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• The brief:
  To photograph interiors of six Ramsgate sea front located luxury holiday apartments in two style; to give a sense of the space offered within each and to also produce photographic interior shots that gave a suggestion of luxury through the fixtures, furnishings and fittings.
  Our equipment for the shoot:
  Two D90s.
  Nikon 12-24mm f/4, Nikon 50mm f/1.8, Sigma 100mm macro f/2.8
  500w/s flash head.
  2 x 150w/s flash heads.
  Nikon SB-800 Speedlight.
  120cm octagonal softbox.
  40cm square softbox.
  Shoot through umbrella.
  Reflector.
  Radio transmitter.
  Two extension leads.
  Day 1
  On the day of the property portfolio shoot in Ramsgate, we met Emma at two of the sea front apartments in Sion House. These apartments both had beautiful sea views. As identified in our pre-consultation meeting, it was paramount that the interior photographs should encompass the wonderful views as well as the interior standard. Thanks to our scoping of the apartments the week prior, we knew this would require studio lighting equipment and so two steep flights of stairs later we reached the apartments, phew!
  In the lower apartment the foreground view was not as pleasing as the background and as we were unable to reach an angle to cut out the foreground, we chose not to expose for that particular view, as they were not too flattering! We concentrated on getting some wide angles to show the size of the rooms and picked out the details in kitchen and furnishings.
  In the upper apartment, which was the penthouse, the views of the sea and harbour were stunning! Showing these views alongside the luxurious finish of the properties would show the maximum potential of the property and give the interior photographs real impact. To do this we unpacked our lighting equipment and started in the fabulous bedroom.
  From our previous visit, we knew that there was too many stops difference between the inside and outside exposure to be able to take a single absent light based image and then balance afterwards. So we applied our studio lights. Our lighting set up used; one 500w/s head with a 120cm octagonal soft box, plus one 150w/s head with a 40cm softbox and a shoot through umbrella which we switched between, depending on the fill and spread of light needed.
  The lighting equipment was moved around depending on the angle and perspective of each shot, using the octagonal box as the key light as it through large, soft light over the whole room, increasing the exposure of the room more in line with that of the outside view. To do this, we took a spot meter read of the outside based on ISO100 @ 125s. We used 125s shutter speed as this would be the required shutter speed to sync with the flash heads. With these readings, aperture and flash output was then set to f/18.
  The umbrella / softbox filled in any shadows, thus creating a bright, crisp and even image. Showing the details in the whole room is important, and shadows cover details and reduce the sense of space.
  The same lighting set up was used for the lounge / dining room / kitchen at the top of the property. Here getting angle of the lighting (and ourselves) was crucial, as this room was filled with reflective surfaces. Seeing the flare of the flash or the reflection of the photographer in the shot is not cool!
  As all of Emma's holiday homes were fully booked over the summer period, we were working under a time pressure as we only had the turnaround time of each property to shoot in, before the next holiday makers turned up to occupy them. This was a total shooting time of three hours, including set up, take down and travel between properties! Due to the need for the lighting gear in Sion house, we were left with just one hour to get to the next two properties and get shooting.
  So, we jumped in the car and drove to the location of the next two properties, Regency House. This building was aptly named as once inside we saw that they were indeed regal, and massive! We had not seen these properties in our preliminary meeting and so were flying blind at this point. With no time to stand gawping we split up, as both properties were at either end of this huge complex. I took the tripod to one property in order to get the details of the property and take a longer exposure if needed, and Gareth kept the lighting equipment and the wide angle to show the space and grandeur of the other. What was very apparent was that due to the sheer size of these rooms, our lighting equipment was not going to be enough to balance the inside / outside exposure over the whole room. The time restrictions now also meant there wasn't enough time to get the full studio set up, set up.
  A phone call from Emma saying both sets of guests for each property had arrived, gave us enough time to grab our gear and hot foot it down another two flights of stairs to foyer, with just enough time to look inconspicuous as the new guest walked past us into their new homes for the next week! Phew, it certainly had been an intense three hours!
  Day 2
  The next day was the turnaround for the final two properties we needed to shoot. However today we had less time and had to work alongside the cleaners! The first property was very very contemporary, with lots of clean lines and once more - reflective surfaces - argh!
  In the bathroom, we used the SB-800 speedlight to bounced light off the ceiling to light the space, as there was no natural daylight available. In such a small space, finding interesting angles was a little challenging and so Gareth decided to lay down - in the shower! Laying down in the shower cubicle and shooting up gave an amazing perspective of not just the shower, but the whole bathroom, perhaps a little abstract though.
  We photographed the kitchen with clean, crisp lines in mind and to give a sense of workspace. We spent as much time ensuring the worktop was spotless as we did shooting it.
  The second property had a stunning kitchen and some beautiful, gently window light. The wide angle lens was used to give the room and sense of space but we also concentrated on the detail in the lounge to show comfort and relaxation. We were also dancing with the cleaner as we both tried to get out of each other's way!
  Processing
  Back in the office we took a look at the images we had taken in detail. We had managed to take over 600 photographs over the two days. As with any 12mm wide-angle, we had to deal with a reasonable amount of barrelling distortion which was corrected in Lightroom using its lens correction tool. We also then had a chance to look at the finer detail of each shot, checking for random cables that we had not tucked away, the little things that make the whole.
  In addition to our own eyes, we were lucky to have had some advice from an excellent interiors and architectural photographer, John McKenzie. John's many years of shooting and processing experienced greatly helped, thank you John.
  We both really enjoyed this shoot. It was all about being creative with perspective and having the brief always in mind. Definitely something we want to do more of.
  If you are a property developer, architect, real estate agent, why not contact us and see how we can greatly enhance your portfolio.
  Michelle
  maxhector photography is a commercial photography business operating in Kent and London. Based in Canterbury, we also offer wedding photography and portrait photography.

