Commercializing Your Editorial Photography Skills

I shot this image for IHG at Intercontinental Bali, Indonesia. A commercial image shot with an editorial spirit.
Copyright 2017 Justin Mott/Mott Visuals

A few weeks ago, I was on location filming season 4 of my TV show in Indonesia. One of the guest judges on the show was a well-established American editorial photographer. He’s been based in SE Asia for years shooting for the big wire services and leading publications. We started chatting about commercial photography and he shared his trepidation and past experiences dabbling in the market.

He openly admitted being a little intimidated by commercial photography and talked about missing out on a few big budget jobs, not because of his photography skills, but rather his inexperience in the industry. It was a great conversation and inspired me to write this article.

For many editorial photographers, the market dried up years ago. I recall the days when surviving off newspaper or magazine assignments was realistic and even thriving. In 2008 I was going from country to country non-stop shooting for all the big media outlets.  In fact, there was a time when I couldn’t even afford to take on new assignments because I was owed so much money in expenses for my past jobs.

I’ve met so many editorial photographers who are intimidated by the commercial photography market. For some it’s lighting, others it’s managing production or working with AD agencies, there is a lot to be intimidated by. I’m not saying editorial photography doesn’t come with its own stress but it’s just different a different beast.

I first started to notice the gradual decline about 5 years ago with assignment days shortening, travel budgets were next, then overall I noticed the total number of assignments decrease rapidly. You might say “well Justin perhaps you just suck and editors got sick of your work.” I thought of that, but I wasn’t the only one, I noticed many of my talented colleagues facing the same harsh reality.

I did what I had to, sold my body under random bridges in random cities to pay off my gear.  Ok, that’s not true my body isn’t worth selling but I had to adapt and look for other options. My first move was I decided to hit restart on my branding, marketing, and overall business strategy. I knew I had a unique skill set (stole that line for Taken) and a defined style that was heavily influenced by my years of experience in assignment photography. I was good under pressure, knew how to tell a story, and I worked well with natural light. I started to look at the commercial photography market and I noticed lots of heavy retouching, artificial lighting, and overall heavy production.

I respect that kind of work but it wasn’t for me and it wasn’t my style. I pushed forward into the commercial market by leveraging my skillset and my experience for the big names in media like The New York Times to get commercial work. I was selling my style, something different. I launched Mott Visuals in 2009 and we started with myself and one assistant working out of a café. Since the launch, we’ve grown into a team of over 15 employees consisting of full time staff and freelancers with offices in 3 different cities in SE Asia. We’ve expanded beyond just commercial photography into full video production and our clients list is filled with Fortune 500 companies. I’m proud of what I’ve built and we still have big plans to grow.

Here are some simple tips that hopefully help you leverage your editorial photography skill set and allow you to thrive in the commercial photography market.

 

GET HELP

No, I’m not talking about checking yourself into clinic for out of work photographers. Talk to commercial photographers, if you feel uncomfortable getting advice from competitors, reach out to someone you look up to into a non-competing market. Even if they are much younger, still learn from them just like you learned from veteran editorial photographers when you were starting off.

 

BRAND YOUR BUSINESS

In order for the corporate world to take you serious you need to look professional. If you have enough work for a separate website for your commercial work start one. I use Squarespace and I love it. If not, at least have a separate gallery on your editorial website for your commercial work. Next, brand your commercial website with a proper logo and adjust your descriptions to have a commercial angle. For example, my bio on my editorial website is mostly about my editorial experience while my bio on my commercial website focuses on my commercial photographywhile touching on my editorial experience and influence in my style. Simple things like branded email signatures, branded invoices, etc. make a difference.

 

PARTNER UP

When I expanded into video production I didn’t pretend to know it all but rather I looked for people to partner with experience in video and with skillsets that I didn’t have. I wanted my stamp on things and I wanted the style of my photography to match the cinematography in the video that we produced. I explained that and worked closely with my vude (video dude) to make sure that vision and style was executed properly.

