Photographing the Malojian Southlands Cover

Just outside Lisburn, Northern Ireland, lies Millbank Studios, a recording space known for nurturing some of the region’s most distinctive independent acts, including Mojo Fury, and Rams’ Pocket Radio. The studio, located on the “Maze” side of the city, has a distinct retro charm. Analogue gear, weathered instruments, and creative clutter create an atmosphere that feels both nostalgic and inspiring. Today was about capturing the cover for the Malojian Southlands album.

In late December, I was asked to produce the cover image for one of Gary Lightbody’s favourite folk-pop artists, Stephen Scullion, better known as Malojian. The brief allowed full creative freedom, with the only directive being to capture something visually rich. We wanted an image that rewarded close study, much like classic album sleeves from the 1970s.

Concept Development and Location Assessment

Millbank’s character informed the visual direction almost immediately. I wanted the final composition to suggest musical craftsmanship and introspection, while subtly referencing the one-man-band concept that ran through the album’s production.

On a preliminary visit in late 2014, I used the Fujifilm X100T for location scouting. The camera’s leaf shutter, compact form factor, and 23mm f/2 lens made it ideal for capturing test compositions discreetly. I also made mental notes on natural light direction throughout the day, as the low winter sun created a short but workable window of diffused lighting. Final image (top image in this post) : Fujifilm X100T at 1/200th, f/2.8, ISO200

Malojian Southlands : Camera Set up

For the principal shoot, I used two camera bodies:

• Fujifilm X100T – Main cover image; 23mm f/2 fixed lens (35mm full-frame equivalent).
• Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon 56mm f/1.2 (Amazon Ad) – Supplementary portraits and promotional stills.

The Fujifilm X100T’s optical quality, coupled with its leaf shutter and built-in ND filter, made it ideal for working with wide apertures in natural light without additional strobes. The X-T1 + 56mm combination provided a complementary, shallow depth of field for portraiture.

Lighting was entirely ambient, relying on the soft, overcast daylight typical of Northern Ireland in winter. I positioned myself in the Millbank garden, waiting for the sun to move just above the studio.

As I was initially casting a shadow across part of the frame, I utilised the X100T’s Wi-Fi remote control function. This allowed operating the camera via my phone to maintain an unobstructed composition while fine tuning framing and focus.

Malojian Southlands: Composition and Visual Design

The objective was to produce an image with multi-layered storytelling. A photograph that rewarded prolonged viewing. Inspired by vinyl-era cover art, we embedded subtle details throughout the frame:

• The album title was partially concealed within the scene.
• Found objects such as rope ladders, old bike, piano and light snowfall added texture.
• The composition was framed wide enough for a wrap-around layout. This was optimised for both digital and vinyl packaging.
  

I shot multiple compositions, adjusting object placement incrementally to achieve a balanced visual hierarchy. Within five minutes of fine-tuning, I captured three viable cover candidates, each suitable for further refinement in post-production.

Post-Processing Workflow : Free Lightroom Preset

All files were processed in Adobe Lightroom. My workflow followed this sequence:

1. Initial Selection and Colour Baseline – Chose one master image to establish tonal direction.
2. Profile and White Balance – Applied a custom camera profile for the X100T to maintain Fuji’s filmic colour response, then fine tuned white balance (on each image) to a cooler tone that emphasised the ambient winter light.
3. Tone Curve Adjustment – Lifted mid tones slightly to retain highlight detail, reduced red saturation to temper skin tones, and added a mild split-tone effect for warmth in the shadows.
4. Grain Simulation – Introduced controlled grain to replicate the texture of analog film, aligning with the retro musical aesthetic.
5. Preset Creation and Synchronisation – Once the master image reflected the desired look, I built a Lightroom preset and batch-synced it across the remaining files for visual consistency.

Total processing time for the first image was approximately one hour, with subsequent images benefiting from the preset workflow.

You can download a copy of the Free Lightroom Preset. It was created in Lightroom Classic but will work in Lightroom CC.

Outcome and Reflection

The final cover conveys an organic, nostalgic tone that reflects both the warmth of Malojian’s music and the tactile creativity of Millbank Studios. Every visual element from the natural light to the subtle environmental storytelling was designed to echo the analog, human quality of the recording process itself.

This project reinforced the value of location driven conceptualisation and minimalist, equipment efficient shooting.

Links

Malojian Southlands
FlixelPix Lightroom Presets
100 Photos captured with the Fujifilm X100