Business Video for Leicester Will Writer

I have just produced a short business video for Leicester will writer Rob Abell of Will Planning Solutions.  Rob was great to work with as he is such a nice bloke with a great sense of humour.  I gave him some guidance on what was was required for his script and he wrote a perfectly timed and planned script.  He also put a lot of thought into the cut-aways that would be needed, which helped the filming day go smoothly.  This video will go on Rob's new website and will not only help to bring the website to life, but it will be fabulous for the search engine optimisation of his site too.

Business Portraits for Leicester Solicitor

I have just been commissioned to take some business portraits for a Leicester family solicitor and mediator, Glynis Wright.

My brief was to take a range of shots to to show the different sides of Glynis' business.  I took some softer shots to illustrate the mediation side of the business.  Due to client confidentiality, we obviously had to use models instead of a real couple!  The mediation room had soft furnishings and Glynis wore fairly neutral clothing.  I had to take photographs to make Glynis look friendly and approachable (which she is anyway!).

I then set up my studio lights and a white background to take take some modern business portraits.  Bright white backgrounds are very popular these days as they look fresh and they are ideal to use as cut-outs or on business cards and in publications.  Glynis changed into a sharp business suit to portray the legal side of her business.  I took a variety of serious, smiley and some in-between.

Lastly, I took some shots of Glynis at her desk.  I needed to take some shots that showed she was serious, but still approachable.  The inclusion of a plant in the background softened the feel of the photographs, but still made them look business-like.  I used differential focus to blur the background and to make the viewer focus on Glynis.  I felt a neutral expression was best for these shots as it portrayed the serious but approachable look that a is appropriate for a solicitor.  I also took some smiley photos (one of which is shown in black-and-white at the top of this article) as Glynis is naturally a very happy and smiley person, so I thought her personality shone though in those photos.

Hopefully, you will have now seen that I give careful thought to the exact look and feel of business portraits and this article illustrates that a business portrait session can be tailored to suit your needs.  If your business portraits are looking a bit tired or out of date and you would like some new ones, why not give me a ring on 07973 638591 to discuss your requirements.  You may also like to see my website to see more business and corporate photography: www.martinneeves.com

Fantastic New Review from a Happy Client

I have just fantastic new review of Martin Neeves Photography placed on Free Index by one of my valued PR clients.  This is what the review said: 

"We use Martin Neeves Photography to cover events for our clients when they have major events taking place and need high quality photographs for media and marketing purposes.
Martin always takes time to understand the brief, carries out exactly what we want him to do in a very professional manner and delivers excellent quality images on time to meet quite strict deadlines.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Martin to anyone, either commercial or private, who needs a first class photographer at reasonable prices."

I am very grateful for your kind words, Sue.

Food Photography

I have just finished another day of photographing food for a leading UK supermarket.  Unfortunately, a confidentiality clause in my contract forbids me of disclosing the name of the supermarket, but it is a very well-respected one!  The photos will be used on the supermarket's website.


I enjoy doing food photography and I love working with food stylists who make all the food look so scrummy!  It is an underrated skill, but they are absolutely essential in showing the food off to its best.  Not all the food is edible after the shoot, but a lot of it is, so I never go hungry on these shoots!  You have to be careful if eating sandwiches after a photoshoot as they may well have pins in to make them hold their shape!  Oops, I think I may have just given away a trade secret!

My Crazy Week!

What a busy week I have just had...


Tuesday: Studio Portrait Photography in Coventry


On Tuesday, I did a whole day of studio photography in Coventry of some students for their university's website.  I was working in a big studio alongside a video crew where I set up my lights and background on one side of the studio and the video crew set up theirs on the other side.  The students were being filmed to do some video testimonials about student life at their university.


My brief was to take some still photos of the students against an off-white / light-grey background to match the lighting and background of that used in the videos.  My photos are to be used as the full screen of each web-page, but I had to leave plenty of blank space to the left of the subject for text to be over-laid and for the videos to be inserted.  It was a long day of filming and photography, but it was also enjoyable as the students were fun to work with.

