North East School, College & University Photographer : Brochure, Prospectus, Awards & Press Photography

 

The old adage ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ always springs to mind when I’m photographing North East schools, colleges and universities. 

In my 25 years’ experience of commercial, portrait and wedding photography I’ve successfully turned my lens to a wide range of subjects, but I particularly enjoy working in the education sector. It’s a chance to create pictures that reflect the spirit of a place and give people a natural, uncontrived glimpse of life there.

As a parent I know that people want to see that the school or college is a safe, supportive learning environment and somewhere that children and young adults can flourish academically and develop their confidence. And what better way to do that than to use images to show, rather than tell them? A website or printed prospectus is often their first impression, so the images used in printed marketing materials or online have to make the place stand out from its competitors and encourage parents and potential students to visit.

As an former - newspaper photographer working across the North East, my patch was 40 square miles and as well as covering Teesside I've photographed schools in Durham, Gateshead and Newcastle - in fact I’ve probably covered nearly every school from the Tees Valley across to Bishop Auckland.

I don’t get my camera out until everyone is relaxed.  I try to make every subject feel important and to treat everyone sensitively whether they are small children or teenagers, while also dealing with the different challenges every environment presents.

My style is to keep the pictures real and vibrant, and a world away from fluffy, American-style campus or crazy leaping around shots. The lighting, the lens you use, the angle you shoot at – it all makes a big difference to the finished result and I find that a little bit of staging mixed with some natural reportage pictures always deliver the best results. 

Clever design needs good images, so I’m always thinking about how I can vary the shots to give designers a good range to choose from when they are creating the layout. This means including a mix of portrait and landscape orientation, varying the colours and even adding some shots with pale backgrounds so text can be laid over them.

All the pictures are high resolution so they can be used in print material such as prospectus and newsletters, as well as online or in large format, for instance on open day posters and display boards. While I have a portable studio that I sometimes take along, I usually keep my kit simple and find that two camera bodies, a remote flash trigger and a couple of lenses is all I need to produce great photos.

The many images in this blog are taken from just a few of the schools I’ve worked with, including Pallister Park Primary School in Middlesbrough, Parkside School in Durham, Thornaby Community School, Stockton on Tees and Errington Primary School on Marske.

Earlier this year I blogged about London publisher St James’s House, which asked me to take a series of photographs for the learning and education section of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Souvenir Album 2012. This was a big job and saw me working at some innovative sites such as the Excelsior Academy in Denton to the West of Newcastle, Durham Trinity School and Sports College, and Elmore School near Pittington, County Durham.

The result was a set of colourful, lively lifestyle photographs showing north east pupils studying and taking part in activities such as dance, drama, music and sport, all of which gave a flavour of school life in and out of the classrooms.   

 

As well as taking prospectus photographs I’m often asked in to cover news stories such as donations, new buildings, sports days, pupil achievements, royal visits and awards ceremonies. All of them benefit from a good photo to help sell the story to newspapers and magazines. My picture of Dragons’ Den Duncan Bannatyne from Darlington receiving his honorary degree at the University of Teesside was used by several national publications.

I’m genuinely enjoy my work in the education sector, and I’m pleased to be using my professional skills and experience in support of our North East schools and the learning and development of all our young people.

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography