JW interviews Lee Pattison of Lux PhotoDigital

Review: Lux PhotoDigital

Art directing and creating beautiful images forms a big part of our work at JohnstonWorks. Quite often we collaborate with industry experts who help to bring our ideas to life using their technical ability and specialist equipment. This includes photographers, set builders and retouchers who all play an important part in obtaining the highest quality image. Lorinda Pagano of JohnstonWorks talks to Lee Pattison, Director of Lux PhotoDigital where all three skill sets are under one archway.

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Q: Where is Lux located and what is the size of your team?
A: Lux Photodigital has been located in Shadwell underneath a railway arch since 1999. The archway is perfect for a photographic studio as there’s no natural light and we’ve got a solid concrete floor. We have 4 full time employees plus a pool of freelancers.

Q: What kind of photography do you specialise in and why?
A: We specialise in still life, including cosmetics, room sets and food. We all enjoy shooting still life and room sets because of the beautiful mix of skills and processes required. Take a roomset for example; we construct the set, light the set, capture it, retouch it and then break it. There is something fascinating and final about the process. No-one at Lux is pigeoned-holed into a particular skill. We are all photographers, retouchers and set builders. The dynamic of this multi-skilled approach keeps us fresh; we could be using Photoshop in the morning and a drill and jigsaw in the afternoon.

Q: What are some of your unique qualities as a photo studio?
A: Flexibility is at the heart of the business. Everyone at Lux has many skills and a love of the craft of photography. This is paramount when required to make the very best out of any product or subject. At Lux the question always is, “What can we do to make this as ‘wow’ as possible?” A classic example of this ethos was when we were asked to shoot a set of solar powered, plastic garden gnome lights. Even though they were the ugliest things we’d ever seen, it didn’t matter – the challenge was to make them look as attractive as possible. The greatest challenge is to shoot an object that is not photogenic. We get a real buzz out of making the best out of every product we are asked to shoot.

Q: How has your photography changed in the past 5 years, specifically in terms of digital technology?
A: CGI is the biggest change, and the challenge is to introduce it seamlessly into the workflow. The single biggest pressure is to keep up with post production as it becomes a bigger and bigger part of the process.

Q: How have client expectations changed alongside technological changes?
A: Client expectations have changed very rapidly. The time scales are shorter and the quality bar is continually raised. Clients are constantly exposed to CGI on TV in magazines, on the web – everywhere – and they want a part of it. The pressure is on photographers to deliver the same quality that they’ve seen in a multi-million pound advert.

Q: How will technology and innovation continue to affect Lux, what advances do you foresee in the next few years?
A: CGI will continue to have a large impact. In the past it was all trial and error. To shoot a shampoo bottle splashing into water with coronets and droplets frozen in time you had to physically make the shot. You had to drop the shampoo into the water over and over again until you had the shot. It might work, it might not. Now with CGI you can construct the exact image. The element of surprise/accident is lost and has been replaced by a guaranteed, predictable outcome. This is compatible with a market that is looking for cost and time effective, less risky solutions.

In terms of our future, if our clients want more, we’ll give them more. We will continue to offer three key services with every shot, a combination of digital photography, post production and CGI. We blend the best of all three to deliver the best possible result.

Here’s the results of some key projects by Lux PhotoDigital:

Location photography