Kent PR Photography Archives

Rielly Cycleworks at Copper Rivet Distillery

Posted on January 24, 2018 by mattbristow

Rielly Cycleworks at Copper Rivet Distillery – Cycling PR in a Distillery

Rielly Cycleworks at Copper Rivet Distillery – Towards the end of 2017 I was asked to do a PR shoot with a slight difference.

Simple set up for ease of movement

The job was to take promotional shots of a thorough-bred racing bicycle built by the renowned Reilly Cycleworks at The Copper Rivet Distillery in Chatham, Kent. Therefore, it was easy to agree to the job as both elements are something that interest me! I basically had a free hand on the creativity as well.

It also gave me the opportunity to properly road test some Godox ad200 flash heads I had been playing around with. More on them another time.

The setup was simple. Just three heads which were easy and quick to move around when I needed to.

Its very much like shooting a car feature. You need to show the whole thing then pick out pieces of detail, In this case the detail pieces were components from sponsors so very important to include everything.

Carl Strugnell’s custom Reilly carbon race bike shot at Copper Rivet Distillary in Chatham.

The third strobe I gelled to get the green detail in the background. Here are a few of the detail images.

: Carl Strugnell’s custom Reilly carbon race bike shot at Copper Rivet Distillary in Chatham, Kent.

: Carl Strugnell’s custom Reilly carbon race bike shot at Copper Rivet Distillary in CHatham. (Photo by Matt Bristow/mattbristow.net)

: Carl Strugnell’s custom Reilly carbon race bike shot at Copper Rivet Distillary in Chatham, Kent.

: Carl Strugnell’s custom Reilly carbon race bike shot at Copper Rivet Distillary in Chatham, Kent.

: Carl Strugnell’s custom Reilly carbon race bike shot at Copper Rivet Distillary in Chatham, Kent.

: Carl Strugnell’s custom Reilly carbon race bike shot at Copper Rivet Distillary in Chatham, Kent.

: Carl Strugnell’s custom Reilly carbon race bike shot at Copper Rivet Distillary in Chatham, Kent.

: Carl Strugnell’s custom Reilly carbon race bike shot at Copper Rivet Distillary in Chatham, Kent.

Theres always one image in a shoot like this thats a standout favorite for me it was this one. I used a lesser know technique called the Brenizer Method. More on that here.

An image stack using the Brenizer Method

If you’d like to know more about Karl’s Reilly Cycleworks bike theres a full article on Pez Cycling News

Kent Music Promo Photographer | Taking it back to music, Kay Jay

Posted on January 10, 2018 by mattbristow

Kent Music Promo Photographer, taking it back to music, its a Natural High with the talented Kay Jay.

Back in October 2011 I was lucky enough to be part of a creative team that worked on a location video shoot for the amazing Kay Jay and her jointly written, with her then fiancée now husband, Kevin Sutherland. Its name simply ‘Natural High’ drawing on influences from her own past which are abundantly obvious when you hear the track and believe me in two days I heard it a lot!

It was shot on location at an amazing house in Norfolk call Battleford Hall, an old vicarage owned by Kate’s uncle, who the whole crew referred to as ‘Uncle Pete’ who during our time in residence looked after us in what can only be described as VIP treatment. I think I probably owe him a few bottles of wine as we quaffed long into the night on the first day!

So I spent two amazing days lurking around behind the cameras and trying to get enough time to get some decent portraits in between scenes. Here are a few of my favorites:

My absolute favorite without a doubt is this one, album cover material? only time will tell.

Also because I have had to hold this back for nearly 5 months I have also held back the following image never before seen not even by Kate!

Some of the more observant of you might notice this is a rehashed blog. The reason is that Kate has just released the single and heres the final video

In two days I met some great people: Melissa Kassinen simply great make-up and Lukas DiSparrow one of the worlds self confessed wierdos but a great director. Mr Guy Wilson a kindred spirit! Mr Kevin Sutherland and of course not forgetting the lady herself KayJay

Kent Photographer – 2013 A Retrospective

Posted on December 30, 2013 by mattbristow

As a Kent Photographer, to say planning this post was hard would be an understatement!

Looking through my catalog for 2013 which numbers around 50,000 images all edited! This year I really tried to be harsher and keep less! So what I have decided to do is to select just one image from every month and try and convey the impossible variety of work I do! So here goes. One image from each month, with not much comment…

January

Spent a bit of time this year shooting Premiership football for the guys at SportPix

Jussi Jaaskelainen (22) saves an Arsenal attempt

February

I shot less celebrity stuff this year. However I am still a bit undecided how much I’ll do in 2014.

