I only met the late James Dunn twice back in 2017 but he made a big impression on me. The James I met was a strong, brave, kind and enthusiastic young man with a great sense of humour and a loving family. He didn’t have an easy life because he suffered from Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). A fellow photographer, he used his skills and his personality to raise money and awareness to help the charity Debra fund medical research. He very sadly passed away in April this year aged 24.
Here is a link to James‘ instagram where you can see his wonderful images. Also, a link to a film about James made by Tommy Reynolds and videographer Michael. James was helped to be able to take photographs again by the BBC Big Life Fix designer Jude Pullen.
In Summer 2017 I started doing the photography for Alderley Edge School for Girls over in Cheshire. The school has a nursery and a sixth form so I had a wide range of ages to go on. The girls were absolutely brilliant to photograph – so polite, keen and helpful – it’s a wonderful school. I really enjoy working with Debbie and Philly. They were there offering support and guidance throughout the day but giving me creative freedom to get on with it. Here are but a few of the images from a three day shoot. There were too many to choose from so I’ve updated my education photography gallery with my other favourites.
Down to the allotment to photograph husband and wife Tim and Sam for a feature in Connect magazine. We were blessed with a beautiful evening and a compliant friendly hen. Tim is a photographer himself and it always makes me nervous photographing other photographers, however they were both so nice that soon it didn’t matter. Oh and Tim has a studio for hire in Sheffield – free advert for you there Tim. Here’s how the images were used.
This was a lovely job with the BBC for Radio Sheffield. We photographed presenter Kat Cowan to publicise her radio show which she broadcasts from home while cooking. What a brilliant way to work from home! It was a lovely relaxed morning and we even got to eat the props (which were delicious).
Head shots now for Spire Barristers in Leeds with the Shopper Agency for their new website. Spire wanted to come across as friendly and approachable with clean and consistent head shots.
I had to brave the heights of Leeds Becket University roof to get this shot of BBC presenter Keeley Donovan for her new role as presenter of Inside Out – Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Of course, it had to be a really windy day and with Keeley’s long hair it was a constant battle. With lots of patience on Keeley’s side we got there in the end. I had wobbly legs after the heights though…
Working with content agency SMRS Manchester I had a few days wandering around the National Audit Offices in London taking reportage style images of people at work. The aim was to make it look like a fun place to work – which of course it is! I also took portraits on a white background for the agency to use as case studies. Film company Thunder and Lightning, who I love working with, covered all the videography. You can see how some of the images have been used here on the NAO recruitment website.
So that was my October newsletter that actually should have been out in July. I’ve fortunately been so busy with work that the newsletter, unfortunately, had to be put on the back burner, but I promise to improve and hopefully there will be another one out really soon and I’ll be able to catch up and get more up to date. I’ve just bought a brand new set of lights, which should make jobs more streamlined and mobile and I can’t wait to try them out on my shoot next week.
Claire
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We start with my second trip abroad for a commercial photoshoot. This time to Munich to photograph the people at Auto Scout24. SMRS were helping them to create a new approach and photography and videography content for their recruitment purposes.
Read moreLast October found me loitering in parks, looking rather suspicious with my camera on a tripod pointing at nothing, whilst I waited for my next person to arrive for their headshot. Fortunately it wasn’t long, as there were plenty of people to photograph for Gillespies - (landscape architects, master planners, and urban designers).
Read moreThis was a really fun shoot with Marie Thom for Good Housekeeping magazine entitled ‘In my experience - Midlife dramas in pyjamas’. Marie made myself and make up artist Charlotte really welcome. I set up a little ‘photo booth’ in her front room and started unpacking all of the fab props sent by the magazine.
Read moreOff to Peterborough, to visit the home of the famous Sergi for a Compare the Market photoshoot with SMRS. The main part of the shoot involved setting up a studio with a white background and photographing our volunteers separately and then interacting with each other to be used in a recruitment campaign.
Read moreI really enjoyed photographing Christine and her garden for WI Life magazine. She’s a lovely lady who clearly loves her gardening. There were so many fun things to discover like the ‘green lady’ and the signs made out of broken tiles, the birdhouses and the vegetable patch
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