As I mentioned a fortnight ago, I’m doing a lot of work for Active Tameside this year. They’re responsible for promoting leisure and health-based activities throughout the Tameside area. I’m booked for several days throughout the year shooting the range of activities and events that they put on, in all different spheres, to build up for them a library of stock images that will be used in all advertising, on brochures, across social media, and so on. What I especially like about them is that they have very clear ideas on how they want to promote their services and facilities – basically, they use ‘real’ people rather than hiring in models. The emphasis is on reality.
Which was why a couple of months ago I visited iTrain, their fantastic gym in Dukinfield, on a Sunday morning to photograph some of the regular gym members doing their workouts. As you can see, a Sunday morning is a pretty busy time at iTrain, with a range of fitness classes, through to individuals working on their own programmes in the gym. So the fitness photoshoot lasted well into the afternoon, though I think we got some great images as a result.
The brief each time is to capture what’s going on, while providing clear, graphic images that convey the activities. As the final outcome might be a page in a brochure, a cut out on a poster, or some other use, I’m conscious of the need to shoot in a wide range of styles – a mixture of wide shots and close-ups, both portrait and landscape orientation (I know these are all landscape shots ….. but they look better in a blog post!), and with plenty of dead space for text if needed.
It’s also a pleasure working with the Graphics Department team on the shoot, especially the Creative Designer Christo. Getting to know someone’s preferred design style, and shooting for that specifically, is one of the benefits of a long term arrangement like this one.
Until next time …
