New Work - HMS Belfast - A Lifetime Of Epic Adventures

I’m proud to show this new work that was commissioned by the good folk at Rose Design, for an ad campaign for HMS Belfast and the Imperial War Museum (IWM).

I’ve worked with Rose Design over the years on some wonderful projects for some fascinating clients, and this was no exception. I’ve always had a fascination for all things military and naval and so this was a dream commission.

After a couple of delays, due to weather and bizarrely another warship mooring alongside, the shoot day finally came. A 04:30 start, was followed by 10 hours on a small charter boat on the River Thames, patiently waiting for the right light and constantly manoeuvring to a point that gave us the precise distance and low angle from the ship.

HMS Belfast is a Town-class light cruiser and has a fascinating history. Built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, she was launched in 1938. She went on to serve for many years around the world. Decommissioned in 1963, she finally moored up on the River Thames near Tower Bridge and opened to the public in 1971. She became a branch of the IWM in 1978.

You can find a full detailed history of her here.

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“Belfast saw action escorting Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union during 1943 and in December 1943 played an important role in the Battle of North Cape, assisting in the destruction of the German warship Scharnhorst. In June 1944, Belfast took part in Operation Overlord supporting the Normandy landings”

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I would thoroughly recommend a visit to HMS Belfast. She’s basically a floating museum, where you can spend hours wandering the vast majority of the ship. It’s a fascinating and humbling experience. “Navigate your way around the rooms of this floating city, climbing up and down ladders to visit all nine decks.” You can find full booking details on the HMS Belfast page of IWM web site, here.

Below is the final image placed in the 48 sheet poster.

Client : IWM. Agency : Rose Design. AD : Garry Blackburn.

Newfoundland and Labrador

While shooting in Alberta for Land Rover, I received a call from the Creative Group Head of Target, NL. He’d been following me on Instagram for some time and spotted that I was shooting in Canada.

Would I like to extend my trip and spend some time exploring Newfoundland? was the question… The answer was of course, yes!

Salmon Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador.

To cut a long story short, we spent 10 days driving across the Avalon and Central regions of Newfoundland, our winding route taking in a mix of historical and truly beautiful locations.

Fort Amhurst, St John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador.

During our time on the road we had some early call times and often experienced wonderful displays of light and typically mixed bags of weather. We took full advantage of the drama that would often unfold in front of us. It certainly wasn’t all blue skies, very much like my work in Scotland.

Everywhere we went the people were hospitable and helpful, and everyone had a story or two to tell. There really is a unique and genuine warmth to this fascinating place.

Salvage, Newfoundland and Labrador.

We came across places with historical and romantic names such as Fort Amhurst, Cape Spear, Queen’s Battery, Signal Hill and Salmon Cove. And curious names such as Quidi Vidi, Salvage and Dildo (Yes, Dildo!)

Cape Spear, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Having spent time in some of the more remote parts of Scotland, Newfoundland felt strangely familiar. In short, I felt very much at home.

It‘s a place I would love to return to…

Dildo, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Client : Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism.    Agency : Target NL.    AD : Kevan Kalyan.

Greenspond, Gander Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador.

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Below are three of the finished press ads…

The Print Shop Is Now Open

Having been rebuilt from the ground up, the Print Shop is now open!

It’s home to a broader selection of work spanning new categories and features a much wider choice of print sizes and formats.

With fresh work being added on a regular basis you’ll be able to get update announcements either on Julian’s social media channels or via the studio’s occasional newsletter.

The prints themselves are made on Platinum Cotton 305gsm paper, a beautifully natural Acid & OBA free heavy Fine Art paper, which makes for a sensational visual experience.

Employing 12 colour Lucia Pro pigment ink technology, the prints exhibit a stunning colour gamut and impressive tonal expression.

Each print is individually signed, numbered and embossed with Julian’s studio blind stamp.

North Norfolk salt marshes, Brancaster Staithe, England - February 2009.

