Michael Baister Photography – Newcastle Based PhotographerPhotographer Based in the North East of England

Hi

On the road again.

Here’s a job that I shot before last summer, it was part of a document for the Scottish Forestry Commission, they were a few things to consider when we undertook this job, travel (see map in road trip snaps bit), timings (we had to be able to photograph everyone on the list so when it rained a bit of sitting in the car and hoping for a clear 10 mins was in order so we could then travel on to the next subject) and the inclusion of branding and space for text if needed in the composition of the photograph (see first two images below, I’ve included these in colour just for the blog, the job was mono, see the statement from the designer, but I included colour files as well, in case the client needed colour versions). Here’s a few words from Debbie-

Whitenoise Creative was commissioned to design the Forestry Commission Scotland Strategic Strategy for 2013 – 2016.

The document describes the role and strategic directions for Scotland’s National Forest Estate and it was an important part of the publication to make the vital link between the Estate and those who look after.

Michael captured the character of some of the forestry staff and the role they play within the organisation. Through dramatic black and white photography, shot on locations throughout Scotland from Dumfries & Galloway through to Inverness, the shots form the perfect chapter introductions to the themed chapters throughout the publication.

As ever Michael’s humour and insight always makes for a fun shoot. Working to tight timescales he put his subjects at ease and delivered some stunning results that help to tell the story of Scotland’s National Forest Estate.

The job was a pleasure to work on, everyone joined in with the idea of what the document was trying to achieve and the feedback from Scottish Forestry was one of a satisfied client.

Hope you like the shots (thanks Dan) and all the technical info is in the road trip snaps piece below, another publication is out in print.

Hey ho!

It’s out and it’s a book!

Remember years ago when I said I was working on a book (there I go again complaining about how long things take, delays and other complications) well it’s out and printed. I shot the interiors, interior details, architectural exteriors and details, food and people and a really good job it was to work on. The brief was to capture the feel of the business and how it links with the locals and suppliers, the project took approx two weeks shooting time spread over a three month period to take in the game shoot, and the restaurant had a refurb. I’ve got to thank all who helped with their co-operation in making this an enjoyable project to work on, Kevin, John, Dave and all the staff at the Angel and the Bay Horse, all the suppliers who gave up their time and Sarah who designed the project, if I’ve forgotten someone, sorry and thank you, the book is on sale at the Angel or you can obtain it through their website www.theangelofcorbridge.com/

Well what else have we been up to, remember BIG pictures, thats making some progress and will make an appearance hopefully in the next couple of months, also a road trip I took will be a blog upload soon-next month fingers crossed.

Hope you like the shots of the book and this is only a taster and talking of food, theirs recipes in as well.

Seeya next month mb

Here we go again!

Since I mentioned things being delayed a few weeks ago. it’s become the story of my life, not true really it’s just been the last couple of weeks! Planning permission delays, work at the printers waiting to be signed off, waiting for products to be ready and waiting for gaps in peoples diaries, so they are available for a shoot, the trials and tribulations! Oh and the weather, whats going on, snow easter! This didn’t happen when I was a lad but then again thats what killed off the dinosaurs, they all froze to death!

I was talking to a friend the other day and we were discussing a portrait I shot for a book, which is at the printers at the moment, will be in next months upload (yeah right, remember delays!) and I was talking about how I lit the subject and why I chose to light it the way I did, a couple of days passed and we happened to meet again and my friend mentioned our previous conversation and said it was fascinating the decision process I went through when shooting the image, but that is how all work should be done, but sometimes it doesn’t always work that way. I am going to give it some thought as I might use this image as an example of how I approach lighting a subject in a blog post in the future, watch this space!

With this thought in mind I have used a project I shot a while ago, the images are taken from an exhibition titled “Opportunity not sympathy”. The aim of the work was to shoot portraits of individuals who happen to have tattoo’s, not portraits of tattoo’s on individuals, yes thats a big difference and a bit of a challenge, using mono film and using one medium soft light source helped. I interviewed each person with the same four questions, so I could put the person at ease, find out a bit about them and also I could compose the final image. As the object of this project was to have prints on a gallery wall, BIP- before inkjet printers- these images were printed in a darkroom (can’t believe I just said that) on fibre based paper which would take over one and a half hours to produce each one, toned and archivialy washed. It’s amazing how far technology has moved photography on, but one thing hasn’t changed, the thought process of how a job evolves from drawings on a page or conversations about what a client needs, these can’t be bought online or from a shop, they come from years of experience, being able to understand a brief and having a curiosity of what things look like when they are photographed, photography is just a tool, a way of communicating ideas, whether thats to sell products, communicate information or just to show how fantastic things look.

Hope you like the shots, seeya next time-mb

Hi again.

Well I am a bit late with Februarys upload as the title suggests, been busy finishing off interiors for a book project for a hotel, the timings for the job meant it was going to be printed around now but the restaurant was refurbed so more photography to do and the big pictures I had promised is half completed due to planning permission, so running late is a bit of theme at the moment!

I shot a short film for Readysalted, the web design company that has re designed the website your on now, for the camera fans out there I used a Nikon D7000 with a Hasselblad 110mm-f2, Nikon 28mm-f1.8 and a 16-35mm-f4 lenses.

The rest of my time I have spent shooting some case studies for architectural interiors, quiet a few staff head shots for three different companies, must be the staff head shot season and a woman with a battery operated heart! I am hoping their will be another upload in a couple of weeks if the theme allows.

mb

Hello again.

Hope you all had a good Xmas and Santa was good to you!

All this snow at the moment seems to not want to go away, if you recieve shot of the month by email or if not send me your email address I’ll put you on, this months shot used to be a housing estate, it looks really strange usually, but with the snow fall it strips away even more clues as to the landscape that was a typical housing estate.

It’s been quite busy the run up to Xmas then had a nice break (personnaly I thought it was a bit long, bah humbug!) then it was straight back on the 3rd with meetings to organise the next project, this one’s BIG PICTURES, you’ll find out in next months upload, bet ya can’t wait! Also had some work in an exhibition at Newcastle College, celebrating 25 years of ex students, the opening night was really good, catching up with fellow photographers who were at college the same time as me or other ex students who I’ve met at awards functions, it’s a shame events like these are rare, I sometimes think the industry is becoming quite insular and social functions becoming a thing of the past, with the creative industry being relatively small the social side should be important as networking and an exchange of ideas is a big factor in personal development.

Also I hope you like the new look website, more on this next month with all the info of who did what and where.

This months shot on the blog is a night architectural shot, I have acquired a fast wide anle lens 28mm F1.8 so had to try it out and a new camera so the file sizes are now becoming enormous!

Hope you like the shot. seeya mb