"Peaky Blinders"
A "Peaky Blinders" (BBC series set in the 1920s) inspired photoshoot in an abandoned warehouse in Dumfries, Scotland...
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A "Peaky Blinders" (BBC series set in the 1920s) inspired photoshoot in an abandoned warehouse in Dumfries, Scotland
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Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Aperture f/6.3 ISO 320 Shutter 1/200 Focal Length 24/1 
Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, GB
Jan, 2019Views
970
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken at Rosefield Mills in Dumfries, Scotland. It's an old, ruined, factory building recently purchased by the Dumfries Historic Buildings Trust with the aim of doing it up for community useTime
The photo was taken late morning on a dull, overcast day.Lighting
The ambient lighting wasn't particularly interesting, so underexposed the settings on the camera and set up 4 separate off-camera flashes. The two behind the group had orange gels on them, then I had one off to the right (as we look at it), and the key light was slightly off to my left. The real fun, however, was setting off a smoke bomb behind them, so when the flashes fired behind them, the light cut through the smoke and made everything particularly atmospheric. If you check out this (less than 2 minutes) behind-the-scenes video on youtube, you can see the difference between the ambient light and what I created in the camera using this set up: https://youtu.be/aAalSPGa1lwEquipment
This was shot on a Canon 7D MKII on a tripod with 4 off-camera Canon speedlites (2 with orange gels) and a smoke bomb.Inspiration
I had offered a photo shoot as a prize for part of the fundraising by the Dumfries Historic Buildings Trust to help raise money for the project. As they were successful in acquiring the property they were more than happy for me to use it for a shoot. The couple who won the prize turned out to be huge "Peaky Blinders" fans – a BBC 1920s period drama about gangsters in Birmingham. It's a fantastic series – beautifully shot and brilliantly acted (and very violent). It also turned out that a friend of theirs was having a Peaky Blinders themed birthday party the following month, so they were already getting outfits sorted out for it. It all seemed like a wonderful opportunity to create something cinematic. Soon we were discussing friends she could rope in, and the fact she had a horse too (horses feature strongly in Peaky Blinders), while I was thinking about creative lighting and possibly smoke bombs to add atmosphere. In the end it was one of most fun shoots I've ever done. 10 enthusiastic people in costume, with a horse, and a couple of hours of time to play with lighting and posing.Editing
Post-processing was mostly a case of bringing the details out of the shadows and highlights in Camera RAW, then making subtle colour shifts in Photoshop. I also had to remove a couple of safety and exit signs, which were spoiling the sense of authenticity.In my camera bag
My main camera is a Canon 7D mk2, which I love. The 3 lenses I use most are my Canon f/2.8 24-70mm, which is pretty much my workhorse lens; a Canon f/2.8 70-200mm which is fantastic for shooting live performances - getting in close in low light conditions; and finally a wide angle Canon 10-22mm for when I need to take in a lot in a small space. I also usually have 2 or 3 Canon speedlites to hand and an assortment of softboxes and modifiers.Feedback
The key elements to creating a photo like this are: 1. Make sure everyone knows what's going to be happening in advance, so outfits, logistics and expectations are in place. 2. Lighting makes all the difference - especially backlighting, but you need to do a few experiments to make sure the lights are behind the subjects and not peeking through and hitting the camera. 3. Have an assistant or 2 who can set off the smoke bombs for you. They don't last long and by the time you've run back up to the camera, you've lost precious seconds. 4. Have fun!
