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Rogues Gallery

June 19th, 2010

I have just set a page in the editorial section of my website dedicated to fellow photographers on the press circuit in London… I have called it a Rogues Gallery, some of them are in their own way… but I have decided that some of the test photographs that I take whilst on a doorstep or at a press call are actually passable portraits of the people I work with. I have put it on a static webpage and not on a blog page so that I can keep adding to it all the time, so here they are and I will add the newest to the top each time.

Check out my Rogues Gallery Page…

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Archive – Ginger Surprise

June 19th, 2010

I was up till about 4.30am this morning sorting out my Image Archive into a 1TB Hard Drive… you know how it is when you get started with something and you cant stop till you’re finished. I got into a rhythm and get real satisfaction from having all my shit is one sock!

I now have the enviable task of renaming, cataloging, matadata and keywording and then Backing up of 250,000 images that include RAW and JPG files, PSD’s and a few movies…. It makes me wish I’d been on the ball with my archive from the start. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

It was a refreshing look at some old images though, and having a cursory look through the folders on 4 different external hard drives made me realise just how many images I have festering in their naughts and zeros form with little hope of ever seeing the light of day let alone getting them published anywhere.

So I have decided to release some of them, and on quiet days I promise to have a search through and show some of them on my blog. Here is the first and I think it’s a funny one from My archive back in 2004 when I was a serving member of the Royal Navy Photography Branch with the Royal Marines in Iraq.

I was on Patrol with the lads from 40 Commando in Basra City and we were driving in a small convoy of snatch Landrovers when a message came over the radio to stop so that one of the fellas could investigate something by the roadside. I took the chance to get out and take some pictures of the Marines on foot in the streets and was confronted by the subjects of the patrols fascination. To our amazement amongst the locals were these two Albino Ginger Iraqi kids.

After a ten minute photo-shoot and and a lot hand shaking with the local kids we were on our way again… On the same patrol I saw this young Iraqi child dangerously dodging through the Marine Patrol with a toy AK47 assault rifle.

I think it’s always worth having a dig around in your archive every now and again. Perhaps there are some old images that may enhance or refresh your portfolio. Even though they may not be the most recent of images you may find some gem shots from a portrait shoot you didn’t even realise you’d taken at the time… I intend to write quite a few posts around images from my archive as I complete the mammoth task of sorting them all out. As always comments are very welcome.

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PR Portrait Shoot – Nikki Owen

June 16th, 2010

My first job this year, back in January, was a PR task with a brief that was to take some portraits of Nikki Owen, the UK’s leading Charisma expert. She needed some images that could be released to the press during an upcoming public relations promotional campaign. Nikki was about to gear up her public profile before the release of a reality TV show, in which she helps to take a group of women from the kitchen sink to the catwalk. With this in mind I set to work on location at the Shakespere’s Globe theatre on the South Bank of the River Thames in London and these are a selection the resulting images.

Click Here to see a slideshow of the results from the whole shoot…

Nikki was kind enough to write the following testimonial.

“Having experienced many different photographers throughout my career, Lee Durant is absolutely at the top of his game. I wanted seriously creative and imaginative shots that were required in a venue that was tricky from a lighting perspective. Whilst working with Lee at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, he amazed me with his attention to detail, his brilliant ideas and suggestions and his genius with getting the lighting perfect. He is friendly, professional and inspiring to work with. I will continue to work with Lee again and again – in fact he has already received more work from me!”

We had a great day and the Shakespeare globe staff were brilliant and extremely accommodating, providing us with a great venue for portraits and at no time did they pressure us to move on. Caroline from Fosbury PR, as always was wonderful to work for. A whole days editing the images later and a total of over 90 Hi-Resolution images provided for I hope another happy client.

Posted in Commercial Photography | 1 Comment »

Simon & Charlotte’s Wedding

May 20th, 2010

The 30th of April saw me heading off to Southampton to meet and Photograph Simon and Charlotte on their wedding day. The weather was windy with sunshine and clouds and both Bride and Groom looked great with a small and intimate family service at the towns Registry office followed by confetti throwing and a few photographs outside. Their reception was held just a short distance away on the Southampton based Princess Caroline Cruise Liner. I have to thank Caroline and Simon for putting their faith in me to take part and record the day in all its detail. you were both very welcoming of me and what great family and friends you have who all made me feel so very welcome for the whole day… I hope you like your pictures.

Click here to see their wedding gallery…

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All Change… At The Top

May 16th, 2010

The night of Tuesday the 11th May 2010 was excellent for me, I had decided at the last minute to see what was happening in Downing Street. The hustle and bustle of the previous few days after the general election had been manic with a hundred Chinese whispers circulating around the Westminster Press pack as to what was going on at any particular moment in the negotiations between the tree main political parties. Nick clegg was here then he was there… Gordon brown was resigning, then he wansn’t… Clegg and Cameron had made a deal then they hadn’t!

As I entered downing street I had peter Mac from Getty Images behind me weilding a monster lens and the coppers on the gate telling me that I was very lucky to get in as the street was going into lock down very shortly indeed. The area of the street that had been set aside with platforms and barriers for the press, directly opposite the door of number 10, was absolutely jam packed with bodies and lenses. The place was buzzing busily and Thanks to Steveie at Reuters I had nabbed his ladder earlier in the afternoon and luckily I was stuck with it. Perched up precariously as high as I could get. A few minutes went by and out came the lecturn. For the first time ever I was at an event where history was literally in the making.

Number 10 staff look on as Prime Minister Gordon Brown stands along side his wife Sarah and resigns.

Final wave goodbye to the onlooking press and British Public.

The night didn’t finish there, we had a short break while the two main men of the moment went to a very low key meeting with the Queen and then suddenly we were back for Act Two.

David came into Downing Street by car and it stopped short of the line of press for him to walk the last few paces to the microphone. His wife Sam stood back a few steps from her husband, in contrast to Sarah Brown who stood beside her man, but I suppose this was Davids moment. I must admit I didn’t hear any of what he had to say, I was too busy concentrating on his expressions and the Buffer on my D3 reaching its maximum, coping with the uber ammount of RAW Files I was taking.

I have to say as a press photographer you long for days like this and it makes all of those endless doorsteps seem somehow worthwhile. I had a brilliant night and if not the best shots out of all the ones taken or published that night, it was an experience and a half and I have some shots to learn from and try and do it better in 5 years time.