MKJ Photography

I really enjoy doing Business pics as they offer you a good opportunity to be creative with your light. This is Robin Mehta who is Director of a company called Technology Consult which produce mobile phone apps, large scale websites and bespoke software. Getting computers in the shot was important and I tried a few shots of him sitting behind one but this was the main shot I had in my head. The room was pretty light so I upped the shutter speed and dropped the ISO to darken it. I had a flash camera right with a large Lastolite softbox, flash camera left had a smaller Lumiquest softbox for a slightly harder light. Third flash was above providing the hairlight, all controlled from the master flash on the top of my camera which makes life much easier. Overall I was happy with the photo, it was just a small part of an ordinary office but with the help of some good composition and subtle light I have been able to make an ordinary photograph that little bit more interesting. Only thing I would change would be the light camera left, I would move it to kick more light into the side of Robins face.

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Following on from the previous photo of the Monktonhall Miners here's one of my favourites. I spotted these two guys having a bit of a serious chat about stuff they had to do regarding the pit. By this time all the miners had accepted my presence and I was able to move about without attracting attention to myself. I had a 105mm lens on the camera which was perfect for this situation, I just held back and started to take a few shots avoiding the temptation to blast away and maybe distract them. My patience was rewarded when the two of them shared a joke and I pressed the shutter release which resulted in this photograph. There's nothing better in photography than the moment you press the button and know immediately  'That's the one'. Nowadays with digital cameras you can check straight away if you've got it, this photo was taken with a film camera so I had to wait a while to see the result but I was sure I had captured the moment, it was made sweeter when I realised this was the last frame on the film!

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I've always loved 'reportage' photography, while at the College of Arts and Technology in Newcastle I started a project photographing folk who lived and worked on the River Tyne. The photos went on to be exhibited at the City Library and published as a softback book. This photograph is part of the second big documentary project I embarked on this time in Edinburgh in the early nineties. The 'Monktonhall Miners' were a group of unemployed miners who invested £10,000 each in a bid to make the Monktonhall mine a viable concern again. I visited them on and off for about a year and a half, slowly gaining their trust and eventually culminating in a visit to the coalface. As you can see from the photograph, it's a tad cramped down there 3000 feet below the surface. You can see the huge hydraulic jacks which support the tunnel ceiling, the coal face is on the left where the cutter operates. I was allowed to use a flashgun sparingly and I also took photos using the miners lamps on their helmets, it was certainly a tricky working environment! After all these years I still feel privileged to have been allowed to have seen at first hand… Read More

Part of my work covers taking photographs at special events. These can range from small social gatherings to huge Corporate conferences. I enjoy doing these as no two are the same and the clients usually leave me an open brief to record the events as I find them, perfect for getting a bit creative. This photo was taken last week at an event hosted by Capital Solutions in Edinburgh. They hired Magician Kevin McMahon to  entertain folk before the main event, he was obviously blowing people away by his card tricks judging by the amazed and baffled looks on many of the attendees faces. This shot was taken with the flash on camera and using a slow shutter speed then turning the camera as I made the exposure. I simple enough technique but which lifts an otherwise mundane photograph into something a bit more special. Read More

This was a nice shoot, the subject is a Lawyer and the venue is a Georgian Hotel in Edinburgh’s New Town. These old buildings are fantastic places to shoot with lots of lovely features to choose from, for this session I used the library. The room is North racing and so was a bit dull, first job was to get it a bit brighter. I had two Speedlites on a stand throwing light up into the (very high and thankfully white ceiling). This lit up the room very well and gave the dark wood and leather seats a nice strong contrast.  I had another Speedlite to the right of the camera with a small softbox kicking a bit of fill into the subjects face and a small light to the left on the floor shooting through a Trigrip Diffuser to light up the dark suit a bit. The shoot lasted about 45mins including setting up the lighting and I did about a dozen different poses. This is a job where the Speedlights really shine (no pun intended) They are small, compact and really easy to use with no mains power leads to worry about. I’ve been a big fan of TTL lighting for a long time but have been finding the erratic exposures… Read More