SHOOT LIKE A PRO: ELLIS REED

LAUREN SCOTT joins ELLIS REED in the Georgian city of Bath to talk shooting local, kit and the power of online photo communities

We shadow photographer and content creator Ellis around the Georgian city of Bath to discover his tips, gear and career path

Many photographers aren’t interested in shooting what’s on their doorstep, favouring far-flung destinations. Yet, while some shooters have always loved heading out with a camera for a walk around their local area, the rest of us have started looking for magic closer to home too after a year of Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Living in the beautiful city of Bath, and surrounded by the countryside of the Cotswolds, photographer and videographer Ellis Reed has still found his own share of photographic opportunities over the past year. Ellis is a UX (user experience) designer, part-time pro photographer and a moderator on the Instagram account @igersbath. Living in Bath myself (no travel was required in the making of this piece), it was this stunning Instagram account where I first came across his work.

IGERs Bath – or Instagram-ers to the less savvy – is an active photo community rather than just an Instagram feed of pretty images. Outside of lockdown, the three photographers who manage it – of which Ellis is one – organise photo walks, talks and competitions through the year. I’d arranged to shoot with Ellis over a few mornings in early spring, to recreate some of his favourite walking routes around the city.

“I started photography around eight years ago, but didn’t begin to take it seriously until the last two or so,” Ellis shares, as we start our meeting at Bath Abbey. “I first bought a camera when I was around 18, and it was always just something that I had as a hobby. I do design work as well, so I was mainly thinking about how I could incorporate photography into the design side of things. I then started to enjoy the photography side more and more, and a few years on, it’s turned into freelance.”

Ellis originally wanted to be a musician, but he’d started to make posters for music gigs.

Does he think that his design background has influenced the image-making? “They all share the same sorts of ideas. Before I was a designer, I was a musician, and so the design work sprung up from bands needing posters. But each of those things – design, photography and music – share similar processes in terms of how your brain approaches them. That said, I try to keep them separate.”

We start our photo journey at Pulteney Bridge and the Weir, a dramatic view in the city which Ellis loves to shoot in all conditions. The golden hour and misty elements make for atmospheric conditions on our first morning, and Ellis gets out his Canon EOS R to start shooting. “I’ve always been a Canon shooter.