the Photographer - Issue One 2017

Year-end woes There’s still time to work it out

Martin Brent The changed world of advertising The Magazine of the BIPP / 2017 / Issue One

The Photography Awards and Other Stories Stuart Mansfield, Jonathan Beer & Greg Harding

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Issue One, 2017

Image © Greg Harding

Image © Stuart Mansfield

Photography Awards 2017 Jonathan Beer 8 A set of Gold winning postage stamps for Royal Mail saw Jonathan work on a challenging project with artist Helen Musselwhite to translate 3-D dioramas into small-scale print Photography Awards 2017 Bella West 16 The nature of Awards and How to Enter them successfully

Photography Awards 2017 Stuart Mansfield 2 This year’s Photographer of the Year talks us through his unembellished portraiture, seeking to document the point at which children start to grow up

the Photographer is published four times a year by the British Institute of Professional Photography, The Coach House, The Firs, High Street, Whitchurch, Aylesbury HP22 4SJ. T: 01296 642020 E: info@bipp.com W: www.bipp.com President: Kevin Wilson Hon FBIPP Chief Executive: Chris Harper FBIPP Directors: Bryn Griffiths FBIPP, Roy Meiklejon FBIPP, Denise Swanson FBIPP, Frank Tomlinson FBIPP, David Wheeler FBIPP

Profile: Martin Brent 32 Many years working in advertising have taught Martin a thing or two – he talks about how the changing ways of working in the sector have altered his approach and style Qualification Awards 2016 Greg Harding 40 The winner of the 2016 Award for Best Licentiate works hard to keep Membership Services Advisory Board Annemarie Farley FBIPP (National) Saraya Cortaville FBIPP FBIPP (National) Frank Tomlinson FBIPP (National) Gerry Coe Hon FBIPP (National) Denise Swanson FBIPP (National) Jo Scott FBIPP (National) Scott Hogg ABIPP – Scotland Faizal Kirk ABIPP – North East David Stanbury FBIPP – North West Katrina Whitehead LBIPP – Yorkshire

abreast of his automotive clients and continually add value BIPP Company partners, member benefits, regions and events 56 End of year is nigh 62 There’s still time to work it right Bryn Griffiths FBIPP – Midlands Scott Johnson FBIPP – South East David Wheeler FBIPP – South West Roy Meiklejon FBIPP – Cotswolds John Miskelly FBIPP – Northern Ireland Editor: Jonathan Briggs, editor@bipp.com Advertising: Tel 01296 642020 Email: jack@bipp.com UK Subscribers £20, EU £40, Rest of the World £50 ISSN: 0031-8698. Printed and bound by Magazine Printing Company, Enfield

Neither the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP) nor any of its employees, members, contractors or agents accepts any responsibility whatsoever for loss of or damage to photographs, illustrations or manuscripts or any other material submitted, howsoever caused. The views expressed in this magazine are the views of individual contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the BIPP. All advertisements are accepted and all editorial matter published in good faith. The Publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, that any particular product or service is available at the time of publication or at any given price. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means whatsoever, or stored in a retrieval system, or broadcast, published or exhibited without the prior permission of the publisher. This magazine is the copyright of the BIPP without prejudice to the right of contributors and photographers as defined in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. Registered at Stationers’ Hall, Ref B6546, No. 24577. © BIPP 2017

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PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2017 WEDDING & PORTRAIT | GOLD

PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Image © Stuart Mansfield

STUART MANSFIELD LBIPP

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hilst Stuart Mansfield is immediately very modest about his photography, he’s actually no stranger to being noticed for his work.

After Graduating in 1998, with a 1st class honours degree in Photography from the University of Creative Arts in Farnham, Stuart’s images were featured in the John Kobal Portrait Prize. Soon after in 1999, he was runner up in the Observer Hodge Award. His experience in the field, then, stretches back some 20 years or so with much of that spent with one of the leading portrait companies in the UK. By his own admission, he gained a huge amount of experience photographing people of all ages and developing his own business acumen.

However, forging his own path was a relatively long time coming. Stuart established Lovelight Photography in 2013 along with his wife Cathy. Lovelight is an independent family run business passionate about producing the highest quality photography. Whilst Lovelight specialises in portraiture their photographers have a wealth of experience working with not just children but all the way through to corporate and commercial, fashion and editorial headshot/ portfolio images. Based near Guildford, Surrey, the studio can be found in a rather lovely converted barn.

So it might have been quite a long time in the making, but Stuart’s really got himself where he wants to be right now. And that seems to echo in his Gold winning

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S T U A R T

M A N S F I E L D

All images © Stuart Mansfield

WEDDING & PORTRAIT | GOLD

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M A N S F I E L D

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images here. Stuart says: ‘Interestingly it was a matter of me going back to some photographers I was influenced by when I was at college. I wanted to break out into a different look and feel beyond the style of work I deal with every day, and indeed what sells in our different markets.’ At college, Stuart focussed on documentary portraiture, and such a recording style without peripheral distraction came back to drive his work.

‘I wanted to create intense images to capture features, not embellish a character on to them. So relying only on their connection with the camera to draw you into their personality was key.’ Stuart’s models came from clients he was already working with, but the age range – children between 5 and 10 years old – was important. Stuart comments: ‘A portrait studio sees a lot of babies and then a lot of teenagers. But in that 5 to 10 year old period they lose all their baby features – hence the title of the project “growing up”.’

This portfolio is part of a larger on-going series featuring both boys and girls. It was difficult to decide whether his Awards portfolio should include one or both: ‘It came right back down to shots that sit together – the big challenge was to achieve the quality I wanted whilst being very close and exposed to subject. When you’re used to photographing kids laughing, smiling, it’s all very different working with them to connect with you in a altogether different way.’

Stuart’s success sits well in the chronology of his career, coming after a couple of years very much consciously developing his style and photographic capabilities. He explains: ‘Of course it can only be good to have a challenge so that you’re not always falling into shooting your standard methods and styles – everyone needs a vehicle to make that happen. Another good point of contact for me was the Infot conference which was really interesting as a forum for looking at more commercial variants of portrait lighting.