  MY SEASIDE LUXURY - PROPERTY PORTFOLIO SHOOT

  

  We were commissioned by My Seaside Luxury to photograph interiors of six Ramsgate sea front located luxury holiday apartments in two styles; to give a sense of the space offered within each and to also produce photographic interior shots that gave a suggestion of luxury through the fixtures, furnishings and fittings.

   

  Read more... MY SEASIDE LUXURY SHOOT  
• Katie Leone - Blog
  So after a few weeks of preparation, sharing thoughts and ideas, the evening finally came for the portrait photography shoot with singer and songwriter Katie Leone.
  We had brought with us everything except perhaps the kitchen sink, no wait‚ yes, we took that too. We needed to be prepared as the shoot was always going to be quite organic as we experimented further and allowed the shots to come about in their own way. Through Katie letting us know how she was feeling and us communicating what we could see, we produced some striking photography.
  Katie had had somewhat of a makeover since we last met which caught us out a little! Her new look was striking, colourful and very much 'her'. We all agreed on a chiffon black dress as anything with colour could well clash with her make up and the streaks of colour in her hair. We also had in mind that the projector would be called upon later and so something plain as a potential canvas would likely be required.
  The shoot location was at Katie's house but having just moved in Katie had a fabulous large lounge wall that was smooth and plain, an excellent background. As we knew we would be shooting portraits, space was not too much an issue.
  Our equipment for the shoot;
  Nikon D90
  Nikon 50mm f/1.8 (a beautifully sharp prime lens).
  Sigma 105mm f/2.8 (a 1:1 macro lens, but also an excellent portrait lens).
  500w/s flash head with 120cm octagonal softbox.
  2 x 150w/s flash heads; one with gels and a snoot, the other with a 40cm softbox.
  Manfrotto Tripod.
  HP projector (with a small table).
  Reflector.
  Black and white sheets with a pop-up background.
  Extension leads (don't leave home without them!).
  We started the shoot off with a quick chat to firm up some of the ideas that had been bounced around and also as a chance for Katie to let us know of any further thoughts. Having just had her makeover she requested some more traditional close ups, so we started with those.
  Katie has stunning blue eyes and the head shots gave us a chance to get in close and pull out some beautiful detail and colour. Combined with the distinctive hair style, flashes of colour and a really cool earring, Katie's first, very clean and sharp head shots were definite keepers!
  We did some small amount of photoshop work in post-processing to remove the odd stray hair, but not much at all.
  Next we took a few steps back to get some fuller shots and use the fabulous chiffon sleeves of her dress. We also swapped the octagonal soft box for the snoot (without the honeycomb) as a key light in order to create some directional lighting, which would give an edgier look. For some of these shots a yellow gel was placed over the snoot, and with a few adjustments using levels and curves in Photoshop some striking images emerged.
  As the shoot moved towards the wee hours, we changed tack with some music and dancing, while we fired away on continuous. These shots looked great in mono and we pushed up the contrast to make the blacks pop out against the white background. The different styles in images produced was testament to the communication between us all.
  The last idea to try out was using the projector to project an image onto Katie or the background. Katie wanted to create a more abstract image and so obscuring her features was acceptable. From the projections that Katie had chosen we decided on the halo of coloured stripes as a starting point. It took a little while to find a composition that worked, eventually we turned the projector on its side in order to rotate the image (much quicker than editing the image in the laptop, it was getting late). Using her profile, the shouting idea was obvious straight away.
