Business Calendars 2020

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Give your customers a calendar for 2020.

They’ll see how much you care about your customers, be reminded of your company every time they look at, use or turn the page.

They’ll also feel how much you care about your local community.

Click the photograph to go to my online shop and buy a calendar.

Click the photograph to go to my online shop and buy a calendar.

The calendar comes with 12 high quality professional landscape photographs of rural and urban places around Hinckley, Leicestershire.

Hinckley Photographed is a project that I created in 2012 and have built an archive, which I’ve curated some of my favourite pictures from the past 8 years to be used in the first ever calendar for Hinckley.

Printed on 250gsm paper, these calendars have an artistic quality about them that feels expensive.

The days are spaced nicely apart so there’s enough space to write comfortably.

A true work of art.

Click the photograph to go to the online shop and buy a calendar.

Click the photograph to go to the online shop and buy a calendar.

What’s the deal?

I will produce a specific photograph to go on the cover and one that relates to your business. Perhaps one of your business or in your premises and there’s also the possibility of another stunning local landscape but with your business name and logo on the front.

On each page, there’ll be your logo and company details so that each month, your customer is reminded of your company.

Calendars are £10 each with a minimum order of 25.

Orders take up to 3 weeks to design, proof and print.

So let’s get talking about this now!

Click the photograph to go to the online shop and buy a calendar.

Click the photograph to go to the online shop and buy a calendar.

The calendar is available to buy in the current Hinckley Photographed form online in smaller quantities but not personalised to your business. Click on any of the photographs in this blog to go to the online shop.

We’ll need to discuss the artwork for your calendar so contact me asap.

Get in touch with enquiries about producing a personalised calendar for your business.




Restaurant & Public House Photography

Professional Photography Service For Pubs And Restaurants

Case Study: The Bulls Head, Leicester Forest West.

Natural Looking Photographs for Website and Social Media.

Tara & Trish Byrne have recently taken on The Bulls Head Inn Leicester Forest West and wanted to elevate the business to be more successful for them and to create a vibrant place to entertain, feed and water the people of Leicestershire.

The Bulls Head, Leicester Forest West

My brief was to produce a series of natural looking photographs that promote the pub and restaurant as a new venture.

Six seater table in the restaurant

Tara wanted to have a classic feel by using black and white photos on the home page of their new website and when his customers enter the site, they’re met with vibrant colour and a lively set of photographs that invite the customer to experience their hospitality.

Looking through to the bar area from the restaurant

Central lounge bar with wood burning stove

New steak menu arriving

Bar dining area

The power of photographs used in a commercial capacity like the promotion of a pub or restaurant, lies in the fundamentals of human nature; we’re just wired to notice, remember, learn from and respond emotionally to visual imagery.

  • Statistically and on average, people remember only 10% of information three days after hearing it.

  • Adding a photograph can improve recall to 65%

  • On social media, articles with a relevant photograph get 94% more views.

  • Images on social media receive 352% more engagement than a link.

The family friendly garden within a rural setting.

Adventure playground, ideal for keeping the kids occupied

Tara and Trish have used the photographs they commissioned me to create, on their new website and social media. They currently have a recruitment campaign using photography to draw attention to their adverts. This is giving the potential new employees an impression of the business, showing they care and intend to promote, keeping everyone securely in employment.

Check out their website.

It solidifies trust in your business when you invest in the image.

Get in touch with me to request a quote.

The Bulls Head terrace at night

The Bulls Head, A47, Leicester Forest West

The Bulls Head, Leicester Forest West rural setting, public house and restaurant

Professional Photographic Service

  • Ideas consultation

  • Pre-production planning

  • Photography creation

  • Post production

  • Delivery

  • After care

Upgrades are available:

  • Documentary filmmaking

  • Promotional video

  • Social media promotion / support & marketing

Please ask about my additional services.

Landscape Photography Workshop - Hollycroft Park

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Autumn Photography Workshop in Hollycroft Park, Hinckley

Join a like minded group of beginner photography enthusiasts to learn how to improve your photography skills.

On this workshop you’ll learn the following:

  • How to set up your camera for landscape photography

  • How to design a frame and use professional compositional techniques

  • How to study the light and create form in your pictures

  • What to photograph and how to identify a good picture before you look through your viewfinder

  • You’ll learn how to adjust the settings on your camera to go with the flow and be more natural making photographs

  • You’ll learn this on a nice Sunday evening in September during Autumn and be with a group of like minded people.

All you will need:

Clothes, shoes, digital camera, a tripod (if you have one) and a love for nature.

You can find more information and book one of the limited places using this link.

If you can’t make this date, sign up for news to your email inbox about up coming workshops.

Adapting As An Artist

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To Adapt with changing times, understanding you need to change is the first step!

I’ve recently had to thoroughly scrutinise myself and my work to figure out how to use my skills for the good and benefit of everyone connected with me.

