Belfast Photographer Steffan Hill

Coca Cola cover shoot

2012-01-27T04:05:00.000-08:00

This is the cover shoot for Coca Cola in Lisburn that I shot late last year. I just love the background and I'm really pleased they went for that particular one! The magazine was on a high as they had just won gold in the NI pride awards. I think the cover ties in with that rather nicely!

Tim Wheeler and Emmy The Great

2011-11-29T04:32:00.000-08:00

Sometimes jobs come up that throw you in the deep-end, and this was no exception! I was commissioned by the Independent On Sunday Review Magazine, (or as it's now called the New Review) to photograph Tim Wheeler from the band Ash, and Emmy the Great for an article they were doing on Christmas albums. I had very little details to go on other than it would be a portrait of the two of them with a subtle Christmas theme. I was told about this commission on a Thursday, when I was traveling back from a job in Malta, and we had to shoot on the Friday so I had no time at all to prep!

On Friday morning I still had no idea where the location was, and was only told a few hours before the shoot. As it turned out we did the photographs in Tim's brothers house, in his lounge to be exact! I had an inkling that house was going to have a fairly small lounge due to it's location in the main student area of Belfast (his brother is an Architect just finishing his studies) and was very concerned wether we could actually set up lights etc. We moved the dining table into the back yard and shoved everything else at other end of the room or in the hallway.

I had a rummage around my attic for some Christmas stuff and brought along various things that I thought would be good props. Most of my ideas were based on wrapping lights around the subjects, and I brought along a black cloth backdrop so I could make it look like a studio shoot, and not the terrible squeeze it was.

I wanted to use spotlights on the 2 subjects with a bit of back lighting and a slow shutter speed to allow the ambient light from the tree lights to come through. The main problem was the amount of light coming through the lounge windows from a sunny day out side, so we asked if they had any material we could put over them. A few duvet covers were produced and I had some extra material and we managed with a few pins and some gaffa tape to block most of the light.

Tim and Emma were brilliant, they were so friendly and down to earth, and willing to try out my ideas, as we experimented with what worked best. We took a few shots and I decided that the dark jumper that Tim was wearing was no good, so he had a quick look in his brothers bedroom and grabbed this top which works so much better to separate him from the background.

All in all I was very happy with the shoot, as were the magazine who decided to lead with my photograph instead of the previous one they had lined up. I had my first ever payed commission after leaving college from the Indy Review way back in 1993, and haven't worked for them for a few years since I left London, so it was nice to be reacquainted with them!

The Painkiller - Lyric Theatre Belfast

2011-10-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

I had the absolute joy of photographing Kenneth Brannagh and Rob Brydon in the Belfast Lyric's 'The Painkiller'.

A comedy about an assasin and a suicidal depressive in adjoining hotel rooms, it was difficult to photograph as I was chuckling so much! Beg, borrow or steal to get tickets for this excellent production...

The Absence of Women - Lyric Theatre Belfast

2011-09-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

My production shots of The Absence of Women by Owen McCafferty and directed by Rachel O'Riordan.

The Absence of Women centres on Gerry and Iggy, two labourers from Belfast who are facing the end of their lives talking of the present and thinking of the past. They argue about who has the biggest liver, the names of tube stations and whether they should go back to Belfast or not. This play is about life and its endless possibilities, missed opportunities and how one man’s choice, in one instant, can alter the path of his life forever.

One of the best plays I have seen in ages, it's run has finished at the Lyric in Belfast, but it is currently showing at the Tricycle Theatre in London.

Case Histories...

2011-06-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

Late last year and early this year I was zipping back and forth to Edinburgh to work on a BBC drama called 'Case Histories'. They have just finished airing on BBC1. Based on the best selling series of books written by Kate Atkinson. Fantastic production, really enjoyed my time working on it with a lovely crew, and Jason Issacs was a true gentleman...

The Man Who Put Hitler In The Dock...

2011-06-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

I'm working on an exciting new drama at the moment for the BBC called

'The man who put Hitler in the Dock'

Starring Ed Stoppard as Hans Litten and Ian Hart as Hitler, here's a couple of shots I did the other day that have already been put on the BBC website...

'Dockers' rehearsal shots for the Lyric Theatre.

