Kara’s Yoga

Yoga and Fitness Video and Photo Production

This is Kara, a Yoga teacher originally from my home Town Henley on Thames, but now based in Central London. I worked with her a few weeks ago and it was a great experience.

Initially, she wanted to do a corporate photo shoot, consisting of a few portraits of her in her Hammersmith studio. But by the time we met, it was clear to me that we should do a more lifestyle shoot and introduce video too.

The Photos

First we concentrated on the photographic side. She had one of her members to help us create some shapes. Once we set up lights, it was time to decide how much exercise I was going to make them do. Yes, I was going to milk this opportunity and they kew it.

The day was really sunny, so I decided to combine the outside lighting with the ones I had inside. The look had to be fresh.

We must have spent a good couple of hours shooting a few poses while they were opposite to each other, as it was important to show how the work was done. This gave the images a graphic look I was very happy with.

Also, I wanted to show the social side of going to Yoga classes. And, most of all, the human interaction, which in today’s busy world it seems to be more difficult to achieve.

The Video

Finally, I produced the short video introduction. And since Kara was all about freshness and spontaneous charm, I asked to improvised her lines.

We set it up outside just to make it more natural. Karen, the assistant for the time, was in charge of the microphone. She did great. Eventually, after a couple of takes, we got it just perfect. It was a wrap!. short but just what she was after.

It was great fun doing this shoot.

A day in the world of Horses

A portrait of people behind Polo

Back in June I got the opportunity to work with a great group of people. It was a Polo Club based in the heart of Berkshire. It was nothing like I had ever expected. This place was not the normal polo club. It was like ten clubs all in one place.

With over 40 horses in the farm, they provided horses to many professional players, clubs and schools. You had the horses divided into all these categories: The best horses would be used by the owner, Mariano, and his two sons, Segundo and Tani. They would be hired out only to the best players as they were too strong for lower lever players. These horses would play the match for you, that’s how good they were. At the time of exercising them, only the most experienced grooms would ride them.

Then you had the ones most players could hire, which were brilliant nevertheless but at the same time were more relaxed and not so nervous to handle.

And last but not least, they had the “school horses”. They were the semi retired polo ponies which were great to get up to speed with your riding and polo skills.

During the day there would always be time for a “mate” and everyone would sit down and pass this traditional Argentine tea around and share their stories. it was the time to look at the white board with a schedule that was hand written by Mariano. He would come to the farm every day and organise the day on this board with clinical accuracy. from what horse had to exercise, to which one went where, medicines, specific food rations depending on performance, vet visits and check which one needed new shoes.

The team was great, these chaps would be up working from as early as 4:00 AM and you would see them still finishing things off at 11:00 PM. As time went by I realised how involved and diverse the work was. Each horse had a different character, fitness, habits. you had to know the horse you were getting on. It wasn’t just a matter of getting on and ride. Put the wrong bit on them and you would be in for a surprise.

Whenever I had time, I would be with my camera in hand to witness this world, which is so different from the every day job.

During one of these chats we usually had, Mariano rightly said ” This is not a job, this is a way of life”. If you think of it as a job, you won’t last a week on it.

The images I managed to get reflect the beauty of these magnificent creatures, the work that each person does on an every day basis, and the lovely relationship these chaps have with what they call “their horses”. From the farrier to the vet, players and grooms, they all have given me not just amazing portraits, but also an incredible insight and learning curve into the life of a Polo Club and hopefully some new friendships.

UK Recruiting Video Production

Corporate Video

I was asked to do a small Corporate Video clip representing the industry UK Recruiting Limited works in. We met a few days before the shoot to discuss the images they were after. From that we built a Story Board and presented it to them for approval. It was a hit straight away. And so we booked a couple of building sites around London to do our filming. We knew we could film everything in one day but we had to be organised as we can’t really stop the building work for too long.