It’s quite a difficult thing to do, really look at yourself and work out where you’re going wrong, who you are and who you want to be etc. When you discover the bad parts about yourself, it kicks you in the gut but is great for an idea of where to start.

My work life wasn’t really going anywhere. I was picking up the odd job here and there but nothing solid enough to support my family and everything I do is to help them to survive. Our survival was coming in to question because of the lack of direction I had. I felt like I was letting them down, which I was and these alarm bells were ringing for me to take notice.

This is one of the very first photographs in the first portfolio I put together to get accepted on to a level three photography course at NWHC in 2012

Looking back to correct your ways.

There’s not a lot of point in looking backwards but you must remember the mistakes and don’t make them again. It’s how we all grow and the more mistakes we make, the more lessons we get and as long as we understand how to grow from those mistakes, it should be easy to pass through the lesson.

I’ve had to look back at my website because I've had a dry spell where I’ve had no work after working in temporary jobs through an agency. Some good jobs and some truly terrifying! Last week I came in to a bit of good fortune because a talented photographer Simon Turner hired me to second shoot for him at a wedding within the grounds of an old Granary deep in the countryside of Fawsley, Daventry called The Granary Hotel and Wedding Venue. That was awesome, although a real challenge with it being the hottest day of the year and the guests didn’t want to move much, nobody did!

This photograph is from one of my recent weddings. I love this picture because it offers some anonymity to those in the picture with their identities are not completely revealed and the photograph still tells you a story.

This photograph is from one of my recent weddings. I love this picture because it offers some anonymity to those in the picture with their identities are not completely revealed and the photograph still tells you a story.

A Wedding Theme Developing.

I’ve had to look at where my talents lie in photography and it always boils down to street, documentary and the landscape / environment. Wedding photography requires the perfect combination of each of those genres because my street shooting experience keeps me on my toes, I’m alert to my whole surroundings, aware of the little stories developing around me as people live through their lives, interacting with each other.

Documentary style helps me to see where the stories are happening and know where and how to get the photograph without interfering with the scene (as little as possible anyway). The landscape and the environment is the stuff of features and backgrounds. My understanding of combining these skills to produce what I feel is my best work, is where I need to place my efforts.

My filmmaking is an entirely different entity with regards to weddings but it’s a talent that I need to develop.
So I’ve reshaped my entire website to represent myself as a documentary wedding photographer and storytelling filmmaker. I’ve placed my photographic practice in a personal box that can only be commissioned privately or for a wedding.

Ratcliffe On Soar Power Station. I made this while on the way home from photographing a family day with SSAFA (The Armed Forces Charity). This is the kind of image that I’ll be including in with my personal practice from now on.

New Website

With taking heed of my thoughts and desire to develop more as an artist, I’m placing my focus on documentary wedding photography and the production of promotional films. I’ll still be practicing photography as an artist but my main focus of my website is now aiming for employment. I have a family at home and a little girl that I intend on giving a good childhood to.

So if you’re familiar with my website, you’ll notice the stark differences.

I hope this new design works and does the job I’m trying to train it to do. Only time will tell.

This photograph forms part of a nationwide project I have been putting together for the past 12 months, The Quirky English Countryside. I’ll still be building projects like this for the good of my soul and the benefit of the wider community but more on a personal level.

Burbage, Hinckley, Leicestershire.

Please have a browse around my website, starting with my home page, which is where people will land when visiting my site and also let me know what you think and I’d love to hear if you find any typos or spelling mistakes.

Thanks for reading my blog.

Islastones World Record Breaking Day

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A short film documenting the community of Hinckley and Islastone’s smashing the world record.

Isla ‘Smiler’ Tansey would be so proud of her legacy.

This film is dedicated to Katherine, Simon, Harrison and all of the Islastones team.

Creating this film was good for the soul and something that I needed to do to help raise awareness for Islastones and Abbies Army, partly because I feel so close to the cause and it’s a way of me giving back to the community. I also get to practice doing something I love, for filmmaking and telling stories has become my way of life. I’ve made this completely for free. It has cost me very little to produce except for my time, resources and use of my equipment, staying up until the small hours, til 2am, editing and tightening up the timeline but it’s been great fun.

I hope you enjoy the film and please do leave me comments, so I know the hard work I’ve put in to it was worth it. You can leave comments at the bottom of this page or on the social media posts.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog, which will help me reach wider audiences with my work.

If you're interested in having a film like this being produced for your business or organisation, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch so we can share ideas on how to help. Contact me.

The Bright Side Of Life

In all that life throws at us, in every place where life exists, there’s a bright side to everything. If we look with an open mind and see the best in life’s challenges, situations and the environment, we can live with gratitude, appreciating our experience.

I spend much of my time watching life happen around me as if I don’t exist sometimes. I often forget about my own presence and make photographs that help me to understand the world around me in a visually attentive way.

Please click on the gallery to view the pictures with a picture viewer.

These photographs have been made in a wide variety of locations around the UK over the period of 12 months between 2018 and 2019, as far north as Liverpool, south to London and across the width of the land.

