visual photographic magazine

8/2/2019 Visual Photographic Magazine

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OnLocation:

Venice

Special

Interview withBAFTA awardwinner:Francis Vose

Takephotographslike this:

Perfect yourportraitsNOW!

& more

VisualPhotographic


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CONTENTS

Visual Photographic | 2

REGULAR3. EDITORS LETTER

HOW TO4. PHOTOGRAPH A BUBBLE

9. PHOTOGRAPH FIREWORKS

13. LEARN THE BOKEH EFFECT

17. MASTER THE RULE OF THIRDS

THE PROS22. BUSINESS AFFAIRS: SIMON PETER

31. AMATEUR PRESSURES: RICHARD BONNER

40. THE KEY TO INDUSTRY: FRANCIS VOSE

49. PHOTOGRAPHY & OPPORTUNITIES: PETER

FEARON

LOCATIONS

54. ON LOCATION: VENICE

62. THE GREAT OUTDOORS: LAKE DISTRICTSNOW EDITION

GENRES

70. BLACK AND WHITE

74. PORTRAIT

79. SHUTTER SPEED

January 12 | Issue 1


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LetterEditors

SOPHIA AVRAAM EDITOR

WELCOMEto the first edition of Visual PhotographicMagazine.Visual Photographic is a monthly magazine that caters

for the needs of enthusiasts, beginners and semi-pro pho-

tographers. Whether you wish to simply boost your in-

spiration, or learn how to use your shiny new DSLR

camera, Visual Photographic will cater to your needs. It

has the perfect balance of inspiration pages, tips and in-

depth interviews from the pros.

We try our best to ensure that you achieve inspiration

from us and develop the finest photography skills to-

wards the best of your ability. We strive to encourage our

readers to be confident when it comes to creativity and to

not be afraid of showing and believing that they have got

what it takes to become a pro.

In this issue, we have an extraordinary variety of inter-

views with photographers from different backgrounds

and approaches to photography. We are joined by

BAFTA Award winner; Francis Vose, Cinematographer

and Director of Hollyoaks; Peter Fearon, fashion photog-

rapher; Simon Woodcock and self taught photographer;

Richard Bonner

Visual Photographic have been sent far and wide to cap-

ture the best photographs for our readers and to share our

personal take on favourite hot spots to photograph on lo-

cation. In this issue be wowed by our On LocationSpecial in the enchanted city of Venice and our Great

Outdoors- Snow Edition from the Lake District.

Dont forget to visit our twitter (@VisualPhotogra1) and

Facebook (www.facebook.com/VisualPhotographic)

accounts for regular reviews. Whatever your passion in

photography, we have it here.

Enjoy...

January 12 | Issue 1



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Shoot the life of a

BubbleAdd a little colour into your shots andwhat better than photographing abubble. Follow the step by step guide to

achive a photo just like this and muchmore as Sophia Avraam teaches us how toprolong the life of a bubble up to 4minutes



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ubbles have always been fasci-

nating and mysterious. For

centuries they have been used

as a form of entertainment for

children to play with. However,

under further examination, we have come to

find the glorious rainbows found within

them, creating their beautiful swirling pat-

terns. This is chaos at its most beautiful

form. These colours are formed by lighttravelling in and out of the walls of the bub-

ble.

Here at Visual Photographic, we wont go into

the Science side of things, but we will provide

the set up of how to photograph sections of the

bubble by using a digital SLR camera. There

are many different formulas into creating the

magic solution to creating these bubbles, how-

ever we will go with the easiest so you can get

started quicker!

The easiest bubble solution to use is the simple,

childrens soap bubbles. You can purchase

these easily off the shelf and for a cheap price.

However, this will not be enough to create a

long bubble life. With the bubble soap you will

gain a life of up to 40 seconds and in order to

achieve that beautiful chaos of colour, you will

need one more ingredient: Glycerin! Depend-

ing on the size of tank you are using, half a bot-

tle or a full bottle of Glycerin will work

perfectly.

Now you have got your perfect bubble solu-

tion, it is now time to get your equipment

ready. To get the perfect shot, you need a flat or

sheet bubble to make it easier for you to

focus on. To make this, you can use a wired

coat hanger. You will then need to bend the

metal hanger into a diamond shape to form

your frame. You will need foam rubber to wrap

around your frame. The foam ensures that the

bubble loads up with the soap solution to ex-

tend its life by feeding the soap solution into

the top of the bubble by gravity, hence it is

constantly getting recharged.

The frame/ hanger hook is then clipped onto a

light stand (do not worry if you do not have

one of these, you can use a door knob or some-

thing similar) with the tank filled with the soap

solution underneath it, the frame is dipped into

the solution and then slowly withdrawn where

you will get a large but very wet bubble (this is

why you need the tank to catch the dribbling

water).You are best using a dark background to cancel

out any unwanted reflections, whether it be a

piece of black card, a dark sheet, curtains or

towel; this way the colours will stand out more.

All you need now is to set up your camera on a

tripod and allow your camera to focus on the

frame. The camera should be set to manual

focus and a small aperture should be used to

maximize depth of field. You should shoot in

manual mode because you can pre-set your

aperture and shutter speed.

Lighting is important. You need to position

your lighting at an angle so you can illuminate

the colours within the bubble accordingly. If

you want to go for the simple approach, then a

desk lamp will do, or you can use professional

day light lights.

Sophia Avraam

B

TheRecipeIt is important tocreate the right solu-tion for your bubblein order to give it alife long enough toform the colours and

shapes you need tomake your photo-graphs look interest-ing!You will need:

L Bubble solution-I recommend you go

for the easy, off theshelf, childrens soapbubbles, they arecheaper and easier!

L Glycerin-This is important, aswithout this ingredi-ent, your bubbles will

only last for about 40seconds at a time,adding a bottle ofGlycerin ensures youhave up to 4 minutesof photographingtime.



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Checklist-Bubble solution

-Glycerin

-Foam rubber

-Wired hanger

-Tank/Bucket

-Shutter releasecable

-Blackbackground

Shoot The Life of A Bubble



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Due to gravity, you will notice the soap solutionstarts to form beautiful strong colours.

After about 30 seconds is where you willnotice the streaks will start to slow down and form

patterns.




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The patterns can be changeable by gently

blowing from the side of the bubble.

Then, towards the end of the bubbles life, it be-comes broken, and the colours begin to fade and

scatter.




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Fireworkshoot Spectacular

Set your photography off with a bang by followingtips and advice from the pros. Francis Vose andRichard Bonner tell all you need to know fromcamera settings to equipment needed to get thatspecial shot Visual Photographic | 9


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ow that the winter is here,

many of us seem to go into hi-

bernation since those beauti-

ful, warm summer nights are

behind us. However, dont put

your camera away too soon as you will miss

out on some spectacular explosive firework

shots. You need to make the most of the long

dark nights through the form of firework

photography.You have plenty of opportunities to get out there

for Bomb Fire Night or New Year. Dont be

afraid to get wrapped up and battle the cold! If

you do it right, you will not regret it, especially

with our extra tips from the people who know a

thing or two about photography; Richard Bonner

and Francis Vose.

One of the most important tips to consider is that

you should shoot with your camera on a tripod,

by doing so you are avoiding camera shake. You

are most likely to get camera shake when work-

ing with long shutter speeds as the camera will

not only pick up any movement within the shot,

but also movement from the camera.You can also experience camera shake by simply

clicking your shutter button. One way to ensure

this issue is avoided is through purchasing a re-

mote shutter release. Please ensure you purchase

the correct remote for the correct brand of your

camera as these can vary from brand to brand.

Do not worry if you do not have a remote re-

lease, using your self-timer can also work just as

good. The only down side to this is you need to

be able to anticipate your shots at the right time

to ensure you dont miss your shot.

