Evolution Rebrand | North East Commercial, Portrait and Editorial Photography

I was delighted to be asked to take commercial photographs around Hartlepool, Gateshead, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and surrounding areas for accountancy firm Evolution LLP recently.

As well as being a photography partner to many marketing and PR agencies, I also work directly for clients and this commission came via Evolution’s marketing partner. A brand refresh meant some new advertising photography over the north east and involved a lot of careful planning and several meetings to establish the look and feel that would work best.

As well as using customers to tell Evolution’s story, we opted to go with a technique known as de-saturating the colour, to give a stylised, almost black and white look. This fitted well with the colour palette used by the web designers and lines up with the company’s new brand identity and push to promote its dynamic accountancy practice.

Being involved with the planning process for a photoshoot is really useful, it means I can get to grips with what the client is looking for, and suggest some appropriate approaches. 

Several meetings with Evolution staff and its marketing and web experts led to a schedule of commercial photography at six client locations including Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Gateshead, Brotton and Skelton.

Each location involved taking photographs of Evolution’s client in their natural habitat and included shots on a factory floor, at a creative agency and even a rally school. I gave the client several variations of shot at each venue, to make sure the photos would be suitable for a range of print and online uses. 

The clients are all highly successful business people and I went for strong, engaging shots with subtle backgrounds - what I call ‘hero’ shots. Having my mobile studio equipment with me meant I could dismiss the use of flash in favour of using all the natural light available and making the shots gritty and ‘real’.

As well as the portrait shots I was asked to cover the rebrand launch event for 150 invited guests. The event had been booked at Crathorne Hall in North Yorkshire but a huge fire there the night before saw a last-minute switch to photograph the event Wynyard Hall in County Durham and the event organisers did a great job of swapping venues without a hitch. 

As I moved round the room photographing key speakers and guests I was pleased to see how well my shots had worked on pop up banners and in large screen format as the audience were treated to Evolution’s new brand film. 

I was very happy to have been entrusted with producing the imagery to sum up Evolution’s fresh, engaging and contemporary new look, and I wish the firm and its clients all the very best for the future.

Gadget Show Jason Bradbury launched Tees Valley 'Get Your Head into Digital' Event

The Tees Valley ‘Get your head into digital’ campaign scheme aimed to boost digital skills in North East businesses, and when award winning Cool Blue Brand Communications wanted a North East PR and commercial photographer to cover the launch events in Middlesbrough and Darlington, they booked me to do this job.

The morning event saw me do a two-hour photo shoot at the Thistle Hotel in Middlesbrough, before covering the second event at Teesside University campus in Darlington. Channel 5’s Gadget Show presenter Jason Bradbury was a guest speaker at both events, where the audiences had gathered to hear more about the free digital skills workshops that are being held for businesses in Stockton, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Darlington and Redcar and Cleveland.

Jason was a great speaker, demystifying digital and informative about how using digital tools will help businesses grow and be more effective. He was joined on the speakers panel by Bob Coff, Managing Director of the Middlesbrough Gazette, a good speaker and very down to earth; and Michael Ryding, Director of DigitalCity, who spoke about the economic benefits to businesses of all sizes and sectors. 

To fit with the theme and get some freshness and originality into the photos I asked Jason to take a selfie with his iPad and then turn the screen towards me, so I could get a shot of him behind the screen and match up the images. I was really pleased with the results, which Jason declared to be ‘awesome’ and he even liked my tweet about it, which was subsequently retweeted over 600 times.

I used the same technique to photograph members of the audience, and I was pleased to see the photographs used across North East newspapers and online media.

A couple of weeks before the events I had also been out to take some case study photos of local employer Terry Goldspink of freight and international shipping company Evolution Forwarding, which is on track to achieve a £1m turnover, with 90% of its business coming from the internet.

It was my pleasure to cover the launch of a scheme that could benefit thousands of businesses in the region. To find out more about the scheme visit www.headintodigital.com and see how your business could benefit from adopting digital tools. 

From the Cold Store to Firestation | Yorkshire Commercial and Advertising Photographer

As a North East and Yorkshire photographer with decades of experience in press and commercial photography, if I had a pound for every time someone told me that today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip paper I’d be a very rich man.

The phrase really came to life for me with a recent advertising photography commission to produce a range of photos for Wraggs in Leeds, a Collins Seafood company dating back to the 1950s, which supplies ‘Frozen at Sea’ fish products to an impressive number of fish and chip shops throughout Yorkshire and the East Midlands, as well as to wholesalers and smaller businesses.

The brief was to produce a range of PR and marketing photos that can be used across print products such asbrochures and posters through to the company’s website and social media feeds.

The day started at 5am when myself and Olly from Harvey & Hugo, Darlington-based PR agency, set out for the first shoot. When we arrived in Leeds there was a fleet of vans already loaded up with frozen food so I could get some product and vehicle shots – complete with cheery drivers - done before the vans went out on deliveries.

I’ve photographed in most locations over the years but working in a cold store with temperatures of -22 degrees was a new experience for me.  At that temperature the brain – or certainly my brain – definitely works more slowly so I had to get a move on before I froze like the fish I was photographing. Fortunately my cameras are capable of shooting in low temperatures so I had no worries about the resulting pictures.

