Editorial portraits with the Phase One XF digital medium format camera

I am often asked if I am a 'Canon' or a 'Nikon' man! The answer to that is Canon for some things, Leica for others and Phase One digital medium format when ever I can!

It still amazes me the quality of images and files that come out of this camera. With 16 bit RAW files to work with and high dynamic range, every capture is a treat to work with.

For this editorial assignment, I decided to use the Phase one to enable colour reproduction and sharpness isolation on the subject. Medium format has a certain look and gradual sharpness fall off is one of the advantages over the average DSLR camera.

Enjoy the images below and thanks for looking!

Corporate event photography at the Stanhill Hotel in Charlwood, Surrey

I always enjoy event photography commissions, especially at the end of the year when companies generally start to relax and unwind, starting with the Christmas parties!

This event was held at the Stanhill Court Hotel in Charlwood Surrey. Stanhill Court is a delightful old manor house and grounds, lending itself perfectly to events and weddings.

The evening started with a drinks reception with the accompaniment of a steel band who were upbeat and good to start the party feel! This was then followed by the meal and further entertainment by the Blunter Brothers on stage (fab soul band!), a mobile casino and of course the essential Photo Booth stacked full of accessories to make you look your best!!

There were plenty of great candid photography opportunities to be photographed and I enjoyed documenting the event for the company. Here are a few photographs of the evening

Magazine cover shoot for Smart Aviation

I was recently commissioned to photograph a magazine cover shot for Charter Broker Magazine which is the leading magazine for business aviation charter professionals throughout the world.

We had the use of a private jet hanger owned by Zenith Aviation LTD based in Biggin Hill for the photoshoot. I wanted to create sharp clean well lit portraits utilising parts of the jet to give a sense of location whilst overpowering the available light in the hanger to give more emphasis on the subject

I used a mixture of Profoto b1 lights with associated soft boxes and grids to light the subject and a 1200w Elinchrom rangerRX for a general wash of light over the aircraft. All the images are shot with the Phase One digital medium format camera and Schneider prime lenses.

I am used to photographing cover shots for a monthly magazine I shoot for so I know how to compose an image allowing for headings and sub headings on the cover.

Here are a few of the images below, along with a behind the scenes shot of me in full swing!

Office Christmas Party Photography at The Buxted Park Hotel

It is always fun to photograph social events and downtime for companies I shoot for during the rest of the year. Events, portraits and commercial shoots can still be fun but not quite the same as the office Christmas party!

This one was no exception! The venue was the Buxted Park Hotel in the Ashdown Forest. The evening started with a mobile cocktail bar in one of the reception areas of the hotel, providing delicious mojito, whisky sours or whatever took your fancy. The cocktails were accompanied by the amazing Graffiti Classics who are a traditional String Quartet with a twist! Beautiful classical music to start the evening off with, followed by their surprise comedy set just after dinner,  breaking out into Irish jigs, a very unusual version of the Bumble Bee and lots more! 

After dinner there was a fireworks display outside (best place for fireworks!) followed by some oversized arcade classic games to play whilst having more cocktails. It was a great evening to photograph and presented itself with some great photojournalistic opportunities to capture. Please enjoy the small collection of images I have posted to give you all a flavour of my work and please do get in touch should you have and event that you would like documented!  

Cabin Pressure Spirits

Cabin Pressure Spirits has been created by David Howard of Horsham. 

David makes the gin in a cabin in his own garden, created specifically for the distilling process. The shed consists of various glass flasks and vacuum machines to aid the distilling process and to make this all possible at a lower temperature.

David is one of a few 'craft gin' creators in west sussex that have popped up in recent years. I photographed David's business for an editorial piece in All About Horsham Magazine. As the photographer for the magazine, we photograph a business each month to feature, along with many other subjects. David was pleased that his main photograph featured as the front cover for the June edition of all about Horsham, a nice surprise!

We did get to have a taste of the gin and would recommend trying it for yourself. Just right with a slither of fresh lemon and ice!

London corporate location portraits

CWT Meetings and events (based in London) contacted me to photograph their staff. The images are going to be used not only as business profile shots but also for prints on acrylic panels to decorate the office. I did a recce down Brick Lane in London prior to the commercial photoshoot and noted suitable backdrops to use for the set. I used my Phase One XF medium format camera and IQ260 digital back to capture the portrait images along with an Elinchrom RX Ranger studio light and power pack. This combination ensures the best image quality available in the industry. Perfect skin tones and eye watering resolution will mean the final prints will look amazing on the office walls.

We didn't start the shoot until 2pm which was a little risky with the light on a January winter day! I blended flash exposure with available ambient light to highlight the subjects against the urban backdrops. I have posted the results below. Thank you for looking. Toby.

