Newcastle Photography Charity Face Masks

One of the first photography commissions I was asked to do after lockdown eased was so perfectly fitting for current times! A face mask product shoot for local Newcastle based charity Clothe & Feed, no less! Rob Turnbull the charity’s founder got in touch and needed various portrait photos of their new handmade mask range on models ranging in age, cultural diversity, sex, size and height.

It was a particularly fun and interesting shoot as Rob handed over a good deal of creative direction of the portrait and product photos to me, so I made it all about the colour! The brief was to create eye-catching block colour backdrops ie boxes of colour with a masked model within and we agreed the shots should show a little character to add personality to the product. We wanted a ‘something for everybody’ vibe!

Having chosen a colour scheme for the Colorama backdrops, (pumpkin, leaf, forget-me-not, buttercup-all the plant colours!) when the models arrived dressed with a box of beautifully made masks, I paired mask fabrics to their clothing and a background colour. It was fab to get the creative juices flowing! A particular favourite colour combo of mine is orange and blue (opposites on the colour wheel therefore perfectly matched) and so this was to be the strongest theme for the photography throughout. Particularly as Charity Masks logo is blue and all the funds go to North East not for profit charity Clothe and Feed, which has an orange logo. Just perrrfick!

The models Rob organised were absolutely incredible for many reasons, 1- they weren’t professional but performed as such, 2- they were giving up their time for a Face Mask charity that helps underprivileged parents and vulnerable children in Newcastle, 3- they looked fantastic, posed well and presented themselves beautifully in their own well thought out clothing and accessories. There is even a FOUR! They were all SO up for it! Such fun to work with and everyone left with a smile on their face. Big shout to the amazing Joan who was 91 and this was her first trip out of home in 4 months!

I was thrilled with the results and so here some some faves from the photography taken in my studio that day! To find out more, to support the charity or simply to stock up on what I’ve found to be the most breathable and comfy masks out of all I have tried, use the links above! Oh and…watch out for vending machines in Intu shopping centres coming soon!

Newcastle Photography studio shootsimages of children and families for charity face masks 8 Newcastle Photography studio shootsimages of children and families for charity face masks 10 Newcastle Photography studio shootsimages of children and families for charity face masks 2 Newcastle Photography studio shootsimages of children and families for charity face masks 9 Newcastle Photography studio shootsimages of children and families for charity face masks 7 Newcastle Photography studio shootsimages of children and families for charity face masks 5 Newcastle Photography studio shootsimages of children and families for charity face masks 11 Newcastle Photography studio shootsimages of children and families for charity face masks 5 Newcastle Photography studio shootsimages of children and families for charity face masks 4 Newcastle Photography studio shootsimages of children and families for charity face masks Newcastle Photography studio shootsimages of children and families for charity face masks 3Newcastle photography of Charity face masks

 

 

 

YMCA’s Urban Mushrooms Product Photography

Growing For Good

You may remember seeing some interesting pictures of mushroom kits on my social media just before lockdown, it was a really fun and dynamic commission by YMCA Newcastle’s Calvin Bateson. Calvin is Marketing Communications Officer at YMCA Newcastle and he got in touch with me needing product photography at my studio in Newcastle for the Urban Mushroom project. Urban Mushrooms pioneers ethical and sustainable food production and provides jobs and training to disadvantaged young local people thanks to investment from Sage Foundation and Social Investment Business Group. Production was booming before lockdown and the team needed updated imagery for their website.

The enterprise has been developing it’s tried-and-tested approach to urban farming here in Newcastle with used coffee grounds to produce new, speciality hot pink oyster mushrooms to join their pearl-grey mushrooms in the fresh cap and grow-at-home kit product range. They’re also developing dried mushroom products along with a line of speciality powders and salts. Urban Mushrooms are also supplying ‘chog’ (or stalks) of the oyster mushrooms to Field and Forrest- a producer of vegan convenience food as a meat-alternative. Many of the products supply our local restaurants in Newcastle for high end dishes and creative menus.

Previous to this Urban Mushrooms product shoot, I had captured documentary images of the mushroom production, portraits of the youth employees and volunteers on the urban farm. The brief for me this time was to capture images of the produce and so Calvin arrived with a basket of the weird and wonderfully shaped, colourful mushrooms they grow at the YMCA Mushroom farm. Below are a select few images from the shoot that show the mushrooms ‘in situ’ of food prep, display and macro close up shots of the fungi as the main event! Just feast your eyes on this lot of fun-gi! Soon to be on the Urban Mushroom’s website.

Urban Mushrooms YMCA Product Photography in Newcastle Kitchen 7 Urban Mushrooms YMCA Product Photography in Newcastle Kitchen 6 Urban Mushrooms YMCA Product Photography in Newcastle Kitchen 5 Urban Mushrooms YMCA Product Photography in Newcastle Kitchen 10 Urban Mushrooms YMCA Product Photography in Newcastle Kitchen 1Urban Mushrooms YMCA Product Photography in Newcastle Kitchen 3 Urban Mushrooms YMCA Product Photography in Newcastle Kitchen Urban Mushrooms YMCA Product Photography in Newcastle Kitchen 4 Urban Mushrooms YMCA Product Photography in Newcastle Kitchen 9

Oktra Interior Design Photography

Okra London designs and fits up North

During the tumble weed times of frozen lockdown I was commissioned for an exciting interiors photography job that fitted the ‘safe shooting’ requirements perfectly. Essentially a soon to be occupied office building in Newcastle’s NE12. It was a brand new beautiful office design and fit by Okra Design in London for their expanding client (who wants to remain private) with an HQ in London. They had worked to a really tight schedule with design and fit then the timescale shrank on the job drastically as COVID struck. All was completed smoothly on time and the finished results were crisp, professional, light and airy, a positive environment for the new Northern team. Oktra got in touch with me having viewed my website’s Office Interiors Photography (link here) and felt my Newcastle location and photography style was a good fit for their brand and so asked me to capture the office on handover day last month. I was so keen to shoot again, I could have actually kissed them (although strictly I couldn’t in the middle of a pandemic….. and they are 280 miles away, but I am sure you can imagine my joy)!

