Spring Discount On E-Commerce Retouching March - April 2024

We are delighted to announce a 20% discount for all new e-commerce clients during March and April 2024.

Calling all E-Commerce art directors who are looking for authentic natural post-production which is cost effective and consistent; with over 45 years combined experience within the industry it has trained us to work within tight budgets and challenging time constraints for clients in the e-commerce industry. 

We take care of the tiny details on fabrics, skin work, backgrounds, hair, making clothes slimline and consistent colour work on fabrics to assist in maintaining your vision of high standards. 

Please do get in touch if you would like to do a free test.

"We have worked with Shifting Pixels for the past few years on KITRI's e-commerce retouching. They have consistently worked within our deadlines and worked to our budget with clear lines of communication throughout the process. They've consistently been able to meet our e-commerce requirements for retouching on time. I would happily recommend them to others." Kitri Ltd 

To view more of our work please visit Shiftingpixels

Marilyn Stafford - A Life in Photography Second Edition

We were really delighted to work on this beautifully recrafted second edition of the only retrospective publication of Marilyn's work. The release is to coincide with an exhibition at the Akron Art Museum in Ohio on February 24th, 2024.

Co-edited by Marilyn's daughter Lina Clerke and Nina Emett it has a new design with 30+ new images which we retouched from raw scans and all these images will reach a new audience in America which makes us all so proud. We are really pleased with how this edition of the book looks and honoured to have been asked to work again on Marilyn's wonderful images. Special editions available with prints which are gorgeous.

To order your copy today please visit Bluecoat Press the book along with a special edition are now out on general release.

All images copyright ©Marilyn Stafford

Mac & Cheese - Carol Hilker

In another profession I used to cook vast amounts of this incredibly versatile crowd pleaser so the look on my face when this job landed was a broad smile. Picture research for a book on Mac & Cheese - yes please!

The 60 recipes created by Carol Hilker are so diverse and yet all really simple. There are mouth watering classics for your family and friends to incredible combinations like lobster or sriracha and prawns creating a lovely zingy taste sensation. I made the classic oven baked mac n cheese for my tennis finals day and it went in a heartbeat.

All recipes are in everyone's culinary scope and incredibly cost effective. Finding the photographs was a real blast and who knew you could make waffles from macaroni!

All text/images copyright ©HarperCollinsPublishers

Moral Rights asserted to Carol Hiker 2023

Pre-order on this link released 26 October 2023.

Glorious Boards: Sensational Spreads for Every Occasion - Jassy Davis

Do you have what it takes to throw together something tasty for unexpected guests dropping in on you or, what if the in-laws text they are just down the road and hungry? Harper Collins contacted us with this wonderful challenge to find pictures to accurately represent 60 recipe ideas for grazing boards. These come from the great, new fun trend for sharing platters and plates with your dinner club friends. Jassy Davis is the in-house recipe writer for Able&Cole and has collaborated on many cookbooks. Jassy’s delicious recipes cover charcuterie spreads and cheese boards for every occasion, theme and celebration.

Sharing food with those you love is deeply connected to our well being and the eye-catching and delectable grazing boards just look stunning and super easy to follow. We fully appreciated that also included are recipes you can do for one and still enjoy the satisfaction of making a great platter for watching a movie or study time of your favourite bites just for yourself. This is a book where there is something for everyone to enjoy and to be able to make!

All images copyright ©HarperCollinsPublishers

All text copyright ©Jassy Davis 2023

Pre-order on this link released 12 October 2023

Kiss It! by Abbie Trayler-Smith

'Kiss it!' is the result of a long-term collaboration between photographer Abbie Trayler-Smith and Shannon, a young woman living with obesity. Over the course of 12-years, Abbie documented Shannon’s journey from teenager to adult—navigating friendships, family, first-boyfriends, prom nights, holidays and jobs. Shannon has been the central inspiration for Abbie’s long-term project, ‘The Big O’ examining obesity in school-age children and young adults.

“So much is yet to be understood about obesity, but the more I learn the more convinced I am that hormones, processed foods (pushed by government and industry), sedentry lifestyles pushed by society, and idealogical aspirations pushed by social media are as culpable as any individual (seemingly of free) choice or responsibility and therefore an issue for us all to ponder” - Abbie Trayler-Smith.