Image © Stuart Mansfield

WEDDING & PORTRAIT | GOLD

www.lovelightphoto.co.uk www.lovelightcommercial.co.uk

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PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2017 C O M M E R C I A L | G O L D

Image © Jonathan Beer

J O N AT H A N B E E R F B I P P

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s is plain to see from the set-up shot below, Jonathan Beer’s work for Royal Mail with paper sculpture artist and illustrator Helen Musselwhite and agency The Chase was no ordinary reproduction of original artwork.

Musselwhite creates three-dimensional paper artworks with a depth and intricacy that presented numerous technical challenges considering the final use – on a postage stamp. In more normal circumstances, the artist sculpts at a similar scale to the final reproduction, in order to translate the correct scale in textures, for example. Clearly, this was not possible in this instance and so it was necessary to capture and preserve every possible detail of the five complex pieces. As a result, Jonathan Beer got the call.

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J O N A T H A N

B E E R

All images © Jonathan Beer

C O M M E R C I A L | G O L D

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For Jonathan, it was basically a product. Then on the one hand the image had to work technically as a stamp, and on the other was the concept that collectors would examine them literally under a magnifying glass. The key, however, was to come up with a method of lighting and production that provided perfect symmetry but retained all the shape, depth and texture in the sculptures. There had to be even lighting all around.

Jonathan used the overlay feature in Hasselblad’s Phocus software to set up the overall composition of the stamps, including where The Queen’s head would sit. He explains: ‘With light and darker areas captured in a range of frames, I could mask in the shadows and highlights that I wanted accurately, so that everything you see is how it really looked without having to alter the image; everything in the final shot is real.’

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J O N A T H A N

B E E R

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He continues: ‘The technique I used to capture both the depth of the artworks and the textures in the paper was to use multi-shot on the Hasselblad 200c MS. It’s different because artefacts are much reduced and clarity is increased.

In this way, whilst the images have an illustrative style, they don’t look too digital – this was an important element.

I shot various frames for left and right lighting – the most obvious use of this can be seen on the Robin’s tree stump. ’ Whilst the technical aspects of the commission set challenges, the overall process from start to finish was lengthy too – 18 months in total. In the early stages there were a number of different designers/teams competing for the illustrious Christmas stamps slot – consider that it’s almost unheard of for an artist to be chosen more than once in a lifetime. Four different versions of the sculptures were shot in the period of the commission and the work was cloaked in secrecy, contracts and NDAs. The boundaries of the commission were very specific too – once the budget was spent, that was it – Jonathan wouldn’t have been allowed to even work for free if he’d wanted to.

And when all was done and dusted, the team only got to see a sample of the finished stamps a couple of days prior to their public release. Jonathan says: ‘It was an incredible project to be involved in. Helen and I almost didn’t allow ourselves to believe it was actually happening. There were so many stages, hurdles and points where the project could have been dropped without ever seeing the light of day. It wasn’t until I went to my local Post Office and bought a book of our stamps on launch day that it all felt real. I still get a buzz when a letter drops onto the doormat with one of our stamps on.’ www.jonathanbeer.co.uk

Image © Jonathan Beer

C O M M E R C I A L | G O L D

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BEF

PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2017

T H E

N AT U R E

O F

AWA R D S

AND HOW TO ENTER B E L L A

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W E S T

F B I P P

n an interview around 15 years ago, the Icelandic singer, Bjork was asked about her ambition and ultimate career goals. Her answer was that she wanted one day to write the best pop song ever produced. As ambitious as I was myself at that time, this struck a chord – I also had similar career goals – to perhaps one day make the best portrait ever taken…

Fast forward ten years and I don’t know how Bjork was getting on but I was making steady progress in my journey to Fellowship along with establishing my business. But how about that ideology of being the best there is? The best portrait ever taken? Well, by now I was realising that balancing external expectations with the reality of (a) adhering to my market and (b) the subjective nature of photography meant that taking the ‘best ever portrait’ was actually slightly off kilter. Not just unachievable, but I’d say impossible.

My mindset was – and still is – to strive for perfection, but more than ever I know that in a saturated market place, it’s fundamental that the professional photographer is producing work which is not necessarily unique, but that holds a high creative value and is consistently executed to the best of their ability. Working on our creative wisdom, allowing ourselves the luxury to set and achieve high goals, creatively and in a business sense, should take centre stage as against a constant fighting for originality which may ultimately lead to disappointment. Today, 15 years on from that interview, I measure achievement through knowing that I am still goal setting, constantly moving in a creative sense and my clients expectations are a driving force behind that.

Going back to the over-subscribed photography market which some feel is driving standards lower than ever, I’d like to turn this on it’s head. If you are reading this, you are

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PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2017

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quite possibly a member of the British Institute of Professional Photography, or considering signing up.

You may be contemplating the pros and cons of going to the effort and expense of entering the national awards. You have a choice – to sit and hope the competition in your home town throws in the towel, that Uncle Bob won’t have his glasses with him on that next wedding so won’t be a threat. Or you go into your next job with the confidence to make a change, to up your creative value, to go way beyond the expectations of your client and to make work that’s unachievable to the general public through your photographic construction.

Setting yourself a goal with this mindset, to enter the national awards with the resulting imagery, not only will possibly be rewarded in a professional sense but will offer your clients photography that is unachievable even with the finest of cameras. I am just off to Cologne to talk about this and the limitations of the camera – in over 100 years, the convergence of functionality of cameras has opened up a whole new world which has to be celebrated. That said, the human brain has not changed with the technology, your camera will not show you great light, it won’t set off an alarm if it thinks you should take something away or add an element.

It’s not a creative tool, it’s a machine that is fed information by us and that is where we have the opportunity to be bold in the decisions we make when making pictures.

Photography, as with anything which holds creative emotive value such as music, art or fashion is subjective.

So think within the realm of your own style and when you are on your next commission take on board a few pointers when considering your entries: Creative input: use your own style to be different and creative. Ensure the basic make-up of good photography is in place, ie sharpness; exposure; composition; and then play with it… experiment with composition, creating atmosphere, think before you shoot as to what else can be done to add impact.

Avoid fads and trends: you want your work to come from within you and in the style that your clients recognise.

Try not to stifle your own ideas and creativity just to adhere to what you think will appeal to the judges.

Make your work your own and be proud of it.

Read the rules: be clear on the rules, and work well in advance of the deadline to avoid rushing.

