with Alistair

2. Alistair studied Photojournalism at Stradbroke College in
Sheffield and then went on to work for the Leicester Mercury as a
Photographer for nearly 14 years.
He described his job as a photographer at the Leicester Mercury
as ‘an annoying pap (paparazzi) who doesn’t
understand personal space’ but from that job he said that
he had learnt ‘valuable lessons on how to act around
people when they are having photographs taken of
them’.
After working at the Leicester Mercury he opened a photography
studio in Coalville called The Studio 17 in 2007 and has been
there ever since, offering professional photography for occasions
including PR, press events, portraits, weddings, parties and
schools.
‘I love my job because you never know who is going to
walk through the door, and I also love traveling around
the county, visiting new locations to shoot’

3. What is your favourite camera to shoot
with?
‘My favourite camera is the Canon EOS 1DX due
to its versatility because if I want to shoot
something, for example a child on the rope swing
in the studio then it has a very quick shutter speed
so I can capture the perfect moment, you know
what kids are like you can never get their attention
for longer than 2 seconds!’

4. What is your favourite event to shoot?
‘By far my favourite event is a
wedding! This is probably because
it is a happy occasion and people
always want photographs taken so
you are never searching for people
and persuading, they come to you!
I always seem to produce my best
work at a wedding, probably
something to do with the setting, I
have worked at some incredible
weddings!’

5. For my front cover, I am hoping to photograph Old John in Bradgate
Park with a woman doing a yoga pose, do you have any tips on how
to produce an eye catching image?
‘When I shot the eclipse this year up at Old John, my best
images were when I did a light reading on the sky then
silhouetted Old John and the trees in the background. It was
really effective as the sky colour was an incredible blue and
Old John was completely black, you could recreate that by
putting your yoga model in the handle to the beer glass (the
doorway!!) and creating a silhouette of Old John and her
doing a really distinctive yoga pose. However, the model must
be wearing skin tight clothing to make it look as effective as
possible.’
I loved this idea he gave me for my front cover and I am
definitely going to take it forward into the planning stages of
my magazine.

6. Alistair showing me the image he took through the doorway of
Old John on the morning of the eclipse. As you can see,
everything is silhouetted apart from the sky.

7. Do you have any tips on how to set out
my double paged spread?
‘From my days working for the Leicester Mercury and also
taking photographs for magazines, I have learnt that if you
are the main article in the magazine, you need to make
sure that your main image is on the right hand side of the
page, and taking up most of it. This is because the right
hand page is the first page people see, and if the picture is
eye catching and interesting then they are more likely to
read the article. You also need to make sure that your
readers eyes are dragged into the middle of the pages, you
don’t want a road leading off the page.’

8. Unfortunately, the interview had to be cut short as
Alistair’s next client had arrived for their family portraits.
However, Alistair has given me a brilliant idea for the
image on my front cover, and also very important tips to
take forward when it comes to designing my double-page
spread.