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.
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