I started scanning negatives for Abbie on this over 10 years ago and it's so delightful that Abbie stayed true to my work and gave me the opportunity to scan the edited images for this project that she has devoted more than a decade to. Both her friendship and trust mean everything when it comes to translating negative colours from scanner to cmyk for print. I love how it looks, the cover is just fab there is real intimacy in diary entries plus the text essays makes this genuinely feel sensitive and loving for Shannon; the girl she first photographed in 2010 and followed for 12 years.

You can buy the book by clicking on this link Gost Books 

All images ©copyright Abbie Trayler-Smith

Thatcher’s Children by Craig Easton

‘My job is to shine a light into dark corners. And I want to hold people to account for what I find there.’ Craig Easton.

We first heard about Craig many years ago by Tom Stoddart. ‘There was a photographer travelling around with a 10x8 camera in a suitcase we should keep our eyes open to work with him,’ Tom told us. It was this in mind that made us smile to get the opportunity to collaborate with GOST Books on the colour reproduction for Craig’s set of pictures. The text is current and makes this very much a book of today and there is tenderness in how Craig has told this family’s story of the underdog and how the British welfare system isn’t designed to help families such as these. Many who read this book will relate I’m sure.

Thatcher’s Children, a long-term project by photographer Craig Easton, examines the intergenerational nature of poverty as experienced by three generations of the Williams family in the north of England. The passage of time shown in the book demonstrates how deprivation is connected to the social policy failures of successive governments.  

What has emerged is a rich and intricate portrait of deprivation in modern Britain, and the relentless disconnect between policy- makers and poorer citizens. Photography can all too easily offer up snapshots shorn of context, particularly when depicting poverty— a subject that, visually, often brings swift and arresting scenes to the foreground, but leaves little room for the slow-burn and the structural. ‘My aim,’ says Easton, ‘was to produce something different.’

A selection of the work from the series has already been included in the exhibition Is Anybody Listening? at Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool from 12 January – 26 February 2023, and will be touring the UK.

Published by GOST Books you can buy it here

All Images Copyright Thatcher’s Children, 2016 – 2020 © Craig Easton

Atlantic Cowboy by Andrea Gjestvang

Photographer Andrea Gjestvang journeyed to the Faroe Islands to document the impact of a shortage of women on the territory. Her project, created over 6-years, depicts the traditional man—the Atlantic Cowboy—and the geographical and social periphery he inhabits.

In 2014, Norwegian photographer Andrea Gjestvang was sitting in a bar in Berlin when she began talking with a stranger...the conversation turned to the Faroe Islands - a remote archipalego island chain in the North Atlantic ocean....large numbers of women were migrating out of the region, leaving the Faroe Islands with a noticeable gender imbalance...she would return twice a year for the next half decade to document what she found.

“I’m not a landscape photographer but, just like when I portray people, when I photograph a landscape, I look for mood” says Gjestvang

The painterly quality and perfect tones Andrea crafted with her photographs are beautiful and we had to maintain this quality in the CMYK colour conversions -we were delighted to see the finished work and on such beautiful paper printed by EBS in Italy with a stunning cloth jacket cover using the tones of the images inside and clever use of font.

To read more and to buy this book click GOST Books

View of the small town Vidareidi, which is the northern most settlement in the Faroe Islands on the island Vidoy. The houses are spread out over the evergreen valley, protected by high mountains on two sides. © Andrea Gjestvang

Rogni (26) and Odin (25) in the hot tub at around midnight in Mykines, the westernmost island in the Faroes. The island has between five and ten permanent inhabitants, but it is invaded each summer by tourists eager to experience its unique birdlife. © Andrea Gjestvang

Aadne and Jóannes (52) together in their childhood home in Klaksvík. They are twin brothers and both unmarried. ''I prayed to God that I would find a wife'', says Jóannes, ''Maybe he didn't hear me.’' © Andrea Gjestvang

Wahala by Robin Hinsch

Wahala - the title evokes mystery and when you learn the translation to English is problem or more worrying stress you inevitably start using it in your own vocabulary. The images in this book depict both the places in the world where raw materials are extracted from the earth for profit, and the people who make their homes there.