Printing: the finishing of your work could make the difference between a bronze or a silver, silver or gold. This is a photographic print competition, the printing is as important as the content. Be a perfectionist.

Selection: shortlist more than you need and work back.

Tell a story with your selection and keep within the realms of your style. Invite a professional colleague to look over your work and offer advice - avoid asking friends and family, they are often too nice! Print your work out on small prints to proof first - it’s amazing how a print changes the look and feel of the image.

Test print: sample different paper stocks on your selection before making a decision. Different papers work for different types of images. There is a range of papers which will finish your work beautifully, this is also something your can incorporate into your business and offer your clients.

The BIPP has one of the highest standards of awards in the country – not everyone is a winner. In fact, very few are. But don’t be fearful of this… see it as an opportunity to always be pushing for more and raising your own level of creativity. Do this for you and for your clients and you will reap the rewards.

I’m not sure how Bjork’s quest is coming along, but I now know that originality is not doing something that has never been done before, it’s making something that you have never done before, and making it your own.

Very best of luck.

Bella West FBIPP

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Fujifilm / Frontier-S DX100

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

Frontier-S DX100 gives Time full control Virginia from Time Photography, a small independent photographic company specialising in schools, weddings and family portraits, tells us about her experience with the DX100

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e wanted to take more control of our workflow and better manage our output so after a little research, we invested in the Frontier-S DX100. We chose this printer for a few different reasons.

Firstly, having the ability to produce prints at a variety of sizes is incredibly important in the school photography sector, not only because the customer expects it but also for increased sales opportunities - the more sizes we can produce the more chances we have to upsell. With the DX100 we are also able to easily print panoramics, which are always in high demand, particularly for class photos. The quality of the prints is just as important as the volume of prints and from day one we have been very happy with the quality this printer produces.

Image after image, the DX100 renders each picture superbly. And the number of images that the printer can ‘run’ without us haveing to check or adjust anything is incredible. There are often days when I can just let it run for hours at a time.

The DX100 fits perfectly in the boot of our car, without having to lower the back seats or make any other adjustments and is perfectly manageable when moving from shoot to shoot. The DX100 is a real workhorse. It’s powered us through our busiest times of years without complaint. In fact, it has become such an integral part of our business that we have just bought a second unit! I would definitely recommend the DX100 to any photographic business that is looking to take more control of their printing and increase the options they can offer to their clients. See: www.timephotography.co.uk

Fujifilm Frontier-S DX100 The DX100 is the ideal printer for professional event and wedding photographers. It is capable of printing up to 360 prints an hour at a variety of sizes, from 5x3.5” all the way to 8x39”, and utilises the VIVIDIA 6-ink system todeliver the flexibility, speed and, most importantly, the quality that photographers require to meet the ever increasing demands and expectations of their clients.

Specification

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Volume 200ml per colour Weight Approx. 23kg (include roll paper and ink cartridge) 51lbs Footprint 0.19m2

For more information please contact peter.wigington@fujifilm.com or call 01234 572138 TP-2017-1 PA-West 14-17.indd 17

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PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2017

All images © David Taylor

V I S U A L

A R T S | S I LV E R

DAVID TAYLOR FBIPP

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V I S U A L

A R T S | S I LV E R

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All images © Martin Brent

Open to change and light on your feet

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Martin Brent has been working across the advertising sector for more years than he’d care to mention. Adapting to a market that has changed beyond all recognition has been key to his success. We discuss agents and the new client relationship

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hilst times may not be anything like they were – for good or bad – the advertising and commercial side of photography is still alive and kicking. Many faces have come and gone in recent years, both in the ranks of ad agencies and commissioned photographers – perhaps it takes a certain kind of mindset now to survive and thrive in a sector that isn’t anywhere near as much about who you know as it once was. Running in parallel has been the breakdown of the traditional assisting model of entry to the sector.

Martin Brent describes his own entry to the industry: ‘My fully fitted photography anorak was in place from an

early age – it’s all I’ve ever done and all I ever wanted to do. I studied and I assisted, learning the craft and the business at the sharp end… A run-down of his current client list illustrates that 30 years on he’s certainly made a mark on the industry: Land Rover; Miele; Sony Ericsson; Adidas; Sainsbury’s; Bentley; Guiness – we could go on. Martin has been a judge of the prestigious D&AD Awards too.

The burning question on many people’s lips when thinking about this environment is ‘do you need an agent?’ quickly followed by ‘how do I get one?’.

It’s highly debatable. Martin’s experience is particularly interesting because he can talk about both sides of the decision. By and large it’s always been really hard to gain representation – it’s a

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huge investment in time and resources on both sides… any agent will tell you that they get 100s of photographer approaches.

Martin is represented by Clare Fletcher in London and createagency in Europe – so we should guess that he’s finally settled on the notion that an agent is a necessary part of working in advertising: ‘She’s an organised version of me – and then she’s a really good agent too.’ He goes on: ‘The photographeragent relationship is a very particular thing. Clare is not a “showy” character and basically gets on with the job – that suits me perfectly. It’s important that you get a personality match between the two of you; if you’re not on the same page then it will just not work.’

How did Martin come to be represented by Clare? ‘It was through an art buyer at M&C Saatchi. They expressed

surprise that I wasn’t “attached” as it were and it got me thinking that perhaps I was missing out. After that Clare and I were introduced.’

Martin identifies another massive change in the industry over the last few years as video: ‘I’m doing more movie work these days which I’m really enjoying. However, I remember I was myself a loud noise some years back telling everyone they had to prepare for supplying moving images – then ignored my own advice. But it came about from requests and ADs were aware of the coming of the Canon 5D mk II in a completely naive way and I suppose I was “Yeah, I can do that” and the very first one I shot commercially actually turned out really well even though with hindsight I did everything wrong, broke every rule in the book, so you could say I got away with that one. Now I’m all about taking my time and getting it right. What I don’t want to be is a cheap alternative to a fully blown movie production. I will charge a client properly for it but despite that you are still cheaper than a traditional all-singing-all dancing crew, yet you are not destroying the TV industry. You say how you need to do it and to be perfectly clear you must not throw it in with the stills – that route is sheer ignorance.’