2011-06-20T05:35:00.000-07:00

Martin Lynch's well known play 'Dockers' makes a welcome return to the Lyric Theatre to celebrate it's 30th year since it was first performed here. Working class hero John Graham struggles to bring equality and integrity to the brutal working environment of the Belfast Docks. Showing until the 10th July and featuring another famous Belfast playwright, Marie Jones!

"Brendan at the Chelsea" Rehearsal shots for the Lyric Theatre

2011-06-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

Brendan at the Chelsea starring Adrian Dunbar at the Naughton Studion in the Lyric Theatre. Based on the Irish legend that was Brendan Behan staying at the Chelsea Hotel in NYC during the 1960's. Another fantastic production by the Lyric in Belfast, if you have not seen it there is still a chance to catch it until the 19th June!

The Crucible at the Lyric Theatre

2011-05-17T02:54:00.000-07:00

I was recently commissioned to photograph the fantastic production of Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible' at the brand new Lyric Theatre here in Belfast. A brilliant version of this famous play, directed by Conall Morrison with a stunning set by Sabine Dargent.

The cast are amazing in this powerhouse of a play, although 3 hours long, not a second is dull and the drama zips by at a frenetic pace. If you have the chance I strongly urge you to go and see it!

Comic Relief - Red Nose Day

2011-03-18T05:47:00.000-07:00

Comic Relief asked me to shoot Jedward.

With a camera...

Actually it was great fun, the boys were mad as a box of frogs, and the kids at the school loved them to bits and had a brilliant time. It was utter chaos, but great to photograph. The school had written to Comic Relief asking if it would be possible for Jedward to visit, a bit like 'Jim'll Fix It' if you're my age and remember that.

They burst into the school hall to a stunned audience who started screaming immediately, Jedward then proceeded to create complete anarchy, eventually the teachers regained some form of order and they had a space hopper race which was surprisingly competitive! (I think Jedward really wanted to win!!)

All for Red Nose Day which is today, so if you feel like donating go to their site at

https://www.rednoseday.com/donate

Matt Smith in 'Christopher and His Kind'

2011-03-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

Last year I worked on the BBC drama 'Christopher And His Kind' about Christopher Isherwood, who's book 'Goodbye To Berlin' the film/stageshow 'Cabaret' is based on.

Shot here in Northern Ireland and starring Matt Smith as Christopher Isherwood it dramatizes his experiences in 1930's Berlin. It's being screened this Saturday (19th March) at 9.30pm on BBC2 and will be worth a watch!

This was a great project to work on, as the costumes and makeup were stunning, especially on Imogen Poots and we had some fabulous locations to recreate 30's Berlin. I love photographing period dramas!

I finally got my first cover of the Radio Times, and a fairly decent spread inside. It's quite ironic really as in the past I have twice nearly got a cover of the Radio Times only to be bumped on both occasions by 'Dr Who', which is of course played by Matt Smith!!

The cover was shot in my studio, and art directed by Jo O'Leary from the BBC. One of the hardest things about being a stills photographer on a film is getting access to the actors as time is always so tight. We decided to shoot the background in-situ on set and then Matt in the studio against a plain background as we would have more time to light it and ultimately more time with him.

Titanic - The Mission

2011-03-14T04:58:00.000-07:00

Channel Four commissioned me to photograph a recent program they were producing called 'Titanic The Mission'.

It follows four volunteers as they try to reconstruct different details from the famous ship. They were filming all over the UK, but part of that was of course here in Belfast where they were reconstructing a scaled section of the bow.
We had to wait until the film crew had their lunch to get the portraits done as it was impossible during filming.

The guys were great, they reminded me of a pop group, and I think I shot them with that in mind. Loved the big props lying around like the sledge hammer and massive spanner!

I was very happy to get the cover of the DVD edition!

Rhys Ifans

2011-02-24T08:33:00.001-08:00

This is going back a bit, April 1999, or there about, photographing the brilliant and slightly mad Rhys Ifans for The Daily Telegraph. I had only seen him in Twin Town at that point, which I thought was a brilliant film, and he was about to appear as Spike in the film 'Notting Hill' hence the reason for the photo shoot.

The location was in some rented apartments in central London, I'll always remember how he greeted me when I arrived :

"Alright mate, my name's Rhys, the mini bar is over there, help yourself!!"

I knew straight away we were going to get along.

So as on a lot of the shoots I had a quick look around and set up my lights whilst he finished his interview with the journalist.

He turned out to be brilliant, full of energy and up for doing anything! What a joy to photograph compared with a lot of other actors. It was all a bit of a blur, as we rushed about my chosen locations in the 15 mins I had to complete the shoot. He was even happy to jump into the bath for a shot, what a great man!!

The shot that worked best for me was taken on the roof terrace, I really didn't need to prompt him much he pretty much just went mad in front of the camera as you can see from the contact sheets that I've scanned, but I was really pleased with this picture, as it pretty much sums Rhys up. Lovely chap, mad as a box of frogs.

Christopher & His Kind GT cover

2010-10-11T06:13:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year I was the still photographer in the upcoming BBC drama 'Christopher and His Kind'.

Based on the story of Christopher Isherwood and his book about the Berlin gay scene in the 1930's.

The book was previously made into a musical you may of heard of called 'Cabaret'

Starring Matt Smith of Dr Who fame, Imogen Poots and Douglas Booth

Some lovely locations around Northern Ireland to shoot, including Mount Stewart for the cover and first DPS. One of the days was spent turning central Belfast in a Nazi flag strewn Berlin, I'll post shots of those after the film has been broadcast.

Absolutley delighted to get the cover of Gay Times and such a large spread inside. It's rare for stills to be seen used as well as this in publications, other than the TV and Film magazines.

Christopher and His kind should be on BBC 2 later this month, I think it will be well worth a watch.

Juliette Lewis

2010-09-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

I had such a positive response regarding the shoot with Juliette Lewis on Facebook (thanks everyone!) that I thought I would post more photographs of the shoot.

It was for the Daily Telegraph, and I was sent down to a hotel in West London where she was staying with the band. The pressure was on right from the start as I was instructed by the paper to only get photographs of Juliette, but knew that her press officer would want to concentrate on shots of her with her band, Juliette and the Licks.

So a compromise was struck, I would get 7 mins with the band and get her on her own for the remaining 7 mins. I was also acutely aware that Juliette herself would not really be keen to be photographed on her own, as she was really pushing the band as a self contained unit.

One other thing that I was worried about, the fact that we had to do all this in the foyer of the hotel, which was a basically a public space and usually a nightmare to control.

I got to the hotel and did my recce, then set up my lights and waited for them to make an appearance. Suddenly this blonde girl appeared out of nowhere and I realised that she had bleached her hair ... very rock and roll

I can honestly say that Juliette did not disappoint one bit, she was brilliant to photograph, mad as a box of frogs, and it was all a bit of a blur, but I came away satisfied that I had captured some great shots.

Times Educational Supplement

2010-08-24T03:41:00.000-07:00

I have the front page of the current Times Educational Supplement this week, they asked me to photograph a student who was waiting for her results. We did the shots the day before her results came out, so I hope she did well!

This was my first job for the TES, always nice to get a cover, it was 16 years ago since I showed this paper my portfolio, still better late than never!

Marie Jones's Rock Doves by Steffan Hill

2010-07-20T03:44:00.000-07:00

Recently I was lucky enough to be asked to photograph rehearsals for the new play by Belfast playwright Marie Jones. She wrote the excellent 'A Night in November' and 'Stones in his Pockets'. This was to be the Belfast premier of Rock Doves, as it had already performed in Broadway.

Starring in the play was the actor Adrian Dunbar, whom I had photographed a few times before, notably in the excellent Mickybo and Me.

The play was directed by Marie Jones's actor hubby Ian McIlhenny, who pops up in just about any decent drama on television. Their son Mathew was also in the production, I last photographed him in the Liam Neeson film Five Minutes of Heaven.

Photographing rehearsals with actors is sometimes tricky as they are trying to learn their charactors and to have someone like me come along can be difficult, but everyone was very friendly, and they soon got used to me. I tend not to use flash in these occasions as it can be massively distracting, and besides, I like the gritty feel of available light.

The play also starred the excellent Ian Beatie, and Carol Moore.

