Close To Home

Close To Home

As I write this we are still in lockdown and like many, I’ve been keeping myself busy and flexing the creative muscles with a personal stills project called Isolate and the short film recently completed here.

 Despite being isolated to our homes we have been fortunate to have had some great weather (and light) during the last few weeks. This has been not only been a blessing but of course, frustrating as we can’t venture far to fully enjoy it.

It’s not in my nature to allow things in life to stand in my way or limit me so when the craving to film something came I decided to work with the imposed restrictions and get creative which is something that is often needed on shoots when issues arise.

Close to home is a short video which captures my son’s adapted training routine to keep fit and sharp ready for when the lockdown is lifted and the football season can resume.
The locations were all local to our home in rural Somerset.

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwbI5l8ON0M”]

Receipt Bank Animated Still

Receipt Bank Animated Still

Back in November, I was commissioned by my client Receipt Bank to capture several of its clients in their workplaces.
The final images were destined to be printed into large promotional pieces and I’ll be publishing theses as soon as I can.
When I’m on an assignment I’m always looking beyond the brief anticipating other ideas while I’m at a location.
This was one of those occasions when the guy and the amazing location was too good not to capture other options after of course, I had captured what my client wanted.
The final image below is a still image that I have animated in After Effects which can be used for short social media content.
For clients, it gives extra value by offering video production services that allows the repurposing existing images and extending their budgets further.

View More Animated Stills 

 

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq-vxwwjMrA”]

End Of Season, Rhodes

End Of Season, Rhodes

It’s been a busy end to what has been a slightly unusual year with both new exciting opportunities as well as a few challenges too but life is never linear or dull as an image creative!

October saw me back in Rhodes for a third time in 3 years but this time I chose to spend my time filming rather than capturing stills which I seem to be doing more and more of these days.
I decided (for the most part) to keep the gear to an absolute minimum. Apart from the Video time lapse section which was shot with my Canon 5D Mk4 most of the remaining filming was captured on iPhone and my Sony RX100 pocket point and shoot albeit a high end one!
My biggest dilemma was wether to take my gimble but I decided it would be a great exercise in adaptability and creativity to do without it plus I simply couldn’t be arsed to carry it !

Lyndos-behind-the-scenes-03 Lyndos-behind-the-scenes-01

 

Somerset Uncovered – Evening By The Isle

Somerset Uncovered – Evening By The Isle

Continuing my personal filming and video time lapse project “Somerset Uncovered” the latest location was not only the closest to my studio and home but also one I’d never heard about.
This was despite driving past it many times over the last 15 or so years.
It was while chatting to my sons friend on the way to a football match that he was telling us of a spot that some of his friends go to swim in the summer holidays.
I was intrigued to take a look even if the directions were a little vague !
The following day with the family and dog in tow the location was eventually found and it was not only stunning but less that a 10 mins from home!
I went to film here 3 times in total mainly due to weather and some rather inquisitive cows blocking my intended shooting location.

 

[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/k5uygcNd7sM”]

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Video Production At The Monks Yard Cafe Somerset

Video Production In Somerset. The Monks Yard Cafe 

Monks Yard at Horton Manor is the place I’m based for both studio work (when I need one) and for meetings.
Needless to say when they need Photography or video production services I’m there ready to shoot for them.
This is one of 3 or 4 videos planned to cover several parts of the business and was themed around Monks Yard’s incredibly popular Cafe.
I was given full reign over the whole shoot from story concept to pre & post-production.
I decided I wanted to show A Day in the life of the Cafe including people using it as a beautiful community base to meet for business and to celebrate with friends and family.
Unlike some corporate video production companies (and like in my stills work) I’m always looking to make the imagery engaging as possible and my film work is not different.
I combined traditional filming with video time-lapse photography to show the passing of time.

[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/oXFSei2vIps”]

 

Somerset Uncovered, Village Cricket.

Another Time-Lapse video from my project Somerset Uncovered.
I had been wanting to test out a new bit of equipment on location to aid my shooting Time-Lapse videos and the perfect opportunity arrived this week.
With a beautiful evening forecast that looked like delivering a stunning sunset this would be perfect test conditions.
My son was playing a Cricket match at the village cricket club which is situated in beautiful surroundings.
I wanted to capture the setting sun and the match within my composition so I arrived and located the perfect spot.
Not really being a follower of Cricket and the rules I asked how long was left and told the home team were now starting to bat so could be a while..perfect !
I had only shot for about 10 minutes when suddenly everyone shook hands and disappeared. Apparently they won the game with just a few runs so nobody else was required to bat so they all buggered off home!.
Not too worry I decided to keep shooting as my hunch at a fantastic sunset still looked promising so I stayed another 50 minutes and was glad I did as the sky was incredible.

[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/341102387″ width=”1600″ height=”720″]

Video Production In Somerset, Somerset Uncovered At Burrow Hill

Video Production In Somerset, Somerset Uncovered At Burrow Hill

Burrow Hill is a location I know very well and I’ve photographed here many times including from the air.
On this occasion, I wanted to revisit for my video project Somerset Uncovered.

We have recently had a spell of very settled warm weather but clear blue skies are not what was required for this shoot.
A few days ago my careful watch on the weather forecast promised another hot day but with cloud moving in later in the evening which sounded perfect for the shoot.
I already knew where the sun would be positioned for my composition so it was just a case of planning my timings.

One of the things I dislike about Time-lapse is that some objects like too much foreground foliage can move rather quickly.
This can not only be distracting but also ruin the tranquillity and graceful pace of the skies and light that sometimes dances across the landscape.
Therefore careful composition to avoid these elements or clever post-production is required.

Unlike shooting stills and retouching in Photoshop this can be a lot trickier when working with moving elements but I do love a challenge!

[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/338069981″ width=”1600″ height=”720″]

Burton Pynsent Monument

Burton Pynsent Monument

Continuing on with my video production somerset project titled  Somerset Uncovered Time Lapse Video project I took a trip to a location close to my home.
As is often the case we can travel hundreds of miles yet don’t get around to those places that are closest to home.
The Burton Pynsent Monument is one such place I’ve meant to visit for a long time.
Located at Curry Rivel it was built in 1767 and is a grade 1 listed building.
As spectacular as the tower itself are the amazing views across the South Somerset landscape.

[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/335884509″ width=”1600″ height=”720″]

Whitelackington Trees Time Lapse Video, Somerset Uncovered

Whitelackington Trees Time Lapse Video, Somerset Uncovered

A short Time Lapse Video part of a series called Somerset Uncovered.
These trees can be found sandwiched between the A303 and B1368 at Whitelackington. 
Due to the location, I’ve passed them often admiring their transformation over the seasons.
It was for this rather simple reason that I decided to create a short Time Lapse Video here.

[su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/334062741″ width=”1600″ height=”720″]