The life behind the camera

‘Having given up being the other side of the lens as a skier, I moved back to London and picked up a camera in 2011’

Name: Hugo Pettit
Background: Professional photographer
Interests: Action sports and Fashion
Currently: Starting a Creative Production Agency and new member of TEAM SUBTECH
All images © Hugo Pettit

We are happy to introduce our latest member to our team, Hugo Pettit. Hugo is a talented action sports & fashion photographer that is currently in the process of setting up his own production agency together with two mates. We checked in to find out a bit more about Hugo and his coming plans…

-For how long have you been working as a professional photographer?

Having given up being the other side of the lens as a skier, I moved back to London and picked up a camera in 2011.

Having spent the majority of my life at a high level of various sports, I was immediately in a good position as a photographer, being able to understand and predict the intricate movements and skills within various action sporting disciplines.

My niche really is to get into positions where a lot of photographers cannot.

With a love for fashion photography also, this has lead to where I am now, specialising in a mix between sport and fashion and a ‘behind the scenes’ documentary style.

-Tell us a bit about working with the one of the world’s most known street car races, Gumball 3000?

It has been a very interesting journey, I feel truly fortunate to have been given the opportunity to get a glimpse into this mad, amazing world of Gumball.

An extreme mix of beauty, money, action sports, fashion and obviously car worlds appeals in some way to nearly everybody, and being able to capture some of this through a camera has been a pretty special experience.

Over the last 2 years I have travelled from Stockholm to Vegas and from Dublin to Bucharest heading up Gumball’s media team, travelling both in super cars and our own slightly more demure media wagons.

-What is your next step in your career?

I recently started a creative production agency with two of my best mates. Our aim is simple: to create beautiful and powerful story-telling imagery that inspires.

Through a network of influencers and creatives we build adventurous projects for a wide assortment of clients worldwide. We love to travel, meet inspiring people, push boundaries and capture it all on film.

-What’s your best tip for us amateurs that doesn’t own a proper camera but still want to snap a high quality photo with our smartphone?

Perspective. When you’ve seen a scene that captures your imagination and you want to take a photo, take a step back, look at the scene as a whole and try to get it’s various elements into the picture.

If it’s a skateboarder (for example) you want a shot of…compose your image using the foreground and background in the image, not only does this give perspective to whatever the subject of the image is doing, but plain and simple, it becomes much more interesting than a plain photo with solely subject filling the frame.

-What’s your impression of our PRO DRYBAG 45L after using it for a while now?

Epic. I travel a lot and live in the UK, it’s wet, cold and I’m always somewhere I shouldn’t be. The PRO DRYBAG 45L is sturdy, waterproof, big enough for all my kit and importantly keeps it all very safe.

On top of this, when I’m not on a shoot and just need a weekend bag, the PRO DRYBAG doubles up as this perfectly, looking good and when deflated more than big enough for everything I’d need on a weekend away. It is also perfect airline hand baggage size.

We are really happy to have Hugo on our TEAM SUBTECH and look forward to follow him on his upcoming adventures.

Follow Hugo Pettit on Instagram for more pics