Jason Harry Photographer

Fitness model shoot.

2012-01-23T23:38:00.000Z

The video below previews a fitness model shoot.

I have worked with this model for a number of years, during this time he has graced Men's Health cover and featured in other magazines and fitness videos.

The video is a quick sample of the type of images produced in the studio and on location at XFIT Gym.

The file is available in full HD so press PLAY then select 1080p and go full screen!!

The great thing about working with athletes is they are in great shape most of the year, just like me and you.... erm

More to come another time. J

My Work, People, Places, Product, Passion.

2012-01-08T12:47:00.001Z

I frequently get asked about the scope of my work.

The one that suprises me is, Do I work with normal people? YES i do.

This video is a quick sample of the images I like most.

My work and skills are varied, it's the people I work with to thank for that.

If you like the style of my work and need a creative onboard for upcoming assignments, please get in touch for an informal chat.

Always keen to try something new.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

J

Video on websites, increases visual communication.

2012-01-04T20:55:00.003Z

Since its early days, video has been one of the most powerful and efficient tools of visual communication. It is able to deliver a direct and clear message to a broad audience as well as focus viewers on something particular.

A visually appealing video embedded to your website is an excellent way to present a product, service or brand communication and take user experience to a much more interactive level.

The sample in the video were designed to sit at the top of the company site, enforcing the identity of the business and luxury offered to its clients from the front page.

These images were photographed specifically for this purpose of creating a more dynamic and interesting web page.

Determination 2012.

2012-01-01T13:57:00.000Z

Knowing who you are and staying true to that in your work will lead to success if you are determined to achieve.

Granted there will always be an element of luck and of course possibly misfortune along the way but hopefully if you have a plan you are more likely to succeed.

Rather than following the pack develop develop a style you are comfortable working with.

A copied style without the creative passion does not have the same genuine appeal.

Take pride in what you do.

5 qualities of every successful #brand: recognizable, consistent, visually impactful, trustworthy, quality.

Whitewall Galleries Manchester Event

2011-12-09T14:03:00.004Z

The Whitewall Galleries held a Ladies evening last night, invited guests met with other businesses/ cool brands and got to view latest collections.

The link below contains images from the event in a PDF document titled contact sheet.

LINK : http://www.jasonharry.com/20111208contactsheet.pdf

Contact sheets are supplied to clients a short time post event/shoot for them to review and decided what images to use for print and web promotions.

The images in the contact sheet are as taken, cropping to suit the use, magazine, web is done from the full files.

When building up a profile of shots for the client it is common to already know what the images are to be used for, with a timescale for needing them print ready.

If you have time and are in Manchester this Gallery is worth a visit.

Check them out at http://www.whitewallgalleries.com/

ilovemediacollective launch event

2011-11-24T13:19:00.000Z

The launch event for ilovemediacollective was held at The Place in Manchester last night.

A selection of images from the evening can be viewed at the link below

http://www.ilovemediacollective.co.uk/storage/ilove_uk_launch.pdf

The aim is to reach out to the hearts of businesses in the UK...

Six of the region’s creative agencies have joined forces to form the ‘iLove’ media collective, promising an affordable full-service marketing resource to independent Manchester businesses.

The collective includes specialists in graphic and digital design, direct mail (Uneek Creative), digital and mobile app development , mobile marketing (15 Watts), print management (Jay Creative), commercial & studio photography (Jason Harry), public relations (Reputation Consultancy) and social media (Carolyn Hughes Communications).

The group aims to help Manchester’s independent traders by offering an fully integrated marketing service, priced as affordable projects, so as to be within the budget of smaller businesses.

More to come...

Athlete and Fitness Model StuartTomlinson

2011-11-03T02:19:00.007Z

Professional football player and fitness model Stuart Tomlinson of APM Andi Peters Models has been in this months Men's Fitness.

We took this photograph as part of a fitness series, more of this will be published at a later date.

Stuart being an athlete is always in good condition and always joy to work with.

MOTORSPORT section live.

2011-10-24T00:10:00.002+01:00

My motor sport section went live today at www.jasonharry.com/motorsport.html.

In that section you can find images of race cars.

All the images are for sale as individual prints (framed or unframed) or can be licensed for commercial use, if you wish to use any of the images contact me for more info.

Motor sport as they say is dangerous, but for the spectator it is exciting to watch on TV, try visiting a race meet live it gives a different perspective.

You get to see all the behind the scenes action if you are lucky enough to get access to those areas, as I frequently do.

The McLaren MP4-12C was an interesting car to watch at Silverstone taking part in a race with other European GT3 cars.

Silverstone was it's second outing with a full championship ready to roll for the 2012 racing season. I believe 20 cars, so that should be exciting racing.

The racing season is drawing to a close for this year, you will see more motor sport photographs and films from me next year, stay tuned!

J

Team Chevron film and European GT Pit Lane action from Silverstone.

2011-10-12T10:15:00.006+01:00

Unfinished films edits for a view.

