Tag: norfolk

Haines Boats | Product Photography

Product Photography – Haines Boats, Norfolk

Haines Marine are a Norfolk based boat builder, specialising in high quality low volume boats so product photography gets a bit interesting when you’re shooting a boat worth a third of a million pounds! Haines are widely known as one of the best boatbuilders in the UK, probably even Europe. So I was excited to get a call from Anglia Afloat magazine when they were planning a feature on Haines Marine.

The brief(s)

I was to spend a day alongside Justin Haines as he took the Haines 360 along the Norfolk Broads. I discussed the purpose of the shoot with Justin as well as Duncan, from Anglia Afloat, and the key purpose of the feature was to conduct a boat test and show general shots around the boat to support the feature. At the same time Justin was keen to get fresh images for their official brochure and so had quite different requirements for the images. With these slightly differing briefs in mind I set about shooting the boat from a feature/journalistic perspective. At the same time I was mindful that Justin wanted active as well as static shots of the boat for their brochure. In the end I covered many of the unique parts of the boat for the in-depth parts of the feature but also hopped onto another boat we had at our disposal to capture shots of the boat “in action”. All in all it was a brilliant day with access to all areas, as well as two very different briefs to fulfil. The backdrop suited the boat perfectly as this an in-shore boat and the weather played a huge part too.

Editing

While the edit was, in the main, very straight forward with colour correction, exposure balance and mild cropping. Due to excavation works alongside the river some composition and cloning work was required to remove the distracting backdrop. In fact one of the shots of the boat is made up of 3 entirely separate images blended together. Also, with the internal shots there was exposure layering work to be done, time-consuming but necessary to get the right balance of light in the image and make it look entirely natural.

Norfolk Property Photography | Norfolk Commercial Photography

Property Photography

For the last 7 years I have been commissioned to photograph a wide variety of properties across Norfolk (and beyond). I’ve received instructions to shoot all manor of homes, from Apartments to Cottages and Townhouses to Country Manors. The assignments have come from home owners as well as agents, even holiday cottage companies.

For all the show that comes with a glossy brochure, or an impressive website that showcases a property, the key concern is showing off the qualities of this valuable asset in a realistic way, not too much editing (and many fall into this trap of over saturating colours or applying filters, and these can make the images look artificial – a big turn off). Be under no illusion, this is a commercial investment that the seller (perhaps that’s you) makes in order to get the best price. I guess in the same way, if we were selling our car we would have it valeted before we sold it to get best the price, after all you have to make the most of what you have, right?

As Estate Agents would say this is ‘kerb appeal’, and in an age where we rely entirely upon the visuals presented to us on Estate Agents’ website it is essential we make sure that vital first impression counts. I’ll say that again….MAKE YOUR FIRST IMPRESSION COUNT.

I know there are plenty of websites out there to help advise on what to do and what not to do, de-clutter this….repaint that…tidy up the garden…etc. so I’m not going to repeat it all as it’s fairly obvious stuff. I am going to end with a commercial observation for you. Over the last 7 years I have noticed one key thing….. Professionally Photographed properties sell quicker than those shot with a point-and-shoot camera.

So, if a local professional photographer charges around £150 (depending on number of images required) for Property Photography then it absolutely will more than pay for itself when it’s sale time.

commercial interior norfolk photography property

Waitrose Weekend Magazine | Editorial Photography

Waitrose Weekend Editorial shoot

My first assignment for Waitrose’s Weekend Magazine.

I was called, very last minute, to cover a feature for their section called “My Weekend”. This is a section where they interview people from all walks of life to talk about what they do that’s different at their weekend. With one day’s notice, my brief was to get to the Lifeboat Station at Caister, Norfolk, just a couple miles north of Great Yarmouth, and get an environmental portrait but without it being too posed. This is usually a straight forward task, and at a Lifeboat Station there would be plenty of backdrops available. Having checked in at the office I met Paul, he was a friendly guy, but he had a job to do and I, understandably, had to fit in with his routine of setting up the Lifeboat for the upcoming drill that morning. Paul was very accommodating but I had to pick my moment.

Editorial Photography Norfolk

In between his duties, and during constant rain, he called me over and said we had a few minutes as he had to launch the boat, although Waitrose would only use one shot I had to give them a wide choice to select from. I climbed up on the boat and, with rain now pelting down, we quickly moved through a number of shots, while balancing on a wet Lifeboat. Five minutes later, that’s it…we were done. I hopped down from the boat and set off back home to upload the proof shots to the client. A fresh and invigorating, if slightly wet, way to start your Sunday morning for sure.

caister coast editorial feature norfolk photography waitrose yarmnouth