Go for the angle

Simple stuff, but many shooters refuse to follow this simple rule, and produce lack-lustre shots that don’t get the impact in the press. Shots that cost the client a good wad of money, and need to attract an audience that should generate enough publicity to pay for itself fifty times over. Anyone involved in PR needs to be able to relate to their client, and also to be able to persuade them to take actions which positively reinforce the message. This includes press & PR shooters.

Which brings me to a sunny, but very windy day at Woodhorn Colliery visitors centre in Ashington, Northumberland. The brief was simply, to provide some striking images. including the venue, for Northumberland Tourism, which was to promote an upcoming event at the location. The venue is home to regular exhibitions, and houses official archives from all aspects of Northumberland dating back 600 years. It also has its original pithead buildings, with the shaft lifts & wheels intact, & other buildings showing the mining heritage that many can remember.

While being a great place to visit, it’s not a great place for pictures away from the fascinating old mining equipment. Time for an angle. Getting everybody in a line was an option, but a very boring one. I noticed the slats running up the side of the library window, so got the three blokes in the group to get climbing. Jules – the head of Northumberland Tourism was an old hand at doing press shoots, so was up in an instant, swinging about like a monkey. The ladies opted to stay at ground level. Just by adjusting their positions, and getting on the deck, I was able to show the architecture of the building – including its unusual jutting spiral roof. With smiles all round, crisp light, and the upward angle, the shot was a cracker.Photographed with a Nikon D3, and 24-70mm f2.8 lens, 1/160th sec f8, ISO 200