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

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.

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.

Treasured Cameras

Some of my most treasured cameras, which I originally photographed for a promo piece timeline story..

From left to right.. Nikon F2A, ALPA 12 STC, Ebony SV45TE, Nikon F3, Contax 645 AF & ALPA 12 SWA.

For those asking.. the minimalist ball-head is the Acratech Ultimate Ball-head.

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.

Take-Two Model Agency - Tests From The Late Eighties

Back in the late eighties and early nineties I shot a lot of tests for a model agency called Take-Two, who were based in London’s Covent Garden.

I’d just taken on my first studio and was eager to shoot personal portrait and beauty work, and so it was a fantastic opportunity to work with such high calibre models.

All of the work was made with natural daylight and occasional tungsten fill, and shot on a Mamiya RB67 and RZ67 ProS with 180mm ƒ4.5 lens using Fuji NeoPan 400.

The work I then Lith printed and Gold toned.

Below is a small selection of the work that I recently scanned from the archive, with more examples to be found here.

Ad Campaign For Amgen

This Ad campaign for Amgen took us to Iceland, Bavaria and Morocco.

For logistical reasons we shot the various locations first, and then shot the models in the studio in London, carefully matching camera heights, angles and lighting. The blood platelets were created in CGI and added in post.

Agency : CDM London.    Client : Amgen.    AD : Shauna Kealy.   Location scout : Leonora Sheppard.   Post and CGI artist : Kai Bastard.

Below is a selection of the finished ads..

New Interiors Ad Campaign For Marston & Langinger Paint

Ad campaign shot recently for Marston & Langinger, promoting their range of beautiful paint.

We built a series of minimally propped room sets with expansive wall space, creating the perfect stage for these gourgeous paint finishes to sing from.

The ads are currently appearing in World of Interiors, Elle Decoration, Country Living and House and Garden.

Client : Marston & Langinger.    AD : Alison Jenkins.    Stylist : Alison Jenkins.

A selection of finished ads..