Warren Mitchell photographed by Steffan Hill

2010-03-12T06:06:00.000-08:00

This assignment, again for the Daily Telegraph was over in Hammersmith, er, or perhaps Kilburn, at the Tricycle Theatre, I can't quite remember now, but it was shot in 2001. Warren Mitchell is famous for pretty much one character he played in the 60's and 70's, namely Alf Garnett, the bigoted West Ham supporter from the sitcom 'Til Death Do Us Part' (also starring Tony Booth, Cheri Blair's Dad).

I guess he was always someone I always knew about my whole life, even though I never really watched the sitcom, (I'm just about not old enough to remember it first time around!) What strikes me about him is that he seems to have hardly changed appearance since about 1965!

He was a real darling and very nice to me, and his eyebrows just scream to be photographed all by themselves!

This was also one of the first professional jobs I shot on a digital camera, the Nikon D1, which at the time I thought was an amazing camera, and looking back at it now, I realise just how bad it was compared to what exists now in just 9 short years... very scary! I think I shot a roll of 35mm just in case as a back up! As usual the picture desk didn't choose my favourite picture (the published picture is at the bottom, but that's life!)

John Terry photographed by Steffan Hill

2010-02-08T04:40:00.000-08:00

Well, as he is a hot topic right now, having been dropped from the captaincy of England for his affair (alleged) with a team mates missus, I thought I would throw this picture of John Terry up on the blog.

It was taken for 442 Magazine in 2006, and although it looks like a studio shot, it was actually in a tiny room at the top of the Virgin store on Oxford Street, in London.

I put a mini backdrop up and simple 2 light set up, key light front left, and hair spot rear right. Shot with fuji film 100 transparency on my Contax 645, probably the last film job I was commissioned to do before I went totally digital...

What can I say about Terry, in the whole 7 minutes I was given to photograph him...

Lets just say what comes around goes around...Oh and I've had a bit of a smile on my face these last few days....

Sydney Lonely Planet Cover by Steffan Hill

2010-01-29T10:46:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, at the end of 2002, I decided to take a break from the cut and thrust of London and take a year out travelling, mainly in Australia. It was quite simply one of the best periods of my life. I brought with me in my already heavy backpack a Mamiya 7 medium format film camera with 4 lenses and a stack of film. A joy to travel through and photograph, my guide whilst there (and pretty much everybody else's) was the Lonely Planet.

One day in Sydney I decided to climb up the viewing tower on the bridge and shoot the harbour and views. I took a shot of the shadow of the mighty bridge with a single yacht approaching.

I guess it was with some serendipity that a few years later I sold this image to Lonely Planet to be used on the front cover of their Sydney City guide. Little did I know at the time! Although heavily cropped and sharing the cover with another photographers picture it was still a great feeling, not to mention that it paid for some of my airfare over there! Just goes to show you never know where your photos will appear...

Small Island BBC Drama

2009-12-03T05:25:00.000-08:00

Small Island was filmed by Ruby films for the BBC earlier this year in Belfast, Dublin and Jamaica, based on the popular book by Andrea Levy. I was commissioned as the stills photographer and ended up covering 8 days in total, 2 of which were in Jamaica.

It will be shown on BBC1 on Sunday 6th December 2009 and Sunday 13th December at 9pm. I urge you to watch a brilliant drama!

The first location was in Dublin, they tried to get a suitable location to double as a typical London Georgian street in Belfast, but couldn't. It was a cold February day, and it is always a bit nerve racking turning up on set for the first time and meeting all the new actors, directors etc, but it was also great to see so many familiar faces amongst the local crew from the North. Day 1 for me was spent covering exteriors of the main house owned by Queenie and the arrival of Hortense, which was filmed at night, always very tricky when shooting.

My second day was back in Belfast, in Ormeau Park, East Belfast which was doubling up for a foggy Green Park in London in the late 1940's. They had a fog machine which I had never seen before, basically a big plastic sausage skin they blow smoke into, and it made for some really atmospheric pictures. This is where I shot the 2 separate images of Hortense and Queenie, as used on the cover of the re-release of the book above.

The next day for me was in Portaferry, where the art dept had converted the whole town square into wartime Britain, it was a fantastic day for me, shooting a major scene in the film I won't talk about here so I don't spoil it for you!

Then there was a break for me for a whole month which is quite unusual, so it was a bit strange turning up in the Painthall (a converted ship yard paint hall, now a film studio) in March to pick up where I left off. Not all filming days are really suitable for stills, and they choose which ones to cover quite carefully. I had a couple more days in the Painthall including the main publicity shots which were art directed by Jo O'Leary from the BBC.