Documentary Wedding Photography Showcase

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Documentary Wedding Photography Film Showcase

This short slideshow has been put together to benefit engaged couples looking to choose their wedding photographer.

I’ve carefully crafted and designed this beautiful film with the most amazing song in the background to help carry the emotion of being in love and starting out on the journey to married life.

Before watching this video, I’d like to explain something about my style because you’ll notice that my work is different to what you would normally see. I’ve been trained as a classical documentary photographer through various institutions, finishing with De Montfort University.

My style is documentary / street photography. What that means is that most of my work is unstaged, not posed and mostly natural, reportage styled and candid. Sure I do some posed photography for group shots and special ones for the Bride and Groom but largely, my clients love my work because it’s shows the real story of your day with such a great sense of fun that when you look back at your pictures, you’ll laugh, smile and cry, all at the same time.

I suppose that what I’m trying to say that promotes my style and without coming across like a love myself a bit too much, is if you want unique photography that blows you away for the rest of your life, watch this and get in touch with me.

Did you like it then?

Sam And Dan Get Lost - Comedy Film - Behind the Scenes

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Comedy Feature Film - Behind The Scenes

Sam and Dan Get Lost (played by Robert Lane and Richard Baldwin), formerly Blokes, is nearing the completion of filming the penultimate scenes.

Director - Lee Price

Asst. Director - Cameron Savage

Asst. Director / Lighting / Locations / Media - Paul Hands

Sound - Stuart Tizick

Plus supporting crew.

This blog is about keeping people up to date with our progress during the recording of our comedy feature film. Filming has stopped.

Kind of….

Filming has only really been postponed because of British summer time, the light isn’t fading until 10:30pm and everyone involved is making this film around their current work commitments. Some of our shoots can often go on in to the small hours and it’s difficult to maintain when you have to be up to go to a job in the morning.

We’re aiming at restarting filming again in the Autumn, after the nights begin to draw in again. The whole film is set at night time, one night in the lives of these two guys that have both suffered at the hands of the women in their lives. They collide in an unexpected way and form a comedic friendship whilst on their adventures (getting lost).

The unlikely duo played by Robert and Richard both come from a creative background, belong to an improvisational comedy group called the Improlectuals and have featured at the Leicester Comedy Festival.

Have a look through this set of behind the scenes stills and look out for my next blog.

Don’t forget to keep up to date with our filmmaking, you can subscribe to my blog for news by email.

Feeling the need to check out my photography?

Click here to view my projects.

Sam And Dan Get Lost - Comedy Feature Film

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Sam And Dan Get Lost

A comedy feature film, 95% made in Hinckley, Leicestershire and 5% Nuneaton, Warwickshire!

Formerly Blokes. Film Director Lee Price has changed the title of the film that our small and creative team have been working on since the start of 2019.

Sam and Dan played by improv comedy actors Robert Lane and Richard Baldwin

As a creative team, we’ve almost completed the recording of our new feature film that has been filmed purely around Hinckley and some small parts in Nuneaton, in the middle of England in Leicestershire and Warwickshire.

Director Lee Price gives us information in good faith that we’re about 10% away from completion and then everything that has been recorded has to be put together in post production before we can look at distribution and the possibility of putting a big show on locally for anyone interested in seeing our hard work come together.

I must add that I’ve seen a lot of the footage and it’s really quite funny, I can’t wait to watch the completed version.

Here’s the latest behind the scenes photographs.

You can subscribe to my blog and get these sent directly to your email address.

I don’t write blogs too often, so you won’t be bombarded but I do have some great news coming up soon regarding a 12 month project that I’ve been working on around the English Countryside. I personally think it’s quite exciting because I’ve never worked on a project for this length of time before. So sign up and I’ll let you know when they’re ready to view.

The Film 'Blokes' - Behind The Scenes

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A visual story of behind the scenes for the film ‘Blokes’.

Director Lee Price has written and is producing a comedy feature film about a couple of blokes that unintentionally cross paths for similar reasons.

The two blokes are played by Robert Lane and Richard Baldwin with Kellyanne Mitchell featuring .

We’ve been filming around Hinckley so far and are getting through the script quite well, although have had some poor weather interruptions recently. This is what we got up to last Saturday night.



On this film I’ve been helping out with location scouting, lighting and any other duties. Cameron Savage who has also been directing his own short films, is working the sound, whilst Lee directed on screen, he also manages his crew behind the scenes and much more off set.

I hope to tell you more about Blokes as we progress through the various stages. I’ve been sharing a lot about our filming on social media, Facebook in particular, where I’ve also been releasing new work from a countrywide photographic project that I’m creating. Follow this Facebook page.

If you subscribe to my blog, you can bypass the Facebook algorithms and help to bring things back a little closer to what I remember as normality and get my blog via email.

Recently, I’ve been producing a lot of landscapes and quirky street photography around England and have been sharing this project on Instagram, which is relatively new to me. If you’re on Instagram, please follow me @paul_._hands