norfolk
It’s been far too long since I last blogged so I’m going to try to catch up over the next week or so. Starting with some shots at one of my favourite buildings – Voewood near Holt.
A large proportion of my commissions these days are property photography and it’s a part of my work as a photographer in Norfolk that I really enjoy. I’ve developed a solid system for shooting properties over the last 15 years of being a professional photographer which allows me to capture high quality property photographs efficiently and effectively.
I try to work with ambient light as much as I can, sometimes using a flash unit to lift the shadows a little but ideally I will shoot with room lights turned off which can mean very long exposures but captures the natural ambience of a room which is essential.
Voewood is a stunning arts & crafts house hidden in beautiful grounds and hired out for weddings, events & retreats. I LOVE spending time there and have been lucky enough to film & photograph there many times in the last few months as I’m working on a collaborative film project with film director, Steve Banks, and the owner of Voewood, Simon Finch.
Below are some still images I have taken which I hope capture some of the atmosphere of this amazing building. I also made a short film for Simon (with my partner Leanne (Samphire Films)) to showcase Voewood and filmed an interview with Simon telling the story of the building and how he came to be there….
Somewhere like Voewood definitely deserves aerial photography not just for the beautiful grounds but also to show it’s location, surrounded by woodland & fields and only a short trip away from the coast. Aerial photography is useful for many types of property photography – for estate agent photography it can be used to give a plan view of the property showing the boundaries but also for the reasons above – to show location & proximity to towns or the coast.
Warnings of Gales – a short film of the North Norfolk coast
It’s that time of year when the wedding season has drawn to a close and the commercial work comes in dribs & drabs so I like to keep the creative juices flowing with some personal projects. Since owning the drones I have got into film-making and really enjoy the process from initial planning, through to filming and final edit.
This latest short film is one which I am really pleased with and showcases some of the beautiful North Norfolk coast in Autumn time. The soundtrack is by a talented local composer who goes by the name of Reg Length. Reg has written scores for films and commercials amongst other jobs so it’s a real honour to have him compose a piece to accompany this aerial video of the coast. I am sure you will agree it compliments the video footage beautifully.
If you’d like to hear more of Reg’s work his website is reglength.com and more of his work can be found on Soundcloud here. Sadly Reg’s dog Buddy passed away on the day that the video was finally published so I’d like to dedicate it to Buddy.
Warnings of Gales from Chris Taylor Photo / AeroVisuals on Vimeo.
Aerial video – a short film of Cromer & Sheringham Lifeboats on exercise
I have a crazy week of commercial shoots ahead, mostly property photography plus a shoot of two 10ft oil paintings and a pilates studio amongst others! Working as a commercial photographer in Norfolk is always so varied and interesting, I could never get bored with it, especially as I can include a play with the drone and make short aerial films like the one below.
I have been wanting to film Cromer Lifeboat’s dramatic launches off the end of Cromer Pier for a long time and when I was asked by their Operations Manager if I could do it for them I jumped at the chance. Firstly I had to get clearance from the RNLI press office, they now have strict drone regulations in place so it’s been great to qualify as one of the RNLI’s few recognised drone operators. Without this permission the RNLI do not allow drones within 150m of their stations and lifeboats.
It was a crisp and frosty morning as I stood on the beach getting some establishing shots with the drone, it wasn’t long before I couldn’t feel my fingers any more (and the batteries on the drone weren’t very happy being so cold either) so I headed to the station to warm up, filming the walk along the frosty pier by simply carrying the drone in front of me while it filmed and the gimbal kept the camera steady.
The crew donned their PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and prepared the boat & we were ready for launch.
The additional (b-roll) footage was shot using the DJI Osmo Mobile – an amazing little handheld gimbal which acts as a steadicam for an iphone. I slotted the iphone 7+ in place (awesome 4K camera on there plus two different lenses) and grabbed some additional footage to add into the final edit.
The below is the result, be sure to watch in HD & have your speakers on for the music!
RNLI Cromer Lifeboat from AeroVisuals on Vimeo.
• Drone photographers in Norfolk • Norfolk drone operators • CAA approved drone operators in Norfolk • Aerial video Norfolk •