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“Much of Julian’s work is now available in the form of limited edition archival pigment prints. The new Print Shop is home to a broader selection of work spanning new categories. It features a much wider choice of print sizes and formats...”

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Svartifoss, Skaftafell National Park, Iceland - April 2010.

Below are answers to just a few of the commonly asked questions, with more to be found on the Print Shop’s FAQ page.

What methods of payment do you accept?

We accept payments electronically. You can pay with your credit card and Apple Pay through Stripe, or if you have a PayPal account, you can pay through PayPal Express.

Do you offer framed prints?

Sorry, no we do not. Shipping prints framed under glass is both expensive and risky, so we leave framing to the customer, particularly given the personal nature of choosing from the numerous frame, glass and mount combinations.

Glen Orchy, Central Highlands, Scotland - January 2013.

Which countries do you ship to?

We ship worldwide. If when placing an order, you do not see your country listed in the shipping section, then please choose 'Everywhere else' from the pull down menu.

Packaging and postage information

We take great care in packaging our prints and books. Your print is placed inside a snug fit Polyester sleeve, which is then placed in a cardboard envelope, and then in to an outer panel wrap cardboard mailer. Books are wrapped in acid free tissue paper, and then placed in a snug fit cardboard envelope.

We ship using First Class Royal Mail and Royal Mail International Standard delivery for books and Royal Mail Special Delivery for prints. Please be aware that print packages will require a signature upon delivery.

Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament, London - 2013.

What exactly is a limited edition print?

It is a print of which only a specific number are made. After the edition has sold out, no further prints of that work will be made. An edition is usually dictated to by print dimension too, so there can be for example, 3 editions of an image, where each edition is of a specific print dimension.

What is a blind stamp?

A blind stamp is a colourless impression, that is embossed without ink onto a print

If you have any other questions, then please feel free to contact us.

Kalaloch Creek, Olympic National Park, WA, United States - September 2015.

Lotus Exige 410 Sport - 20th Anniversary Special Edition

A series of ads created to mark the 20th anniversary of the Lotus Exige and the launch of the 410 Sport Special Edition.

“The Exige Sport 410 20th Anniversary builds on the Exige’s unrivaled levels of handling and performance. This special edition of one of our most acclaimed sports cars ever will continue the Lotus ethos of being born for the track and bred for the road.”

More examples from the shoot can be found here. More information on the car can be found here.

Client : Lotus Cars. Art Director : Julian Calverley / Rhys Grant. Graphics : Rhys Grant

Apennine Passes for Road Rat Magazine

Back in September I got a call from Rupert Gale at The Road Rat.. “how did I fancy shooting another series of mountain passes, but this time in Italy, in the Dolomites”

The mountain passes of the Dolomites are truly breathtaking, so as with the previous Road Rat assignment in the French Alps, I wanted to avoid using a single super wide cropped shot, so I opted to shoot panoramics using the ALPA 12 STC, ALPA HR Alpagon 4.0/40mm SB17 and a nodal rail. This gave a far more natural feel and perspective to the images and importantly avoided the ‘pull’ of a super wide lens, which is something I’m not keen on.

The scenes before us were so vast that some of them required up to 12 stitched frames, which were later put together using Photomerge in Photoshop. The largest PSB file ended up at just over 30 GB!

You can see a small selection of the work we made below, with more examples of the evolving ‘Great Mountain Passes’ project here.

“Exquisitely printed on a mix of heavy gloss and matt art papers, Issue Six of The Road Rat is a beautiful thing. 244 pages (it weighs around 1 kilo) The sixth Edition of The Road Rat is something of a diversion as it features a theme — Italy. We wanted to something to recognise the suffering, way back at the start of all this, of a nation that, as enthusiasts, is something of a Promised Land. So prepare to learn the psycho-geography of Turin, the dining habits of Enzo Ferrari, the sheer brilliance of small Italian cars and a look inside the astonishing mind and archive of Giovanni Michelotti.”

For The Road Rat magazine subscription information, head over here.

The opening spread.

Passo Rolle. Highest point: 1984m. Number of turns: 44.

