WyndyMilla - Rare British Custom - Photographing Bespoke Beauties

Branding through Photo...ProductStudio Photoshoots

19 Mar

WyndyMilla make bikes. But not just any bikes.

Their core MO is to design a model and then bespoke tailor the bike to the rider, perfectly. It's quite a process but the end result is much like buying a tailored suit, it's not just yours, its sort part of you, dare I say a blending of human and machine!

The bikes are beautiful, I'll confess I am not a cyclist but you don't need to be so as to appreciate these things. It never fails to impress how light they are as well, or the technology that goes into the design and manufacture.

The other thing I love about being involved with WyndyMilla is that they are the epitome of British manufacturing. This is what they say on their website: '

It started as a trickle – founded by Henry Wynd(y)ham Furniss and Nasima CaMilla Siddiqui 2009, WyndyMilla began as a part time hobby born of a raw passion for cycling, offering tailored bike training and equipment advice to personal training clients and friends. Then came Olympic success, Team Sky, Cav ‘n’ Wiggo and the renaissance of British Cycling – and that trickle became a brilliantly unstoppable torrent. Five years on WyndyMilla has evolved into a world-class hub providing hardware for cyclists from the grass roots to the pro ranks. Uniquely WyndyMilla looks at every area of your cycling experience, from the build of our very own custom bikes, technical kit and casual apparel to bio-mechanics, cycle fitting, advanced training and cutting edge nutrition. An unrivaled ‘One Stop Go Faster Shop’ – not forgetting the ‘WyndyMilla family’, our thriving club wing.'

Henry and Nasima were having a family lunch at the Holly Bush pub around Christmas time, and noticed my studio, sitting opposite the pub car park. To paraphrase Rene Zellweger in Jerry Maguire 'I had them at studio!'.

Henry had been trying to source a photographer who could fit their needs and the studio was a big attraction. Suffice to say I have been photographing WyndyMilla cycles. It started with a chat, then a test shoot and now, sometimes very last minute, bikes appearing for shoots. Here's the test shot: A Massive Attack SL

Talking it through with Henry we quickly decided to avoid the ubiquitous white background. Google bikes, using image search and it is a sea of white background. With the style of their website, white just seemed a bit hard, the grey has a softer feel.

I played around with different ideas. The main issue was to avoid big reflections, which happen naturally with all the varying surfaces and angles. My solution involved a bedsheet, effectively giving me a 2m x 2m softbox, plus ceiling bounce. Here is a Lightning Seed.

So, have you noticed anything WyndyMilla do with their bikes? Yes? No?

Well, here's a Puddle of Mud...Sometimes the window of opportunity to photograph the bikes is a bit tight, the purchasers will have waited a while for their fabulous new cycle and when it's ready, they are chomping at the bit.

Each time I shoot a bike I start with these side on 'catalogue' shots but then work on a few angles and detail shots. Take this Lightning Seed in black and gold (noticed it yet?), side on first and then the fun shots...Have to say I wasn't sure about this when it first arrived, I thought, at least for me, it was a bit 'blingy' but, it quickly grew on me and now if I was buying I might very well go for this, it's certainly a great one to photograph.