 

BITE OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW

Most people will tell you not to take on a job you can’t handle, but it’s like having a child (coming from someone who doesn’t have a child), you are never truly ready or the timing is never right but once you have one your instincts will kick in and you will be just fine. Maybe my above analogy if flawed, let me take a different approach to this. Don’t turn down jobs if you don’t think you can handle it yet but rather research and see if you can learn how to handle it and like I said above, partner up and surround yourself with people that can help you handle it.

 

BE CAPABLE OF HANDLING PRODUCTION

AD agencies and clients want to work with photographers who can do it all, hiring, casting, logistics, etc. This is where hiring a full-time or freelance producer is key. I’m going to say it again and again, partner up with good people. Find a good producer and your life will get easier. Understand their job and help them understand yours, the producer/photographer relationship is everything. If your traveling for production, have your producer hire a local production to assist with permits, locations, etc.,t his is all billable to your client.

UNDERSTAND YOUR SKILL SET AND LEARN HOW TO SELL IT

If you excel working with natural light or you feel confident your images tell powerful stories then make sure that comes through when you meet potential clients and on your website. Find clients that are looking for these types of images and be confident you are the right person for the job. Even if a client thinks they aren’t looking for these type of images explain the benefits of having more realistic images, natural retouching and genuine moments. It’s key to understand your style and essential that you understand how to sell that style.

BILL IT

Don’t worry if you can’t afford a full-time staff such as a producer, retoucher, assistant, etc. Make it a line item or group it into your rate and bill it to your clients. AD Agencies and commercial clients understand and expect this. I’m not saying to nickel and dime your clients, learn the norm and apply it to your pricing.  Check out these two websites that have sample quotes on them so you can get a feel for what a commercial shoot quoting breakdown looks like.

APhotoEditor

Wonderful Machine

 

GET IT IN WRITING

It’s fine to have phone conversations, but make sure you have everything in writing. If a client changes the shot list on the shoot, get it in writing in an email. If the client approves a model, get it in writing, basically get everything in writing. I can’t tell you how many times I’m dealing with marketing managers, sales teams, AD firms, creative directors, all telling me different things so what ever they say I make sure I have an email confirming it. If I’ve being told different things from different people I make sure to start an email chain, put everyone in, and clear things up. This might sound like overkill but having an email chain is your insurance policy and it’s well worth the extra time it takes.

 

DI VS BASIC RETOUCHING

In the editorial world we are use to basic color correction but commercial photography is a whole other world. Some clients expect heavy DI (Digital imaging, adding or removing things, green screen, etc.) and if you don’t make it clear what’s included in your quote and what’s not you’re asking for endless headaches. Be upfront with your client, have a conversation about their exceptions, and explain carefully what is and isn’t included in your quote. Make a point to also put all this in your contract as well and even after you do all this expect your client to still be confused and expect you to do all sorts of DI for free. If your client expects heavy DI and you aren’t capable of it don’t stress and run from the job. Again, partner up with someone who knows their stuff and talk through the process, get their rates, and bill it to the client.

 

SET UP YOUR BUSINESS INFRASTRUCTURE

This isn’t my strong suit to be completely honest nor am I interested in this kind of stuff but it’s imperative that you a proper infrastructure.  As your team and production size grows you need to have an infrastructure and understanding of your costing breakdowns, freelance rates, etc. You must have a proper quoting system and understand the market and your value. I like to share but unfortunately, I’m not going to share too much in case my competitors are reading this article. We use Dropbox to keep everything organizing.

 

CONCLUSION

I’m not saying all editorial photographers need to get into commercial photography, but for those of you that are interested in testing the market I hope you found this article helpful. If you found this article useful please share it on your social networks. If you have any questions for me please ask me in the comments section and I’d be happy to answer them.

Should You Buy the HasselBlad X1D?

A Working Professional’s Review

Before I dive in with my review, a tiny bit about me and my intentions for this camera. I work in several genres of photography; travel, editorial, commercial, and weddings. I bought the X1D for an ongoing personal project dedicated to capturing the beauty of Vietnam and my goals for the final images is to have them printed quite large. I was also hoping to justify the hefty price tag by using the system on commercial shoots, I’ll answer that question further down in this blog.

I stalked the Hasselblad X1D online for months earlier this year trying to gather as much information as possible on this gorgeous and groundbreaking camera system.  First, I must admit I was drawn to the sleek design, it’s a piece of art work and it helped that it’s portable. I’ve often day dreamed about medium format but the price and size always woke me up.  I rarely work in the studio and I like to travel light so the bulky medium formats that were on the market didn’t seem feasible to me.

The camera was released mid-2016 but it was extremely hard to find one in stock anywhere and even more difficult to find a professional’s review on the camera.  I found some of the popular gear review blogs and individuals with high traffic sites reviewing it but nothing of substance for me. I wanted to hear from a working professional who had used it on real shoots and in a variety of situations, not just a day shooting with it.

Even without a solid review out there I decided to take the expensive risk and pull the trigger on this new camera system. Once I made the decision, the hard part was finding one in stock. The camera was released mid 2016 but even in early 2017 it was extremely difficult to find it stock anywhere. I checked BH, Amazon, and local shops all around SE Asia, nothing. I buy a lot of gear from Cathay Photo in Singapore so I put feelers out there. I heard nothing for a while and then finally via Facebook I received a message from the nice people at Cathay that they had one in stock. I live in Vietnam so I took a little weekend vacation to get my hands on this beauty and after a couple months of using it for my personal project and a commercial shoot in Bali I decided to write a review.

I’m not a technical person and this isn’t a comparison article, I’m going to focus on the performance and quality on real shoots. I’ll list the specs for your tech heads, but you can also head over to Hasselblad’s website to get all the info you need.

Shot with Hasselblad X1D with Hasselblad XCD 40mm lens.
Moc Chau, Vietnam
As Above So Below (Personal Project)
2017 Copyright Justin Mott

 

Design/Ergonomics

She’s a sexy looking camera and yes, feels amazing in your hands. Sorry, that sounded a bit sexual, it wasn’t meant to be or was it.   It’s a relatively small camera and the lenses aren’t bulky either, it packs and travels very nicely.

 

Battery Life

It’s not great, if you shoot full days as a professional you will need about 4-5 total.

 

Speed

If you’re use to using professional or even prosumer DLSR’s the first thing you will notice on startup is how generally slow the camera is. It’s slow across the board, start up, fps, rendering images, navigation etc. I’m fine with that as I knew before I bought this camera it wasn’t meant to be a speed demon. This camera wakes up, yawns, grabs a coffee but once the coffee kicks in it kicks ass.

The interesting thing about this camera system is I wanted it to be slow. I’ve been shooting way too fast for years and I need to slow down and think more. You might think, well you’re a pro, if you want to slow down, just slow the F down. Habit is a funny thing; this camera has forced me to break that habit. I’ve been slowing down and I honestly feel that has made me frame more creatively, think more, and overall make me a better photographer.

Shot with Hasselblad X1D with Hasselblad XCD 40mm lens.
Moc Chau, Vietnam
As Above So Below (Personal Project)
2017 Copyright Justin Mott

 

 

Focusing

I shoot in a lot of high contrast situations and the focusing system I find to be a bit slow, you really must pay close attention and zoom to check to make sure you got your image sharp.

 

Quality

The files are simply delicious. The medium format sensor is huge, just look at it, and it delivers. The dynamic range is plentiful and zooming in you can see every amazing detail or not so amazing details depending on how good of a photographer you are J. I have printed my images yet but I have high hopes.

Check out the amazing detail still in the texture of the conical hate even with this extremely tight crop(same file).

Color

Hasselblad loyalist talk about the color being true, true is the perfect word to describe it. The color has its own look and skin tones are spot on accurate making it great for portrait and landscape work.

 

Conditions

I haven’t used it in cold weather but I live in Vietnam so it’s been through extreme heat and humidity. The camera got a little hot and I thought something was wrong with it but then I realized it’s made aluminum so it wasn’t overheating it was just normal.

Lenses

At this point I’ve got the 30mm, 45mm, and the 90mm. I haven’t use them extensively but they are all lightweight, feel nice in your hands, and perform well.  The 30mm is bit pricey but I need a wide-angle lens and overall I wish they had a 1.4 option for those extremely shallow depth of field shots.

 

Value

It’s expensive sure, but compared to the Phase One and Hasselblad digital backs that come in around 30K and more it’s great value. A few other companies like Fuji and Pentax have made cameras with comparable specs but they bulkier and nowhere as sexy as the X1D. Value is always a tough question to answer because there are a lot of variables like how much paid work you are getting or how much you earn, but for me it was great value.

 

Software

I’ve been editing my images on Lightroom, but I’m told Hasselblad’s Phocus software is the way to get to truly get everything you can out of the files for the X1D so my next mission is to invest some time in learning it.

 

Electronic Viewfinder

I’m not a big fan of EVF in general and this one is no different. I wish the EVF was higher resolution, this is probably my biggest complaint about this camera but again I haven’t met an EVF that I like.

Navigation

The navigation system is extremely user friendly and minimalistic, just the way I like it.

 

Shot with Hasselblad X1D with Hasselblad XCD 40mm lens.
Bali, Indonesia
Client | Intercontinental Hotels 
2017 Copyright Justin Mott

 

 

Camera Specs From Hasselblad

• 50MP 43.8 x 32.9mm CMOS Sensor
• Price $8995 USD Body Only
• 16-Bit Color, 14-Stop Dynamic Range
• Hasselblad Natural Color Solution
• Full HD 1080p H.264 Video at 25 fps
• ISO 100-25600, Shooting Up to 2.3 fps
• Central Shutter: 60 min to 1/2000 sec
• 2.36MP XGA Electronic Viewfinder
• 3.0″ 920k-Dot Touchscreen LCD Monitor
• Dual SD Card Slots; XPan & Square Modes
• Built-In Wi-Fi, USB 3.0 Type C

Conclusion

It might sound crazy loving an expensive and slow camera but I knew what I was getting into when I made the investment. This camera is for the photographer that can appreciate those extra fine details of a medium format sensor, fine craftsmanship/design, and a powerful camera that travels well.  I started using it just for my personal project and I fell in love with it. I hoped I could use it on commercial shoots as well and last month I tried it out and I’m thrilled. The camera made me slow down and shoot more thoughtfully and the results were more than I could expect. I can see this camera creeping into my commercial work in the near future.

 

Don’t Just Take My Word For It

Here are some links to other reviews of the Hasselblad X1D.

–CNET

–Bloomberg

–PetaPixel

–Ming Thien

 

Author Justin Mott

Since arriving in Vietnam over a decade ago, Justin Mott has established himself as one of the best-known and well respected photographers in Southeast Asia. He has shot over 100 assignments for the New York Times while a collection of his work in Vietnam has been featured on the BBC. Additional major editorial clients include TIME, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian among many others. His boutique visual production studio Mott Visuals specializes in premium commercial photography and video production. Mott is also familiar to TV viewers as host and resident judge of History Channel’s hit photography reality series Photo Face-Off now entering their 4th Season.

Mai Chau, Vietnam 2017

 

Follow Justin’s personal project “As Above So Below” HERE – all shot with the Hasselblad X1D and DJI Drones. 

Read Hasselblad’s feature about Justin’s project here.

 

 

Photographer’s Spotlight Interview: Christian Berg

– Open up Lightroom and share with us the last photo you edited and lets us know where it was taken and who for.

This shot was taken on a street fashion shoot for Reebok – I love this client – they gave me total creative freedom and we really had similar ideas – as it was street fashion our idea was to roam the streets of Saigon and place shoes in surprising environments – I really dig this shot because it has something distinctive Southeast Asian about it (the Banyan tree) – but it also does not give too much away – the colors of the shoes pop really nicely.

 

 

– Share an image you wish you could go back and shoot again and tell us how you would improve it.

The most remarkable photo for me was in early 2008.  There was a photo, in my mind for a long time, behind the airport.  Coming home from District 1 I would see these big jumbo jets flying over buildings in Quang Trung Street into Tan Son Nhat Airport.  They were maybe 30 or 50 meters above the houses on a busy road.

So when I finally got time, I spent three or four days hunting down the right spot to take that photo and went into some back alleys in Go Vap District and waited for a few hours.  Finally I got a great shot of a jumbo jet flying over a small road with people having a noodle soup at the same time.  A woman was passing by and it was just a great combination of things.  It really captured what Vietnam means to me and what fascinates me about Vietnam, that collusion of tradition and modernity, of globalisation and the local lifestyle, of how these things clash and crash and pass by each other without really touching each other.

Looking back a few years later, technically it’s not perfect.  But I realized I’m able to tell a story with a picture and create a photo. That was a decisive moment for myself—that it’s possible to do this.  And I even sold the picture as the cover for a French book on modern Vietnam.

I would love to re-shoot this picture with the technical experience and much better gear I have nowadays. BUT I have been back in that area a few years ago and the airplanes now fly differently, not that deep over the houses anymore.

– So far in 2017 you’ve been traveling non-stop, catch us up on what you’ve been up to.

2017 has been a very interesting year so far. I started right with working on New Years Day when I shot a Wedding with another photographer from our Wedding Team, Tim Gerard Barker, – it was a two day wedding in Singapore with both Chinese and Persian traditions – a great couple and great party – really a good way to kick of the year.

After that I spent 2 weeks in Tokyo where I started with a personal project on urbanization in Asia and beyond – this project is beginning to take shape and actually I am right now just about to catch a plane to Seoul and work on it again.

In March I did a Luxury resort shoot at the beautiful Anam Resort in Cam Ranh, Vietnam and also had a portrait Assignment for the New York Times in Quy Nhon, Vietnam.

This was followed by a couple of wedding shoots in Danang with different photographers and Videographers from our Team (Justin, Aaron and Tim) and after that i had a series of factory shoots in China and also the chance to spent a bit time in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai on my personal project.

After that I had a couple of editorial (portrait and travel) assignments in Saigon and went off to Tacloban in the Philippines to work on an NGO story with LAIF, my photo agency in Germany. That was it so far.

– Tell us your most memorable assignment in 2017 and why?

For me it is usually the editorial work that is most memorable mainly because of the people I meet on these shoots – my visit to Tacloban in the Philippines was for sure my most memorable trip this year. The city was wiped out by Taifun Haiyan just 3 years ago, and even though it has been rebuilt now this really was an awakening call for me that climate change is real, and here in Southeast Asia we are at the forefront of it.

– You shoot everything from editorial, food, commercial, documentary and video. Tell us how shooting all those are different and how they are similar?

I think it is obvious that there are a lot of differences, for example, between a corporate video and a travel story – so lets focus on the similarities here – i think first of all what is similar for me is that clients chose Mott Visuals for a certain visual style that we bring to all of our assignments no matter the genre, this includes story telling with and editorial angle, use of natural light and vibrant colors – secondly no matter of the type of assignment I always bring the same work ethic to a project – always being as professional as possible and always giving 150% to make sure the images are exceptional and make me and the client happy. I think the main differences in the different types of shoot are the level of how much I need to follow an art direction from the client side and the type and amount of gear that I would bring – if I do editorial work I usually travel much lighter in terms of gear.

– Show us your top 5 images you shot in 2017 in any genre of photography.

From my personal project, shot in Tokyo, Japan.

Mott Visuals’ commercial project for The Anam in Cam Ranh, Vietnam.

Mott Visuals’ corporate project in Changzhou, China.

