PHOTOGRAPHER

Maxime Ragni specialises in campaign, branding, and event photography. He has been taking photos commercially since 2016. His photography work has been published in The Scotsman, The Scottish Business News and The Home of UK TECH to name a few. He mostly works on branding and advertising campaigns. Lothian Buses and Scottish Land and Estates are recent examples.

After arriving in Edinburgh in 2012, Max spent four years working as a travel and street photographer before he began working with businesses and non-profit organisations and transferring his photography skills into commercial projects. From those opportunities, Max has acquired invaluable experience, which allows him to travel and work on a great variety of projects. He is versatile and can be involved in portrait photography project one day, interior shoots the next, and covering an entire industry event in a typical week.

“I really enjoy what I do now, and I keep doing it because it allows me to meet and work with so many people of many different backgrounds. This diversity of work projects, background locations, and people, allows me to keep on expanding my knowledge of the world while enhancing my creative skills and learning new ones. Hence why I am so happy to travel around for work when I am asked!”

Prior to being a regular working commercial photographer, Max was involved in social art intervention projects mainly around the topic of mental health (“Conversations for Change”, and Max’s own project called “Shattered Peaces” to quote a few), as a digital visual artist between 2015 and 2018.

CINEMATOGRAPHER/DIRECTOR/EDITOR

Carlos Hernan is a cinematographer specialising in documentary productions and social media commercials. He has been working professionally since 2019. He is currently directing two short documentaries and cinematography directing two feature length documentaries to be aired this year in the UK in 2024.

Carlos has been working with the RSPB as a volunteer filmmaker since 2022. He has a Time to Respond residency at Dance Base (Edinburgh) 2021 and was shortlisted for Bridging the Gap for the Scottish Documentary Institute in 2021.

He embraces cinematography as the body which constructs an image, evoking a feeling beyond your eyes. Lighting, lens, and camera movement are understood by him on an emotional level.

Carlos loves working closely with people and has a personal positive minded approach. Having worked also as a care-worker for many years, he brings his people’s skills to be able to collaborate with anybody, including young and vulnerable people. He helps bring out the best in people by creating a safe space in front of the camera.

Carlos has directed/filmed and edited more than 200 short videos, from screen-dance, to documentary, to social media campaigns, experimental and fiction. Understanding the audience is his starting point of any video project.

Carlos’s experience includes RSPB, Red Note Ensemble, Paragon Music, Tramway, Scottish documentary institute, Loretto School, DanceBase, Human Made.

DRONE OPERATOR

Andy Smith is a drone operator living in East Lothian, Scotland, UK. He has been flying drones commercially since 2018. His video work has been seen on the BBC, ESPN and STV.

He has won recognition in national and international photography awards including:

Current World Archaeology Photography Awards 2023. Runner up.
British Made Awards 2023. Best Drone Photographer - East Lothian.
Smithsonian Magazine Photographer of the Year Award 2023. Winner - Drone category.
Earth Photo 2023 – Finalist.
Current World Archaeology Photography Awards 2023. Runner up.
British Photography Awards 2022. 2x Finalist - Drone category.
Environmental Photographer of the Year Awards 2022. Finalist.

Prior to taking flight in 2018 Andy carved out a career over 18 years as an award-winning Creative Director, Art Director and Graphic Designer in Scotland’s top advertising and design studios.