Wednesday: Public Relations Photography in Warwickshire

Wednesday was my day for doing PR photography in Warwickshire.  I was commissioned to photograph the whole board of the Environment agency (headed by Lord Chris Smith) on their visit to a cement works to gain an overview of the environmental impact of the operation.  

It was quite a tricky job as I had to react very quickly to the rapidly changing lighting conditions as the delegation toured the site.  It was a very warm and sunny day, which caused its own problems as bright sunlight can be very harsh as it casts deep shadows which often have to be dealt-with by the sympathetic use of fill-in flash.  However, as they were all wearing highly-reflective high-visibility jackets to comply with health and safety rules, this ruled-out using direct on-camera flash (unless I wanted them to look like glow-worms!)  The site tour moved very quickly, so after dealing with the bright sunlight, they went inside the plant and were plunged into darkness.  I managed to deal with the lighting challenges while keeping up with the tour and remaining as unobtrusive as possible.  All in a day's work!

Thursday: Corporate Editorial Photography In Leicestershire

On Thursday, I was doing corporate photography in Leicester as I was booked to photograph a staff conference for a housing association at the Walkers Stadium.  It was a large conference as there were around 400 delegates.  My brief was to photograph both the main presentations to the entire group as well as the smaller workshops.  The resulting photographs will be used in their internal communications, on their website and in their annual report.

One of the workshops was about time management and they used actors to highlight the mistakes that most of us make.  They started off with a very cluttered desk with paperwork piled up.  I wonder how many of the delegates thought it looked just like their desks - I know I was thinking just that!

Friday: Corporate Poster Photography in Surrey


On Friday, I drove down to Wokingham in Surrey to do some more corporate photography.  This time, I was photographing a heavily pregnant woman in her industrial workplace for a corporate poster which will be displayed in all of her company's offices and operations centres.  I had to leave space on the pictures for the text to be over-laid, so I was given the layout of the poster and was instructed to take photos that fitted it.  All went well and I was pleased that the excitement of the photoshoot didn't induce the woman's labour!

Saturday: Commercial photography in Derbyshire

On Saturday, I was commissioned to do some commercial photography in Derby by a logistics company who needed me to photograph some of their lorries and drivers at one of their depots.  We were very lucky with the weather as we were blessed with a clear blue sky and unlimited sunshine.  After the shoot at the depot, I was dropped off onto a flyover bridge to take some shots of both the front and back of a lorry on the road.  Thankfully, I was collected again so I could go home to enjoy the rest of the weekend sunshine!

Many people don't appreciate all the time that is spent downloading, editing and optimising photographs as they only see the time spent on the shoot itself, however many hours are spent on these activities in order to get professional results.  All this work has to be fitted in around the shoots, so as you can see, last week I was burning the candle at both ends to meet my clients' deadlines.

Hopefully this glimpse into my week will illustrate the variety of photographic work that I do and I hope you will see why I love my job so much.

Corporate Videography

I have just produced a short promotional video for a very friendly business breakfast networking group in Leicestershire.

Google is taking a lot of notice of video content these days, so if you you want to get higher on the search engine listings, it is essential to put some videos on your website.  If you want to portray a professional image to your potential clients, I advise you to have a professional video made.  Please have a look at my corporate videography page to see some examples of videos for businesses in Leicestershire and the Midlands.

Commercial Photography Video

I have just produced and short video (less than 2.5 minutes) about the commercial side of my photography and videography business.  It shows examples of studio product photography, staff portraits, corporate portraits, food photography, room interiors and photography in factories and at industrial sites in Leicestershire and Warwickshire.  So if you are looking for a commercial photographer in Leicestershire, an industrial photographer in Warwickshire, a corporate videographer in Leicester or a food photographer in Coventry then look no further!