Then another 2 weeks before I flew out to Jamacia to join the rest of the crew in Kingston who had gone out earlier. This was a photographers dream, they had re-done the centre of Spanish Town, now a notoriously rough town near Kingston, to recreate the 1930's, including pouring tonnes of sand over the tarmac-ed roads to make it look authentic. It was stunning out there and the other fantastic scenes included sugar cane plantations, hurricanes, and military parades. Apart from my horrendous jet lag and the searing heat I had the time of my life, not forgetting, on our Saturday night off, a trip with my fellow crew to the live recording of the Jamaican version of the X-Factor, complete with drive by shooting...

It's a wonderful drama and I really hope you all watch it this week-end...

If you want to view more of my stills they are on my website at the link :

Small Island Stills

Evan Dando photographed by Steffan Hill

2009-11-16T07:39:00.001-08:00

I shot Evan in the reception of the Halcyon Hotel in Holland Park, London in 1996. He's the lead singer of a band called The Lemonheads. I knew he had a reputation for being a bit of a loose cannon, and was not disappointed! This guy had a huge problem with drugs, but I was told that all that was behind him. They had not arranged anywhere to do the photoshoot (usual story) so I asked the hotel if it was ok if I shot in the reception. It is quite a rock in roll place so they were cool with that.

I set my lights up and waited and eventually Evan walked in with his people and he was as pissed as a fart, totally off his head so it made for an interesting photo-shoot to say the least. He was generally rolling around the floor pulling faces, some of which worked and some of which definitely didn't. I have to admit I was struggling a bit. As with many hotels there was a large flower display handy, so I asked if I could 'borrow' a couple, they said of course and I think instantly regretted it as Evan pretty much destroyed their display.

If you look closely on this photo you can see the beer bottle to the right that was never far away from Evan during the photo-shoot. It certainly was not his first of the day!! Anyway, we had the flowers and the shoot progressed with him acting silly buggers, but eventually I persuaded him to calm done a little and captured the shot with him holding the flower in front of his eye. It's funny, he looks so serene, it totally hides what really went on in the shoot, but I was very pleased with the outcome, and to be fair to Evan, he brought a mile more energy and enthusiasm to the shoot than a lot of other musicians. I prefer my version with his mouth closed than the papers choice, as I feel he looks far more composed in mine and too wasted in the picture below...

Inspiral Carpets photographed by Steffan Hill

2009-10-08T08:49:00.001-07:00

I found these in my attic last night, and thought it would be fun to post them. This was probably one of the first times I ever worked 'on set' as it were. It was for the NME way back in '93 or 94' can't remember exactly. The Inspirals had a new song with The Falls Mark E Smith on guest vocals and the NME commissioned me to go along to the shoot and cover it.

I had a brilliant time, what a fun day, the storyline for the video was fairly simple, band plays on stage, bunch of beautiful girls invade stage and beat up the band, then run away....genius!

The band members were very friendly, especially Tom and Clint Boon who was just hilarious, any time he spoke you just cracked up laughing.

The shoot was somewhere in Camden I think, possibly the Roundhouse, but it was so long ago now, I really can't remember much more from the day. I thought the song was quite good, it was one of their last hits before they went off into obscurity, and to be honest they are now most famous for having had a certain Noel Gallagher as their guitar technician.

Lee Evans Photographed by Steffan Hill

2009-10-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

This was one of my first ever jobs for the Daily Telegraph, way back in 1996. I had been to see Lee Evans along side Jack Dee when I was a student for the princely sum of £1.00 in our S.U. bar. It was one of the funniest nights I have ever experienced, and was really excited to photograph him 4 years later.

The shoot was at his agents offices in Soho, it took an age to find as it was hidden away on a really quiet back street. I had a quick scout around and decided to set up in the stairway as everywhere else was really grim. I was given a whole 20 mins with him, which is great as even just a few minutes longer allows you to get much more variety. He was brilliant, what a nice guy, he's much more famous now of course, and I really hope he's remained as nice as he was back then.

It was a whirlwind photographing him as he just came up with all these great poses, running around just like he does on stage. It was almost difficult to get him to stop and calm down, before he would say 'hey lets do this'...

