Listed below are some of the questions I am most often asked. However, each client’s requirements are unique so the photographs and approach I take in capturing them are bespoke to each client and assignment. Please feel free to either email me with any other questions you may have, or we can discuss them during our initial consultation.

 

 

Q. I have seen your portfolio and notice that you don’t have any work displayed for the type of assignment I wish to book you for. Does this mean that you only do the kind of assignments that appear on your website?

 

No, not at all. I do many types of assignments that do not appear on my website as this contains only a small selection of the work I am most often booked for. Websites, in general, are very limited in the amount of content they can contain. If you wish to book me for an assignment you do not see on my site, or wish to see whole assignments, just email me and enquire. Chances are that I have plenty of examples of assignments in your required genre and I will be happy to post you a separate link to my previous work in that genre.

 

 

Q. How much notice do you require from me if I want to book you for an assignment?

 

As much as you can possibly give me! Some clients book me for assignments over a year in advance. Generally speaking, as soon as you know that you require a photographer for an assignment, that is the best time to reach out to me. This will provide you the best chance to ensure that the date for your assignment is locked-down at the earliest possible opportunity. If the final date for your assignment is not yet decided, I’m happy to pencil-in any potential date for you with a view to confirming it at a later time when you have more information from your end. I am aware that sometimes, an assignment may need to be done at very short notice. If this is the case, feel free to email me with your requirements and, if I’m free, I’ll happily book you for the shoot. I do not have any extra charges for short notice assignments. I work on my own and do not accept overlapping double-bookings for a date. Dates are offered and confirmed on a first-come first-served basis and once we have locked-down a date, I will not offer that date to anyone else unless you as a client cancel the assignment for that date. If I have penciled-in a date for you for later confirmation and I have another enquiry for that date, I will first give you a reasonable chance to confirm your assignment before offering that date to someone else. I will always be fair and reasonable with you throughout the whole booking process.

 

 

Q. Do you require a deposit to confirm a booking?

 

Trust is very important to me, as it is to yourself as an existing or potential client and is key to building long-lasting successful professional relationships. I work on trust with all my existing and potential clients so I generally do not require an up-front deposit. There may, of course, be exceptional circumstances where a deposit may be required, for example for certain out-of-pocket expenses prior to the assignment, and, if so, we can discuss this during our initial consultation.

 

 

Q. Do you charge a cancellation fee if the assignment I have booked you for is cancelled or postponed?

 

As with up-front deposits, I like to work on trust with clients. I will not charge you a cancellation fee if your event is cancelled for reasons beyond your control, even though I may be losing potential income as a result. In all the years I have been working as a professional photographer, it has only ever been on the rarest of occasions that an assignment has been cancelled outright, and that has always been down to circumstances beyond anyone’s control. These things do happen but, thankfully, not very often, and most times an assignment can be rescheduled at everyone’s convenience.

 

 

Q. Do you work on your own or with a second photographer / assistant?

 

I work on my own for approximately 90% of assignments. Sometimes, due to requiring a second vantage point, or during complex, multi-action events, I may need to use a second photographer working under my direction and to my requirements to ensure that all of the important action is covered. If this is the case then I will discuss this during our initial consultation. Should they be required, I always work with second photographers who are sympathetic to my style, way of working and standards of professionalism and behaviour.

 

 

Q. If I book you for an assignment, will you be taking the photographs yourself or will you send another photographer to shoot the assignment?

 

I pride myself on my specific Reportage style and that is what my clients hire me for. Every photographer has a specific style that is unique to them and the way they work and how they see the world, and this is very true for myself and my photographer colleagues. I will be taking photographs for your assignment myself. Sometimes, I may employ a second photographer to take shots from a second vantage point if the assignment requires it but they will be working under my direction, to my requirements. I will not double-book assignments and then send someone else to cover your assignment. The only time I may ever break this very important rule is if I am physically unable to work due to sickness and, in that case, with your prior agreement, I will ask a professional photographer colleague to cover the assignment. That photographer will work under my direction to my requirements and will be sympathetic to my style of photography. That photographer will also adhere to the high levels of professionalism and behaviour that I insist upon for myself.

