"Working with Jon was an absolute pleasure. He's not only professional and efficient, but also genuinely interested in the artists he collaborates with. He made the whole shoot feel easy and fun, offering great direction while still giving us space to be ourselves. The photos came back fast and were beautifully edited—top quality all around. Highly recommend him to anyone looking for a photographer who really gets it." Oskar
Introductions
Hiya, I'm Jon...
I'm a photographer from Manchester UK, and I love creative portraiture. I like to work with original bands, solo artists, actors, authors, dancers, and models, in an editorial style. If you're after some promo shots, I might just be the person you're looking for. I used to play in bands for over twenty years - I'm a musician and artist myself - I get you. I can't promise we'll get 'the one' (if there ever is 'a one'), but together, we can give it a good go.
The social aspect of photography is everything; pointing a camera at someone is intimidating, and I'm all about diminishing that awkwardness; I like to think I'm a people person.
Then again, sometimes, what other people think is a bad photo, I think is a good one - and vice versa - but everything is a subjective value judgement. ;-)
I like images that pop; high contrast, dramatic use of light is my thing. I also have a weird penchant for that late 70's/early 80's magazine look, but I'm into many other styles as well, of course!
How it works...
I don't have my own studio, but I'm mobile; I can bring lights and a backdrop to your location if a more studio-like setting is required.
Whether it's on-the-spot stuff you're after, or pre-imagined shots, it'll go like this: you tell me a bit about yourself, and what kind of images you're after, and I'll do some thinking, and some research. We'll arrange to meet at the location. I'll investigate on street view, considering the time of day. If it's interior, I'll try to scope that out as well. I'll think about at least one killer shot we can do, and plan it.
On the day, we have a sit down, maybe over a drink, and get to know each other a bit. Then we get to the task, or if it's improv, walk around and see what we can find, for maybe an hour or so. It usually works well, and often yields stunning results; it's all about the vibe. If you're comfortable, I'm comfortable, and that's what, I think, contributes the most (other than you!) to a good portrait.
I like to capture both the posed and the candid, and that means clicking a lot. It's worth my time, and yours, trawling through the out-of-focus ones, or the ones where the band corpses and cracks up, because among those, might be that elusive, amazing image. I spend time on each photo in post-production, and I'll present you with a curated set of photographs after the shoot.
Producing striking images is what I love doing, and taking photos is one part of that. Creatively improving those photos to be something more than they were when they left the camera (if necessary or appropriate) is the other part. If you have something to promote or sell, together, we can do our best to turn that up to eleven.
I'm a pragmatist, and I'm all good with stylisation.
Interested? Get in touch - I'd love to hear from you. x
Click any of the galleries below for the full set of client photos
