On the 11th of November I was commissioned to shoot Robbie Williams celebrity lookalike, Tony Lewis for the Famous Males website. Assisted by my friend Andrea, we managed to capture around 190 images. The shoot took place at a commercial studio in Warrington and we had just three hours to follow a story board that consisted of various lighting effects and backgrounds. Some images were brightly lit, others dark and moody. In some Tony had clothes on, others clothes off - quite a challenging day for all of us! Tony was a real professional, managing to keep up those classic Robbie poses throughout the entire shoot. Watch this space for more celebrity photo news!
Tony Lewis as Robbie Williams. Camera - Nikon D2x, Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens and 70-200 vr. Elinchrom studio flash. Studio - Innovations. Assistant - Andrea Hughes. Click photos to see larger view.
I recently exhibited my wedding photography work at two local trade shows - Cotton’s hotel near Knutsford, Cheshire and the Manchester Central Wedding Show (formerly the G-Mex wedding show). In addition to receiving a number of bookings, talking to the market direct was a valuable learning experience in terms of keeping in touch with the requirements of today’s wedding couples. I was pleased to learn that my style of photography seemed to please the majority, along with the albums I was offering with my packages. For more information on my wedding photography packages, go to http://weddings.thravesphoto.co.uk
I consider stock photography to be an on-going shoot and a part of my everyday life, especially as it is becoming a significant part of my income. I am constantly thinking of ideas for images that might sell, often planning shoots in depth and taking in to consideration all the ingredients required to create saleable images. Such ingredients might include the right kind of model, location, props, lighting style, etc. Usually, this kind of planning pays off and I manage to produce a few regular selling images from each shoot. However, I have found that successful stock imagery can also be created from virtually any situation that is typical of everyday life. Even my holidays have become busy ’stock shoots’ and when away you will never catch me relaxing on a sun bed reading the latest best-selling novel.
During a recent holiday to Corfu, I did shoot the usual travel subjects, but also spent time photographing my kids doing all the regular things that kids do on holiday. I am expecting these images to outsell the travel shots, which is generally an over-saturated market, but that remains to be seen. After sifting through the numerous images I had produced whilst away, I realised there was one important shot I did forget to capture - the one of my wife on a sun bed reading the latest best-selling novel. It may well have become one of my best-selling images!
All images were shot with a Nikon D2x, 18-200 vr or 12-24 lens. I used fill-in flash with a Nikon Sb800 on some images and a polarizing filter on others. See more images at Alamy.com and keyword ‘thraves’ in search.
Following the success of over 13 years of Wedding Photography, for the first time I will be exhibiting at two wedding trade fayres - Cottons Hotel & Spa in Knutsford on the 28th of September and The G-Mex Uk Wedding Show in Manchester on the 18th and 19th of October. At both events I will be offering special discounts on wedding photography packages, plus you may enter our fabulous competition. To view my wedding photography website, click here. Hope you can make it - look forward to seeing you there! (view my wedding website at weddings.thravesphoto.co.uk)
During my career, I have been commissioned to shoot an array of celebrities, usually in association with Film and TV productions. However, a few weeks ago I was asked to do something a little more extraordinary - to shoot Adam Child, star of Channel 4’s Shipwrecked, totally nude. Some of the images from the shoot can be seen in the current issue of ‘Heat‘, the UK’s premier celebrity magazine. You can also view some of my past celebrity images in the gallery below.
Images of people far outsell any other subjects I submit to agencies. However, just under a year ago I took a short trip to Scotland and shot a few landscapes. These have sold pretty well over the past few months and gained a couple of awards. All the Scotland images were captured over a period of about half an hour, just after sunrise - the light was fantastic! I have also added one other image (above), shot in Northern Spain under similar lighting conditions. You can’t always hang around for perfect conditions, especially since accruing profitable stock sales relies on submitting quantity as well as quality. However, these examples support my point that if you can find a way to create images that in some way stand out from the competition, you are sure to achieve greater sales. All photos captured with a Nikon D2x, Nikon 18-200 vr lens, handheld. (for further information on Stock Photography, see my published article).
During a recent two day family trip to Yorkshire, I was faced with little time, heavy rain showers and grey skies, together with an over-saturated travel market. I therefore decided to try something different. I was amazed at the results of two scenes taken at Whitby, both 20 minutes to half an hour after sunset. To the naked eye, the scene looked almost pitch black. The camera used was a Nikon D2x on a tripod, exposure time approximately 20 seconds. Although most agencies are well stocked with shots from the Whitby area, these will hopefully stand out from the crowd. The other two daytime images are classic scenes taken at Staithes. Again, there are many photos like these on the market, but a little extra saturation and contrast will hopefully gain the edge.
Ian manages to bag a silver and multiple merits at this year’s BIPP/MPA North West Photography Awards. The competition attracted over 800 professional entries in various categories, ranging from commercial subjects through to wedding. Ian gained a silver in the Environmental Portrait category and four merits in categories - Fashion & Beauty, Creative Wedding and Fine Art.
For those interested in working as a professional Photographer, or the business of Stock Photography, Ian publishes an on-going article in the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook (published by A&C Black) with advice on making a living from photography. The 2009 edition is now available in bookshops or on-line, plus in the reference section of most libraries. Ian draws upon his past experience as a Picture Editor for a world renowned stock library, plus his current working life as a full-time Photographer.
Over the past year or so, Ian has worked on a number of shoots in the fields of Hair, Fashion & Beauty. This all started when friend, Annie Roberts (Director of Artisan Hair & Beauty, Buxton) asked Ian to produce some images for the Wella Trend Vision competition. The first shoot took Artisan to the North West finals and soon after, Ideas were flowing and led to plans for additional shoots. This slide show highlights some of the work created by Ian Thraves and Artisan, with some additional images commissioned by Partners Hairdressing in Poynton. The location shots were taken over a weekend at Fort Belan in North Wales, a fantastic place for photographers and film makers!
See a clearer view of these images (and more) here
