CASE STUDY: Shooting Stoddart Group’s Entire Business Line
OR: No, I’m not afraid of heights!
Overview
The Stoddart Group manufacture, supply and install steel house frames, roofing, cladding, fascia, guttering, garage doors and downpipes. They also supply and install solar energy solutions. They approached me with an old website that had almost no images of their people, manufacturing facilities, or expanded product line.
Being one of the last remaining large-scale manufacturers in Australia is a point of pride for them. And they wanted to photograph all of their products being manufactured, installed and in situ as completed builds.
My Client’s Problem
Stoddart has hundreds of different products, all being manufactured and installed at various times and locations across Greater Brisbane. So they needed someone who could manage a complex shot list over many months.
Also, Stoddart is not normally the main contractor on site, therefore didn’t own any of the sites I’d need access to. So they needed a photographer who could confidently negotiate access. They also needed someone who could work safely on construction sites, specifically at heights, given I’d be climbing all over incomplete roofs. In some cases, as the roof itself was still being installed.
My Solution
I worked with Stoddart’s operations manager to break down the shot list into components so we could tackle it piece by piece. I developed good relationships with the Ops Managers for all the main contractors for the site’s we’d be visiting. With me, I carried copies of my qualifications (like Safe Working at Heights and Construction White Card) and a breakdown of my experience working on construction sites. Each time I stepped on site I’d get a safety brief from the main contractor, and the Stoddart employee and describe exactly what I needed and where I’d need access.
The Outcome
Over the course of three months, I gathered over 2000 images. I accessed every single site safely, often multiple times during the course of a build, and completed the job without any incidents or near misses. The images demonstrate Stoddart employees and contractors working with exceptional skill and experience to install the products they manufacture. The library of images also contains dynamic shots of all their products in situ at completed builds. Over 90% of the images on their current website are images I shot during this project.