Stars Denise Van Outen and Sarah Harding. Run For Your Wife Film Premier. Odeon Leicester Square,

March

This years motorsport season was the best yet. It was a conscious effort to focus a little more. The track days are still awesome fun and I’m looking forward to continuing a great relationship in 2014 as the official photographer at Lydden Hill where Willie Woods and his team are really making a gigantic difference.

Lydden Hill | BMCRC Sidecar Testing | 9th March 2013

April

IMG started running the FIA European Rallycross Championship with a restructure to the FIA Rallycross RX and wow! what a difference! Here’s possibly one of my favorite motorsport frames this year. I not only cover the European and British Rallycross Championships doing team media for a lot of drivers but also for www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk. Still at time of writing this I am trying to sort out plans to cover the newly announced World Rallycross Championship. Fingers crossed.

Kevin Errikson at 2013 FIA European Rallycross Championship, Round 1 Rallycross of Great Britain, presented by Monster Energy.

May

I probably shot more gigs this year than before. The head and shoulders most successful frame over everything else I shot is this one of Justin Young, lead singer of The Vaccines. Corbis keep sending me money for this frame, not sure where its being used, but long may it last!

Justin Young. The Vaccines play Margate Winter Gardens, Kent. 01/05/2013

June

Did a few Royal duties this year as well. Even to the point that prince Andrew tried to run me down in a golf cart!

Her Majesty The Queen visiting The Argyll & Sutherlander Highlanders, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, (5 SCOTS) at Howe Barracks, Canterbury on Friday 28th June.

July

Holiday for the first time in years 🙂

August

Every so often I get to go and take pictures of my photographic heroes. I was lucky enough to do an editorial portrait shoot of John Cross who’s legendary images of Koo Stark are well known.

Photographer John Cross, who is exhibiting his work at the Golf Road Centre.

September

One of the few premiers did this year was ‘Diana’ unwittingly capturing David Emanuel as ‘another’ where in a couple of months after this he would be the toast of the UK down to his involvement in I’m a Celebrity!

David Emanuel. World Premier of Diana. Odean, London.

October

Did a wedding for a mate, was a great day more here

November

I shot a ton of sport this year. One of my favorite events was the ATP Finals for obvious reasons.

Barclays ATP World Finals. Group B singles match between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. Roger Federer returns the ball.

December

This year more then any other I have shoot more regional press and editorial work. Its something I love more than anything else. Don’t get me wrong covering big high profile events or shooting celebrities is great but meeting everyday people who are doing ordinary things but also sometimes some extra-ordinary things is very, very rewarding. By the way I probably have shots of 50+ Santa’s from this year!

Herne Bay town centre, Mortimer Street. Christmas showcase market stalls during day & light switch on.

So that in a very, very small 12 picture nutshell was my year.

New year is a time to reflect and make resolutions. I think if its all the same to you I’ll just keep doing what I do!

However there’s a couple of things I’d like to do more of in 2014 the first just requires me to get out of bed and that shoot more landscapes! The second is that I have realized I haven’t worked with any models during 2013 and that’s something I’d like to do more of in 2014, so if you want to collaborate get in touch!

Happy New year to all friends and clients both new and old here’s to an awesome 2014.

So Whats A PR Photographer?

Posted on December 6, 2013 by mattbristow

So what is a PR Photographer? and what makes a good one?

A very good question and one I must admit I struggled to answer when it was put to me the other day. My immediate reaction was to say its to promote something, be that an individual or a company. But that’s just a bit woolly and not very concise. It could also refer to commercial photography, product photography or even advertising photography.

My own opinion I think its a hybrid between press photography and editorial photography. Normally there are pretty tight time constraints on delivering a set of images and more often than not the images do appear in the press so lots of similarities there then. On the other hand you normally get to be a bit more creative and you certainly get more time to actually do the shoot. But really its just the ability to be able to answer a brief by creating great images.

The following three images are all press work all shot for and used by a newspaper.

The next three are all PR shots. Notice any difference? no? then I rest my case.

Its not always about people either a new restaurant or supermarket opening some of the best images are of the detail.

So how should you actually choose the right PR Photographer for your job? Ask as many questions as you can. For example do they shoot much PR?

Experience doesn’t always account for everything but an experienced PR Photographer will instinctively make sure that any branding is prominent in every shot. They will know what editors or designers like to see.

But do you agree with me? I’d like to hear what you might think.