Lakeisha Douch, who has been doing work experience at Deep South Media
Lakeisha is a second year photography student at UAL…
I have been spending some time at Deep South Media, a Dorset-based public relations company which specialises in stand-out digital content and newsroom services for 50 companies and organisations.
My role was to assist and shadow the head of visuals and photographer, Paul Collins. Over my first week at DSM, I spent a lot of time out of the office travelling around Dorset and Hampshire.
We travelled to Whitely, Eastleigh, Salisbury, Winchester, Portsmouth, Westbourne, Wimborne and Ringwood, photographing for three different businesses.
I have learnt a lot, not just about photography, but also about filming and business.
I am quite inexperienced when it comes to video, therefore I was very grateful to learn some more about filming. We used a Canon EOS C100 Mark II, which I have never used before.
Alongside the video camera we also set up a Canon 5D; by doing this it gives us another angle to add to the video which makes it more interesting visually.
Film is something that I have wanted to get into for a while, so I was very pleased to be able to learn a few things about it.
I look forward to editing all the footage on Premier Pro, another software I am familiar with but hope to learn more from my time being here.
Something that was quite interesting was how much a shoot has to be directed. I am used to working with models, therefore I don’t have to do as much directing because models tend to know their angles and poses.
In our shoots we have been using everyday people who are not models. Our job was to take portraits of employees, using the different areas around the office.
Because of the people we are dealing with, we as the photographer have to spend a lot of time directing and managing them. Positioning people and making sure they’re smiling, standing straight and looking comfortable is the main goal.
A lot of people tend to tense and freeze when in front of a camera therefore it is the photographer’s job to ensure they are directed appropriately to get the perfect shot.
This was good to witness, as it made me aware of the situation you’re in when doing PR photography compared to fashion photography.
Not everyone is a model therefore you have to use good people skills and not be afraid to direct people to do exactly what you want them to do, in order to get a good photograph.
Now look at Lakeisha’s website
