Jemma Dodd Photography

Monday, 6 April 2015

Summer vibes

Back in February the lovely BethyKoo invited me along to a group shoot in Northamptonshire to shoot with herself and three other models. The first part of the shoot took place in a swimming pool, I was so excited for this part as it was something completely different to what I've done before. I would like to point out that at no point did I get in the pool, everything was shot from the sides, if one day I can be brave enough to use some underwater housing then I'll give it a go.

A first my camera struggled to focus because of the steam produced from the heat of the water. I tried to use my 70-200mm f/2.8 to allow me to zoom from one side of the pool, but the lens stayed steamed up for way too long, so I stuck to my 50mm f/1.8 throughout.

A big thank you to the models, BethyKoo, Jon Eales, Rachel and Robyn Brooke, MUAs George Saltmer, April Harwood, Holly Cover and also Abs at Aliysium for making the stunning bikini modelled by Beth.

Here's some of my favorite shots from the day, the full set can be viewed on Flickr

All images © Jemma Dodd Photography

Of Mice And Men - Brixton Academy

Last week I headed back to London's Brixton Academy to shoot Of Mice And Men. The evening didn't start off too great as there were closures on the tube meaning we had to find replacement buses, sit and wait for them and then get crushed on the bus...but it was all worth it in the end, not only because of the shots I got, but because Of Mice and Men are an absolutely amazing live band! I would definitely recommend seeing this band live even if you only know a few songs. And if you don't want to take my word for it they've also just been nominated as 'Best Live Band' by Metal Hammer...

Full set of Of Mice And Men photos on Flickr

The Amity Affliction - more photos on Flickr

Volumes - more photos on Flickr

Review and photos featured on MOSH

All images © Jemma Dodd Photography

Papa Roach - Brixton Academy

I'm a massive fan of Papa Roach so I was really hoping I'd get this gig. I remember buying tickets to see them in Wolverhampton back when I was at Uni and being too ill to go, and then briefly seeing a few songs from their set at Leeds last year before rushing off to shoot the smaller stages, so this gig has been a long time coming! It's also the first gig I've shot of the year, which is pretty damn shocking to think that's almost 3 months of no gigs!

The first support were The One Hundred - the full set of photos can be viewed on Flickr

Coldrain - full set on Flickr

Papa Roach - full set on Flickr

Read the review by Bethaney Sutherland and see more photos on Soundscape here.

All images © Jemma Dodd Photography

Tuesday, 31 March 2015

How to get your images into magazines

At the moment I'm gradually editing some fashion photos, they're being published at a later date so I can't release any for now. Instead I've decided to share a bit of an insight.

It occurred to me today while going through images submitted to Practical Photography magazine that as a Picture Editor I know what magazines, tend to be looking for. So I thought why not share the do's and dont's of submitting work?

When I first got into photography I never submitted work anywhere, I didn't think I was good enough and wouldn't have even known where to start. Now I see people as young 12 getting there images published and it really makes me wish I'd done more.

Of course these points may differ by publication, but it's the best advice I can give. (All views and opinions are mine and not those of the magazine).

Do:

Do your research! This may seem obvious but it's something people clearly don't do. If you have a set of images in mind, check to see if they suit the magazine. You don't have to buy hundreds of magazines, BUT buying an issue is the best way to see what type of work they may be interested in. If the pages are full of landscapes, nature and wildlife then your serious documentary images probably aren't going to suit the magazine. Buy an issue!
Follow them on social media - see what sort of images they share, see what photographers they follow and keep up to date.

Look for submission guidelines - Some magazines have guidelines for submissions on their websites, while others may not mention submissions at all. Always follow the guidelines - they're there for a reason. Alternatively look out for email addresses to contact the picture editor, editor or even the general office, they should hopefully point you in right direction.

Think editorial - If your portrait image has a centered person (typically most of mine do), then it's very unlikely that it will be featured across a double page spread, as the gutter will go straight through their face. This isn't to say your image won't fit anywhere else, but when sending over work try to offer variety in compositions.

Think of the season - so you've just taken some awesome winter landscapes and want to submit them? One problem - magazines work ahead of schedules, they could already be planning a summer issue! Right now it's the beginning of April and we're working on June. Always think about 2/3 months ahead, out of season images might be kept on record, but they may also get forgotten about...

