Interview with Andy Tyler

Hi Andy! Tell us about yourself in two sentences - who are you?

I’m an ex-digital marketing geek who having spent 6 years in marketing and advertising agencies in London and Sydney decided to put that on hold in order to try and turn my passion of photography into a career. That was just over two years ago and as a freelance PR, event and commercial photographer in London, my photography career is gradually taking shape.

QWhat's the weirdest situation you've found yourself in while taking a photograph?

AOne day quite early on in my photography career I had an email from someone who works at a telecoms company in the Middle East, asking if I could take a photo of a TV presenter from the news channel Al Arabiya. He was going to be in London very briefly and needed a photo taken that could be used on billboards and other marketing materials. I met the man, who invited me into his hotel room whilst he finished getting ready. That was pretty weird. I then found myself in the function room of this expensive Knightsbridge hotel taking some simply lit portraits on a white background of my subject holding his hand up to his ear, making a phone sign - also pretty weird! Lo and behold, I then saw the photo on the telecoms company’s website and in a photo of a billboard somewhere in Saudi Arabia.

QWhat do you shoot on? What's your favourite set up?

AI’m a Canon man - I just find them much more usable than Nikon. But that’s probably just because I’m used to it! I shoot with a 5D Mark III and a 5D Mark II. At most events you’ll see me looking doing my best Rambo impression with a double Blackrapid strap with one body attached to a 24-70mm F2.8L II and the other with a 70-200mm F2.8L II. I’ll either use speedlites on camera or off camera on stands depending on the venue. When in the studio (well, my front room), I use Elinchrom strobes with a big octabox and a strip softbox too.

QWhat's your number one tip for an aspiring photographer?

AAlways be looking for interesting light. My girlfriend teases me all the time when I’ll pause whilst we’re out and about, and she’ll say something like, “The light, the light, it’s so beautiful!”. Having a nice camera and lens helps, but great light is what distinguishes a great photograph from an average one. If you don’t believe me, have a look at the series by DigitalRev called Pro Photographer, Cheap Camera Challenge!