  Another image that Katie wanted us to use was a photograph of some ice crystals that her husband had taken while they were on holiday. Again, a bit of trial and error with the position of the picture and where KAtie should be within it followed. The ice crystals distorted Katie's face a lot and we felt that there need to be a subtle representation of the face beneath it, so abstract, but not too abstract! To overcome this, we projected the image of half of Katie's face and attempted to catch a highlight over her eye so as to make her eye jump out of the image.
  For some of the portrait photographs we were looking for a heavily processed look to go hand in hand with the use of the projector and create and almost cartoon, modelled effect.
  For example, a lot of processing went into this image. We worked with with colour curves in Photoshop and were able to create something far more abstract, which gave an almost cartoon like quality to Katie, which we thought was kind of cool.
  Katie's brief allowed us to throw out the rule book for portrait photography and verge on the realms of illustration (of which we are not, by the way).
  We had great fun working with Katie, she was so enthused and communicative, with loads of her own ideas too, and despite the shoot heading towards the wee hours, there was always an abundance of energy and laughter in the room.
  If you are trying to build an image for yourself, or in need of fresh new portrait portfolio for promotion, why not contact us and see what we can do for you. We excel in exceeding expectations.
  maxehector photography are commercial, portrait and wedding photographers in Kent and London based in Canterbury.

  KATIE LEONE - 'Music into metaphor' PORTRAIT SHOOT

   
  So after a few weeks of preparation, sharing thoughts and ideas, the evening finally came for the portrait photography shoot with singer and songwriter Katie Leone.

  We had brought with us everything except perhaps the kitchen sink, no wait‚ yes, we took that too. We needed to be prepared as the shoot was always going to be quite organic as we experimented further and allowed the shots to come about in their own way. Through Katie letting us know how she was feeling and us communicating what we could see, we produced some striking photography.

   

  Read more... Katie Leone Portrait Shoot  

• MY SEASIDE LUXURY, MEET UP

  Gareth and I met with Emma Irvine on Saturday, of new clients My Seaside Luxury, to discuss the finer details of their property portfolio commission. My Seaside Luxury are a property management service in Kent,  dealing in short and long terms rentals and holiday lets in Ramsgate and the surrounding areas. We arrived in Ramsgate with an hour to spare before the meeting in order to take a look around Ramsgate itself and gain a better understanding of the area.

   

  Read more... MY SEASIDE LUXURY, MEET UP  
• A NEW TESTIMONIAL
  "I couldn't recommend Gareth Hector highly enough for portraits or people pictures.
  He can produce a group shot better than anyone I have ever worked with (and after 35 years in the media that's a lot of photographers).
  When I 'retired' from my business I didn't want a gold watch, or anything else for that matter, but I did want a picture of the team I was leaving behind - great people who I would miss a lot. And in just six shots (after grouping 40 people) he came up with pictures which exceeded all my expectations. Not a single closed eye or scowl from any of them!
  The composition was first rate and the quality second to none. Couldn't be happier."
  Rob Barrowman - Publisher

  A NEW TESTIMONIAL

  "I couldn't recommend Gareth Hector highly enough for portraits or people pictures. 
  He can produce a group shot better than anyone I have ever worked with (and after 35 years in the media that's a lot of photographers).

