lincoln
The exterior shots of the building which is matt black in colour and looking amazing against all the greenery in the daylight. Again, I showed as many different perspectives as I could, to give a sense of the scale of the build and how the structure presents in its immediate surroundings.
Here I’m making images of the training classrooms for cadets and the servicing area for army vehicles where cadets are taught mechanics and vehicle maintenance. The two classrooms I photographed have great light and could be made into one large open space when the moveable wall separating the two rooms is pushed back.
The maintenance part of the building beneath the classrooms is so large that it felt a bit like being in an aircraft hanger! When I saw the size of the army trucks parked outside I understood why so much space was needed. The shutter doors were also big and solid and everything around me seemed oversized. Hence lots of work with my wide-angle lenses to show off the different perspectives of all that space in the servicing and maintenance area.
My first visit to an army barracks! I really didn’t know what to expect but was very quickly put at ease by a very friendly, soon to retire gentleman, with a classic handlebar moustache and cheeky grin with sparkly blue eyes. He’s such a character and had so many stories to tell about the long list of tours he had undertaken, I could have listened to him all day!
However, there was work to do, so after my cup of coffee and chat I got to work on this new build which the architects responsible for this new structure had commissioned me to photograph. There were three parts to this shoot and I’m starting with the gym.
These images are of a large, light filled, spacious and well-equipped gym where cadets, reserves and staff members would be using the excellent facilities. The architects requested I photograph the gym with people in it for some shots but sadly that wasn’t possible as the new facility was still waiting for the fire safety certificates to be issued so the gym wasn’t yet officially in use.
It’s always a challenge to work in mixed lighting situations and tricky to not accidentally photograph myself in the long mirrored walls but I’ve enough experience and practice now to make sure my reflection is clear of all shots.
I had my work cut out for this shoot given how many buildings I had to get round but also extensive grounds that I could have happily worked in all day. The weather was beautiful and the garden was well organised with distinct areas for growing, playing and sitting in quietly to eat and drink, read, reflect or just listen to the birds. The colours and textures were rich and varied and I realised how much joy it gave the owners to walk around the space and enjoy the different areas of their garden. I wanted to show how the distinct areas all connected so that prospective buyers could get a feel for the layout of the garden and just how much it had to offer. I admit that exploring and photographing this garden did make me want to have my own little green space to cultivate and maybe even photograph. In the meantime here’s some of my favourite shots from photographing this wonderful space.