One of the most difficult things about photo-

graphing fireworks is trying to work out where to

aim your camera. The main challenge here is toaim your camera in the right position before the

fireworks go off. Alternatively, you could start

off with a zoomed out shot and then when you

discover where the fireworks will explode, zoom

in however much you like to begin your shoot-

ing. Planning is key with this kind of photogra-

phy. Get there early to avoid disappointment,

you do not want to get there late and rush your

preparation. Remember not to zoom in too much

as you can crop down your photos later, you are

best photographing the whole firework so you

have more to work with.

Once you know your set up is correct, try and get

more shots at the beginning of the display as

throughout the end of the display you will end up

with smoke in your photographs. Sometimes this

can work out nice as the smoke is illuminated by

the colours in the fireworks, giving you a smooth

colourful sheet, however this is mostly found

with luck and depends on which angle you have

set up. Consider thinking outside the box, it is al-

ways nice to capture peoples expressions and

emotions when watching the fireworks too, espe-

cially when their faces are illuminated with the

beautiful colours.

Sophia Avraam

NE s s e n t i a lS e t t i n g s

AUTOFOCUSAutofocus needs to be switched off! Oth-

erwise your camera will be confused and

have difficulty trying to focus in the dark.

You are always best switching to manualfocus. Remember to take a test shot first.

Study your result on the LCD screen and

check regularly throughout the shoot if

your focus is right.

MANUAL MODEThe light levels will constantly change,

therefore it is best to stay in manual mode

where you can be in control of this. Oth-

erwise, when faced with a black sky, au-

tomatic metering modes will always over

expose as the camera tries to work with

the long shutter speeds needed. Manual

mode allows you to be in control whereall of these problems will not be a worry

and you can deliver consistent exposures.

ISOThis is the first thing you need to con-

sider when it comes to exposure decision

making. Start with an ISO of 100 to re-

duce noise levels and if this is under ex-

posed then work your way up the ISO. By

doing so, you will make the camera reac-

tive to light which will produce shutter

speeds of about 1 to 3 seconds when

matched with the correct aperture.

APETUREAlthough you may expect that it is best to

shoot the lens at the widest aperture (f2.8

or f4) this could cause your images to

burn out start with f5.6 and work your

way up until you have found the right

aperture. If your images happen to suffer

from under exposure, this is easily fixed

by opening your aperture up wider to f4

or even more if you can.

SHUTTER SPEEDSTo start off, you are best using a shutter

speed of 1 second. Take a look at yourimage on the LCD screen, if the image

looks as thought it is underexposed, then

lengthen your shutter speed to about 3

seconds. Tip: if your camera has bulb

mode (where the shutter speed stays open

as long as you keep your finger on the

shutter release) then this works great!

Hold your shutter button down as soon as

the rocket sets off and then release it

when the light trails begin to fade out.



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Find out what the

fireworks do, whattime they start andend, thats crucial.- Francis Vose

Shoot Spectacular Fireworks



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Francis Vose:

What do thepros say?

Talk to the fireworkdisplay manager, findout what the fireworksdo, what time they start

and end, thats crucial.Be prepared to be dis-appointed because notall your images aregoing to be successful.

Richard Bonner:Try and pick a goodlocation where youvegot a clear view. Getsomewhere elevatedabove the crowd if you

can. Dont zoom in tooclose because youmight miss the action.Use your bulb settingwith your remoteswitch, as soon as thefirework goes off and isjust about to burst,open your shutter andthen release it.

Shoot Spectacular Fireworks



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TheBokehPhotography techniqueLearn how to take

control of your blurredbackground by trickingyour lens into creatingwhatever shapes youwant!


Bokeh Technique


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he term bokeh comes from

the Japanese word boke

which when translated into

English means blur. Bokeh is

a photography technique

where the user will purposely blur out the

background of a subject to create a soft ef-

fect into any shape they wish.

Bokeh is so popular because it is visually ap-pealing to look at and it makes us focus on a

particular part of the image. The good news is

that it is one of the easiest techniques to learn.

However the bad news is, its a little more dif-

ficult to master. This is why all you need to

know is found right here; put easily and sim-

ply for you to get going as soon as possible.

Bokeh is not about how out of focus you can

get your backgound, it is more about what

shaped character you are trying to achieve

within your background. For example, you

may wish to use a heart shape, star shape or

just go with the simple natural bokeh- circular

shapes. In order to achieve a perfect bokeh ef-

fect, it is important that you do not have any

sharpness around your blur. Otherwise you

will not have gained a true bokeh image. The

key is to achieve an undefined edge.

You need three things to shoot bokeh: a small

light source (by this i mean fairy lights com-

pared to a window, otherwise you will not

achieve a true bokeh effect), a large aperture

and a short focal distance. It is important to

use a large aperture (low f-stop) as possible as

this is what controls the amount of light al-

lowed to pass through the lens. Therefore the

lens needs to be as open as you can get it. Oth-

erwise the blades within the lens will form a

hexagon shape. Some of you may be lucky,

your lens may have curved blades which will

create bokeh balls without any problem. I

would recommend not going any higher than

f/5.6. If you can get any lower to possibly

f/2.8 or f/1.4 then do so. In order to get these

low apertures, you need to be in aperture pri-

ority mode to find out how low you can get

your f-stop. If you are using a kit lens the low-

est these can usually go is f/3.5. In terms of

focal distance, a shorter distance from the sub-

ject works best and the better the bokeh back-

ground blur. The closer you are focused to

your subject, the shorter the depth of field will

be, ensuring the lights in the backgroundsmoothly blur together nicely. Certain aper-

tures allow different depths of field from sub-

ject to background; longer focal lengths allow

shorter depth of field. A longer focal length is

what you need in order to transform the back-

ground light into bokeh. The closer you get to

the subject, zooming in as much as your cam-

era will allow will get you a good enough

focal length to achieve wonderful bokeh shots.

It is important to highlight that it is not the

camera that bokeh is rendered by; it is the

lens. This is why you will achieve different

renders of bokeh due to unique optical de-

signs. Generally, portrait lenses suit bokeh

perfectly as their maximum apertures achieve

a more visually appealing bokeh effect. Good

bokeh will blur the background of an image

by giving the colours a soft, creamy, circular

effect. Sophia Avraam

T

ExtraFun?

Try making your ownbokeh lens and itsreally easy to do.

L All you have todo is cut a circle outof black card, asclose to the size ofthe lens you wish touse.

L Then you needto carefully cut out aheart shape in themiddle (a star shape,or christmas treeshape-any shape!).

L Either hold it in-front of your lens orcut two folds eitherside and strap it

around your lensusing an elastic bandto hold it into place.Finally apply the in-structions given onthe next page andthen continue to fireaway!



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L Bokeh usually worksbest when your lens is upclose to your subject make

sure the background lightis nice and clear. You areprobably best shooting inaperture mode for this ex-ercise.

L Switch your focus tomanual focus and slightlystart to blur your lens inorder to achieve a blurredbackground and if yourwant to include a subjectin your image, make surethis is in focus and recog-nisable.L Set your exposuretimeaccording to the amount oflight available.

L Now set your aper-ture to the lowest settingpossible (no higher thanf.5) having the aperture ona wider setting will help tokeep your picture softly infocus.

L Experiement bylooking through yourframe and inspect it bylooking out for any sharplines, this is not wantedwhen trying to achieve atrue bokeh effect

L Snap away!

InstructionsBokeh Technique

If you get a shutter

speed thats tooslow, lets say 1/30 ofa second, try boost-ing your ISO up to400 or more-Richard Bonner



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Id recommend theNikon 85mm f/1.4Dlens, I havent got

one myself but Iveheard its a brilliantlens to work withwhich will give youexceptionally goodbokeh shots, whilst acheaper lens set tothe same focal lengthand aperture wouldmore than likely give

you a poor image

If you get a shutterspeed thats too slow,lets say 1/30 of a sec-

ond, try boostingyour ISO up to 400or more, a Christmastree is a good subjectto practice on.

