Hit the Deck

Sometimes I get to complete a great shoot where everyone is happy and the picture gets pulled by someone at the top. A recent two day shoot for Weekend Magazine is a case in point. What fun was had balancing Channel 4 presenters on a girder in a studio to create a cover spoof of the classic New York steel workers shot. All approved it was supposed to be last week's cover-but no. Bring on Jamie Christmas Oliver. Well, there you go, but a bit maddening when the job is executed to brief and completed on schedule after a fairly hefty shoot. I can't post the proposed cover, but here was the intended inside layout:

Popular posts from this blog

Sir David Attenborough met a lion.

Image
The thing about a commission is that it is rarely straightforward. A while back, Radio Times called to ask if I would like to photograph Sir David Attenborough (again), but with a few 'props'. Hmm,props ..ah yes of course-lion cubs, nice and easy. The idea developed into a simple Lion face/David face picture, except of course, you can't quite plan what might happen. We turned up at David's house on a rainy day complete with backdrops and the usual disturbing amounts of kit. David looked worried when he saw it all. 'Can't we just do a quick snap in the garden?' he said. 15 mins later after much convincing, David let us in to set up in the available space. Thing is, I just wasn't sure exactly what was possible. The lion keepers suggested that milk might be the answer, but endless shots off a milk bottle would not be ideal.  So, lights up and a table in place, I started to try and direct the shoot. Big mistake. David immediately engaged with the
Read more

The Ark

Image
Back in the summer of 2014, I was asked to join a BBC drama filming in the desert in Morocco, with the task of producing all the 'Specials' over the course of a couple of days. Sounds great - yup, I'm up for that. Great cast, great location-now all I had to do was ge the panning sorted. Arriving in the middle of the night, I dragged my bags down to my room with a porter, which was set way back from the main hotel. Keys in, I slumped into the darkened space, throwing my bag onto the floor. Now, when the local porter yelps, you can be reassured that it is ok to join in: My room was covered in ants. Covered. So, being British, I said 'thank you' to my helper and turned to make the best of it. Cut to 5 mins later and I m at the desk asking for help as ants overrun my bags, and I switch rooms. The following day, and I am out in the searing heat. This was a great shoot all round, despite the lack of location power and the occasional 'mistral' windst
Read more