Gavin Forster Commercial Photography

14/08/2026

It's been great over the last couple of years shooting for Edwards Cleaning in partnership with Smart Cookie Marketing.

The organisation does such a crazy range of Cleaning Activities so it's not just office cleaning, it's not just school cleaning, it's kind of... you name it and they can come up with a with a solution that gets the best results for your for your building.

It was great working with a team that are actually hands-on doing the cleaning but also the management team that are pulling all this together and now they're now working all over the place, not only in the North East but also in Yorkshire and further afield.

It's great to see all ends of the business when I'm out on a job and it's great to be able to see some of the novel solutions that are brought into place when these office buildings have got lots of glass and lots of high ceilings that need different equipment or they've got flooring that likes of schools where they really need a different approach to cleaning the materials off the floors and it was great to be to be part of it.

We’ve also done their staff headshots. The staff work in hero shots and I’ve also shot product stuff for them so it's a real mixed bag from my side of things that shows that the wide range of shoots that we could do, either on a one-off location or across multiple visits.

13/08/2026

It's been over 15 years since my wife and I travelled to the amazing country of Peru.

It's just fantastic to look back on all the incredible sights and sounds we experienced over on the other side of the world. Seeing macaws in the trees through to the vast Madre de Dios river. Really great memories.

Do you have a particular place that's stayed with you, even after all these years?

12/08/2026

𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿? 𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿?

I've worked with many clients over the years on a retainer basis which means that we have a monthly payment plan which equates to either monthly shoots or spreads the cost over the year for key things that you know are coming in.

Whether that's the big event in the summer and most of your work comes in monthly you can spread the cost over the year to allow you to facilitate a couple of days’ worth of shooting in the middle of the summer but pay for it monthly which just keeps your cash flow and everything all lined up and easy.

Or on the other hand do you need regular content and know that you can have something every month or near enough every month and a structured plan would allow you to keep shooting the diary, keep content full, keep that social media out there and going in the direction that you want it to get going. Having things in the diary and having things booked out monthly just makes things easier.

If this sounds like something that would be beneficial to you, drop me a message, I’m more than happy to chat and see what works for you and for your business to really get as much content as we can to keep your socials going and to tell more and more people about the successes and positive things that your business is doing to really push your clients.

11/08/2026

I had the pleasure of working with the Sunderland coastal team, shooting some PR images.

As many of you know, I used to work in the environmental sector myself, so this was a fantastic shoot to be a part of and really took me back!

Getting out on the Sunderland coast line and finding out about all the wildlife and conservation efforts that are taking place along this stretch was just fantastic, really great stuff!

Next time you're down at the local coastline, take a look around and see what wildlife you can spot!

10/08/2026

As many of you know, my daughter is a keen dancer so of course we were in attendance for the the Dame Allan's dance company show, and it was just great to be able to capture all the fun and skills of the kids!

Miss Rowe, who did a lot of choreography, was so impressed by the dedication the kids had for the show and every week in the run up to it. As any dance parent will tell you, there's a lot goes on behind the scenes to create a performance like this - many, many hours of rehearsals, costuming and hard work from everyone involved.

Can you spot my little dancer?

07/08/2026

A few years back, it would have been Sunderland Airshow around this time.
It was always a great weekend, seeing all the different aerial displays out over the North Sea from the small historic aircraft to the Red Arrows.

Have you got any fond memories from, what was, a North East institution?

07/08/2026

How often do you ask?

I know at times I feel like I’m asking for lots from both my clients and from people I’ve worked with, for years and years and years. But I’m not one that puts myself out there as ‘Look at me, look at me,’ as you know?

But one thing that really does help me and I’ve already seen the impact on the last time I managed to get away with these. I know how much of an impact it has on my list and my enquiries coming in.

Google Reviews. If we’ve worked together in the past, which obviously a lot of you have done, if you have left me a review already, thank you so much for that. If you haven’t yet, if you could just click on this link, it’ll send you straight to it, and just put some words in there about how we, how things worked out.