Richard Bonner:

Bokeh Technique



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The Rule ofThirdsTackle the use of composition andlearn its importance within the pho-

tography world, you need to knowthis rule to break it in order to exper-iment with new ideas, SophiaAvraam offers you all the help andadvice you need...



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he rule of thirds is something

every photographer should be

aware of to achieve a well-bal-

anced and interesting shot.

However, dont let this limit

your creativity, you can always break this

rule if you wish to be a little more adven-

turous however, you need to know the rulein order to know whether your breaking it

to a good enough standard where it is all

the more effective.

The basic idea behind the rule of thirds is

the breaking down of an image into the

form of a grid. It should be separated with

three lines running horizontally across and

three lines running vertically down an

image. You then end up with 9 sections of

the rule of thirds grid.

Keeping this grid in mind, you have now

identified 4 points that could be used as 4

different places of interest within an image;

it gives certain elements positions within

your photograph.

The theory runs by the idea of placing

points of interest in your viewfinder along

the lines of the rule of thirds. This way you

will achieve a more interesting shot and

hopefully the viewers eyes will be lead

around your image more naturally. It has

been proven a numerous amount of times

that when viewing an image, our eyes natu-

rally look in the places where the view-

points are placed rather than looking

straight into the middle of an image. The

rule of thirds works with our eyes ratherthan going against them, thus making it

comfortable for the eye to view.

For most of us, the Rule of Thirds comes

naturally to us, however to others, it may

take a little longer and more practice to

fully understand. When learning about the

rules of thirds and then knowing how to

break it accordingly, the most important

questions you need to be asking yourself

are:

- What are the points of interests in this

shot?

- Where should I be placing them?

It is important to remember that breaking

the rule will not result in tragedy, you can

achieve some really interesting shots. Once

you have learnt and experimented with the

Rule of Thirds, then maybe try experiment-

ing by purposely breaking this rule and see

what you can come up with. View your im-

ages on a computer screen and analyse

which types of shots work with the rule of

thirds and which types of shots dont. This

is the quickest way you can learn, by posi-tively criticising your work to carry on im-

proving.

The last thing to remember is to not throw

this idea away when it comes to editing

your photographs in post-production. You

may wish to crop down your images and

completely lose your dynamic composition

all together. However, this could work the

opposite way. If you dont quite get your

composition right or you think you can im-

prove on it, then simply crop your image

down to fit an interesting composition. Ex-

periment with your images and see what

kind of impact you can achieve with differ-

ent compositions.

Sophia Avraam

TThe Rule of Thirds


SHUTTER SPEEDMODE, POLARISINGFILTER, 3, F22, ISO200


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The Rule of Thirds


SHUTTER SPEEDMODE, POLARISINGFILTER, 5, F16, ISO100


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Good composition isimportant, it shouldbe one of the first les-sons youll need to

learn. It comes withexperience over a pe-riod of time, it wontjust come over night.

Negative space cangive your photographan entirely differentatmosphere than theother photograph ofthe same subject. The

absence of contentdoes not mean the ab-sence of interest. Infact negative spaceoften adds interestand it can place astronger emphasis onthe subject and canevoke emotion effec-tively

Francis Vose:

Richard Bonner:

The Rule of Thirds



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The Rule of Thirds



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SimonPeter:You meet a lot ofpeople which youwould never meetnormally and youare up-close andpersonal withthem.

Business Affairs : Simon Peter



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Above: Simon and Chelsee Grimes at the Juice FM Style Awards:Chelcee teaching me how to look cool-Simon


Business A ffairs: Simon Peter


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POLICE CAMPAIGNThis year, Simon will be the photogra-

pher for the 883 Police Spring/Summer2012 Campaign. He is hounoured to be

given this opportunity and said he feel

like he is starting all over again because

the job is that huge.

Business Affairs: SophiaAvraam interviews fashionphotographer, Simon aboutthe challenges of opening aphotography studio

hinking of opening up your own

studio? Need a little sound busi-

ness and marketing advice?

Fashion photographer, SimonWoodcock talks us through the

advantages and disadvantages of owning

your own studio and how he loves his job

and why wouldnt he? From being invited as

a special guest to the top celebrity parties, to

attending a garden party at Buckingham

Place to shake hands with Prince Charles

himself, to shooting Jamie Carraghers Tes-

timonial, why wouldnt he love his job? And

if thats not enough, he talks us through his

most recent jobs in Spain and Miami and

the latest where he was the official photogra-

pher for the Juice FM Style Awards. Sophia

Avraam tells us more

Although a highly independent bloke, I am

proud to announce (much to his embarrass-ment) that in my experience of interviewing

Simon Woodcock in his cosy little studio on a

dark winters evening, he is indeed a full blown

mummys boy.

His extremely proud mother set up a chair for

herself with her hot chocolate in hand in her at-

tempt to listen in on the interview and on some

occasions proudly interrupted to talk about

extra work her perfect son had done throughou

his career. The only downside being that her

additions didnt actually match the

questions asked, but who could blame

T


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Photographscan bring so manyemotions wherewords can onlyportray an image.


Business A ffairs: Simon Peter


26/84

her, she is proud of her sons achievements- bless her!

Judging by Simons expressions with the occasional

rolling of the eyes and turning round to give his mother

the please stop embarrassing me look, I got the im-

pression that believe it or not, he didnt give his mum

the invitation she might of wanted to sit in on the inter-

view.

Starting from the beginning, Simon talks me through

his journey in photography. Although he has achieved

his life long dream, Simon highlights that it didnt hap-

pen overnight. I started from nothing, my first clients

came to my mums garage so then my work built. I al-

ways had that goal of having my own studio, he says.

I had a small studio in Maghull and then this place

came up; I have been here for six years. Basically it has

taken me eleven years to build up clients.

Simon believes that in this day and age you need to be

versatile and cater for many different genres in order to

stay alive in this competitive industry. I dont just spe-

cialise in one thing, which in a way is a good thing and

a bad thing but in this day and climate you have got to

be a jack of all trades.

We would all love to be doing fashion photography but

its few and far between getting those jobs. I like wed-

dings but they are not my favourite because its the

whole day and you have GOT to get all of the shots and

its quite stressful and there is a lot of post production

afterwards but it brings in good money.

Simon agrees that being a photographer can be very

competitive, especially when it comes to running a

business. It is important to have your own innovative

twist to remain in the spotlight.

Simon believes that due to his innovative twist is his

personality, he hopes that his clients gain a photo-

graphic experience, something they arent likely to for-

get. A lot of older photographers have a bad name, a

lot of them have got no personality and my twist is that

I make sure that everyone feels at ease and has fun be-

cause thats what its all about! But obviously when

doing modelling, you have got to get the moody

shots, thats one thing the models say is I make

them laugh too much.

CHILDRENOne of Simons

favourite subjects is to

photograph young

children as they create

true emotions and it is

nice to see their charac-

ter shine though thephotographs.

FASHION

Simon is mostly known

for his fashion photogra-

phy, he works on a daily

basis producing fashion

shoots with Liverpools

most famous celebrities.

To the right is a recent

fashion shoot with Des-

perate Scousewives Sam

Wooley.

Interview: Simon Peter

Its hard because I getstressed easily and with photog-raphy you have got deadlines andthings can stress you out


27/84

My innovative twist is my personality

I mix with all types of clientele from

footballers to models and I treat everyone thesame, I make sure everyone has a photographic

experience.

