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Digital Photographer issue 113

Of all the magazines with Photographer and Digital in the title, (there really are quite a few now) we are in issue 113 of Digital Photographer which arrived in shops today.

We have been blown away by being given the double page image feature for the article, which includes work and interviews with Magnum photographer Steve McCurry, ANTM judge and photographer Nigel Barker and L’Iris D’or winner Alejandro Chaskielberg, and Garage Studios’ Kevin Mason.

The article is about making images that launched a career or caused a change of thinking with each photographer. Kevin chose to talk about his set builds which was a phase he went through around 2 years ago, and looks set to return to soon with the promise of a new state of the art studio which he has designed and is currently being built in Brighton. (More news on that very soon- but Brighton its nearly ready…) We’d love it if you go and buy a copy, as its a good read also there are a whole stack of people credited in the magazine without whom these shoots wouldn’t have been possible such as M.Halls, Natasha Alipour-Faridani and many more.

If that wasn’t enough of a reason then there is also a Portfolio article on man-of-the-moment Perou of Dirty Sexy Things ‘fame’ but also more importantly to us a pivotal UK photographer, and he dishes out some excellent advice on getting into the industry and how he has managed to make his work in demand for so many years. The man is a legend, and if you are keen to understand how to combine commercial work, iconic images and clients demands, you won’t go far wrong by reading what he has to say.

Thanks DP, for including us in this issue. It was fun to look at old work again and try and remember what on earth we were thinking at the time.

To see Kevin’s current work go to Kevin Mason.

SugarHill Boutique Lookbook

We shot a new collection yesterday for SugarHill Boutique who we previously worked with back in January, you can see that shoot here.

They needed a very simple style to keep inline with the Shop/Gallery thats already up on their site (which is currently having a bandwidth issue but should be back later today).

The models are Molly and Aleko, who both came down to the Open Casting Day we held, you can see images of that day here which just shows if you turn up at one of our castings you may just get some paid work out of it, as well as some great test shots.

This was lit by Kevin and Dave Imms, a fairly simple 3 light set-up to keep a fresh but soft look to the images and we managed to get through the 23 changes in one day, with all the images picked by the client and edited out by Dave ready for collection the next day.

If you need a lookbook or promo images for your fashion label or designs then please get in touch, we can price at both day rates and per item, depending on the style of shoot you need. We can also source and supply model as well as Hair and Make-Up artists.

BFW 2011- Casting Day

Here is the first of the images we shot for BFW 2011. We are one of the sponsors, and so were happy to help out with some images to promo all the events leading up to BFW. This flyer is the first one we have been sent back, but Alex has also just dropped off the Model Casting Day flyers which are looking grand.

We will make a full post soon with all the images and credits (there are a lot credits as it was a very long, involved day with many set-ups) for now though Art Direction Alex Thirwell, shot by Kevin Mason. Keep an eye on their site for more updates. Brighton Fashion Week.

Intern Position Repro and Retouch

We have a position to gain some work experience in our Studio working on reproduction of Polaroids for a publication.

We will teach you how to use the studio lights and a set-up to obtain glare free and colour correct repros of Kevin Mason’s Polaroids for an up coming book, which will be curated/edited by Matt Martin of I Am Lucky. The role would be ideally 1 or 2 days studio time shooting the polaroids and then some time based in our office working on our calibrated monitors to ensure accurate colour print ready reproductions. It would be preferable that you have some knowledge of Photoshop, Studio lights etc, but we can provide full training- it is far more important that you have a systematic working method and keen eye for colour. All equipment will be provided, and we can fit hours to suit. Ideally we would like someone to take on this role from next week- if we all like working with each other then this may lead to other paid and unpaid work experience.

Please get in touch by dropping a mail to and tell us a little about any relevant experience.

Product Project

Kevin has started a new Project, and this time its not people based but Product based. Hopefully you will see the series emerging over the next few weeks, and it should take some interesting twists and turns.

At the end of the project we intend to produce a guide that includes any sketches, lighting set-ups, making tips etc so you can adapt some of the techniques for your own product work.

This image was partly inspired by the fantastic Soft Shell crab that they serve at Sushi Garden in Preston St. Ideas can hit at the oddest of times.

So Latex#1-The Heel.

LookBook shoot for Sugarhill Boutique

We shot a LookBook this friday for SugarHill Boutique, a label that specialises in establishing ethical trading relationships with its suppliers, and has an interesting background formed by a brother and sister. They also ensure all suppliers work to a code of conduct based on the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code (www.ethicaltrade.co.uk). Its nice to know a little background behind who you are working for, and the clients were as nice as their bio sounded.

We had a brief meeting before the shoot, and booked Elin Amos, one of our favourite models to work with. You can see the images below, a nice simple set-up, easy poses and a relaxed but fresh feel. We worked shooting tethered using Capture One, with Natasha Alipour-Faridani as Digital Operator, with Kevin shooting and a new second assistant in Michael Gayton, who has not long returned from working and shooting in Sydney. It was a very smooth shoot, with the client leaving with retouched images by the end of the day, files ready to print for trade fairs and web galleries.

