Good staff pics are key

In the modern digital world it has become more essential than ever for corporates to have engaging, professional portraits of their staff. Clients want to see who they are dealing with over the phone, email or through the multitude of communication channels available to corporates, to put a face to name as it were.

Not only does it portray a strong sense of corporate professionalism it also creates strong bonds and re-humanises what the efficiency of modern communication has swiftly de-humanised over the past 10 years. Nothing says 'how can I help you' more than a warm smile in an engaging portrait picture.

Thankfully with the modern technology available today creating engaging, professional staff portraits is a relatively quick and painless exercise. I have been shooting staff portraits for over 10 years both on site and in our studio, so if you are interested in updating your staff profile, have a look at the few examples below and don't hesitater to contact us for more info or to make a booking.

The Elephant Camp...

I am lucky enough to travel around Zimbabwe and the region doing photographic work for some amazing lodges and hotels and rightly so, people who talk to me about the work are almost always jealous of my travels, laughing accosting me to get a proper job and that swanning around 5 star establishments can't seriously pass as hard work!

Well let me attempt to dispel that myth and start by saying that contrary to mass opinion it is actually very hard work, enjoyable yes as I get to travel and see some fantastic camps and places, but no less hard work that any other projects we take on. So whats the challenge you may ask? Well I am often travelling to places I have never been to and am asked to essentially capture the life and soul of a place that I am unfamiliar with, this requires keeping my eyes open and my creative juices flowing 24/7.

It also requires a lot of planning by the lodge management and executing vastly complicated setups shots with a very small time window. Often there is no second chance so the pressure is always on. I take the work seriously, work hard and produce the goods, and I am confident that this is reflected in our portfolio.

So I was very excited when Wild Horizons asked me to come to Victoria Falls and photograph their luxury safari lodge; The Elephant Camp. This would be my first time working with Wild Horizons and so naturally I was keen to impress as usual! Needless to say there was a lot to do and I take my hat off to the management of the camp for their endless support in the face of my never ending requests! 

The smallest things can cause consternation on a shoot like this, for example we where shooting a romantic dinner setup on the pool deck of the camp and the firewood was quite wet and stubborn which caused some heart failure in no small amounts when the evening light was perfect and the fire refused to take! You can see some of the frantic energy required to make this all happen in the short time lapse video below.

Despite the stubborn fire the fantastic team from the camp and myself managed to make it work, as you can see from the resultant pics below.

In addition to the frantic planning, the right equipment also goes a long way in ensuring that the shots I take are of the utmost quality, watch below as I explain why a perspective control or tilt shift lens is an essential part of my equipment for a lodge or architectural shoot.

A big part of any lodges' marketing drive is visuals of the rooms as visitors often judge the luxuriousness of their destination by the opulence of the rooms. Without understating it too much the rooms at The Elephant Camp are amazingly appointed and fantastically comfortable! So in order to showcase this quite a lot of effort went into showcasing the rooms from as many different angles as possible and at different times of the day. 

Speaking as one who loves their food as much as anything else in life I can confidently say that the food at The Elephant Camp was delicious! This made photographing the food even easier!

The main boma is exquisitely appointed with lots of wide windows that gave you the impression of actually sitting IN the view. The ever spectacular dance of the iconic 'Moisi O Tunya' or spray from the mighty Victoria Falls was a welcome accompaniment to any meal or chill time on the deck of the main area, and is one of the lodges' draw card selling points.

From all of the above I hope I have established at least 2 things, firstly that I am not 'on holiday' when I head off to photograph a lodge and that all the time and effort put into the shoot has resulted in some fantastic images that The Elephant Camp can use of their various marketing for years to come. And secondly that the Elephant Camp is a fantastic destination...

Scottyphotography has a drone...

I am very excited to announce that Scottyphotography now has a drone! It has been registered with the Civil Aviation Authority as well as the Ministry of Defence and so is fully legal to fly in Zimbabwe. Chris has a lot of experience with aerial photography and this drone will now allow us to offer it as part of our day to day service at a greatly reduced cost. 

The camera is able to produce 12 megapixel picture files which will be acceptable for most marketing requirements but we will be looking at upgrading the camera to a 20 megapixel model as soon as possible. The camera is also able to do 4k video recording and so we will able to offer aerial video as where necessary.

