Working with Digital 360 Marketing Agency and Haute Couture designer Client
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My career has taken me to every continent across the globe, from the Canadian Arctic to Asia, Africa, the South Pacific, and Central & North America. As a result, I've also been fortunate to have photographed some of the most recognisable celebrity faces alongside my commercial, corporate and fashion editorial work and projects.
I'm always trying to weave a story into my images with my photography. I'm looking to attach a narrative to the photo's subject or subjects. This may be obvious or sometimes ambiguous, but these visual narratives have huge potential for businesses, regardless of their industry. Companies aren't looking for standard headshots against a white backdrop anymore. Instead, they're looking for dynamic, intimate, truthful photos that instantaneously present the story of who they are as a company.
It's with these sensibilities that, earlier this year, I became the principal photographer for the Marketing and Branding agency 'Digital 360 Mobi'.
One of the significant advantages of working with a full-service digital agency such as digital 360 mobi is the opportunity to work with their roster of eclectic clients.
As you may already know, I specialise in photographing 'people'. Whether for a lifestyle campaign selling a new range of coffee, a supermarket's home delivery service, or an International logistic freight company requiring an entirely new collection of images that visually describe their work.
One of the agencies' significant clients is MH Mena, a rising Haute couture luxury fashion house based in London with global ambition.
The brand needed a new website built for its first design collection, launching in early 2022. So this was a significant campaign, bringing together all of Digital 360's marketing, comms, design, and photography teams in planning and production.
We all met with Mena Mamoodi at the designer's studio in North West London. We drafted our many ideas and discussed venues, home many people we needed for the shoots, how many shots, and whether we needed a separate Lookbook to accompany the main photo shoot. We also had the opportunity to meet two of the models and see a number of the dresses for the first time.
We all left the meeting with our dedicated personal plan of action. My first task was to accompany Mena, the designer and Digital 360's Marketing & Social Media Manager, Omima. Next, we were to decide the best venue for the shoot. This took a lot longer than I had anticipated; this, of course, needed to look perfect. The venue needed to convey a sense of romanticism and complement and celebrate female beauty, one that paid homage to the astronomical exploration of the stars of our universe; this was the theme for the collection under Creative Director Mena Hamoodi.
We chose the Hill Gardens and The Pergola, one of the hidden delights of Hampstead Heath in North London. This turned out to be a perfect location, outside but sheltered from the outside world; we were never too distracted by the general public—the overgrown flowerage helped bring great colour and depth to the background. The ornate Italian style stonework also brought another dimension, adding the romantic element that we were looking for.
John Ferguson’s Fashion Shoot with MH.Mena for Digital 306 Mobi Design agency
I'd pre hired 6 Profoto heads from the Pro centre, some scrims(large silky reflectors), light stands, a boom arm for particular lighting set-ups, and several different size photo umbrellas, all with their reflectors. I decided to go with my Nikon D850 camera system rather than my Hasselblad XD1 II because of the sheer volume of images I needed to capture during the day. We also needed to produce a Lookbook that required a separate white backdrop of all the designs from the day's shoot. Speed was another factor in using my Nikon system (A Lookbook gives viewers ideas on how to style outfits or show what the latest fashions are).
I was helped on the day by my two great photo assistants helping me with all the lighting and camera equipment whilst also looking for anything in scenes that might need changing. Plus, I also had the services of a digital tech whose job is to manage all the digital files and make sure all the photographs have been delivered safely and correctly to the laptop on set.
The designer, Mena and her team were all on set, making sure all the costumer were looking their best. In addition, 360 digital had their people on hand, ensuring we didn't miss any shots or any of the photo scenarios, plus the hair and make-up crew were also on hand to check that the three models were all looking their best at all times. We had 20 outfits to photograph separately and together. It was touch and go whether we would fit in everything. We had to dodge the rain for most of the morning, which was a genuine concern at one stage when the heavens opened on us, but we managed to adjust and work around the weather breaks.
I also had to find an excellent videographer to film extracts for the websites and social media channels. Luckily I had just the person in mind; Joel Court had just finished filming me for a project I was working on for the Ernst & Young accountancy corporate. Joel did a great job on a testing day, capturing all the action and BTS for the client and myself.
The day went brilliantly, and we produced all the images needed for the client. I think I shot over 3 thousand images during the day; all backed up to a series of portable hard drives. Working perfectly together, this was a great team performance resulting in a thrilled client… what more can you ask for?
