Recently Published /  by John Wellings

One of the things I love most about working as a freelance editorial photographer in Wales is being able to go places you ordinarily would have no chance entering.

Earlier this week I was commissioned by the Financial Times to photograph the Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint. As you can imagine, this isn't somewhere you can just stroll into with a camera!

I didn't really know what to expect before the shoot, which is one of the biggest challenges with these kind of portrait assignments. I knew I wanted to show elements of the work alongside making a strong image.

Aside from some annoying issues with misfiring flash triggers (Note to self - buy proper ones!) the shoot went smoothly, once I had unleashed the life saving super large Lastolite reflector (seriously the best thing I've ever bought as a photographer!).

Below are a couple of my favourites and also how it appeared in print.




Band Photography: The Phantom Light /  by John Wellings

I've shot for the Phantom Light, a band from Swansea a few times in the past but this time they wanted me to shoot some new promo images to coincide with the launch of their latest E.P.

My main problem with band photography is how to make it interesting and not cheesy, but when your location resembles the kind of room you'd have a wedding function in and the band your shooting are wearing suits.....

I knew I wanted to give the band two different looks and so with that in mind I set about thinking how best to use the great view of the lighthouse in the background, without making it look like a wedding group portrait.


For the second set up I had an idea of some kind of criminal group/mafia meeting, this was my favourite of the two.



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Recently Published /  by John Wellings

I'm a bit late getting around to posting this but better late than never eh!

Last month I made the quick trip up the M4 to photograph Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at the annual St Davids Day celebrations in Cardiff. Not the most exciting of jobs but a couple of my images were used in print and online by the Daily Express which made the trip worthwhile.

I'm still waiting for a pdf of the paper, so below is a screenshot of the online article;


In other news I recently bought a Fuji X100S which I am obsessed with. I'm in the middle of writing up a review of sorts. Just my views on my first couple of weeks with the camera really, nothing tech. 

Before I took the plunge and ordered one, reading the reviews of Zack Arias and David Hobby helped sway me in the direction of getting one so I thought I'd put my first impressions out there, for what its worth!

Also I'm always posting images up on both my Tumblr and Instagram so if you're on either then look me up!



Swansea City FC Bus Parade /  by John Wellings

Being a Swansea native and having the chance to be at Wembley stadium to see Swansea lift the Capitol One Cup was quite a surreal experience. Considering the first game my dad took me to when I was eight years old was Swansea Vs Preston North End at the Vetch, the Swans had come a long way.

In some ways so had I. Standing, waiting on a freezing cold NCP car park roof top for the open top bus parade to begin wasn't entirely what I had in mind when I decided to pursue photography full time but I'll save that for another day.

In hindsight (And I'm good at that), maybe the rooftop wasn't the best place to be. Looking at some of the published images afterwards it definitely wasn't. But I took a punt on a=it at the time, one of those decisions that either comes off, or in this case, doesn't.

This is the first post of a new blogging venture for me. I already have a tumblr and a twitter and god knows what else but I want to have an actual blog for my 'work' photography and picture editing. I've a few ideas for things I want to write and hopefully I won't over think things and just get them out there.

Please bear with us, there may be more to come. 

Swansea City Football Club Capitol One Cup victory bus parade 2013.

A Bird.