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Martin explains how the traditional advertising commissioning model has moved: ‘Traditional art buyers gave the market consistency. Agents picked up jobs and almost dropped them in your lap but breaking in was always difficult. There are very few specific art buyers left now, with the role largely changing to that of a project manager. It means younger photographers have more opportunities to get in when previously it would have been virtually impossible. So everything is project by project and relationships feel very much ad-hoc.’

Has that changed his ways of working, and even style?

Martin replies: ‘Good question! Once upon a time your specialism was really tight – you were the guy who shot white bread and another guy had to shoot brown. You now shoot a much wider spectrum and it does then influence your style.

‘With this model of buying there can be much more emphasis on your personal work and how that gets out via Instagram and other social media. Inevitably, if you’ve had personal work that led to a job you’re always going to head that way. Perhaps the best description is that

you now have to be light on your feet. Yes, it feels a bit transient, rather “bitty”, but what doesn’t change is that clients need reliability and basic good service. If they like your style and they like you as a person and you do the job it stands you in good stead – there’s no hope for the grumpy, unapproachable photographer who won’t turn the heating on. When they book you they are booking an insurance policy to get a result. Despite the chaos of the market and the different models of buying, clients want a guarantee that their images are going to look like they planned it to.

You have to be a solid person. That can mean you come in a bit higher up the process, and have to adapt to different situations – you have to be client facing.

These days, the client is anyone you speak to.’ www.martinbrent.com Issue One / 2017 / the PHOTOGRAPHER 27

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PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2017 SELECTED BRONZE AWARDS Allen Thomasson LBIPP, Veterans, Wedding & Portrait

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PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2017 SELECTED BRONZE AWARDS Fiona Ingvarsson ABIPP, Beyond the Veil, Non-commissioned

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PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2017 SELECTED BRONZE AWARDS David Wheeler FBIPP, At A Glance, Wedding & Portrait

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Business / Blueprint

A programme that is dedicated to you and your business

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luePrint has been created to help your business (no matter what the level) increase and maximise profits. BluePrint will give you a structured and proven plan to improve and develop every aspect of your business.

1 Business Planning and KPIs – setting targets and knowing your numbers 2 Set-Up – studio premises, layout, products and price lists 3 Acquisition of Customers and Marketing 4 The Customer Experience 5 Booking / Diary Management - optimisation of time, fire-up calls and reducing no-shows 6 Photography – Lighting/ Posing – how to conduct the session 7 Pre-Production – preparing images for your viewing 8 The Viewing Process and Maximising Sales Opportunities 9 Post-Production and Laboratory Process 10 Referrals and Repeat Business BluePrint is implemented through: Weekly videos With built-in question facility – these will be based on a wide range of themes relating to any of the 10 key value chain subjects. They may highlight a particular process you should follow, or give a quick tip. Alongside each video a summary worksheet will be supplied.

Monthly webinars Pulling together the previous months’ videos giving real-life examples and extra detail about each of the subjects covered. There is the opportunity to ask questions and receive immediate answers.

Quarterly seminars Two day in-depth seminars covering every aspect of your business including photography, marketing and business planning.

Facebook community This will enable you to engage with all members of the BluePrint programme, as well as the support team.

Newsletter The Newsletter will highlight any new activities within the marketplace and give latest facts and figures for you to use as benchmarks.

Top photographers prepare with precision. You need worldclass preparation. This will be the key factor of this programme compared to any other.

The BluePrint team Richard Mayfield – Photographer / Retoucher Richard never wanted to pigeonhole himself into one area of creativity and enrolled on a BA hons Degree in graphic design, marketing and photography. This enabled him to cover a wide range of genres such as photography, typography, textiles, fine art, printmaking, multimedia and many others.

Elaine Sheppard Ba (Hons) – Managing Director – Baby of the Month With a degree in Business Studies, and previously from a banking background, Elaine has spent the last 12 years working in the photographic industry.

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James Musselwhite FMPA, FSWPP – Photographer From shooting the soft tones of maternity images and new-born babies, to capturing the brutal and harsh images from the world of professional wrestling, James is an expert on getting it right... but more importantly, what to do when things go wrong.

Peter Evans LMPA, LBIPP – Owner/Operator – Barrett & Coe Essex Peter is now in his 11th year as a Barrett & Coe studio owner, coming into the photography industry from a 20-year banking career after taking the decision to have a complete lifestyle change.

Glenn Hoy – Managing Director – TIME 2013 Glenn’s career background is sales and marketing focused, working in the regional and national press before he joined Barrett & Coe as Marketing Director in 2001. As well as working with corporate and bluechip clients he specialises in assisting individual business owners and their teams introduce ‘what works’ strategies.

Mike Sweetman – Production Director – Premier Image Mike has over 31 years’ experience in the photo-imaging industry, starting his career in 1984 with Kodak Processing Companies

and working in the first ‘Kodak’ installed minilab for Boots.

Mike continued to implement Boots minilab installations across the UK over a two-year period. Mike progressed to the Kodak Photo-processing labs in Manchester and Preston, developing and printing over 3m films a year and gaining experience of E6, Reversal, C41 and RA100 processes. He oversaw the creation in 2015 of Premier Image Services Ltd, to expand the productions facility’s services of digital printing and the assembly of contemporary artwork to all photographers.

Identifying what you need…

• To deliver a better overall customer experience?

• To know your percentage marketing budget and spend?

• To do more marketing?

• To improve marketing channels and client acquisition?

• To understand and make use of Social Media/Facebook?

• To have a stronger awareness in the local area?

• To improve your booking process?

• To be more in control of your diary?

• To manage your time more efficiently and effectively?

• To carry out better fire up calls or actually start doing them?

• To reduce your no-show rate?

• To rearrange the layout of your studio?

• To improve your overall standard of photography?

• To increase your sales per viewing?

• To review your pricing strategy?

• To know your gross mark-up?

• To improve the way in which you are displaying your products?

• To know what your most popular product is?

• To know what your most profitable product is?

• To improve the quality of the product you are offering?

• To review the way in which you are presenting your images to clients at a viewing?

• To improve your re-touching skills?

• To provide better after sales care?

• To create more referrals?

• To create more customer recommendations?

• To create more repeat business?

• To keep better records?

• To be more in control of your overheads?

• To know where your profit comes from?

BluePrint will change the way you think about your business, the way you feel about your business, the actions you take within your business. We want it to be fun and rewarding for you seeing and measuring the improvements, and enormously satisfying to make more money.

