About Birmingham
The metropolitan city of Birmingham, best known as the home for heavy metal, is the second largest city in the UK. It also has a ton of lens-worthy photography locations, too. You can find a location for most types of photography, whether it's a grim, an industrial look, something bright, natural and idyllic, or even modern, hip and artistic.
Birmingham also has a great wealth very rich in history, being known as the birthplace of Thomas Shelby and the Peaky Blinders, and the iron trade which made Birmingham the great UK power that it is today.
Being a large city, there are also loads of options when it comes to photography studios and locations. So it's more than likely you’ll find whatever look you’re looking for on your trip here.
Photo Studio Options in Birmingham
Birmingham is popular with the masses for its high standards of service for commercial photography, wedding photography and lifestyle photography, to name a few. Good photo studios and studio rentals can be quite easy to come by here. As are the extra services that help bring a shoot together, and capture the perfect image. Here are a few extra services that you may want to consider for your upcoming shoot here.
- Models
If you’re planning a commercial or product photography shoot in Birmingham, you may be thinking of enlisting the help of some local models.
A model’s job is to bring life and character to your pictures. They’ll also act as the face of your product, delivering your product’s message to your audience in a way that truly resonates with them.
Birmingham has a host of quality models to choose from, with a variety of looks and character traits. Whatever you’re looking to achieve for your commercial shoot, a birmingham model will be able to help you achieve it.
- A Birmingham Photographer
After selecting the perfect photography studio, you’ll probably be on the hunt for the services of a professional photographer.
Your chosen photographer will be creative, diligent and highly experienced, helping you create the visual story for images. Depending on what you’re hosting your photo shoot for, you’ll likely be looking for different qualities in your Birmingham photographer.
For example, if you're hiring their services for a product photography shoot, you’ll likely be looking for a photographer with a strong portfolio, good equipment, and a great deal of creativity to successfully bring still images to life. Or someone who’s patient, good at controlling a group and skilled at capturing the essence of the moment if you’re hiring them for a family photography shoot.
Your chosen photographer will also manipulate lighting, select the most appropriate lenses and work with effects, bringing your image to life.
- Hiring Transport
If your set is located somewhere remote, yourself and your crew may struggle to get there. Like with many remote places in the UK, transport options outside of the city centre can be notoriously difficult to navigate for non-locals with many options frequently running behind schedule. To avoid running into these problems, you may want to consider hiring a large vehicle to help get everyone to set without hassle and on time.
It will mean less lugging around heavy or fragile equipment on public transport if you don’t have access to a vehicle, reducing the chances of damage or personal injury.
There are many transport hire options available in Birmingham including those with and without a professional driver.
Photo Studio Companies in Birmingham
- SS Creative Photography
SS Creative Photography specialise in both photography and studio hire services. Located close by to Birmingham city centre, they’re easy to get to from most parts of the city and provide clients extras such as a 20ft infinity cove and make up services.
- Phos Media Studios
Located in the heart of Birmingham city centre, Phos Media Studios is a commercial photography company. Their offered services include photo studio hire, photography services, ecommerce photography, fashion photography, and videography. They also have over 20 years of experience in the field, and have worked with many clients including the BBC, Spell magazine, and Ben Harad.
- S4 Studio
S4 Studio is a commercial photography studio based in the West Midlands. They have over 10 years of providing studios and images for well-known companies like the LA Fitness, Harvey Nicholas and jaguar.
Pros and Cons of Photo Studios in Birmingham
Being so rich in a variety of picturesque, artistic and grim locations, Birmingham is a great place to hold your next photoshoot. However, there are some draw-backs to doing so here too.
Advantages:
- Many photo studio hire companies
There is no shortage of photo studio options here, making selecting the best for your needs relatively easy. A large portion of these studios are located in or close to the Birmingham city centre making them easy to get to too.
- Brummies are friendly
Brits in general are known worldwide for their charm, good manners and friendly nature. Birmingham locals, or Brummies as they’re known, no exception. Expect to meet some of the friendliest people in the country here.
- Excellent level of customer care
Many studios within Birmingham have 5* ratings and above.
- A large selection of backdrops
Birmingham is home to a variety of lens-worthy backdrops. Choose from old and modern buildings, natural landscapes, and outdoor spaces to help your deliver the visual message you’re trying to communicate.
- Travel is fast by tram
The West Midlands Metro service is a tram that runs an effcient local service. If you’re travelling from Birmingham to Wolverhampton, as it has its own special lanes, it can be a great way to avoid the congestion.
Disadvantages:
- The traffic
Being home to over 1.1 million residents running into traffic is expected. Throw in the fact that most residents drive rather than take transport, and it's easy to see why congestion gets so heavy here.
- Road works
Birmingham is an up and coming city. This means there are a lot of renovations and roadworks currently in place causing lots of delays due to road closures and traffic jams.
- High Pollution
Considering the fact that there are so many roads here, the pollution levels can get bad here, especially if it hasn’t rained in a while. Birmingham is also creating an underground road system, adding to the existing pollution levels.
- The Rain
Birmingham is particularly wet. The city gets around 26.2mm of rain each year, raining for about 1 out of 3 days.
- Public transport options can be limited
This is particularly true if you’re travelling outside of the main city for projects. You may find that some areas have unreliable services, or don’t run after a certain time in the early evening.
Famous Photo Studio Locations in Birmingham
- The Custard Factory
At the heart of Birmingham’s creative district is the restored Bird’s Custard factory from the early 20th century, set with 15 acres of renovated industrial estate. No longer manufacturing custard to the nation, it has changed its look since then. It's also swapped its traditional bare brick industrial look for a brighter, bolder coloured exterior, that’s hard to miss.
The Custard Factory is a great place to visit if you’re looking for a colourful country location for your photos, at the heart of the city. Not only does it still retain a lot of its original features, it's capable of letting you create really bright and romantic images, because of the huge amounts of natural sunlight it lets in.
- Brindley Place, Black Sabbath Bridge
Being considered the UK home of heavy metal, Black Sabbath Bridge is a must if you’re a big Ozzy Osbourne fan. Constructed and officially named after the Black Sabbath rock band in 1993, it's considered one of Birmingham’s best modern constructions. Depending on the reason for your shoot, you may want to swing by and take a few snaps of this historic site for Rock history.
- Birmingham's canal edge
If you’d like to capture some of Birmingham’s Georgian architecture in your images, there’s no better place than Birmingham’s Canal Edge. Built in the late 1700’s this canal system is easily accessible from the majority of the UK, and home to many narrowboats, and even a water bus.
If you’re feeling extra adventurous, you could even hire a narrow boat, and have your photoshoot there too.
After a long day of shooting, it's recommended that you visit one of the many bars dotted along the towpath for a relaxing drink and spectacular views of the canals.