from your questions
to all you need to know
| Q: I like to build long term relationships with photographers. Are all your photographers on the payroll full-time? A: All our photographers are full time. The average length of service of our seven lead photographers is over 12 years. |
Q: How do you prefer to price a job - by the day or by the shot? A: We cost a brief both ways and give you the most economic option. We even guarantee to match or beat any quote from competitors offering a comparable service. |
| Q: Would we be able to shoot large products such as furniture without having to drag products up or down narrow staircases? A: We have a full 5,000 sq ft ground floor facility that's designed for the purpose, with drive-in access. Bring cars, furniture, large white goods or elephants for that matter straight in to the studio (although elephants or their keepers should phone ahead). |
Q: I often like to send the job over and leave the art direction to the photographer when I'm busy. Are your photographers good art directors too? A: Our photographers work every day of the week and possibly art direct even more shots than you do, so you can relax and leave it to us if you wish. Just to check we're seeing things your way, we can send over a low-res JPEG to your email for final approval. |
| Q: I hear a lot about digital cameras. How do I know yours are the best? A: We use exclusively Phase One Lightphase cameras. These are universally regarded professionally as the de-facto standard in advertising photography, winning awards year in year out. We also own the Lightphase H25 - the world's most expensive professional digital camera. This produces instant capture shots in excess of 120 mbs - the perfect tool for posters. See for yourself; www.phaseone.com |
Q: I've had cases with other so called digital photographers where the image I saw on the screen was not the same when printed. How does you prevent this? A: It's all down to equipment - and know-how. Our photographers are trained and examined by independent specialists in all aspects of digital colour management. Our equipment settings are subject to random independent audit and we've our own Fiery Cromalin proofing printer, which enables us to examine our final repro output in CMYK on numerous print profiles. |
| Q: How do you apply Quality Assurance to creative work? A: At a lecture 5 years ago our co-founder Dr. Lee Friend PhD gave one of the clearest definitions of quality assurance as applied to creative original photography. QA assessment in original photography is in four parts: 1. Adherence to brief 2. Composition and lighting creative integrity 3. Technical and Repro fidelity of the image 4. Commercially the work must represent value for money. Our photographers cross check each other's work using this philosophy as a guideline. |
Q: I spend over three weeks at a studio every year shooting my catalogue. I'm usually a long way from home and office and I need to take care of business while I'm gone. That includes having meetings with my clients and suppliers. What office facilities do you have? A: We specialise in large catalogue shoots and our client's welfare is top priority. We have a large daylight client lounge and a meeting room that are fully-equipped with networked workstations and broadband access, as well as comfortable sofas and a free bar. There's also satellite TV, Playstation and a full size pool table to relax. |