Two films, both made on the same AAA day at the UK's premier racing circuit Silverstone, they have for me a different feel and energy to them.

Pit Lane, footage capturing the European GT race cars in and around the pit lane, teams are working hard in the noisy and dangerous environment, watch these exotic and fierce machines in action.

Team CHEVRON a video revealing the team in all aspects of pit lane and race activity, showing action, some tension and humour.

At this stage the films are both probably about 80% there, I hope.

The final adjustments although small are about tidying up, little tweaks here and there, sometimes this process can drag on, its knowing where to draw the line and also about being subjective.

The longer the edit process drags I tend to loose the initial thrust, so I always try and get to the first edit to output in one sitting, then leave a day before revisiting the work, fresh minded ready to close it off.

I have friends in the film industry who are amazed with my brutal take it edit it get it online thinking but it works for me.

Chevron GR8 at Silverstone for the British GT Championship

2011-10-09T18:35:00.004+01:00

Team Chevron GR8 racing at the Silverstone round of the British GT Championship 2011.

Teams must make a driver change half way through the race with a window of only ten minutes to make their change.

Everyone has a job to do.... fast.

My first workshop with Calumet, was a great success.

2011-09-29T22:33:00.001+01:00

The folks who came along to my workshop held at Calumet in Manchester today were great fun and were so enthusiastic it was a pleasure to work with you.

Taking control of the camera was one segment we digressed into, exploring custom functions.

Sitting recently with Cannon UK they went through my camera configuration and were surprised to find I was using all of them in my work except one.

Today I went through what functions I use, why and when, functions that turn my Canon 5d mkII into a beast with everything stacked up in my favour to help me capture as many good images as is possible.

Take control of the camera, it will reward you well.... dont be afraid to adventure into it, dare to work with settings the opposite to default.

Interested??? now your getting closer to my mindset and how pro's work.

My Calumet Workshop series starts today.

2011-09-29T03:43:00.005+01:00

Calumet Photographic and I have put together a series of three workshops that bring the popular makeover theme to the Manchester store.

Held every two weeks from 29/09/2011 for the next six weeks they will help build up knowledge and an understanding of how this industry operates.

This "How to" series starts with lighting, how to structure your shoot from the minute you meet your new client right through to post processing in the final workshop.

Throughout the series the attendees get hands on shooting experience and the benefits of Jason's exerience in this sector supporting one of the UK's market leaders nationally.

If you wish to book on one of these workshops contact me direct or through Calumet Manchester.

If this course interests you but you are not able to attend, you can alternatively arrange 1 to 1 training days with me.

Calumet UK website is http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/

MaKiNg the DaNcE video Bodyshop.

2011-09-19T01:09:00.012+01:00

Bodyshop the dance video evolved from a concept far from where it finished.

Laura-Anne wanted the video, she is a professional choreographer & dancer based in Manchester, she also works internationally.

Since the age of 16 she has been working alongside the likes of, Alexandra Burke, JLS, Gwen Stefani, Kanye West, George Micheal, Pink, Katy Perry, Geri Haliwell, Jagged Edge, Mario & Omarion. enough to say she is a good dancer, experienced and open to new ideas.

I wanted this video to be light well with a slight tone, so it was captured with low contrast and a custom picture profile, knowing it would then only need minimal processing to achive the overall clean look.

We are not shooting any kind of RAW format here so tolerances for adjustments are low.

While I am on with all the pre production Laura is busy with rehearsals, we keep each other updated to make sure were on track.

Test shooting the workshop left gave me a sample from which to slice a section and work a jpeg image to perfect the adjustments required to the footage before the day of the shoot. I prefer to work this way to leave out any nasty surprises at post production and not get the look, think I could go into melt down otherwise.

Lighting the space used was easy, its a high end bodyshop right, so these guys don't work in the dark, pushing extra fill light from the front was going to be the order of the day.

Camera used Canon EOS 5d mkII

We had a small window to shoot the video, on the day of shooting from beginning to end we were in, set up, footage taken from two main locations, promotion shots made, and take down in two and a half hours.

To get the footage we worked the main sequences three times to make sure we had it right, that's the deal.

So arn't we cool doing the shoot in a short time, the EDIT oh my, three solid days for the main dance sequence plus another day or so making the beginning and credits.

Post shooting before edit, review to footage, identify the good footage to be used, then the order to run.

Editing sequence start at the beginning and sequence the movement to the audio, a tricky task.

Thanks to the fourteen dancers, the makeup artists, PROSPRAY for letting us shoot there.

To Laura and myself high five... making this video was an undertaking but a blast.

London Fashion Week Debut then some.

2011-09-18T05:29:00.003+01:00

Straight off their debut at London Fashion Week label JEREMPAUL had secured meetings with buyers in London.

For those not familiar with the brand designer Khulekani Msweli won the FDC Avant-Garde Designer of the Year Award, a testament and acknowledgement of his quirky surrealist-inspired creations, this young talent has been tipped to take the couture fashion world by storm.

The seasons look book I was to shoot consisted of around 24 pieces.

