Bespoke
With Savile Row trained, 4th generation tailor, Andrew Livingston, I wanted to create a portrait that manifested the understated confidence of a world class, bespoke tailor in his environment.
It's a wonderful, traditional looking shop where you instantly know you are going to get the complete and personal attention of people who understand their business and their customers.
Shop lighting, however, is never designed for photographers with a specific vision in mind. What I wanted to do was sculpt the light (and more importantly the soft shadows) in such a way that your your eye is drawn first to the person, and then effortlessly starts exploring the background.
For those who are interested such things, this meant I used a large gridded softbox up and to one side of him, a smaller one to the front and other side of him to fill in some of the shadows, and a distant flash to one side that needed to be out of sight from the camera, but catch the edge of him to separate him Andrew from the background.
Here's a fun, behind-the-scenes shot
I then used the same set up to photograph his son (and therefore 5th generation), Lewis
If regular visitors to this blog think he looks a little familiar, that's because I photographed Andrew for Dumfries and Galloway Life magazine last year (see https://kimayres.blogspot.com/2018/07/made-to-measure.html).
Last month I was invited back to G Livingston & Son to create a library of images for their business - from tailor-in-action shots, to close up details of the hands, processes and tools of the trade.
Within the world of tailored suits, there is a certain amount of (sometimes deliberate) misinformation about the difference between "made to measure" and "bespoke".
In essence, made to measure suits work from existing templates that are then adjusted to the measurements of the client. They are usually machine cut and sewn.
For a bespoke suit, however, you will have a unique pattern hand drawn, hand cut and hand sewn specifically for you, often requiring a few fittings to make sure everything is done to perfection.
Apparently there are several quite well known tailors in London and elsewhere that say they sell bespoke suits, but are in fact made to measure.
An important aspect of these photos was to show that Andrew is expert in the skills of making true bespoke suits – with the drawing, cutting and stitching of the patterns.
Here are some of my favourite photos from the day
It's a wonderful, traditional looking shop where you instantly know you are going to get the complete and personal attention of people who understand their business and their customers.
Shop lighting, however, is never designed for photographers with a specific vision in mind. What I wanted to do was sculpt the light (and more importantly the soft shadows) in such a way that your your eye is drawn first to the person, and then effortlessly starts exploring the background.
For those who are interested such things, this meant I used a large gridded softbox up and to one side of him, a smaller one to the front and other side of him to fill in some of the shadows, and a distant flash to one side that needed to be out of sight from the camera, but catch the edge of him to separate him Andrew from the background.
Here's a fun, behind-the-scenes shot
I then used the same set up to photograph his son (and therefore 5th generation), Lewis
If regular visitors to this blog think he looks a little familiar, that's because I photographed Andrew for Dumfries and Galloway Life magazine last year (see https://kimayres.blogspot.com/2018/07/made-to-measure.html).
Last month I was invited back to G Livingston & Son to create a library of images for their business - from tailor-in-action shots, to close up details of the hands, processes and tools of the trade.
Within the world of tailored suits, there is a certain amount of (sometimes deliberate) misinformation about the difference between "made to measure" and "bespoke".
In essence, made to measure suits work from existing templates that are then adjusted to the measurements of the client. They are usually machine cut and sewn.
For a bespoke suit, however, you will have a unique pattern hand drawn, hand cut and hand sewn specifically for you, often requiring a few fittings to make sure everything is done to perfection.
Apparently there are several quite well known tailors in London and elsewhere that say they sell bespoke suits, but are in fact made to measure.
An important aspect of these photos was to show that Andrew is expert in the skills of making true bespoke suits – with the drawing, cutting and stitching of the patterns.
Here are some of my favourite photos from the day
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