  Read more... A NEW TESTIMONIAL  
• KATIE LEONE - MUSIC INTO METAPHOR
  This week sees the start of a new job/project for us; creating a series of portfolio and possible album cover shots for the very talented singer/songwriter, Katie Leone - check out her MySpace page here.
  Katie approached us with a desire to translate and summarise her music into a series of shots that she could go on to use to promote herself. Katie's opening brief to us was "I love colour, quirkiness and vibrant images. I don't want to portray a moody serious 'singer' image, more funky, fun, different, colourful, modern and quirky".
  We exchanged a few emails throwing in some 'out there' ideas to get more of a firm grip of the brief and give us a starting point. Through these, Katie gave us some visual references of 'yay' and 'nay' shots from which we quickly developed a much better understanding.
  It was from this that Michelle then set to work on a mood board. A really simple, widely used technique for gathering ideas, linking them and allowing them to visually develop. At the very least it's a collation of everyones input for discussion.
  Michelle drew on some of her previous encounters with her two favourite photographers; Nick Knight and Lois Greenfield and found some distinctly individual shots that really hit all of Katie's opening brief. Incredibly vibrant, a little bit 'out there' and loads of colour.
  These images are meant as reference points from which to develop a further narrowing of the brief to a point where we would be able to start to think about locations, type of shoot, props, clothing and so forth.
  Talking through each image, defining the good and bad of each, Michelle and Katie worked down to the images from Lois and Nick (yes, first name terms).
  Michelle explains; "What really came out from these conversations was a redefining of how Katie wanted to portray herself and her music. The Alice in Wonderland concept and styling was reminiscent of an old image and was therefore binned, but the textured and patterned wallpaper backgrounds was retained.
  Although the fairground idea was full of colour, the prom dress styling really wasn't what Katie wears, and she again emphasised the desire to keep her true identity stitched within her photos, and not to be something that she isn't. Scratch prom dresses.
  We discussed other types of styling for this shoot, but Katie was really taken with the idea of movement and colour shown on the concept beneath this on the mood board and our conversation centred around this for the continuation of the meeting.
  Coloured background and clashing fabrics were a definite, taking inspiration from two images from Nick Knight and one from Sarah Silver.
  Clothing, hair and make up are an essential mix in this type of concept and must be matched, or in this case, 'clashed' with background and lighting.
  We then introduced the pattern wallpaper from the Alice in Wonderland concept as a potential background to this idea and we both began making noises of appreciation."
  In the meantime, I was doing some further research into the use of projections in compositions. It's something I had previously experimented with before, having seen some rather excellent, almost abstract, portrait images. Given Katie's penchant for the quirky, colourful and vibrant images, I thought that perhaps this technique may suit.
  Half an hour research later and I had a set of very different images sourced from Flickr and Deviant Art - I will attempt to relocate the links for each and credit the photographers!
  A date for the shoot arranged, the next steps for us are to decide on the lighting and any gels or gobos, design the image to be projected, and source potential patterned / textured back drops. As always, we will have structured images in mind for the days shoot, but will be ready for the unexpected and the extraordinary images it brings.
  Watch this space for further updates.

  KATIE LEONE - MUSIC INTO METAPHOR

  This week sees the start of a new photography job/project for us; creating a series of portfolio and possible album cover shots for the very talented singer/songwriter, Katie Leone - check out her MySpace page here. 

  Katie approached us with a desire to translate and summarise her music into a series of photographic shots that she could go on to use to promote herself. Katie's opening brief to us was "I love colour, quirkiness and vibrant images. I don't want to portray a moody serious 'singer' image, more funky, fun, different, colourful, modern and quirky".

  Read more... KATIE LEONE - MUSIC INTO METAPHOR  

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