The rugged southern coastline of Sri Lanka is well known for its surfable waves and the fishermen who cast off the beaches in a traditional style. With this in mind, I set out to document the people and the landscapes both inhabit. Travelling along the southern coastline with an intent to capture a sense of unity between these two realities. Surfers and fishermen feel like they both live harmoniously side by side to me. In a way - it’s the shared respect and appreciation they both have for the sea which connects them in some way. I shot at dusk and dawn everyday, knowing this would feel the most atmospheric and also give me the best chance of meeting both groups. I wanted this story to have a sense of calm tranquility, because the environment and the people have this energy about them. It felt right to mix still life details into the story to communicate moments that feel compositionally similar, reflective and almost meditative.
Sustainable eyewear brand MONC commissioned me to direct a film about sculpture Sophie Sellu. Creator of Grain & Knot - Sophie crafts beautiful home objects, exclusively made from storm fallen timber. We spent a day in the studio, talking about her process and what she loves about MONC's timeless pieces too. The film featured on MONC's homepage, accompanied by a photographic story I shot whilst making the film too.
Running has always been a passion of mine. As a sports photographer, I love capturing the essence of running. It's something I share with the athletes I photograph. London is rich in architectural beauty, providing an array of stunning backdrops and locations to explore, allowing me to craft images with a strong sense of narrative. This particular shot features Karys, a talented runner from the UK in action at The Barbican, catching the last rays of afternoon sun. Check out the full editorial and my other sports photography on the stories page here.
Portraits of #grenfell tower survivor and campaigner Ed Daffarn to accompany Sunday Creates poignant editorial interview for the RICS Modus magazine. Ed tells his own story of that night and shares his views on how much more needs to be done to bring justice to the victims and return dignity and respect to people living in social housing. Big thank you to Sunday Creates and Peter Bailey London.
It's a real honour to be selected as a finalist in the sport's moving image category, at The AOP Photography awards for our film HYDRO-K this year. Apparently the finalist places have been fiercely contested across all the awards categories this year, with judges expressing how the exceptional calibre of entries has made the judging process so difficult. So it goes without saying how happy we are to be included! Winners will be announced live at the AOP Awards Showcase on Wednesday 20th of April 2022. This image will be included in the event exhibition and will also feature in the annual 2021 AOP Awards Book, well worth getting your hands on a copy if you can.
I travelled over to Murcia in Southern Spain to shoot this documentary series with Bombay Sapphire for the launch of their new Premiere Cru gin. Big thanks to Studio Yes who are a great bunch to work with.
The kind folks over at AML London have let me put my work up in their lovely office in The Tea Building. Providing an antidote to winter in London, this is a warm and playful series produced in Southern Spain. For many, van life is much more than a traditional camping holiday. It represents a shift in how we think about wellbeing and the society in which we all live. A sub-culture of minimalists embracing a simple life. Searching for a sense of community whilst creating time to facilitate the things they want to do. Thanks to my agent Peter Bailey London for arranging the exhibition.
My short film The Fell Runner has been making waves on the film festival circuit, having been nominated as a finalist in the AOP Awards and selected for screening at The Oxford Short Film Festival, as well as making official selection for several other highly respected festivals. If you haven't seen the film yet, you can watch it here. The film showcases the beauty and challenges of the sport, a type of hill run that requires endurance, skill, and determination. As an ultra-running enthusiast, I hope It's a must-see for anyone interested in the world of mountain runs!
My image of Jason has been used in a campaign created by CDM London. Big thanks to my agent Peter Bailey London.
Kelsey 'Hydro' Miller is not just a dancer. He's more of an artist who explores and expresses movement in a uniquely poetic way. The film offers a window into his world, his iron cast resilience in the face of a life altering diagnosis and how this experience has shaped his outlook on life's challenges.
I recently shot the 'For Them' life insurance stills campaign for Legal & General in London, with the great people at Oliver Agency. The Peter Bailey Company won the work for me and Pop 35 did a lovely job on the post production. We shot this campaign on the back of the TVC, directed by a really nice chap by the name of Ben Williams.
My Dad used to be a fell runner in his youth sparking the initial inspiration for this film project. Fell-running is a sport that involves running over mountains. Gruelling marathons of more than 20 miles which still remain mostly unknown local events. This is a portrait of Calum from Cumbria, a new school fell runner with his feet firmly in the old school. We gave ourselves two days to film the project, recording Calum’s voice-over in a pub near Windermere. Lugging the Pelli cases and camera gear up steep mountain tracks was a real test on the team, however everybody was keen to do their best and it certainly was a labour of love.
Earlier this year I spent four days at Mount Pleasant Studios with Hogarth and Publicis Paris who commissioned me to shoot stills and direct the brand’s new TVC for Pure Life spring water. We shot the moving image on a green screen cove, working with a VFX supervisor in order to add things like exploding fruit in post production. Alongside this we had a stills set running so talent could jump from one to the other which was a fun and dynamic way of working. We produced two 10 second films plus 10 images per day - the images were all similar to the above; interchanging cast and moving through a range of products from bottles to cans and all the different flavours too. A great big thank you to my lovely agency Peter Bailey for winning the work.