Next BluePrint seminar – 24th & 25th April, at Arden Hotel Birmingham. Call 01603 629739 or view the online brochure at http://bit.ly/2jZigcx

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PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2017

All images © Aaron Dickson

Aaron Dickson writes:

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hooting in a new country is always hard; even with all the research you can do with the internet these days, the image of a place you build up in your mind rarely matches the reality. And knowing what shots you want to take is nearly impossible to plan until you’ve been there a couple of times before.

This problem was made all the more difficult by the fact that there are 18 islands in the Faroes, and arranging a trip to try and cover as many of these as possible was tricky, but something Kerry managed to pull off pretty successfully by juggling AirBnB reservations, ferry bookings and helicopter flights.

Most of the photographs we had seen of the Faroes were taken during the summer months when everything turns green, the sun stays pretty high in the sky and the good light doesn’t start till late at night. So we decided to go at the end of winter/beginning of spring while the sun still set at a reasonable hour (on the longest day of the year, there is a tradition of climbing to the top of the highest mountain, watching the sun set, then watch it rise about 1 hour later).

Even then, we still worked late most nights to make the most of the light, only taking a break when the weather proved too much (we had quite a few days of 50mph winds, hard to stand up in, never mind take a picture in).

I often find the first day or two never result in much as I find my feet and feel for a place, and we were also cursed by the worst of photography weather - clear blue skies! The harsh light wasn’t what I was after. Luckily the weather in the Faroes changes pretty quickly and it didn’t take long for the clouds to come in.

Despite the dramatic scenery the land is very accessible, most of the islands are quite small and don’t have that many roads, but it’s easy to park by the side of the road and go for a quick hike to explore more on foot. We also found that the islands to the west and south were slightly flatter, and the mountains more

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PROVISIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR | JOINT WINNER

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accessible; the islands to the east such as Kunoy reminded us more of the fjords in Norway, steep sided and plunging into the sea, so the coastal areas felt less easy to explore compared with the rest of the Faroes.

One of the highlights of our trip was a journey to the island of Mykines.

At this time of year there was no ferry out so the only way to get there was by helicopter, which also proved to be one of the most breath-taking, bonerattling journeys I had ever been on. With only 10 inhabitants on the island you would think life out here would be quiet, but we had planned our trip to coincide with the arrival of thousands of puffins; along with the thousands of other birds, hiking along the cliff paths was never a quiet moment.

For anyone planning on going on a photography trip to the Faroes there are a few things to keep in mind for a more successful trip. Take time to think about each shot; with digital it’s all too easy to take hundreds of shots in the hope of getting a few good ones, instead, spend some time on each shot and take less. This will also make your post processing easier as you won’t have as many photos to work through.

When shooting near the coast the air is very humid and salty, bring good lens cleaning fluid for cleaning your lenses and filters, it doesn’t take long for them to become grimy. All the islands are fairly small, take the opportunity to visit locations more than once, no two days are the same. Get good at weather watching, keep an eye on clouds out at sea and what direction they are moving so you can predict how the light will change at your location.

It’s generally pretty windy too, but you can often find small pockets of shelter to set up your tripod in to get your shot.

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PROVISIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR | JOINT WINNER

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PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2017

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STEFANIE

CALLEJA-GERA

PROVISIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR | JOINT WINNER

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hen Greg Harding arrived at the BIPP Photography Awards presentation in London at the beginning of March, he knew that he’d been shortlisted – for something – but that was as far as it went. With the Qualifi­ cations Awards coming at the end of proceedings there was a palpable sense of anticipation and no little anxiety amongst those pondering a long trip home empty handed. Many had travelled a fair distance to be there – including Greg, harking from Manchester – and everyone hopes to take a little something back home with them. Greg con­ curs: ‘I was very surprised when I found I actu­ ally had something to take home. I’m not at all used to winning things so there was absolutely no expectation on my part.’

Greg’s photography is based around automotive and industrial, construction and corporate… with all the usual variants that get thrown in with those sectors. Perhaps his biggest single client to date is Asian tyre manufacturer, Giti. With his trademark lighthearted sarcasm, Greg enlightens us on how that relationship began: ‘I guess I was unlucky… I started work­ ing with Giti and became their pan-European photographer, going to their events and working with them to create images right across passen­ ger cars, trucks and buses – that’s a lot. Then the work brings you into the frame with dealers that distribute their products and so we go on.

Off the back of shooting for the tyres, I often get asked back to create images for a fleet of trucks, and in this way life has become busier and busier.’

Greg has always been in and around photo­ graphy, working in research, forensics, and also as a medical illustrator. The hint on his website is the rather natty infographic that commu­ nicates the GHP experience – describing the creative process from client contact to image delivery. Clear, informative and up front – and avoids confusion further down the line. The GHP experience came about when Greg got the

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opportunity to take voluntary severance – that was nine years ago. However it’s only been quite recently that he’s joined the BIPP. He says: ‘I had always shied away from being a member of any institute or association. But a year ago I felt I needed some business objectives. I was looking for accreditation, commercial skills-based courses, and the ability to talk to other photographers in an otherwise quite locked down sector. Hence I joined and found some friendlier faces. The best licentiate award is a great bonus – for me the qualification is about someone saying “yes you’re doing ok, your pictures look good and the business model is sound”.

Greg describes his process on the job: ‘My focus has always been to light a subject as nicely as I reasonably can within the natural constraints of a commercial situation. In truth I travel quite lightly – some Elinchrom location kit and also I will shoot different aspects with a specific view towards multi-shot layering in Photoshop later on. Yes, probably you could do it all in one shot if you spent hours and hours and lighting it but there is a reality that I’m

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working with – the product as it were is “live”, it should really be out there earning its own living and the company has for example taken the truck off the road for the couple of hours I’m working on it.

They don’t want it to take any longer than that. So you might say I shoot fast and light. It’s a different approach to what I was used to in my previous career where research was done to recording and being analytical. However part of my style and approach with a client is to analyse the product, the situation and aspiration so that element is still there for me.’