At short noticed I was asked to produce their look book, having just returned from their show we quickly arranged the shoot in Manchester.

At the same time we produced some small vidoe files for each outfit that could easily be placed in any website as an individual item or as a whole for the collection.

The example below is one of the video's produced for JEREMPAUL, produced to work with the look book.

Two jobs in one session.

The individual files are small, around 1mb in size.

Short deadline, multiple media, all in a days work.

Dubfire at Sankeys.

2011-09-16T17:05:00.019+01:00

Asked to cover the visit to Manchester by uber talent Dubfire to the venue voted Worlds finest Club Sankey's, my original plan was to capture a number of promotional shots.

Dubfire is the stage name for Ali Shirazinia, he left the comforts of a storied career as one-half of Grammy-winning duo Deep Dish in order to pursue new life as a producer.

Deep Dish are well known for providing house or dance remixes of tracks of famous stars such as Madonna, Cher and Gabrielle

Camera used Canon EOS 5d Mark II @ 3200 iso hand held.

The image above and below can be found at www.jasonharry.com in the abstract section, a 32" by 24" framed print of the image below is displayed in my loft studio.

Camera used Canon EOS 5d Mark II @ 3200 iso hand held.

When the Dubfire set started the atmosphere and the performance was really one not to be missed, so i captured it in a series of photographs.

The video has been made from some 1,500 photographs taken over the 3 1/2 hour set, they haven't been modified and almost entirely dropped in the timeline in the order taken.

The experience at Sankey's was an audio visual treat for all the Dubfire fans and Sankeys faithful that were in attendance, for those who missed it...

turn the lights off, turn your speakers up, press play.

Khasan Brailsford and Kylie dancers at Sunshine Studios

2011-09-15T00:58:00.002+01:00

In April this year I did portfolio work for Khasan Brailsford, he is a dancer based in LA.

At that time he was on a world tour with Kylie Minogue, there is an earlier blog about this.

Khasan Brailsford and Tre Holloway on set @ the Loft Studio Shoot

I also discussed at a similar time moving my video hosting over to YouTube.

When I posted about posting all new content to YouTube I made mention that there are some great tools, available to you for free that give you information about what the viewer finds interesting.

This is the video in question

The tools are titled insight, once you get over say 400 views you will be able to see how interesting your content is to the viewer.

The video above has strong viewer attention, it gains viewer attention throughout the video, indicating viewers are scrubbing back and watching it again.

What is useful is that your video is also compared to similar length video in that genre.

Live, capture, produce, upload and learn.

Exhibition Frame stand from a C stand

2011-09-14T22:20:00.000+01:00

I have had some brackets fabricated by a local Manchester company that will allow me to use my C stands to display my framed prints.

Why would I do this? Why not these are funky looking stands!

One step forward two back is the entry photograph you see at the top of Jason Harry.com this print is a 36" by 24" printed on Metallic paper, displayed in a custom frame with some freaky expensive glass, more about that another time.

The great thing about the C stand is that the feet are moveable unlike a normal stand in that they are not fixed all at 120' the main foot comes out from the wall and the others sit just past 90' to allow the whole deal to sit back close to the wall.

My brother is great in his vision for having fabrcated items made up for motorsport, this is my thing.

You can probably tell I am happy about this.

Imagine a group of them set up as a temporary gallery.... imagine.

Model Mayhem community

2011-09-13T04:45:00.000+01:00

This post is the result of a young photographer asking me about Model Mayhem, for those who have never heard of it, the MM website is a community of creative’s, including Models also including Makeup artists, photographers retouchers, designers, stylists etc.

It was a close friend that originally created the profile for me back in 2008.

Don't be thinking the site is full of amateurs, there are some very established talent on this site, to be fair times change and people do move on ..... I am thinking a lot of the faces originally in there have moved on and gone forever.

Have I had any bad experiences? no not really, stay on the ball, have clear goals when planning your shoot, share them with everyone involved and you’ll be fine.

If your new and wanting to grow, give MM a try, what have you got to lose?

Find Model Mayhem @ http:\\www.modelmayhem.com

Photographing Lucien Laviscount

2011-08-19T20:46:00.002+01:00

I see Big Brother is back on the TV.

As I wandered into a local shop for some random item today, looked over and had a quick peek at the newspapers which had faces of the celebs in there. Saw Kerry in there (a fellow Warringtonian) and on the opposite side Lucien Laviscount.

Photographed Lucien recently,

He is a really nice guy from first walking on set, we just got on with making photo's straight away, he is easy to work with and open to ideas, a combination that makes for a quick and productive shoot, which it was.

He comes accross older than his years but that's confidence and experience for you.

Not sure how long Celeb BB is going to be this year but I wish him well, sure the British public will love him.

Good luck Lucien......J

Manchester Riots

2011-08-11T17:41:00.001+01:00

In the afternoon of Tuesday 9th August 2011 I was out of Manchester and knew I would be heading back into the city around rush hour.

