North East and Yorkshire Commercial Photographer: Wide Variety of Photography Commissions

As a North East PR and commercial photographer covering Teesside, Tyne & Wear, Durham, Yorkshire and Northumberland I’m lucky to be given a massively wide variety of photography jobs.   

I thought I’d run through a few recent jobs, to show the depth and breadth of my work for PR and marketing agencies, photography agencies and freelancers, plus private and public sector clients. This year I’ve seen increasing amounts of work coming from London, Manchester, Aberdeen and Edinburgh PR and marketing agencies, which means my website is reaching potential clients outside the North East, which is great.  

River Rat Race, Stockton: This is the third year Stockton Borough Council has asked me to document the race, which is best described as a wet assault course, and includes some running, splashing, walking the plank and kayaking around a 10k stretch of the River Tees. It’s a job that means  working at a fast pace, moving the 10k course that takes in the Infinity Bridge, the Victoria Bridge, the Newport Bridge and the Barrage Bridge alongside the entrants so I can capture the spirit of the event and come away with hundreds of photographs of people enjoying the day.

Industrial shoot:  A PR consultant who specialises in the industrial sector booked me for a commercial photography shoot in Peterlee, at a business that manufactures metal tubes. Having taken my studio kit I was able to get close to some welding action and get some high quality shots of various processes. There is a lot of beauty to be found in industrial settings, from surface textures to different shades of grey in what at first glance does not look very visually appealing – spotting the opportunity is the trick to successful commercial photography.

Whitby Esk Energy Project, Ruswarp:  my client is a large UK supermarket chain with a top reputation for corporate social responsibility, and I was booked to take photos of the 50kW Archimedes screw hydroelectric power turbine on the River Esk at Ruswarp, nr Whitby in North Yorkshire. The event was an open afternoon held as part of September’s Community Energy Fortnight, and drew around 60 people, all keen to make the most of the opportunity to get a close look at the machinery and tour the turbine site. The subsequent press pictures went out to media including the Leeds Yorkshire Post, Whitby Gazette, Middlesbrough Gazette and Northern Echo in Darlington.

Borough Green Farm, Great Ayton, North Yorkshire: the farm has been shortlisted for a prestigious award, to celebrate its approach to using the latest milking and feeding technology to reduce costs and increase productivity. The job meant being suited up to go into the milking parlour, which instantly took me back to my days as a press photographer in Middlesbrough. The photos of the farm and the Fullwood Merlin robots that milk the 110-strong herd will go up on a big screen on awards night, so the quality had to be pin-sharp.

Newcastle PDSA PetAid Hospital: I was asked to go in and take some photographs of the injuries to a group of cats, which made a national news story, and the photos are also being used on social media and in the PDSA’s fundraising literature and web activity.

Butterwick Hospice in Stockton: I’m a regular visitor to the hospice, which serves the surrounding community and is an amazing, inspirational place. I went along to photograph the opening of the refurbished garden, which has been transformed by The Garden Centre and Greenfingers, a charity dedicated to creating gardens in children’s hospices, into a tranquil spot for residents, staff and visitors to enjoy time. The renovated garden has a new water feature, vegetable beds and new softer, sensory planting plus a ground level trampoline to play on. The renovation was a real community effort, and I was pleased to see the photos in local North East press and online.

Teesside University, Middlesbrough:  This was a shoot for the new brochure and magazine, showcasing the university’s facilities and the wide range of courses available. Today’s universities have to operate on commercial lines, attracting UK and overseas students and maintaining high standards of service, so good quality images that inspire new and existing students are essential.

Great North Run, Newcastle upon Tyne: My client was the British Heart Foundation, and the Great North Run is a regular fixture in my calendar. In some years I’ve done the run at the same time as taking photos, but this year it was photos only. It’s always a pleasure to work at this event, the atmosphere is fantastic and everyone is out to have a good time and support each other. It makes for some great photographs of people laughing, puffing and sometimes running through the pain to raise money for good causes. 

Sorry I couldn't resist a shot of Super Mo

I hope that’s given you a small glimpse into life behind the lens as a North East PR, Editorial and commercial photographer. It’s a job I love and I’m lucky enough to work with a diverse range of clients on some really interesting projects – long may it continue. 

