Bike Trader Magazine,Bike Show Promotion

October was a super busy month for us which included this studio shoot for Bike Trader Magazine (Trader Media Group}.
We were asked to shoot for a bike give away promotion they were running for The Bike Show at N.E.C in Birmingham (U.K).
We produced images for not only the cover of the magazine but also a poster and several advertising boards to be located in the Gents Toilets !.
Our gorgeous models were Juliette Mills and Emma Jones.
More samples available at www.plantphoto.com

New Video "The Making Of" Creating Monochrome Masterpieces

After an intense couple of weeks I'm pleased to announce my downloadable video
"The Making Of" Creating Monochrome Masterpieces




View Web Page HERE

Scarecrow Video Tutorial

Our training site www.prophotoinsights.net have started to produce some short video tutorials for several photographic magazines (for their DVD cover disks and websites).
Here is a sample of one we did for fun for Halloween.....

Photo Pro Magazine Feature

As promised here is a link to the feature Photo Pro Magazine did in their November issue.
The Editor Terry Hope joined us on location at Millbrook proving ground in Bedfordshire and featured what he witnessed in the magazine's regular spot "The Shoot"
You can download the PDF Here
Photo Pro's website can be found at www.photopromagazine.com

Millbrook-22 Cars-20 Hours

Just finished a rather large shoot at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire England.
The site is used by many magazines,manufacturer's and the 5th Gear television programme to test vehicles and safely film them.In fact even some of the James Bond car stunts were filmed there.
It's very high security and every film crew-photographer has his or her own security guard to make sure they only shoot what they are supposed to.
We had a UK photo exclusive with the Bentley Zagato which is a mere snip at £750,000 !!
and many more exotic vehicles.
My favorite ? It's got to be the Mercedes C63 AMG as I got a chance to be scared out of my wits by our ex pro driver who kindly took me for a spin sideways around one of the tracks.What an experience that was...!! and what a talented driver.

This shoot is being featured in the November edition of Photo Pro magazine (On Sale at beginning of October 2008)

Pro Photo Insights

We are pleased to announce our new venture Pro Photo Insights.
I get many people express interest on how I create some of my work,so for a long time I have thought about producing some kind of online video content/training.
Following a chance online meeting and chatting I was finally inspired to take action and Professional Photographer Insights was born.
The idea is to show a start to finish (from behind the scenes) video footage of the photo shoot then screen casts of the retouching process.We encourage those who sign up to contact us and tell us what they wish to learn about e.g shooting panning shots of cars or what lenses have what effect on the landscape etc.The most popular request's will be made into a training video.We have lots more plans too so it's an exciting time to see where it will take us.
Sign up at www.prophotoinsights.net and we will send you a free 38 page e-book "Photographing the Edge of Darkness"

The Orphan Works Act of 2008

Please sign the petition to stop the Orphan Works Bill.
Sign and read the details at the site below.
www.petitiononline.com/Stop2913/petition.html

Heron

Another dawn sortie on the Somerset Levels.
I'm busy shooting for the exhibition Level Light and while out I spotted this huge Heron from a distance.I always try and keep my camera set for the unexpected shot so I was ready to pounce when this bird spotted me and took off.
I've added extra grain to this image as I feel digital images can sometimes be quite souless and I just love the textures I used to get with old emulsions like Agfa 1000 RS.
Anyway back to the Euro championships !

Level Light Exhibition

Here is a sneak preview of one of my images that will be appearing in an Exhibition called Level Light.Level Light is an exhibition of paintings of the Somerset levels by two established somerset artists Pennie Elfick and Jenny Graham.My work was spotted by Pennie and Jenny at the Ginger Fig Gallery in Taunton where it's sold and they kindly asked if I'd like to show some of my work.
This is the first image I have produced for the show and it's called May on the Moor.
It was shot nr Burrow Mump at Burrowbridge Somerset.It was so early in the morning that my only company where 2 young Deer who watched me from a cautious distance.
The Exhibition runs at Ginger Fig Bath Place Taunton for 2 weeks from the 3rd-17th July

Audi A8

We did some test work in April using the new Audi A8 which I was fortunate to have at my disposal for a week.After much deliberation we finally made our decisions for the locations.Myself and a friend who often drives for me on shoots first found some of these spots on Exmoor 16 years previous when we shot his Ford RS Turbo for my portfolio.Luckily we managed to find our way back to scout out the best time of day for the light.A week or two later at 5.30 am we returned and managed 4 locations before the light was lost.
The images where all retouched and then converted into LAB colour so I could separate the colours and add intensity before converting back to RGB.
As for the car it was nice for a week but I'm glad to get back to my into my BMW for the thrills !!
These images can be viewed at www.plantphoto.com

