Projects - Simon Plant Photographer

May

Creating The Last Harvest

This image was the first I produced in my project Life In A Somerset Landscape.
It was inspired by fascination with Maize fields and I wanted to create an image set around one.
I decided rather that capture a person within the scene I would approach local bird sanctuary Sharandy’s Bird Of Prey who had a lovely barn owl called Breeze who they kindly allowed me to Photograph.
All composite image throw up surprises and this one was no different. It wasn’t shooting the Owl or masking the fine details of the Maize heads although this was a challenge and I had to combine several techniques to solve it.
No the main issue was finding a rustic looking fence which living where I do I did not anticipate for one minute having a problem finding.In the end I found a fairly new fence and had to age it in post production and add extra foliage to create the vision I had for it.
The final image came together well complete with Glastonbury Tor and mist that can often be found on the Somerset Levels around September time.

Behind The Scenes Video

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May

A Lifestyle Portrait, Keeping The Ambience The Dark Art Of Weaving The Withy

While on a shoot capturing some images for my personal project Life In A Somerset Landscape at Withy growers P.H Coates I came across this very dark but atmospheric room.
In it three guys where busy working in the dim light and plenty of banter was being exchanged in their strong Somerset accents especially when I was introduced to them followed by the words photographing you where mentioned!

It wasn’t a Landscape… but the room had a rustic historic charm and bags of atmosphere and I could visualize the final lifestyle portrait image complete with Matthew Godfrey one of the guys who skillfully weaved wicker fences in the room.
The image was going to be a tricky one to attempt to capture in one frame due to the dim light and the fact there were elements I wanted to be visible to help tell the story without over lighting and killing the whole ambience of the place.
It’s one of those moments when seeing the final image and having extensive knowledge of photo retouching techniques allowed me to harvest all the images I would need then combine them in post-production without a huge amount of system time.

Apr

Wooden Horse & Treacherous Tides

The Bristol Channel can be a treacherous place.
For starters it has the second-highest tidal range in the world, the first is the Bay of Fundy in Canada.
So if that does not catch you out then there is the mud to contend with which claims many a tourist’s cars during the summer months.

I’ve lived along this coast for a large part of my life so I know to give it a lot of respect.
So it was partly this that intrigued me about the Mud Horse Fishermen who go onto the dangerous mudflats to retrieve fish from their nets.

They can only do this as they know the area and tides very well and also have their sledges known as Wooden Horses that keep them from sinking waist deep or more into the concrete like mud.
I had 20 years previous captured an environmental portrait of another of the fishermen but now only 2 survive and I decided to call Adrian Sellick to see if I might be able to capture him for my project Life In A Somerset Landscape
A time was arranged and I met up with Adrian a week later and also his father Brendan who was busy mending nets just a stone’s throw from the beach.

To my amazement, Adrian said he would drive us part of the mile or so out to where his Horse was anchored in his small 4×4 and I have to say I was pretty nervous about that after seeing so many vehicles devoured!
Thankfully I had nothing to worry about and with Adrian’s advise I managed to avoid stepping on the wrong type of mud and being swallowed up and got the shots I wanted before the tide turned.
The final image shows Adrian with his Wooden Horse with Hinkley Point Power Station in the background.

Apr

The 1943 Harley & D-Day Despatch Rider

Inspired by some very old musty prints and tales from my Mum and Dad about living and working through WW2 I set out to shoot some images that represented that era.
Through some research I managed to find a guy called Manny who had collection of WW2 memorbillia (and that’s a huge understatement !) who was also located not far from me.
I also thought Manny would be a great addition to my Life In A Somerset Landscape Project so I gave him a call.

As expected Manny was very passionate about the era and travelled to many of the re-enactments both here and abroad during the summer months.
During our telephone chat he mentioned the authentic 750cc 1943 Harley Davidson he had and a U.S infantryman’s uniform as worn in the D-Day invasion.

At that point the image came together at least in my head
We decided that we create a story where a U.S Army Despatch Rider from headquarters company is delivering messages to and from various units.
The setting would be a forest in northern France and so my next job was to find the location and arrange the logistics of getting Manny and his bike there.

A week later the pre production was finalised and the shoot day arranged.
Manny was a dream to work with bringing authentic maps,rifles,etc giving us plenty of options for many variations I may want to try.

As my work is about quiet moments I worked around the narrative of the rider taking a rest from riding on his dangerous assignment.

USA Army Dispatch Rider With 1943 Harley Davidson Taking A Break.

USA Army 1943 Harley Davidson Leather Pannier

USA Army Dispatch Rider With 1943 Harley Davidson.

Apr

A Late Willow Harvest

This week we finally finished another shoot for my personal project “Life In A Somerset Landscape“.
You may remember early October I went on a recee to PH Coate & Son “Willow & Wetlands Centre” with the plan to return and photograph the wicker harvest.

Jan

Rich Tea Deer !

Yeah awful title but it kind of describes what is going on in this image.
Last September I got a call from an agency called Ice House Design whom I had worked with on a very successful campaign the previous year which won Silver in The Graphis Advertising Awards.
The brief was to capture images for a composite they wanted me to create which was to include a Stag as the main element.With the brief in hand I started to look at my options for capturing the animal. After several calls and networking I found Mike Gage of South West Deer Rescue Centre.
To cut a long story short the shoot was a success and I’ll post the images once the campaign goes live.
Mike was a great character and I asked if I could return at a later date to shoot him for my personal project “Life In A Somerset Landscape” and this brings us to the image below.
My plan was to shoot him and his mate Pete sat on the rear of their beaten up 4×4 truck surrounded by Deer but the truck was out of action with a broken axle.
So as often is the case in the unpredictable world of location shooting I had to think on my feet and come up with an alternative idea.
We decided that a shot of the Deer being fed their favorite Rich Tea biscuits could provide the perfect image against the beautiful South Somerset backdrop.

