Each month we invite a guest photographer to answer questions about what started them taking photographs, their interests and tips for taking great pictures.
We ask for two photographs they’ve taken, together with a few words about each of them, including why they were picked.
No limit or restrictions on responses – they can be as long or as short as you like (our first guest famously responding to question 5 – “Favourite/most useful gadget” – with “A window. Never fails. Next.”)
By way of illustration, we show here a recent review of David Bradwell’s work – an interesting man and talented photographer, he has shot many thousands of pictures in the course of his career.
Photograph of the Month
David from SHQ
Q1: When did you first start taking photographs? What interested you at that time?
David: I became interested in photography at about the age of 11. A family friend advised me to acquire a cheap Soviet-made Zenith SLR rather than a point and shoot camera, and from there I was hooked. I set up a darkroom and started to do all of my own developing. The Zenith was ultra-basic but a great way to learn core principles. By the time I was in sixth form I had a part time job working as photographer for a local weekly newspaper, producing a minimum of five stories per week, plus occasional freelance jobs for the BBC – all while doing A Levels. Happy times.
Q2: What camera did you use then? When did you first start to use digital cameras?
David: In the early days I used to do paper rounds (sometimes four per day) and invest the cash in cameras, lenses and other kit. By around the age of 13 (so early 1980s) I moved onto a Pentax ME Super. Then, when I was 18 I moved to London to study a degree in Film, Video and Photographic Art. That was a glorious time. As well as the Pentax I was experimenting with large format studio cameras and 16mm video. My first digital camera was a Nikon D1 in the early days of Stockings HQ around 2000. I shot all of the photographs for the original Gio web site on that, and then early SHQ product shots. However, despite the eye watering expense it was only a 2.7 megapixel sensor. From there I progressed onto a Nikon D80, then D7000, then D810. I currently use a D5600 for stills and a Z30 for video. I feel quite an allegiance to Nikon!
Q3: What do you most enjoy photographing?
David: That really varies – studio sets are fun. I used to have a permanent studio set up at the SHQ warehouse and could design and build sets within that for particular shoots. That said, some of my happiest memories were going out and about with a model outdoors – playing around with flash to augment daylight, using a big telephoto lens to compress the perspective, and playing around with depth of field (or bokeh in modern speak!). Although we did one day nearly get arrested for bringing the East Coast mainline to a halt by walking through an unmarked gate and having a backdrop of (I thought) speeding InterCity 125s…
Q4: Top tip for shooting a great picture outdoors – and indoors
David: You need to understand the relationship between the shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Wide open apertures and long focal lengths can create beautifully soft backgrounds that serve to flatter the subject. To avoid camera shake, always try to use a shutter speed at least equivalent to the lens length (eg 1/100th second for 100mm, 1/250th for 250mm etc.) Thereafter lighting and angle are everything. Images can be so much more dramatic from a low angle. Get down on the ground. It’s liberating!
Mastering light is the key to everything – I could write a book on that. In essence, don’t be afraid to light from the side or behind and use the shadow side to your advantage. Of course it depends on the effect you’re trying to create, but you can learn a vast amount by really studying lighting on fabulous pictures and TV dramas. A lot of the SHQ pictures were designed to showcase products first and foremost so I had to rein it in a bit, but I love really dramatic and moody lighting that tells a story by itself.
Q5: Favourite/most useful gadget or accessory – what helps you take great pictures?
David: Cameras are generally so good now, you can create wonderful images without spending a fortune on anything. But really good lights are always a bonus – I recently acquired some new high power LED COB lights that are wonderfully flexible and can do all sorts of colours and create drama I could only have dreamed of back in the SHQ studio flash days. Aside from that, good quality lenses with large maximum apertures are a bonus.
Q6: We ask our guest photographers to share two of their photographs – which two did you pick – and why?
David: It was really hard to narrow it down to two! The first, though is a picture of Eleganti cuban heel FF stockings shot at the SHQ warehouse. It was the main picture at the top of the front page of the site for many years.
A gobo effect added the window highlight to the backdrop and I was pleased with how the finishing loop detail was picked out. There was also a side light that gave a bit of shape to the right hand edge of the chair.
It was shot on the Nikon D80 in 2008 and the first time we’d worked with Eleganti so I wanted something special for the launch. Hence spending most of the budget on a big pink high heel chair.
The second is conceptually similar but shot from a low angle on the D7000 in 2011. It’s from the original Nylonica shoot. We did over 2,500 pictures of over 40 products, while the model, Gemma, was texting her famous footballer boyfriend who was on the bench for Manchester City that day… The Nylonica launch was massive so I went to town building a set with white painted plasterboard walls, complete with skirting boards, and a high gloss white floor.
If you want a third I’ve added another from the D7000 in 2013. We were launching a big new range of SHQ suspender belts so Daisy Watts came in and it was another day of shooting over 2,000 pictures. Yellow always popped off the screen so I added the yellow flower and Ikea blanket, then painted one of the Nylonica studio walls dark blue for the contrast. I’m really pleased with the lighting on this one – others from the set highlighted the shiny belt panels better but it’s so crisp and colourful it worked really well on the site (editor: sadly we can’t allow a third picture – it would be like letting a guest have nine records on Desert Island Discs! However, readers may find something of interest at the bottom of the page…)
Q7: If offered an all-expenses paid assignment, anywhere in the world – where would you go, what would you shoot?
And finally...
one last shot from David, our Photographer of the Month
