Low Light Urban Photography Workshop

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Night, Low Light Urban Photography Workshop

I'm running a rare and unique low light urban photography workshop in the hours of darkness.

This is one of the very few workshops of this kind in the UK.

I've been making these types of photographs for a long time and have also been running workshops for a long time and never have I wanted to teach this type of photography because it's my specialism and I always wanted to keep it close to my heart but my profession is going in a variety of directions at the moment.  

So I'm offering this opportunity to just four people!

Now only two spaces left! 

Examples of some of my low light urban photography:

More detailed information and booking information below:

Visual Stories From The Streets

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Street Photography Around The World

By Paul Hands

I love to just walk around the city with my camera, watching people and studying their behaviours, trying to understand their stories or at least making one up about them in my head.

Oxford University, Oxford, England

I've travelled to some of the Worlds biggest cities and purposefully walked with my camera to learn about the culture of the city dwelling human.

River Seine, Paris, France

All of my photographs are made candidly and usually the people in my pictures (with the exception of the first one in this blog) don't know that I've made a picture of them.  That is my aim, I want pictures of their characters in the environment acting as naturally as possible.  This is of course, so I can tell a truth of that moment in time and in that place.

Troisieme Quarter, Paris, France

When I make my pictures, I know at the time of clicking the shutter whether it will be produced in black and white or in colour.  I look for contrast if it's to be black and white and the story has to be timeless.

The Clock Tower, Leicester, England

Of course I shoot street photography in colour too, look...

The Metro, Paris, France

When I shoot in colour, the colour has to be anchored.  For example, the anchor colour here is red but that's not all I look for.  There has to be something extra special and the image has to be layered in it's story or the graphics, like in this shot above with the red seats juxtaposed with the mans red bag.

Dadlington Church, Warwickshire, England

Even my own rules have to be broken because in this picture, colour isn't really that important.  The story is what matters here...  You'd never guess in a million years by looking at the picture and in fact that is sometimes quite good because when reading a photograph, part of the structure should be about your implied version of the story.  If you haven't guessed yet, this was a bunch of people waiting for King Richard The Third's reinterment in 2015.

Camden Market, London, England

This is purely about the geometrics of what appears to be a metaphorical time tunnel.  Well that's what was in my head when I stumbled up on the scene.  There's always a human element to my street photography and I don't believe without that human touch it belongs in the genre.

Montemartre, Paris, France

I always gravitate towards Paris for my street photography even though it's not legal to shoot people on the streets there without their permission.  I'm not sure if this is a good thing for me.

One thing is certain that I can't decide whether I prefer shooting street photographs in black and white or colour.  I do know that my favourite pictures are in black and white.

The Metro, Paris, France

Then there's my favourite of all time and one that has won me awards...

Artistes Square, Montemartre, Paris

I love street photography, it's probably the hardest form of photography and is something that usually only photographers understand.  It's like a blood sport but without the blood, usually!

I highly recommend it to anyone that wishes to improve their photography because it teaches you how to make those visual stories.  At the end of the day anyone can press a button and cameras these days make it so easy for anyone.  If you can't make the story though, where's the picture?

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You can also contact me for a chat.

Yellow Is The Colour Of Sunshine

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"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

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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...

American Bedroom by Barbara Peacock

It is with the permission of Barbara that I write this blog.

I discovered a really cool street photography group some years ago now, called Pure Street Photography.  The page was created by a wonderful lady called Barbara Peacock from Portland, Maine in the USA.  There are other amazing street photographers that have been carefully chosen to administer the Facebook page.  Anyhow, this is how I came across Barbara, whom I am Facebook friends with and have never met.

I've watched Barbara create amazing works of photography over the last 5 years and what drew me to her work initially, was the fact she'd been making photographs of her hometown from 1982 - 2014 in a similar way to that which I've been doing with Hinckley Photographed.  

You can have a look at her work for Hometown here.

Her latest body of work (amongst many other brilliant projects) is called 'American Bedroom' and it truly shows how far Barbara has come with her talent for documentary photography.  This series of environmental portraits; documents the people who have agreed to work with Barbara within their most intimate spaces.

The project offers a very gentle and caring insight into the hidden lives of the American people and reveals very detailed and personal moments.  I'm trying not to babble on about the work too much and wish to allow the images to speak for themselves, so without any more procrastinating, here's one hell of a project to give you an insight in to the possibilities of photography done in the right way and by the right person.

This is just a small selection of photographs from Barbara's project, so please go to her website, using this link and look at the rest of the photographs.

Barbara has also just been awarded the Getty Editorial Grant in Perpignan, France at the Visa pour L'image Festival for 2017, which is a huge achievement.  You can read more about her award here.

 

 

Art Work For Sale

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Photography Art For Sale

I'm having a go at selling some of my art work.  If you're an art collector, buyer or perhaps just want to have some great wall art for your home or work, please feel free to have a look at the microsite I use with the Print Space Hub to host the sales of my art work.

Here are some examples of my work that can be printed.

There are plenty of other choices to look through and with a good mixture of colour prints as well as black and white.