Client relationships are everything to maintain and expand a base of business. Greg accepts that it can be hard to keep pace with the comings and go­ ings in industry: ‘Clients do need handling and as a company grows it tends to shed people and hire new people – it can be a cut-throat market. People come in and people move on. Having to build an instant dialogue with new marketing personnel is tricky. I tend to try and get some depth with my contacts and to be honest I can’t think of anything better to be doing – I’m just back from Finland where I was shooting for a new range of winter tyres. As the photographer you have to realise that it’s not just a tyre, it’s a product and has certain applications and an intended environment – that’s the nub of it, finding out the story of how that product works in its own environment and so getting in sync with the client’s perspective.’

To date, Greg’s clients have pretty much come to him – by association, recommendation or by being in the right place at the right time. What does he think about this natural growth of his business? ‘Perhaps I should be approaching new clients, being active in that area of business but I don’t look, they find me.

I don’t know whether that means I’m missing a trick but I do the work that comes in and it all pans out ok, I let it find its own way as one project leads to the next by itself.’

However, GHP’s video offering is a different matter altogether: ‘I started officially offering video when clients started coming to me and asking for it.

Originally I said “no” to a couple and found that this

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meant someone else would come in and get the stills work.

I don’t do it personally but the full service is essential. You just can’t be saying no about something that’s commonly offered in the sector and it also elevates my business from simply me to “we”.’

But returning to how Greg works with his hard-won clients neatly sums up how he operates his business – this cannot just happen by accident: ‘New clients are referred to us on a regular basis, but we really are proud to be working with many of the same clients today as we were ten years ago when the company was conceived. We believe in forging a strong, long-term commitment to our clients; knowing our clients’ goals enables us to provide emotive imagery that speaks to their target audience. As markets change rapidly, we want to be able to respond to their needs so we schedule to meet regularly to discuss their objectives and re-evaluate the ways we can add value and impact their business. In this way we’re keeping pace with their world and not just wait­ ing to find out that everything has changed.’ www.gregharding.co.uk

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BIPP / Company partners

Since 1981, Photovalue has been providing professional photographers in the UK and Ireland with high-quality slip in photo folders and strut mounts. We manufacture over 12 million mounts every year at our manufacturing plant in Dublin, Ireland. We are committed and dedicated to providing our customers with superior quality products and an unrivalled level of service, along with the promise of better value. This is the foundation upon which the business was originally founded. www.photovalue.com 3XM is the brainchild of Ronan Ryle, Business Development Director of Photovalue Ltd. in Dublin, Ireland. He wanted to help photographers ‘make more money’ from their ‘disc only’ or ‘shoot and burn’ weddings. Our name was born out of this initial idea with the three letters ‘M’ from the phrase staying put (3 x M). Since then, 3XM has evolved quite dramatically to what it is today where we strive to deliver on ‘Your Selling Made Simple’ for modern photographers. We will continue to adapt and grow based on feedback from the photography community.

BIPP Members can benefit from a 10% discount on 3XM products. Visit www.bipp.com and login to the members area to learn more. www.3xmsolution.com

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BIPP / Company partners

Zenfolio is the best all-in-one solution for photographers to display, share, and sell their work online. Part of the Art.com family, Zenfolio is a multi-award-winning subscription service that provides photographers with unmatched ability to create a stunning, responsive website in minutes.

With beautiful galleries, unlimited storage and the most powerful set of selling, marketing and business tools available, Zenfolio is the ultimate all-in-one solution trusted by hundreds of thousands of photographers to help them grow their businesses online. BIPP members can benefit from the following offers: •

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1 month free account for all BIPP members including provisional and student membership www.zenfolio.co.uk/bipp – Choice of Pro UK or Advanced UK trial.

A 1 year FREE subscription when you qualify as a BIPP Licentiate* (LBIPP) 1 year free Advanced account worth £300! Call 01296 642020 for details.

For Licentiates, Associates and Fellows, Zenfolio are offering training sessions 2 times per year to help you get the most from your website.

* Zenfolio has extended the 1-year free subscription offer to anyone who achieved a qualification at any level in 2015/2016. www.zenfolio.com/uk

BIPP / Member benefit

Law Express is the BIPP legal advice and helpline provider and is a benefit available to all fully qualified BIPP members. If you ever have any concerns regarding legal or business issues Law Express are the people to call.

Their services include access to a free 24-hour telephone advisory service on legal issues and links to both personal and business-related legal issues. All of these features can be accessed via the Members’ Area of bipp.com, under the ‘Benefits & Discounts’ tab.

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BIPP / Regions & Events

Cotswolds Jonathan Fisher LBIPP jon@jonfisher.co.uk

Midlands Paul Witney ABIPP linkingrings@hotmail.com

North East Kevin Weatherly LBIPP kevinweatherly@mac.com

EVENTS & DATES COMING UP

PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY

LIGHTING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PORTRAITURE

Bryn Griffiths FBIPP Monday 24 April 2017, BIPP Offices, Whitchurch

Chris Harper FBIPP Monday 22 May 2017, BIPP Offices, Whitchurch

Join Bryn Griffiths FBIPP on this practical workshop, combining lights, camera and action to produce memorable commercial imagery!

Join Chris for this day of practical tutorials and fastpaced hands-on learning! Discover how to work with natural light to form the most flattering portraits and experiment with a variety of backgrounds to produce images that have enormous strength and yet are incredibly simple.

Discover how lighting can enhance the depth and visual impact of a product and how minute alterations and small steps can make a huge difference to the finished image.

As you build a lighting set for product photography, Bryn will walk you through the principles, from setting your camera to taking the shot (ensuring you keep to the brief!) all the way through to processing and delivering the final image to the client.

Become less reliant on your kit and the limitations of the camera and use your eye to escape from ordinary images into something much more creative.

This workshop follows on from our Studio Lighting course in February and is a great opportunity to experiment with posing, lighting and composition, while maximising the potential of the environment you have to work with.

CAPTURING THE ESSENCE OF A WEDDING David Wheeler FBIPP Tuesday 16 May 2017, Missenden Abbey

POSING AND COMPOSITION

Working alongside David in this Masterclass, you will discover key aspects of creating thought-provoking, memorable and dynamic wedding images. You will learn the benefits of using background and colour to bring natural characteristics to wedding photography, and be encouraged to seize the moment in order to produce relaxed images that truly reflect the tone of the day. David will demonstrate how he works with a venue, rain or shine, and uses a variety of locations around the grounds to capture a wedding, equipping you with the confidence to view your venue as an exciting opportunity to yield incredible results.