 

 

Q. What lighting equipment will you bring with you to the assignment?

 

I shoot primarily about 95% of assignments in the natural / ambient light of the venue or location. On rare occasions when this in itself is not enough, I will use on-camera or off-camera flash, as appropriate. I choose to use natural / ambient light because it provides a more natural and authentic atmosphere than flash does. Flash tends to change the lighting conditions and ambience of a venue. Constant flashes also change people’s behaviour when they know they are about to be photographed. This makes the images less natural-looking. To ensure the best selection of images possible, I tend to shoot more than you will see in the final selection. There may be thousands of flashes constantly going off throughout the assignment and this can become both distracting and irritating for subjects or an audience and, in very rare cases, this can also potentially trigger siezures in people who experience photo-sensitive epilepsy. So, for these reasons, I keep my usage of flash to an absolute minimum.

 

 

Q. Do you have Public Liability Insurance? Can you provide evidence of this?

 

Yes, I have Public Liability Insurance. We can discuss specific details of this during our initial consultation. If required by your company, I am able to supply you with a digital “proof of policy” certificate on request prior to the assignment taking place. Just let me know during our initial consultation and I can email this to you.

 

 

Q. The company I work for, or the venue for the assignment require external contractors to have all electrical equipment that will be plugged into the company’s electrical sockets to be PAT tested (Portable Appliance Testing). Can you provide evidence of this?

 

I will never need to use your company’s electrical power supply. I always bring plenty of spare, fully-charged batteries with me. I do not have any lighting, laptops or phone chargers that will need to use your power supply so I will not need to have evidence of equipment having been PAT tested.

 

 

Q. Will you invoice before or after the assignment?

 

I generally send my invoice after the assignment has been completed. I will email my invoice at the same time as I send the link to the photos. We can discuss specific business terms on both our sides when we have our initial consultation. Some clients prefer me to invoice before the assignment so I can be set up as a supplier on their system before the assignment as this could take a while. If this is the case just let me know when we have our initial consultation and we can take it from there.

 

 

Q. How will you accept payment for your invoice?

 

I prefer electronic bank transfer by BACS above all other methods. Unfortunately, I am not able to accept company or personal cheques except under very rare circumstances. We can discuss the specifics when we have our initial consultation.

 

 

Q. Will a permit be required for photography at the location we have chosen for the assignment?

 

A permit may be required if we are shooting the assignment in or on private property, certainly in the UK. This may involve a financial cost to yourselves and a risk assessment to be carried out prior to the assignment commencing. It will be the client’s responsibility to acquire a permit whilst researching or booking the location / venue. If I need to provide certain details to yourself in order for you to complete a risk assessment, just let me know and I will happily oblige. If a permit is required but hasn’t been obtained prior to shooting, we may be asked to leave the location whilst we are shooting and we will have to comply promptly with that instruction. This will greatly impair my ability to complete the assignment and I wouldn’t want that to happen to us.

 

 

Q. Will I need a model release form in order to publish photos of people photographed during the assignment and is this something you will take care of?

 

This will depend upon the use you have planned for the photos and if they are to be published. The responsibility for model release forms will fall upon yourself, the client, as it is yourself who is publishing the photos and any fallback will be upon yourself. If release forms are required then you will also need to provide someone at the assignment to approach subjects and fill these in. Unfortunately, I will not be able to become involved in that task as it will take me away from the actual photography that I am being employed for.

 

 

Q. I have seen your portfolio and notice that some photos appear to be grainy. Why is this?

 