Trouble in Manchester was expected, and it was soon to be a long evening, rioting and looting in Salford has already started.

There was an option to stay out of the city but I decided to return home, I had a gut feeling.

As I got closer various text messages came through from friends one who had a businesses in the Northern Quarter, this area is a hive of small businesses and bars, it is just one minute from Picadilly gardens in the city centre.

I took a walk over to make sure my friend was ok, as I got closer their was something bad in the air, it was still quite warm but the mood was much more serious, unless you have been in this situation it is a strange feeling and hard to explain, easy to say it felt like something was going to happen, the reality was the destruction and looting had already started in the city centre.

As I turned into Picadilly gardens the scene was one that made me stop, a lot of people were gathered hanging around or moving in large groups, in total there were many hundreds media has quoted upto 2,000 people.

Picadilly gardens was the area everything seemed to stem from.

Hundreds of looters raid one shop, relentlessly.(iphone)

Police held Market street from early on, had they not it would of been a scene of complete destruction, instead the rioters and looters that had already attacked Miss Selfridges and set it on fire then turned to other shops in and around the area.

On each occasion as the Police closed in they moved through the maze of side streets to another location, the Police were over stretching themselves which led to some nasty confrontations but I did not see any Police hurt.

The gangs move on as the police move in.(iphone)

An innoncent young man got caught up in a rush at and was stuck by a police batton, he was in a very bad way, motionless on the floor.

It was too dangerous to capture footage at this time, a photographer who I met at this time I moved around with, Alan was a young guy who had been physically attacked twice with looters trying to steal his camera from him, I decided to cover him while he was getting his photo's. we just moved where the crowds went to next.

A car is set on fire.(iphone)

The footage you can see at the link below shows the devastation to shops and business in this area. I wanted to capture the devastation but it was far to dangerious to try and do this as it happened as close as I wanted to be.

To get this footage and photographs I ventured out alone, which in all honesty was not a good idea, the smaller groups seemed worse but it's done now.. I worked smart and moved fast... I was lucky to get what I did and be ok.

Watch my video Aftermath, more photographs showing the damage and looting(Canon 5dMK2).

Lukas Gabris "Mr. Universe Contender 2011, Leg workout.

2011-06-21T10:42:00.001+01:00

It is great to see the videos of Lukas Gabris bodybuilder are being well received by fitness fans and fellow bodybuilders.

I think this is a storey to be told, as Lukas gets closer to the Mr Universe show you will be able to see the effort and determination needed to get extreme muscle size and tone.

This workout video shows the immense strength Lukas has as he trains legs at Evolution Gym in Rochdale, led by his mentor John Hodgson who is an ex IFBB bodybuilder, he retired this year.

The video produced by Jason Harry shows him being pushed really hard by John.

Visual pushups, being creative.

2011-05-02T03:59:00.000+01:00

This is about shooting people in the city going about their business ... there is a section in my website just for these images.

Its good to keep on top of your game, this is a process of finding the right location, then waiting around for your character to arrive on set for you to photograph.

Everything chaanges in a split second you be ready, watch as your subjects appear and leave and be familiar with custom functions, likely you'll be using most of them.

Lesson one, recognise moments worth grabbing, lesson two work fast try not to disturb the scene you will likely loose the moment.

Lately there hasn't been much time to do city shooting, sometimes I think to grab for my camera and just don't feel it, so it doesn't come with me it is usually the case I regret that decision when I see a nice moment coming together and miss a potential cool shot.

Soooo this this Thursday is visual push up day and a good excuse to hang out with a buddy, weather looks to be good, right now i'm not planning anything lets just see what and where the day takes me.

We will see...

Video section revamp & YouTube.

2011-04-28T19:21:00.000+01:00

The video section of my website is changing.

Some great friendships are made along the way in this "job" I just admire the talent of the most creative people I work with.

Video allows me to work in a different way, still drawing with light but were at 25frames per second now, so it's not about one strong image but content that flows and grabs the viewer.

So what's new about the video section?
All new file content is being hosted over to YouTube, you get some great tools that measure viewer attention and these can help you compose more audience grabbing content. Plus the files are big so after a few videos you will quickly find your hosting space has been used up.

Video files are restricted initial to 15min or 2GB but after a probabtion period this is lifted.

The Royal wedding is happening tomorrow, sure the crowds will gather to watch on the big screen in the city centre.

Thanks for dropping by. J

Video for Khasan Brailsford dancer/choreographer

2011-04-14T08:54:00.001+01:00

Last week I worked with Khasan Brailsford, he is a professional dancer from LA, he is in Manchester on tour with Kylie Minogue and other associated artists

The first time together I shot a dance workshop at Manchester's Sunshine Studios, our second meet was for his personal portfolio work together with his friend and fellow dancer Tre Holloway, we used my loft studio as a base but also shot in and around the city.