All rights reserved www.tobyphillipsphotography.co.uk

All rights reserved www.tobyphillipsphotography.co.uk

All rights reserved www.tobyphillipsphotography.co.uk

All rights reserved www.tobyphillipsphotography.co.uk

Charles and Heather July 23rd 2016

It was an absolute pleasure to photograph the wonderful wedding of Charles Lucas and Heather Wong on the 23rd of July 2016 held in the heart of Warnham, West Sussex.

Heather's bride preparation began at Brookhill House in Cowfold, a grade 2 listed family run bed and breakfast set amongst rolling fields. Bride preparation is actually one of my favourite parts of the day to photograph as the chaos of hair, makeup and champagne are always a recipe for some great photographs. Having been a wedding photographer in West Sussex for many years now, I have documented a variety of brides enjoying the rituals of pre wedding pampering!

After the finishing touches were completed to hair and makeup, the bridal party made their way to the wedding ceremony held at St Margaret's Church Warnham. The girls were a little late due to the platted hair taking longer than expected...although of course, everyone thought it was the photographer!! ;-)

After an emotional ceremony and the signing of the register, the congregation were treated to an opera piece courtesy of a friend of Charles and Heather. Amazing to witness and hear the rolling tones echoing around the stone walls of the church.

The wedding reception and breakfast were held at the family home in Warnham, West Sussex. The house has amazing backdrops of endless meadows, oaks and deer if you are lucky. The wedding breakfast was held in a large marquee with an open side to view the panoramic vista. Venison was served along with salads and mini picnic baskets containing bread, sausage rolls and bread sticks. followed by an assortment of delicious deserts.

I was very lucky with the weather from a photographic point of view, although full sun can create some high contrast problems, it can also be a big advantage to work with it. I utilised this by shooting into the sun for the couple shots, creating a backlit scene through the grasses and trees whilst highlighting the veil and dress from the back.

The first dance was photographed in almost total darkness so I had to set up 3 remote flashes to capture the action whilst still retaining some of the ambience of the band's lighting rig.

Wishing you all the best for the future Mr and Mrs Lucas! x

Piazza Italia 10 official photographer

Piazza Italia 10 in Horsham, West Sussex was a three day haven for car and motorcycle enthusiasts of all ages visiting the town over the Easter bank holiday weekend. I have been the official photographer for this event for the last eight years and this year didn't disappoint. The crowds came flocking in to see over 70 Ferraris and too many motorcycles to count! The distant roar of exhausts along the surrounding perimeter roads to Horsham created an air of tension and excitement along the rows of keen viewers, children with eyes as wide as saucers on the front line waiting to get a glimpse of the first Ferrari or Ducati to come into the Carfax and park up for further examination.

All three days were very well attended despite high winds on the Monday. As you can see from my photographs of Piazza Italia, the atmosphere really was something else.

The full set of official photographs from the day can be viewed here  All profits from image sales will be going to the three Charities, Chestnut Tree House , Winston's Wish and The Childrens Trust

Piazza Italia X on tour through Horsham District villages

This was a first for Horsham Piazza Italia. On Sunday 13th March 2016, a tour of the surrounding villages in Horsham District, West Sussex was organised by the events team at Horsham District Council as a promotional preview for the ever successful Piazza Italia event held in Horsham every year. I have been the official photographer for Piazza Italia for the past 8 years now and I have seen the event grow every year without fail. This also works very well with All About Horsham Magazine that I photograph for, AAH produces the program every year with content and images from the year before.

Starting in Horsham, a selection of cars and motorbikes gathered for a quick drivers briefing (and yummy bacon sandwiches provided by Carmela's Deli) before leaving to grace Billingshurst, Pulborough, Storrington, Steyning and Henfield with their presence. The reception in each of the receiving villages was nothing short of amazing! Crowds built up very quickly prior to the tour arrival and as soon as the super cars and bikes were parked up, swarms of enthusiasts of all ages viewed the visual delights of Ferrari, Ducati, Alfa Romeo, Lamborghini, Mini, Tesla, and Aston Martin brands to name a few!

The Italian market was a great hit in Steyning and many businesses joined in with the fun showing Italian themed flags and banners and some with complete themed window displays too

Here are a few of my favorite picks from the day but the complete set of my official iPiazza Itaia X tour images can be viewed here

Corporate Head Shot photography in West sussex

With the ever increasing need to have a good representative business head shot of yourself and your colleagues for websites, linked in and other social platforms, it is very important to hire a photographer with not only the best equipment in the form of studio lighting and high end cameras but also experience in making people feel at ease and relaxed. I see so many badly lit portraits with unflattering lighting of people who are looking uncomfortable in their business portraits. This really spoils first impressions for prospective clients from the start.

At Toby Phillips Photography, we can bring a full lighting studio set up to your office along with the best medium format camera to ensure perfect skin tones, detail and colours  to make you look your best! We also have make up artists which specialise in matching your skin colour for consistent even skin tones with a matt non reflective make over to stop shine and reflection. Make up is available and recommended for both men and women for the perfect portrait. 

