Belmont Hotel Interior Photoshoot

Belmont Hotel Leicester Property Interior Photography Shoot

Commercial photographer Leicester

This was a nice enquiry that came in from a friend of mine who has seen a few of my recent shoots where I’d photographed some commercial places (Miele Stores and Everyone Active Leisure Centres).

I set up an in person meeting with the general manager Robert where he shows me around the two function rooms which were still in a state of refurbishment. I’ve known these rooms for about the last 8yrs as I’ve photographed many a function in them! They were looking a little tired and dated to be fair!

We pencilled in two dates for me to go in and photograph the rooms, one ahead of schedule and one a safe time after the refurbishment would be complete. Luckily the first date was used as all the contractors were ahead of time. And the rooms look amazing!

A local venue stylist was tasked with dressing the room, and she did an amazing job. I shot the main big room first, then the smaller room. While in the small room the bigger room was being turned around from a wedding venue to a business conference type of space… this happed three times so we could capture the room in every way possible.

It’s been great to see the images shared on all of their social media channels, take a look at a few of them below.

MDL Fitness Plymouth Shoot

Leicester Commercial Photographer Fitness Brand Shoot

A few weeks ago I was asked back to photography the fitness studio at MDL Marina in Plymouth.

I set of on the Friday, had dinner with Andy from the design team where we discussed the brief and shot list. Having a clear understanding of the images required, and their use is key for me. I can then think about lighting and composition to hopefully achieve the very best results.

As well as gerneral shots of the gym, both empty and fairly full, we also had to shoot every piece of equipment being used my both a model and a Personal Trainer. We set up classes such as spin and yoga, as these are a new offering.

I also took all of my portrait equipment to get some amazing shots of the PT’s.

It’s great working closely with the design team as they have a clear vision of the end product. It might be a local advert in the press. a pull up banner, a webpage or social media campaign. It’s crucial to get the best shots possible in the time on site.

Not only because Plymouth is 4hrs and 240 miles away from Leicester!

Here’s a few images from the shoot.

I also did a short vlog which is on my YouTube channel.

Commercial Photographer Leicestershire

Commercial Photographer Leicester

Website and social media content creator Leicester

Earlier this month I was asked to photograph the lovely people at Premier Logistics in Leicestershire.

A short brief was put together to make sure every image they required was captured during my morning on site. Having a brief (or shot list) is my preferred way of working as it insures I get what the client wants.

The main bulk of images was centered around this factory, showcasing their incredible fleet of trucks, their massive warehouse space and the fairly new servicing department. I also put the drone up to get a couple of ariel shots.

My personal favourite shots were the headshots. These needed to be on brand, featuring the companies prominent colour of orange. Their boardroom is decked out in orange so it was pretty simple to do.

Have a look at the shot video and some of the sample shots below.

If your business could benefit from new images and video, please get in touch either using the contact page, the simple booking form, or even a phone call!

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Miele Brent Cross Expereince Centre Opening

Miele Brent Cross Expereince Centre Opening - Event Photography

Another client I’ve been working a lot for in the last 12 months is Miele, the German appliance brand. Their products have always fascinated me, as the price is high, but I’ve not had the chance to see them up close. Summer 2022 I was asked to video the Experience Centre’s at Touchwood Solihull, Abingdon in Oxford, Bluewater in Kent, Edinburgh and Central London.

Video wise it was pretty straight forward, a tour of the store, and some close up shots of each appliance in action.

Fast forward to March 2023 and a new store was being planned for the Brent Cross Shopping Centre in London. The site next to the Apple Store had become available, and Miele was the perfect fit.

Fast forward to September and the shop fit out was complete and the store was opened to the public.

I was booked this time as an event photographer to capture the opening of the store, the chefs in action using the appliances, the cutting of the ribbon etc. I was also asked to take wide shots of the store empty, and a few creative shots showing a busy store use motion blur of the pubic.

