Search

19) Guest Speaker : Greg Funnell - 14/3/18

Alice Lock
Mar 15, 2018
5 min read

On Wednesday we had another guest speaker come in, this time it being Greg Funnell, a travel photographer. My notes from the talk can be seen below.

Greg started off by saying that he didn't even do a photography degree, instead he did History and War studies, so was clueless to photography when he graduated. However these studies definitely fed into his own photography work. He learnt a lot about photography from looking at books in a library he worked at, and learnt how to use the darkroom in his school. He seems as though whatever he learns he wants to retain and pass on to others, so he keeps a book of lessons he's learnt from mistakes and tips from previous shoots. He started out taking photos at demonstrations and protests, which gave him the bug for chasing stories once some photos got published.

He went on to say that once you have trust with a client and have built a relationship with them it's easier to get work and pitch work to them. For instance, he pitches commission ideas for travel editorial to different clients.

Throughout his career he was determined to keep his jobs photography related, as a way of him learning a different part of the trade and not seeing the job as a waste of time. I've never thought of this outlook on photography jobs you aren't keen on doing, so I'm going to try and get in this mindset more!

After nearly being hurt while taking photographs in a war zone, he decided to start going to safer places, which then allowed him to build his travel portfolio. This then led on to him working with charity organisations (NGO). For this reason he now has two passports for working in these trouble zones, as previously he got his taken due to curfew issues and fighting breaking out.

Portrait work:

You need to learn the importance of how to light your subject. You can then create a mood and drama, and make a reaction in an otherwise empty room. He also stated that he constantly questions whether editorial portraits are the work for him, because people don't care what you went through to get the image, they just want to see what you've delivered. Greg also highlighted that you shouldn't be afraid to create the space you need to get the shot e.g getting all the PA people out of the room so the subject isn't distracted. Read the room and situation and see what works, your experience and knowledge will grow with time.

If you want to photograph a subject such as food, you need to show you've already done it in your portfolio. So this is why he'll take a job if it'll look good in his portfolio and paves the way for more work. Editorial photography is also a chance to go and learn something new, so this is also why he does it.

In terms of working, Greg underlined that you need a separate space to go to work which isn't your home, so you can work specific hours and have other people to talk to - it makes work a lot more enjoyable!

The Palio:

This project was for an editorial but he also produced his own personal work. However he said he found it hard to produce personal work separate to commissioned work, for instance shooting over 3 months is not for him because he loses persistence. He said "you have to work out what's best for you".

Never sign an exclusive contract and don't take the job if they try and get you to sign it! You need to have resale value for your images, and if you shoot the project with an exclusive contract then there isn't much point in shooting it at all. He uses photoshelter to help organise his images online for people to buy, and this is definitely something to look into for my own work.

Any experience you can get behind a picture desk - do it!! It's great to see what happens on the other side, and magazines and art directors look at work through a layout perspective, so it's worth considering this when laying out your website. This is why he presents a lot of his images as diptics, and I think it works really successfully. Here's a screenshot of what it looks like on his website:

This is something I want to start doing more of, especially within my Creative Interactions project about the van dwellers in Easton, so I can compare the small, unnoticed details of their home against more defining environmental and portrait shots.

When working on his project about Las Vegas, he went with Irish photographer Adam Patterson because tag-teaming is very beneficial. You both bring in new energy and ideas is the other is finding it hard to get a certain shot. I want to start collaborating more on new projects, and I think it would be a great thing to do for this reason. Also as different photographers you see and frame things differently, so there would also be a nice creative variation to the work.

In terms of kit, when doing editorial portraits he has a x3 light set up - 2 lights and one speed light. He also only uses an assistant if it's a really important shot, due to the money aspect involved. When taking kit travelling, he takes a sony or fuji camera because they're light in the heat. This is something to really think about when doing travel photography, as well as looking after yourself in terms of hydration and food. If you aren't well then you aren't going to produce your best work!

Greg also went on to speak about how he presents his work, and this is through a mix of a printed portfolio as well as an online presence through using an iPad to display his website and social media. He also felt that his social media (such as Instagram) was way more powerful than his website alone. I agree with this, because I feel you can reach a wider audience at ease. His tip for creating a photography Instagram account was to fill it with the best of what you do, not making it too commercial but realise that it is a big part of your brand.

Overall I really enjoyed the talk because he gave us lots of relevant tips on kit, portfolios, travel photography in general as well as tips for portrait work. He seems very down to earth and happy to be honest with us on how he got to where he is today and the mistakes and tips he learnt to get there. I just found him really inspiring considering he didn't even do a photography degree, I felt it was really impressive that he learnt all of this knowledge off his own back.