COVID-19, the London Lockdown and the affects on Photographers.

When I first heard about the coronavirus, I went into beast mode and was thinking it won’t hurt me and ill get over it. I still believe even if I do contract it I would be fine. I went into a super work-o-holic mode and I was really pushing for as much work in one day as possible for at least 4 days. On Monday it was announced that we are going into lockdown. The real worry kicked in for me, but common sense was telling me the more people that stay in and the more people that listen now, the quicker we can all go back work and start earning money again. For everywhere that is self-employed, not only photographers, so I had to pull the trigger and unfortunately cancel all the shoots I had over the next two weeks (15 shoots). What I’m seeing is nothing but selfishness form the rest of the UK that are still able to get paid 80% of their salary. They are going still and the lockdown will only get more strict and more severe, definitely, it will be longer. Financially it will cripple a lot of people and it is definitely an action that we take now that will make the future of our business’. I had formed relationships with some new clients I was intending on starting working on their projects 3 weeks from Monday 23rd. I will keep in contact with all my clients during this time from now and then. To keep updated and to inform them when I am able to go back to work.

I DO NOT trust or rely on government help during this time, as self-employed currently don’t have much help, I believe it SSP which basically isn’t enough for me for what I have to pay for. If you don’t know it’s around £98 per week. As long as after the 3-week lockdown we can go back to work then all will be well. I hope that everything can continue with caution.

Why you should hire a professional photographer that specializes.

There is much reason why you should hire professional photography. what to look for when hiring is don’t just look on there website look on there social media e.g. Instagram or FB, whichever platform they use. this will help you see the consistency of the work which to me is very important and I try and keep it consistent as possible.

One thing about working in London as a property photographer, I personally have a high expectation of the level of quality I give to London clients. Even for my more local agents, I give them equal quality, working in London has really improved on my attention to detail. which leads mine to the biggest frustration which is estate agent not using good photographer on properties over £500,000. It’s even more frustrating when they have a multi-million-pound property which shocking images either from the agent or a ‘professional’ photographer.

The reason you hire a photographer is to show off the space they have I’m in front of them to the best of their ability and create the most pleasing image of each room. Now you can have a great photographer and an amateur from the same angle and the images can look completely different. A great photographer can read the light and the feeling of the room really make the image come across what its like to be in the room and be there. All that with capturing accurate colour and tones and vertical which to me is massively important!. With the subtle light exposure variations, that you don’t really notice but it pulls the images together and adds a touch of finesse to the image for an outstanding final result.

The most important part of all this, if you are a serious estate agent you will be using a good photographer anyway. however, hiring a specialist is critical, this is because they will have the best equipment to allow the the creative flexibility to control each shot with immense precision. For example a gear head and tilt shift lens, are absolutely key for high end photography, to make sure the camera is properly balanced and level. It will also enable us to get the correct composition without having to compromise the vertical lines within the image.

When it comes to editing the real skill comes when you can use flash in such a way that it looks like natural light, and you just fill in bits with ambient. the flash provide the colour pop and that contrast natural light sometimes cant produce. when editing it is a skill to get the colours to pop without looking over the time, as it is a skill to make the whites white without losing the detail of the highlights. its especially important when you are dealing with designers of any kind as they want you to re produces the actually colours they have specifically put into that design.

Shooting for Hotels in London.

I've been fortunate enough to work with two very well known hotel in London being the o2 intercontinental and the Taj hotel in St James. Working with them showed me another level of photography and how much difference it is compared to everyday real estate stuff I usually do. It even trumped the highest end property I've shot in the heart of London in Mayfair. I showed me another level of perfection and attention to detail. On my first shoot, I may have taken the job without full and proper preparation. I did some research and ask my other photographer friends for tips on hospitality photography, but it wasn't even still as each hotel is different and working with 5-star hotels photographing their penthouses and restaurants it really threw me off.

Luckily the photography techniques I use to shoot are usually used on the high-end property so it is very easy to transfer those skills over to hotels. my starting point was strong and I didn't have to worry about my ability to photograph these immaculate places. The greatest thing I struggled with is I could use a longer lens it didn't matter about showing off how much space the places had and more on composition and the interior design and the layout is far more important in showing off a premium brand. It really took me back to the days I used to shoot with a 50mm at weddings to take away an option and gave me one less thing to think about and made me more creative as a photographer.

I always thought that photography was photography, that because I shot real estate that it would be possible to shoot a hotel room. it turns out while some of the basic principles were the same most of the time it was preparing the room for photography adding small detail like candles, having the right flowers in the room, the right height the right colour were all far more important than just having flowers in the room. Making sure that the room was prepared as best as the hotel could offer all having optional welcome packs in the room.

Hotels aren’t a joke to shoot, it requires more equipment and even an assistant in my case to help out moving things and moving lights around. All in all i love shooting hotels as they look stunning they lighting is great and just needs to be emphasized. You really get to stretch you photography legs and you really learn what you are good at and what you aren’t good at. It forces you to perfect your images as they expect nothing less because they are paying a lot of money and they want the same end product as you.

Please take a moment to look at my work on my site.

https://www.garyaskewphotography.com/hotel/

How home staging makes a difference to the final images.

One thing my clients are doing more is home staging, it’s something that I usually only see with Hotels and Airbnb’s but more people are doing it for residential listing which I think really makes a house a home. It completely allows the viewers to be drag into the photo and imagine their selves there already, encouraging them to buy/let the property. Whether they look the look or not they start to move things around and make it their own without anyone saying a word. Which is why the London clientele I have always allow time for home staging before I go in and photography the luxury they have created.

In terms of photographing a luxury property that’s been home staged, it allows it's much easy to get the feel of the character of the home and how people may actually use it. It allows you to feel the flow of the home making the photos I take that much more storytelling without even be conscious of what's happening. It allows the natural or ambient light to really play with the decor and you get a sense of textures and colours that complement each other and really pull the whole house together.

Being a London photographer a lot of the properties I go to it already looks impeccable as there are a lot of quirky styles, decor taste and so many unique things about each property. It really makes me think about each shot more what should and shouldn’t include in each composition. How much of certain aspect do I ‘NEED’ to show. Should it be horizontal or vertical? All these things are going through my head when I go somewhere that has been home staged.

Luxury properties in London and around the UK could all do with a fresh touch from a home stager/interior designer so as a photographer I strongly want people to get them as it makes a massive difference to how much attention you property can get.

In the set of photos, I posted below are with the help of the following team;

Home via; www.enitanholdings.co.uk

Staging by; www.Shakerinteriors.co.uk