In those days before digital everything for the Telegraph was shot on colour neg film, to give them a choice whether to use it in black and white or colour. My favourite shot I think is the one of him looking to towards the light, which is actually positioned at the top of the stairs, he's at the bottom. Using a honeycomb I managed to get a lovely pool of light on him and the wall.

I had one almost disastrous occurrence, as my time was nearly up with him, and I was rushing around almost as much as him, I didn't notice getting the sync lead wrapped around my legs and I pulled over the flash head which sailed pass both of us, narrowly missing his head and crashed to the bottom of the stairs. Fair play to Lee, he tried to stop the falling light with his leg and rushed down to pick it up for me. I nearly had a heart attack, thinking Christ, I've nearly knocked him out and now he's going to get electrocuted by my alarmingly fizzling flash head! Considering he was about to go on the West End for his first major season, I dread to think what would of happened if I had injured him. Anyway, glad to say I've never had as near a miss as that since, and Lee carried onward and upwards on his amazing career. I've managed to route out some old contacts and scan them so you can have a look at the progress of the shoot.

Richard E. Grant photographed By Steffan Hill

2009-09-29T05:04:00.000-07:00

There have not been many times in my career when I have been a bit star struck, but this was definitely one of them! I was very excited about photographing Richard E Grant, one of my all time favourite films is 'Withnail & I' and his performance in that is legendary.

The shoot was arranged in a hotel in Richmond, and I decided to bring a back drop with me as I had never been there before and didn't know what to expect. I did a quick recce to see if there was any place suitable to shoot him around the hotel in-situ, so to speak, but it really was unsuitable and I was very glad of the colorama.

They say you should never meet your heroes, just in case they turn out to be horrible, but in Richard's case he was adorable, really really friendly.

Everything was turning out well, I had been introduced , had set up my make shift studio in the restaurant of the hotel ,and was looking forward to my 15 minutes to get my portrait. Of course something had to happen to spoil all this, and sure enough it did.

On shoots like this, journalists are the bane of my life, not only did she run over her allotted time with him (there was no press officer to keep a tight reign) but she then insisted on talking to him during our now greatly reduced 9 minutes. I was RAGING, what planet did she come from to think that she could carry on her interview whist I was trying to work? After a few minutes of this I had had enough and had to tell her in the politest of ways, through gritted teeth to shut up.

So in the end I had 9 not so perfect minutes with the lovely Mr Grant who had to rush off for a live radio interview. I never did meet that journalist again, probably just as well...

Film Director John Woo photographed by Steffan Hill

2009-09-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

This is quite an old shot of John Woo, taken in 1997. It was for the release of 'Face/Off' the movie with John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.

I knew he was a huge director in Asia, but I had only seen 'Broken Arrow' up to this point. I was given a brief description of his new movie by the picture desk and was told it was about two people stealing each other's identity's, by literally implanting the others face's on their own head. (Ha!) but I was not looking forward to the shoot as it was in the Dorchester again, my old friend.

I think that's why I lit the shot like this, to again try and hide the ghastly decor in the hotel room. There was a large mirror at one end so I asked him to stand next to it to get a double image. He was a very friendly chap, and was only too pleased to do what was asked of him during our usual 10 minute session. I must admit that was what I loved about my time working for the Daily Telegraph, they always gave me free reign to do what ever I liked.

The film turned out to be a bit silly really, a little OTT, but no where near as bad as his later film 'Windtalkers' which was quite possibly the worst war film I have ever seen! I think he should stick to gangster action films!

Alexander McCall-Smith photographed by Steffan Hill

2009-09-25T03:59:00.000-07:00

This was shot for the cover of the books supplement in The Times. I had no brief as such, which is great, they just asked for me to allow enough room in the picture for the title and text.

McCall-Smith wrote a series of books called 'The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency' which have been turned into a television series. I had first listened to the radio play versions on BBC Radio Four, which I loved and was quite excited to meet him.

He turned out to be a real gentleman, we didn't have much time, but I had everything set up in the studio waiting for him. I had luckily bought a fake fur background a few years before, and never had a reason to use it, but as his books are set in Botswana it seemed like the ideal time to break it in. Also another stroke of luck, there was an antique travel chest knocking around the studio which was perfect for him to lean on.