‘Hinsch photographs landscapes and people in India, Nigeria, Poland, and Germany. His images are atmospheric, simultaneously familiar and foreign, intimate and unfamiliar. He shifts back and forth between details and overviews: wide landscape scenes of deep gorges and dark abysses meet close-ups of coal lumps and burnt flora; ephemeral clouds of smoke and glistening fires meet dilapidated industrial facilities and fields covered with pools of oil shimmering blue’ - Sophie-Charlotte Opitz, Wahala.

We were asked to be careful with the colour reproductions in this book as the tones Robin had created with his photographs were so atmospheric and the darkness of the pollution had to be powerful for Robin’s book Wahala. Our guide was to think minerals, oil and of earthy tones. The book brings to light the devastation left to the areas raw materials are extracted from. You can read more on this book here - Wahala

 Photographer Robin Hinsch travelled to where the human impact on the planet was particularly visible to confront the viewer with the blunt ecological and human repercussions of the global reliance on fossil fuels. GOST books are beautiful things to behold, the jackets and thoughtful varnish and cloth cover take photo books to another level.

Wahala is published by GOST Books and you can buy the book on this link at GOST Books website - Wahala

Coal Field Fire II, Jharia, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India, 2019 © Robin Hinsch

Polluted Area in B-Dere II, Niger Delta, Nigeria, 2019 © Robin Hinsch

Gas Flaring Site, Ughelli, Niger Delta, Nigeria, 2019 © Robin Hinsch

The Good Citizen by Benjamin Rasmussen

The Good Citizen explores how American society came to be what it is today. Over a period of eight years, photographer Benjamin Rasmussen travelled to 43 states and was introduced to over 500 people as he investigated the impact of the country’s complex history on contemporary society. In this new book, Rasmussen’s photographs are combined with essays by Frank H. Wu­ and collectively they seek to provoke thought and conversation around the complicated nature of American identity.

‘Who was freely invited into this space and who wasn’t? In what ways are the ripples of our past seen in our present? How can we engage more honestly with our history?’  Benjamin Rasmussen. ‘It clicked: The idea that American history is so short. There are these direct physical connections between the past and the present...years of research and working out how to follow history in the present, how to look backward while photographing the ripple effects of American history on life and policy today.’ 

To work on colour toning with such a variety of skin tones can be really tricky, even with match prints you never really know how the printer will translate what you are seeing on screen. This project threw out many problems for colour interpretation but the collaboration and understanding between our work and the printers on press at EBS has resulted in fabulous tones and colour reproduction, something you never really know til you see it for real.  Another brilliantly thoughtful jacket by the designers and photographer combined well done GOST and Benjamin.

Click on the link to buy and read more information on Benjamin’s book published by GOST Books.

Personal effects of an unidentified border crosser, ML#: 18-2014. Pima County Morgue, Tucson, Arizona © Benjamin Rasmussen

Kalea Pitel, Miss Philippines USA 2016 San Diego, California © Benjamin Rasmussen

Dontey Carter, one of hundreds of people who came out to West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Missouri, to protest the killing of Michael Brown. Six miles south on West Florissant Avenue is Calvary Cemetery, where Dred Scott is buried. Ferguson, Missouri © Benjamin Rasmussen

‘Glad Tidings of Benevolence’ by Moises Saman.

GOST books is responsible for some of the most exciting and diverse photography books published and this year it is releasing a number of truly impressive titles. We have been busy helping with CMYK conversions and colour management work. 

The first book we can mention coincides with the twentieth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq by Moises Saman, an acclaimed Magnum photographer.Many colour issues arise when RGB files have to print to CMYK. The work we undertake is much like following a recipe, it is vital to have an understanding of how to bring life, vibrance, contrast and a deep black to images to avoid huge disappointment on press for the photographer.