I arrived at Brent Cross on the Wednesday, Grand Opening. I pretty much got to work straight away and finished at 12. From there I had a look around the shopping centre, got some lunch and edited 10 photos… Did I not mention that Miele wanted edits on the day to publish on their social media??!

There I was removing fire exit signs in photoshop and editing in general like a mad man!

Edits were Air Dropped to the marketing team before I left, and they were on LinkedIn before I got to my Air B&B in Edgware!!

Teamwork makes the dreamwork!

Day 2, I arrived at 7:30am to photograph the empty store and capture headshots of the new staff members.

10:30am I was all done and on my way back home.

All in all a brilliant few days working for this amazing company. https://www.miele.co.uk/c/miele-experience-centre-brent-cross-8213.htm

Here are the edits used on Miele social media announcing the new store.

Miele Brent Cross

Miele Brent Cross opening event photography

London Event Photographer

Video wise it was pretty straight forward, a tour of the store, and some close up shots of each appliance in action.

Fast forward to March 2023 and a new store was being planned for the Brent Cross Shopping Centre in London. The site next to the Apple Store had become available, and Miele was the perfect fit.

Fast forward to September and the shop fit out was complete and the store was opened to the public.

There I was removing fire exit signs in photoshop and editing in general like a mad man!

Edits were Air Dropped to the marketing team before I left, and they were on LinkedIn before I got to my Air B&B in Edgware!!

Teamwork makes the dreamwork!

Day 2, I arrived at 7:30am to photograph the empty store and capture headshots of the new staff members.

10:30am I was all done and on my way back home.

All in all a brilliant few days working for this amazing company.

Here are the edits used on Miele social media announcing the new store.

Leicester Charity Photographer

Leicester Charity Event Photographer

Charity work by a Leicester Photographer

Charity work is a big part of my life, and definitely part of my companies corporate social responsibility.

For the last 5 years I’ve been heavily involved with two charities, LAMP and Menphys.

LAMP is an advocacy service, they help people struggling with mental health issues navigate the complex issues and get their life back.

Bing a charity LAMP needs funding, and that’s where myself and others step in. So far with LAMP I’ve climbed Ben Nevis, marshalled at a Leicester 10k running event, ran a 10k, helped set up and partake in the now annual 5k campaign during national mental health week and am also part of ‘Team LAMP 23’.

This year we had local Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth run with us, he was also kind enough to be interviewed (if you can call it that!) by me after the run.. and of course i vlogged it here https://youtu.be/uJvpG8ky-vM

Team Lamp is myself, Greg Hollingsworth and Dave Green. Dave is an ex trustee of LAMP and Greg is an ambassador. Together we set the challenge of running a Parkrun alphabet, in 2023. We sold each letter off to a corporate sponsor and also set up a just giving page for donations. Our target is £10k, which we are well on the way to achieving.

Greg deals with most of the money, Dave does the organising and social media posts. My contribution is a weekly vlog of the run, and anything else that we get up to!.

This was a real challenge for me, as I know it’s hard to believe, I’m not a natural in front of the camera!

Looking back at vlog 1, I couldn’t wait to stop recording and get it over. I walked out fo sight of most people as I was a little shy and almost embarrassed at the thought of recording myself in public!

Now I almost crave it, and I definitely miss recording when we have a week off.

As of writing this, we have completed 22 runs, with just 4 remaining… and the last 2 are going to be amazing as they are international!

Here is a link to the vlog playlist on YouTube

Doing this also led me to try open water swimming with Charlotte Miles from Cross Productions who also hiked Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike with myself and a group of other fundraisers.

Here is a link to those videos. Pete & Charlotte

Charlotte did a training run with me, then I did an open water swim, then we combined a run and a swim. It was so good, just a bit cold! And if you want a good laugh, I’m in a wetsuit!

I also support Menphys, a local charity that runs sport programs for disabled children. I hiked Scalfell Pike for Menphys, and did Ben Nevis for both LAMP and Menphys. Menphys have and amazing business sports club, which i’m a member of, and I also photograph each event at a discounted rate.

