Symbiotic Relationship

I don’t make a big fuss of it here, but I also shoot weddings.

Unfortunately, people look down on wedding photography. It’s a hangover from decades of very mediocre wedding albums shot by disinterested photographers. The story today is a bit different. Sure, you can get mediocre, but there is some amazing stuff being done by wedding photographers and at the top of the game they are charging fees in the tens of thousands of euros.

Occasionally, there is a crossover between my wedding work and my corporate assignments. Sometimes a corporate client will come to me for a wedding shoot, sometimes the reverse.

To read the story behind this shot of a former bridal client, click here: Elephant Bride.

Mary Powys - Tour Manager, The Survival Tour 2008
(c) Roger Overall

Happy At Work

I’ve been laid low by a huge workload and a bad head cold over the last fortnight, which is why it’s been quiet here on the blog. The workload is still there (for every assignment that is completed, another starts - and I’m not complaining), but the head cold is gradually fading and I’m starting to feel more human. I’ve also been working on an article commission for a professional photography magazine, which has eaten up my writing time this past week.

One of the assignments from the last couple of weeks was in London with one of my regular clients. It’s always a good shoot and it never fails to impress me how relaxed and happy the offices are of this international insurance company. Part of my brief each year is to capture candid shots for inclusion in the company’s annual report, and it is never hard to capture people enjoying their work. This is a firm that has a massively high staff retention rate. It is not hard to find people who have been with the firm for several decades or more.

My kind of client.

(c) Roger Overall 2008

(c) Roger Overall 2008

Charity Starts at Home

This has been an amazing week for me. Not only have we been very busy in the office with pre- and post-production of a number of very interesting projects, we spent a couple of days working on Happy Faces, a national charity initiative organized through the Irish Professional Photographers Association (IPPA), of which I’m a member.

Each year, the association nominates a charity and members raise funds by shooting and selling portraits to the general public (social photographers) or to their corporate client base (commercial photographers). This year, Angels Quest was the beneficiary.

My plan was to approached all of my commercial contacts and spend a day chasing round the city, setting up a simple lighting rig at their offices and shooting quick portraits before moving on to the next location. Minimum fuss for the client, maximum benefit for the charity. Well, I have to say, such was the take-up that a) I had to spread my event over two days and b) I didn’t even get to my last client today.

I am humbled by both the support and by the efforts that some people put in on my behalf in this regard. So, I’m going to make a fuss of a few people, by way of thanks.

I deal with two computer solutions companies here in Cork city FixIT and TSG. FixIT organized a networking event around the portrait sessions at their offices, while TSG offered me a room in their complex and access to the many satellite companies that use their building. Thanks, Arnaud and Sean.

Don, my framer, got me into his studio for a shoot with his children - and then ended up offering me an exhibition space for later in the year.

Mike, whose kind of a private guy (so I won’t name him fully) but big in Cork and international business circles, ordered five portraits and then told me not to even bother turning up to shoot them. (I like to think that this was to spare my schedule rather than a reflection on the quality of my photography).

There were many more individuals, and I can’t list you all here, but nevertheless thank you for your support.

I’ve learned a lot from this year’s Happy Faces. Firstly, Cork folk are a generous crowd, which I kinda already knew. Secondly, I picked up a bunch of tips that will make next year’s event a whopper.

Brian O’Kane (Oak Tree Press) and Arnaud Disant (FixIT)
Happy Faces Day 2008
(c) Roger Overall 2008

London Calling

I used to be a shipping correspondent - which is pretty funny when you consider that I have legendary seasickness. I’m talking the kind of seasickness that makes wrestling a shark look like an attractive alternative.

One of my fondest memories is that of climbing up the side of a super-sized oil tanker in the English Channel in the driving rain and a force 7 wind. Why fond? Because at least I was no longer on board the pilot boat that I’d been bouncing around on for the previous 45 minutes in a state of utter nauseous misery. Halfway up a rope ladder on the port side of a rock-steady ultra large crude carrier in the pouring rain was by comparison a place of comfort and idyll.

Apart from the seasickness - which to be honest was very rare because shipping correspondents seldom go near ships - the job was great. I traveled the world, met some fascinating people, and had some sumptuous lunches in some spectacular locations.

I still have connections with the maritime business both here in Cork and in London, the beating heart of the industry, so I still get to meet some pretty interesting shipping people. None more so than Sammy Ofer, whom I was commissioned to photograph earlier this week at the London offices of one of his companies.

If you know shipping, you’ll know Sammy Ofer. If you don’t know shipping, you’ll get a fair measure of the man from the fact that this week he donated £20 million to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich to help it build an extension.

The shoot itself was geared around Mr Ofer’s diary, and my plan was to have two or three off-camera lighting arrangements ready to go before he arrived at his offices on the Thames. Maximum preparation means minimum fuss for the client, which in turn means they can get on with their day rather than spend time waiting for a picture to be set up.

This is my favourite photograph of Mr Ofer. It’s my favourite for two reasons. Firstly, because of the backdrop - London’s financial district, which is also home to a good number of shipping-related businesses. This seemed appropriate in light of Mr Ofer’s own commercial interests.

Secondly, because of the technical aspects of the photograph. Balancing the light indoors and outdoors was one, though fairly straightforward. Avoiding reflections from the off-camera strobe in either the window or Mr Ofer’s glasses was another. That was a little tricker. I lit Mr Ofer from the side, which took care of any reflections in his glasses, and from quite far back, which meant that the strobe wasn’t visible in the window.

Sammy Ofer
March 2008
(c) Roger Overall 2008