In order to create images that are natural-looking and for the ambience and atmosphere of a location or venue to be preserved, I shoot around 95% of my assignments in the natural or ambient light that occurs in that location or venue. Sometimes, light levels are low in these situations. I will use a higher ISO setting on my cameras than I would in bright light. The trade-off is more grainier images. It is not something that can be corrected in post-production. That’s just the way it is. However, the grain is natural-looking, is reminiscent of film and generally adds to the ambience of the photographs. On a few occasions, there will not be adequate lighting at a location or venue to ensure correct exposure of images and, in those situations, I will have no choice but to use flash, either on or off camera. I try to keep flash usage to an absolute minimum during an assignment because when subjects or audiences know a flash is going off every few seconds, their behaviour changes and this affects the natural candid approach to my photography of those subjects and audiences. I also shoot many more images than you will see in a final selection of images so that I may capture the very best moments perfectly but naturally. This means that there may be several thousand flashes going off during an assignment which is both distracting and irritating for subjects and audiences alike. And on very rare occasions, continuous flash can potentially trigger siezures in people who experience photo-sensitive epilepsy. For these reasons, I keep my usage of flash down to an absolute minimum. I’m happy to discuss this further with you during an initial consultation, should you wish to.

 

 

Q. On your About page, you say that you take your photos with “minimal disruption to the scene or event taking place”. Does this mean that you will not direct a subject?

 

I generally tend to let the action unfold naturally. However, there are occasions when a more formal photograph needs to be taken. It may be of the client and their VIP guests or a group shot of delegates at a panel discussion. On these occasions and others that do require it, I will happily and confidently direct subjects to acquire the best photograph of them. But, even then, I will do so with the minimum of fuss and delay to the proceedings.

 

 

Q. I want to hire you to photograph a large public event. There may be guests present who do not wish to be photographed. How can you assure me that their privacy will be respected?

 

As is best practice at any public event, I would ask you, as the client or host, to place clear, visible signs throughout the venue reminding guests that photography is taking place at the event and that if guests do not wish to be photographed, to just let me know and I will always politely respect their privacy. I have many years of experience photographing public events of all sizes and have developed a sixth sense for when a guest does not wish to be photographed. When this the case, and it happens more often than we may think, I will happily approach the guest and reassure them that I respect their privacy and that I will not take their photograph and that I hope they enjoy the event. Public events are for the guests and the guests are our customers so we should always strive to ensure they are relaxed and comfortable whilst in our care.

 

 

Q. How will I receive my photos after an assignment is completed?

 

The vast majority of my clients wish to receive their images via online transfer / storage solutions such as WeTransfer, Dropbox or Google Drive, etc. If you are enquiring from a corporate organisation, I would recommend that you first seek the advice of your IT department as many corporate organisations have firewall restrictions upon receiving files from such sites as listed above. Some companies have corporate accounts with specific storage solutions and some do not allow any access due to online security concerns. I am happy to follow any advice or request from yourself in regards to delivery. Online transfer is certainly the fastest, most efficient and cost effective method of delivery, especially when deadlines are tight. Alternatively, I can post a USB stick or DVD disc, for a small cost, if that is preferable, but that will take longer as it will depend upon posting and delivery times so will usually be days rather than minutes.

 

 

Q. Will you host images on an online storage / viewing site so that guests from my event can all see their images?

 

Unfortunately, I do not offer this service. However, I am happy to advise you on solutions if you wish to take on this task yourself. Let me know during the initial consultation and I will be happy to discuss it.

 

 

Q. How long after an assignment is shot will I receive my images?

 

How soon do you need them? I normally say within 48 hours. That’s my standard delivery time as it gives me the time I need for post-production and editing. However, different clients require different delivery times for different assignments. I am able to get images to you within 24 hours if that is what is required but we will need to discuss this prior to the assignment as it is dependent upon whether I am already booked for another assignment the following day. Some clients require only a few key shots immediately with the remainder following a few days later. Some clients will require images to be given to them as I shoot because they are being live-streamed as an event is in progress. I can accommodate this if we have discussed it previously and I have had a chance to prepare for this. Images always need some post-production and editing. This is always done after they are taken, hence the 24 or 48 hour delivery times mentioned above. If images are required as I shoot, there is no time for any post-production so quality may be slightly affected (there may be very slight colour balance or exposure variances that would have been corrected had they not been required instantly). It is something that cannot be avoided and is part of the trade-off in instant delivery but they will always be more than good enough for instant online publication for social media channels.

 

Listed above are the questions I am most often asked. However, each client’s requirements are unique and the photographs I take are bespoke to each client and assignment. Please feel free to either email me with any other questions you may have or we can discuss them during our initial consultation.