One day one photo - 29: Brompton Bicycle photoshoot

It was a different kind of working day today, as I spent it outdoors away from my desk, being photographed around London.

Along with a couple of other cyclist models - Monet and Theo - we posed for a photoshoot with Brompton Bicycle. This was a shoot done for the marketing department to increase their library of media assets (still photos and video footage). So the team had us riding different bikes from the Brompton range in different parts of London. 

I had done a shoot with Brompton Bicycle on a previous occasion a couple of years ago, though that was a short shoot. We spent the morning being photographed near Liverpool Street station, and then near Blackfriars.

Today's shoot was an all-day thing in which we started first thing in the morning and continued through to the end of the working day.

We met at the National Theatre, on London's South Bank, and spent the morning being photographed around a variety of nooks and crannies in this famous example of Brutalist architecture. Prince Charles (now King Charles) described it as a "nuclear power station". He might be right; the location lent itself to shooting glowing examples of pedal power, as we three models were photographed riding in formation over around different alleyways and concrete structures.

Christine, the art director had different combinations of outfits ready for us to wear, and gave us different colours of bike to ride on as well as riding an Brompton e-bike.

With the team, which included the photographer, film-maker, video director, plus Rupert the producer, and Ross the brand manager, we cycled to our next venue, Southwark Park. After lunch we did various shots within this green space in South-East London (which has hints of Victoria Park across the river). Finally, we crossed back over the River via Tower Bridge to do a final shoot in a specially reserved cafe close to 30 St Mary Axe (aka The Gherkin).

I enjoyed the day out, especially as it was a lovely sunny day in London. Being photographed while riding or posing with a bicycle is something that I have done quite a lot of in my time, especially as I did so regularly in the days when I wrote for Cycling Active magazine and would be photographed for the cycling routes that I rode about.

However, the thing I found hardest was being photographed folding and unfolding the bike while being photographed. When you do this in a run of the mill way over the course of the day I can do it quite easily. But then when being filmed/watched, suddenly my actions aren't that smooth, and there is always something that gets stuck or stilted!

Hopefully the team will be able to pick some decent shots and footage, and I look forward to seeing the results.