Oct '23 News

This was Millie’s last month working with us, both Simon and myself are sad to see her go. Since joining us fresh out of university Millie has grown into her role, helping us produce shoots and assisting on location to help capture some of the best imagery we’ve shot to date. She will be massively missed, not just for her work ethic but for her no nonsense demeanour, let’s get it done attitude and most of all her vibrant company - which is extremely important when you’re spending long days on location together!

So in tribute to Millie’s time with us, I felt this little video said it all…

Thank you Millie

Apr-Sep '23 News

Where did the year go?

At the end of July we said goodbye to our much loved space at Toffee Factory to start a brand new chapter. Having relocated to central Newcastle we now find ourselves back in the heart of this vibrant city and we now have two photo studios in our building (win!). But after six and a half years being settled we had a lot of packing to do, so scheduling the move and dismantling our setup was no mean feat. Thankfully we got to see our local river swans have another successful season before we said farewell.

A week before we were due to move out we took a trip to Scotland to catch up on some shooting and reacquaint ourselves with the rugged beauty that The Highlands offers. We came back with some stunning locations and plan to be back up there again soon.

Jan-Mar '23 - News

The past few months have been all about shooting. We’ve visited windswept volcanic islands, stood on icy cold sun drenched snow covered hills and listened to the defining silence while watching mountains reflect upside down in mirror like lakes. We’ve been up before the birds to see the sun rise above ancient cities and witnessed the instant change as rain falls on the city streets at night, transforming everything it touches.

We’ve walked, driven, flown, bussed, taxied and scooted thousands of miles and Matthew’s even trying to convince us that we should Paddleboard to some amazingly unique locations he has scouted.

We’re still out and about shooting new imagery and working on various projects but you can see some of the new imagery we’ve been shooting here (remember to Login to see all content).

We’ll be back with more updates in a few months.

Roundup '22 - News

The end of 2022 came and went in a flash. We headed to the mountains in search of snow and found an abundance, we all went surfing, world cup fever took over the office and we found ourselves back out shooting a whole range of projects. Here’s a few highlights of those moments…

…and here’s Millie catching waves like a pro!

In 2023 we’ll be doing a quarterly round up of events so we’ll see you again around March for an update.

July '22 - News

This month has been busy - with socials, heatwaves, festivals and a fond farewell.

We were so happy to welcome the return of the Toffee Factory summer social, which had been a regular event in the past. We reacquaint our chit chat skills, dusted off our dancing shoes and headed to the event space for a night of socialising, food and fun. It was great to meet newcomers to the building and catch up with the older ones too. A special thank you went to Simon and his car for collecting all the pizza!

This month also saw the return of the Ouseburn festival where Toffee Factory hosted the stalls of record and vintage clothing sellers. Matthew bagged himself a new (old) vinyl* and the day was a resounding success with over 1,200 people through the doors!

Like most people in the UK we also had our experience of the heatwave that baked the country, even up here in the North East. It was a rather toasty office experience with our thermostat reaching a Factory 35 HQ record of 30.5°C. In classic British fashion to combat the heat we headed to Di Meo’s for an afternoon ice cream (with sprinkles of course).

And finally but most importantly, this month we say a very fond farewell to Robyn - our first ever employee. Since joining us in late 2019 she has brought an enthusiasm and energy to our studio each and every day that will be missed by us all. We wish her all the best with her next adventure in life and can’t thank her enough for the work, support and friendship she has shared with us all over the past two and half years. We know many of you will miss her too.

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* It was an original copy of the Easy Rider Soundtrack for those who are interested :)

May/June '22 - News

Hola España

For this news round up we have a few trips to cover and the arrival of our new marketing material!

Millie and Simon headed for a week long trip to Spain to shoot in a few cities and along the beautiful coastline. It was Millie’s first experience of a shoot abroad and by the looks of this picture she enjoyed the local art!

We also received the first copies of our new service brochure and look book fresh from the printers. It’s been over 2 years since we were last able to produce and send out printed versions so we are looking forward to getting them in the post!

