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Live Life at the Drop of a Hat: Ford Nugget 2020

“There’s gold in them thar hills!” – M.F. Stephenson

Here at Harniman we’ve been asking ourselves what will the rest of 2020/2021 look like? After 4 months self-reflection (and time to curate our analogue archives – check out our IG channel, if you haven’t already!) we know we’re approaching what we do differently – and so are you. Challenging? Absolutely. And we’ve all had to adapt, but we love a challenge!

We are delighted, therefore, to get to talk to other people, go outside, show off our latest project for Ford collaborating with the folks at GTB.

Full-disclosure, the shoot actually happened right before we were all told we weren’t allowed to be so close to each other anymore, so the BTS shots all show us congregating more than the new industry standard safety guidelines allow. Fine by me – less chance my tripod is likely to get kicked over…

But I digress – what we appreciated about this shoot was again Ford’s forward-thinking branding strategy hitting the nail on the head. Speaking directly to those of us who are not now looking for the latest city-hopping vehicle to beat the queues on the M25 but looking for a better way to get out and have a good time, wherever we can/are allowed.

Their newest print campaign promotes ‘Live Life at the Drop of a Hat’ and this absolutely speaks to most photographer’s lifestyle – always has! It is a smart piece of marketing too in its authenticity, relevance and how it encourages us to get back out there and embrace the simple things that we can do to get back to normal.  

And what a location! Being forced to think more locally, rather than globally for location shoots, has actually played to our strengths being situated so close to spectacular locations in England and Wales. Every time we’re commissioned for a location shoot I try to ‘see it a-new’ and with the likelihood that more exotic climes will be out of reach for the foreseeable, why not revel in some of the countryside that our unique, little island has to offer?

I love a sunset shoot too – the light playing off the water, the shadowy moodiness thrown back off the mountains – makes me wonder how many human dramas they’ve looked down on in their long history. The interplay of light and the primal way it’s innately human to want to come back to nature to re-charge and refocus.

This campaign hit the press trail at the beginning of this month in print and online so keep an eye out. Many thanks as always to everyone involved – the talent did a sterling job of ‘not looking cold’ and the production team wielded a mean set of umbrellas and hand warmers – thanks guys! It feels great to be getting back to it!

Lastly – a heads up – if you’re not all sick of sitting in front of your screens yet…The Photography Show 2020 (originally scheduled to happen in March at Birmingham’s N.E.C.) has been re-booted as a virtual event this year and unbelievably they still wanted to feature yours truly as part of their speakers line-up. So… I made time with a great mate of mine, Automotive & Motorsport TV presenter, Toby Moody, to (socially distance) and sit down and have a chin-wag about life, light painting and our mutual love of all things octane fuelled. You can catch us Monday September 21^st at 3:15pm at The Photography Show 2020 Virtual Event!

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