Mott Visuals’ commercial/fashion project for Reebok in Saigon, Vietnam.

 

A Mott Visuals’ wedding story in Danang, Vietnam.

 

– Worst fear before an assignment?

Gear failure or food poisoning are the stuff of my nightmares, so I always carry an extra camera and stomach meds.

– Where and what is your next assignment?

I have a few shoots lined up: Seoul for personal work, Dien Bien Phu for a NGO story and then Cam Ranh for another resort shoot.

About Christian Berg

Christian Berg is a a documentary photographer working in Southeast Asia since 2008 – he joined Mott Visuals in 2014 and has since then shot on projects all over Southeast Asia and beyond. His editorial work has been published for example in the New York Times and the Wallstreet Journal.

DELICIOUS FILES – A PRACTICAL PRAISE OF THE CANON 5DS R

Full disclosure, Canon Asia is the sponsor of the TV show I’m on and I do a lot of work with them. However, they have never asked me to write any reviews of their products and I was a Canon user long before my TV show every happened.

I’m not a very technical guy so I don’t discuss much on technical specs nor will you find any charts, Bunsen burners, or lab coats in my reviews. I go off of feel, intuition and real assignment experience.

A little bit about me, I work independently as a photojournalist (most notably for The New York Times), I own a destination wedding photography business, and a commercial photography and video production studio. You can see all my work here.

For the sake of simplicity I made the review revolve around resort photography(even though I use it for all my commercial photography), but I’m sure you can see the benefits of it in numerous genres of photography.

Why I Bought It?
I purchased the 5DS R solely for my commercial business. We shoot a lot of luxury resorts all over Asia and beyond and I was looking for a high-resolution camera for these shoots. The 5DS R packs 50mp on a full frame sensor so you can see the appeal. I wanted a camera with great files because I’m always looking for more details and beautiful colors and when my clients need to print the images huge, I want those images to look stunning.

The Good
The best thing about this camera is the delicious files it produces. You still need to take nice pictures with your eye and brain but if you do get a nice shot you will be wildly impressed with the file, wow, just wow. The details and colors are like no camera I’ve ever used before, simply amazing.

For resorts I shoot a lot of inside out, meaning balancing light in a gorgeous room with the rooms view of the beach. You could always light the room and expose for the outside but I’m all about natural light and I try to avoid artificial lighting at all costs to maintain a sense of reality. The camera has a built in HDR mode, like a lot of new cameras, but I still prefer to get one middle ground exposure and then move the file in post production to get a more natural feel. The files on this camera can move a ton in post-production without compromising quality.

Here is a sample of a room shot we did for Intercontinental Pattaya, no artificial lighting at all we just ran the image through processing twice in Lightroom. This is all from one file, this isn’t a multiple exposure.

For cropping, you can crop in so close and the files still look amazing, see below. This comes in handy more than you think. This image was shot last week for Intercontinental Sun Peninsula Danang.

The Bad
It’s not as fast at processing as the Canon 5D Mark 3 or obviously the 1Dx series but I don’t need it to be. If you are firing off shots quickly the camera lags a little bit and takes that extra second to buffer. Put it up against medium format cameras and I’m sure it crushes them. If you are use to a performance action camera like the above mentioned the one extra second it takes will annoy you a little bit at the beginning but you’ll get over it.

The other thing is this camera is not a beast in low light. You can’t crank it up to 4K or 8K ISO like the 1D and expect the files to be crisp. It’s not horrible in low light but obviously it doesn’t compare to the Canon 5DM3 or the 1DX series.

This camera eats memory because the files are gigantic. It’s not a huge deal but get used to big files.

Ok this isn’t really the camera’s fault but I shoot predominantly with primes so I use a two two-body camera system. This camera destroys others with the files and I couldn’t match it up with others so went back to shooting with one camera at a time.

Some Advice
Buy the fastest cards you can get, I am a huge fan of SanDisk cards. Pay the extra money for the fastest cards, time is money.

