Posts Tagged ‘photographer techniques’
This had to be one of the oddest briefs I have ever received. Photograph a box arriving at Heathrow, the contents of the box will not be visible at any time. Now I have been known to work wonders but this maybe pushing it too far. How was I going to get a usable press picture out of just a box. However as two bright yellow eyes peered directly at me from inside I realised I might just get something out of this, though it would be tough. The box contained a Sumatran Tiger being transported to London Zoo for breeding.
All my lens’s were too big to get a good picture through the tiny holes in the box and realising there was no other way I turned to the great enemy of the pro-photographer. Camera phones have never been a favourite thing of mine, even for shooting holiday snaps but it was the one thing with a lens small enough to shoot through the hole.
Thus rewarded with my grainy close up of a tiger, I became very interested to see if it would get used. It brought up some of the big questions in press photography, we all agree that the camera is a tool for the eye of the photographer, but this was a particularly unsophisticated tool. The question is at what point does the right picture become wrong due the poor quality of the tool used? I still don’t know the answer, the shot was used on the Mail Online. I leave the decision to you.
Guest blog by regular TNR photograpgher David Parry
Tags: Broadcast PR, headshots, image, Media, photo, photographer techniques, photographic agency, Press Association
Posted in Online, Photography, PR, PR Photography | 1 Comment »
National Lottery Love UK Campaign June 2007. Geoff Caddick/PA Photocall
On this day 3 years ago PA Hostpics was re-launched as PA Photocall and to celebrate this occasion I wanted to take at look at some of vast and varied projects we have been involved with…
I thought I might begin with perhaps PA Photocall’s most iconic image which was commissioned by The National Lottery for their Love UK campaign back in June 2007. English National Ballet’s Swan Lake ballerinas enjoyed a practice session on the Millennium Bridge as part of the new Love UK campaign to celebrate the £20 billion raised by Lottery players for good causes. English National Ballet and the Millennium Bridge had both benefitted from Lottery Funding.
Our seasoned PA Photocall photographer Geoff Caddick captured this beautiful image…
‘As a photographer I am obsessed with symmetry, this image just worked perfectly. You always envisage how you want the photograph to turn out but sometimes it doesn’t always happen that way, this image was everything I hoped it would be.’ Geoff Caddick
One image which highlights the importance of planning your photocall was this shot commissioned by BAA and British Airways to announce the opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.
BAA and British Airways announce Terminal 5 at Heathrow opening. Geoff Caddick/PA Photocall March 2007
The effectiveness of the image is that it gives the impression of a news picture from what is actually a PR set up. The photo was featured in several national newspapers including The Times, The Independent and The Evening Standard.
An image which is my personal favourite and a testament to not having to use branding in your picture to get your message across is that of ‘Ripley’s’ photocall with the worlds smallest road worthy car which we ran riot with in London’s Piccadilly Circus.
The world's smallest car, the Peel 50, which is soon to go on display at Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Museum of oddities, in Piccadilly Circus, London. Carl Court/PA Photocall
The Peel 50 was to be exhibited in ‘Ripley’s Believe it Not’ Museum in London and they wanted to capture a photograph to mark the occasion. PA Photocall photographer Carl Court followed the little car around as it unveiled to the public and caused quite a stir. The beauty of this image is the reactions of the people to the Peel 50 against the London back drop. The image not only got into the national papers and online but was also featured in the BBC programme ‘Have I Got News for you’.
As far as spectacular PR stunts go this year’s highlight was that of Eden TV’s launch back in January. A 16 foot high sculpture of an iceberg featuring a stranded female polar bear and her baby cub floated on the River Thames. The stunt was to mark the launch of Eden, a new digital TV channel devoted to natural history.
A 16 foot high sculpture of an iceberg featuring a stranded female polar bear and her baby cub on the River Thames outside the Houses of Parliament to mark the launch of Eden, a new digital TV channel devoted to natural history. Geoff Caddick/PA Photocall
After 3 years much has changed and will continue to do so but the ability to be creative, fun and varied will always stay true in the world of PR photography. No one day is the same and each job gives us a new challenge, to that end long may it continue.