Khasan's Brailsford workshop video produced by Jason Harry

The photoshoot was a mixed theme of dance and fashion for his own portfolio

Khasan has now moved on with KYLIE MINOGUE: APHRODITE – LES FOLIES TOUR 2011 to other cities, while in Manchester we made some great images..

iPad and stuff

2011-02-09T20:44:00.002Z

Bought an iPad a few months ago, really like its portability and how long it can be used on one charge, in the region of ten hours.

Really surprised how many people are saying "is this an iPad like haven't seen one before".

Why do I have one? it's light, can show images a5 size quickly, almost instant preview from power up. Very easy to update content, click to the studio master computer and they automatically sync.. "sync in progress" a common thing.

The ipad also runs video in mo4 format, pdf format files, really is the ideal portable presentation mule.

On a different subject.. street shooting.

Street shooting, love it, normally do some of this while walking about the city centre on the way to the studio or a client meeting.

Until next time...

New Photography team

2010-11-09T23:46:00.000Z

Had the pleasure of working with a small team of photographers in Glasgow last week.

They were enthusiastic and eager to push on but as with all new teams I have worked with a little unsure, one thing experience gives you is the child like attitude, no fear.

By no fear I mean a willingness to try the less obvious and this can lead to some really impressive results. A lot of failures along the way mind.

After three days with the team I left them to ... get on with it.

Have kept in touch with them daily and I am getting a good vibe coming back from them, like they got a better idea to where to head with it now, this is music to my ears and job satisfaction for me.

I like seeing raw talent and meeting people who have not actually got to a point where they are 100% sure where they are heading but spotting the talent in them.

These people tend to be a little humble and in a group maybe overlooked but I see potential in them and home in on them types.

Each one in the group brought different images styles to the table which was good some gave me some ideas, going to be interesting to see how they all settle down over the coming months, good luck to them.

My work

2010-11-01T23:53:00.000Z

Some one recently asked me to say where I sat in terms of my work.

That was really difficult because what drives me direction wise is my client requests, often they just spring up.

It has happened on more than one occasion where the original remit was one thing only to be changed when we sat down together.

The video for fashion label JEREMPAUL was one of those changes the video is viewable at this link http://www.jasonharry.com/jerempaul.html

We were producing the labels look book, a reference for a collection that is shown to buyers, in addition to this we also made a series of short videos showcasing each individual look for anyone to view on the web.

It is good to be versatile, being able to exceed client expectations.. as it sit here most days working till late.. the downsides are obvious... I am always busy.

The most important thing in making anything creative be it an image or video is good capture.

Blogging is my weak point so will be posting more on the videos and projects as they happen.

Manchester Pride 2010

2010-08-28T05:49:00.000+01:00

The gay area of Manchester is on my door step, yesterday saw the area I live in transformed, over the weekend tens of thousands of people will descend and party the night and weekend away.

In the evenings I am working for various venues capturing the atmosphere and vibe for them, really looking forward to it, will be long days for sure as I have studio commitments during the day also...

The low light setups will be tricky, they always are, so high ISO, wide apertures slow shutter speeds will be the order of the day, lots of miss shots but the opportunity for some good character/ atmospheric shots.

Enjoy your weekend whatever your doing... J

Photography as your business

2010-08-17T11:40:00.000+01:00

All businesses need work > cash flow in order to continue to be viable, cash is king.

New photographers don’t be tempted to plough heaps of money in chasing the dream of instant wow, its experience you need and to develop quality work that is commercially viable if you are to exist entirely on photography alone.

As I reflected recently on myself I decided there are three things that you need to do, shoot as often as possible.. Look at areas you are weak in so critically appraise yourself. Try as often as you can to undertake personal projects this will stimulate you and take your work in different directions. Finally take time out to look at other photographers work or sit in with other photographers if you get the opportunity.

Professional photographers hold workshops that cost from £40 to £100 per day per delegate most class sizes are ten or so, jump in them, from time to time I do...leaving my camera at home (personal choice) its the little gold nuggets they throw away in general conversation that are the reason I go.

When you sit with other photographers it’s a double win, you see new techniques and you can see what they do good/ bad.

What does this have to do with photography as your business, it is about making your images the best they can be and constantly evolving your busines into something stronger ...more diverse. This kind of attitude helps keep me motivated and making changes in technique and direction year on year.

Set yourself high but realistic targets, i.e. clients to work with and income targets, monitor and review how your doing, if you think it helps ask a friend to review your performance periodically to see if your doing what you set out to do. As with all plans constantly review to make sure that's the best plan for you.

LUXOR video

2010-08-11T20:18:00.001+01:00

Ok where do I start with this one, first of all it was great to work with the LUXOR people. They are all individually strong in their own field and came together under the LUXOR name as a music/ art/ dance collaboration.

If you haven't watched the video already here is a direct link
http://www.jasonharry.com/luxor.html

Initially I was asked to photograph this event, arriving at The Lowery on the day the girls told me how disappointed they had been with other video productions made for them, they desperately wanted a edit they were happy with for promotional purposes. Something that accurately reflected the show rather than a chippy choppy affair.