So if you are looking for a new angle of your lodge, hotel, factory, business premises, construction and agricultural projects or anything else then please don't hesitate to contact us! The sky isn't even the limit anymore in terms of the photographic services we can offer!

I have only been able to fly the drone on a few occasions in the past few weeks but have been very happy with the end results, you can see some of the edited pictures below.

The Dissection of a Dhow...

I am blessed to have had excellent training in my field of profession and we strive to pass on some of that knowledge as often as possible through our Introduction to Photography Courses. However, despite the power of knowledge it can be almost useless if it is not applied in the right manner. There is no exception to this in the field of photography and thats why getting out and using your camera so you gain as much field experience as possible is invaluable.

As a working professional I have the opportunity to do this every day, and with a wide scope of clients, locations and personal interests the experience that I gain everyday is invaluable. You can also never stop learning, something I am always happy to admit to.

Despite all this wonderful experience and the often complex way in which we have to shoot some of our corporate work, its always fantastic to be able to get back to the real basics, and often the results are stunning.

This happened recently while I was on a short holiday in Mozambique, we had rented a dhow for the day and were heading off to the tropical beauty that is Paradise Island in the Bazaruto Archipelago. I was on holiday and thus very chilled, had no brief from a client and just one lens on my camera, almost bliss! So back to basics it was, to photograph the boat from as many angles as possible to showcase the Dhows' different functions and character.

When I talk about composition in our Intro courses I always try to emphasis that you need to move around your subject as much as possible to get as many different angles of your subject as you can, this is very basic stuff but I am left wondering if a little bit of experience doesn't help you decide that basics are often better!

Lighting leather.....

I am fortunate enough to do a variety of product photography in my studio, from bottles to art the variety can be endless and often great fun. This was certainly the case with our friends from Totes who make a fantastic range of handcrafted leather bags and engaged us to help them create a variety of images for their website.

Check out the lighting setup used on a styled handbag as well as some of the action in the studio in our behind the scenes video below.

This is the kind of shoot we really enjoy, a new product and a brief that allows us to be creative within some set parameters. The brief involved photographing each item on a clean background showing the whole bag and then focusing in on some of the finer details such as the stitching, clasps and lining to showcase the quality of workmanship that goes into each bag.

As the bags are all different shapes and sizes we wanted to display some functional pictures showing an everyday use of the bag using props that you would liklely carry around in a specific bag. The props also give a sense of size and scale to each product.

Now I am told by people in the know that no self respecting woman would buy a handbag without 'seeing' how it would look on her so of course we had to oblige and have several pics of each bag being 'modelled' by our discerning volunteer.

And finally towards the end of the shoot we did a few styled shots on a grey background with some softer, more angled lighting to create a few 'grab' images that may be used in brochures and fliers.

If you have a product that you would like photographed please don't hesitate to check out our commercial showreel and gallery and don't hesitate to contact us if you would like more information.

Greens and blues on Rhino Island...

What could be better than ushering in 2017 in one of Zimbabwe's most beautiful wilderness areas while being hosted by a fantastic team at an awesome safari lodge? I am fortunate enough to spend a lot of time all over Zimbabwe and the region helping our various tourism friends update their marketing portfolio's throughout the different seasons and on this glorious occasion I found myself in the verdant surrounds of Rhino Safari Camp on the shores of Lake Kariba.

The camp is located on its own little haven, Muuyu point (which in the local lingo means Baobab Point) and when the lake is really full it's often cut off from the mainland by the high water and becomes an island. I have done some photography and run some photographic safaris at the camp before so was very excited when I had the opportunity to head back at a different time of the year.

The brief was simple, get some stunning marketing images of the camp, its surrounds and activities that will help promote the 'green season'. This didn't prove to be too difficult as the bush was thick, green and vibrant after a good start to the rainy season.

Kariba is synonymous with its 'big sky' which is best seen in the green season when the rain keeps the haze at bay and the cloud formations are at their most stunning.

The only slight snag was working around the weather! Being the end of December and in full swing of the heaviest rainy season in a long time it was a constant guessing game as to what we would be able to achieve. However on the plus side the sky always had some great cloud detail in it which adds a certain livliness to the pics.  