He talks through one of his most memorable

fashion photography shoots, which was shot in

Spain. He was working on a four day job with

a friend who lived high up in the Spanish

mountains and on a quiet night much to their

surprise, one of the neighbours drank one too

many and somehow managed to set part of the

forest on fire. The guy who lived next door to

him was drinking and accidently caused a for-

est fire and we had to try and put it out but in

the end we had to call the fire service and they

came dropping water down from helicoptersand I actually got some great shots! he laughs.

Simon points out that out of all genres of pho-

tography, his favourite is fashion photography

as he doesnt have to set up each pose for the

models. They are already expected to know

how to pose, which therefore lends his time to-

wards the more important things such as com-

position and lighting. I love working with

models because there is more flare and more

creativity and the models know how to pose, so

you dont have to work as hard you can just

concentrate on your lighting. The models know

how to pose so its a lot easier on the eye.

But what about the running of the business it-

self? Simon stresses the importance of being

100% sure that it is what you want to do. It in-volves a lot of stress and takes years to fully es-

tablish yourself. He discusses how its not just

the photography equipment you have to worry

about. He says people seem to forget all the

boring stuff that you have also got to consider

such as costs for electricity, water and gas bills.

I didnt really think about it and I just went

straight into it and it is a struggle. But once you

have established that relationship with your

clients, then hopefully 70% will use you again.

Its exciting, a lot of my time is outside, but it

is great having a base. Its your own place and

youre not against a clock if you are renting a

space for an hour. However, it is important tohighlight that yes, you may have a base for

clients to come to you but the two go hand in

hand. You need to get out there and continu-

ously be working on expanding your clientele.

You cant just sit there and think that every-

body is going to come to you because they

wont, you have to get out there.

Simon adds, Its not basically the photography

because taking photographs is a joy, its the

deadlines. You havent got enough time in the

day! You have got to do 3 or 4 different things

in one go. Every month you have got to bring

in X amount of money so your always worried.

Clients can be hard work as well. The hardest

part was making sure that its been financially

viable.Money was the hardest part, my lights per

head cost 1200 and Ive got 8 of them. Thats

just on lights! He warns that even though

there are a lot of serious things to consider and

it may seem rather scary at first, yes you may

have the pressures of keeping up with paying

the bills, but you cant give up when things get

tough.

What nearly happened to me at one point is

youre so stressed about your overheads that

you dont have an interest in photography as

much, its a business. He says, You have got

to make sure that its financially viable and its

the right location because it could seriously putyou off having your own business.

He points out that if the photography course he

did at college involved the business side of

photography, then maybe his career could of hi

it off earlier, as when he first started he didnt

know what to expect and how to handle things.

There should be something incorporated in a

degree about the business aspect of photogra-

phy and how to turn being a photographer into

a business. You are just thrown out into the

open world with no experience of business.

Interestingly enough, he adds that you dont

necessarily need a studio to get work as he



28/84

himself started out in his mums

garage with a camera and only one

light source.

He argues that the workloads for photographers

are increasing as there is a large amount of post

production is expected from clients, photogra-

phy has become less traditional in this modern

era. Being a photographer now, you spend

more time on a computer. The art of photogra-

phy is still there but its photography and de-

sign now rather than just photography. Anothe

element of photography that has changed is the

marketing side of the industry, how to get you

name out there. Marketing is really expensive,

you can spend thousands on advertising to mar

ket your business but there is no magic an-

swer. Never the less, Simons unique method

to advertising his business is a great idea, make

your company stand out by trying different

methods.

Photography is a very competitive industry

which Simon has taken advantage of through

marketing his business by a rather different ap-

proach than most photography companies. He

is recently in the process of using sponsorship

to target new audiences. I market my work

through sporting events. I was at a boxing

event not so long ago and one of the boxers

wanted a family portrait doing. I said I would

do it because I knew he was an up and coming

boxer. When he next fights on Sky, he is going

to have on his sleeve Simon Peter Photogra-

phy so it is good brand awareness.

Simon has recently been lucky enough to be

made the official photographer of the Juice FM

Style Awards 2012. You may have seen clips of

the event on the reality TV show Desperate

Scousewives. With this, he has added many

more celebrities to his contact list such as

Tinchy Strider, Nicola Roberts, Amanda Har-rington and many more.

You meet a lot of people which you would

never meet normally and you are up close and

personal with them. I have recently done the

Miss Liverpool event too. One of my idols was

a football player called Tony Cottee and he has

been to my studio and opened up my Alice in

Wonderland Garden.

He adds how photography has opened up many

new doors for him and talks about how if it

wasnt for his photography career, he never

would of met so many amazing people. From

meeting so many different people you get in-

vited to events such as the Walking With Gi-ants Convention where I met Stavros Flatly! I

have been invited to the opening of The Play-

ground in the Hilton as a special guest of An-

dreas who owns the Hilton- that should be

good!

As amazing as this all sounds, many of us

would be awfully nervous about meeting so

many celebrities and if your career hits it off,

this is something you are going to have to han-

dle. How does he do it? I find if you treat

these people like normal people, be profes-

sional but have a bit of banter with them and

nterview: Simon Peter



29/84

try to do some background research on

them so when you ask them a question

you impress them and they have got an

interest in you for taking an interest in

them. Be yourself, thats the most impor-

tant thing. Dont be anything you are

not.

To finish off the interview, I thought it

would be nice to ask, out of everything hehas achieved and done, what has been the

most memorable part of a career as busy

and action packed as his? I would say

going to Buckingham Palace to meet

Prince Charles at a Garden party. That

was one of my proudest moments. I have

done a lot of work for the Princes Trust

and it was nice to go, and surreal even, to

see Princes Beatrice parking her BMW in

the courtyard. Just to be invited there was

brilliant. I was nominated to go which

was a thing not many people could say

they have done and if it wasnt for pho-

tography, I probably wouldnt have hadthat opportunity.

Simons end the interview with some ad-

vice for our readers, You have to come

up with some sort of system for organis-

ing your finances. But that comes when

you start earning proper money. Do it

properly and start off slow, start in your

mums garage if you have to and only

spend your money when you have it. That

way you can invest your earning back

into your business.

Sophia Avraam



30/84

How would you describe your photo-graphic vision?

I like to see that my photographs create

emotion for people. Photographs can

bring so many emotions where wordscan only portray an image.What software do you use to edit yourimages?

Photoshop, and I learnt how to use it

myself, I hate reading books, I like to do

it myself and thats what I did with my

first SLR.Where is the one place/location youwould love to photograph?

Ive already photographed a place Ive

always wanted to go and that was

Miami, but Id love to go to New York

and get some skyline shots.

Do you have your own website or

blog?

I have hired two new apprentices who

will be taking care of that for me on

Facebook and Twitter because I just

dont have time to do it but it does work.

Its all about building a community,

when you feel part of a community you

spread the word.Have you ever thought about present-ing your work in an exhibition?

I have thought about it, to do an exhibi-

tion for charity but someone else did it,

but it is something I would like to do.Do you still use film as a medium or doyou prefer stick to digital in this mod-ern day?

Digital its easier, I used to love film be-

cause you didnt take as many shots, you

were not working on the computer as

much, once you had done it, it was done,

it was out there.How do you cope with the pressuresinvolved with running your own busi-ness?

Its hard because I get stressed easily

and with photography you have got

deadlines and things can stress you out.

So Id go the gym, watch TV (laughs)

take a break. Having saying that, during

the Christmas season I dont even have

time to rest, but what I do is I set myself

visualised goals.Where has been the most excitingplace that you have photographed?

Miami, and totally out of the blue a

scouser who lives in South Africa had

companies in Miami and he wanted meto do some work for him and because we

became friends, we did a marketing em-

ploy in America, its was for kindergarten

children, he hired a venue and advertised

and marketed it, the sign said English

Photographer of the Stars was more like

a bit of blag (he laughs) but they loved it

because they were wowed by me being

an overseas photographer.How do you organise yourself in termsof making sure everything runs

smoothly?