Oct

Wicker Coffins & Wetlands Centre

Today was the end of a very full week of shooting in London, Devon & Somerset.
We also had to produce estimates for a couple of fantastic briefs that we hope we will be shooting next month which we are pretty excited about.
So all in all a very enjoyable week and to top it off today we spent a fantastic morning looking around yet another location we are planning to shoot for our personal project “Life In A Somerset Landscape”
The location was PH Coate & Son “Willow & Wetlands Centre” here in deepest Somerset.The Coate family have grown willow here since the 1800’s and today produce products from environmentally friendly Wicker Coffins to Christmas Hampers for the famous Fortnum & Mason in London.
So just like Cider making the Willow growing indusrty just had to be included in our project and we plan to return in November when the Willow Harvest is under way.

iPhone 5

Sep

Proper Somerset Photography, Remembering Gordon

It’s been a busy week here at Monks Yard researching locations and contacting people for several shoots we have ideas for.
For the last 18 months or more we have been working on a project titled “Life in A Somerset Landscape”

The title pretty much speaks for itself but the concept is basically to photograph well known or iconic Somerset landscapes with either people or animals in them.

Withy-weaver-portrait-somerset-ph-coates

Withy weaver PH Coates Withy growers Somerst

Of course in line with my style of imagery these images are often composited scenes made up from sometimes many elements to create the idyllic and quiet moments that make up my vision.
When I first started on my career some 25 or so years ago I would often shoot for the Somerset Tourism Departments and met some wonderful & colourful characters including a guy called Gordon Rich.
Gordon was a Somerset Cider Maker and owner of Richies Cider Farm and was Somerset as they come!

Maybe it was because I was young and just starting out with my somerset photography business but he was always very accommodating whenever I turned up to photograph him and always had some fantastic stories to tell.
Unfortunately, he’s no longer with us but the Cider Farm still continues to thrive under the families management.
The project just had to feature Cidermaking at some point as it’s what Somerset is best known for. After a quick chat with Gordon’s family and showing the images captured in the project so far they were happy for me to go ahead with my idea.

Today we did a recce of one of their oldest Cider Orchards which is currently brimming with apples ready to be harvested for cider making.
This time of year is perfect timing for the trees being full of apples but bad timings for the guys as they are very very busy harvesting and pressing the apples. Due to this, we plan to return at dawn when the weather is favourable to capture the orchards and return when this year’s busy harvest period is over to photograph some of the guys and composite the two images in post-production …how things have moved on since my days shooting Gordon on my old 6×6 film camera!

Mar

Mud, Nuclear Power & The Mud Horse Fishermen

As I have mentioned in a previous post I’m currently working on producing new life images of people & animals within the landscape.

Part of this has evolved into a small project shooting “Life In A Somerset Landscape” where I show people and animals at well known Somerset locations.
While researching new people to shoot I caught an old TV clip of one of the last Mud Horse Fisherman who live close to Hinkley Point B Nuclear power station nr Bidgwater Somerset.
20 years earlier I had photographed one of the last few fishermen for a magazine and so was not sure if any where still actually still fishing in the area.
After a bit of research with good old Google I managed to find a telephone number for Brendan & Adrian Sellick who are father & son and the last two people still Mud Horse fishing a stones throw from Hinkley Point B Nuclear Power Station.

So what is Mud Horse Fishing?
Having lived close to the coast most my life (mostly on the Bristol Channel) I know how dangerous this stretch of coast can be.
Firstly it has the second fastest fall and rise of tide in the world plus and more appropriate here the mud banks can be like quicksand.
The fishermen place their nets 2 miles out over the treacherous mud banks of the Bristol Channel. They use a wooden sledge known as a Mud Horse to help them not only carry back their catch but more importantly aid them to glide over the thick treacherous mud and not sink into it.
Following my telephone call I arranged to meet Adrian Brendan Sellick and photograph them with the Mud Horse at the beach.
My vision for the image was not one shot in bright clear sunlight which is what the shoot day presented me with.For me this is the kind of uncertantity that makes location shooting so interesting and certainly keeps you on your toes.
Another surprise on the day was I did not expect to go onto the mud banks to shoot but stay on the shore.
Adrian explained that the Mud Horse is stored about 1 mile out onto the mud banks of the channel weighted down by rocks as is to cumbersome to drag out.

We jumped into his 4×4 and started to drive cautiously over the mud which I have to admit was rather unnerving after the scores of cars I’ve seen submerged on this coastline by tourists driving on the beaches and ignoring the warnings.

Luckily I always carry a pair of wellies in the boot of my car so was pretty well prepared for the mud that I had to wade through in certain areas.

I had as I always do planned to use my tripod but it quickly became obvious that I would have to go out my comfort zone and hand hold the camera.
Adrian directed me to where was safe to walk and pointed out the areas that would have me knee deep plus in mud which was a worry with £6,500 worth of camera around my neck !
I directed Adrian where I wanted him and set about shooting with quite briskly with a healthy burst of fill in flash to reduce the harsh contrast from the crystal clear sunlit sky.
It was a very enjoyable shoot even though it took me out my comfort zone a little (which is not a bad thing) and made me adapt my plans slightly.

I retired with Adrian back to his rustic fish shop where I finished by shooting some headshots of him and his charismatic father Brendan.

This shoot summed up to me how much I love the excitement & unpredictable nature of location shooting.Combing this with meeting interesting,charming people doing jobs that sadly may not continue in years to come also gives me satisfaction of knowing that once again my camera has enabled me to explore places & people otherwise I may never had chance to.

The final image shown here combines several images of Adrian,The Bristol Channel and the Hinkley Point B Power Station.

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