Tony Pick Archives - Tony Pick Photography

Why I love my job…

I took the below screengrab from my website. Now, whilst this may seem like self-promotion stick with me on this (because it isn’t – much).

Being a photographer gives you an element of your career anyone would want – variety. In one week I can be on a shoot with a couple blissfully celebrating their wedding, creating a video for an airline and capturing that ideal corporate head shot to keep you head and shoulders above the rest of your firm.

What I’m trying to express is that one of the reasons I love my job so much is because I get to do so much within one role. I’m able to get out and explore the countryside which I live in whilst at the same time earning an income – sounds pretty great to me.

And, with variety comes networking. Throughout my job I couldn’t guess the amount of people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, or list the friends I’ve made along the way. The social aspect of my job is what’s helped me keep going for so long – to be motivated about what you do is a huge help in ensuring you’ve got a long term career.

Well – long may it last. I love my job and can’t think of a better way to spend my time when I’m ‘working’!

Photograph or return ticket?

I’ve heard this saying before and think it really sums up what I do. Capturing special moments for people and providing them with prints that they can look back on with fond memories is, in essence, like giving them a return ticket to a particular moment in time.

Anyone who has been reading and following my blog will know that I love portrait photography – they really are my favourite type of shoot (if any of my corporate clients are reading this, don’t worry – I still love working with you!) However, on a portrait shoot I get invited into a special moment with a group of people and am able to share this with them, documenting it at the same time. Not only does this make my job an awful lot easier (albeit, sometimes even the most well behaved children can be camera shy) but it also makes it really enjoyable!

Recently I joined a lovely family staying in Aldeburgh for a shoot, which is partly why I’m reflecting on it for this blog post. It really reminded me that actually, photography can bring people together. I’m lucky also that the area I operate in is full of natural beauty – from the coastline at Thorpeness, Orford and Southwold to the forest in Rendlesham, I have a fantastic backdrop which ensures any portraits I shoot have an impressive backdrop.

The whole aim of portrait photography is to capture personality by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses (or at least, it was when I last looked). But, its not quite that simple – these 4 tactics are ones I swear by to try and make shoots as enjoyable as possible, particularly with young children!

Wear clothes you’re comfortable in
Bring children’s favourite toys and teddies
Juice, milk and sweeties are always helpful
Be prepared to have fun!

If, after reading this you’re considering booking a shoot or would like to know more, please do drop me a line – even if it’s just to ask a question, I’m more than happy to help!

Springing into the new season…

With the warmer weather on the horizon and the sight of spring creeping into view, I thought it was time to update my blog with what I’ve been up to before the summer season fully takes off.

It’s been a busy few weeks with a huge amount of variety for me, from filming the ‘Big Beach Clean’ at Thorpeness, working with Gatwick Airport during their ‘Hidden Disability Access Day’ to commissioning work for ‘Best of Suffolk’ and shooting a wedding! (phew)

Here in Suffolk, the community spirit is one of the strongest I’ve witnessed and so to be able to document this during the Thorpeness beach clean (when the people of the village came together to help save our planet from pollution) was very rewarding. If you haven’t watched the video on my Instagram page yet, you should definitely give it a view – heart-warming teamwork at its best.

The ‘Hidden Disability Access Day’ held by Gatwick Airport was another inspiring project I worked on. Being able to document the effect the event had on people who usually struggle with airports was quite moving. The team at Gatwick had evidently worked hard to make the day a success and put those with hidden disabilities first. This commission is one of my favourite corporate jobs I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of.

Sticking with the corporate side, my friends at ‘Best of Suffolk’ have also been busy during the start of this year. We had a hilarious morning filming the team in their (very) impressive office space, and managed to also get out into the beautiful Suffolk countryside to film this! The company work hard to ensure all of their 300+ properties are truly amazing, allowing a visit to Suffolk to be the best it can be.

And, as if this wasn’t enough – I also shot a wedding at ‘The Ickworth Hotel’! It was a really special day for everyone involved, and if you’re getting married soon and looking for that perfect photographer please get in touch! A portfolio of some of my work can be found here, and if you’d like to know more about the package I offer please click here.

I think it’s fair to say the first part of 2018 has been pretty hectic – and it’s just the way I like it! I’m really looking forward to this year after the positive start I’ve had!

The Beast of the East…

As the blizzards and wintery weather continue to wreak havoc with the roads, our journeys to work and getting the kids to school, they’re definitely aiding my content creation.

At this time of year, living in Suffolk can definitely have its downfalls – the snow ploughs and gritters don’t make it around our smaller villages so easily, needless to say through Iken where I live. However, what this does mean is that if I venture out and about, I know I need to make it worth it – and I’m sure you’ll see I have been!

