Blog - Simon Plant Photographer

Aug

M.Y. Lifestyle

A couple of weeks ago I was asked by my good friends at The Monks Yard where our studios are based if I could update imagery for their business facilities & onsite cafe.

With a date arranged I got on the phone to Katie a model I have worked with many times over the years and who I knew would be perfect for the shoot.

As far as the imagery was concerned I came up with several ideas and it was planned that the day would consist of 3 Lifestyle images set in the Cafe followed by approximately 600 plus stills which would be used as part of a Stop Motion video promoting other parts of the business.

Here is the first of the finished stills from the Cafe shoot.

Aug

Beautiful Bray Leino

Today I had a very enjoyable Wednesday morning at a meeting in the slightly grey but beautiful Devon countryside with the rather nice creatives at Bray Leino.

I’ve visited several times over the last 20 years or so and I never fail to be impressed by their stunning offices and it’s rural location.

A Few iPhone Snaps

Aug

God..The Best Lighting Cameraman ?

Back in my early years of photography I remember reading a magazine interview with Advertising Photographer Duncan Sim.

When quizzed about how he created one of his images of an American Diner shot against an incredible sunset he simply said “I think God is the best lighting cameraman”

Now I’m sure this was a tongue in cheek answer and no doubt the post production company helped both God & Sim somewhat along the way also but that statement has stuck in my mind ever since and more importantly I have found it to be very true.

Whether subconsciously that statement moulded my way of approaching lighting or it was the lack of lighting available to me in my early years I’m unsure but these days (depending on the job and effect required) I always look to use natural light whenever possible then supplement this with flash or other light sources as required.

He may have been toying with the magazine a little but I think Sim was spot on especially when I see lighting like that in the image of my daughter below. This was shot in Cornwall while camping a few days ago with no reflector,no flash just my experience / knowledge and God given great light.

Clarks Shoes ATL Sandals

Aug

Professional Photo Retouching Creation Of “Waiting”

One of the benefits of Professional Photo Retouching is that when time permits personal work unlike commercial assignments have no deadline to adhere to so can pick up the project when inspiration takes you.
This particular photo retouching project was an alternative set up from a personal shoot I did a while back with the final image being titled “Chiron Of Thessaly”

I never used the alternative image here until now probably because I did not have the urgency too or more likely simply had not been inspired by the correct environment for it.
This all changed while in the Algarve last year when I captured these wonderful porous cliffs at dusk and for some reason felt they would be a perfect partner for the rear shot of the Centaur.

Some images are highly planned down to the finest details while others simply come together and just work like they have when the time is right.

The background image was captured on the coast of the Algarve Portugal

Image Retouching Composite Image Of Centaur

Jul

The Dutchman

The Dutchman

Jul

Boats At Beer

Here are a couple of snaps I captured over the weekend while visiting Beer in Devon with friends.

Despite the very bright and quite harsh summer light the location looked too good to not shoot.

As I mentioned last week in a previous post there is never any bad light it just depends what you want to capture.

Jul

Raging Beauty

I’m mildly obsessed with shooting skies as I believe they can often make or break many of the images I create.

So when thunderstorms are forecast you can be sure my camera is not too far from my side much to the despair of my family who get pretty fed up with me constantly pulling over in the car to shoot them !

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Jul

“July” Snapshot Of An English Summers Day

I was asked to do some teaching the other day which I rarely do much of these days and I was explaining how important it is to learn the fundamentals of photography.

I also very quickly added that once you have learnt them that really anything goes ..if something works for the intention of the image you are creating then it works end of the story.

This kind of applies to this image as I rarely would ever create any serious imagery in the middle of the day especially in the height of summer.

The sunlight (if we have any) is harsh, contrast and for the most part pretty uninteresting and if shooting landscapes everything tends to be a little too green with little colour contrast between anything.

Having said that I’ve always maintained there is no bad light it just depends on what you are trying to achieve in the image.

I had the idea of creating a cow image for a while and for me they remind me of Summer with yes you guessed its green fields and deep Mediterranean blue skies.

Apart from having to be careful with the vast contrast inherent in the scene it all went together well with an appropriate Somerset landmark of Burrow Hill in the distance.

Jun

Knorr Garde d’Or

Towards the end of last year we where commissioned to shoot a job in Rotterdam for Bristol Agency Flourish

The brief was to photograph a chef at a hotel on the outskits of Rotterdam for a campaign for Unilever’s Knorr’s Garde d’Or range of products for adverts around Europe.

Time on set was rather tight but I’m pleased to say everything went very smoothly and hats off to Flourish for a very well organised production allowing us to simply concentrate on capturing the best image possible.

Jun

4 Hours In Amsterdam, Inspired To Capture

The majority of the work I create these days tends to be pre-planned to a brief or an idea I’m inspired to create usually from several images composited in post.
Now and again though it’s great to just grab the camera and just explore and capture whatever I come across.
This often occurs when travelling to new places and I find inspiration is in overdrive to go and creative images that represent the place I’m experiencing.
While in Holland last week I had a few hours before flying home to go and explore Amsterdam.
There are in my opinion a couple of possible downfalls to arriving at either a well-known location or having limited time somewhere.

Floral Basket

If I’m visiting somewhere like Venice or Rome avoiding the well known often copied postcard locations and coming up with something fresh and in my own style is always one of my main objectives.
If time is limited at a location like in the shots here of Amsterdam then I’ll often find great locations only to feel that there would be an even better shot if only I could be there longer to wait for the light or weather to change, I suppose it’s a case of always wanting that little bit more perfection.
Over the years I have had to accept you are there at that moment and creating something unique from what you have in front of you and the other option is to simply just walk on by.

Here are a couple of images that I captured during my brief time in Amsterdam, the one below is a composite from two separate images captured a short distance from each other and composited together to create the final image.

Summer In Amsterdam

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