To be honest, Im very disorganised, my

new apprentices will come in handy. Al-

though its my business I only take the

photographs and do the editing. I mite be

very disorganised but I know where

everything is and what needs to be done

and it gets done.Have you worked with any famousphotographers?

I have worked with Damian

McGillicuddy (www.damianm-cgillicuddy.com) who has won fashion

photographer of the year so many times

and Martin Grahame-Dunn, he is a fash-

ion photographer and thats all he done,

he taught me that the model is secondary,

its all about the movement of clothing,

he was chairman of the M.A.P. agency in

London. ww.mapltd.com)

Q&A



31/84

Ameteur Pressures: Richard Bonner



32/84


RichardBonnerI photographwhat I like tophotograph, and

Ill have the

camera set tohow I want it.

Am eteur Pressures: Richard Bonner


33/84

REFLECTIONSAbove is a hand held shot of a large lake

in Florida, Richard loves the idea of re-

flections and water, he is facinated with

the bold colours created in the sky

whilst the sun sets; it the best and most

exciting time to shoot.

Ameteur pressures: SophiaAvraam discusses the differencein life as an ameteur photogra-pher with Richard Bonner

eing an amateur in the photography

world can be tough going. Many

feel that a self taught photographer

needs to get used to experiencing

the occasional rolling of the eyes

and being made to feel that they are not up to

standards by the professionals. However, these

pressures do not affect Richards feelings to-

wards his hobby. In fact he is rather relaxed

about the whole idea, Mostly its the solitude ofgetting out with my camera and being on my

own; the feeling of being somewhere peaceful.

Richard has been learning the ins and outs of

photography for the past 20 years and over that

time, he is very proud to announce that he has

never attended a single photography course.

Most of his knowledge has come from getting to

know his camera to the extent where he could

use it blindfolded. Reading the occasional pho-

tography book has also helped to the point

where he would know enough to then go out and

apply those skills through experimentation and

confidence.

In November, Richard undertook one of his

biggest photographic challenges yet. A family

friend asked if he would be the official photog-

rapher for their wedding, as a paid job. This was

one of the first paid jobs he had ever done.

But the excitement soon started to wear off, as

he knew this was a very important job that in-

volved weeks of preparation. How did he pre-

pare and, from his experience, is this the careerwhere the money is at today?

I firstly went on the internet and read some

blogs, and what other photographers were advis-

ing to do. I think you have to know your camera

inside out and you need to be able to change set-

tings without having to look at the buttons all of

the time.

Richard then visited the locations of where he

was asked to photograph. He advises that you go

at the same time you will be expected to photo-

graph on the day so you are familiar

with your surroundings and you know

how much light will be available. Go

B



34/84

I dont really likeplanning photographs,I preferto just capturethings as I see them.




35/84

you are familiar with your surroundings and you know

how much light will be available. Go to the location at

the same time that the wedding is going to take place.

You will see what the light is like. Have a look around

and look for a good spot to take your outside shots.

He also advises the importance of attending the wed-

ding rehearsal. Whether it be in a church or a registry

office, it is vital that you know your locations to plan

ahead. The bride and groom usually have a rehearsal

with the priest or with the registrar. This also gives you

the opportunity to ask what you can or cant do. You

find in churches that most priests wont let you use

flash and they will tell you where to set your camera

up. He advises that whilst you are there you should

check your light levels and test how your camera works

in certain light conditions, that way you will have a

rough idea of what settings are required.

He stressed how important he found it was to get to

know the bride and groom so they will be confident in

knowing that he is was well organised for their special

day. Get to know them. Talk to them professionally so

that they are confident in knowing the photographer

knows what he or she is doing; it will put them at ease.

It gives them confidence in what you are doing because

really, you want them to ignore the photographer and

you want them to know that you know what you are

doing. Youre the professional so they leave you to get

on with it.

In addition to this he warns that some guests may inter-

rupt your work and want specific photographs with spe-

cific people, which is great but they are not your clients.

Obviously you do get certain people asking for sepa-

rate shots which did happen to me. You have got to try

and be diplomatic and tactful, you cant let people who

are not your client try and take control. You have got to

keep control yourself, but try and keep within the pa-

rameters of the bride and groom.

When working on a wedding, nine times out of ten you

will experience problems and it is vital that you can

think quickly on your feet to solve these prob-

lems. Richard experienced this on his job, but

managed to quickly adapt to the situation and

PATTERNWhilst the sun is setting

you will notice some

beautiful shapes and

patterns created by the

clouds. Richard has had

the perfect idea by

adding some perspectivewithin the shot by sim-

ply allowing the roof

tops to silhouette against

the vivid colours

SNAP SHOT

Richard discusses how

the best photographs are

when you least expect

them, just like this shot

here. His favourite sub-

ject to photograph is

young children as they

are not afraid of being

themselves in front of

the camera.

I preferthe snap shots in the

form of a journalistic style, thatswhat I like about it, being sponta-neous and capturing the moment.



36/84

turn it around. After the ceremony of the

church I came out to do the group shots

and I left the tripod on the altar of the church,most photographers seemed to suggest to get

the group shots first before people start to won-

der off. I thought that I wasnt going to have

time to run back into the church so I did the

shots hand held and luckily they were fine.

Richard was prepared for all kinds of problem.

He wasnt taking any chances and ordered

large white umbrellas to cancel out the issue of

rain, lucky enough it ended up being a sunny

November afternoon, which made his job a

whole lot easier. White umbrellas reduce the

risk of colour casts and for the group shots you

have to try and do what you can indoors. An-

other way to do the outside shots would be to

take some of the shots of the bride and groom

under a tree. You have make the most of the sit-

uation you have got.

From Richards experience and opinion, the

most challenging thing about photographing a

wedding was the high level of concentration

needed. There is only one chance of getting the

shots on the day. If you are in a studio or you

are out photographing buildings, cars, or peo-

ple, you can take your time and photograph

what you like when you like and you can ex-

periment with your camera settings. But with a

wedding, you dont have that choice. One lapse

of concentration and you can miss a shot; the

kiss or the exchanging of the rings for example.

There are so many things you can miss and youdont get a second chance.

Of course with a demand of such a high level

of concentration such as this, assistants can

come in handy to share the workload and act as

a backup if anything were to go wrong with the

photographs. Richard jokes and say he would

rather be the assistant and capture the natural

shots rather than the arranged shots.

As the assistant you get the candid shots from

different angles which I prefer. I dont really

like people looking into the camera; I prefer to

get the natural shots. The main reason for an

assistant is if disaster strikes and you miss

some shots you have always got a backup.

However, from Richards experience, you need

to have you own distinct style in order to sur-

vive in the competitive photography industry.

Since the wedding, Richard has now experi-

enced the buzz of people paying for his photo-

graphs and loved the idea of this. However he

does not think he will do this for the rest of his

photography as he feels it will put a stress over

his hobby.

I do it for my own pleasure mostly. Maybe Id

go and do private parties if friends wanted me

to do a 50th or 21st etc. I enjoy doing that for

the joy of it, I dont do it to make a living and I

have never considered selling them.

However he agrees that maybe this is due tohim not having any experience with the post-

production side of photography to enhance his

images to a selling quality and admits that now

may be the time to change that. Nevertheless, it

is only now he has started to feel these pres-

sures of needing to know more. As for the past

20 years, he has gone by the idea that if you

have the dedication and love for something,

you can learn on your own. However, actually

dealing with this level of technology is a total

different ball game.

Id like to learn more about Adobe Photoshop

Id like to learn how to manipulate photo-

graphs, even though Ive always said I am

going to try and do as much as I can with the

camera. I dont really like Photoshop but being

truthful, I dont like Photoshop because I dont

know enough about it to be able to get the most

from it. He adds, I am sure it could make a

couple of my photographs more interesting.

