Covering Jersey with Dromeas Yachts Channel Islands

After working for a period of time with Dromeas Yachts UK based in Poole, Dorset. I was recently asked to head over to the Channel Islands to photograph the latest Dromeas Yachts expansion. Nick and the team at South Pier Marine have recently taken on the distribution of Dromeas Yachts Channel Islands where I will be spending some time each month on the photography and content strategy of this new brand. Keep your eyes peeled!

Our first photoshoot was definitely NOT sea state 0 - with a small window Saturday morning of dry weather we had to create as much content as possible to last us the month. I was able to get enough video footage as well to create a small launch video to announce presence in the Channel Islands. Check it out here

Comment

Bike Night at Locket Fuel

An evening spent at Locket Fuel! A recent content commission to kick start a new weekly event at Ashley Automotive, Bournemouth, Dorset. Head down every Thursday night for cool bikes, cool cars and a tasty hog roast!

The Dorset Cider Makers

This is a recent commission with Dorset Nectar Cider Company! As a local company based near Bridport, Dorset, I have known The Strong family for a long time. We have remained in contact as local cider suppliers to the family business Your Village Stores 

Ryan at Dorset Nectar Cider got in touch after recent developments at the farm and looking for a collection of brand new content to help push Dorset Nectars visual presence and promote the new changes happening in the business. 

With so many parts of the Cider making process to cover, I wanted to make sure the full story was captured as also the new developments such as cider tours, tastings and the new tasting room and shop.

The full fit-out

Another ‘behind the scenes’ maritime video of a recent fit out that took place for my regular content creation clients at Saltwater HQ. Last month we helped our friends at @the_boat_club with a full new fit–out of a @yamahamarineeu 175hp on their @zodiacribs!

Creating the right content for your brand

A project for me is about finding a story within every commission I receive from a brand or business. I want to focus on telling that untold story, capturing those pieces of development that go into a business. The effort of work that your customers don’t see when you sell them a product is, for me, the most important part of content creation. It’s more how a business gets to the end result than the end result itself. Having a background in marketing and content management, I can really see an importance in content creation that brings a product to life. My work is majority lifestyle photography, selling a product in an environment that helps to create a story.

The art of marketing is prompting your customer to think and act in a certain way. My approach when working with brands is to do this by capturing attention to detail and the ‘behind the scene’ energy that changes the mindset of the viewer. Instead of appreciating a clean end result, I want them too appreciate the work and craftsmanship that got the clean end result. This then creates an emotional response in a viewer and gives them a sense of trust and personal attachment to a brand as they have now understood and witnessed the ‘whole story’ of your brand or business.

My own content creation example of this for India Rose Creative was created by Rob Aldous during a recent project with @peggyporschenofficial. This is a behind the scenes video lets my viewers see how I work and a little more insight about me rather than focusing on the my end result, the photography.

Content Creation with Herald Motor Company

I met the team at Herald Motor Company last year at the Malle Mile where I got the chance to test out the Herald Maverick. A year later I got back in touch as I was super excited about creating a series of lifestyle content with a collaboration with my Defender and MotoTote Carriers. Based in the Dorset countryside, I headed back to one of my favourite shooting locations to get a series of track and trail photographs as well as a short film - filmed by Max Bartholomew

A new kind of commuting...

I recently got asked to photograph for INOKIM UK. The first content creation photography shoot for the UK retailers to bring their brand to life in the UK. Based in Brighton, INOKIM UK wanted to photograph in their local environment with their eScooter range. I have seen a lot of scooters flying around cities and getting an extremely popular way of commuting but never have I seen an off-road option! We photographed the INOKIM OXO along a green lane just outside of Brighton’s city centre with Ex MTB'er and model Phil Grundy ​ and photographed the two other, more city suited INOKIM range in Brighton City.

Check out the full INOKIM review and film produced as part of my content package by ALDO MOTO here - https://youtu.be/W1ZGPOEP-oU

Comment

'Tender' An experimental series with Candace Campbell

The strange hue and dull sun was due to rise. The atmospheric mixture of sand and dust was blown from the Sahara Desert forming hazy skies that impeded the suns rays. Found along the South West coast path, Eype Beach, Dorset, offers a peaceful seclusion where the single fisherman rises from his tent at dawn. Little fishing boats up turned on the bay and the sense of untouched land was apparent. Hidden away from more popular beaches along the Jurassic Coastline, Eype had a sense of mystery. The mystery was timeless. Everything seemed untouched by humans apart from the faded life-ring and rickety banisters. Even the car park sign was handwritten on a cardboard sign cable tied to a stump in the ground.

