Plan and shoot For success
Develop an in-depth knowledge of the subject and the story you wish to tell
of course, once you have settled on what you wish to convey, you can start to set about capturing it, but considerable planning is naturally required. it’s certainly ill-advisable to launch into a photo project, in which you intend to shoot a sequence of images, without proper planning and research.
“the main aspects for planning a shoot like this possibly aren’t what you might think,” says tom oldham. “the equipment is very much the simplest and most straightforward element to the shoot. the hardest and most time-consuming element lives in the effort spent managing relationships and briefing both team and subjects on what to expect and exactly what the aims and intentions are of the shoot itself. My team and i recce’d the pub on a busy night so they would experience the feel we wanted to achieve in the look of the shoot – this i believe was key to the success of the project. so much of this stuff happens on the ground, too, but getting the starting point close to your ambitions saves a lot of time on set. ensuring your subjects are all onside, and know not only what you will do, but why, also helps – and this takes time on the phone and in meetings. we owe them this obviously, and it’s vital work that has them aboard from the off, because if they don’t know what’s happening they’re so easily lost.”
one of your biggest challenges will be managing and lighting the environment – it’s hard to tell honest, authentic stories in the relatively controlled and sterile environment of a photography studio. in order to light the palm tree pub, tom oldham had to use flash with particular care. “we had to light with flash as the ambient levels are so low no camera could realistically record anything decent in there,” he explains. “it has a very unique and well-known look and feel, so i had to keep the tone of the lighting as true to that as possible. i’ve said this previously but there are many stakeholders in a project like this, from the publicans, to the regulars, the hipsters, the artists and band too, plus me and my ambitions for what it should be, which means ensuring that you honour the integrity of a lot of people’s experiences in a well-loved establishment.”
plenty of time had to be allocated to the specifics of the lighting. “we came down with time to spare to nail the lighting tone. we used Broncolor Move battery packs, strip lights and mini octas with gels on to keep the colours warm and glowy, then ensured we never overlit too brightly. hard to do, but we nailed it, i think.”