If you'd like to have a closer look at my artwork for sale, then please click this button to visit my microsite.

Art of Photography Workshop

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Since starting the Art of Photography Group, this is the first physical workshop I've ran.  I've ran many other workshops but have improved as a practitioner and have learned how to teach people in a much better way.  So I ran a mini workshop for the group on Wednesday night and it went really well.

This was a rescheduled event because the first date was a wash out, it chucked it down and then I had to try and co-ordinate 9 peoples diaries.  In the end we got there, and it wasn't easy watching the weather on the run up to the rescheduled workshop!

The day before the workshop was terrifying (well maybe I'm being a little over dramatic), the Met Office predicted rain all morning and a little shower in the evening.  The workshop was to take place between 6:30pm and 9:30pm.  On the morning of the workshop, the Met Office said it would rain until midday and be dry for the rest.  Then at lunch time they predicted rain all day and all night, until 2pm when they said it would dry up at lunch and then give us heavy showers between 7pm and 9pm.  

I couldn't take this anymore!  So I didn't look for another hour and they said it would be dry all evening.  That was it, I shut down my mac and accepted that.  It wouldn't change again!

I know from experience of watching the skies as a photographer that rain followed by a sunny dry spell usually gives a dramatic sunset.  This is just what I would have ordered for my group, dry weather and a dramatic sunset.

Some of the people in the group were complete beginners and some were amateurs and all were looking to either improve their photography skills or to learn how to use their camera properly.

Each one left my workshop knowing how to use a camera on manual properly, how to set up their camera to give them complete control over their images.  

What's more important with my photography group is that they all have a common interest.

I run the group in the evening once a month.  It's called The Art Of Photography and we have a Facebook group that you can join if you like.  We share information about photographers, styles, have workshops, will be visiting exhibitions and have artists come along to talk to us about their photography on occasions.  You can visit and join the group by following the above link.

If you'd like to learn more about the group and or my workshops, please contact me here.

A Commercial Film Production To Remember

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...

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.

The Ghost of Old John, Bradgate Park

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Bradgate Park's ghost of Old John has been caught on camera!

I went out to Bradgate Park in Leicestershire last night to make some photographs of the Persiedes meteor shower, but as usual I became distracted with making my own different set of  photographs.

There must have been around 30 other photographers on the hill and all pointing their cameras towards Old John and the night sky.  If I had set my camera up in line with them, all of our photographs would have all looked the same.  I checked the backs of some of their cameras and some shots had caught meteors but no land, just sky, stars and a meteor.  I felt that the interest there was lost within seconds of saying 'Oh yes, a meteor'!

I couldn't stand in front of them to get a different composition, so I spent some time observing them making their pictures and then stepped back to design my own, carefully ensuring that not one of those photographers could make or replicate mine.  I decided to not collect any photographs of the meteors because I'd already done it before and I needed different pictures to everyone else on the hill.

It's probably the very thing that has stopped me from visiting this place at night to make photographs in the past, I really don't want to make the same pictures as everyone else.  

Hopefully, I've achieved that, what do you think?

If you'd like to look at more of my work, try starting with my personal work.

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If you'd like to chat with me about my work, please feel free to contact me.

Corporate Business Headshots Leicestershire

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Corporate Business Headshots Leicestershire

Recently I've been working with The Stuart Fletcher & Barrett Group at their head office in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.  They hired me to produce 60 corporate business head shots for their new website.  I managed this in 2 days of location shooting on site with a quality mobile photography studio.

The SFB Group are a nationwide accountancy and consultancy.  They wanted a professional image for every single member of staff.  So I took my time and fussed over the details.

We used a grey back drop, a fixed light shooting through an umbrella to soften the harshness of the permanent key light.  Then I set up a Bowens lamp shooting through a Snoot and pointing it on to the back drop behind the heads of each staff member.  This was by design and also to cover up a wrinkly backdrop!

This style produces a brilliant effect that allows the characters to really stand out from the background and gives each person a unique portrait.

Would you like to see some of the results?

Was that a silly question?

You can click on each picture to enlarge them and inspect the quality easier.

The SFB Group were so pleased with the work that I did for them, that they wrote to me with a review and even placed it on Google so it forms part of my SEO.  

“We used the photographic services of Paul Hands for our Corporate Staff Photographs. We required photos for our new website. Paul was recruited as a last minute booking and he could not have been more accommodating. His attention to detail was a comfort as a client and we received great customer service. On the two days of shooting he was very professional and brought out the smile in every member of staff in his own unique way (a lego car and a gingerbread man helped with this too but I won’t let any further details slip and ruin his secrets to getting you smiling). We had the photographs returned to us within a matter of days and Paul had put each set of photo’s into individual files, per staff member, for ease of reference for us. These little bits of attention to detail really make the difference. The quality of the photographs were crisp and clear and were exactly what we were looking for. We would thoroughly recommend Paul’s services to anybody looking for a photographer, he is fantastic!”
— Rosie Iliffe, The Stuart, Fletcher and Barrett Group

To discuss corporate business headshots and portraiture with me, please click on this link to contact me.