Perched

When I was around 7-8 I always had a toy gun strapped in a shoulder holster pretending to be James Bond or some crime fighting detective or other.
Later at about the age of 10 or so I was never without a football at my feet and when my interest in Photography developed (no pun intended!)it was a camera that replaced a ball.My camera still travels with me most days especially on family days out which is when this image was taken.Most of my images are pre planned to capture the subject when the light falls at the best angle at the best time of day and season.Sometimes however you spot something that catches your eye in the most uninspiring light and this is one such image.
I did not touch this shot for 6 or so months until I had decided how I wanted the image to be completed.Most of the post production work on this image simply consisted of adjusting colour and tone and took about 3 hrs to complete.
The finished image is available as a fine art print at www.simonplantgallery.com

Canon Eos Magazine

We have had our work featured in the April-June edition of Canon Eos Magazine.
View PDF Here

Sacre Coeur Dusk

Last November I was in Paris for a meeting with an Advertising agency that I was shortlisted to do some work for.
I decided to stay on a couple of extra days to shoot some pictures and this is one of those I produced.
Sacre Coeur is a famous Basilica in the very beautiful Montmartre area of Paris.
God it was cold ! myself and a friend had to wait around 40 minutes for the correct balance in light and I was not very popular !!
I love this time of day (or is it night?) especially in the city with it's artificial street lights, it creates a real magical moment full of anticipation (for me anyway !)... bloody hell I'm getting all intellectual !!
As for post production well there was very little... I had to remove some Graffiti but the rest was just adjusting colour and tone.
More images from this trip can be viewed at http://www.simonplantgallery.com
in the European Cities Gallery.

Advanced Photoshop Magazine

27th February 2008
My work is featured over 6 pages in the Feb (Number 41) issue of Advanced Photoshop magazine.The feature interviewed me about my Car Photography including CGI Imaging and also featured some of my fine art photography.View PDF Here

Digital Photo Pro Magazine

January 2008
My Car Photography including CGI Imaging is featured in Digital Photo Pro Magazine this month. The magazine interviewed me regarding the future of Car Advertising and the use of HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography in combination with CGI to render realistic models of automobiles into photographic locations. View PDF Here

Latest Work,Aston Martin Vantage

Just finished retouching this image of an Aston Martin Vantage for my fine art gallery www.simonplantgallery.com and my commercial Book (Portfolio).The image was shot on location last November for one of my clients.Compared to some images I work with this was a pretty straightforward retouch and took approx 4 hours in total.Depending on my mood/time constraints I sometimes will start an image and then pause for a few days and view it's progress before finalising what I want to produce from the shot.
Apart from adding a new sky and doing tonal-colour adjustments this is the image that came from the camera.

About

My name is Simon Plant and I'm an award winning British Photographer specialising in Car Photography and Fine Art.
About.......
I was born in Birmingham England in 1967 and raised near Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset.
At the age of 19, I borrowed my father's camera and traveled around
Greece. This was the very beginning of my interest in photography.
It was around 1989, that I came across the photographic work of John
Claridge, a world-renowned advertising photographer. His work had a
very big impact on me and ultimately inspired me to make photography my
career.
In 1990 I started up my own photographic business doing advertising work,
and shortly afterwards I received my first big break - shooting
Lifestyle images on location for Clark’s shoes.
Many assignments followed and I was on my way to becoming a full
Professional.
Over the years I have photographed a range of people - from heads of
Industry to TV celebrities. I have also travelled to many locations that
would normally have been inaccessible if it were not for my camera.
2005 saw me change direction and shoot less people based work and
concentrate on shooting locations & cars (another passion of mine).
Constantly exploring new imaging technologies and developing new
techniques I became one of the first car photographers in the UK shooting
specialist HDR images for the CGI Rendering of cars.
In 2007, I decided to launch my online gallery to cater for the ever-increasing interest that has grown for my work as fine art.
My work has won many awards and been featured in all the major photographic press in the U.K. and been commissioned and published by many Nationally and Internationally known clients worldwide.
I live with my family in the rural South West of England.

My work has been both commissioned and purchased worldwide for many high profile clients & companies.
A small selection includes.

AOL
American Airlines
Bank Of England
British Airways
Clarks Shoes
Delta Airlines
Enviroment Agency
Hallmark
Headworx Clothing
IBM
Microsoft Multimedia Publishing
Minnesota Orchestra
National Geographic.
National Rivers Authority
Orange
Oxford University Press
Severn Trent Water
Time Magazine Online
Welsh Tourist Board

www.simonplantgallery.com
www.plantphoto.com