An Insider Interview With Campaign Photographer Sven Eselgroth

find for easy setup as it has a light aluminium frame held together by a bungee cord and the diffusion silks have a clip system that is much easier than the usual velcro tabs or bungee system. I utilise this in a lot of different ways; diffusing the sun, further diffusion of my octa for super soft light, or I shoot a hard light through it to get a diffused sunlight feel. The latter is the main reason I invested in it as I wanted to be able to fake the look of sun coming through muslin curtains. It is an interesting look because it has hard shadows but also a soft feel.

One last comment on lighting gear – I have modified gels so I can put the gel directly over my light heads so that they cover the diffusion domes. I have no idea how other photographers get round this issue as I have seen nothing like it online and if you want to use a soft light the only other way is to gel the whole face of an octal box which is impractical. I use warm ones to match indoor lightbulbs and create colour contrast between rim and front light. Whereas one third blue ones are useful to match the colour of ambient light in shadows or on overcast days. I also use 2 and 3 stop gels just to knock my lights down 2 or 3 stops if I need to match dim interior lights.

Which camera do you use to shoot the Maxwell-Scott campaigns?

Canon 5ds

Have modern developments such as Instagram altered the art of photography?

I don’t think the development of photo editing apps such as Instagram and Snapseed for example have altered the ‘art’ of photography – a photo is a photo after all. That being said, I do think these apps have made developing a digital file more accessible to all. They have lead to an increase in people’s general working knowledge of colour, contrast, face-tuning etc that was otherwise an exclusive dark art of the photographer’s world.

Do you have any other photographers whose work inspires you?

I think I generally ‘consume’ a lot of photography from many different sources; galleries, blogs, magazines, tumblr accounts, and billboards to name a selection but, I tend to pick specific photographs as inspiration rather than a photographers portfolio as a whole. I am very inspired by mood in photographs, the way the light in a photograph insinuates time of day. It may seem strange but I am often inspired by very simple things I see that are not even in a photo.

I also have sources where I take technical information from such as Digital Photography Review for camera gear or, in my early days, it was Strobist for learning to light. I have followed a lot of courses on Lynda too for retouching, colour processing and other technical skills. I am lucky enough to work with some amazing art directors and it is their job to put together mood boards for the shoots so I can often take great inspiration from their ‘vision’. It is the communication between me and them where the look and feel of the shoot comes together. This process cannot be underestimated from an inspiration point of view especially considering the majority of photography I do is born in this way.

What does a day in your life look like? Is there such a thing as an ‘average day at work’?

There is no typical day really but there are recurring themes. Being on shoot usually means traveling to the location, usually with Eathan my assistant. He is my friend’s son who was a single mum back in uni days, so I used to baby sit him occasionally. No matter how old he gets he will always be young to me and I like to remind him of it. Similarly he likes to remind me how old and decrepit I am. He has been assisting me for about 4 years now and we still don’t seem to be bored of talking gear and where we are going to get our next coffee hit from. Shoot days are usually early starts to get the good light and late finishes, again to get the light. It is a lot of setting up gear and breaking it back down again. Shooting is only half of it though- other days I am scouting locations, doing post work and retouching, invoicing, marketing and doing accounts. Luckily I have a workroom at home which provides a nice space to work in when I am not out on location.

What is your role within a team for preparing a brand campaign and then on shoot days?

My role changes quite a bit depending on who I am working with. Many clients require a complete service, including shoot production and art direction. In this case my role is to liaise closely with the client to understand what their needs are and what aesthetic we are working towards. Then I will do the work required to put the shoot together. It is great to be at a point in my career where I can deliver that if necessary. Conversely, I work for a couple of publishing companies in London who have an in-house production team and art director which means that if I am working with them I just get a detailed brief and turn up on the day of the shoot. Mostly, it is somewhere in between the two. Some clients are able to do the production and organise the shoot but want help art directing, others know what they want and just need help delivering it, in which case I pull the team together myself.