I don’t recommend this camera as a one camera for wedding photography because the files are so huge and unnecessary but if you dial down the file size to Camera RAW medium then it becomes a fantastic number 2 camera, I use it all the time.

Who Needs This Camera
Obviously anyone working in commercial photography will love this camera, but it’s not just for professionals. Anyone interested in fashion, portraiture, pre-wedding, landscape, fine-art, food photography, basically anyone that loves color and fine details at any level will adore this camera.

Conclusion
I’d buy this camera again and again. Even when I shoot commercially I’m rolling around in the sand, dirt, trees, etc. so I’ve put this camera through the stress test and after over 100,000 shots and it still performs flawlessly. It’s a medium format camera packed into a DSLR body and not at a budget breaking medium format price. If you love gorgeous colors, printing your images, and fine details you will be hooked on this camera the second you load the files into your computer.

I use to hate when people say to me, wow those are nice images you must have a great camera. I have to admit that still annoys me but with the 5DS R I do have to give credit where credit is due.

Here are some of my favorite images, all shot with the 5DS R, from my commercial assignment last week for Intercontinental Hotels at Intercontinental Sun Peninsula Danang.

To see more images shot with the 5DS R please visit Mott Visuals.

5DS R Specs
• 50.6MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
• Dual DIGIC 6 Image Processors
• Low-Pass Filter Effect Cancellation
• 3.2″ 1.04m-Dot ClearView II LCD Monitor
• Full HD 1080p Video Recording at 30 fps
• 61-Point High Density Reticular AF
• ISO 100-6400; 5 fps Continuous Shooting
• 150,000-Pixel RGB+IR Metering Sensor
• User-Selectable Shutter Release Time Lag
• Anti-Flicker Compensation

Purchase Online 

Pullman Danang – by Christian Berg

We recently had the chance to do a lifestyle shoot for Pullman in Danang – a really beautiful location right at Danang’s beach.

Here a few previews from the shoot which involved a lot of pool and ocean action..

NGO shoot for UNICEF with Angie Harmon

Last year our team had the chance to follow American actress Angie Harmon around for her visit at different UNICEF projects in Vietnam – we went to Dien Bien Phu in the very North as well as to different places in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City – visiting families with victims of human trafficing, orphanages, schools and other projects our job was to illustrate Ms. Harmon’s visit as well as showcasing the different projects. We did photos as well as video.

Here are a few take-outs of the assignment:

 

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Who says corporate portraits cannot be fun?

Coming to a company to take photos of management and staff a photographer is not always met with great enthusiasm.

I feel the corporate photos are often seen as a nuisance or a chore during a busy day – and of course there is often the thought “I hope the photographer makes me look good, after all I a not a model.”

Also I often can see clients being skeptical why they should spent money on headshots or staff portraits – after all someone in the company has good camera too.

Over the past 8 years or so I have taken a lot of corporate portraits in and outside of Vietnam. Based upon this experience my little checklist below on corporate portrait shoots:

Who? Your company’s capital and greatest asset, your staff

Why Corporate Portrait Photography? Your employees are your capital / they are the face of your company

How? Professional photographer, make up (we always suggest one of our make-up artists – so your staff look professional and feel good), good light (we usually bring 2 profoto strobes) , fast (we spent time casting the location and setting up light, so the shoot does not cut too much time out of your busy schedule)

What? Headshots, natural portraits , in corporate environment – these are just some options – we like to sit down with you and have a chat to find out your needs

When? Morning, Thursday – well this is my preferred time for many reasons – earlier in the week people are busy catching up on work, Friday people might be busy finishing things. Morning is good as people tend to look fresher then afternoons and if your office has big windows or outdoor space we can probably even catch some gorgeous sunlight – having said that we are of course totally flexible on timing – in the end it is up to you.

Where? – at your office – if there is a bit space we can set up an impromptu studio – if you want to shoot at other places or in a studio of course that is also possible – again we like to have a chat first to figure out what you really need.

Also – who says corporate portraits cannot be fun?

