Beginners Guide • How to become a Unit Stills Photographer
This beginners guide to unit stills photography is intended to help anyone who wants to become a unit stills photographer.
Hi, I'm Ray. My behind the scenes photography captures those priceless BTS moments that help to market your production. It's part of my role as a stills photographer for film and TV in London and the UK.
You'll get behind the scenes photography by default if you hire me as your stills photographer. BTS images can be extremely powerful when it comes to marketing your film or TV production.
My experience and set etiquette enables me to create impactful behind the scenes images. Basically that means I'll capture the candid moments that help to market your production, without getting in anyones way!
Additionally, I can take care of any actor headshots you need too. In fact, some of my monochrome character headshots were used to great effect in the opening credits of A Gangsters Kiss.
If you leave your BTS photography to me you'll often get an emphasis on monochrome images with my edits. As opposed to my unit stills where I aim to match the cinematography colour grading. However, RAW and/or JPEG files are also provided to edit as you wish.
Furthermore, as your behind the scenes photographer I can provide your unit stills images too. If you want to know more you can learn about my unit stills photography here.
Much of my BTS photography work is in London and the South East, including areas such as Brighton, Surrey, Kent and Sussex. However, I also enjoy working on films and TV in the rest of the UK too. That's because I’m a bit of a nomad, a bonus in this industry for sure! Furthermore, getting to your location is no problem, that's because I drive a low emission ULEZ compliant vehicle and use public transport when more appropriate too.
Ray’s superb photography captures moments brilliantly and delivers fantastic results. Ray is capable of taking on a brief and delivering what is needed with a good eye for detail. In addition to understanding the craft and knowing when to capture the right image, Ray is a pleasure and a joy to work with, and I highly recommend him.
*****
Ray has worked as a stills photographer on two films I have been involved with and also at a film premiere.
Ray not only has the ability to capture 'the moment' both in his staged and informal photographs, but his attention to detail and the quality of his photographs is always evident.
As you can imagine, Ray would have worked in busy, pressurised environments but always remained calm and composed and was never imposing at all.
His friendly and mild manner coupled with his professionalism was noticeable at all times.
*****
Having worked with Ray for a few times now I cant express how much we appreciate his talents...he's not just a maverick with a camera he also knows how to deal with everyone just right. Have got several Major Motion pictures in production and he's our man for all of them.
*****
My rates for London and UK BTS photography are in line with established nationwide production budget bands.
However, I'm receptive to working on interesting low budget productions and shorts too, as long as the project is local to me in Brighton, London or the South East.
Please contact me with your requirements in order to check my availability and to request a quote:
I also post about behind the scenes photography on my blog, including relevant tips and tutorials:
This beginners guide to unit stills photography is intended to help anyone who wants to become a unit stills photographer.
My unit stills and BTS photo gallery for A Gangsters Kiss. Plus the official trailer and streaming details. Release: June 2024.
Talking about my Sony camera equipment as a unit stills photographer and my thoughts on its use for professional photography.