New work from a recent project for OMD Worldwide. We travelled three continents to document the culture of global media communications agency OMD to celebrate their staff at work and play. This shoot was unique because it was commercial by nature, yet we photographed real people in an authentic way - so more of an editorial feel really. Very small team, documentary style, being present whilst capturing the passion and uniqueness of the people we met. Continuously meeting warm, kind and amazing people in each city we arrived in. The project was a dream come true - combining my love of travel and lifestyle photography. The image featured was taken at OMD HQ in New York.
Do you want to learn how to take professional photos? Here are some professional photography tips that will show you how to make your pictures look more polished.
To inexperienced photographers, taking a great photo can seem simple: just point and shoot. But anyone who’s tried to learn how to take professional photos knows that there’s a lot more to it than that.
From choosing the right subject and setting up a cool composition to finding the best light, it takes a lot of consideration to capture a great photo.
If you want to take your photography to the next level, here are some tips to help you learn how to take good pictures. Once you get a hang of these basic pro techniques, it should vastly improve your results.
The best part about knowing how to take professional photos? It leads to new opportunities. The more professional-looking photos you’ll be able to produce, the better your online photography portfolio will look. And the better your online photography portfolio looks, the more photography jobs you will land.
Brand PhotographerThe focal point of a photo is the main point of interest. It could be anything from a tree, to a building, to a person (or their eyes). Finding a strong focal point is one of the fundamental steps of how to take professional photos. So when you’re planning out or setting up a shot, you should stop and ask yourself, “What do I want viewers to focus on?”
Once you know what your focal point is, you can work towards making it as strong as it can be. Many of the composition rules below will help you create an interesting focal point that draws in and holds the viewer’s attention.
Instead of positioning the focal point in the center of your shot, it can make for a more interesting composition if you follow the rule of thirds. This rule states that you should place the most important elements in your photos off center.
Imagine there’s a tic-tac-toe grid in front of your shot. That means two lines divide your frame into thirds vertically, and two lines divide it into thirds horizontally. You should place the subject and other important elements in your shot along these lines or at one of the four points where they intersect.
It’s one of the easiest ways to learn how to take professional photos. Instead of having all your portraits look like mugshots, this guideline can help you find a better balance between the main subject and background.
Leading lines are line shapes in your shot that can help guide a viewer’s eyes to the focal point. They can be anything that creates a line in your photo, like roads, fences, buildings, long hallways, trees, or shadows.
The trick is using them take a viewer’s attention where you want it to go. That can include drawing their eyes straight to your subject, or leading them on a kind of visual journey through your composition.
The trick is using them take a viewer’s attention where you want it to go. That can include drawing their eyes straight to your subject, or leading them on a kind of visual journey through your composition.
The direction of your leading lines can also change the mood of your compositions. For example, vertical leading lines can convey a powerful, imposing mood, while horizontal leading lines tend to be associated with calm and tranquility. For more information on why this technique can help with taking professional photos, check out this guide on how to use leading lines in your photography.
Perspective has a massive impact on the composition of any photo. By simply changing the angle or distance you shoot from, you can totally change the mood and meaning of your images.
One simple way to see that is by shooting the same subject from above and below. A bird’s-eye view can make a person in your shot seem small, while shooting from below can make it look like the same person is now towering over you. Shooting from far away can make a person look insignificant, while getting up close and having them fill the frame can convey a sense of power.
So when setting up any shot, spend some time thinking about perspective. Don’t be afraid to walk around your subject to search for interesting angles, and see how drastically it can change the composition’s mood. It will bring you one step closer to perfecting how to take professional pictures.
Finding ways to convey depth is another important step in learning how to take professional photos. If you ignore this rule, your photos can end up feeling very flat and boring. The best way to convey depth is to include some elements in the foreground, middle ground, and background. So for example, instead of shooting your portraits with the person standing up against a wall, bring them closer to the camera, or find a better background with some depth.
Adding a bokeh effect can help when you are trying to add depth to your photos. Bokeh is the term for that intentional out-of-focus blur effect you can see in a lot of professional photos. Often, photographers use this effect to keep the subject to be crisp and clear while the background is soft and blurry. The result is your subject will seem to really pop out of the background.
One of the simplest ways to do it is to bring your subject right up close to the camera and shoot them in front of a distant background. If you have a zoom lens, even better! Use it at the maximum focal length to decrease the depth of field and create an even stronger bokeh effect. When knowing how and when to use bokeh becomes like second nature, you’re on your way to understanding how to take professional photos.
Framing is another technique that can help you take professional photos. It involves finding something that can act as a natural frame for your composition, and then shooting so your subject is inside it. Some examples include a doorway, an archway, some foliage, or a hole in a wall. This type of framing can help direct the viewer’s attention to your focal point.
Also, if the frame is relatively close to the camera, it can act as a foreground layer that adds depth to your image. Similar to creating a bokeh effect in the background, if you manually focus and zoom in on a subject the middle ground, you can keep the frame out of focus, which makes sure it doesn’t draw attention away from your focal point.