Shooting for Becky at DSN Photography and Framing: Staged Drone Action for the Scots Guards

One of the best things about being a freelance photographer is that no two weeks look the same. This week I was hired by Becky at DSN Photography and Framing in Brompton on Swale, who works primarily with the army, photographing soldiers. She brought me in for something a bit different: a staged shoot with soldiers from the Scots Guards and their drones.

The idea was to create striking images that could be printed onto canvas and displayed in soldiers' offices, messes and spaces like that. Rather than catching them mid-task, the soldiers came along specifically to pose and recreate the action, flying their drones for the camera so we could plan the shots and get exactly the look needed for a big canvas print.

Becky and I both worked the shoot with our own cameras, which meant two different angles on every set-up and plenty of strong options for whoever handles the printing afterwards.

Directing the action

A staged shoot is a different challenge from documentary work. The soldiers were brilliant at looking focused and in the moment, and my job was to shape that into a frame: the drone in the air, the pilot's concentration, a composition that holds up at canvas size. When people pose well, you can create images that feel more dramatic than the real thing.

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Made to be printed

I love knowing a photograph is destined for print. A canvas on the wall of a mess or office is a different thing from an image on a screen; it has to hold its own at size and say something about the people who'll walk past it every day.

Thank you!

A big thank you to Becky at DSN Photography and Framing for hiring me, and to the soldiers from the Scots Guards for their time and energy on the day. I can't wait to see the canvases up on the wall.

If you've got a project that needs striking, print-ready photographs, whether that's a team, a hobby or your own business, I'd love to hear about it.