Simon Ridgway Photography » recent work

recent work : artist liam o’connor

simonridgway — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:39:27 +0000

Some portraits of painter Liam O’Connor in his Cardiff studio, for a newspaper feature.

recent work : eleri sion portraits

simonridgway — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:00:00 +0000

A set of portraits of TV and radio presenter Eleri Sion near her home in Barry in South Wales. These were for a profile piece in a welsh language magazine, with one shot for the cover and a couple more for inside.

recent work : mothers’ day portrait

simonridgway — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:00:00 +0000

A portrait session in Swansea to illustrate a feature on Mothers’ Day in one of the Sunday supplements. I shot loads, complete with clothing changes and hair and makeup. Unfortunately it turns out the picture was used the size of postage stamp! You just never know what newspapers are going to do with your pictures. In this case it was one of three case studies squeezed into a two page spread. Seems a bit of a waste to me but the shoot was fun and the pictures turned out well.

recent work : edwina hart at the welsh assembly

simonridgway — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:17:39 +0000

I recently shot some portraits of Edwina Hart AM, Minister for Health and Social Services at the Welsh Assembly Government. The shots were for a health journal and were done after an interview at her office at the Welsh Assembly offices in Cardiff Bay. Her office wasn’t a great location for pictures so we arranged to set up in the Senedd building next door where there are lots more options.

Mostly natural light with one Elinchrom studio light in a big Chimera softbox :

recent work : demolition site

simonridgway — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:04:06 +0000

I recently went to photograph the demolition of an old steelworks. A real photographer’s playground – twisted steel and half torn down buildings everywhere. Here’s my favourite from the day…

Its great for the photographer when the client attends the shoot and has the clout to arrange people and large machinery just the way you want!

I got a lot of shots with too much smoke, covering the worker. But I made sure I shot plenty and this one is perfect, there’s just enough smoke surrounding him to separate him from the background pile of metal, which would otherwise have been a bit too distracting.

recent work : catrin finch portrait

simonridgway — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:51:59 +0000

Here’s my favourite picture from a shoot I did a couple of weeks ago with harpist Catrin Finch for the Independent on Sunday Review.

recent work : corporate portrait shoot

simonridgway — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:47:41 +0000

Here’s an example of a corporate portrait shoot with 3 completely different looks in one hour on location. That hour included scouting the location for possible shots, setting up lighting in two of those locations and packing up all the gear at the end.

This is why professional photographers don’t charge by the hour. My ability to complete this shoot quickly meant that the subject didn’t have to stand around waiting. Being able to produce high quality photography as efficiently as possible shouldn’t mean I get paid less.

recent work : specials halloween disco

simonridgway — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:09:36 +0000

For a “Specials” magazine story about a Halloween disco organised by the Cardiff police.

It wasn’t looking very promising to start but eventually someone persuaded them to join in with the dancing – and that’s when the pictures starting getting good!

recent work : MotorMartTV

simonridgway — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:03:12 +0000

Some shots for Car Dealer Magazine. Shot on the owners driveway at his home and in his home office.

recent work : recession case study

simonridgway — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:52:13 +0000

This shot was used to illustrate a story about people having to work extra hours to stay in business during these tough economic times.

After figuring out the best pose for the shop owner in the window, I lit the inside of the shop with two hotshoe flashguns on radio remotes and let the exposure outside go dark to give a better impression of “working late”. Then I asked one of the shop assistants to walk past the front of the shop to give a bit of added interest. A tripod and a slow shutter speed helps to give a sense of motion.

This was shot at the McArthurGlen designer shopping village just outside Bridgend.