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Kevin Wilson Hon FBIPP Tuesday 20 June 2017, BIPP Offices, Whitchurch Kevin is known worldwide for his passion of photography, knowledge and his love of ‘paying it forward.’

Kevin is generous with his knowledge and will spend time illustrating how small things can make a huge difference when shooting portraiture, from a minor change to a subject’s pose to a slight alteration to maximise the benefits of natural light.

You’ll be taken through the techniques of using and controlling available light to shape your work, and how to work with your subject’s body posture and shape to create a mood.

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North West Ioan Said LBIPP ioan@celynnen photography.co.uk

Northern Ireland John Miskelly FBIPP john@johnmiskelly photography.co.uk

Scotland Scott Hogg ABIPP info@scotthogg. com

South East Chris Harper FBIPP chris@bipp.com

South West Bella West FBIPP bellawest@me.com

Yorkshire Katrina Whitehead LBIPP katrinabipp @gmail.com

EVENTS & DATES COMING UP

Kevin will encourage you to think about what makes your work competitive, and how to create a personal style to ensure you remain true to yourself whilst producing your best work. You’ll get the opportunity to view some of Kevin’s images, pick up tips, ask plenty of questions and work alongside him as the workshop takes a practical approach.

LOSE THE FLASH FEAR FACTOR Michael Wharley ABIPP Tuesday 12 September 2017, Makespace Studios, London Michael, South East Regional Photographer of the Year in 2014 and 2016, cut his lighting teeth shooting reportage for cinema chains and actors’ portraits, and has since earned a reputation as one of the UK’s leading authorities on actors headshots, working with an array of entertainment industry clients including many famous faces.

Today he is active across a broad span of work: whether it is creating a subtly varied headshot portfolio for an actor, producing high-end advertising imagery for film, theatre & TV, working with strobe on location or producing fine art quality portraits in the studio, Michael works fluidly with continuous, strobe and natural lighting to achieve radically different styles of portraiture.

UPLIFT DRONE TRAINING DON’T MISS OUT! Taster Sessions For BIPP Members from Uplift Drone Training 13:00 to 16:00, 21 April, Chartridge Lodge, Chartridge Lane, Chesham HP5 2TU The taster session will include an overview of Air law and the regulatory environment affecting commercial drone use, equipment and aircraft used by professional drone operators and an in depth look at the course.

Our instructors are all aviation experts in either manned or unmanned aircraft systems and we can offer guidance for types of aircrafts available and what could be the best option for your area of business if you haven’t already purchased an aircraft yet as we offer the full solution as unmanned consultants in the all working sectors.

Tickets are £20 per person. To book your place on the course please call the UDT sales team on 01273 966 875.

You will join Michael at his busy studio in the heart of London, gaining an insight into the processes behind the creation of some of his award-winning work through discussion and practical demonstration, with plenty of opportunity to ask questions.

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BIPP / Regions & Events

EVENTS & DATES COMING UP

PORTFOLIO REVIEWS

2017 QUALIFICATION ASSESSMENTS

If you are thinking of going for your first, or upgrading to your next, BIPP qualification you might like to take advantage of a Portfolio Review to gain an understanding of what you need to do to qualify and how long the process might take.

Wednesday 14 June 2017 Birmingham Submission Deadline - 12 May 2017 Wednesday 20 September 2017 BIPP Offices Submission Deadline - 23 August 2014 Wednesday 22 November 2017 Barnsley Submission Deadline - 20 October 2017

We recommend candidates seek guidance on preparing for qualification at a portfolio review before booking a qualification date.

Monday 15 May 207 Scotland Thursday 18 May 2017 London Tuesday 20 June 2017 Manchester Tuesday 18 July 2017 London Monday 18 September 2017 London Tuesday 7 November 2017 London Thursday 23 November 2017 Barnsley Important Information: • Portfolio Reviews cost £50.00 for Members, £90.00 for Friends, and £100.00 for Non Members (inclusive of VAT).

• All Portfolio Review sessions run for 45-50 minutes.

• Please bring approximately 40 low res images (no more than 5MB per image) on a laptop or tablet.

• If you are a non-member interested in applying for Provisional membership please bring copies of your insurance.

• Please note portfolio reviews are non-refundable and non-transferable.

If you’re interested in qualifying or upgrading your current qualification, email jane@bipp.com or call 01296 642020 if you’d like to discuss qualifying further.

World Photographic Cup 2017 We’d like to say a huge congratulations to Lee Howell and the UK Team lead by Bryn Griffiths, for achieving a Gold Medal in the World Photographic Cup 2017, leading to a top 10 finish for the UK. Lee was awarded Gold for his work submitted into the wedding category. The results were formally announced at the end of February in Japan.

Image © Lee Howell ABIPP

Portfolio Reviews offer professional photographers the opportunity to receive face-to-face advice on their work from one of BIPP’s Approved Assessors.

Our Assessors fully understand the requirements for qualification and are highly experienced photographers with a wealth of industry knowledge.

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Business / Tax year-end

Avoid the tax headache F

orward tax planning might not be at the front of your mind right now – arranging your next shoot – is – no doubt. But the end of the 2016/17 tax year, 5 April 2017, is just around the corner. If you made a new year’s resolution to get a tighter grip on your finances this year, now’s the time to act – before it’s too late.

Income tax For those in business there’s plenty to think about… starting first with income tax.

Yen-pei Chen, corporate reporting and tax manager at the ACCA, an accounting body, says to watch out if you’re approaching a tax threshold or find yourself in a marginal relief band: ‘If you are one of these lucky souls, you may want to act to put your tax affairs into order before 5 April 2017.’

Chen points out the thresholds for the 2016/2017 tax year that you need to be aware of. Breach any and you’ll pay more tax: • Higher rate income tax band. Anything over £43,001 is taxed at 40% • High income child benefit charge threshold which means that child benefit begins to be clawed back once income exceeds £50,000 • Personal allowance reduction threshold where the personal allowance of £11,000 is reduced by £1 for every £2 above £100,000 • Additional rate income tax band where income above £150,000 is taxed at 45%

What are the legitimate tax planning options to avoid an eye-watering tax bill as 2016/17 draws quickly to a close? There’s just enough time left to make some changes and get the best out of your year-end

‘In addition to these, two new tax allowances became available from 6 April 2016. They’re good news for some, but a mixed blessing for others, so it’s well worth being aware of them,’ says Chen, continuing: ‘The first concerns dividends above £5,000. If you receive dividends above this amount – for example, which is likely as the owner-manager of a studio who extracts profits from the business in the form of dividends – your dividend income will be hit with a higher rate of tax.