It was certainly a treat to move from the cold stores into the toasty warm offices and switch to getting some shots of senior management in meetings, and some of the staff working at their desks, incorporating the striking blue and white logo where I could.

A two hour drive down the A1 to South Yorkshire saw us take a series of ‘finished article’ photos at a former fire station in Doncaster, which has been converted into an award-winning fish and chip shop – from the cold stores to the fire station as it were.

Freshly cooked food was beautifully plated up for us and I got some mouth-watering shots of the fabulous Yorkshire fish and chips and accompanying side dishes on offer. The big bonus of the day was that we actually got to sit down and eat some of the lovely food I had been photographing – what an absolutely great perk of the job!

I actually learned quite a lot about the humble dish of fish and chips too, for instance that there is typically less than 10% fat in a portion of fish and chips, making it healthier than a burger, pizza, kebab or a curry. 

The client was very happy with the resulting shots and I’ll look at fish and chips with a much more discerning eye in future, now I’ve documented the journey from freezer to plate.

Season of Goodwill | Independent Business Free Half Day Photography Competition

As the season of goodwill is nearly upon us, and by way of a thank you to all my great businesses who have booked me for commercial photography across the Teesside region from Stockton, Redcar, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Darlington areas this year, I’m running a competition to win a free half-day photography session for one lucky independent retailer, cafe, restaurant, etc whose name is pulled out of the hat on the 22nd December. 

As a North East photographer with nearly three decades of commercial, press and freelance photography experience behind me, I’m passionate about images and how they can affect the success of a business. If you look at any successful organisation it is likely to be one that has invested in professional imagery that really tells the story of its brand and its product.

There’s nothing wrong with using stock shots but if you are trying to create a powerful brand that people can identify with, you really do need great photos, taken by a professional photographer.  When you look at the cost of setting up and growing an enterprise, the cost of investing in a professional photographer for your business is a drop in the ocean, yet it could mean the difference between success and failure.

A product or a service can easily be portrayed through the right look and feel in your pictures. It’s about being honest and using ‘real’ imagery, but presenting your business in a way that your target audience will be attracted to. I often use the example of a café that serves a terrific full English breakfast. There would be no point in photos that presented breakfast as a healthy option, but equally it would be silly to make it look like a greasy spoon café. As with most things in life, honesty is the best policy.

So, off my soapbox now and back to this fantastic competition. If your business is the lucky winner, just one half-day photography session could provide you with enough images for a website and a brochure, plus enough images to use on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms too.

I really wish I could open this up to all the small businesses across the region, but the winner must be an independent retail outlet, not a big chain, operating in any area of business but with premises, rather than being a home-based business.

I’m doing this partly as a thank you for all the work I’ve had this year, and partly to show my support for local businesses.  I’m a big believer in shopping local wherever possible. If we all do a bit where we can, then the cumulative effect will be massive.

If you want to be in with a chance of winning, drop me an email at info@davecharnleyphotography.com with details...

• Details of your own name. 
• Your business name.
• Your business address and postcode.
• Contact telephone and email.
• Type of business you operate.

• Retail business premises must be in the Stockton, Darlington, Redcar, Hartlepool or the Middlesbrough areas.
• Winner will be notified before the 9th January and valid till the 27th March, 2015
• Please do not enter via Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc 

And the winner was....

Winner - Vintages Rags in Middlesbrough

County Durham Commercial, PR & Advertising Photographer: Crossfit Gym in Darlington

The owners of Darlington’s newest gym, http://www.crossfitdl21dl.com, saw my work online at www.davecharnleyphotography.com, loved it and got in touch about a PR photoshoot to get some pics for the Darlington gym’s official launch and open weekend on 15^th and 16^th June.

CrossFit is a core strength and conditioning programme that is taking the UK by storm. When I visited I found that this is no ordinary gym. It’s open to novices all the way up to professional sportspeople but the focus is firmly on fitness and health for everyone, whatever their shape and size.

The interior of the building, part of the former Darlington Mowden Park Rugby Club on Neasham Road, reflects that theme with a look and feel that is almost industrial. Steel girders, textured walls and clean lines presented some great elements that I was able to incorporate into my pictures.  

For this Darlington commercial photoshoot I took some shots in colour and some in black and white to add a grainy, real feel to the images and meet the client’s brief.  A brand made up of grey and white with some added splashes of colour gave me a strong palette to work with and a clean background to the action shots.

Head Coach and former Royal Marine Lee Howe and the CrossFit team were very accommodating, helpfully working out on a range of equipment as I moved around them, seeking out images of the effort and determination that sums up the whole CrossFit ethos.

Reportage photography – my specialism – is all about capturing the moment exactly as it happens, so the second a cloud of chalk floated in the air after Lee had dipped his hands prior to using a machine I was there with the camera to pin it down. 

It was a really interesting commercial photoshoot in County Durham to add to my portfolio and as CrossFit DL2 was established by North East entrepreneur Joanne McCue Bannatyne (Nike top below), the launch and its imagery attracted all the local media, and made the nationals too.

The pictures will be used in the press, online across the website and social media feeds and in print and outdoor advertising, and will hopefully get across the physical and emotional benefits of training at CrossFit DL2. As Joanne herself puts it on the website: “Being fit is inspiring, feels good, enriches your life, and adds both years to your life and life to your years.”

And you can’t ask for more than that.

______________________________________________

Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography