North East Freelance Photographer: Duchess of Cambridge visits CRI in Stockton on Tees

I was really pleased to be asked by a national charity to photograph the Duchess of Cambridge on her first visit to the North East recently. Crime Reduction Initiatives (CRI) needed a north east press, commercial and Freelance photographer with experience of photographing the royal family, and as a former press photographer with a 25 year background that includes a large number of royal visits, I was delighted to accept. 

Having seen my work online at www.davecharnleyphotography.com, CRI briefed me on photographing what was originally to be a joint visit from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to the charity’s Recovery Service centre on William Street in Stockton on Tees.

CRI works with people affected by drugs, alcohol, crime, homelessness, domestic abuse and antisocial behaviour, encouraging them to regain control of their lives and tackle their problems. The visit had been arranged following the Duchess’s appointment as patron of Action on Addiction in January this year, and when the Duke of Cambridge pulled out of the North East visit to attend the funeral of his former nanny, it was confirmed that the Duchess would come to the region on her own. 

My security approval from Buckingham Palace duly arrived, along with my press pass confirming my BPPA status. Over the years I’ve collected hundreds of press passes as reminders of events as diverse as Gateshead’s Spencer Tunick Naked City art installation and Radio 1 roadshows, to visits to former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s home in Sedgefield, and I’ll be pleased to add this one to my collection of press photography memorabilia. 

I arrived at the centre an hour before the royal party was due, to find barriers and security teams in place and crowds already gathering on nearby Prince Regent Street in Stockton, keen to get a good view of the woman who may be the next Queen of England. As the cars arrived a cheer went up as the crowd gave the Duchess a warm North East welcome, and hundreds of Union flags and bouquets of flowers gave me some great splashes of colour for the photos.

We live in the days of citizen journalism and many of the crowd were taking photos with their mobiles, while a press pack of photographers of ex-colleagues from newspapers including the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette and the Darlington's Northern Echo were working hard to get their shots too. You really need to work fast at events like these as there are no second chances if you miss something. 

However much preparation you do, a situation can change in the blink of a shutter. But being a professional press and pr photographer means being able to pull a great shot out of the bag under any circumstances - it wouldn’t be the done thing to ask royalty if they could just go back and get out of the car again!

As one of only a handful of security-cleared photographers on the other side of the barrier I was able to get some close ups of the very photogenic Duchess as she met some local children, including little Lola Mackey who was so overcome by excitement she forgot to hand over her flowers. One of my favourite shots from this job was the cheeky expression on her face as she walks back to her mum – definitely one for the Mackey family album!

Inside, the Duchess toured the building and I was honoured to be the only photographer accompanying her as she met with service users and staff. The Mayor of Stockton, Councillor Lynne Apedaile, was just one of the local dignitaries at a group discussion, where the Duchess listened and asked questions and generally showed how well informed she was about the work of the charity and its impact on the lives of people on Teesside.

   

The nature of CRI’s work, combined with the security aspects and royal protocol made a sensitive, unobtrusive approach to the photography vital. Years of experience meant I was able to remain in the background so as not to disturb the flow of conversation but still be confident enough to get a good range of shots that showed the Duchess’s real warmth and interest in the people she was meeting. 

Some of the photos I took indoors will be used to promote the work of the charity, but others will be kept as personal mementos by the families she met, and will probably never be seen in public. Before arriving in Stockton the Duchess had also visited Newcastle Civic Centre, Elswick Park in Newcastle, and a youth council in Gateshead so this solo tour must have been a long day for her. 

As she left the building her megawatt smile never faltered and she made sure to zig zag back and forth across the road once more to thank the crowd, before leaving just after 3pm.Everyone who met her commented on how natural and friendly she was, and I was pleased to come away with a set of photos that reflect her personality, and the joyful spirit of the day. 

It was hard to believe she has only recently joined the royal family - she was genuinely comfortable with people, laughing and joking and putting them at their ease, and she created some fantastic photo opportunities so I could record the day the world’s most famous woman visited Stockton.

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography

North East Editorial Magazine Photographer: Middlesbrough Captain Jonathan Woodgate 'FourFourTwo' Press Interview

When leading football magazine FourFourTwo was looking for a freelance editorial photographer in the North East with the right background and experience to photograph Middlesbrough’s new signing Jonathan Woodgate, I was delighted to be given the brief.

