Sometimes, assignments are like buses. Nothing from a particular industry and then... two within as many days!

This was the scenario earlier in the month when, coincidentally, I was asked to produce imagery for publication in the national- and trade press. On each occasion I was dealing directly with a PR/advertising company; their client, in turn, was based in the health sector.

The similarities did not stop there, however - both companies had originally spoken to me having first visited the Giles Babbidge Photography website, and both were based a number of hours away from the shoot location.

Why did they choose Giles Babbidge Photography? Firstly, they liked what they saw on the website, and secondly it was far more cost-effective and practical to hire a local photographer (who, on this occasion, was able to meet their technical requirements) than bring their own with them.

And finally, one last shared request - no online supply was required, just a straight forward transfer to disk and a set of contact (preview) sheets.

Save time and expense

After completing a local assignment for a new client recently, I received a subsequent email asking 'Is your availability geographically limited?'

Simply put - no. Although a great deal of my work is carried out in Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey and London I am quite happy to travel anywhere my services are required, be it in the United Kingdom or to international destinations.

The distance travelled has no bearing on duration. For example, your one-hour press call in the City will be treated just the same as if you would like me to photograph your corporate evening in Scotland or trade show in Birmingham.

Output options, as ever, can also be tailored to your needs, regardless of time and place - prints purchasable on an event night, DVD and contact (reference) sheets, direct download from the Giles Babbidge Photography website... you pick the method.

Further general information

I recently completed another shoot for Martlet Homes, a not-for-profit organisation committed to improving existing social housing in the Chichester District as well as building new homes for the community.

On this occasion, a fresh set of images was required to support a forthcoming feature in 'The Phoenix', Martlet's in-house magazine which is distributed to its residents. The brief itself was simple enough - to produce attention-grabbing images to illustrate a friendly new face of the Martlet Homes-sponsored young footballers'
initiative.

"Martlet has a diverse range of photographic needs," says Stephanie Smith, Communications Manager. "In addition to our properties we have a very active Martlet community; good quality, crisp photography helps to get that message across. Giles' photography at our numerous events, openings, meetings and fun days is invaluable".

One of the great aspects of working digitally - as was the case here - is that those involved can see their pictures, on site, straight away... something that the children involved especially enjoyed, and which helped them to relax in front of the camera.

Stephanie continues, "It is essential to feel trust with a photographer - I need to know that they will turn up on time, interpret my brief accurately, behave responsibly and respect the situation they are photographing".

Having worked together for over 3 years, Martlet Homes and Giles Babbidge Photography have built up a firm working partnership.

However, the approach is always the same, whether talking to a new potential client or providing imagery to further promote existing customers - by getting to know your needs, understanding the style of imagery you require and how best to achieve the results you want, we can produce a set of photographs that you can be proud of and that will show you off at your best.

Tell me what you want to achieve

One area which I don't often promote, but which I have been active in for the past 4 and a half years or so is Wedding photography.

And with the season soon to be in full swing, I thought I'd make a mention of it in this Issue.

Every year, I receive requests from couples who have left it to the last minute to book their photographer. Whether they simply forgot to make the booking, because there is so much else to think about, or whether they have made a last-minute decision to tie the knot.

Of course, the reason could quite easily be the fact that alarm bells start ringing in many couples' heads just as soon as they think of the cost of hiring their wedding photographer. And it's hardly surprising - with so many charging an excruciating four-figure sum, who can blame them for thinking this is the norm?

I say the same thing to potential wedding customers as I do to my commercial clients - it doesn't have to cost a fortune! If you are getting married, or you know someone who is on the look-out for a wedding photographer, please do invite them to talk to me. You never know - you might just be pleasantly surprised.

If you would like to see some examples of wedding photographs captured by Giles Babbidge Photography, you can do so by going to this page on the website and entering the password wedding (lower case).

Let's talk about your wedding photography needs

... or does it?

During a talk which I gave this month (as detailed in Issue #3), the topic of image manipulation was raised. Specifically, I was asked just how much 'computer trickery' I impose on my photographs after they are taken.

Well, I do edit the pictures to some degree (contrast, colour fidelity etc), but only insofar as to render the most pleasing, natural-looking result. Of course, there is much one can do to images in order to create striking effects - but on the whole I prefer to do as little as possible after the event, such as in this picture or this picture.

Call me old fashioned, but I like my photographs to look like photographs!

In all seriousness, the matter of image manipulation is something of a 'hot potato' in the photographic industry. Yes, I can and do make alterations when asked (for example if a client feels, in hindsight, that one of their images would benefit from the removal of a particular object) but there are surely times when no 'creative license' should be exercised.

An extreme example of this can be seen in this article, which explains how one particular photograph was withdrawn by the Reuters news agency after it was discovered that doctoring had taken place 'for effect'.

Contact me to find out more about selective manipulation

'A picture tells a thousand words', so they say. But not if you can't tell what it is you are supposed to be looking at.

I have undertaken several picture restoration jobs in the last few weeks, recovering detail from faded, damaged original prints. On one occasion, the picture - dating back to the mid 1800s - was sandwiched between two pieces of glass (one of which had been cracked during the move from a box in the garage, I'm told). Unfortunately, the image had also adhered to one of these surfaces.

Using a process of scanning and digital retouching, these old images suddenly came to life, full of their hand-touched original colour. More importantly, being that these were the only known copies in existence, a little piece of history and many memories were also preserved for future generations to enjoy.

Do you have memories to preserve?