Christian Berg is a documentary photographer working in Southeast Asia since 2008 – he joined Mott Visuals to run the Saigon Office in 2014 and has since then worked on photo and video shoots all over Southeast Asia and beyond. His work has been published for example in the New York Times and the Wallstreet Journal. For inquiries please contact chris@mottvisuals.com

Saigon office – the year in review

Tet, or Lunar New Year , is approaching in Vietnam and if you know the region, you know that this is truly the end of the business year.

We opened the Mott Visuals Saigon office in late 2014 but we fully got it running right after last Tet (February 2015) – so it has been pretty much exactly one year now – a good time to take a look back and see what has happened.

We built up a great team including a full time producer, junior producer and a growing network of freelancers. We also renovated and refurbished the office so it looks pretty sexy now:

View of Mott Visuals Saigon Office

In terms of work we did a wide range of jobs ranging from corporate portrait shoots:

Corporate Portrait for Hafele

to full video productions

This video for Comfort we produced for Ogilvy Vietnam ranked number 3 in the Campaign Viral chart in September 2015.

We did quite some work in the area of food photography

Michelin Star Chef Pierre Gagnaire at Intercon Danang

A colorful desert by chef Gagnaire

as well as Hotel Photography

A comfortable suite at Fortuna Hotel Hanoi

and got commissioned a great Project with Unicef all over Vietnam including photo and video

Christian Berg and Nam Quan in Dien Bien Phu on the Unicef shoot

Tearsheet from People Magazine for Unicef

We supported our Hanoi  team with a video shoot for IHG in Dubai

We danced the night away

Full house at the German Ball Saigon

Ready to sing? at the German Ball Saigon

We shot on land, under water and up in the air

Drone selfie at RMIT Vietnam shoot

What the drone actually captured at RMIT Vietnam shoot

It was an exciting year – we look forward for the year to come!

 

Happy new year of the Monkey!

Christian Berg is a documentary photographer working in Southeast Asia since 2008 – he joined Mott Visuals to run the Saigon Office in 2014 and has since then worked on photo and video shoots all over Southeast Asia and beyond. His work has been published for example in the New York Times and the Wallstreet Journal. For inquiries please contact chris@mottvisuals.com

 

A little bit of everything – a shoot with Michelin star chef Pierre Gagnaire at Intercon Danang

This was quite a challenging shoot – In a way it combined so many different aspects of photography – travel photography, food photography, portrait photography and event photography – sometimes under extreme time pressure – all over the course of 3 days on different locations around the beautiful Intercontinental Danang Peninsula Resort as well as in the ancient town of Danang.

Our team (Christian Berg and Hoang Anh Nguyen) was hired to cover the visit of multiple times Michelin-starred chef Pierre Gagnaire who is now in charge of Intercon Danangs fine dining restaurant La Maison 1888 – a) to support the international Media visiting from as far away as China or Australia, who did not all bring their own photographers b) to document the press visit, different activities and of course chef Gargnaire’s work for Intercon Danang.

On the first day we started joining a trip organized for the visiting journalists to visit a local fish market in Hoi An – a few strong espresso helped everyone to overcome the 4AM start.

In the late afternoon this was followed by tour discovering the amazing street food of Hoi An.

Chef Gagnaire arrived the next day, and as he is a very busy yet incredibly sweet man, we only had a bout 15 minutes to actually take the portraits – this was one of the major challenges – but good preparation, location scouting and our set of profoto lights (link) led to some really nice shots.

Later on we had the chance to cover his work in the Kitchen with his team

And the dinner itself

The assignment ended with a food shoot on the last day (again under extreme time pressure – this time about 30 minutes for 7 dishes) – again planning ahead and profoto lights worked their magic – on top of this the challenge was that the focus was just on the dishes itself on a simple white plate with white background – while this sounds easy it is in fact much more tricky then some of the modern more wild food photos you come across these days. Chef Gagnaire was really happy with the food shots – and in this case this was the most important thing!