Communicate efficiently - If you get an email back saying your work is being considered for publication, respond quickly and keep to deadlines. You may be asked to supply extra information about how the image was taken and the story behind it. If you're given a brief or a set of questions give as much detail as possible and make sure to answer everything. If we have to email back and forth for missing information it costs us time, and sometimes we are forced to use different images.
Keep in contact - If your images have been featured and you got everything to us on time, then there's a chance we'd keep you in mind for future issues. I often have photographers email me every couple of months or so with some of their latest images, they don't always get used but there's always a chance. That said, please don't bombard us and please don't be offended if your images aren't suitable.

Don't:

Send 100s of tiny or massive images, we don't have the time to look through your entire portfolio! We want files to be large enough to see their quality, but not so big that they get blocked by the spam filter! I'd recommend sending a maximum of around 15 lo-res images.
Don't send a 2 page long description and your CV. Unless the magazine specifies be brief but detailed with your initial email. If there's an amazing story behind your images or you were inspired by something in the magazine then of course people want to know, but get to point!

One more final piece of advice!

Include your contact details on ALL of your social networking sites and online portfolios, or at least have your email address on your official website. If someone comes across your image online and wants to include it in their magazine, but can't contact you, it's a usually an opportunity missed. Trust me you'd be surprised how difficult some people make it to contact them.

If you want to submit any work to Practical Photography email us at ppsubmissions @bauermedia.co.uk and if you have any questions leave a comment or get in touch with me on Facebook or Twitter

Thursday, 12 February 2015

The Exotic Animal Encounter

Back in October last year I got to shoot with some very special models, Binky the owl, Jax the fox and Holly and Zack the racoons.

This shoot was a collaboration with stylist Fay Bruno, we'd been trying to arrange a shoot since I'd first moved to Peterborough and after models cancelling and all sorts of other things getting in our way, we finally got round to planning something big!

I'd previously come across a selection of photographs featuring animals and particularly love the work of Katerina Plotnikova. Her images have a real enchanted and surreal feeling to them. So when the opportunity came about to work with The Exotic Animal Encounter I said yes straight away!

For our shoot we shot at Holme Fen Nature Reserve in Peterborough (one of the very few photo locations here, although I'm yet to explore further) as I wanted the photos to be set in a realistic environment for the animals. Fay styled the shoot amazingly, selecting vintage clothing that worked really well with both the colours of the animals and the woodland.

For make-up I wanted it to be kept fairly natural to reflect the natural environment that we would be shooting in and Eloise Wilson did the perfect job on our model Misha G. Misha was a pleasure to work with and had the exact look that we were aiming for, she worked really well with the animals, managing to concentrate on her own poses, while also ensuring that she interacting with the animals as well.

Kelly and Matt from The Exotic Animal Encounter were so helpful throughout the shoot, doing what they could to help us get the images that we wanted and also educating us about the animals as well. I'd highly recommend getting in touch with them if you're looking to run educational talks, sensory or phobia sessions or even events.

I'm really pleased with the images and hoping to plan another shoot with the animals very soon. A selection of images were featured in the latest issue of Darkus magazine which can be brought here.

Big thanks to Holly Palmer-Davison for her retouching skills on the fox on this last image.

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

Photocrowd Competition with Rossella Vanon

Earlier today I found out that my image (above) was awarded 3rd place by the amazing Rossella Vanon in a fashion photography competition. I also received a lovely little critique from Rossella which can be read here. Receiving any kind of recognition for my work always means a lot to me, and this has definitely given 2015 a boost for me already! Massive thanks also to my team Misha G, Fay Bruno, Eloise Wilson and The Exotic Animal Encounter.

View the Top 10 from the competition

I haven't released many photos from this set yet as they're published in the latest issue of Darkus magazine, which you can purchased here. A full blog about this shoot will be on it's way soon...

Sunday, 28 December 2014

Top 10 of 2014

Having shot both Sonisphere and Leeds Festival this year I've had the privilege of shooting some amazing bands, which meant making this list was quite a challenge. There's still some other images that I'm quite proud of, but I had to make a decision... so here's my Top 10 live shots of 2014!

1. Linkin Park - O2 Arena London