Post by Penny Joyner (Marketing Executive for PA Photocall)
Tags: Ballerinas, British Airways, Eden tv, National Ballet, National Lottery, Nicola Charalambous, PA Photocall, Penny Joyner, Photographer, photographer techniques, photographic agency, Photography, photography tips, picture editor, Polar Bear, PR, PR Camapign, PR Photography, Press Association, public relations, public relations photography, Ripleys, Swan Lake, tim kerr
Posted in PR Photography | 1 Comment »
British cheese producer Peter Mitchell sits on top of a half tonne Mature Farmhouse Cheddar, which forms part of the World`s Largest Cheese Board record attempt in accordance with the Guiness Book of Records, Covent Garden Piazza, central London. Geoff Caddick/PA Photocall
Although the history of the PA Photocall service goes back further under the guise of PA Hostpics and indeed PA Photos, this month sees the 3rd anniversary of the PA Photocall name.
So along with blowing out birthday candles and wearing a big ‘I am 3′ badge we thought it was as good a reason as any to have a look back over the last three years & what we’ve been doing.
Three years might not seem a long time, but since our relaunch as PA Photocall in Oct 2006, there’s been some big changes in press & PR.
We’ve seen the londonpaper come, and go, a complete redevelopment of the the concept and content of newspaper websites, an industry shaking recession and the explosion of social media – Facebook in it’s modern form is only about a week older than us, while twitter was still known as ‘twtrr’ and had about as many users as vowels..
But however the industry has changed, photos remain important. Video & moving image has become more accessible and that’s something we’ll be doing more of next year. But great photos retain the ability to cut through complex information and campaigns, and convey stories in a way people intuitively respond to.
Our first PA Photocall commission was to photograph a giant cheese board. However random that might seem, I look at that shot 3 years later & it still stands up; bright, simple, quirky, fun. Any new PR shot that does the same will always have a good chance of succeeding.
Is it harder to get PR pictures into the newspapers now than it was 3 years ago? Yes and no. There’s more pictures around now than ever before & technology makes them easier and quicker to take & distribute. As a result the papers have become more demanding, a celebrity just standing there in a branded t-shirt isn’t going to do it anymore. But good launches, stunts, events and news, where the picture has been an integral part of the activity rather than just tacked on at the end are still in demand. In an age where papers are employing less & less staff photographers, PR photos are important again.
Looking through the files I also see later that first PA Photocall week in October 2006 we also photographed the Sugababes. Three years on the Sugababes have just announced another line up change, yet in a strange way remain exactly the same. There’s something similar with good PR photography. To a certain extent the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The Sugababes smile backstage at the Girlguiding UK Big Gig, an exclusive concert for Girlguiding UK members at Wembley Arena, London. Rebecca Reid/PA Photocall
However they’re taken or however they’re distributed, or however they’re seen, at the end of the day the quality of the pictures & the ideas behind them are still the most important thing. Here’s to the next 3 years!
Post by Tim Kerr (Director & Picture Editor of PA Photocall)
Tags: Birthday, celebrity photos, cheese board, Geoff Caddick, image, Media, media relations, Nicola Charalambous, pa, PA Photocall, Photographer, photographer techniques, photographic agency, Photography, picture editor, PR, PR Camapign, PR Photography, Press Association, Press Photography, public relations, public relations photography, sugababes, tim kerr
Posted in PR Photography | 2 Comments »
I have been reading ‘the fat baby’ a collection of stories by acclaimed photographer Eugene Richards who has worked for Life, Time, Newsweek, and Esquire. He is a photojournalist in the truest sense of the word in that he writes how he feels and photographs what he sees putting them together into a story that makes you feel as if you were there. With Richards’s subject matter and style this is very rarely a comfortable feeling, his subjects ranging from mental institutions in Mexico, to conflict hospitals in Bosnia to drugs and gangs on the streets of America.
Richards get very close to his subject matter and his stories are intimate and intensely personal, this is what makes his photography so special. He gets so close to the situations that he is photographing that you have feeling that his subjects no longer know he is there. Strangely this intimacy with his subject allows his photographs to remain completely detached, snapshots of lives lived neither judged nor filtered by his lens.
Eugene Richards is a photojournalist but this book does not contain any news photography, the assignments that he has compiled in this book cover some of the biggest events in world news but he never photographs the events themselves. However it is journalism, he is showing the truth of the lives that lie behind the sensation without cliché something that is very rare and very refreshing if hard to look at.
