Photographic Prints and the Corporate Sector

Recently I was asked by one of my clients who I do various corporate group shots for to do the artworks and printing for a group photograph she was arranging abroard at a conference. As a photographer for conferences that includes group photos what I usually handle is the artwork for the script and the corrections needed for the final print run.

On this occasion the conference was held in Shanghai, China so my client had organised a local photographer to come and take the photo (adhering to some detailed instruction from myself). There was some urgency to get the process moving so to save time I asked for the Raw images to be sent to me via my upload server soon after the event.

Now I had all that I needed to start making the image. I managed in a short time to send a proof back to the company who was still in Shanghai to approve and then set the process for the actual quantity print run.

While my client was on a flight back from Shanghai, that was about a ten hour duration, I had this order completed so there was no delay in getting this to the company to send out to the individuals. With all the digital world thrust upon us in recent years this could have been done as a digital file and just pinged into people inbox, but somehow that would to me shows a cheapness about doing it the first place. I think its great that a large corporate company still values the “corporate group photo” still done in a traditional way.

Please note this photo has been blured intentionally to protect individuals.

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Would You Take The WARNING?

Studio Photography, Product ShotsThe end of March for me at Alternative Images was a busy time with a photographic consignment from a company called MC Electronics who design and manufacture a complete range of works signage for the railway services industry and distribute all over the world.

Their main distribution unit is located in Bracknell where my client and I decided to set up and hold the studio shoot. The product design is one that has built in reflection aids so can be seen in various light situations. Being a warning sign this is a requirement that is paramount. To save time on the day of the shoot I decided to run test shots beforehand of some items to accomplish the best treatment to photograph the product range.

The client spent some time in organising the items and created a check list that we could work to. We were aiming to shoot in the region of sixty items during the day and I had asked this to be done so we kept sizes and types of product grouped together so we did not have to change the set up to often.

The day arrived and we travelled to the works unit. In an hour I had unloaded on site and shortly had the studio lighting all set up. This was kept quite simple with a large diffuser soft box that was on a boom arm positioned over the white backdrop that swept along the floor. The background wanted to be bleached out white so two back lamps were used and the front lighting was mainly reflected via using white card pieces positioned at each shot.

I was please with my decision to do test shots because this gave me a good start from the off and in no time at all was flying down the list of item to photograph. By late afternoon and even stopping for a quick refreshment lunch I had accomplished the shoot in one session that we thought may overrun into the next day. All down to planning.

All the images then had to go through the “post pro” procedure that was done the following day. The images are to be used online, a new catalogue for the company and the future Railtex exhibition stand at the Birmingham NEC in May.

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Web Video Production to Your Liking

Recently in July I was asked to shoot a video piece by a client I have know for quite a few years now. We first met up when she was involved in marketing with a firm in London. During that time I shot stills at events that were for the English rugby squad and various other promotions that were organised by the company. Now some years later she has progressed and is her own boss and wanted me to make a short presentation to camera for her company.

I produce video for people who want to present themselves or have an explanation article for say a company meeting or conference. The web is a fascinating arena for displaying who and what you are, so having a video clip to help the viewer understand and engage with what you are trying to share on a site is all an add bonus.

The equipment I use for this is fairly straight foreword. I often use DSLR to record the video in HD that is very good quality for this use where the final production will be hosted by Vimeo or Youtube.There is no short cut to be had when we come to sound and lighting. This needs to be the same as if you were shooting for a more complex situation due to lighting a scene and the sound recorded has to be a good standard.

We did have fun producing this. It was quite a warm July day and though the room we used was cool at first after an hour or so of studio lighting the temperature grew. My client was determined to do all the sections of the video shoot in one take and actually nailed it with considerable ease. That made the edit process in FCP for me an easier task. Well she is a professional!

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Video In London with ZS Associates

Alternative Images Video Production was asked in June to visit the offices of ZS in Ludgate Hill near St Paul’s Cathedral to discuss logistics for an event that was to take place later that month. All was discussed and preparation for the day commenced.

The meeting was going to be held as a theatre style event where the invited speakers would form a panel at one end of the room and address all who attended. This then would be an opportunity for the audience who were obviously involved in the subject of the meeting to later have a Q and A session with the panel. There were about sixty in the audience that were invited and they had plenty to talk and ask questions about on the day.

ZS is a sales and marketing agency with connections in America and has various office locations around the world. This shoot was estimated to last for about one and a half hours so it was decided to be done using a three camera set up. All three would be set to shoot different angles of the main panel to give variety to the meeting but also to have one that was able to swing an capture the audience when a person wanted to make a statement or ask the panel a question.

Alternative organised all the equipment for the event shoot. The decision was made to have a sound system so everyone could hear on the day but also to provide the cameras with an audio feed from all speakers who wore radio mics so there was no ambient noise from the people who attended recorded to camera. Or very little.

The edit from all the footage shot was a long task of about ten hours to mix the best from the three cameras and ended with a timeline of roughly 100 gigabit of information after edit. After a few edit changes the company had the video for their clients for reference of the days meeting.

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