I was recently asked by a local PR agency to cover an opening of a Health clinic, not that interesting you say. Maybe not, but the celebrity opening the Culcheth Health Clinic was the legend James Cracknall.
I accepted and was given a brief. I probed for more backstory and for the reason the 2 time Gold Olympian was interested in this particular Clinic. It's been widely publicised that James had a pretty major (near death) head injury and it took months to recover with rehab. That's where this clinic comes in as James is local to Culcheth and the Health clinic has brand new facilites specifically aimed at people recovering from serious injury and providing top class rehabilitation services.
Click on the image to see more from the shoot.
The photography brief was pretty loose: James + public | James with rehab equipment | James opening ceremony | Anything else.
Needless to say, James was an absolute gentleman, (seriously good looking for the girls), generous with his time and open to photo suggestions. He's a remarkable man and led an amazing life so far and yet, he still continues to push his limits and that inspires those around him. Legend.
Here's 5 quick pointers for capturing better Public Relations or Press images.1) Get as much background detail about the shoot as possible, it's almost impossible to have too much. This information will subconsciously feed into the images and you'll start creating some great photo stories. 2) Get there early. James arrived 20 mins early and was it not for the fact I was there 30mins early scoping out good locations, I'd have missed the arrival photos. 3) Don't be pushy, but worse still. Don't be a shrinking violet. Be courteous, but positive. 4) Have a few pre-conceived shots in your head, stick to them, but don't get single minded about it. Be alive to the opportunities that surface on a shoot. 5) Keep it simple and quick, don't go for elaborate multi-light setups - it will fail. And you'll have nothing.