UKHarvest is a not-for-profit perishable food rescue operation that collects quality excess food from commercial outlets and delivers it, direct and free of charge, to charities.
They provide much needed assistance to vulnerable people, collecting surplus food from all types of food providers, including fruit and vegetable markets, supermarkets, hotels, wholesalers, farmers, stadiums, corporate events, catering companies, shopping centres, delis, cafes, restaurants, film and TV shoots and boardrooms.

I was asked to shoot a short promotional film for a charity that was named ‘Charity of the Year’ by organisation Vitacress. After reading the above quote, I said yes.

The video they wanted consisted of a few clips showing what they do, along with two separate interviews woven in. They wanted the overall vibe of the video to be happy and to emphasise how welcoming and friendly the volunteers are. I believe that I achieved that.

One difficulty I faced when filming was that the environment wasn’t the nicest looking place. It was a driveway next to an abandoned pub and a security office that had barbed wire all around it. This meant I had to think on my feet and find a way to make this environment look more approachable. I did this by using a 25mm prime lens with a low aperture, allowing the viewer to only see what is intended.

Also, time was of the essence so I didn’t have long to decide what shots I wanted to get and didn’t have long to prepare. I believe I dealt with that well by just ensuring I got the quality I needed instead of just trying to get 100 different angles.