Richard believes that yes, it was the technology

that triggered the spark, but it is the photogra-

pher who keeps the flame alive. You can give

anybody a camera and take pictures but its

how you handle the camera, not the camera it-



37/84

self or the lens. He believes that no mat-

ter how advanced cameras are becoming,

they still need the photographer to set the

settings. The camera is not going to point itself

at a beautiful sunset, thats the photographers

job. The photographer has to find the sunset

and set up the composition whether they are a

professional or an amateur.

Although he has felt the pressures of being an

amateur and maybe not knowing as much as

the professionals do, Richard puts things into

perspective and discusses the advantages he

has being a self-taught. The main aspect is

freedom. Im not under any pressure being a

self-taught photographer and I havent spent a

fortune on training. But I have been like that al

my life, I can turn my hand to most things, I

am a self-learner in anything I do.

This is a luxury for Richard as he can work and

on one particular subject and when he feels

comfortable, move on to the next one. He feels

that in many ways, the classroom environment

is a barrier from freedom as you have to follow

what the teacher says and at their pace. If you

feel the same, then do things Richards way,

teach yourself until you come across the areas

you struggle with. This way you can spend lit-

tle money on improving your weaker areas.

Some of us encounter the stress of being an

amateur more than others. Richard discuses

how it used to bother him when he first started

taking photographs, but feel that it was some-

thing he grew out of. I personally dont feel

pressured because I just do it because I like to

do it. I photograph what I like to photograph

and Ill have the camera set to how I want it. I

dont think I would do it professionally as I

think it is too competitive.

Richard advises that the best way to cope with

these pressures is to remain calm and to an ex-tent, do things your way. He tells me how he

surprisingly felt more pressured when reading

up about advice on wedding photography than

he did to start with. I felt under more pressure

researching it. I think some of the comments I

was reading on websites put pressure on me.

When it actually came to the occasion, I was

fine. You have just got to be relaxed about it

because photography throws up the unexpected

all the time. Although Richard is an amateur,

he is very dedicated to his hobby as he already

had all the basis equipment required to shoot a

wedding.

Over the years, he has spent thousands on get-ting the right equipment for him like his Canon

7D camera and three lenses along with all the

added extras. I was surprised at how dedicated

he was to his hobby.

Richard stresses the importance of looking

after your equipment and storing them in a safe

place because you are dealing with thousands

of pound worth of equipment. Most of his

equipment is stored in professional cases and

bags with extra padding.

In addition to this, Richard recommends that

you take care when storing you images as he




38/84


You can give anybody acamera but Its how youhandle the camera, its

not the camera itself.



39/84

made the mistake of not doing this in the

past. I used to store my images on CDS

and DVDs and I wrote on the discs with a

marker pen and I didnt realise that actually de-

stroyed the CD and I lost hundreds of images,

so that was a lesson learned earlier on.

Richard advises that in reaction to this mistake

he now stores in images in other forms I use

some online storage on Flickr because you

get that storage for free and you can access it

anywhere with Internet. I use two external hard

drives and I make two external copies on each

hard drive. You can also keep your images on

pen drives as well.

Richard finds that the perfect starting point to

boost your confidence is as easy as buying a

second hand camera to practice setting up your

shots Buy a second hand camera and learn

how to use it. Read the cameras handbook and

learn all the settings and experiment. It is really

easy to do these days.

When I first started there was no digital pho-

tography so you would go out and spend thirty

pound on a film and come back with only two

photographs that you liked! Whereas with digi-

tal you can take hundreds of photographs and

that is the main advantage of digital for me- it

is a great teaching aid.

Whether you have been photographing for a

couple of years or you are new to photography,

Richard discusses how once people get past the

stage of getting to know their camera, they get

stuck on the science side of photography.

One of the most difficult things to learn about

is White Balance. Richard says that not many

amateurs use this setting although it is a pretty

easy setting to use once you can understand it.

I will use custom White Balance for most

things now. Professionals tend to use light me-

tres where they will get a really accurate read-

ing of the light then they will put that

information into the camera. I never use Auto

White Balance because that just has a guess.

Shooting in RAW mode also creates a lot of

confusion for people.

Richard explains how shooting in RAW is the

best setting to use when shooting top quality

images. This is another way of getting the cor-

rect White Balance. If you shoot in RAW you

dont really have to worry about White Balance

because you can correct that in Photoshop.

Basically JPEGs are not a full file and you

only get about a 3rd of the size of a RAW file.

In a JPEG there is lots of data missing and you

cant retrieve that data or change it but with a

RAW file you have got one hundred percent

more data thats seen by the camera lens and

you can manipulate it. There is so much you

can do with a RAW file.

White Balance will allow you to make the most

out of your light source in order to get the

colours of you subject as accurate as possible.

Richard goes into greater detail when it comes

to correctly lighting your subject. He feels the

best and easiest lighting to work with is natural

lighting. I particularly like window light if

you are indoors which is great for portraits and

in my opinion, the best light is dawn and dusk.

If youre up early you can get your shots of the

woods, the rivers, or canals and if youre out at

sunset you can get some great sunset pictures.

Use the light that is available. Get your camera

on a tripod if you are using long exposures.

That way you will not get camera shake.

However, all of this means nothing if you cant

set up an interesting and eye catching composi-

tion.

You should be aware of composition but it is

in the eye of the beholder so to speak, you can

be given the rule of thirds but you have got to

have an eye for it. He believes that knowing

about composition comes secondary to actually

having an eye for photography.

Its like an art form. Your taste isnt every-

body elses taste. But good composition is im-

portant and it should be one of the first lessons

youll need to learn. It comes with experience

over a period of time, it wont just come over

night.

Richard has helped to ease the stress and pres-

sures that most self-taught photographers fear.

He has proved that if you take things as they

come and prepare your own way, you will have

no trouble going professional if that is your

overall goal. But be warned, once you have

started your switch from amateur to profes-

sional, most photographers lose sight of the im-

portance of continuing to concentrate on their

own style and technique. It is vital that you

keep on developing your creativity from being

an amateur to when you start going profes-

sional.

Sophia Avraam

How would you describe your photo-

graphic style?

Im mostly journalistic, I dont really

like planning photographs, I prefer to

just capture things as I see them.

What is your favourite genre of pho-tography and why?

My favourite subject to photograph is

children, they are not false, they tend not

to pose for the camera, and if they know

you and they are comfortable with you.

Where do you get your inspiration

from?

Nothing in particular, its just what I see,

if I see something that looks interesting I

will take some photographs of it.

Colour or Black and White, which do

you prefer?

I like to work with colour for one sim-

ple reason that if I do not like the image

in colour, I can turn it into black and

white, if I take the photograph in black

and white I cant convert to colour.

Do you have any favourite locations to

photograph?

I love going out to rivers and canals at

dawn and dusk having that nice soft

light, especially if you have got nice

calm waters you can get brilliant reflec-

tions.

Do you arrange pictures or go for the

snapshot?

I prefer the snap shots in the form of a

journalistic style, thats what I like about

it, being spontaneous and capturing the

moment.

What is your favourite photography

accessory, other than your camera?

My shutter release cable, when you

have your eye looking through the

viewfinder of your camera, you tend to

only look at what your camera is focus-

ing on and sometimes you forget to look

around the perimeter of your image;

there might be something in there that

you dont want in the shot.

Q&A




40/84

The Ke y to Indistry: Francis Vose



41/84

FrancisVose:The Ke y to Indistry: Francis Vose

Preparation,

preparation!The more youcan prepare the

best, its secondguessing.Visual Photographic | 41


42/84

TV. The key to industry: SophiaAvraam discusses the pressuresof industry with BAFTA awardwinning animator Francis Vose

hinking of making a career of

it? With a successful career in

animation and 3 BAFTA

awards strapped to his belt,

Mr Francis Vose is the perfect

guy to prepare you for industry standards.