Thinking like you do on your feet I suggested we use the opportunity to make them something special, simple front (standard) view of the performance with stills set to a heart beat starting from the bridge to the room, heart beat end into a flat line sound to intro with the girls walking on stage mated to the mix kicking in...Do it they said.

Apologies if you found the above difficult to follow, that’s how the design process was ...fast with both sides nodding. NOW I have to get on with the capture... luckily I had a heap of memory cards on me, video data capture on the 5D mk2 runs about 8mb/sec so were into a heap of cards for an hour production.

The performance was an hour, the cameras record 10 min slots so this meant quick card and camera resets, my camera was being used for stills so we used a pre firmware updated Canon 5D mk2 to video capture, grrr auto ISO.. Yuk, were putting this together in real time you have to compromise!!!

During the performance there will some people using flash which you can see messing up a frame here and there, which I used to my advantage when bringing Williams Orbits mix in, simple time stretch that split second, nice abstract frame and hey presto you got the ideal window to edit in the mix.

Earlier on I told you the performance was an hour, and we wanted an edited version. This caused me a headache, the girls were like you do what you want....cheers. I have a choice do I edit Williams mix or select a section ... well I decided to chop about with Williams mix wasn’t an option so selected a part that would work best, in the end a slightly modified beginning section including intro was THE choice I made, music producers naturally build up so that’s that job done, as I wanted it to work with Pauline’s art work at the back coming to a finished piece.

Now I am left with the really easy part of editing an hour of dance and the artwork production into some thing... that was the task, task wow.

Took a while sifting through the footage while listening to the music for that section and mating the two best as I could.

Would I change anything if I did the edit again, maybe add in some different angles and still... not sure. It’s done now, LUXOR people love it.

What do I remember about this job?
How quickly I came up with the concept,
How do I cut Williams mix?
Endless hours or watching clips to nearly have a useable section then the tempo of music or dance not match towards the end of that section then rethinking
Taking about 8 hours to render the fully edited production, and realising I hadn’t checked the audio box... its rendered with NO sound ...CRAP!!!!

This is probably the biggest in terms of length I have worked on... some people like this part or that, to me watch the whole thing reflect at the end...personally I dig it a lot.... different.

Cocktails anyone?

2010-08-10T19:24:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I photographed a number of cocktails for Manchester cocktail maker and designer Nathan McDowell.

We shot six in that session after discussing the look and feel he wanted before we did the shoot.

The images can be viewed in the commercial section of my website, or the direct link is here http://www.jasonharry.com/commercial2.html

Nathan was clear he wanted a classic and high end feel to the images so we agreed a black background, the reflections on the glass top are from capture rather than post production.

The setup was smooth I used a simple tungsten lighting setup, approaching the shoot I was concious that reflections can be a pain in the ass with glass. In the end the setup produced a look both Nathan and I were happy with, so were shooting a full menu of his some time soon.

I can imagine sipping a few of them some time soon...

Nightclub Video

2010-08-09T23:08:00.000+01:00

I opened up the video section of my website again yesterday, today I have added one more video which was made in 2009.

The reason the video section went down was to allow me to restructure the site with a clear focus on the images for a time.

The equipment used to capture the footage was the Canon 5d MK2 before the first firmware update, it only worked in AE mode, and the ISO was controlled by a small brain in the camera…not good which meant the ISO was probably higher maybe two stops than I would set it to now, in manual mode.

As a result the quality suffers a little but that little negative is (I think) lost in the video because of the good tempo and feel of the production.

Even now I really enjoy watching it, it’s one of my first attempts that really worked for me, I still regard it as perhaps the one where I sit back and think I would not do much different.

If I am being honest some of the opening shots didn't have the extra lighting in them and that bugs me... you learn by making mistakes.

The video was for the Manchester superclub Essential which has since closed and reopened under a different name although the vibe is very much the same.

When the venue closed (for a short time) with its future not certain it was nice to look back at the video from time to time, it was a lot of fun to make, and I liked making it …from capture to edit.

Learning curves in this game are generally steep, we just get used to them, view the video at the link below if you have not seen it already.

http://www.jasonharry.com/essential.html

J

London Fashion Week Video

2010-08-08T21:20:00.001+01:00

Today I have opened up the video section with a web video made for the designer label JEREMPAUL that made it's first debut at london fashion week earlier this year.

The brief from the client (web at http://www.jerempaul.com/news.htm) was to capture the events of the day as the happened in stills and video, then compose a documentary style production for promotional purposes. That I did.

The music used in the video was from the catwalk to keep the theme.

More videos for other clients will be viewable at a later date.

The camera used to capture was a Canon 5D MK2.

photographer techies.. beware of them

2010-08-07T19:43:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine is a new enthusiast and a techie; every time we meet he baffles me with chatter about various camera gadgets and whether this is better than that.

No matter what I say the next time we meet we have the same (ish) conversations which I have nothing much to offer other than simple stuff that works... for me.

In all honesty early on I was obsessed with what equipment I needed and spent silly amounts on this and that when I should have been taking more pictures.