If you haven’t though, take a look at my Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/tonypickphoto/

Several people have been saying to me that I must be mad to wade out to the far corners of the world to capture some photographs, but it’s always worth it. The Suffolk coast is dramatic on even calm days here, so to see it exposed to the elements like this is a photographers dream come true.

The opportunities lately have got me thinking about themes on Instagram, and how it can look if you transition from one to another by creating similar content. This is how the top of my feed looked yesterday – and I rather like it! Definitely something to bear in mind as we transition into the springtime!

Flying high…

Excuse the pun, but the last few weeks I really have been.

Working with airlines is always something I’ve enjoyed, and just recently I’ve been working with Norwegian Air as well as Stansted Airport on some exciting new projects.

With my new video venture in full swing now, I was keen to offer up my services on my recent shoots and in turn was able to create the below video – take the time to sit back, relax and enjoy the flight as the film develops…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XypPX4knzEI&feature=youtu.be

It’s great to be back on the press side of corporate photography, after working as a partner in a busy photo news agency before I started out on my own in 2001.

Working and living in Suffolk can be fantastic for photography which I know I’ve mentioned before (who wouldn’t love all of the natural scenes around here?), but as I work from home in Iken it’s sometimes exciting to get out of the house and immerse myself in a corporate environment where there’s a real buzz.

Going forwards I’d love to team my videography with more corporate clients – so watch this space!

Did you mean MailChimp?

… I’m not too sure, did I?

Well actually, that’s not strictly true – if mention MailChimp, I definitely did mean to, because it’s not something I tend to shout about.

In their own words, MailChimp is a

“creative company that gives other companies digital tools to grow in their own creative ways”,

which basically means a platform useful for designing and sharing a mass-delivered email newsletter to your mailing list (I see what they did there though, makes it seem more valuable and less see-through).

However, I wouldn’t be talking you through the uses of MailChimp if they hadn’t caught my eye for their own promotional campaign – they created 9 individual concepts that all revolved around puns of their name. These consisted of:

3 short films released in cinemas nationwide in the US – MailShrimp, KaleLimp & JailBlimp
WhaleSynth, a real musical tool made entirely out of whale noises
VeilHymn, a musical collaboration that resulted in a hit single and music video
NailChamp, a world-wide platform for nail artists to be pitted off against each other for the title
MailCrimp and SnailPrimp, hear and beauty trends
FailChips

Check them out here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8FGi6BwjJE

For more analytics and details on the campaign and its results click here, but what I wanted to touch on was the way they used a paid search campaign to ensure they were noticed. In terms of marketing and PR, I’m gradually learning that it’s a bit of a taboo subject. Paid posts and content are now more obvious than ever before, and hence it has become more difficult for small businesses to promote themselves in a way that is tailored as opposed to targeting the masses simply for ease and guaranteed exposure (see what I did there with the photography pun? I’m learning…)

MailChimp dropped themselves into every part of culture and waited for the right people to pick them up, leading to some amazing coverage and results as summarised in the video above. This campaign really highlighted to me that in order to reach a specific audience, the most effective path isn’t always the obvious one and maybe it does require you to be a bit more creative to get noticed…

Whilst I appreciate the aid paid for posts can give you, I also now understand how much more aware of this people are and can disregard you for it… a lesson for all of my friends running a small business!

When one door opens…

… so do many others it turns out!

When I started creating short videos to try and prove to small local businesses that they are far more engaging than stills on social media and

can drive interest in the company, I didn’t expect such a quick take up! (saying that, if you haven’t been in touch yet please do drop me a line!)

So far, I’ve had one of the most exciting meetings I’ve ever had in my career with a local venue that is absolutely incredible, so my fingers are

very firmly crossed for that.

I’ve also been asked to help the Suffolk charity ‘The Alde and Ore Estuary Trust’, which is committed to raising vital funds needed for maintaining

the estuary defence walls. Their current campaign, ‘Save our Suffolk Estuary’ is a £5m public fundraising appeal to unlock matching funds, and I

really feel I can help.

By creating stunning short videos for the towns and villages along the rivers Alde and Ore, I plan to help raise awareness of the natural beauty

of these areas, in turn helping to prevent future flooding like that experienced by Snape villagers in 2013.

North Sea Storm Surge – The Crown Inn at Snape Dec 2013. Photo by Tony Pick

I love the Suffolk landscape, and want to give something back to the beautiful place my family and I live in. Without significant investment in

maintaining the estuary walls, this landscape will soon not be able to

withstand tidal surges, and therefore it is crucial to raise peoples’ awareness of this. I am excited to be able to help local businesses achieve their

goals too, and this leap has definitely lead me to new

connections, new business and new ventures! Speaking of which, I received some coverage for the EADT online and would love you to head

over and check it out!

http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/photographer-turns-to-video-to-help-promote-suffolk-estuary-1-5365047
Orfordness – On the Suffolk Coast. Photo by Tony Pick

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How much do you know…

… about video?