Below is a photo gallery containing a selection of images from all of my charity work and events that I’ve been involved in.

#LeicesterPhotographer

#photographer

#eventphotographer

#charity

#mentalhealth

#mentalhealthawareness

Charity fundraising, charity photographer

Labout MP Jonathan Ashworth joins me for a charity run

Leicester event photographer Martin O'Neill Leicester City Event

Headshots and Personal Branding

Headshots and Personal Branding Photographer Leicestershire

I first met Jennny Collard from Rutland House Clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic, I was offering socially distanced family photo shoots at local parks and Jenny found me on Instagram. After that we also met online during a LAMP charity online business club meeting, and from their future face to face meetings.

With both of us being LAMP charity supporters we’ve both undertaken various fundraising activities, more about that in a future blog!

Jenny had recently changed her look, and therefor required some updated photos to match. We had a couple of conversations about the overall look of the headshots, and it was also decided that as Jenny works a lot from home, some branding shots would be beneficial to show prospective clients the surroundings.

Also, whilst I was there (and so were all of Jenny’s family), I threw in a couple of family shots as well.

What do you think of the branding and headshots captured on the day?

Creative Design Agency Leicestershire

Leicester based Graphic Design Agency Photoshoot

Portraits & Environmental Office Shots

A brilliant design agency I’ve been working with for the last 4 years is Creative 62. They have a range of clients from large to small, and an excellent team to deliver the goods.

As part of a website refresh they asked if I could take portraits of all staff, along with some environmental portraits of each person at their desk.

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Creative 62 - Headshots and Office7307910.jpg

These shots are not quite as candid as they look.. all clutter has been removed in advance, and a member of the agency is watching my laptop screen as the images appear.. looking for any distracting elements. Absolutely everything was considered.

Here is an example, the painting of ‘Liam Gallagher’ was deemed too distracting, so we removed it. Both photos were delivered to the client so they could have the final pick/say of which they preferred in the final application.

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Creative 62 - Headshots and Office7307821.jpg

I’m super happy how this shoot turned out, especially the headshots. I did a slightly different lighting set up than I usually do. The low ceiling in the board room meant I couldn’t get my main light high enough, And I could’t sit people down as they we having half body portraits taken.

So, I flipped my lighting equipment from the top to the side, and bounced the light of a nearby white wall to fill in some of the shadows. As Creative 62’s branding is yellow and orange, we tried a few different background colours, and evenly settled on my dark yellow paper roll with another light positioned between the person and the background, creating a halo/vignette effect.

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Creative 62 - Headshots and Office7308436.jpg

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I have to say, I think these are some of the best portraits I’ve taken, great expressions and a nice simple lighting set up.

I hope you enjoyed a ew images from the morning s shoot, there were 397 edited images delivered from this half day shoot. If you’d like something similar, you can get in touch using the contact form here, or any of the details at the bottom of the page.

Hinckley & Rugby Building Society

Corporate Photography in the workplace

Hinckley & Rugby Building Society portraits

I’d met Colin & Carolyn from Hinckley & Rugby Building Society a few times at the LAMP charity business club that I’m a member of.

They kindly passed my details onto the amazing Carla who was tasked with the job of sorting out the running order for headshots of all of the key people.

After a few emails a date was sorted and it was decided that half body portraits would be most suited, along with a dark grey background.

I set up my mobile studio in a small sized media room which is normally used for video production, and the shoot began. It was clear from the first few people in front of my camera that this was going to be a fun shoot, everyone was lovely, a truly great bunch of people.

I took the quick video on my phone of the set up and posted it to LinkedIn later that day, see below for a couple of the comments.

I couldn’t have wished for a better response.

I’ve since been back on 2 other occasions to photograph people who were away for the first shoot.

I’m looking forward to seeing their website update with the new portraits, a few people have already started using them as their LinkedIn profile photo!

Take a look below for the short behind the scenes video and a couple of portraits from all three days.