Last month I bought some new backdrops for my home studio. I wanted to test some portraits against the backdrop so I invited Isac Conde @ First Model Management to my home studio for a 1hr test shoot.
I was commissioned to shoot Eugene McGuinness for the launch of his new single ”Yeayoubetcha” this image was shot at my home studio using natural light.
Faber and Faber commissioned me to shoot Author Leone Ross for the launch of her new novel “This One Sky Day” which will be published in 2021.
As part of Method’s mission to support more bold, beautiful + colourful communities, Method commissioned me to create 4 surreal and creative concepts of their most loved and new products for their UK and Netherlands market.
The images were shot and styled by myself at my home studio for their organic social channels and were released in October 2020 on their Instagram story and page.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/method_uk/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/method_nl/?hl=en
I was also asked to create a short stop motion image for their social media.
British Seaside Photo published in - The Daily Telegraph, Saturday 20th June 2020.
The Family on the Beach, Southwold, August 2018
Totally Tacos, Food Photography. Shot Styled and recipe by me
I’ve shared my portfolio to some agencies during the lockdown and have been advised to broaden my skills with video and motion. So I’ve been experimenting with some short stop motion videos, here’s a preview of my first video shot last week, it was very fun to do and a lot easier than expected, I’d expect to be creating more videos like these. Shot, styled and recipe by me. Totally Tacos, June 2020.
*** Next time I intend to create a stop-motion video where bites have been taken out of the food to make it look more interesting.
This is a Test Shoot of the Beetroot Crisps, created for brand asset Instagram format, not really happy with the final result but It was good practice.
It’s been a bit of a struggle shooting food during the lockdown without having a food stylist on hand, I’m used to working with Gill Nicholas for most of my test shoots. However, I was desperate to get shooting and practice on new things, I utilised my resources and my cooking skills and brought some staple props to add to the collection and created this test shoot. From experience, preparing food whilst shooting can be rather challenging, however, after a couple of failed recipe and styling attempts, I managed to get the shots I wanted.
A couple of weeks ago I was asked to write a guest blog post for ASTO about my experience during lockdown as a freelance photographer.
READ FULL ARTICLE: https://asto.io/blog/keeping-creative-during-lockdown/
PERSPECTIVES
Two weeks before lockdown approached, I was in full-on ‘pandemic mode’ like most of London. My brain had switched off photography wise and I was obsessing over live news updates 24/7.
I kept asking myself the question: is my business prepared for a pandemic like this?
The answer? Absolutely not. And it was terrifying.
Like most freelancers, I simply couldn’t get my head around what my next steps would be for my business.
I knew I wasn’t going to get an income from photography anymore, jobs were getting cancelled and postponed left right and centre, and I was reluctant to purchase anything as I wasn’t sure where my finances were going.
But I told myself that I couldn’t worry too much about that – it was beyond my control, everyone was in the same boat, I just had to work with what I had and hope for the best. I had already anticipated the beginning of the year to be a bit slow as it usually is, so money wise I was prepared (as I could be).
I also saw an opportunity to get some administrative tasks I’ve been putting off for a long time out the way. I started small, with monotonous logistical tasks such as:
It’s hard to be in control of everything as a freelancer. You need to wear lots of different hats and sometimes administrative tasks get neglected at times, and you don’t always have the time to keep on top of your finances. Having the time to finally get around to these tasks felt very satisfying and like lifting a weight off my shoulders, allowing me time to focus on the creative side of my business.
Getting this done allowed me to focus on something that I know is important, but that a lot of freelancers don’t always think about – my creative skills and abilities. Getting on top of my admin made me feel more in control of my business affairs and allowed me to put more time into focusing on photography, which is both something I enjoy and something I hope will help me pick up work again quickly after lockdown ends.
Simply figuring out how to remain creative was important to me, so once I had updated my schedule of cancellations, I decided to set tasks to create achievable projects for myself so that I could build a strong portfolio during this time. Updating my portfolio helped me feel in control at an uncertain time. My goal is to create images that people can connect with, and having the time to perfect my portfolio has made me confident that I’ll work more effectively in the future.
One of the things that I found most challenging, was finding the right resources for my projects. I’d spend hours researching things to shoot, creating mood boards on Pinterest and jotting things down. Throughout the planning stage of my project, I realised that food, backdrops and basic resources to create my images were pretty much unavailable or had extremely unrealistic delivery times. Every time I had an idea, I would go to the supermarket, wait in a large queue, only to discover that the ingredients or props I had originally planned to pick up for my shoot were unavailable. Things weren’t as easy to plan as expected so I had to improvise and work with the resources that I had. This is how I managed to achieve this shoot.
Planning shoots and activity around my house has been uplifting, and I’ve also started painting, drawing and puzzles to keep the creative side of my brain active. It’s been great to practise these skills that I wouldn’t ordinarily have the time to do.
Something else I’ve found useful is joining a WhatsApp group for photographers, set up by my friend and photographer Donald Michael-Chambers. This has allowed me to connect to photographers from across the world to share inspiration, ideas and topics for discussion. Talking to others in my situation has been brilliant, and the collaborative nature has pushed me to further my own skills and creativity.
Preparing for ‘normal: I know it’s important to ensure that the creative stuff I’m getting up to during lockdown pays off when life returns to ‘normal.’ This week I have been doing a lot of research on creative agencies, producers, photographers and publications. I have also written on forums to get some advice on my website and portfolio so that I can have this updated during the lockdown. I’ve found that as people are working from home with a lot more time on their hands, they generally have a clearer headspace to look at these types of things and provide fantastic advice.
Learning new skills: Developing new skills is also on my agenda, there are a lot of free webinars, tutorials and blogs to look at, so whenever I get a spare moment this is something I am starting to incorporate in my daily schedule. I’ve been doing courses in business management, UX and project management, and have found some great webinars through sponsored posts on Instagram.
Creating a newsletter: I’m currently in the process of creating a newsletter for my business, where I’ll provide monthly updates on my work.
I still have more things I’d like to achieve during the lockdown, but the foundations I’ve laid feel great. I’m feeling confident in where my business is headed and have appreciated having the headspace to create a new business model with a fluid workflow. I’ve transformed my usual ‘working from home’ lifestyle in ways that I hope will benefit both my business in the long run as well as my own physical and mental health.