You might think you know rather a lot, or at least enough – but that’s what I thought. I always knew video was an important tool, but recently my eyes have been opened to just how much impact these clips can have for your business.

Let’s start with an example… the video below, titled ‘Riding the waves’ which I’m sure you’ll have seen on my social media channels (if not you can view it by clicking the image below!) reached an impressive 7,000 views within a week. Now, here is where I have to come clean; I did use Facebook Boost to help with these figures, but the below stats taken from a Guardian article should help reiterate my point that video can be really effective at driving more engagement for businesses online.

In 2015, Cisco predicted that by 2017 video content would account for 69% of all internet traffic
In early 2017 the firm shifted their prediction to say that video content would account for 74% of internet traffic
They project that by 2019 global internet traffic from videos will make up 80% of all internet traffic
4x as many consumers would prefer to watch a video about a product/place/service rather than read about it
More than 60% of small business owners said they planned to increase investment in video marketing in 2017
Using the word “video” in an email subject line boosts open rates by 19% and click-through rates by 65%

This means that any local business interested in creating short, impactful and engaging stories through videography would be foolish not to contact me – I can help you provide beautiful, professional and eye-catching videos that will really work for you.

Using another example, my promotional video of ‘Orford – a beautiful place’ earned 2,000 views on social media in just 48 hours.

Although I’ve just started my venture into video, I’m really excited to see where it goes, and am extremely passionate about creating videos that promote the breath-taking Suffolk countryside we live in – watch this space!

As it snow happens…

Family and children’s portraits in Suffolk with Tony Pick photography

I love the winter (really, I do).

What better time to be a photographer in Suffolk? The countryside in this part of the world is so beautiful, and in the colder months there’s nothing better than the sound of crisp leaves under your feet.

The image above is from a shoot taken a few years ago now, outside The Wentworth Hotel and I think it really epitomises just how much fun portraits can be (even in adverse weather conditions!)

It’s a shame that with Christmas fast approaching, and the quest for that all-important knock-out gift weighing on our minds that we often forget to take the time to stop and appreciate the natural world around us.

And, that’s what’s great about my job – the whole focus of it is capturing families in beautiful settings, producing images that highlight the season as well as the dynamic of the household I’m working with.

Being a portrait photographer (whether its children, adults or a mixture of the two), you’d think I’d be the one fed up of standing in the cold whilst I encourage the grumpy toddlers to run around in the leaves or along the rough shoreline at either Aldeburgh or Southwold – not at all! (most of them aren’t actually grumpy for a start – they love it!) Yet, being based in such a beautiful part of the world allows me the freedom to create wonderful family portraits with different people every day of the week.

In the run up to Christmas, and with the snow falling outside it can be easy to find lots of things to complain about. If anything, this time of year makes me stop and take in my surroundings and situation more than any other – I help people create the perfect Christmas gift for their loved ones, all the while allowing them a fun family day out!

This year, if you feel like you’re walking on thin ice and want to surprise someone with that extra special present, I snow full well that a family portrait package with me will cure all of those winter blues.

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Where have I been… and where am I headed!

When I looked back on my blog recently I was sad – sad I’d neglected it for so long!

Needless to say, I’m back now and ready to devote some more time to this!

When you run your own business, decide to give up your store front, move house and relocate your office into your new home, I think it’s fair to say that there are certain aspects of your company that can be forgotten, and writing my blog has been one of them!

Believe me, I love taking the time out of a busy morning or afternoon to sit with my thoughts for half an hour and jot them down here for everyone to read – sometimes I just forget to do this!

More recently, I’ve been working really hard to expand the family portrait side of the business. You may have seen various communications about this through my different channels (because hopefully you follow them – click on the icons above if not to have a browse!). I love all aspects of photography of course, but have always really enjoyed shooting family portraits in the autumn/winter months.

Not only do these provide really great Christmas ideas (even for those family members who are ridiculously hard to buy for!) but they also leave each family unit with some wonderful memories, which can be saved and cherished forever!

As an add on to my portrait packages, I now include a wonderfully interactive film for each family so that they can showcase their photographs beautifully and with real flare – it’s a wonderful asset to have if you have a moving digital picture frame at home too – these films look just fantastic on the mantle piece!

If you’re reading this and I’ve managed to get your attention and spark some interest in booking a shoot (I still have a few slots left before Christmas!) then click on the contact link above and get in touch! We’d love to hear from you and offer a wide range of locations for you to choose from, or you can of course suggest some yourself!

That’s all from me for now – got to get back to the grind!