He discusses how his passion for photogra-

phy has never died and offers helpful tips

and advice from how to market your work

by spending little money, to organisingportfolios and how to get people talking

about your work. With free tips and advice

from the man himself, your confidence lev-

els will surely increase from 0-10 -be in-

spired!

After battling it out with yet another storm,

which in all fairness seemed to be the end of

the world, I managed to make it through alive

to conduct my interview with Francis. After

many huffs and puffs and continuously asking

myself why did I arrange an interview on a

day like this? and judging by the expression

on Francis face, who had obviously endured

the glorious English weather just as horrifi-

cally as me; it was all worth it.

He plonked his bags on the floor and fished

his glasses out whilst mumbling under his

breath blind as a bloody bat I am I knew he

was ready to start; he crossed his legs, looked

over his glasses towards me and said fire

away and so I did.

He begins by pointing out that although ani-

mation and photography are different medi-ums, they are still based around similar ideas,

Creating movement within a still image is

also very exciting. You can capture it in a sud-

den moment, or you can capture it in a still

image over a longer time, the two go hand in

hand because you are capturing movement but

also seeing it and I think thats lovely.

Francis studied Photography at Wolverhamp-

ton University where he reassured me that

there was one reason and one reason only as

to why he chose Wolverhampton over

any other I chose it much against

everyone saying to me what on earth

T

Visual Photographic find this idea

unique and creative. Francis has spot-

ted the beautiful pattern created by

the trees, which adds mystery to the

shot.

The K ey to Indistry: Francis Vose


43/84

Much of what Iwas taught wasnt ina lectured area,most of it was what Ithen learned myself

REACH OUT.

The Key to Indistry: Francis Vose



44/84

do you want to go to Wolverhampton University for?

and the only reason why I wanted to go was it had a

fantastic photography studio.

Francis knew what he wanted from the beginning of

his university life and he made sure he got it; he wanted

to take the idea of photography further and proposed

that he should base his university project around anima-

tion. Even though he was told an animation course did

not exist at the university, They allowed me to do it

but within that I learnt a lot being in the photographic

studio.

Most of the photography skills Francis learned were ac-

tually self taught, he stresses how it important it is to

learn from yourself and at your own pace Much of

what I was taught wasnt in a lectured area, most of it

was what I then learned myself he agrees that other

mediums can help Internet is great, books are great,

courses are great, but you will only learn it if you do it,

youre learning it through your own experiences with a

little bit of help along the way.

Francis agrees, that the best way you can learn photog-

raphy is by getting to know your camera and dont be

afraid to experiment. This might be the case, but what

about the people who are tired of experimenting and

feel ready to go professional. I tried to squeeze it out of

him; when will we know we are ready?

The industry is extremely competitive and it is difficult

to get your foot through the door. How did Francis do

this? I finished my degree, and I already knew I

wanted to work for Cosgrove Hall Films. I took my de-

gree show down early, packed it all up and I got on a

train and went to Manchester.

I knocked on Cosgroves door without an interview and

I said Id like to see Mr Cosgrove, they told me he was

on holiday after insisting that hed leave all of his de-

gree work with Cosgrove he adds I think they were so

flabbergasted by this petulant person walking through

the door that they allowed me to just leave it there.

We later discussed the fact that there were no

jobs available at Cosgrove at the time, Francis

Francis has concentrated

on achieving texture in

this image, the shades

and tones are beautiful.

The lighting is very dra-

matic, which gives the

image and erie feel.

You will only learn it ifyoudo it, youre learning it throughyour own experiences with a lit-tle bit of help along the way.

LIMPET.

WHEAT.

The K ey to Indistry: Francis Vose


45/84

tells me how he wouldnt take no for

an answer. His pushy character then

managed to get him a two week trial

within that 2 weeks he gave me a 3 month

contract, within that contract I animated on a

show called Cockleshell Bay as an animator

and it wasnt enough because I wanted to di-

rect He pauses and with a big cheesy grin onhis face, like a Cheshire cat he added, and

then within 6 months I was directing.

Francis summarises the story by stressing that

you should not give up at the first hurdle and to

be brave I forced myself in, I knocked on the

door, and didnt stop knocking until they said

yes he adds I think my portfolio backed up

my arrogance I think. He agrees that he

quite literally got his foot through the door I

wasnt going to go away empty handed.

Getting your foot through the door means that

as a professional photographer, you need to be

able to promote yourself. You need to be one

step ahead and truly understand what clients

are looking for when hiring someone. Despite

the endless possibilities the internet can bring,

dont forget that presenting your work using

more standard methods still works.

I think to have something physical, is what

everybody likes to be honest. But the internet

helps you in a lot of ways; digital visuals helps

and enhances but personally I think the physi-

cal is the best. He believes that exhibitions are

also good way of presenting your work and

will work just as well as people still like to

look at the real thing and not on a computer

screen.

Francis cleverly compares the importance of

having something physical when working in

the industry, If I was pitching a cartoon to a

broadcaster, to show just images on a projector

isnt always enough for them to love to get

hold of and feel. So I used to have a model

made of the main character that they could sit

on their lap whilst I was pitching.

This was his best tactic, as he would allow peo-

ple to feel and connect with his ideas. As re-

gards to a physical portfolio, I actually think

that works because youre showing your cre-

ativity in one whole volume. The screen can do

that but its cold, whereas I think theres a

warmth to the physicality of it. But how elsecan we get our work noticed and hopefully start

making some pennies?

As well as presenting work at exhibitions, its

also possible to sell your photography work

through print sale fares. This is a good way to

ensure your work is seen by potential clients

whilst also making some money. However

Francis strongly advises, Hold onto your

copyright. Somebody may take all of your stuff

and offer you what may seem like quite a lot of

money at the time, but what theyre actually

DOME.he Ke y to Indistry: Francis Vose



46/84

buying is your portfolio. What youve got to

remember is- if theyve bought that, they own

it.

Francis warns that you have to be prepared to

throw yourself into this type of environment,

know your prices and be clever. You have got

to be careful, if youve got your own style,

hold onto it. If they like it, they will come backthen youve got some sort of business with

them and if they cant afford it then you know

its interesting. You know that somebody else

will be interested.

Mistakes can be inevitable with this type of ap-

proach, however Francis believes if you make

mistakes, you shouldnt worry too much about

it because you learn from them. It is vital not to

sell yourself cheap, otherwise people will not

respect you and therefore will not respect your

work. Dont accept the first offer, hold onto

your copyright and all of it if possible. Then

you can create your business. If you createyour business you create your style and then

people will want your stuff. Its easy to take

what might seem like a big dollar but actually

when you work it all out, youre selling cheap.

We discussed how it is important to enter this

kind of environment go with a mindset, that

way you know what to expect as selling prints

is a great way to build up your own personal

client base and getting your work out there.

However, I asked Francis on the other hand

once you are making this money, how do you

continue to make this money without spending

it all on advertising?

Francis does indeed have many hats; as well as

being an animator, a Lecturer of Visual arts, I

then found out that Francis is the proud owner

of his company &Made which he runs with

his wife. We havent spent huge money any-

where on advertising, we use twitter and it

works. Social networking is becoming the

new way of advertising and specifically target-

ing your audience and its obviously free.

Francis also points out the practicalities of hav-

ing a blog, Andrea (his wife) has a blog. She

is out there because of Facebook and Twitter.People blog and twitter and thats how it

works. He discusses the process that social

networking does for their company, If An-

dreas got a new line, she will put it on twitter

and the suppliers pick that up. Then that got

tweeted to everyone and everybody else was

tweeting back and that creates its own work.

Francis still stresses the importance of advertis-

ing offline, which we agreed we all tend to for-

get about nowadays. For example, Francis

believes that methods such as word of mouth

can be a brilliant way to raise awareness of

your work. From the beginning, we have had

returning customers.

