative with my camera, learning to create photographs out of the ordinary that make me feel good about them. Most of the time, just for the hell of it.

Danger High Voltage from the series 'Sublunary 1'

I'm working on getting some of my best work printed and made available in my online shop.

Learn More

Yellow Is The Colour Of Sunshine

October 13, 2017 in Documentary Photography, Landscape Photography

"Of the colour between green and orange in the spectrum, a primary subtractive colour complementary to blue; coloured like ripe lemons or egg yolks."

Often Yellow is a beautiful colour in the Sun and is synonymous with nature, the brightest of all the spectrum and the colour that usually automatically attracts the eye toward.

This is a short body of personal work that is experimental in practice. Something which I do to keep my eyes trained on the world. I find work like this is more a test for myself to prove to myself that I see things differently to others and my desire to share my vision of a slowed down world, brings your attention to this project.

This is my personal work that I sometimes like to just go out for a walk to see what I can find. A test to see what my eyes and mind are looking at, something that puts me in the zone.

I had no brief, just walked and worked with what ever the environment presented to me.

If you'd like to chat to me, click here.

Commercial Documentary Photography - Diabetes UK

September 25, 2017 in Commercial Photography, Documentary Photography

Commercial Documentary Photography Midlands

Diabetes UK

Type One Events

Recently I was commissioned by Diabetes UK to produce a still and moving image documentary of their Type One Events so they could use the images in their 2018 marketing campaigns. The moving images were for a documentary film and a short trailer for social media.

I'm always grateful for every bit of work that I get along the way and this assignment was no different. In fact it was special to me because they chose me for my style of working and not because they just needed a photographer or filmmaker. Their marketing team found my website and preferred my work above most of the other photographers that they came across. So for me, this was special and encouraged me to really zone in on the assignment.

I can't show you the films yet because they're not allowed to be viewed until the proofing stage has been completed and I get the green light on the final production. It is for their 2018 marketing campaign as well so I have to be careful where I show the work.

Plus it needs a shed load doing to it in post production after the first proofing has been done.

What I can show you is a small selection of my favourite pictures from the Type One Event.

These events are for 8-10 year old children who all have type one diabetes and are designed to allow the children to experience life together, with other type one children, to feel normal and inclusive. They also learn easier ways to manage their intake of insulin in softer ways, so that they don't realise they're learning. You can get more information about Diabetes UK and their Type One Events by clicking on their logos below.

Working with the children for the day was so special and they gave me a real zest for life, just by being themselves. This helped me to be with them and make such a close body of work with the main brief being to work closely without interference, my speciality and no flash required...

Contact me

A Commercial Film Production To Remember

August 20, 2017

I was booked by Diabetes UK to produce a commercial film, a trailer and a series of documentary style photographs. They came to me because they wanted the natural candid feel that I often produce. They wanted a sense of fun to help promote their Type 1 events to the children and parents who have to endure type one diabetes on a daily basis.

I jumped at the chance because I felt that working with such a genuine and helpful charity is how I want my business to be seen. I always offer a generous discount to charities. This opportunity was to work a a large group of 8-10 year olds who all have type 1 diabetes and these events are designed to help the children learn to manage the diabetes on their own, and to continue to enjoy a normal, healthy and active lifestyle.

They attend without their parents and love every minute of it!

Shooting this film and producing the documentary is up there with the best commercial project I've been commissioned to do. The children were an inspiration and genuinely warmed my heart.

I'm currently at the proofing stage and won't be able to release the film until it has been finalised but rest assured, as soon as it is, I'll be sharing it here.

Maybe a sneak peak at one of the pictures...

Diabetes professional photography and film.jpg

Diabetes professional film and photography.png

You can click through the logos for Diabetes to go to their website and learn more information.

If you'd like to enquire about commissioning me for other assignments, please contact me here.

Beautiful Suicide

July 25, 2016 in Documentary Photography

Almost 20 years ago, I lost a very good friend to suicide. Jamie was his name, he hung himself in the flat that we shared over a bout of hidden depression. He left this world from the comfort of his own home. It left a trail of destruction behind that has been dealt with but never forgotten. The feelings of pain, loss, grief, anger, isolation are too real when you're left wondering why.

Mental illnesses have been looked down on in the past by few but in 2016, more and more people are more sensitive to the very real nature of the beast, yet it still goes on. As we approach the anniversary of the late celebrity Robin Williams, it seems appropriate to raise more awareness.

This project called 'Beautiful Suicide' is a disconnected view of an area of outstanding natural beauty along the Jurassic coast line of Devonshire, in particular the cliff top walk from Exmouth to Sandy Bay. The walk begins with a sign for the Samaritans, which immediately draws your attention to the historical nature of human suicide through association. Yet these cliff tops are so beautiful when looking out to sea and the surrounding countryside.

It's hard to imagine somebody taking their lives when they have so much beauty staring them in the face but they do.

They leap to their deaths, leaving behind stunning views of the world.

Perhaps it's more beautiful where they go to?

Perhaps, to them it doesn't matter?

Perhaps, to us, they do!