Collectively the process of publishing a book takes months and our task in the conversions takes time, patience and experience. We love this type of collaborative work; it’s a real challenge to bring back colours and channels of density but there is nothing like seeing in print the finished printed book.The photographs below are from the forthcoming book 'Glad Tidings of Benevolence' by Moises Saman. Published to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, the book brings together Moises photographs taken in Iraq during this period and the following years, with documents and texts relating to the war. Exploring the construction—through image and language—of competing narratives of the war, the book represents the culmination of Saman’s twenty years of work across Iraq.

‘My photographs are not intended to represent an objective account of the Iraq war against which to compare the texts. Rather, the book grapples with my own role and power as a narrator – particularly one with access to foreign publications – and the biases and limitations inevitably embedded in my work.’

2003 Baghdad. A boy hunting in Baghdad during a sandstorm ©Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

2008 Baghdad. US Soldiers on patrol along Route Irish, the re-named 7.5 mile stretch from Baghdad’s Green Zone to the airport once dubbed ‘the world’s most dangerous road.’ ©Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

2003 Baghdad. Oil fires set alight over the Tigris River on the eve of the invasion to obscure the view of US warplanes flying over Baghdad. ©Moises Saman/Magnum Photos

All images copyright ©Moises Saman/Magnum Photographs

Picture Editing For The Natural Remedies Guide & The Wellness Guide; Publisher Harper Collins.

Book production is a world we love throwing ourselves into and this year our  roles have been more diverse.  Back in November 2021 as we were coming out of lockdowns, we were asked to picture research two books for Harper Collins on all things natural. We both enjoy living sustainably and naturally so it was with real passion we were able to research on subjects close to our hearts. These books followed on from The Modern Gardener, a book about small spaces and reintroducing yourself to plants and how they impacted your wellbeing. These two new titles took the topics of wellbeing and looking after yourself to another level.

We took a title each sourcing fresh vibrant images, using our favourite libraries, and a few crystals later we were living the books with remedies being made alongside our usual dinners and bracelets to keep our energies positive. The information in both books was really uplifting and a sharp reminder that for the most part pharmaceutical companies have tried to impersonate natural remedies that are all around us and I for one use less tablets in favour of a natural remedy.

These are for the American consumer and are released this December 2022.

All Images Copyright © 2022 HarperCollinsPublishers

#pictureresearch #naturalremedies #ecology #wellbeing #crystalsforhealth #yoga #selflove #bookpublication #bachsremedies 

Tom Stoddart Prints For Sale

It is one year since Tom’s death and to mark the anniversary a selection of his magnificent work is being made available to buy for the first time in accordance with his wishes. 

Each image has been carefully chosen from more than 40-years of work across the world and represents a chance to own part of his extraordinary legacy.  The prints are validated with a specially created Tom Stoddart Estate Archive certificate of authenticity embossed with Tom’s digital signature.

  A donation from each sale will go to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, a Newcastle-based charity that funds cancer research and gave Tom the opportunity to receive cutting-edge treatment and to take part in early trials.

  Please visit www.tomstoddart.com/print-sales

All Images Copyright ©Tom Stoddart/Getty Images

Why We Love Cotton Lives On™

Shifting Pixels is really proud to have worked for a new client on a brand which has a programme that really resonates with us.

When we were approached by Bandstand to do real-looking post production on a set of e-commerce fashion images the brief was really complementary to our style.  Keep the fabrics and skins natural and don’t anti-age the models, perfect fit! Bandstand were awesome to deal with and the outfits and models were really eye catching.  It was only recently that we discovered the finer details of the brand for which these pictures were created for Cotton Lives On™; thanks to cotton’s properties, when you’ve outlived them, get transformed into something brand spanking new, as cotton retains so much life left in its material.  The recycled products can be purchased by Naturalmat® who are a UK based company in Devon and offer amazing organic, chemical free cottons.

©All images copyright Cotton Lives On™

E-Commerce art directors are looking for authentic real-looking post-production that is cost effective and consistent.

We have been very lucky to have gained some wonderful new clients over the past year and look forward to the challenge of meeting their expectations which really test a co-ordinated effort to deliver consistency at all times.  Tiny details on fabrics, skin work, making clothes slimline and colour work all have to match and for some reason we at Shifting Pixels with our shared skill sets thrive with this work!