There is always a worry that you will have an idea like this and the subject will turn up and refuse point blank to be photographed like that. I once wanted a singer in a fairly cool pop band to sit on a really great looking retro scooter, and he said no which really surprised me. Maybe he just didn't like my scooter! Anyway, no such problem here, Alexander loved the idea and was quite amazed that it suited the African theme so much.

Martin Shaw and Lee Ingleby 'George Gently' shoot for BBC

2009-09-24T04:25:00.000-07:00

This was shot earlier this year in Dublin. I had not done any of the unit stills and was called in to shoot the main publicity specials. It's always strange turning up on set for a day when no one knows you, however , luckily I saw a few familiar faces, and had actually photographed Lee before when he did Fairy Tales here in Belfast.

This was an incredibly stressful shoot, it was at the end of their filming schedule, in a freezing cold Dublin, and they had not allowed any set time for the photographs... nothing new there.

I was shown a location away from set as a possible place to take the photos, but considering that it was on an open road and the houses all had modern cars parked in front of them (the show is set in the sixties) I politely declined, and insisted that we do them on set.

After waiting on standby for a few hours I was given, oh, about 10 minutes to get the shot, helped of course by members of the crew casually walking into my background. See that's the problem with crew's, it's a very tight nit community, and if they don't know you, they really don't give a damn. However, I have to say, the opposite is of course true if they do know you and you've been involved with shooting from the start, then they can be really helpful, especially Gaffers!

Well we got the shots done in the end and the BBC were very happy with them so I guess that's what counts...

Simon Cowell photographed by Belfast Photographer Steffan Hill.

2009-09-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

I must admit to being a little nervous when asked to photograph Simon Cowell, as he has such a fearsome reputation. This was a shot for the Daily Telegraph taken in the offices of Max Clifford. I forget now what the story was originally about, as he's never out of the news. In the end he turned out to be very friendly, a lot better than some people I have photographed. And much nicer than the snotty cow behind the reception desk when I arrived! Maybe it was because he was suffering from a killer hangover and it subdued him somewhat! Anyways he was a real gentleman with me. The options for photographing were not great, but I noticed that they had a small balcony, and we went out there for the shoot. The sky was not too bad, but I needed to burn it in a bit to make it really dramatic. It's amazing how successful this guys is, but if you've never seen his TV debut on 'Sale of the Century', then you're in for a treat :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld-a7DYz-cs

I guess you have to start somewhere!

Griff Ryhs Jones photographed by Belfast Photographer Steffan Hill

2009-09-18T04:49:00.000-07:00

This was taken whilst working on a BBC program Griff was making called 'Mountain' where he travelled around the country climbing all the main peaks. He's just aired a follow up program called 'Rivers'

I'll let you into a little secret: The photograph is actually taken in Wales, that's Snowdonia in the background. I hope that The Scotsman didn't get anybody complaining or even noticing it! It rained all the time we were in Scotland, so there just was not a good enough picture suitable for a front cover.

We spent a week filming for this particular episode, and were knackered as we had been climbing all week. We walked to this viewpoint after climbing Tryfan, one of the hardest climbs I have ever done (Tryfan is the mountain that Hilary and the rest of the Everest team practised on, we climbed it with one of the original members of the team, George Band who was in his 70's and fitter than all of us!) . I must say that Griff was an incredibly fit person, after climbing all day we would get back to the hotel, and collapse in the bar except Griff who would be off for his daily run!

I also got the cover of the book from a shot taken half way up Tryfan, it's a shame the sky was so flat, but there you go...

I was very jealous that I was not involved in the new series about Rivers because I had so much fun filming on the Mountain shoots. I must highlight an excellent photograph taken by a good friend of mine, Paul Cornwell, which made the cover of the 'Rivers' book, as it's much nicer than mine!! :

Driving back to the hotel one night we managed to stop and film an amazing sunset of Snowdonia, which really was awe inspiring ...

Film director Chan-Wook Park, photographed by Steffan Hill

2009-09-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

I shot this for the Daily Telegraph, as usual I had only 15 minutes tagged on the end of an interview. It was taken in The Dorchester Hotel, in London, he didn't speak a word of english, and my korean is not up to much either but with various had signals we managed to communicate enough.

