Cameras and Cocktails

On-location commercial photography

1st location on a long but successful day

Commercial photography is all about creating images with the very specific purpose of promoting and marketing products and services. I love the variety and challenge that it often presents, the planning and pre-production required to make it successful, also the teamwork and collaboration between the client and photographer. 

Another thing I love is a cool drink on a sunny beach (who doesn’t?), so when i was approached to shoot some of the worlds best flair bartenders making cocktails on a beach to showcase the Portabar system, I felt like the planets had aligned!

OK, so I specialise in architecture and interior design photography which might sound like a far cry from shooting a bar, BUT, the intent shares many similarities: images that capture the design itself, detailed elements, materiality, functionality and utility. The big difference is that unlike most of my subjects, this one can be moved about and that was a key element of the brief: to showcase the versatility of the Portabar in where it can be set up, but also how it can be quickly customised to take on different looks, thanks to their clever modular system and magnetic decorative panels.

Directing the shoot here in Portugal was Tom Dyer, a world champ Flair bartender (!). Portabar wanted to have their product set up in a variety of stunning locations which we are lucky to have in abundance here around Lisbon. A number of locations were decided, a team assembled to make it happen and shot list decided upon through liaison with Caroline at Portabar UK. Other considerations were location access, transport, timings on the day, props and staging, tides and weather.

Planning is everything on shoots like this as the ability to improvise on-the-fly when needed - That was true right from the off. Despite the perfect forecast for location no.1 (a wonderfully wild ocean beach), shortly after setting up the bar, the fog came in… The collective decision was to press on, select the bar facade that matched the mood and environment and make a few changes to my shooting approach (strobes now needed). The result: probably my favourite images from the day! That fog really added some drama to the scene. 

Over the next 8 hours or so, the sun came out and we set up in three different locations, staging and shooting 5 different variations on the bar design with Tom, Patricia, Travis and Luis all doing incredible things with bottles, spirits and glasses bringing the energy to the shoot and making some incredible cocktails (yes, I did sample a few). The best bit was that Portabar were delighted with the outcome. Mission accomplished! 

If you need to showcase your product, design, space or place in a way that makes heads turn, I would love to help out. I hope to speak with you soon. Cheers!

Imobiliária

Selling Spaces

One thing that hasn’t really slowed down too much during the Covid-19 pandemic is the real estate market. Certainly here in Portugal, buying, selling, building and renting properties has continued. Some things have had to change of course, such as restrictions on viewings during the most severe phases of lockdown, but agents and brokers have adapted by making better use of media to provide a showcase of their listings to potential buyers and investors.

This of course brings me to the subject of real estate photography… 

Photography has been the mainstay for real estate marketing and with good reason. We are drawn to images of beautiful things. BUT, in a world where we are saturated with images everywhere, it is vital that the images you use to promote your property listings (and your brand) really stand out from the crowd. Lets look at some stats:

• 99% of Millennials are searching for their future property online where a listing with pictures is 10x more consulted.*

• Buyers spend 60% of their time looking at listing photos, and only 20% on the listing description.**

• Homes with high-quality photos receive a 47% higher asking price.*** Listings with professional photos get 118% more online visits.****

Simply put: Professional photography gets you and your listings noticed!

[* Digital Age Study ** Wall Street Journal *** Redfin **** National Association of Realtors]

Real Estate (RE) photography is quite a different genre compared to Architecture and interior design photography. Fundamentally, its pictures of buildings, but in reality, their purpose sets them apart. A set of RE images aim to communicate a summary of a property to a potential buyer, to provoke their interest in wanting to find out more, reach out to the vendor/agents and ultimately take the step of requesting a viewing. From the agents perspective, good images also help to qualify their prospects saving everyone time.

Photographically, there are some similarities in approach to creating images for RE vs architecture clients: Carefully considered compositions that tell the story and illustrate the layout and flow of the property is key. Using tripods and the right lenses to ensure good quality interior images, upright verticals and consistency across the image set. Some degree of post processing is also required. Typically for RE photography, a wider focal length is used to convey the size of each room and in order to comply with online listings websites, a horizontal/landscape orientation is favoured. Post processing RE images is a more light handed affair as the images must accurately reflect the property. However, dealing with mirrored bathrooms and high dynamic range challenges still requires a problem solving approach and pre-visualisation as well as a helping hand from Photoshop.

At Clear Space, we use our knowledge, experience and tools to help agents and vendors who understand the importance of quality imagery to promote their luxury listings through well crafted photographs. 

If you are a real estate agency looking to raise the bar of your listings, drop Clear Space a line to request a brochure and see how we can help you.

Look good, feel good

Interior and lifestyle photography in a wellness studio

I sometimes see my job is to document a design, a space or place. Sometimes its to provide a visual narrative to a building - where is it? who uses it? what is it made of? Other times, my photography has the specific goal of conveying a feeling to the audience. Recently, I was commissioned by a local business to do just that.

Health, Beauty and Wellness is a big industry and is a very competitive market place so its important to stand out from the crowd for the right reasons. Eliane Campos Health & Beauty is a well stablished practice 5 minutes walk from the wonderful sands of Carcavelos beach just outside of Lisbon. They offer a broad range of treatments and services that go beyond most and that demand highly trained technicians that operate to exacting standards of hygiene and care. My brief was to capture specific treatments and procedures offered in the salon and to highlight the professional standards and environment that their clients can expect when they visit.

Pre-production meeting and planning gave us our shot list, organised staff, models and interior styling to make time on set as efficient as possible. I opted for high-key lighting using small strobes to emphasise the clinical surroundings of the treatment rooms. This also allowed for colour consistency and flexibility to work around practitioners and models in a series of tight spaces.

Mission accomplished!

Big thanks to Eliane and her team and models for all their hard work on the day - especially as it just happened to be in the middle of a heat wave. We all earned a cold Super Bock that night!

If you need to tell your customers something good about your business or premises, get in touch for a chat. Architecture and interiors photography often widens to include lifestyle images in those spaces and Clear Space is here to help you achieve that. 

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Clear Space Photography now based in Lisbon, Portugal!

All change! Well, quite a lot of changes in the last few months, the main one being a full relocation to Portugal and the wonderful city of Lisbon. It has been a long standing aspiration for myself and my wife to sample another, different life and after first visiting Lisbon 4 years ago, the city has been on our radar as a place to move to. Fast froward to 2019 and after several reconnoissance visits, lots of research and soul searching, we have done it.

I can’t pretend it has been easy, especially leaving friends and family, but our new life has only just begun, we are a couple of months in and our little apartment in Carcavelos (on the coast, 20 minutes out of the city centre) feels like home. Spike (our ageing Boston Terrier) loves the sun and the beach and we are ploughing through all the administration tasks necessary with any relocation - just made that bit more challenging as we can’t speak any Portuguese (but we are working to try and change that)!

So the move means that Clear Space has moved too and is now operating as a freelance business serving Lisbon and the surrounding areas. Economic growth in the region, a progressive approach to architecture/design and a buoyant tourism sector across Portugal all represent opportunities for Clear Space to assist businesses and brands through the creation of photographic content that tells their story with impact. 

I am excited to forge new relationships and collaborations and take advantage of THAT light (I am not missing those grey days…).

If you’d like to connect to discuss photographic ideas, enquire about commissions or just to find out how my language skills are coming along, please get in touch. Obrigado!