The magazine’s October edition is running an interview with the Teesside-born sportsman who recently returned to captain his home town club, amid a blaze of publicity. 

With a career that spans Leeds United, Newcastle United, Real Madrid, Tottenham, Chelsea and Stoke City, he’s never been far from the news. I’ve photographed at sportsgrounds, hotels and venues all over the North East and Yorkshire, and I’m familiar with Middlesbrough’s training ground at Rockliffe Park in Hurworth, just south of Darlington, where the interview was taking place, so I had a handful of locations in mind before I got there.

Twenty seven years as a press, commercial and portrait photographer has taught me that photographing VIPs, celebrities and royalty can mean a lot of waiting around for the right moment, and then you might only have a few minutes to get the right shot so it’s essential to be prepared and to work fast.  And not to be over-awed by the subject in front of you.

I arrived early and set up while Jonathan was being interviewed, and although I’d taken lights and flash equipment with me I opted to use the available natural light, to get the feel that the magazine wanted.

Having studied the brief I knew we needed a very simple, thoughtful shot to bring out Jonathan’s personality and tie in with the theme of the interview.  But anyone who knows something about photography will tell you that what looks like a very simple shot can often be the hardest one to take.

That’s where being trained in editorial and press work is an advantage. Those of us with a newspaper background understand about different publication styles and know how to deliver what the picture editor or sub editor is looking for.  

A red door made an ideal backdrop for the shots, and with some editing later in the day back at my photography editing studio in Stockton I was able to match it to Middlesbrough FC’s colours, and to give the magazine a choice of light and dark backgrounds through a good range of close up shots. To go with its ‘One-on-one’ feature the magazine ran a full page shot that was one of two photos each using a slightly different depth of field, which I got by using first my trusty Canon L series lenses, first a 50mm lens F1.2, and then a 135mm F2 lens.

 

I firmly believe in minimum kit for maximum impact, and find that chosen carefully, one camera body and two lenses will be enough for most situations. Less equipment means less fuss, a more relaxed subject and a better set of pictures.

To read the full in-depth interview with Jonathan Woodgate, you can download the digital edition of FourFourTwo here http://fourfourtwo.com or buy it in all good newsagents.

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography

  

Middlesbrough Corporate Headshot Photographer | Portable Studio on the Move

My work as a freelance press, PR and corportate photographer can see me zig-zag round the North East, sometimes between Harrogate and Darlington, Newcastle and Stockton all in a few days. So having a set of top quality lenses and equipment that I can use to quickly set up a portable studio in any location is a must.  My everyday portable studio kit includes a 7ft high wafer-thin screen that folds up so small it will go in the boot of my hatchback; a set of ultra fast Canon L Series lenses and a top of the range tripod; all of which means I can shoot in any conditions. 

My brief for a recent photography job at the Middlesbrough head office of Fabrick Housing Group was to take corporate head shots, three-quarter and full length photos of Chief Executive Alison Thain and two of the directors. Fabrick Housing Group is made up of landlords and developers Erimus Housing and Tees Valley Housing, as well as housing support charity Norcare. Together the partners in the group manage more than 15,000 homes from North Tyneside to York and provide a range of specialist services.

The images will be added to its photo library and used in newspaper and magazine editorials, and brochures as well as on the company’s website at www.fabrickgroup.co.uk and other online information sources. My commercial, marketing and advertising agency clients want good value for money from their photoshoots, which is why I plan ahead and take a range of kit along so I can deliver a set of shots that can be used for all sorts of purposes.  Having taken two professional Canon 5D mark3 cameras with me, I set up the portable studio in 20 minutes and with very little fuss. 

Where possible I like to take portraiture photos without flash, as it can sometimes kill the spontaneous natural moment I am looking for. My fast lenses were expensive but are ideal for low light conditions, and fantastic to capture corporate reportage photography.  Being able to create studio conditions on the move means I can also set up a flash in front of a subject and behind the screen, to give a true white background that allows designers to use cut outs and other clever layout techniques.