Positive or negative, I’m not pushing for all five stars, obviously, that would be absolutely fantastic, but I get that now and again, looking back, it may not have been exactly what you wanted.

Perhaps things I can react to and things I could do better next time. So, if I could trouble you for this very quick, 30-second job, it would really make a difference to me and my business, thank you very much.

Post a review to our profile on Google

06/08/2026

Normally... Well, certainly the last few holidays I've been on, I've fired over a massive raft of really cool photos that I'm really happy with. On a recent holiday, which actually, arguably, is a place that is so far away in the UK, that I should have taken loads and did loads. I didn't take many pictures, and I had all my camera kit with me.

I just didn't fancy it. Or I did... I wanted to go out and take pictures, and then I was finding excuses not to bother taking pictures, which is very strange. But actually, it was quite therapeutic. I took a load of snaps on my phone of family, and that's great. But I didn't really take that many pictures.

We went all the way down to Lyme Regis to go fossil hunting, and little one was desperate to see the places where Mary Anning found fossils and she absolutely loved it. Some of the days, I was covered in all manner of sludge from the cliffs so taking pictures just didn't really come to mind when my hands were that covered!

Then, other days, the weather was alright, but not for what I wanted. Or it was too late. The guys that were iQFOiLing in the bay - by the time I turned around and grabbed my camera, they'd finished. So, I missed a couple of opportunities, but not loads.

And I've come home and gone, “Oh, I should have taken more pictures!” But in the past, where I've gone, “Oh, I'm gutted I missed that.” I'm not gutted this time, I know I'm going back.

But it has kind of opened my eyes to a couple of things that I wanted to take pictures of. One of them was this iQFOiLing thing, which is like windsurfing with an aquafoil underneath. So it's like your board's got a secondary fin underneath and you end up out of the sea. And it was brilliant to watch. It's part of the Olympics this year. And I just thought it was really cool and I'd really love to go and get some pictures of it. And I think I now know somebody that might be able to do some introductions.

The only thing I did take pictures when I was down there was of the World Championship skiff sailing. That was because a friend of mine from up here happened to be down there taking pictures. And I happened to spot his pictures so I went and took some pictures. But I didn't take many - literally only five or six.

Again this is kind of a funny kind of a statement for my own head really. It doesn't have to all be about photos. And it's not all about photos. It's probably the first time I've not taken a lot of pictures, when everybody assumed I was taking pictures and I wouldn't and I didn't.

05/08/2026

Let's show off your property!

From Airbnb to student accommodation, house sales to promotion images I've had the pleasure of shooting hundreds of vastly different properties from all over the North East and beyond.

We can even get the drone in the air, showing off your location. Let's have a chat if this is something you are looking for...

04/08/2026

It's always nice to shout out to clients such as Northumbria University, who I've had the pleasure of shooting for numerous times.

Predominantly headshots for staff across all manner of different departments, from the sports side of things with the team studying physio, through to the decent work and economic growth team, through to international development and the guys over there. I've also had the pleasure of shooting events there at the University as well, so the Qatari delegation, the international conference, which a load of guys from Bermuda and various other places came over for.

It's just been fantastic to be back in the University scene. I mean it is a long time, I was going to say it feels like a long time, it is a long time since I was at University. I still remember going to Northumbria as a 17-year-old to look around, as it was one of my choices.

Since then I remember I've seen so many gigs in various rooms over the years. I certainly remember seeing the Stereophonics in one of the rooms, and then I'm trying to think, there was definitely the Temperance Movement as well. But also I do remember coming up at University while shooting for the archery team, we came and shot in the same hall that I saw the Stereophonics, ironically.

And I remember shooting with Naomi Folkard's brother, I could talk about random memories from the past. And also University Hall is a special place because my daughter did all of her Swim North East badges and certificates at the University, at Sport Central as well. And just to bring that full circle to me working there and having at least another two or three shoots lined up with them in the coming months for more staff members and various events.

So it's just been a great collaboration this year and it's one I've really enjoyed and can't wait to see what the next project brings.