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography

Press and PR photography coverage of Diversity Ashley Banjo in Stockton on Tees.

Thousands of people turned out in July to help Britain’s Got Talent winner Ashley Banjo and Diversity dance group get Stockton dancing.

Part of the Sky 1 series Ashley Banjo: the Town That Danced Again, the day drew huge crowds on to Stockton High Street next to the Town Hall, where specially constructed stage platforms had been set up for the professional dancers.

Ashley Banjo is an English street dancer, choreographer and actor, and the programme was all about celebrating Stockton’s dance heritage and reinvigorate the whole town by bringing together everyone from shop assistants and librarians, to care workers and teachers to get them dancing in the streets.

The day was building up to be the hottest of the summer when I arrived an hour before the start of the event. I know the open air space well so I had already visualised where the best photography vantage points would be. This was a big event for the region and as well as the Sky 1 team there were a few other professional photographers from Sunderland to Harrogate there and of course nearly everyone in the audience had their camera phones out.

I knew I would be carrying my kit all day so took my monopod and a handful of lenses including a mega wide angle. The crowd was packed so the monopod and camera set on 2 sec timer were particularly useful in getting shots above the heads and with some good views of the various stages. 

As this live event was also being filmed, several of the dance routines were done in segments and repeated until the director was satisfied. It was interesting to see the clock in Stockton’s Town centre being stopped and rewound for continuity several times!

I was kept busy darting about documenting not just the dancing but the street party atmosphere of the day too. Everyone was in party mood, including my daughter and her friends who had gone along. Moving through the crowd I swapped out my lenses to do some fly on the wall photos and get some close ups of the dancers as they encouraged the crowd to join in, choreographed by Ashley Banjo himself. Some of the youngest ones were particularly good, and showed no sign of nerves at all the cameras going off as they performed.

At one point the kind people manning the Vodafone stand let me take some shots from their stand overlooking the sea of people, which was a fantastic vantage point to see everything that was going on.

 It was a brilliant day that generating some amazing pictures, and Ashley’s tweet from @AshleyBanjo summed up its success in a nutshell:  ‘What a day...What a night....Amazing times with amazing people. Stockton we love you and we will miss you #TTTD #20DV’.

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography

Runners to Royals - North East Editorial and Press Photographer

I remember my very first celebrity photograph. I was a really keen athlete as a young man and I even qualified for Scotland's national shot putt finals at Edinburgh Meadowbank Stadium. I was just a teenager when I then saw Scottish Olympic sprinter Alan Wells, and being unsure of myself I tried to casually get a shot before eventually asking him if I could take a photograph. He was quite curt and it taught me a lesson about how to get the best pictures when working with minor and major celebrities, VIPs and royalty. I’m not star stuck at all now – I wouldn’t get the pictures if I was.

One of my first big assignments as professional press photographer in Scotland was covering the visit of John Major for Dumfries and Galloway Council. It was my first experience of being part of a newspaper press pack, and having to be courteous but still get the right shots for the picture desks.

In my days on newspapers and then after I set up as a freelance editorial photographer in the North East I must have photographed thousands of politicians, celebrities and members of the royal family. Like every other north east commercial photography assignment, the trick is to work fast and spot the shot before it happens.

People in the sports world are usually preoccupied with doing their job when you point a camera at them, and it’s important to be there for the action shot. One shot I took out of a car alongside Dame Tanni Grey Thompson was a fast decision that worked well, and one that help me win a photography award.

Some of the other sporting names I’ve photographed have been great fun. George Best was a great character and a gentleman, and no problem to photograph. Film and music stars cross my path regularly, and I’ve photographed people including Morrissey, Victoria Beckham, Marc Owen, Billie Piper, Caprice, Stella McCartney and Bob Hoskins too, when he was filming in nearby Whitby.

I love getting a quirky commission, especially if you are part of selected

few. For instance I was the only North East photographer to be chosen by global news agency Reuters to shoot American artist Spencer Tunick’s famous Naked City art installation, which saw 1700 people pose naked in Gateshead’s Baltic Square, and my pictures were picked up by international media within moments of the shoot. 