That’s the only advice I can offer really, new photographers save yourself a load of head ache and keep your kit to what you need, keep it simple.

The majority of the time my kit is two camera bodies and two lens, a 70-200 and a 24-105 and they cover a lot of work.

Calumet are a pro store and offer rental of equipment, the guys at the Manchester store are there to help and they hire all the gear you can ever need.

Maybe try a weekend hire before you buy? Before you buy ask yourself how many times will you use it, do you really need it?

Summer...where is it

2010-07-31T00:53:00.000+01:00

Six weeks or so ago we had great weather, recently is has been somewhat boring dull or humid.... yuk.

The evening light is fading quite late around nine which is helping me run some shoots a bit longer. In fact the other night the auto focus suprised me how well it worked in really poor light.

New sections of the site went live today, more commercial images and a section for guys.

Some one asked me tonight which do I prefer to shoot guys or girls, both are so different it hard to compare really. New photographers seem to find guys harder the reality for me generally is they are easier... just go with what you've got.

Got three guys to shoot next week, all very different will post some images up from them in a blog.

Enjoy your weekend..

Where have I been

2010-07-09T19:43:00.000+01:00

Apologies for not keeping up with the blog...

Been busy and a lack of internet after the move has hampered simple things like my blog... 6 weeks to get back online geez !!!

A new look website showing larger images with a simple layout is nearly complete..will post more in the coming days.

My collection of videos made with the Canon 5D mk2 will go live in a video section next week.

Thanks for dropping by... J

Move to Manchester...

2010-04-29T21:05:00.000+01:00

I have just moved into Manchester to the very heart of where I have spent most of my adult life.

My new apartment is has a large space for the living area and it is this that drew me to it.

The idea of living and breathing my work interested me so thats the place I decided was for me, also to hand are some great places to shoot, so I am really spoilt.

BLOG updates will be more frequent, content update is coming soon, please keep revisiting the web site and this blog.

J

LUXOR Video edit

2010-02-25T13:40:00.000Z

First full version of LUXOR at the Lowry is completed and being rendered as I sit typing this BLOG.

You can view the LUXOR edit from the main page of my website or cutting and pasting this link

www.jasonharry.com/luxor.html

Intense editing: with more to do, the version viewable later today will be just over 15 min, there is some footage I still want in that is likely to run it up to around 20 mins.

The reason for stopping this edit is to release me to other jobs sat stacking up and to allow me to reflect at this piece of work before I sit back down finally to finish it, too much of the same and I loose the feel for it.

I was asked to cover a new designer’s debut at London Fashion Week so I will be spending some time relaxing and working on that before pushing on again next week to complete LUXOR visits the LOWRY.

MY Vision
In putting this footage together I started with an intro to build up some atmosphere, the actual show was one hour long, to get this into a format that was manageable and grabbing I selected a number of sequences from the original sound mix and had an idea to edit these together, so I stopped and pondered on this.

While editing the footage into something interesting I felt uneasy editing the sound, especially Williams mix myself I know he spend a week on this and I didn’t want to be carving it up so I chose the first section and mated to that elements of the show that worked best with it.

The show is a piece of art evolving well that is my thoughts of it so the video rather than be commercial and lots of angles and effects has been created as if you were there watching it, starting with a blank canvas and the end a finished piece of work, everything in between the journey.

The mix remains pretty much unchanged apart from the intro I shortened, so for the final footage I need a fresh head and to work out which section will best tether in while I want the end to remain as it is now.... my thinking cap is on.

So the main timeline is full with video, on the night there was a second camera that roamed with me capturing video footage from different angles, this will get added to the timeline as it is now in small sections to add a different perspective... well that’s my plan.

Those are my thoughts as I worked on this project and as I close LUXOR off for now, .... To be continued

LUXOR @ The Lowry, Manchester

2010-02-16T22:05:00.000Z

Was originally going to be at this event to capture some images for their promotional purposes.

LUXOR is a collaboration of talent : Anna-Mi Fredriksson professional dancer formerly English National Ballet working all over the world in the largest productions, Pauline Amos Painter and William Orbit a visionary composer and producer.

In the end I ended up being asked to capture the event and make into a promotional video .. the edit has just started.

What you can view right now is the intro, a short section intentded to build up some atmosphere for the main performace.

As the edit moves on I will post more, right now there is 30GB of files to put in some kind of order.

What was used to capture all of this? 2 x Canon 5dmk2 and 1 x 5dmk1 plus 42GB of memory cards.

Dancer

2010-02-03T19:09:00.000Z

Luca a trained dancer, he got in touch with me last weekend.

He is currently on tour with Chicago and about to return to Australia after a five year stint here in Europe.

He wanted some fresh images to help him move into other areas with his work, during the shoot we also worked on some dance theme's, clearly something that is very natural to him.

Dancers are sometimes the easiest people to work with, they know good shape and form, posing for a camera can be unatural for them, so if I reach a sticking point I let them do what they know to allow them to settle then go back into the shoot again.