Passo de Giau. Highest point: 2236m. Number of turns: 55.

Passo Gavia. Highest point: 2621m. Number of turns: 23.

Passo de Giau. Highest point: 2236m. Number of turns: 55.

Range Rover - From Calgary to Kananaskis

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Range Rover and so my thoughts turned to a commission I received in the autumn of 2019..

Building on a previous commission for Land Rover, from the good folk at Spark44 New York, this road trip involved travelling to Canada to shoot the Range Rover Sport SVR.

The iconic route chosen took us through the mountains of Alberta, driving over 200 miles from Calgary to Kananaskis, with an elevation gain of nearly 2000 metres, taking in the Highwood Pass, the highest paved road in Canada.

The resulting imagery helping to create a beautifully produced coffee table style book called ‘Elevated Drives’ It includes the use of special papers, inks, embossing, die cutting and hand drawn maps of the carefully curated and iconic routes that we drove. A truly crafted piece and further proof that print is not dead!

A quote from the book sums things up perfectly.. “Driving from a low elevation to a considerably higher one can be profound. From the physical impact a shift in altitude can have on your body, to the dramatic scenery and weather changes, these journeys can be epic experiences”

Below is just a small selection of the work that we made, with many more examples to be found here.

Client : Land Rover. Agency : Spark44. AD : Peter Cooper. 1st Assistant : Julya Hajnoczky. Producer : Reilly Saso.

Lotus Cars - 2020

2020 started off well, with a lovely studio commission for Lotus Cars.

Ten days shooting eight iconic sports cars for their 2020 model year range, in a car studio close to Lotus Cars HQ.

This shoot built on a previous commission which we shot in late 2018, which I blogged about here, where we composited studio lit cars, with various back plates of locations from around the world.

Below is a small selection of the work we made, with more (larger) versions available to view here.

Client : Lotus Cars. Art Director : Julian Calverley / Rhys Grant.

Range Rover - Elevated Drives

21 days on the road with 4 Range Rovers, driving across 4 US states. Shooting from dawn ‘til dusk, we travelled through California, Oregon, Colorado and Maine, witnessing the stunning and varied American landscape.

This was a commission from the good folk at Spark44 in New York, for Land Rover. The resulting imagery creating a beautifully produced coffee table style book called ‘Elevated Drives’ which includes the use of special papers, inks, embossing, die cutting and hand drawn maps of the carefully curated and iconic routes that we drove. A truly crafted piece and further proof that print is not dead!

A quote from the book sums things up perfectly.. “Driving from a low elevation to a considerably higher one can be profound. From the physical impact a shift in altitude can have on your body, to the dramatic scenery and weather changes, these journeys can be epic experiences”

Below is just a small selection of the work that we made, with many more examples to be found here.

A big thank you to the fantastic creative, production and support team who made the whole project both possible and immensely enjoyable. By the end of our time together on the road, we felt like family.

Client : Land Rover. Agency : Spark44 New York. AD : Peter Cooper. Brit Jackson : Associate Director of Production. Sr. Art Producer : Deb Grisham. Producer : Tim Willis, Lockbox. Production Assistant : Gina Wilk. 1st Assistant : Caleb Thal. Writers : Michael Hurley & Bec Couche. Valet : Steve Chavdarian. Drivers : Greg Nikolas & Chad Lourie.

Tim and Caleb executing precision tripod placement in Death Valley.

New Work For Lotus Cars

New studio work for Lotus Cars.

Ten long days shooting six iconic sports cars in a coved studio in Norwich, close to Lotus Cars HQ.

Client : Lotus Cars. Art Director : Julian Calverley. Lighting Assistant : Steve Thomas. Assistant : Brian Cottam.

Below is a tiny selection of the work we made.. Pick a colour!

Behind the scenes.. note my trusty Inovativ cart keeping things organised and mobile..

Lotus Cars - From Norwich to Nevada

Tight timings and impossible logistics often mean we have to be smart when producing images to a brief. This commission for Lotus Cars being a perfect example.