April '22 - News

Big City Tripping

Spring has sprung and we hopped our way down to London this month to meet with the great creative folk from the capital! Whilst we were there we checked out the new Tate Modern developments (and the art) and soaked in the sights from the big city.

With not enough of London’s charm filling our boots Millie and Simon headed back down at the end of the month to capture some freshly scouted locations… they will be making their way into the library very soon!

March '22 - News

A Hive of Activity

Like the bees emerging in spring we have been busy this month. The main task was getting the new editions of our brochure and Look Book designed, edited and printed ready for some long awaited agency meetings. This involved two company photoshoots, (one rather more silly than the other - see our blog) as well Matthew putting his graphic design hat back on and a collaborative writing effort! Now printed, we are buzzing about how they have turned out and look forward to sharing them with everyone over the coming months.

However, the changing of seasons also brought about change in our ranks with Sara leaving us to head back to her native Manchester. We wish her the best of luck and are grateful to have had her as part of the team. Good luck Sara!

February '22 - News

Breakfast Breakthrough!

This month was filled with discoveries. The most important of them all was that we discovered a new breakfast place right near our office which had somehow slipped under our quite rigorous breakfast radar. To Matthew’s absolute joy it does Key lime pie, it is now our go-to.

We discovered that Sara had never had a chip buttie (so we got her one). We discovered that Millie doesn’t like donuts or Monster Munch (a real controversy). We discovered a local corner shop that has a huge selection of crisps we had never heard of (we have currently made our way through 7 varieties).

Of course it wasn’t all jaw dropping revelations… we have been busy planning shoots and getting new imagery through production which will hit the library at the start of March!

December '21 - News

Merry Christmas

With the festive countdown in full swing, this month we focused on festivities, enjoying our newly constructed fireplace (see blog!) and reflecting on the achievements of 2021. We have welcomed 2 new team members, shot in Barcelona, Catalonia, London, Los Angeles and Vienna and launched our new Custom Services!

We hope that 2022 will allow us to continue shoot, meet with clients again (which we have greatly missed) and keep expanding Factory 35 and our services.

Thank you for everyone’s support this year and Merry Christmas to all!

November '21 - News

New face, new imagery, new tree

To kick off November we welcomed Millie, who has joined the Factory 35 team as our Studio Coordinator. Welcome Millie (pictured)!

Sara has be putting all the new Catalonia trip imagery through production so that will be ready and on the site in the coming weeks… keep an eye out for that.

And finally, to end the month on a festive high, we took delivery of our 10 foot Christmas tree (sneak preview in Millies welcome picture!) so it was all stations go to get decorations made, lights hung and an exciting festive fireplace planned… check out next months news and the blog to see how it pans out.

October '21 - News

Full Shoot Ahead!

Keeping up the momentum from last month, this month we headed for Barcelona, first venturing into the breathtaking Catalonian mountains and then back down to the city itself. We captured a great mix of both urban and rural locations all of which will be available to view in the library over the coming weeks.

September '21 - News

London & Vienna with NEW gear

This month has seen a big step towards normality as Matthew and Simon headed to London and then Vienna to capture brand new imagery for our collection. These two shoots saw the introduction of our new equipment with all backplates now captured at 100MP on Medium Format cameras and HDR domes stitched at 22,000px wide. We have more shoots planned over the coming months which will see great new content arriving through the rest of 2021.

August '21 - News

Plus 1 = 4

This month Factory 35 welcomes Sara as the fourth member of our team. Straight out of Northumbria University Sara joins us to take the lead on Content Production. Utilising her eye for detail and creative flare Sara takes the imagery we capture and makes it look the part.

July '21 - News

Custom Services go LIVE!

After years of behind the scenes custom work this month saw the official announcement of two custom service offerings. The technically accurate Bespoke Location Package is built for seamless 3D integration while an Art Directed Shoot allows you to capture multiple locations in a free-flowing creative environment. Both provide a cost efficient way to capture bespoke content alongside Factory 35.