Team Hasselblad
When he set up Frasershot four years ago
Craig Fraser's goal was to assemble a skilled multi-media team
driven by Hasselblad that would have the capacity to tackle the
largest assignments.
For those who dare to think big the potential is there even in
these difficult times to build a thriving business, and Craig
Fraser is living proof that it is still possible to survive and
thrive in the challenging world of commercial photography. Having
moved into his purpose-built 1200 square foot Northampton studio
three years ago he's pieced together a team of four who work
together under the name Frasershot. "It can get a little crazy at
times," says Craig, "particularly if I have freelancers working in
there as well."
"My speciality is food and I have been working recently with top
chef Marcus Wareing, producing imagery for his flagship restaurant
The Berkeley in Knightsbridge. The other side of the coin is
catalogue photography and the team has been working on a massive
project over the past eight months, producing around 8000 images
for one of the world's largest brands. It was a huge commission and
we had to think long and hard about the most efficient way of
meeting the challenge."
Craig has worked with digital cameras most of his professional
life and he made the decision to move to medium format in the shape
of the Hasselblad H3D-31 two years ago. He's never regretted the
investment, and these are the cameras, which now primarily drive
the studio. "I moved up from a 35mm DSLR system and was initially
nervous that medium format would be far too complicated," he says.
"It didn't take me long to get used to the Hasselblad though, and
once you've made the move up to a larger camera and have seen the
quality it can deliver you can never go back." To handle the volume
of work that's required the team shoots in multiple bays with
Hasselblads tethered to large screen Macs, and the whole space is
set up with productivity in mind.
"The only thing that can get frustrating is that so much of our
work is for international clients," says Craig. "If there is a
requirement for image approval this might have to go through a
committee and there will also be time differences involved, and you
might have to leave everything set up for three hours or more
before you have the go-ahead to take it down, which is a
photographer's nightmare!"
Advancing technology has proved to be a major boon for the
business, and Craig has been particularly impressed with the latest
improvements made to the Phocus software, especially the app which
allows him to see what the camera is doing, adjust controls and
fire the shutter from his iPhone. "For me that's been brilliant,"
he says. "It allows me to walk up to the set and adjust such things
as lights and reflectors and to see exactly what I'm getting. Once
everything looks right I can use my iPhone as a remote and fire the
camera without having to go back to it."
With his business flourishing Craig is finding himself continually
rushed off his feet but he enjoys the daily challenge immensely. "I
love the buzz of winning new business and the feeling I get when
clients are thrilled with my images still brings a lump to my
throat," he says. "I couldn't do anything else; it's everything to
me and I'm passionate about improving all the
time".