The project involved shooting six iconic sports cars over ten long days in a coved studio in Norwich, close to the Lotus HQ, and then compositing them with various back plates of locations from around the world. Careful attention was paid to match the lighting of each car to the background that each would inhabit, with CGI rendered reflections, studio shot wheel spins and virtual rig motion blur adding the touches of realism that would ensure that each car felt embedded in to it’s chosen environment.

A big thank you to the good folk at ThirdEye Studio in London, for their CGI and post production expertise and to assistants Brian and Steve for their hard work in the studio.

Client : Lotus Cars.    CGI & Post production : ThirdEye Studio.    ADs : Julian Calverley & Matt Haysom.

Below is a small selection of the work produced, with more available to view here.

The cropped imagery below hints at the level of detail achieved when shooting with the high end medium format digital back..

New Work For Delta Air Lines

I was recently commissioned by the good folk at Zero Collective to help create a series of ads for Delta Air Lines.

The agency, stylist and hair and makeup artist for the first round of ads were from the UK, with the models and client being flown in from Paris and the US. We then flew one of the models to the US to shoot a second round of ads with a CGI team from Atlanta, in their bespoke green screen studio. We were then home from the second leg of the shoot on a red eye flight, within 48 hours of leaving Heathrow!

The aircraft interiors were created and ‘lit’ completely in CGI and built out to match the exact lighting, camera heights, distances, focal lengths and apertures that we used to shoot the model. The separate elements were then brought together in post production.

Client : Delta Air Lines. Agency: Zero Collective. Art Directors : Paul Geudon & Greg Davies. CGI : Trick 3D. Post Production : Tom Wheatley.

Below is the rather surreal green screen studio set in Atlanta, where we shot the photographic composite elements that later became the ads that you see above.

ENO Orphee

It was lovely to get a call from the good folk at Rose and to be asked if I’d be interested in shooting one of a series of English National Opera posters that they were working on.

Working in one of ENO’s rehearsal studios in London, we first shot a black and white portrait, lit in a style that paid homage to Jean Cocteau original 1950’s film ‘Orpheus’ and then projected it back on to the model and the simple fabric set which we built.

Client : English National Opera. Agency : Rose. ADs : Abbie Edis & Simon Elliott.

Group Shot For Diverse Marine

It can be quite a challenge shooting a group portrait, particularly in a busy working environment and when time isn’t on your side.

This picture came together in no time at all and marked the end of a fascinating and fruitful day, shooting a library of reportage photographs for Diverse Marine on the Isle of White, commissioned by the good folk from Brand Design.

Alpine Passes for The Road Rat magazine

I got a call from my old friend Mikey Harvey.. how did I fancy shooting a series of Alpine passes for a new premium automotive magazine called The Road Rat? Of course I said yes.

With three locations chosen, a couple of Michelin maps in the glove box and hotel and Eurotunnel reservations made, we hit the road.. After 5 long days, 146 caffè lattes, numerous marmot encounters and with 1987 miles behind us.. we were back.

The mountain passes were truly breathtaking and recording them was not a straight forward task. Instead of cropping a single super wide shot, I decided to shoot panoramics using the ALPA 12 STC, ALPA HR Alpagon 4.0/40mm SB17 and a nodal rail. The scenes before us were so vast that some of them required 12 stitched frames.

You can see a small selection of the work we made below, with more examples of the larger project here.

“Exquisitely printed on a mix of heavy gloss and matt art papers, Issue One of The Road Rat is a beautiful thing. 244 pages (it weighs around 1 kilo) it is at once absolutely of the moment - Lewis Hamilton, the Aston Martin Valkyrie - yet simultaneously timeless as we dwell on the making of the modern Ferrari and the decline of the Mercedes SL. It’s not a place for hot takes but long-form, writing every bit as considered as our photography, illustration and design.”

For The Road Rat magazine subscription information, head over here.

The opening spread.

The Col d’ Izoard. Highest point: 2360m. Number of turns: 49.