Photographing actor of MartinClunes portraits was another great job.  As part of the BBC Islands of Britain series he visited Piel Island near Morecambe to see the ceremony where the King of Piel Island gets crowned by beer poured over his head. I was offcourse happy when my photos of Martin made The Times and other national newspapers - job done!

My assignment in Kosovo in the 1990s was slightly less glamorous. I went out with the British Army, shadowing Brigadier Richard Dannett as part of a commission to cover the Green Howard regiment, based at Catterick. The sleeping accommodation was fairly basic and we flew in helicopters, went out on night manoeuvres and generally, wherever the Green Howards were going, I went too.

In general, less well known celebrities can be the most awkward to photograph, while top stars and royalty are easy to work with. People like the Queen and the Prince of Wales, who are used to having their photograph taken, understand what makes a good shot, and are generally fuss-free and very obliging.


I remember how relaxed the Countess of Wessex was when she opened a shop in Northallerton, and a commission to document the Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to Teesside, to lend her support to a literacy campaign was an equally smooth day.

Clients who book me for celebrity, VIP and royal photography range from councils to north east newspapers and uk news agencies. Some of the pictures I take are not for public consumption, such as some of the ones I took on the occasion (some inside shots) of the Duchess of Cambridge’s first visit to the North East, following her appointment as patron of Action on Addiction. 

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography

Newcastle, Durham & Middlesbrough Commercial Photographer: Fast Professional Service in the North East.

Although photographers are in general a friendly bunch, we all want the best pic for our clients so there is always a little bit of rivalry at big events.

But that doesn’t mean we tread on each other’s toes or don’t support each other. For instance I was recently contacted by a Newcastle press and commercial photographer who was stuck in traffic on the A1, and asked me if I could get over to do some PR photography in Middlesbrough and generate some ‘same day turnaround’ press photography for the following day’s Middlesbrough, Yorkshire and Newcastle newspapers.

Helping each other out is all part of a day’s work, and in those instances it’s a case of get the brief, get there, and get the job done. On jobs like these I would never want to tread on anyone’s toes by handing out my Dave Charnley Photography business card, as far as the client is concerned I’m just Dave. 

We have to react equally quickly on a client job too. I’d say around 5% of my photography jobs involve an odd extra shot that was not on the brief, but it’s usually no problem. It often arises when a senior person has asked the in-house PR account manager to get a few shots of X,Y an Z. In those circumstances, it’s a case of if I have the time and it will save them a separate re-shoot I’m happy to help out. A board director might only have ten minutes to spares, so it’s important to be flexible and work fast. 

Some photography commissions are a mix of product, lifestyle and portrait shots, destined for use in marketing material, on the web and in advertising. I like to create a variety of shots for the client so they build up a photo library they can put to a range of uses. For instance if they are commenting in the press about an incident or some low profit warnings they need a shot of the Managing Director looking sombre, while a news story about the business supporting a local childrens’ charity needs an altogether more cheery shot of him.

Some clients plan well in advance, and as I write this blog in June I already have some Newcastle, Sunderland and Stockton commercial photography shoots booked in for October. But the PR, marketing and advertising photography world moves at a fast pace, and I can routinely get a call from a client asking if I can do a shoot starting at 7.30am the following day, and going on until dusk.

A younger photographer might be stressed by the pressure, but to those of us with 25 years of press and commercial photography under our belts, it’s no problem. My days as a Middlesbrough pressphotographer working for newspapers turning out four editions a day gave me a good grounding. 

Running my own photography business means being more than just a good photographer, I have to be good at the behind the scenes work too, such as studio work, admin, accounts and marketing. It’s about striking the happy medium between day-long photoshoots and the luxury of time spent back in my photography studio in Stockton.

Even when days are incredibly fast-paced and stressful, I still wouldn’t swap places with anyone.

I’m lucky to have an incredible variety of jobs in my diary, ranging from PR photography and product shots to sports and royal events, and as a north east freelance photographer it’s a case of ‘access all areas’. It’s a real privilege to work for some great clients and to see my photos used on the front page of newspapers such as the Journal, the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette, the Yorkshire Post and online. 

I honestly can’t think of any other job I’d rather be doing.

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Direct Website Link to Dave Charnley Photography