Thursday 25 July 2013

The perils of trying too hard...

It may sound strange but sometimes we, as photographers, try just a little too hard to be creative and can end up producing pictures that say more about ourselves than our subjects.

I may have been slightly guilty of this when I recently photographed the multi-talented Frédéric Beigbeder, french author, critic and celebrity (amongst a dozen other acheivements) for Radar magazine.

I had this idea that I wanted to portray his fizzing energy and somehow retain the reflectiveness that I strive for in my portraits. So I purposefully shook the camera on a long exposure to make wild shapes with the ambient light while holding my subject motionless with flash.

Here are a couple of the results.


From a colour perspective I really like the mixture of strobe lighting mixed with the very warm tungsten on the extended exposure. The Camera movements were intentional but slightly random and hard to predict where the light was going to wash into Frédéric himself.

Maybe this one is has more stillness to the pose and more reflectiveness but it wouldn't hold a page and Radar went with the frame above...


Frédéric himself was very patient through this slightly unpredictable process although he did think I was having some kind of medical episode when I first started shaking the camera around! He was very cool about the whole session and much funnier in real life than he appears in the pictures.

PS. I would appreciate any comments and opinions as to whether these shots work or if they are just a bit too contrived...

Diary Picture - 7 Mar 2013


St Pauls in the early evening of late winter, looking from the offices of Marie Claire during a break from packing up after a shoot.

Diary Picture - 14 Jun 2013


St Pauls looking from the Millennium bridge. A couple in the midst of the foot traffic at lunch.

Monday 15 July 2013

Diary Picture - 13 Jan 2012


The Olympic village and athlete's accommodation in the final stages of preparation for the London Games, taken from the roof of Westfield during a break in a leasing brochure shoot.

Friday 12 July 2013

Diary Picture - 27 Oct 2012


A walk in Blean woods on a crisp cool October afternoon. Either an antidote to the blazing sun or a reminder not to take it for granted...

Tuesday 9 July 2013

Diary Picture - 1 Feb 2013



Night just next to St Martins in the Field, discarded chewing-gum and the bare branches of winter illuminated by street-lamps. Fuji X100

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Diary Picture - 28 Jun 2013


Friday afternoon holiday on Swimming Pool Hill in Kabul. A group of boys climb atop the wreck of an old soviet troop carrier and drum out a stilted rhythm, clapping as the eldest of them mockingly twirls with arms outstretched in imitation of traditional afghan dance.