The Company, www.ukrecruitingltd.com, works in the recruitment field and they concentrate in the building construction industry. They gave me a fairly simple brief, let’s do building sites where we have our recruits in but also show the people interaction between the company and the work force we provide. As the video clip was to be used for their website, we couldn’t have a three minute clip either. so just about a minute then to keep it dynamic and attractive. No pressure there! It was a great day and everything fell into place. Light was good which in London is never guaranteed. People were in their posts as we requested. Props were ready and with the help of our Editing department (thanks to Diego) we got a whole day’s filming session into a minute more or less.

The actors had to do a couple of takes here and there to beat the nerves of being in front of the cameras but it all worked out great in the end. If you ever need a Corporate or a fashion video, come and talk to us.

Recruitment Company Photo Shoot

I got contacted by this Recruitment company who were looking to have some video and photography done for their website. The work meant spending quite some time in construction sites as that was their sector. Filming between moving machines was fun but challenging at times. While shooting video one would get really involved in the image in front of me, not aware of other machines and trucks coming my way from behind. It was a nice change to the usual corporate portrait done indoors. The video is being edited and I will be uploading it soon.

Portrait Photo Shoot

Portrait Photo Session

A few days ago I had the chance to do a portrait shoot for this lovely couple. They only had one day available for this and the forecast was promising rain and more rain. With that in mind I prepared myself and my equipment to stay as dry as I possibly could. Yes, I was shooting regardless the weather.

I found a beautiful location in Hambleden, a small and very old village next to Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire. I got a call letting me know they were running half an hour late. By the time of the call, it was raining heavily and I was thinking options, optimistically looking at the skies and hoping for help. It took them about 45 minutes to arrive, but it stopped raining 10 minutes before they got here.

The skies opened up almost by magic and we stuck to the original plan and locations. We managed to shoot all the images we wanted to do and as we were packing up, it started to rain again and it did not stop until the following day. I guess it was meant to be and the timing couldn’t have been any better. And we had fun too.

Fashion Event Video

Fashion Event

Slowly getting back to my video roots. This video reminded me how much fun was doing TV commercials and the whole production that went on behind them. All of a sudden I’m starting to come across new clients who need video productions. This is to a nice start.

It’s all about ART

You can find it and make art out of anything. Here are just a few images from my Art section. Some are finished projects, some are ongoing and new projects. You never know exactly how it starts until you see that one image and you develop from there. Landscapes, cityscapes and some lovely portraits. New project coming up. Some of you will soon hear from me.

Children’s fashion Photo Shoot

Nothing like the real thing! I got commissioned to shoot a cool clothing range for babies and young toddlers. Everything was well organised. I got to the premises, set up the studio and lights to find out that at the last minute two of the three young models were not well. Here I am in the middle of Croydon on a Sunday morning with everything set up for a great shoot with almost no models. My client says “lets find a couple of families with kids”. It took us about 10 minutes of “talent scouting” and we had a bunch of willing parents. The results were great. A bit crowded with a few parents and siblings but a lively atmosphere for the kids. You never know what you’ll encounter when shooting children’s fashion. Here are some of the shots we did.

London Overdose Fashion Shoot

So, this time I was asked to do a fashion shoot for a Slovenian reality TV program called London Overdose. It follows a well known designer from Slovenia, living now in London. It was fun to shoot on location around some of London landmarks. We started shooting at Kings Cross Station and we continued east to Tower Bridge Station and Tower Bridge itself. The program has already been uploaded to youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c95fSBWIw4M. Although it hasn’t been subtitled yet, you can see me in action photographing the models, and these are the results of that shoot.

Abasto. A day in an Argentine shop in London

I had the joy of being invited to do a shoot in this fantastic shop in the heart of London. An Argentine shop selling traditional produce, products and wines. I got to shoot the interiors, some of their most recognizable products and foods served at the shop. You can go there just to find your favorite delicacies, sit down for a coffee or do some wine tasting. I could have carried on shooting as every corner was a gem to be discovered. This is just a small selection of images from the vast amount of shots we manage to get in one afternoon.