I clock up thousands of miles in my
job as a Teesside-based photographer - being Stockton-based I’m ideally located
for major transport links, often cover commercial, education and magazine photography jobs in York, Newcastle, Carlisle and Leeds all
within an hour’s travel time. Although a recent commission from a client in
Cardiff was fairly short notice I was very happy to make the journey,
particularly as a job which was a fair distance away had
come about via the client seeing my work at www.davecharnleyphotography.com
The Teach First organisation
finds, trains and supports young people to become brilliant teachers, as part
of its aim to help combat educational inequality in the UK. I was hired by Teacher
First’s Manchester-based media agency to take a series of shots of a teacher at
Thornaby Academy in Stockton on Tees to promote the organisation through its annual
report, quarterly magazine, website and online media channels.
I had a long chat with the
agency beforehand so I understood exactly what look and feel they wanted from
the photography. Time spent on planning is never wasted. It gives clients
reassurance that I can deliver the results they want, and helps me to formulate
a plan for the style of picture opportunities I’m looking for on the day. I
never leave for a job without a plan in my head.
On the day I worked with a
highly regarded young English teacher Laura Travis, adopting an unstaged, magazine-style approach,
taking pictures in classroom and active drama environments using natural light.
Her engaging teaching style clearly went down well with students, whose parents
and guardians had all signed consent forms – a very important point when
photographing young people.
I was careful to make good
use of space on some of the images, both to let them breathe and to help
designers. Having some clear space where text can be overlaid, for instance for
use on websites, is really useful.
The two and a half hour
shoot generated between 60 and 70 shots, and when I dropped off my client from
the agency at the railway station, she was kind enough to give me some great
feedback on how the shoot had gone. I also received a very complimentary email
saying how much the agency loved the pictures.
I was pleased to see my
pictures appearing on the Teach First website within a few weeks of the job,
and happy to have helped to help promote this unique organisation and its fantastic work.