Some wonderfully cooperative models allowed us to get a handful of 'lifestyle' shots around the camp which add an invaluable human element to the marketing pictures.

The sheer 'greenness' of the surrounds made it exceptionally easy to showcase how vibrant the camp is in this wonderful season.

Even some of the local wildlife played ball and allowed us to get some fantastic game viewing images. Despite the heavy rain and abundance of grazing the game on the island is never far away.

The post-sunset 'blue light' provided a moody background to the glowingly warm, inviting atmosphere created by the subtle lighting around the public areas of the camp, with the warm glow of the evening 'bush television' shouting "sit near me"!!

On new years' eve with most of the camp staff and guests in tow we headed out onto the wonderfully expansive Kariba foreshore to a spot we had picked out earlier in the day under a towering petrified Mopane tree to setup a romantic bush dinner.

The weather seemed perfect for the occasion and the only logistical challenge we faced was how to hang the lanterns in the tree. Initially there was a lot of head scratching as the incredibly hard Mopane tree repelled any attempt to bang in a few temporary nails to hang the lanterns from. After a bit of sweating in the now rapidly descending sun some clever soul had a brainwave, why not use some fishing wire to hoist them up?!

If you have a tourism product that you would like photographed feel free to check out our tourism gallery and showreel or contact us for more information.

Recharging in the wheat...

As a professional photographer I am at the beck and call of my clients to create visuals based around their concepts, brand identity and company ethos. This is a wonderful thing as I get to work with some creative and innovative people and am always involved in the creative process. This also means that on a day to day basis I am also juggling many different brand identities and their specific requirements when it comes to photography.

As wonderfully exhilarating and energising as this may all be, after long periods of constant shooting the creative edge can be dulled a bit and weariness may set in. So what would any normal person do, go on holiday or take a hiatus? Not me, I like to squeeze my creative juices by taking my own pictures, of a variety of subjects.

Ideally I like to disappear into the bush for lengthly periods, however this may not be practical all the time especially when the calendar is full. So it was at one of these junctures that I found myself quite happily sitting in a filed of wheat on a friends farm, quietly on my own. 

All I had was one camera with a 105mm macro lens, no pre-conceived ideas and no brief to fill, wonderful. This allowed me to take pictures of whatever I saw that interested me, and in a field of wheat this can really help get the creativity flowing, how else do you make wheat look cool? For a few hours late one afternoon I was lost in this happy bliss of selfish composition, and I think the results speak for themselves?

The above pictures are the result of that happy abandon and energised me even further to try and get more creative, different angles of the wheat. So over the next few days, during the golden hours when my family where happily distracted elsewhere I would disappear into the fields with no preconceptions and just a few different lenses to see how creative I could be.

Confident that I had done the macro lens proud I moved over to creating shots with a wide angle lens as well as my panoramic setup.

Creating a 180 degree panoramic image of this field of wheat at sunset allowed me to showcase the sheer size of the field.

I love using my wide angle lenses, they have an ability of really opening up a perspective in a unique way and this worked to my advantage as the fields of wheat I was photographing were huge.

So by doing what I love for myself for a few days I managed to fully charged my Chi, got my creative juices back to bubbling and came away with some wonderful stock images. Not bad for a few days 'holiday'.

Crafty studio....

I am privileged enough to see a lot of fantastic products come through the studio and I am always excited to have something new and unique to photography. I can happily Say I was not disappointed when Shadreck from Zimba Arts asked if we could photograph his wonderful Zimbabwean metal artworks.

Our studio was jam packed with amazingly colourful, unique, inspiring metal birds, ants, warthogs, meerkats and even spiders! The brief was simple, showcase the product in its best possible light on a clean white background. Even my eldest son Oliver got in on the mix!

I am sure you will agree that the art work is fanatastic and we managed to it justice! Check out a short behind the scenes clip below as well as some of the resultant pictures...

Security Matters....

I was recently engaged by one of Zimbabwe's leading security firms Safeguard Security to help them update their photographic gallery. The pictures covered all aspects of the firms' business units from their guards on site at various commercial and private properties through to their manufacturing division and will be used in all their upcoming digital, social media and print campaigns.

This is the sort of work that I relish as it required me to travel. We shot all over Harare and had to think creatively in many different environments, in order to get the shots that best portray that particular service. An example being the guards; they take care of hundreds of commercial and private properties and so we needed to express that using locations that the public would also recognise to heighten the brand awareness. 