The Col du Galibier. Highest point: 2645m. Number of turns: 44.

The Col de la Bonette. Highest point: 2715m. Number of turns: 63.

From Forkes to Aberdeen

A week long workshop for ALPA and Capture Integration saw us teaching, shooting and inspiring a great bunch of students & photographers, in and around the Olympic National Park. We travelled from Forkes to Aberdeen and plenty of places in-between.

Our final drive back to Seattle was blessed with some wonderful dawn fog..

Aston Martin Rapide AMR

I was recently commissioned by Aston Martin to photograph the stunning new limited edition Rapide AMR for it's timely launch..

"As Aston Martin returns to Le Mans to defend its 2017 victory at the iconic 24-hour race, so the latest car in the exciting new AMR stable has been unveiled. Following hot on the heels of the DB11 AMR, Aston Martin has revealed the limited edition Rapide AMR. This production version of the concept shown at Geneva last year is limited to just 210 cars."

As is often the way when photographing a sought after production vehicle, you have to achieve a lot in a short period of time, so a big thank you to my 'pit crew' for their hard work and focus during a long studio day.

Below is a selection of the work, with larger versions available here.

Enigma - New Work for Bletchley Park

Further new work for Bletchley Park is now live, commissioned by the good folk at Rose Design. 

I was asked to photograph the Enigma machine. It was both fascinating and a privilege spending time with such a historically significant piece of equipment, one which was indirectly responsible for saving so many lives through the cracking of it's code. 

Bletchley Park is the home of the World War II Codebreakers. There’s so much world changing history that’s been made here, it is a truly fascinating place. I’d recommend that anyone with an interest in World War II, coding or code breaking, spend a day here.

Client : Bletchley Park.    Agency : Rose Design.    AD : Garry Blackburn.

One of the ads is shown below, with more of the work available to see here.

Ad Campaign For Network Rail

The lovely folk at 23red, commissioned me to shoot a series of atmospheric ads for Network Rail, for their Midland Mainline Safety poster campaign.

The imagery had to be used across 6, 48 and 98 sheet sites, and so I chose to shoot on my ALPA 12 MAX and PhaseOne IQ MFDB combo, in order to achieve the largest possible file size and resolution.

A big thank you to the Network Rail safety team that watched our bright orange backs, while we worked.

Client : Network Rail.    Agency : 23red.    AD : Tristan Cavanagh & Tom Mann.

Below are 3 of the 48 sheet ads..   

Canaan Vineyard workers

I was recently commissioned to shoot a bank of imagery for the Canaan Winery, in China. Over the week we shot a mix of landscapes, working portraits and industrial architecture, which I'll be able to share later this year.

On our last day we had a few hours spare, and so I suggested to Neil the art director, that we shoot some portraits of the vineyard workers, whose infectious smiles and laughter had captivated us all week.

A makeshift daylight studio was set up close to the vineyard canteen and we made around twenty portraits. You can find a selection of them here.

Client : Canaan Winery.    Art Director : Neil Southwell.

Aston Martin DB4 G.T. Continuation

They're building cars in Newport Pagnell again!

I was recently commissioned to photograph the stunning DB4 G.T. Continuation for Aston Martin Works Service. I spent a day at the original Aston Martin facility in Newport Pagnell, recording the final stage of the build taking place, followed by a test and set up day at Millbrook Proving ground.

"Ahead of its time – and more often than not the opposition – the DB4 G.T. was a new breed of competition car. In modern parlance it was a homologation special, highly evolved from the series production DB4 on which it was based. Blessed with intensified performance and enhanced agility, the DB4 G.T. stole a march on both Jaguar and Ferrari, cementing Aston Martin's position as makers of world-beating GT cars.

Now, Aston Martin Works are making history by celebrating one of Aston Martins greatest cars with a special series of 25 Continuation cars."

I love everything about this stunning car.. the look, the sound and yes.. the smell. 

Client : Aston Martin Works Service.     Agency : Freestone.