In these particular photos I wanted to create a contrast, a connection between human interaction and a tranquil untouched bay. A sense of discovery and timelessness. This series is called ‘Tender’.

Model: Candace Campbell

On Location with We Are Nuevo...

A new agency on the scene! Photographed in the New Forest, I had the opportunity last winter to produce a new series of work with creative agency, We Are Nuevo. A team of experts experienced in working with leading global brands in a sustainable way.

“Our strategy is to keep our processes clean. Creativity should not kill the planet.”

The shoot was kept natural, environmental and local to base in Dorset. With a strategy to keep their processes clean, Nuevo needed some new photography and content to represent this. Taking my ‘natural, behind the scene’ approach and by keeping the shoot natural in this chosen environment, I think we were able to achieve this.

New Brand. New Content. Hayden Hill - Coming Soon...

With sustainability blooming within the fashion industry I couldn't resist picking up a new project with Hayden Hill. A brand new brand based in the USA and UK, it seemed like an exciting opportunity to launch this brand into a market that is massively growing within the fashion industry. Hayden Hill is soon to be launching a collection of sustainable and eco friendly made garment storage pieces. With regular content creation and social strategy days lined up, it's going to be exciting to be involved in the growth of a new brand. Watch this space! First content photography shoot took place in my studio in Dorset and the Dorset countryside.

First time in UK waters for Dromeas Yachts UK

Celebrating 4 years of Turkish boat brand, Dromeas Yachts and now the first year in the UK. I had the pleasure of photographing the Dromeas Yachts first sea trial in UK waters, accompanied by Motorboat and Yachting magazine. The first sea trial took place is slightly stormy conditions on the Jurassic Coast, Dorset. Dromeas Yachts UK is now based at Parkstone Bay Marina, Dorset. As well as photography, Dromeas Yachts are my new social media strategy clients and I am looking forward to helping kick this new brand off to the UK market. Check out the full gallery here or view the sea trial here

Comment

You don’t need a team of creatives to create your own content

My style of work focuses on telling an untold story, usually behind the scenes and taking a natural approach to my photography work. I work with outdoor and lifestyle brands as a photographer and social media strategist. Alongside this, I also create content, usually modelling myself, to give brands engaging lifestyle imagery to bring their products and brands to life. 

Why not use a model? Sometimes I do but I think it depends on the brief. Especially starting out or just trying to create some content for social media, I think the best thing to do is take a product, head to a location and play around with creating engaging photographs yourself! 

I think working solo brings out another element of creativity and makes you think about how you are going to create a series of images on your own, whilst still making them appear professional. There are a few factors to consider, the main one being that I always factor in whether I would be suitable for the brand. I always try to approach brands that I would wear myself or I feel comfortable modelling. This way your photographs will have more natural results. 


Here is a recent example of a series of product lifestyle photographs I shot with Hunter Boots. I live in wellies. I have tried so many different boots but nothing has compared to my Hunter Fields. Winter or Summer, walking in these boots has been comfortable and practical. I wear my Hunter Boots on photography shoots, exploring, walking the Dorset countryside and even shopping! Unlike other wellingtons that feel like an effort to spend long periods of time in, my Hunter Fields have been the ultimate walking boot! So I chose this product to work with…

I took some time to head to one of my favourite walking locations in Dorset with my pair of Hunter boots, my Canon 5d mk iV, a film light (because the light was quite flat), tripod, remote trigger and my dog and Landrover Defender (the props!). I had some idea of composition and what I wanted to achieve from the shoot but the majority of my inspiration came from the environment and just exploring the area. It is quite a workout shooting and modelling all by yourself, although I use a remote, I like to refer back to the preview to check the composition and how it looks. If you do this, remember to mark the spot you took your first shot! Throughout every series I do, my message is alway to ‘highlight an untold story’ so I include a range of angles that highlight different aspects of the product I’m focusing on. This includes close up product details as well as details within the landscape. You want to show the whole surroundings to give your audience a sense of the environment.

I styled this shoot with Hunter Boots based on the environment. Neutral and beige made a nice colour palette for this series and I thought about the colours and tones and how this would appear on my feed. My outfit choice didn’t really need too much thinking about but I choose something that was a little quirky, a bit of me and also a little relevant to Hunters brand image.

   Once you start building up these shoots and a bank of content / your portfolio, you can then think about how you are going to use them. Whether you are creating content to build up your social media presence, adding to your website content or turning your shoot experience into a blog post. Here are a few ideas of some of the ways I’ve been reusing content recently that I have found has increased engagement and kept my clients brands still active and in the forefront of their audience and followers mind when scrolling through social media. 

