CamelPhat Press Shoot

Music press photography can go one of two ways very quickly. Either it gets over-styled and forced, or it leans too heavily into “behind the decks” clichés. The aim with this shoot was to keep things clean, controlled and confident without stripping away personality.

I recently shot new press imagery for CamelPhat in Liverpool using the Fujifilm GFX100S II. The medium format look suited the direction perfectly — loads of texture, softer transitions in the light and a level of detail that feels more cinematic than digital when it’s handled properly.

The setups themselves were deliberately simple. Good light, strong composition and enough space for the images to breathe. Nothing overcomplicated. A lot of modern music photography feels like it’s trying too hard to convince you it’s cool. I wanted these to feel more grown-up than that. Cleaner frames, sharper styling choices and a bit more restraint.

Behind the scenes, the pace was actually pretty relaxed. That always helps. Shoots like this work best when there’s room for conversation rather than forcing constant movement or direction every thirty seconds. Most of the adjustments were subtle — small changes in posture, slight shifts in light, refining framing rather than endlessly rebuilding setups.

The GFX100S II handled it beautifully. It’s quickly becoming one of my favourite cameras for editorial and commercial portrait work where the final images need a bit more depth and presence to them. Especially for press imagery that may end up across streaming platforms, publications, tour artwork or wider campaign use.

In the end, the strongest images were the simplest ones. Clean light. Strong faces. No distractions.