The nature of the shoot meant that we had to work continuously for several days and so could only make use of the best light in the early morning and late afternoon for a few sites. This meant that I had to work with on site lighting setups which allowed me to balance the guards in the foreground with the bright backgrounds. 

In keeping with the ethos of the shoot to showcase Safeguards' products and services, all the shots are of the guards who are actually on the ground, we didn't once need to work with models. This can often be difficult, especially if we are pressed for time on site, as you don't want to rush someone who is not a model and unfamiliar with how to stand, pose, smile etc. With all credit going to all the staff we included in the shoot, they all did a remarkable job and are a credit to themselves and Safeguard.

We also shot some of the guards in the studio so that the designer could deep etch pictures to be dropped easily onto any branded backdrop or advert.

In addition to the guards we had to showcase the Armoured team, their professionalism and how well resourced they are. For obvious reasons shooting this on site would have proven to be a bit tricky and so we set some shots up at the safeguard depot.

Keeping track of the massive logistical framework at Safeguard is a dedicated group of control room operators, the massive screens, radio conservations and real time location updates lent an air of order, safety and security to the resultant pics.

In addition to the large Security infrastructure that Safeguard operates they also manufacture Xpanda sliding security doors as well as custom gates and security features. Now I am a boy at heart and loved spending time around the noise of machines, welding and the general busyness of a manufacturing floor.

What proved to be slightly more tricky was showcasing Safeguards on site security products like the motion PIR, razor wire, gates etc. Thankfully with a few phone calls we managed to secure permission from a number of commercial and private properties to shoot their recent security measures installed by Safeguard.

All in all we had a fantastic shoot with Safeguard and I feel we managed to portray all the different aspects of their business in a way that reflects the amazing professionalism at which they operate. I would like to say a huge thanks to Safeguard and their entire team for their support and all the organising that went into making the shoot possible.

How can we help you improve your business' visual branding? Have a look at our showreel, check out our website or be in touch with us to start the ball rolling!

The Three Sentinels...

The best wildlife photographs are those that open a window, even if its a brief one,  into the lives of their subjects. In order to do this you have to have oodles of patience, an affinity for nature and its creatures and an ability to spends hours, days and weeks with a particular subject, often to catch just the briefest moment of action. 

Sometimes you can be lucky and stumble onto something amazing, thats "the right place at the right time" sort of luck that doesn't come around as often as you would think. For me and this particular shot of a trio of Three Banded Coursers in Zimbabwe's Mana Pools National Park I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Having seen the birds from a bit of a distance, just off the track, and having had no luck trying to photograph them earlier in the day I was determined not to waste this opportunity.

I approached the trio, ever so slowly and avoiding revving the engine, they gradually became accustomed to our presence and relaxed a little, thankfully not straying off the road into the long grass. Judging that I wasn't too close for my long prime lens I left the car idling and VERY cautiously climbed out of the car and with minimal movements lay down next to my open drivers door.

Thankful to now be at eye level with the birds, engaging portraits of animals are always better when you are at your subjects' eye level, I dared not breath too hard from fear of chasing them off. I started slowly snapping away, the sound of the shutter and my small movements obscured by the hum of the idling engine. 

The trio eventually cottoned on to what I was up to and scarpered around a little, not too frightened to head off indefinitely and possibly intrigued as to what this prone 'thing' on the ground was up to. The movements of the 3 birds ended up with me getting quite a few landscape and portrait options that were decent shots but didn't quite work for me. This shot happened just before my neck became permanently contorted and I was spasming with cramp.

What I love about the shot is the eye contact from all three birds, the golden light of the setting sun in the long yellow grass, and the standoffish, defensive gate of the  bird in the foreground, suggesting that he/she? is the boss and is going to defend the home turf!

Where: Mana Pools National park Zimbabwe

How: Lots of patience, lying flat on the floor and shooting under my landcruiser!

Camera info: Nikon D3 with 500mm F4 VR Nikkor prime, ISO 640 exposure 1/640th @ f5 

If you would like to learn more about photography why not join us on a course, you can then use your newly acquired knowledge in conjunction with some wildlife lenses that you can rent from us...