  • Reusing photographs to create new blog posts - even though you may have used these photographs in a previous blog post, use them again with a new meaning.

  • Reach out to your customers, connections, fans for reviews and testimonials - each review can create a new post

  • Get your blog posts on air as podcasts - podcasting has gotten pretty big lately. If you have a detailed blog post in your achieve, pull them out and dust them off. With a little reformatting, editing and scripting, they make excellent podcasts.

  • Tagging the right people - Reposting what others have shared from your feed you still remain forefront of peoples mind and active online.

Collaborating with influencers and like minded content creators could also be a low budget option if you are looking for fresh new content. I offer this content creation service to outdoor and lifestyle brands and it is something I love doing. Check out examples of all of my content creation and solo photography projects here

Howes and Wayko

Beautifully handcrafted in Great Britain, Howes and Wayko London work with textures, colours and sustainable exotic materials to produce the finest luxury countryside and shooting clothing and accessories. Shot in Somerset at the Owl Lodge Shooting School, this photography shoot aims to capture these beautiful qualities and bring the details to life within the countryside environment.

On Home Turf with Candace Campbell

It’s been a while since I have done a photography project for myself. I love experimenting with fashion and styling and fashion photography really does allow you to experiment with so much. From lighting, equipment to props and imagination. I love telling stories within my work and I knew my friend and model, Candice Campbell would be able to help me convey the right story. Lockdown has meant that I have had to work close to home but with Dorset on our doorstep, it wasn’t a problem finding the perfect location for a country styled fashion shoot. An early Sunday morning, a vintage Burberry and a knit co-ord, boots from Zara, hat from Hicks and Brown and a classic 35mm Canon later, these were the results…

Content Creation close to home... with Hicks and Brown

Introducing the latest Fedora hat from Hicks and Brown with some new lifestyle photography to support the Hicks and Brown launch.

With my content creation package, Hicks and Brown came to me looking for a collection of new country photographs using the Olive Green Fedora Hat. A day out in the Dorset countryside I photographed this series. Also styled by myself, I wanted to have a green colour palette for this shoot to match the Olive hat however, I shot with a small soft artificial light on this occasion to illuminate the hat to ensure it didn’t get lost amongst all of the green environment.

“We are really pleased with this collection of photographs India has produced, a completely different style to our usual one but really refreshing to see the hat in a different light!” ~ Hicks and Brown

BTS with the Rolling Rogues

This month I was very excited to receive a message from the team at Rolling Rogues to do a shoot for their new project in progress, as well as feature in a film they have been shooting for one of their clients. I can’t release the photos I took yet, but he are some awesome Behind the Scenes that were taken in the Rolling Rogues HQ in Dorset.

Comment

Drooling over this one! A content day with Amy Balch Artist...

It’s always exciting connecting with another woman in business, especially one within the creative industry. Amy got in touch with me looking for some direction with her marketing strategy and new content to fit with her brand and customers.

Dog lover and owner of 2 Dachshunds and a Weimaraner, Amy lives in Somerset with her dogs and dedicates her life to art. With a unique artistic style and the right idea to develop her existing brand, we spent the day coming up with new ideas to put a consistent content strategy in place to support her humorous tone of voice to support Amy’s style of work.

Known for her animal artworks in black ink and acrylic paints, layered together with delicate drawn pen lines, Amy’s art is definitely one to check out - https://www.amybalch.com

Comment

Behind the Scenes with Baboo Gelato

Behind the scenes with Baboo Gelato for my regular social media clients Your Village Stores! Baboo Gelato was set up in 2015 by Annie Hanbury, a trained gelatiere, who wanted to combine her passion for making seriously good ice cream with the glut of fabulous ripe fruit on her doorstep. This became very clear during a recent visit to the factory.

Handmade using their own fresh, seasonal fruit to produce sensational, mouth-watering flavours like no other. Each batch of Baboo’s artisanal ice cream is carefully prepared from scratch on their premises in Bridport, Dorset, using succulent fruit, local organic milk and lashings of dedication.

Gelato is not simply the Italian name for ice cream. Although it feels very smooth, gelato is made using more milk than cream, and so is much lower in fat than traditional ice cream. There is also less air in gelato, which means it packs more flavour.

A Recent Social Media Film I shot for Saltwater Solutions

Workshop Wednesday at Saltwater Solutions! Time for a customer Outboard Overhaul. I work regularly with Saltwater Solutions producing weekly social media strategies and content creation. Videography is completely new to me but I have began to see the importance of film in social strategies. This is a clip I shot recently to show off a recent worksop project.