I used to dread photographing in the Dorchester as the decor is really fussy and chintzy, not at all modern and photogenic, so any shoot I did there tended to be lit quite dramatically, to hide the surroundings.

I had been told he had just directed a very violent new thriller which everyone was raving about, called 'Oldboy', so I knew I wanted something looking a bit sinister, which I think I got. As usual I had only about 30 mins during the interview to set up, and I decided on a couple of very different shots to give the picture desk some choice, but this one was by far the best.

One light outside in the corridor and one inside on the floor looking up. To my great shame, it took a few years before I got round to watching 'Oldboy', as it's a fantastic movie, really really original, if you have not seen it I recommend you watch it!

Katherine Jenkins Classic FM photoshoot by Belfast Photographer Steffan Hill

2009-09-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

This was a great shoot, with an amazing woman. I first photographed Katherine in 2004, and this was the third time we had met. We had all day to do multiple setups in Teddington Studios, London. I arrived early to start the set up, and had different parts of the studio set up ready for her when she arrived. I think there was 5 separate areas to get as many different shots as possible. For the first shot we were very lucky to get a loan of a vintage Aston Martin DB5, exactly the same type of car that was used in Goldfinger, the James Bond film with Sean Connery. The stylist made her up to look more like she stepped right out of the 60's.

The second shot was a quick set up with my own Leica camera. Again we were keeping with the 60's theme. I managed to blag the silver background from one of the vacant studios next door. For the 3rd shot, I had visited a material shop in Clapham a few days before and bought some furry backdrops, including this pink one. You never know if an artist will agree to your ideas, but she seemed to like these. I used a ring flash as the light source, and we took some great shots, then I had a bit of a brain wave, the stylist had brought his dog along to the shoot, which admittedly annoyed me to begin with, but Katherine was so taken with it that I suggested she hold it for a few shots, and we just captured this fantastic spontaneous shot, which you could never plan in a million years...I love it!

This was my second cover of Katherine Jenkins for Classic FM.

Belfast Photographer Steffan Hill 'The Invisibles' photoshoot

2009-09-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

This was a 'specials shoot' for Desparados, which was later named "The Invisibles". It was set in Cornwall, but shot here in Northern Ireland. I remember we did the shoot late on a Friday evening in Portaferry. I got there in the afternoon to start rigging a portable studio in a room in the hostel they were filming in. Time was very tight as they were still shooting a major exterior scene with a car exploding, and we were having to grab the actors when we could, which is very normal on a film shoot.

I had been given a comprehensive brief from the BBC, and this was one of the key shots. Again photoshop was involved and we shot the safe and jewels separately. I lit the shot from below to give that glow effect, and got the boys to look at a point on the top of the lens so they ahd the same eyeline. Back light was blue to give a night-time feel.

Have to say that both Warren and Tony were a pleasure to photograph, they got on so well they were always laughing and messing around, it was hard to get them to concentrate on the photos. Very stressful shoot, waiting for them to be released from filming out side as we also had a lot of costume changes and other set ups to do on the same night. The small inset shot was also done on the same night, I had an amazing sunset over Strangford Lough, which I ran out to photograph and then we photographed Tony with his real life daughter Emily Head (lovely and now in the excellent "Inbetweeners" on CH4) and Jenny Agutter (I'm huge fan of Logan's Run). Stills from the program can be seen on my website : Belfast Photographer Steffan Hill

Five Minutes of Heaven Poster by Belfast Photographer Steffan Hill

2009-09-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

This is one of the posters that I shot for the film "Five Minutes of Heaven". Directed by the outstanding director of "Downfall" - Oliver Hirschbiegel. Shot on 2 separate days, I photographed Jimmy Nesbitt during lunch break on the last filming day, on location somewhere in Co Down ( I forget exactly where). We had a hour to shoot during his lunch break, and as usual Jimmy was great with me. I have now worked on 3 projects with Mr Nesbitt and have to say he's a true gent, very funny and very professional.

We had to photograph Liam Neeson in my studio in Belfast the next day. We were all a bit nervous as due to his heavy schedule we were not sure how long we would have with him. The excellent team from Empire Design and I were very relieved however, when he finally arrived and gave us the full promised hour to get the shots. Further stills of the film can be viewed on my website : Steffan Hill Photographers in Belfast