Richards’s style has really inspired me to try and avoid the temptation to set up too much of the photography I do, to stand back from my subject and wait for a natural reaction. The candid rather than the contrived pictures are so often the best shots you get from an assignment.
http://www.eugenerichards.com/
Post by David Parry (PA Photocall photographer)
Tags: david parry, esquire, eugene richards, image, life, Media, media relations, newsweek, PA Photocall, photo, photo gallery, Photographer, photographer techniques, photographic agency, Photography, photography tips, photojournalist, Press Association, Press Photography, the fat baby, time
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I stumbled across a lovely little exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery last week of Barry Feinstein shots from Bob Dylan’s 1966 European Tour.
Feinstein had taken the classic cover portrait for Dylan’s 1964 ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’ so he was invited to be Dylan’s official photographer for his first electric European tour.
He had complete access to Dylan & his band photographing dozens of shows, but it’s his ‘behind the scenes’ shots that are by far the most interesting. Here we see a private glimpse of Dylan finding his way through the rock star tour routine of hotel rooms, sound checks and travel, emerging as more than the niche folk artist a lot of his original fans wanted him to remain.
Feinstein photographs Dylan surrounded by raggedy kids in Liverpool, striding like a Pied Piper along Edinburgh’s Princess Street, buying boots in Carnaby Street, taking a train from Dublin to Belfast and standing on the quayside wearing shades in the rain waiting for the for the River Severn Ferry.
An American music symbol set apart in a post-war Britain that looks like another country, bereft and grey.
Dylan has always been different things to different people; folk and rock; star and recluse. In these shots somehow Feinstein captures the enigma, frames it for posterity, for us to take our own meaning. We stare at the icon we know photographed in places we know, but in reality we don’t know either, the moments have passed. But great photographs like this embrace their time and place and make something more from it. Times maybe a-changing but the photos don’t.
http://www.barryfeinsteinphotography.com/index.htm
Post by Tim Kerr (Director & Picture Editor of PA Photocall)
Tags: american music, barry feinstein, bob dylan, celebrity photos, country music, exhibition, folk music, image, Media, music, music icon, music photography, national portrait gallery, PA Photocall, photo, photo gallery, Photographer, photographer techniques, photography exhibition, picture editor, tim kerr
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Rankin is a top name in the subversive stream of British fashion photography. Rankin Live is a unique exhibition on display at the Old Truman Brewery in London and gives the public the opportunity to be featured within the work themselves. The exhibition has two separate areas, Rankin Retrospective and Shoot Men, Rankin.
The exhibition looks back at Rankin’s prolific career, from his more commercial work to his more intimate shots. And the co-founders of Dazed & Confused magazine show us a varied selection of photos of Kate Moss.
The exhibition taking place until 18th September made me consider the variety and creativity that Rankin brings to every portrait shot he produces. He rarely, if ever regurgitates the same dull front on image, which lead me to think there is no excuse these days for your business portraiture to do the same. From the outset you may think the only back drop to use is an office with your CEO sat at their desk, but when taking corporate images you want to capture the personality of your business and the people within it, the same way Rankin captures the personality of his subjects.
Jodie Kidd reveals the new World Polo series trophy. John D McHugh/PA Photocall
Not everyone is a fan of having their picture taken, which can result in a stiff almost uncomfortable image being produced. You need to be able to rely on a professional photographer to make your subject feel relaxed and at home in their surroundings. Using an outdoor location can break up the generic shots or even a behind the scenes location will be more interesting to your audience.
Mayor Boris Johnson on the London Eye for the launch of the Visit Britain campaign. Carl Court/PA Photocall
It is good to remember that people buy people so achieving great professional corporate imagery for your business can be one of the key elements to increase sales and notability in a socially media driven world. A nice, clean relaxed profile picture can be the difference between just your friends and family following you on Twitter or a whole new world of potential business.
