Lo1 Duncan Philpott Photography

''Who am I? Well... Duncan Philpott is one half of the Sheffield based duo called Steel City Media. While photography's been a passion since a young age it sprang into a career when he moved to Sheffield to study a Mathematics degree.

What began with minor pieces of work for local companies while studying evolved into a full time career working for a range of editorial and commercial clients as well as following the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series across the globe.''

I love this photo of the sky line purely because of the different tones of colour. The black trees give the night sky a feeling of warmth. The orange tones across the sky show how beautiful really nature can be. I think this shot has worked really well. 

The yellow and purple tones of sky in the shot of stunning and make the sky over the city look enchanted. Purple and yellow are opposite colours of the colour wheel so wok really well together. The brightness of the sun lower in the pictures is really effective and again the buildings all being black and the bottom on the photo shows the lovely skyline.

This photo has been taken during the day as the sky is extremely blue and showing lots of colour in the photo. The taller yellow/brown buildings really stand out in the image but so does the smoke rising on the right. This is typical image of a working landscape but the sea in the background makes the photo seem more relaxed and the very few clouds in the sky. 



Duncan came into our college and shared his photography with us.

Duncan is a Sports journalism & commercial photography specializing in  cycling and mountain biking.

At 13 he became interested in photography via his uncle who was into technical photography. At university he studied Maths but after completing his degree he decided he wanted to become a photographer. He then met people at university who became interested in his photography.  He started to get contacts and networks by becoming social with people in the photography industry. He started cycling so that he could understood readership ABC1's which helped him to be able to  photograph the cycling championships!(biggest cycling competition)  

Cycling industry

Alternative sport

 Paid via fixed rate
Photos appear in magazines / online websites

Duncan does lots of travelling to places such as south Africa and Italy. 

Equipment

-No specific camera

-Reliable, weatherproof, shoot higher frame rate and better auto focus system.   
-Cant miss one off moment. 
-Has to be fast and responsive.

-CPS support – like servicing a car

-Very mobile, doesn't use lighting for his photography

-Minimal equipment for flying and hiking

He uses the pole mono-pod to photograph above crowd to make it different to be more appealing to websites and magazine editors. The pole can reach up to 15ft.

Travel

Adventure sport – anywhere

Not specific genre – opportunities open

Sheffield

Industrial and peak district

Always keep eye open and of there's a good shot he will snap it on his phone

Work hours

Paperwork

-invoice

-tax returns

-article proposals

Planning shoots

-shot lists

-location scouting

Hours

-Sometimes he can have as little sleep as going to bed at 2 and having to be up at 6.30

-travelling half days are account for his work time so he will get paid for them.

-600-3500 photos per day

-Have to cut 100s to 10s

-Give client selections

- Uses the light room to sort his photos. 

How to select photos with Duncan

-Rate your photos on a star based system meaning 1 star is the lowest and 5 starts is the highest.

-Then zoom in and look at them properly

-Make sure the photos you rated high are of a good quality and suitable for the purpose.

-All time consuming so look with a good eye– look for noise or unexpected things.

Editing choices with Duncan

-Choose a genre of photography then generate a style and give them a look.   If you have a style it tells people that it is your photo (free advertisement and getting contacts)   BUS STATION THEORY!   Try to be unique and individual try to make yourself original.  Well rounded photographer in order to please the client.  Creativity try look at things in different angles.

Yaladimir Rys – Duncan's inspiration F1 photographer