Building Tom Stoddart’s New Website  www.tomstoddart.com

With the success of the “Extraordinary Women” book and exhibition behind him Tom Stoddart approached us to collaborate again in 2021; this time it was to update and give fresh eyes to his work with a brand new website.

Top of Tom's list were specific design elements and the freedom over the final edit alongside his wife Ailsa Stoddart. It quickly became apparent we were not only building powerful picture galleries but also a site that would satisfy our longer term commitment to Tom’s legacy. He instructed us to take our time. To not rush the opportunity of creating a working website fit for his legacy that will stay current as we now move forwards with a world without Tom. His images will remain upfront and still very relevant.

In the early planning stages it became clear that we had to build powerful and carefully edited picture galleries. In our view our challenge was not just to create the best site we could with plenty of content to start of with but also to keep lovers of his work coming back for updated news and refreshing galleries to give visibility to Tom’s archive of images spanning 50 years. In hindsight it is a real blessing that Tom got to view the first draft of the website; crucial in-fact as Tom passed away before the work was completed.

We spent close to seven months developing ideas, listening to all of Tom’s podcasts, interviews and scouring the internet for content. Caroline has worked for Tom close to 20+ years but still found so much to discover and felt it was important to include Tom’s words as much as possible  (videos are included of Tom in conversation) so that you really do get to feel and learn what photography meant to Tom and how much he loved the industry. We chatted for hours with Tom’s friends and family all the while doing the vital important fact checking.  We reached out to his peers, photojournalists, fixers, Picture Editors and incredible writers, who were in the field with him over his 50 year career. They provided captivating first hand stories of what life was like in some of the war torn areas they would have found themselves working in and what it was like to have Tom with you. The responses were just brilliant and many are incorporated into the essays on the site. 

We have been incredibly fortunate to have collaborators under our editorship; David Williams provided great friendship to us and was a guiding hand with all the text editing across the website, for which we are truly grateful. Kim Willsher updated and made accurate Tom’s biography which is so vital it's accurate. Joanne Lowe was on hand with vital design tips.

This website would be nothing without Tom’s outstanding photography. We are honoured to have been tasked as part of the team of guardians for Tom Stoddart’s work and we hope to have begun that journey with producing a website that brings his fans and picture editors back time and again to look at the work and that it will aid researchers and students to further their learning of who Tom was; his approach to photojournalism and being an exemplary humanitarian. 

The Modern Gardener - Sonya Patel Ellis

During the lockdown of 2020 the human race rediscovered the natural world and the love of plants; time recovered from the business of the day many of us sought to create an indoor garden to boost our spirits and give us a living thing to tend and nurture. The Modern Gardener is full of the best plants to enhance your home and no matter your lifestyle, living space or personal taste the book will help you discover the right plants for you. We were asked to do the picture research for the stunning array of botanical plants and loved every minute of the work; learning so much along the way. The book now sits proudly close to our house plants and we often scan it before heading to the garden centre. I recently purchased a Calathea makoyana syn. Goeppertia makoyana - also know as the Peacock Plant. It captured my imagination with its exquisite patterned, light catching foliage showcasing dark green featherlike markings on a pale green-white base, the undersides are a rick pinkish-maroon colour, adding a gorgeous splash of warmth as rolled-up leaves emerge.

The book is published by Harper Collins

Marilyn Stafford - A Life in Photography. Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. February 2022.

What a delightfully pleasant afternoon spent in the company of Marilyn Stafford, 96, and her photographs at the Brighton Museum for the private press opening of her new retrospective ‘Marilyn Stafford Life in Photographs’. Over the years Marilyn has mastered the art of a presser and to hear such eloquent wonderful and emotional stories spoken to camera was so lovely to witness. The project came to life with the effort of a large team of people, most are all now friends and possibly considered family and crowd funding.  If you are in Brighton and can spare the time it is well worth the effort to wander through the Laines of Brighton to the wonderful museum and view the show which is up til May 8th 2022.  We were the lucky girls chosen to do the painstaking restoration of well over 200 images, the job came in during the first Covid lockdown and lasted for many, many months. To now see the exhibition prints and to own the book is a privilege. Marilyn, like many in photography, got lucky very early on in her career - the rest was down to her vision, humanity, compassion and faith in people.