Photography for Rock Bands Sussex and Hampshire | Sansara
It’s not every day that you get the chance to photograph an up and coming rock band, so I could hardly believe my luck when I had the chance to shoot Sansara for their next album cover and media portfolio. This shoot actually took place in 2011 (I can’t believe how quickly time flies, I can remember it like it was yesterday). Whilst trawling through the archives during the build phase of this site, I realised how much I’m still drawn to these photos. I try to keep my portrait style timeless, so the photos my clients invest in will never look dated. That’s best done by bringing classic elements into your work, but without any appearance of being old fashioned. Avoiding on-trend gimmicks also helps.
Huge thanks to my friend and fellow photographer Tracy Willis for this. Tracy’s son is a member of the band. Tracy also has some amazing contacts for styling, lighting, makeup and hair. We were very well taken care of on the day.
For a shoot like this the location is so important, so I made the journey to Hampshire and met up with the rest of the gang at Netley Abbey just outside of Southampton. What a place, a vast maze of crumbling ruins, a perfect location for atmospheric shots. The guys knew what they wanted, absolutely no cliches. In another post I’ve shown pictures of the set: Behind the Scenes on a Rock Band Photo Shoot
In terms of the lighting, that’s a decision we make based on a number of factors, including the look we’re trying to achieve, our environment, and the size and age of our subjects. On this shoot I decided to use only natural light, because there was plenty of it (quality and direction being vital) but the main thing is that the light was softened by the archways and windows of the building. The effect we were able to create by carefully positioning the guys was perfect. My subjects were young, fresh faced, and slender. So really, I could choose pretty much any lighting pattern that I liked. I decided that I’d use the light as I often do, creating a short “loop” pattern, occasionally amending this to be somewhere midway between loop lighting and butterfly lighting.
