First Published February 26th 2018
This weekend gone, i was lucky enough to be on a Peaky Blinders themed photoshoot. Based in Leicester at a local studio and ran by Click Group Shoots, this was really the first time doing a larger location shoot.
There was lots to think about and lots of great areas to work in.
KIT
I had with me the following kit. Just click on them for more information and if you want to buy one of the items.
Tokina 28-70 ATX-Pro f2.8 Lens This is a link to the Newer 24-70 version.
Godox AD360-II Flash Gun with Powerpack.
Godox X1T-N Trigger These are different for each camera make, go through the link and it should give you a few options.
Neewer Light Stand Soon to be upgraded for a sturdier unit, but great to start out with.
Bowens Beauty Dish 42cm Diffuses the light nicely.
Godox Speedlight attachement. Allows speedlights, AD360, Ad200,s etc to have a bowens front attachement for a multitude of modifiers.
Camera Sling the one i use is a variation on this design. I picked mine up at the photography show, but this is just as good.
Location
The location was an industrial estate. This presented a few issues. For instance, in the 1920’s i very much doubt there was a need for double yellow lines and ‘SLOW’ signs. Also navigating modern cars coming in and out was interesting as well as modern signage and overhead electrical cables. These were all challenges that you can get around in a variety of ways, usually a different camera angle.
In the studio, there is a large natural light area which is just an old warehouse. It has a fantastic look, and worked really well for a number of scenes.
Props and Attire
The re-enactors and models had pretty much covered the clothing arrangements, with full on suited and booted attire. The Caps supplied by the Organisers.
Geoff, one of the models, is very adept at making props, and the full sized Lewis Machine Gun he bought with him was rather spectacular. The usual heavy hand weapons were dotted around, sledgehammers, mattock handles and the like. Cigarettes were also a bit of a staple on this shoot.
The ladies looked stunning in their dresses and overcoats which reflected the time period perfectly.
There was also the application of Enola Gay Smoke Grenades for some of the staged scenes, which really worked well.
The bigger props had to be brought in with supervision. A 1920’s Austin Car and the relatively well behaved horses. Yes… Horses.
The Shoot
Running over a good 4 hours or so, it was very hectic at times. Always good fun, and good humour. I’ll just basically show the photos. This was a small proportion of what was took on the day.
Just a small selection for the days shooting. Lots of different techniques applied. Natural Light, High Speed Sync being two of the main ones.
The AD360 performed flawlessly, and the battery, even after a good 300 flashes, and using HSS, still had 4 bars.
An awesome day shooting with some great models, and some great photographers.
Portrait Photography is something that i dipped my toe into, around a year ago, and never looked back. I have learnt so much, and met some fantastic people along the way. This year i will be pushing myself to do even more.
If you want a personal photoshoot, pop me a quick email or message.
I now have a store for Prints and anything else. Look at the top of the page and click on Shop.
If you want to email me for a custom order, or something not in the shop drop me an email.
As always, have fun, stay safe, and enjoy shooting.
Any suggestions for future blog posts, drop me an email. I will at some point be going into more detail on future posts.
you can see more of my work at
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