Post by Penny Joyner (Marketing Executive for PA Photocall)
Tags: boris johnson, business portrait, celebrities, celebrity photos, Corporate Photography, Fashion, fashion photography, fashion week, headshots, image, jodie kidd, kate moss, Media, media relations, PA Photocall, Penny Joyner, photo, photo gallery, Photographer, photographer techniques, photographic agency, Photography, photography exhibition, portrait, portrait photographer, Press Association, Press Photography, press picture, Rankin, rankin exhibition, rankin live
Posted in Corporate Photography | 7 Comments »
I previously wrote a post ‘Real Life Fashion’ and today, I received my long-awaited copy of ‘The Sartorialist’ – Scott Shuman’s debut book containing the images of stylish people from the world’s streets that he has shot for his blog.
Although these pictures are available to view online, I do prefer holding the book and physically flicking through to stop at eye-catching shots and then returning to learn about the people in the shots.
One such flick involved a shot of a rather dapper man who was spotted in Harlem. I thought the story behind his suit was quite extraordinary and very amusing.
When asked about his suit, Shuman had expected the man to say that he’d had it for ages, instead he told of how 10 years ago he had been a drug dealer and when one of his customers couldn’t pay up, she threw the suit at him as payment.
A recent post on his blog cites who his influences are – among them, Steve McCurry – the celebrated photographer who gave us the ‘most recognisable photograph in the world’.
Looking through McCurry’s shots from India, Afghanistan, Africa, Cambodia – one of the things that leaps out at me are the colours that are so vibrant and eye-catching, they become part of the detail rather than just part of the environment.
Another influence is the German photographer August Sander, whose shots are of the people he encountered on a daily basis. Sander’s shots are not of stylish passers-by, but of people from all walks of life.
Although Shuman’s pictures seem to be of the bold and the beautiful, there is a great deal more to them than meets the eye. They are of people that he has encountered on his travels; attracted by uniquely dressed individuals – whether they ooze style and elegance, just look good or give us the impression they have a great story to tell!
Post by Nicola Charalambous (Picture Editor for PA Photocall)
Tags: august sander, Fashion, fashion photography, fashion week, headshots, image, New York fashion, Nicola Charalambous, PA Photocall, photo, photo gallery, Photographer, photographer techniques, Photography, photography exhibition, picture editor, Press Association, sartorialist, scott schuman, steve mccurry
Posted in Photography | 8 Comments »
Andre Kertesz was one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. Working as a war photographer in his native Hungary he later moved to Paris. Here he became part of the emerging Dada movement, an originator of what became known as ‘street photography’ and a mentor to Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa & Brassai. He relocated to New York prior to WWII where he remained until his death in 1985 originally working as a commercial photographer for Conde Naste before returning to the artistic work that had originally made his name in Europe.
One strand that ran throughout Kertesz’s professional life was a fascination with people reading. It’s these photos that form ‘Andre Kertesz: On Reading’ currently showing at The Photographers’ Gallery in London. In the week following the demise of the London Paper & continued debate on the imminent death of print, it’s refreshing to see our inherent connection with the printed word captured so visually.
In Kertesz’s pictures, individuals hunch over books on the street, in libraries, in circus changing rooms, Caribbean dorm halls, New York rooftops, all absorbed in the thirst for knowledge, information or entertainment.
Some reviews see this as a exercise in nostalgia for a passing ritual. I’m not so sure. Kertesz’s photos seem to capture something more than the medium. Substitute a blackberry, a laptop or an ereader for the paperbacks, comics & newspapers and the connection remains. Great photographs like Kertesz’s tell us more about ourselves than we know & perhaps in the parks, the fire escapes and the rooftops Kertesz showed us whatever happens the act of reading itself will remain more important than how we’re going about it.
Post by Tim Kerr (Director and Picture Editor of PA Photocall)
Tags: Andre Kertesz, london paper, newspapers, PA Photocall, photo, photo gallery, Photographer, photographer techniques, Photography, photography exhibition, picture editor, Press Association, printed word, reading, real life photography, The photographers gallery, tim kerr
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From Rags to Riches…
In conjunction with the 32nd anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death on 16thAugust, I have decided to write about the photographer Alfred Wertheimer, who in 1956 was hired by RCA, Elvis’ record label, to get some official publicity shots of their new star.
