FAQs

Q: As a Commercial Photographer, what areas of professional photography do you specialise in?

A: My work has taken me as far afield as Australia but most of my commissions are for clients in Sussex, Kent, Surrey and London (as well as Bristol and the south west) requiring an experienced:

• School prospectus photographer

• Videographer

Q: How much do you charge?

A: Prices start from £200 for a basic shoot, totalling to 2.0 hours of my time. I price projects individually, according to what they involve and the time estimated to complete each part of the job.

Q: Do you charge for travel time as well as mileage?

A: The first hour's travel and 20 miles are included in the basic fee (see above). After that, the time taken to travel to and from a shoot is usually charged at £40 per hour and mileage at 60p per mile unless otherwise agreed.

Q: What are your terms and conditions?

A: Click here to read our terms and conditions

Q: Who owns the copyright to the photographs?

A: Unless expressly agreed in writing, I, the photographer retain copyright and all rights in the photographs I create.

Clients have a licence to use the images they commission for their own business needs (but not those of third parties) which is included in the standard rates.

Q: Can I use any of your existing images, commercially?

A: Yes, or course you can. Of course, there would be a fee to do so, depending on the media and territories in which you choose to publish. You'll need my permission to use any of my photography so that you don't infringe copyright law.

Q: What’s the commissioning process?

A: The first step is to make contact and discuss your requirements. Then we agree the brief and the approach that works with your budget. After that we book a date (or dates) to shoot. It’s quite usual for the client or a representative of the client to be present during a shoot. When we’ve finished taking photographs, I save everything to at least two hard drives. Once you've made your final selection of images, I'll 'polish them off' in post production to make sure they're at their very best before delivering at both high and low resolution.

Q: Do you have a studio?

A: Yes, the Lewes studio is fully equipped and large enough for most shoots. If I’m asked to photograph anything particularly large such as industrial machinery, then I would either take a mobile studio to the machinery or hire a large ground floor studio if the machinery can be moved there.

Q: What camera equipment do you use?

A: I use professional Canon DSLR cameras with a selection of pro ‘L’ lenses for optimum optical quality. In the studio I use Bowens mono block lighting and daylight balanced continuous lighting. On location I also use more portable Canon Speedlites.

Q: What formats do you work in?

A: I shoot in RAW and make any adjustments to the images in this format before converting them to either TIFF or JPEG for delivery to the client.

Q: How do you deliver images?

A: Almost exclusively via ftp using Wetransfer, for example.

Q: Do you keep back ups on file?

A: Yes, jobs are backed up in duplicate and archived on two separate hard drives as well as being delivered to the client.

Q: Do you shoot video?

A: Yes, we shoot and edit video. We have both professional Canon HD camcorder and Canon DSLR video capability with multiple camera set ups available. We use radio and other remote microphones to record high quality audio and we edit using Final Cut Pro and After Effects.

Q: How far will you travel?

A: Most of my work is in the SE and SW of England, although I’m happy to work anywhere. Over the years, projects have taken me to Sweden, Israel, France, Ireland and even Australia.

Q: Do you cover weddings?

A: No, I don’t. I like to keep my weekends free for my family, friends and personal interests.

Q: Do you shoot passport photos?

A: I can do but bear in mind there are photo booths in supermarkets that are far more economic to use for this.

Q: Are you professionally qualified?

A: I studied photography at college for 3 years and am fully professionally qualified (with distinction).

Q: Is there anything you won’t photograph?

A: Not really, although I’m not a huge fan of great heights or dangerous animals with bad tempers.

Q: Do you have your own PPE (Personal Protection Equipment)?

A: Of course, goggles, hard hat, high viz jacket and safety footwear live in the car.

Q: Can you supply models and make up artists etc?

A: Yes, of course, as and when they’re required. I do prefer clients to make their own choice of models, however.

Q: Can you help me develop a brief and bring some ideas and suggestions to the table?

A: I have more than 20 years’ experience to draw on and am very capable of advising, steering and offering ideas.

Q: Are you happy working as part of a broader creative team?

A: Absolutely. I’m happy to get involved in developing a brief or to simply be directed. No problem either way.

Q: Do you provide training or tutorials in any of the specialist areas in which you work?

A: Yes, I do. Contact me to discuss what you need, specifically.

Q: Do you stop for lunch?

A: I’m only human and I need to be kept topped up with fluids and fed at regular intervals if I’m going to work at my best. So, yes a break for lunch should always be factored in. Cups of hot Earl Grey tea are always very welcome along with a regular top up of water.

Q: Do you take photographs when you're not working as a photographer?

A: A lot of the time. It's in the blood. If I see something that'll make a great shot and I don't have a camera with me at the time, I kick myself. Having said that, my wife and family like to see me put the camera to one side when we're enjoying some much needed r&r time together. I've learnt to kick myself more gently.