The effective rate for tax on dividends for higher rate taxpayers went up to 32.5% (from 25% in 2015/2016), and for company owners, considering the effect on corporation tax, the effective tax rate is now 46% (up from 40% in 2015/2016).’

The other allowance concerns interest income. Here Chen outlines the change: ‘A new tax-free savings allowance has exempted up to £1,000 of savings income from tax since April 2016 – but note, if you are a higher rate taxpayer, you will only be exempt up to £500.’

‘If you receive dividends above [£5,000] – for example, which is likely as the owner-manager of a studio who extracts profits from the business in the form of dividends – your dividend income will be hit with a higher rate of tax.’

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Business / Tax year-end

‘If you have made a capital loss, say on the sale of lenses or a body, you may want to think about using part of it in another year to ensure that the loss is relieved at a higher rate of tax. ’

So, bearing these thresholds in mind, what are the legitimate tax planning options to avoid an eye-watering tax bill?

Chen says that there are five areas to target: • Deferring your income to the following year if you expect a lower level of income then; • Making pension contributions for yourself and your family; • Transferring shares or bonds to your spouse to make the most of the dividend nil band and savings allowance; • Switching your investments into tax-efficient investment schemes; and • Making donations to charity.

Handy business tax reliefs There are several ways to reduce a business owner’s tax bill while keeping essential cash in the business.

Carry back trading losses ‘If you’re self-employed,’ says Chen, ‘any trading losses that you make in the year can either be set against your other income as a current year tax deduction, or carried back against income in the previous tax year to reduce your previous year’s tax liability (and gain a cash tax refund). If you’re new to the world of being a self-employed photographer, losses for the first four tax years of trading can generally be carried back for up to three tax years.’

Chen notes that if you run the business through a company, trading losses can be set against your other current year income, carried forward, or carried back against trading profits

for the preceding 12-month period. Interestingly, Corporation Tax sees some changes as the Finance Bill 2017 reforms the loss relief mechanism from April 2017. Chen says that on a positive note, it means you will be able to offset trading losses against all types of past or future profits. However, the loss that you can offset in any given year will be restricted to 50% of the taxable profits for that year.

Optimising your capital losses Chen looks next to any capital loss you make from selling your assets in 2016/17 – they will automatically be set against your taxable income for that year first.

‘After that,’ she says, ‘you can elect for any remaining capital loss to be carried back to the previous year, or do nothing and let the loss be carried forward indefinitely against future years.’

The advice from Chen here is that if you have made a capital loss, say on the sale of lenses or a body, you may want to think about using part of it in another year to ensure that the loss is relieved at a higher rate of tax. Bypassing the maths, this is all about setting the loss off against income at the most effective tax rate – you may pay tax at 10% this year, but have paid tax at 20% in (say) 2015/16 or expect to pay it at 40% in 2017/18.

Sole traders should note that the maximum amount of capital losses that they can carry back is £50,000, or 25% of the income for that year, if that is higher. Companies are not allowed to carry back capital losses, however.

Tax reliefs on gains from asset disposals Now if you’ve been lucky enough to make a profit on selling an asset (such as the

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freehold of your studio), and that asset was used for business, you may be able to delay paying tax on any capital gain using the Business Asset Rollover Relief. This relief applies if you buy new qualifying business assets within three years after selling the old business asset or up to one year before selling the old business asset.

Chen points out to sole traders that everyone has a £11,000 tax-free exemption for capital gains in 2016/17: ‘This exemption can’t be carried forward to future years, so if you have made any gains in the year, make sure you use it before you lose it. You may wish to transfer assets to a spouse or civil partner to make sure that you both fully use your tax-free exemptions.’

Tax-efficient pensions – tax-free pension contributions For most people, making pension contributions is a tax-efficient way to put money aside. Not only do you get tax relief on your pension contributions, recent changes have also made pension schemes more flexible, allowing you to draw down the pension pot before retirement.

When you pay into a pension, you receive tax relief on your pension contributions. The tax relief is at the highest rate of income tax that you pay.

There are limits to what can be paid in. If you own your business, making pension contributions to yourself is a great way to extract value from it. On top of the personal income tax relief, pension contributions give corporation tax deductions to the company. Further, because pension contributions are a non-taxable benefit, both the company

‘Making pension contributions is a tax-efficient way to put money aside. Not only do you get tax relief on your pension contributions, recent changes have also made pension schemes more flexible.’ and the employee can save on national insurance contributions. If you’re an employer and company owner, it’s well worth thinking about exchanging some of your and your employees’ salaries and taxable benefits for larger pension contributions.

On this Chen offers a note of caution: ‘If you have a large pension pot (over £1m) or have a taxable income over £110,000, new changes from 2016 can affect you, so think about seeking professional advice.’

Getting more out of your investments Lastly, with interest in high-street banks still standing at an alltime low, you may be considering ways of making your money work harder for you. Some investments might prove a tax-efficient alternative to savings, if you have the appetite for risk. One recommendation from Chen would be to load up your ISAs, to benefit from tax-free income and capital gains. She notes: ‘Adult UK residents can put up to £15,240 each into savings, investments or a combination of both. In addition, parents can pay up to £4,080 per child into a junior ISA. First-time buyers can now save up to £200 per month over four years in the new help-to-buy ISA, and get a 25% tax-free bonus capped at £3,000 for £12,000.’

There are also several other tax-efficient investment schemes such as the enterprise investment scheme, investing directly in an unlisted company, venture capital trusts, the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, Innovative Finance ISAs, and social investment tax reliefs. It’s worth noting that they are high risk, so consider these options only if you are a seasoned active investor.

The parting advice from Chen is clear: ‘Plan ahead, take good advice from your advisers and take a measured approached to tax planning. Leaving your tax planning to the last minute could prove a costly mistake.’ tP

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