I feel so fortunate that photographing in rural Scotland often means being blown away by the scenery. But not every location is quite so easy on the eye — sometimes a bit of creative thinking is required.
This frame is a perfect example. It was taken in a cold, dusty shed on an industrial estate near Lerwick in the Orkney Isles. Keen to showcase all aspects of the aquaculture sector, my client Scottish Sea Farms commissioned a shoot with their engineering team. In situations like this, what you don’t show can matter just as much as what you do — if that makes sense!
The chap here was incredibly obliging and enthusiastic about helping create engaging images, which always makes a huge difference. We tried several setups with different pieces of kit, but I love this frame. I brought the ambient light down using a reasonably high shutter speed, then added a small gelled light with a blue filter behind the subject to separate him from the dark background. Shooting from a low angle added drama and let me capture the weld spatter as it fell to the floor and cascaded toward the camera.
Yes, I did get burned a little — but it was totally worth it for this shot!