So the brief was to capture clean descriptive photos of the office’s full height windowed perimeter, the space, light and enormity of the building to create an interior photography portfolio for this design. The photography was briefed to cover the layout planning and details like wall graphics, bespoke brand coloured furniture and organised open planned spaces within the huge expanse of space. There was a fabulous interior living wall in the breakout area that Oktra wanted photos of next to modern furniture and finishes. Images with perspective were important to show the scale and there also was a secure bullet proof area that had it’s own generator in the case of a power cut. It was pretty a impressive piece for Oktra’s portfolio so see what you think below. I have also placed some screen shots of the current Oktra website displaying my images and you can see their work here.

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My new Prints Shop is Launched!

How exciting, it’s live at last! It’s been a rather long time in the making but it has kept me busy for three months!

Throughout 20 years of working as a photographer in London and Newcastle I have collated sets of documentary images for my own enjoyment and personal projects. During Covid-19 lockdown I have had the time to create a website that offers these pictures as Fine Art Photo Prints to buy at various sizes on a fine art quality paper to then frame yourselves. These images are my observations of everyday life, celebrations of colour and composition that I hope will add colour, character and entertainment to people’s walls.

There are several series of photo prints for sale taken at various different times over 20 years, covering a wide range of genres; festival photography of a tomato fight, the Rum Shack and a Welcome sign in lights at Glastonbury Common, local North East photos of the famous and familiar Quayside on Newcastle and Gateshead sides, pictures of the Town Moor’s Hoppings Fair with vibrancy and colour and my favourite Peckham Loves Me series that documents the food, people and culture of Peckham Rye Lane in the year 2000. Images will be added and removed from the product range over time so do please keep popping back.

Prints are available from A4 upwards in 4 standard sizes to fit most frames easily found in online and at most homeware stores, John Lewis for smaller more fancy finishes, B&M home-stores for great modern and budget options and The Range for a similar prices too. If you want good quality framing to bespoke sizes then take to a local framers and in Newcastle I would recommend the Arts centre on Westgate Rd and Wallsend has a great value framers too on the High St. If you like a print but have a particular frame or mount size in mind please email me with your requirements and I shall be happy to advise, crop to fit your frame and provide a personalised quotation. Sizes in millimetres are on the site for your reference.

Black Lives Matter

In response to recent events I felt it appropriate to donate a percentage of my print sales to a charity supporting black communities. Peckham’s Caribbean and African community was home to my daughter and I in the 1990’s so the area and culture is important to me. So for every Peckham print purchased by you I will give 10% of the profit to London Black Women’s Project. This is a black feminist organisation supporting women who have suffered violence and abuse, offering accommodation, mental and physical help, empowerment and training to the front line services.

Below are some framing and layout ideas of how my photographs could look once framed and on your wall. There also is a video of the unwrapping of a test print of Ovoline Gateshead Quayside at A1 size on my instagram account and facebook page. If this all sounds interesting and you’d like to see the images closer head to this link for my shopping cart website here

Photographs of Peckham, London SE15 to buy

Minimalistic home interior with photo print to buy

Photo prints to buy to frame and put on wall of Peckham London

Minimalistic home interior with photo print to buy Photo prints to buy to frame and put on wall of Peckham London

Fine art photo prints for wallsPhotographs of Newcastle and Gateshead Quayside to buyPhotographs of South Shields Marsden Rock to buyPhotographs of Peckham Rye Lane to buy

YMCA Portraits

Just before lockdown I worked with the YMCA in Newcastle on their Urban Mushroom project, capturing photos of the grow-your-own kits they sell made from recycled local coffee grains. It’s a genius idea and more mushroom images will be shared when they go live. Part of the photography brief was to capture urban portraits in Newcastle city centre of the local youth that the scheme employs.

The YMCA are an exciting new client for me and one of the fist things I discussed when meeting Calvin, the Marketing Officer at YMCA Newcastle, was the infamous song! I was curious to know whether it felt relevant to the work they do now. I’d thought the memorable 1970’s Village People’s flamboyance was worlds apart from what the charity does today but did you know that the song was celebrating the YMCA help given to young gay men who were rejected by family and turfed out of home? The YMCA charity gave accommodation to those homeless young men and so Calvin explained the history of the organisation was well respected in this song. Now the YMCA supports both young men and women in all areas of life and Urban Mushrooms is an important employment scheme in Newcastle’s YMCA.

My main focus for the portrait shoot was the amazing Wilton who is employed by the Urban Mushroom scheme. He was a super star and surprisingly tolerant of me pointing a camera in his direction for several hours! I got some atmospheric shots of him and YMCA staff too by simply crossing the road from their premises and using the alleyway next to the Tyneside Cinema. So many brick textures, backdrop colours and lighting styles in that one street!

The brief was to capture a more relaxed expression, so not necessarily smiling as this can appear unappealing, staged and possibly unrealistic to the younger target market the YMCA want to attract. We also discussed the use of dimension and angles to fit with the YMCA style of photography and branding currently on their website. It was a clear and creative brief (the best of course) and the mood and expression needed to be just right. It was also a different type of shoot for me as I usually encourage people to smile although I did get a few smilers at the end though. Obviously!

For more information on the YMCA Newcastle and it’s work click here

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