Below are two images from the day

and

The lighting for this was quite simple a boomed strobe above and a strip softbox from the side, the space we had for this shoot wasn't the best but with good light control and some of Luca's expertise between made some good frames.

These images were straight forward to get, worth noting : what the dancer feels is good and what looks good are two different things.

To ensure we had the lines correctly I positioned mirrors so that Luca could make sure everything was ... as it should be.

Working with dancers is always the same, a good one wants perfection just as much as we do from our side of the lens... if your doing the same type of job in future make your life easy... cut down on the retakes and set up some mirrors.

More to come >>>

Photographing People

2010-01-31T20:28:00.000Z

I am lucky to meet a lot of interesting people in a job that brings me a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment.

Through my free lance work with a large studio I come across a lot of young photographers, some with Degrees or those that are self taught wanting to make the jump from keen amateur to professional.

All interaction with people requires people skills, to produce the kind of work that accurately reflects the person in front of you rather than create a generic image/style needs you to study them.

Maybe for the duration of the shoot fall in love with the subject, at least try and understand them, this may sound strange but some shoots are very connected, it is a great honor to see into a person and get images that show their own unique personality, mood or capture the moment.

Like a good therapy session the best results will come out of the blue, some of my most satisfying have been in the first few shots, other times in the last few shots of the shoot or when I was pushed past the point I wanted to stop.. you will get times when you feel exhausted and creativity has left you...but for some reason you decide to push on. This happened to me just the other week, I got a cracking image that made the whole day worth my time and effort and the client loved the image.

Photographing people isn't always easy, if you research the subject or spend the time getting to know them as much as possible you stand a better chance of getting some good shots.

A few quick tips for better results.. recap
1) Preparation, research your subject
2) Pre-visualize get some ideas in your head but also be prepared to let them go
3) Abandon - if it doesn't come together, go to plan B or free style it,
4) Look at a lot of images, study the history of photography and the great shooters that went before
5) Emulate a good style of work
6) Make time - to do what you enjoy
7) Review your work from time to time, are you making time to try new ways of working?

My work goes in cycles, where changes happen in my work and I take a new creative direction.

Keep pushing yourself, if you don't you'll get stale for sure.

Whats is my kit bag

2010-01-28T00:28:00.000Z

What’s in my kit bag really depends on the shoot, and how far away from base I am, how remote the location is.

At times the amount of equipment needed to do a job can be a bit of a headache; it’s not just what you need but also the backup systems you need just incase a piece of kit goes down.

Some situations you can work around, battery packs playing up, always carry a back up but some will kill the shoot, your day and worse if it goes wrong. A client of mine told me of one unfortunate photographer who leant out a helicopter to take an important image only to realise he hadnt fitted the lens correctly ... it fell off. The lens cost £4,500. How do you replace that in a conflict zone?

You can’t afford to get caught out in the middle of a shoot.

I have been the worlds worst for backups, taking sometimes too much equipment with me, something that my assistants have moaned about and my therapist is working on.

A day long location shoot can be exhausting, loading up, unloading, set up maybe tweaks, take down, load up and unload in the same day..... I feel exhausted thinking about it !!!

A list of equipment will give you an idea what a professional photographer needs, and my kit is by no means excessive.

I am a Canon shooter 2x (full frame) bodies
Lenses 70-200 2.8L, 16-35 2.8L, 24-105 4L, 50 1.4
Small strobe 3 x 580EX MK2
3 x Justin Clamps great invention for clamping small strobes pretty much anywhere.
Light meter although I don’t use it that often
Studio lighting 4 x 500w Bowens, 2 x 400w Bowens, 1 x 200w Bowens all run off mains supply or 2 x battery pack
1 x ST E2 Transmitter
1 x off camera cord (modified)
2 x battery pack & 2 x 8m leads
1 petrol generator 2.5kva
5 x pulsar radio transmitter
2 x portable booms max height probably about 9ft, and the boom arm extends about the same, flexible working but not for the novice or clumsy
3 x century stands 100"
2 x portable backdrop supports, hold 2.72 rolls
Various umbrella and strip soft box
On back lights I tend to run maxilite reflectors and barn doors x 2
Heaps of reflectors
2 x Lastolite skylite panel kits (1.1meter) 1.25 and .75 stop white scrims
heaps of extension leads

In addition to the above I have had an electronics geek make some custom kit which will be explained in another equipment post, at a later date.

That’s the basics there will be items omitted for sure; in addition you need a high power laptop and the latest Photoshop software for post production.

Daunting isn't it, More to come >>>

First Post

2010-01-27T05:57:00.001Z

Welcome to the first Blog post for Jason Harry a professional photographer based in England.

This Blog is to replace the news feature on my website at www.jasonharry.com and will be the place I post everything that is going on ... as it happens. This I feel is the right move because it will allow the postings to be more detailed, its easy to do on the move while continuing to be personal and informative.

2010 is going to be an exciting year, as the year unfolds the posts will follow.

Thanks for dropping by ... more to come >>>