He’s photographed Prince Charles and exhibited work at galleries in London, Leeds and Manchester.
Now award-winning photographer Aaron Francis is in the frame at Huddersfield-based HDTWO Commercial Photography.
And landing the job proved a piece of cake!
Aaron, who hails from South Yorkshire, said: “When I was about 14, I knew I wanted to do photography.
“My first camera was a point-and-shoot Panasonic Lumix. Now I work with industry leading camera equipment.”
Aaron’s talent was soon evident. He achieved an A* GSCE in photography and an A grade at A-Level before graduating in photography from the University of Huddersfield with a first class honours.
He received the Chancellor’s Prize for outstanding achievement in 2013 – an award given to students gaining more than 80% in their final year.
Only about 40 of some 4,000 students who graduated in Aaron’s year received the award.
Aaron also gained the Dean’s Award for professional and academic achievement and a licenciateship from the British Institute of Professional photography on leaving university.
This then turned into an associateship.
His work has been exhibited at the D&AD in London, an acknowledged centre of excellence for the design and advertising industries; the Tetley Gallery in Leeds; London’s South Bank; and the old Granada Studios in Manchester.
The 24-year-old was also commissioned by the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire to photograph the Prince of Wales on one of his visits to the region.
He has also has taken workshops with Oliviero Toscani, former photographer for united colours of Benetton as part of photography event Photoespana in Madrid.
During his four-year sandwich degree, Aaron spent his placement year at engineering company Reliance Precision Ltd in Lepton.
After graduating, he returned there to work full-time as in-house photographer, also responsible for creating digital media.
He was at Reliance for two years and went on to work freelance for a year before seeking a job at HDTWO, based at Queen’s Mill Industrial Estate, Old Fieldhouse Lane, off Leeds Road.
Paul Goddard and Adam Spencer, who run the company could hardly ignore Aaron’s CV and portfolio – which came in edible form on top of a mouthwatering cake.
Says Adam: “We called him up and told him we were impressed and invited him in for a chat.”
Says Aaron: “I was aware of how many people try to get into photographic studios and how saturated the market is.
“I was on a course of 25 people and a number of them have given up looking for a job in photography and are having to do something else.”
His “CV on a cake” was much more successful than the time Aaron was applying for summer jobs during his student days – by sending paper copies of his CV to almost every retailer in Meadowhall.
“I wanted to work at Burtons,” he says. “The day I sent in all those CVs, there was a flood at Meadowhall and they all got washed away.
“The only one that didn’t was the one I sent to JJB Sports – and they took me on. It was my first ever job.”
While Aaron didn’t want to pursue a career in retail, he acknowledges: “I learned a lot about how to deal with customers and how to gain confidence. You have to have a strong personality.”
Now he couldn’t be happier. “I started out in photography creating Fine Art pieces, but as I’ve done more and more commercial photography I’ve found that I really enjoy it.
“Since leaving university, I had always wanted to work in a big studio for high-profile clients. I didn’t want to be working on my own from a garage. I wanted to see my work on billboards and in magazines and brochures.
“It is very rare to have a job where every day is different.
“Photography is the one constant, but you are working with different clients, out on location one day and working in the studio the next.”
He says: “At Reliance, I was taking photographs of precision components and assemblies as well as action shots of people working on machines. It was a good grounding and I learned a lot.”
That early experience is proving invaluable for HDTWO, which is seeing an increase in demand for its services from manufacturing clients as the economy picks up.
While providing high-end images for high-end clients in the furniture sector remains the biggest area of business for HDTWO, the company specialises in photographing products ranging from beds, sofas and kitchens to foodstuffs, clothing and jewellery for catalogues and websites.
Its 4,300sq ft unit provides space to build large room sets to photograph beds, sofas and chairs as well as a kitchen for food product shots while the company has invested in the latest state-of-the-art digital photographic equipment.
Aaron, who hails from South Yorkshire but now lives at Waterloo, is interested in other people’s photography and visits galleries to study their work and other contemporary art.
He also keeps fit. Aaron ran a half-marathon last year as part of his fitness regime and is set to tackle the Tough Mudder military obstacle course in North Yorkshire later this year to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society.
“I go to the gym every morning before work,” he says.
““So I start my day at 6.30am and get to work by 8.30am. I am quite big into health and fitness now.”
Role: Photographer
Age: 24
Holidays: I have been to Venice, Madrid and Holland and Croatia
Car: Vauxhall Corsa
First job: Working as a sales assistant at JJB Sports in Meadowhall before transferring to the Huddersfield branch
Best thing about the job? The thing I enjoy the most is interacting with clients
Worst thing about the job? The time pressure. It’s fast-paced and enjoyable – but at university, you got lots of time to complete your brief!
Business tip: Get your name out there and be ambitious
Work: Creative commercial photography
Site: Queen’s Mill Industrial Estate, Old Fieldhouse Lane, Huddersfield
Phone: W01484 431555
Email: aaron@hdtwo.com
Web: www.hdtwo.com