Full stage 2 retouch is also available for that perfect portrait which enhances your features to perfection but without looking 'photo shoppped'

Feel free to get in contact should you want to book a shoot or ask any further questions.

High Places - Pavilions In The Park, Horsham

High Places is situated in the grounds of Pavilions In The Park, Horsham, West Sussex. Horsham Park has many facilities including a skate park, playground, football pitches and outdoor gym equipment to name a few. High Places in Horsham now adds to the list with an aerial adventure course. This consists of high Ropes, bridges, tunnels, a climbing wall and the Leap of Faith. Kingslea School in Horsham, West Sussex were kind enough to let us photograph their visit to High Places.

I photographed this assignment with a Leica MP-240 camera along with a 50mm summilux and 35mm summicron lenses. The beauty of this camera is not only the build quality and the 100 year old heritage of Leica cameras but the unrivalled quality of the lens glass. I use this camera for my professional photography along with my Canon and phase one cameras. It is very small in form, full frame and due to the lenses being manual focus only, it is a very compact package. I could wear the Leica around my neck and still manage documentary photography whilst in action!

Enjoy the images and thank you for looking!

Trenchmore Farm, commercial photography in West Sussex

We visited Andrew and Joanne at Trenchmore Farm in Cowfold, West Sussex for an editorial feature in All About Horsham magazine  (AAH). We were greeted by the friendly faces of many cows and calves contently munching on fresh hay in the new plush cow barn. I started the photo shoot with shots of the animals to make the most of the good light then moved on to photograph Andrew, Joanne, Oscar (their son) and the Cider! Yes, it is not only a cattle farm to produce the best local grass fed beef but a cider distillery too. The cider is a mix of East and West country cider creating a 'civilised farmhouse' cider. Trenchmore farm has four acres of mixed apple trees to produce the correct blend of bitter and sweet flavour.

I set up my commercial studio lighting in one of the neatly arranged hay barns for the product photography of the Silly Moo cider, I wanted to create the organic farm feel so the hay bales and wooden tray with glasses fitted the bill perfectly. I used the same set up for the images of Joanne and family with larger soft boxes and reflectors to light a bigger area. 

Enjoy the images and look out for Silly Moo cider on your travels!

The grand opening of the Anchor Tap real ale bar in Horsham

It was a pleasure to be invited to, and photograph the grand opening of the Anchor Tap real ale bar in Horsham's busy East Street on Wednesday 11th February 2016. The building has been beautifully overhauled to give a feel of a contemporary modern bar mixed with traditional features and decor.

The launch was a great success and by all accounts has been extremely busy since the launch.

As a photographer covering west sussex and the South East, I am always photographing a wide variety of commercial businesses and assignments but breweries and food establishments have to be some of my favourites!!  

Peter Wynne portraits

We had a fun photoshoot with Peter Wynne for a 'my life' editorial piece in AAH magazine  

Peter was a British teen idol of the 60s and had a few hits including Chapel of Dreams, I'm a Fool To Want You, I Need You Close Again, The Wall and more..

Peter has has toured with the likes of Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Marty Wilde, Shirley Bassey and Billy Fury to name a few.

I photographed Peter with a Phase One medium format camera and digital back and used a Schneider 150mm blue ring lens. The full size image holds incredible detail and Peter is a great subject to demonstrate this. As a portrait photographer, decisions  have to be made regarding lighting, background and composition on location so after my initial dismay of the bright orange sheeny curtains in the house, I decided to then roll with it! I feel this has an almost stage like presence to the portrait. Thanks for looking!

St Catherine's Hospice

Today's photoshoot was an amazing experience. We were photographing for a magazine editorial feature at St Catherine's Hospice in Crawley, West Sussex.

Whilst the editor was busy interviewing the hospital staff, I was photographing them in different locations relevant to their everyday roles at the hospital. There were some very interesting stories from both patients, relatives and carers, including one nurse who had been on the wards there for 35 years.

The hospice day patients were great fun and played up nicely for the camera, which is always appreciated. Here are a small selection of images taken today.

Corporate shoot for WPM

We spent two days shooting head shots, interior, boardroom and meeting room shots for WPM payments company in Burgess Hill. Lovely people to work with and some fantastic modern spaces to create  photographs in.

The background colour for the head shots has been a popular choice with my clients recently as it is a clean cut look and complementary to skin tones. I will post a few more in due course.

Make up has been beautifully created by Clare Pinkney  ,Thank you Clare.

Corporate shoot for Spofforths accountants in Chichester.

Recent image from a full day shoot at Spofforths accountants in Chichester. I used the Phase One medium format camera for this shoot on one of its first outings. The image quality, clarity and dynamic range really is something else. More images to follow...