Senior business figures are busy people and photo sessions need to be short and sweet, so I worked fast as they chatted together, and took a series of colour and black and white photos showing them looking professional but relaxed - and all without them having to ‘perform’ for the camera. I rounded off by taking a few extra shots as they moved into the boardroom, and an hour after arriving I had a good selection of crisp, clean shots that met the brief, and I was able to pack up my portable studio and leave the directors free to get on with running a busy company. 

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography

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

Stockton on Tees Magazine, Commercial and Event Photographer | Canon 5D Mark III Test Shoot

  

The launch of the new Canon 5D Mark III camera earlier this year, with its eye-watering price tag of £3000, caused a stir in the world of professional photography.

I prefer to minimise my use of flash as it can often spoil a very natural moments, so when Canon promised this new version would deliver high quality performance in very low light, I was interested.This feature alone makes it ideal for jobs such as a winter portrait photography, photographing a reportage wedding last dance, or an evening conference event where key speakers have no lights on the stage area. 

It’s a bit investment so I thought it over for quite a while before bringing it home.

I have no commercial links with Canon so I’m being totally honest when I say that having spent 27 years as a North East commercial, wedding and press photographer working on all kinds of photography commissions and in places from Dumfries & Galloway, North Yorkshire down to Teesside, I genuinely feel that this takes the game to another level. 

I decided to give my new Canon body its first outing at Stockton on Tees Council’s Prometheus Awakes. This was the launch event for the Stockton International Riverside Festival 2012 (SIRF), and an outdoor spectacle led and performed by disabled people, featuring gigantic puppets and bringing together dance, theatre, circus and sports.

I like to work with the minimum of equipment, but still get the best results, so I took along the 5D mark III camera body, a very fast Canon 50mm F1.2 (fav lens) and the Canon 135mm F2 telephoto lens. Stockton town centre was packed with people and lit by street lamps, fire sources and vivid professional lighting set ups, which all presented the perfect testing conditions.

The hundreds of adults and children on Stockton’s High Street were transfixed by the 8-metre tall figure of Prometheus, as it walked down the street, defying the gods by creating light and humanity, and I was able to move through the crowd, working quickly to try out the settings and photograph the audience and the performers.

  

Lucky no rain was present in the air at this event, but if it had the camera has improved weather sealing. This will pay off when I’m photographing north east winter weddings or covering outdoor sports events such as the Stockton River Rat Race.

In older cameras like the Canon 5D, Canon 50D and older 1D's the pixels in the shots broke up, but I was pleased to see the Canon 5D Mark III lived up to its promise – check out the picture of the child in his father’s arms – the detail in his eyes is pin-sharp as he gazes past me.

Even in extremely low light the camera picked up the tiniest details, such as the sparks coming off the flames of the flare, as well as faithfully reproducing colours. The image quality was fantastic, and means the shots can be used for press work or blown up for posters, billboards and other large formats.  

The Canon’s fast focussing ability showed itself in some shots of children blowing bubbles in the dark. When I’m working on wedding photography commisions across the North East speed is essential for capturing relaxed, natural wedding moments of the bride & groom - a split second can make all the difference.

People often ask me what camera I use, and how many pixels it shoots at. For the record, this one shoots at 22 million pixels, but while that’s important to a degree, a good photograph takes the right combination of lens, sensor, pixels and the photographer!  The lens is particularly important, there is no point investing in a top quality camera and teaming it with a poor quality lens.

 

My camera kit list includes three professional camera bodies, plus a range of  lenses from a 15mm  fisheye to powerful 400mm suitable for photographic jobs ranging from pictures of commercial wind turbines half a mile out in the north sea, to detailed close ups. I’m fairly fit – all the running round photographing sports events sees to that – but I don’t want to heave around big bags of kit. It would interfere with the relaxed atmosphere I like to create, so people forget about the camera and I can get the natural, reportage photos that are my trademark style.

To sum up, the Canon 5D Mark III camera is an incredible piece of kit, and I haven't  even look at yet! using the Canon camera’s full HD video capabilities, which is something I’m going to explore in my own work.

When I first used a digital camera (Nikon D1) back in 2000 it was a revolution in professional photography. Even today’s mobiles have more camera power than that one, and the Canon is the next logical step – who knows where technology will take us next? 

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography