Maserati GB - Social Media Takeover

Maserati recently invited me to takeover their GB Social Media in May and share the images from a UK road trip in the incredible Maserati Ghibli Trofeo.

We headed to North Wales with the sound of the Maserati’s V8 and a promising weather forecast. After a stunning driving through Snowdonia, we was treated to one of the best sunset’s I’ve experienced so far this year with the most golden low light. This weather luckily stayed with us for the rest of the photoshoot, with the low light really highlighting the external features of the car.

These photos were used throughout May as part of my takeover of the Maserati GB Instagram page. Below are a selection of my favourite images from the photoshoot.

PhD Nutrition - 'Born From Science' Campaign Photoshoot

Photography supporting the new ‘Born From Science’ campaign from PhD Nutrition, one of the UK’s biggest supplement brands.

PhD Nutrition, originally founded in my home city of Kingston upon Hull, has grown to be one of Europe’s leading nutrition brands.

I’ve worked with PhD on several occasions and this shoot was one of their biggest to date, which included all the brands ambassadors with Ross Edgley, Obi Vincent, Kalia Lai and Lewis Harrison just to name a few.

A few favourites from the two day photoshoot.

Db Journey - Photoshoot in Madeira

Recent work for Db, shooting a selection their award winning travel gear on the incredible island of Madeira.

Part of the Db slogan is journey, so we couldn’t think of a better idea than to make their products part of ours.

We photographed the Db travel bags on the amazing little island of Madeira. With mountain hikes above the clouds, packed with gear, these bags certainly didn’t feel or look out of place.

A few favourites from the photoshoot.

Audi R8 Photoshoot - Supercar on the Beach

Sand, Sea and the sound of a 5.2 litre V10.

I recently had chance to photograph the road ripping Audi R8 Spyder as part of a collaboration with Audi UK. North Wales was the perfect location to shoot this incredible engineered supercar, with content captured at several different spots in the area.

Since this was the Spyder, we had to take it to the beach. It’s the law.

We didn’t just take it to the beach, we put it on the beach. Yep, a 600bhp supercar on the sand.

The next location was in the heart of Snowdonia, on the mountain roads leading to the UK’s highest peak. We didn’t quite get the glorious weather we had at the coast but on this occasion the weather worked in our favour, with the final shots packing a real moody punch.

This was my third automotive photoshoot with Audi, with the images being used on social media to increase the brand’s reach.

Here’s a small selection of my favourite images.

Product & Automotive Photoshoot for Davanti Tyres

Davanti Tyres, a leading tyre company in the UK, said to me “we have a bunch of cool 4x4’s for the day, let’s get them dirty and show what the tyres can do!”. I happily obliged.

Davanti wanted to showcase their amazing ‘TERRATOURA A/T’, an all-terrain, all-weather tyre. It was also the first opportunity I’ve had to photograph the newly designed, Land Rover Defender.

Here is a selection of images captured on the day. This online assets were used on social media and other online marketing.

Client - Davanti Tyres
Cars supplied by Sterling Automotive

A Scotland Road trip in the Audi RS Q8

The roads, the car, the scenery. All the ingredients for a perfect road trip.

A recent automotive photoshoot for Audi led to a weeks adventure to one of my favourite countries, Scotland. After spending 7 days behind the wheel, I’m starting to think the Audi RS Q8 may be the ultimate road trip vehicle. An addictive V8, incredible comfort and head turning styling.

The Scottish Highlands must surely be the worlds greatest backdrop for a car photoshoot with perfect driving roads and jaw dropping scenery. Even with Scotland’s biggest infamy being its weather, we was treated to some incredible sunrises, evenings and even a dusting of snow. We managed to photograph this beautiful vehicle for every season in just one week.

The content created was used as a social media collaboration with Audi UK. Here are some highlights from the week.

Check out my work from other automotive projects here

Molly Thompson-Smith x PhD Nutrition Photoshoot

February 2020 brought an exciting collaboration shoot with PhD Nutrition & Great Britain climber Molly Thompson-Smith. The shoot took place at Molly’s local rock climbing gym in Sheffield. Molly is currently an ambassador for supplement giants, PhD Nutrition.

The objective of this shoot was to document Molly’s typical training session and her use of supplements to help with performance and recovery.

These images are to be used as exciting new content for PhD Nutrition on their social media and website.

The Hull based PhD Nutrition is one of the leading brands in the supplement industry and was a pleasure to work with them once again!

PhD Nutrition

Molly Thompson-Smith

Mud, Sweat & Beers - The Land Rover 110 Bar Photoshoot!

The start of 2020 brought a pretty exciting project that involved a Land Rover Defender 110. This was no normal landy however, this 110 had been converted into a BEER WAGON!

We set up in various locations in its home county of North Yorkshire, showing off it’s unique function as a roaming 4x4 bar!

The objective of this automotive photo shoot was to show it’s wow factor as a bar with a twist that can be hired for weddings, festivals and other functions.

The final images from this shoot have been used for the hire company’s social media, brochure and website.

ONE TEN ON TAP

Gin Launch Photoshoot! The Humber Street Distillery Company.

Locally distilled spirits, pink gins & cocktails at Hull’s first gin distillery!

Always a pleasure to work with this team who also offer the coolest gin bar in the area. Inspired by the atmospheric bars of Edinburgh & London, I was invited back down to photograph their latest creations which are distilled in Hull.

Starting with their newest Pink Gin, ‘Hull Rhubarb & Berry’, we set up the photo shoot within the Gin Bar itself which offers a fantastic story of it’s local heritage. We also really wanted to emphasis the flavour in these images as well as highlighting that this is a premium product.

The next phase of this photo shoot was to shoot their exciting ‘Hull Vodka’ which is a first for this East Yorkshire based company.

We couldn’t end the shoot there, we of course had to photograph some their renowned cocktails!!

The images from this day shoot were used on their social media, website and local press releases to promote these product releases.

HSDC - www.hsdc.co.uk

Premium Prints now for sale!

I’m extremely excited to announce my first ever batch of premium photography prints!

A handpicked collection of photos taken by me on my travels around the world - from Reindeers in Norway to active Volcanoes in New Zealand.

Printed on Fuji Crystal archive paper with a semi-matt finish.

FREE DELIVERY (UK Mainland) on all prints and 10% of all sales will be donated to WWF to help save the Amazon rainforest.

Land Rover Defender Photoshoot in the Yorkshire Dales

I was lucky enough to be part of a really exciting project this summer, photographing the legendary Land Rover Defender in the Yorkshire Dales.

Vehicle Hire company Yorkshire Vehicle Hire wanted some fresh content for their website and social media and I jumped at the chance.

The photo shoot took place over a 24 hour period which gave us chance to shoot this Defender at sunrise & sunset in various locations in the Yorkshire Dales.

All images shot and edited by Jack Gray.

Easter Egg Recipe - Food Photography

Happy Easter!!

Chocolate Egg's are obviously popular with this date so I have created some mouth watering recipes to help celebrate.

Creme Egg Waffles
A very simple recipe - Waffles, Creme Eggs and melted milk chocolate.

Scotch Pancakes
Oreo's, Creme Egg's and Scotch Pancakes.

S

Pancake Day 2016 - Hull Food Photography

Isn't Pancake Day an amazing event? Okay, it's not really big enough to be a national holiday but it's amazing how everyone will crave a single food for one day.

This year, the pancakes I was to photograph were of a different design. They were indeed, high protein pancakes. No, this doesn't mean they're sprinkled with chicken but instead fruit and zero calorie sauces...and they're still very, very tasty!!

Monstersupplements, the sports nutrition giant based in Hull had requested that I photograph their 3 main recipes which were to be used on their website and their social media to increase customer engagement.

Using a transportable Photography studio, I paid a visit to their main offices in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. My idea was to decorate the photo with the main ingredients which were used in the pancakes such as the protein powder and zero calorie sauces. Please see below for my latest work for my food photography portfolio... ENJOY!!

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

I'm sure you're mouth is watering and if you're interested in my services for food photography, please visit my 'Contact' page. I cover the whole of Yorkshire including Leeds, Hull, York and also Lincolnshire.

Yorkshire Christening Photography in Beeford - Edward

Edwards’s Christening was a fantastic day filled with celebration with family & friends.

The christening was held at the parish church of St Leonard in Beeford, East Yorkshire.

I started the shoot straight away before the actual ceremony and with my "behind the scenes" approach. You can see this method worked perfectly as it allowed me to capture those true moments that aren't artificial but are brilliantly natural.

If you you have any questions about my services, please visit my contact page.

Three Day Millionaires - Band Photography Hull

Photoshoot with Three Day Millionaires

It was a great experience to shoot these guys live again.

This shoot also came at a big time for the band as it was their EP launch night in Hull. They were rightly giving a brilliant recepotion and below you can find some photographs from the band live.

Enjoy!

Afternoon Tea - Food Photography.

This week brought the shoot of the soon to be released "Afternoon Tea" for The Gardeners Country Inn just outside of Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire.

It's a special treat with freshly cut finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones, teacakes, cream & jam. It had the works!

It's beautifully presented so deserved the photographs to serve it justice:

View fullsize

There is some great food in Yorkshire...

Jack Gray Photography

Band Photography - First Experience and Tips.

So.. In this blog I'm going to give you some tips on shooting a live band. This topic came about after I had my first opportunity to photograph a band. This was a bit of a challenge as I knew the lighting would be far from ideal but was still very exciting!

Here are some tips:

View fullsize

Notice the details

Think outside the box and photograph the smaller details such as the bands kit, notes and equipment.

Yes your main photo's from the shoot will be of the band itself but capturing the smaller details as this will beef up your album.

Here's an example from my first shoot. It's simply the badges on a guitar but with the depth of field and play on colour, you have yourself and interesting photo!

Be a fly on the wall

You want to capture those natural moments so at times try to keep out of sight. Those natural shots are far more compelling than a set-up one.  I'm not telling you to hide behind a bin but make sure you keep a small distance and don't be shooting in peoples faces. By doing this, you're more likely to get those photo's that shows the band working together, preparing before they perform and bonding.

Another example from my first shoot ->

View fullsize

Shoot Manual

You'll be expected to get some action shots which can be difficult with the constant change in lighting. If you shoot manual, you have the option to change the ISO settings & aperture so that you can decrease the noise & grain in your photo's. Having a high ISO setting is imperative in low light situations. However, if the stage lights increase you'll want to lower the ISO so you don't over expose the image.

If you balance shutter speed speed, aperture and ISO you will get the desired exposure.

Also, shooting manual means you can constantly change the depth of field. Trying to get all the members of the band in one shoot would mean a higher depth of field where as a single band member or smaller detail would look better with a lower depth of field.

However, do revise your camera settings and know how a change will effect the final photo as in some cases, you only have minutes to photograph!

Shoot in Colour

I would agree that most photographs of a band look better in black & white but don't completely rule out colour. if you shoot in just black & white, the final album will be just one dimensional. Remember, you can change your images to black & white later!

RAW.. not JPEG

There are so many reasons to shoot RAW over JPEG in almost every situation and you have that many reasons for shooting in RAW for a live show. Lighting is your biggest challenge and any flaws in your photo can more easily be rectified if the image is a RAW format.

Thank you for reading and I hope this was in some way helpful!

Jack Gray Photography :)

Solar Eclipse 2015.

March 20th, 2015. The day the UK got to see the solar eclipse!

The last time I had the chance to see this was 1999. I was far more excited this time around as I had an SLR and I understood the rarity of this event.... and I wasn't 8.

Photographing the eclipse was always going to be difficult if I wanted to produce something different to all of the other photographs from that day. This was going to be one of the most photographed events of the year so the task of taking a unique photo looked challenging.

The conditions of the day were different to what I hoped, everybody had asked for a clear sky but this was not the case. The clouds soon appeared in the morning and stayed that way for the whole event. However, this played to my advantage. Due to the clouds, the ISO settings had to be drastically changed which created a spooky atmosphere. With the unexpected setting, I decided to photograph the eclipse with a tree which proved to be a fantastic silhouette. 

After many, many shots, I still didn't feel satisfied that I had produced something different. Yes it was a little more creative but still didn't have an immense "wow" factor. Time was against me as the moon was retreating away from the sun but then came the stroke of luck I wished for. A bird flew straight in front of my camera and as I pressed the shutter, I knew that I had my photo.

My memory card went straight into my PC and there it was! Only a small amount of editing was applied, the brightness increased just a little, the image slightly cropped and it was done.

Here it is:

View fullsize

www.jackgrayphotography.co.uk