Although this all may sound pretty easy, we

discussed how it is very difficult to manage the

jump from being a local photographer to going

professional and marketing yourself. Francis

highlights how you need to be prepared for this

jump in your business and the approach to thisis key. The business side has to be very care-

fully looked at. From a perspective of yeah, we

could go out and advertise, but could we meet

the demand?

If you are unsure of the business side of things,

this does not mean it is the end of the road and

it certainly wasnt for Francis. The transfer-

able skills are quite interesting because we can

use what we already know. Neither of us have

done business school, neither of us understand

real business, but most of it at the moment is

common sense.

It is believed a common problem for freelance

photographers is that they have the confidence

for their chosen profession but lack the knowl-

edge on how to actually run a business. I ran

Francis by this and he agreed, Artists includ-

ing photographers often dont realise their own

worth. Their skill, design and the time taken to

create their product are never measured against

the cost of the materials, studio costs and gen-

eral running of the business.

He believes that the problem is that photogra-

phers love what they do, therefore they will al-

ways be happy to spend more time on certainprojects. Whereas compared to other profes-

sions; the demand for passion within the work

is far smaller. It is not a 9-5 job. It never will

be and because of that, you always want to try

and do your best and that often comes at a cost

and that could either be the materials, studio

costs and general running of the business

against the skill, design and actual hours.

Some may argue that in order to fully under-

stand opening your own studio and running

your own business it would be more beneficial

to attend business courses whilst other think

this could be a complete waste of time. Iwouldnt spend a fortune on somebody telling

you how to make your own business work be-

cause it might be different to somebody elses.

Only you know your own work and what you

want to achieve at the end of it. Portrait busi-

ness is completely different to freelance jour-

nalist business. Its completely different to

landscape artist business or it could be a travel

photographer that goes around the world. He

also points out, I think somebody who would

be running this course will be specialised in

one area which will give you a broad view of it

but actually it might not work.

On a lighter note he summarises, Apparently

there are some really good photography

courses out there that offer you business but if

you knew what you wanted to do then go for

it. One way or another you need a portfolio to

get on these particular courses or to go straight

into a job, your portfolio should be your bible i

is the key to getting you where you want to be.

A good portfolio should always be ready and

available for whoever wishes to see your work.

This could either be in a traditional book for-

mat as people still like to see the physical or on

a website. What does Francis look for in a port-

folio? I look for 3 things: passion, heart in

their work and commercial skills. If your port-

folio shows there is love and attention and de-

tail and absolute creativity, and the whole thing

has got a whole passion to it-fantastic!

However, in terms of what to include in their

portfolios, many people are confused, they areunsure whether to present a variation or a

unique style of photographs. Francis solves this

problem, There could be two portfolios: there

could be one thats a personal portfolio but I

would be looking for a commercial one as

well.

He explains the importance of a photographer

understanding what commercial means, as

many clients will not want you to design some-

thing yourself, they will know what they want

but they will need your creative twist. The fin-

ished product may be perfect in your eyes but

for the client, if it isnt what they want thenyou are back to square one. Thats the com-

mercial side; understanding that is isnt just

about loving.

It is important to present yourself in the right

way when working with clients. If you behave

like you know it all and are not prepared to

learn, they will never want to work with you

again. Francis has had his fair share of dealing

with this kind of people. I like to have some-

one looking outside the box. I like somebody

who is prepared to argue criticism, somebody

who doesnt know everything about every-

thing. I struggle with somebody who thinksthey know everything; they generally know

nothing. Iv been going for years and I certainly

dont think I know everything, I learn some-

thing everyday its wonderful.

Francis explains how in this technology ob-

sessed era. It is important to manage your own

website to mirror your talent from your portfo-

lio. He believes that you should design it in

your own style to make you stand out. I think

a website is hugely important because

everybody says, have you got one? If

you say no then all of a sudden youre




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REFLECTION.




48/84

not as important as people who have.

This may sound pretty harsh, but its true.

Francis reminds me to include contact details

on your website, or to post your website at the

end of your emails. If you have got your con-

tact details on your website they will get back

to you and you can then contact them and send

them back a reminder underneath your name.

Francis warns that you should expect criticism

whilst looking for jobs and even when you

have got a job, people still criticise. This is

something that you need to get used to in the

creative industry or you will lose sight of

whats important.

Many of us are put off going professional due

to the constant pressures involved when work-

ing in industry. Francis explains how he deals

with these pressures from clients and thinks

you should take it with a pinch of salt. If they

are paying you they think they own you and

they believe they are always right. Allow them

to believe it but remind them through your

work, why they wanted to employ you in the

first place and the changes they accept are gen-

erally looked on as not your ideas, but theirs.

With these kinds of pressures you are working

against constant deadlines and sometimes

things do not go quite to plan. This even hap-

pens to the professionals so dont lose sight.

Francis talked me through how he overcomes

these problems, Walk away whether you go

for a walk in the fields or whether you just go

and make a cup of coffee. When your thinking

about something else it will dawn on you whathas gone wrong and you can go back fresh.

You might not even of finished your cup of

coffee!

These problems can be avoided through getting

to know your client and by expecting the unex-

pected. The last thing Francis wanted to put

across to our readers was, Preparation, prepa-

ration, preparation! The more you can prepare

the best, its second guessing.

Look out for more helpful tips from Francis

throughout the magazine, as there is so much

more to find out. Dont forget to constantly re-assess your work as you may get caught up

with it all. No form of marketing will rescue

you if your work is not up to date. Constantly

check your emails, blogs and social networking

sites. Continue to work on personal projects to

help you evolve and to keep your portfolio up

to date, that way you always have something

new to show clients when asked.

Sophia Avraam

How would you describe your pho-

tographic vision?

Thought provoking, I like an image to

tell a story.

What is your favourite genre of

photography and why?

I like interesting skies and empty land-

scapes.

What camera do you use?

My main camera is a Canon 5D

Where is the one place/location you

would love to visit and photograph?

Why?Australia: big blue skies, big red land, its

what we dont have here. Its the visual of

the landscape.

What do you think is the hardest

part of being a photographer?

Easy! Liking your own work.

What do you think is the most enjoyable

thing about being a photographer?

Sharing your knowledge and being on

your own, its a weird one but I like being

on my own

What has been the most memorable

moment of your career?

I think all in all Ive got a lot to be grate-

ful for. Best moment I suppose it would be

wrong not to say winning a national ME,

that was special, your not going to win any

of them in a lifetime, It was one of the best

moments of my time.

Do you have a favourite photogra-

pher who has influenced you?

I have a lot of photographers that I think

are brilliant but I think there is no one else

for me than Don McCullin. He has got a

great life story and was an east end lad

who had nothing and picked up a camera

and never put it down. He went off to

Vietnam and to Africa; he was one

of the most

regarded

photogra-

phers. His

images are

mostly black

and white, his

landscapes are

astonishing.

Q&A

CRACKEDWALL.

The Key to Indistry: Francis Vose



49/84

Photography & Opportunities: Peter Fearon


PeterFearonFor m e, this isthe best job inthe world, I loveit, I love

comingto w ork.


50/84

Photography & Opportunities: Sophia Avraam istalked through the wonderful opportunities acareer in photography can open up for you byHollyoaks director: Peter Fearonoes taking a career in photogra-

phy limit your job aspects? Not

at all, if anything it enhances

your career.

And who

would know better than

the director of Hollyoaks,

Peter Fearon! He talks me

through how his skills and

passion for photography

have allowed him toachieve exactly what he

dreamed of and much

more.

He discusses how he started

off from rock bottom as an

average guy from Kirkby

wanting to be a photographer

and the pressures he encoun-

tered from people not believ-

ing in him. Howev

visual photographic magazine

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