Please contact us if you have any queries, or need a quote on a lookbook.
Click on the pics for slightly larger size.

Ophelia Fancy Promo shoot- New Collection

We are pleased to announce that we can finally show you the Ophelia Fancy promo images that we shot for their new collection. When Stevi and Emma talked about the new designs we could see that it needed a different approach- something very stripped back and less props than previous shoots. The girls had been thinking in the same area as well as it would focus more on the designs, and the ‘feel’ of being Ophelia Fancy and fit the new direction the brand is taking.

We sourced a few locations- but ultimately Kevin had his heart set on a Karaoke booth setting, with the aim of utilising the vibrant leather look booths as a simple but striking backdrop, and bringing in a vintage microphone as the only prop. The Ophelia girls changed this idea to a Disco era microphone which they spray painted gold- a much better idea, and far less cliched.

With this simple prop, a long gold cable, and a killer location we set to work. The rooms at Nine Rooms are perfect, but quite small for a lot of lighting kit, so we lit all this with at most 4 grid Bowens 500W running off of two travel paks. As all the lighting is very direct we have also gelled several of the lights to either fit in, or play off against the background of the set.

Lighting Assistants Natasha Alipour-Faridani and Markus Milcke.

We had to work quickly and managed to wrap the whole shoot including loading and unloading in less than 4 hours, which considering the space we had to work in, we were pretty happy with, the benefit of having details locked down before getting on location.

The theme for the Hair/Make-Up was a very clear nod to Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction and the wig was cut and Styled by Ricardo at Square Roots. The make-up brief was perfectly fufilled by Bebe Newson, who made brighton model Tess look sensational here.



If you need promo images, fashion editorial or lookbook shoots then please get in touch as we have a very easy rate system that can accomodate most budgets.

Ninja Tune Book

This lovely new book arrived in the post today- Ninja Tune: 20 Years of Beats and Pieces. We shot Ninja Tune artist Fink a while back for Brighton Source Magazine, and the label contacted us to include the image in Finks Section.

The book is really well put together, as you would expect from a label like Ninja Tune, who put artistry above turning a quick buck. It includes some great outtake images on the renowned Roots Manuva and Wiley album covers, key insights into design aesthetic and some brilliant artwork.

The roster of artists includes,

Bonobo, Mr Scruff, Kid Koala, Dj Vadim, Roots Manuva, The Qemists, Fink and more….

It is published by Black Dog Publishing and costs just under £20- and is written by music journalist Stevie Chick, author of Spray Paint the Walls:The Black Flag Story.

We are very proud to be involved with this book and to work with such an inspiring independent label.

Ophelia Fancy- LookBook and New collection shoot.

We have worked with lingerie designers Ophelia Fancy for about 4 years now- we first shot a collection of theirs when Kevin and Matt had 2 Studio lights, no studio to shoot in, little technical knowledge and no experience of shooting ‘models’ but a lot of naive enthusiasm. Somehow that first shoot was a success and we have worked very closely with Stevi and Emma to develop a visual style for their brand, one that hopefully works with each new collection- and we are extremely pleased with the most recent campaign which will be released very soon.

This new collection is another step forward for Ophelia Fancy, and we have tried to give a polished, commercial look to the images whilst retaining the ‘spirit’ of Ophelia Fancy. We also had to shoot the LookBook for this new collection as well and got the chance to work again with Tess Dimos, and you can see a little taste of that shoot below.

Model Tess Dimos.
Hair by Ricardo at Square Roots
Make-Up Bebe Newson
Photography Kevin Mason
Assistants Natasha and Markus
Collection by Ophelia Fancy

If you would like rates for our LookBook or Product shoots then please mail we can work on a per item basis and you’ll find a professional shoot is cheaper than you would think- and will help increase sales and orders from stockists. It’s important to not let your product or designs down with poor photography- after all this is often the first chance to make an impression and therefore a sale.

Here are a few (if we uploaded them all then you’d never get to the end of this post) of our previous shoots for them, from Limited Edition to full collections, as you can see we really enjoy having them as clients, its given us hours of fun as they always have very strong ideas but are also very demanding- its a good mix….














New campaign for Ophelia Fancy.

We have just finished shooting the new campaign for lingerie favourites Ophelia Fancy, and although we can’t show the final images until the official release we are so excited that we had to post a shot of model Tess Dimos on set.

We have worked with Ophelia Fancy for several years now- we are confident this is our best collaboration yet with a really strong set of images that represent where the brand is going. The images retain the very strong identity that Ophelia Fancy have crafted but also reflect the new commercial outlook to the collection.

We sourced the model and location for the campaign, whilst the client took charge of all aspects of styling, hair and make-up, and of course the amazing lingerie pieces. We hope to release the images very soon, but first we have to shoot their lookbook for the the website. You will be able to see new Ophelia girl, and one of our favourite models, Tess Dimos in the collection from next week.