After Elvis’ first successful television performance on the Dorsey Brothers’ Stage Show at the CBS studio in New York on 28thJanuary 1956, Alfred Wertheimer, a freelance photographer on the photographers rota at RCA’s press office, was commissioned to photograph Elvis’ next Stage Show performance in March. Being a big music fan, Wertheimer jumped at the chance and got his brief: to photograph Elvis Presley (‘Elvis who?’ he proclaimed), and his shot list: head shots; Elvis on stage with microphone; Elvis with fans; Elvis mingling with celebrities, etc.
During and after the initial one-day assignment, Wetheimer photographed Elvis in what became the last period of his anonymity. Wertheimer captured the small group of fans that waited outside the theatre for the soon-to-be-named ’King of Rock’n’Roll’ – a group of fans that within weeks would multiply into hundreds of screaming girls; candid shots of Elvis combing his hair, shopping for new shirts, listening to the first play-back of newly recorded songs that would have an unimagined affect on the direction of music for decades to come, and waiting for his cue to go on stage.
My favourite shots are of his performances. The sheer energy and charisma that radiates from the shots make me wish that I was there to witness the moves that would later be imitated by Michael Jackson, and to hear the voice that inspired so many future singers and performers. Imagining what songs that he could be singing in them make these shots come alive.
The ironic thing about this period and the photographic documentation of it is that in 1956, Elvis was 21 years old – half the age he was when he died. They capture the rawness of a young man who was accused of being possessed by the devil and too sexual because of the unique way he moved when singing – quite an insult given the fact that he grew up singing gospel music in church ‘praising the Lord’.
…from Riches to Ruin
After these pictures were taken, Elvis’ career spiraled out of his control. His image was toned down considerably to appeal to a wider audience. And before being conscripted for a 2-year stint in the US army in 1958, he made 4 good films that could have led to a career as a serious actor. Instead, on his return he made a further 29 films that he was contractually obliged to make – same plot, different location – which he grew to hate. A come-back concert in 1968, his first performance in front of a live audience in 10 years, gave him the bug to go on tour, which only led him to be tied in to another grueling contract where, as the years passed, he gradually became the sorry and sad figure that countless ‘impersonators’ make their living from.
I have enjoyed looking through these pictures as they capture and document a period of his life and career that not many people are aware of.
There doesn’t appear to be a site dedicated to Albert Wertheimer, but “Elvis At 21: From New York To Memphis” is a great book with a wide selection of photographs showcasing Elvis’ performances, and time at his home, Graceland in Memphis with his friends and family.
Post by Nicola Charalambous (Picture Editor of PA Photocall)
Tags: alfred wertheimer, cbs studio, celebrity photos, dorsey brothers, Elvis, Elvis Presley, freelance photographer, headshots, image, Media, music photography, Nicola Charalambous, PA Photocall, Photographer, photographer techniques, Photography, picture editor, Press Association, Press Photography, rca record label
Posted in Photography | 6 Comments »
I spent Tuesday morning as a guest judge for Heritage Lottery Fund’s Postcards from the Park 2009 photography competition.
The annual competition is designed to celebrate UK parks through photos that reflect their role in our every day lives.
2007 Overall winning photo by John Lane taken in Hyde Park, London
My co-judges were celebrated photographer Mike McCartney and Angela Nicholson, Technical Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine. I was really impressed by the standard of the entries, we all had a very enjoyable morning going through the various categories and most importantly I didn’t fall out with my fellow judges!
It was great to be working with people from very different photography backgrounds and seeing how they look at pictures. But despite our different interests, at the end of the day, we all want to see photos that catch our eye, that excite us and that stand out from the norm.
2008 North East runner up photo by Gillian Lauder taken in Derwent Walk Country Park, Gateshead
I don’t want to give anything away about what pictures won, but collectively they’re a fantastic representation of ‘parklife’ in all it’s forms.
The winning shots will form an exhibition on display at Southwark Park Café Gallery from Sat 5th Sept. 2009 and online.
Post by Tim Kerr.(Director & Picture editor for PA Photocall)
Tags: amateur photographer magazine, angela nicolson, Heritage Lottery Fund, image, judging panel, mike mccartney, PA Photocall, parks, Photographer, photographer techniques, photographic agency, Photography Competition, photography judge, picture desk, picture editor, postcards, Postcards from the Park, Press Association, Press Photography, tim kerr
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