DUNCAN NICHOLLS PHOTOGRAPHY

This was a fun shoot, for Menswear brand AMH.

Brand Director Ashley Marc Hovelle wanted a portrait series of his customers wearing items from his Reflective Range.  

Stylistically, we wanted the reflective panel to blast out, and so decided on a simple set up, using one hard directional light source -giving lots of contrast and strong shadows. It was then all about their personalities shining through.

Here are a few shots from that day.

Enjoy.

Here’s MR AMH himself (below).

and me trying a Reflective T-Shirt on for size!

AMH - http://ashleymarchovelle.com/

For more of my work, please visit:

http://www.duncannicholls.co.uk/

Last month, I had the privilege of Co-Directing a number of Videos with Juliette Dalton (2DiceProductionz) for Clarity Employment for Blind People.  The Videos will go live in Early 2015.

Here’s a few behind the scenes stills I shot of the inspirational people who work at Clarity.

- and some of myself, Juliette, and sound engineer Michal.

Here’s Michal recording machine noise and vibrations, to form part of the soundtrack.   

www.duncannicholls.co.uk 

This campaign was commissioned through my agent GA Artists, and is one I’m very proud to have delivered.

It’s out and about on Billboards and in the UK Press.

Visually impaired Bowls at The Croydon Voluntary Centre for the Blind.  

Commissioned by The Greater London Fund for The Blind (www.glfb.org.uk)

Here’s my portrait of Professor of Cyber Security Sadie Creese, commissioned by WIRED Magazine.  

On arrival we were denied access to the room you see Sadie in above.

The solution?  Firstly, and light and shoot the above space (interior and exterior) at varying exposures.  Measure every possible distance from camera and every light to all key points. Move camera into set and shoot specific elements in greater detail for final comp.  

Secondly - have a cup of tea.  That should have been point one.

Next, find another location to shoot Sadie behind a pane of glass, and replicate the original lighting set up. 

The only option, up 4 flights of stairs and with Sadie no outside, we had to factor in the sun.  Glass being slightly reflective, likes to reflect me into the shot.  So to remove myself from the image, behold my new ‘bin liner chic’ range.  Never take yourself too seriously.  

Finally hand over all ingredients to a skilled retoucher, stir vigorously, and le voila!

Special thanks to Sadie for being a great sport, and to my brilliant Digital Operator Jake Newell, for a superhuman effort, on a searingly hot day.

#No.1 - TOM JACKSON

Kicking off this series celebrating artists and their creations, here’s my shot of neighbour and fellow Portrait Photographer Tom Jackson, with his Portrait of Jamal Edwards (commissioned by The Times Magazine). 

As this series moves forward, I’ll be photographing and learning more from artists and creatives in a variety of different fields, so it promises to be a fascinating journey.  I hope you enjoy, and perhaps draw inspiration from this too.  

So, here’s what the artist himself had to say about his shoot.

Duncan: Tell us a little about this shoot, Jamal, and the approach you like to take when taking portraits like this.

Tom: The Jamal Edwards job was a commission from The Times Magazine.  Jamal is a young, and very confident guy who was used to having his picture taken.  I used this to my advantage and just let him do what’s comfortable.  Not too much direction, that’s my usual formula.

He was a wicked guy and very inspiring.  We shot for about 3 hours, when my official time was only 90 minutes.

Duncan:  Away from your commercial business, are you working on any interesting personal projects right now?

Tom:  I am always shooting personal projects, but at the moment I have an exhibition starting on the 18th November in the pier head gallery Cardiff bay.  It’s called Welsh Rugby Greats, portraits of great welsh players past and present.

Duncan:  Who’ve been some of the biggest influences on your career so far?

Tom: I have many photographers I admire, to many to list.  But Jane Hilton has been a great inspiration of mine and my mentor. Also the great Richard Avedon.

Tom’s website is http://www.tomjacksonphotography.com/ if you’d like to see more of his work.  

The more you create, the more there is to create.

Client: Angostura

Art Direction: Alison Gibb

Digital: Shivy Kanagaratnam

Lighting: Pro Centre

So when a client calls, and asks if you’d like to shoot a campaign for them in Trinidad, all your hard work comes into focus, and it’s most definitely a fun call to receive.

Being aware that Trinidad was just about to enter its rainy season, myself and my Digital team left the UK with all the required lighting and equipment to ensure we could create the sunshine, should the sun decide not to join us.

Two flights later, and after some cash had changed hands in Barbados, everything arrived safely in Trinidad.  

Over the next 4 days, we created a striking Global Campaign for Angostura, which helped my client launch their brand in new territories.

The above shot is one of my favourites, and as you’ll see from the below behind the scenes frame, we had to create the ‘sunset’ feel ourselves.  Not long after this picture was taken, the heavens opened up, and we frantically packed all the equipment and crew back in the bus. 

Thanks to a wonderful client for the opportunity, the people of Trinidad for their warm welcome, and to all the team for putting in some very long days to make this happen.

Every year in the depths of winter, I leave the UK for warmer climates to shoot a new personal project.  

The following photos are a small selection from this years trip to the remote village of Brufut in The Gambia.

I hope you enjoy these images, it was a profound experience meeting these people and taking their portraits.

In my short time there, I encountered so much joy and happiness amongst the people of the Gambia.  I’m very grateful for the experience, and for the way it made me question my own existence and values in life. 

There are many ways of living, and I think we can only know the tip of the iceberg of what others feel and know. 

More of this series can be found at http://www.duncannicholls.co.uk/africa-new