Archive for February, 2009
So good to be back in the ‘office’
Monday, February 16th, 2009
January and February are usually quiet months in my diary and a time devoted to marketing, sample album design and the odd private client shoot or three. There’s been a touch of fashion and even some time in front of food with a macro lens. Having said that, the last three Saturdays have seen a return to weddings ahead of what will be our busiest year in the nuptials industry since launching this side of the business. So, congrats to Valentine couple; the new Mr. and Mrs. Sharp (above), married at St. Mary’s Silchester. It’s always intensely satisfying and flattering to be selected to photograph a wedding for a couple who on any other weekday would be artistically directing high fashion or commerce shoots for a range of worldwide advertising clients. Well done Mr. and Mrs. Scales (below left). Here’s an image from Brentwood Cathedral from their day. There was a reflective moment before we all boarded coaches bound for the reception venue. One well lit cathedral, a pool of light striking the bride, a groom, a symbol of the church, and hey presto. Finally, congratulations also to Mr. and Mrs. Barker, married at Silchester House last Saturday 7th February (below right). Silchester holds fond memories for me, as it was the venue for my own wedding reception only two and a bit years ago. The second image of Silchester in the snow is courtesy of assistant photographer Adam on the day.
And the nominations are…
Thursday, February 12th, 2009I have a dilemma. I am now moderately embarrassed by the fact there is a window etching at our shop which states the phrase ‘award winning.’ I’d like to replace it with ‘yes I’ve won recognition for elements of my work, but please, come in and see what I’m really about, then hire me.’ I’m reminded by PR gurus that you need to be moderately more snappy for shop signage. I spend a reasonable amount of time studying what other wedding photographers do with this art. It’s a vital part of self-development, which you’re never beyond. I’m fascinated by technique and the theory behind competing work. In my own region there are some superb photographers, whose work I would proudly hang upon the walls in our home. But, there seems to be a new marketing trend emerging… award bragging. I need to be a little cautious here, as one or two of my fondest industry peers have their fair share of silverware on a mantel at their homes. I’ve written about awards before and this requirement to shout about them above the actual art itself. It’s a truism that nobody thinks of awards as important until they win one. But it’s equally true that awards provide a glittering barometer that hopefully demonstrates industry recongnition, advancing you far beyond Uncle Dave’s collection of slightly out of focus, hurredly exposed images of a skyscape taken from his tent flaps on a rainy Sunday morning holidaying in Southsea. So are awards important? Actually, even though you’re expecting me now to state the negative, I think the opposite. Yes I think they are. I think clients enjoy pointing out to their friends that their nuptials are being captured by the most decorated shutterbug this side of the Isle of Dogs. It probably makes pub conversation for at least as long as the time it takes to open a packet of Nobby’s Nuts, and for the photographer, it grants them a few more nods from their peers than they enjoyed the same time previous week and with any luck urges them to take more risks and push their artistic boundaries even further. But I’d sure like to see those that claim glory being a little more honest about their crown jewels. For instance, I spied two wedding photographers claiming to be Photographer of the Year for 2007 in my most recent net trawl. I’m guessing the organisation they won them through didn’t quite sound the part… and let’s face it who wouldn’t want to shorten The Upper Chudsworthy Senior Village Green Photographer of the Year award, to something just a mite more impressive?
Models and portraits
Saturday, February 7th, 2009In a previous post I’d mentioned how the week just gone has been somewhat of a quiet week. The studio has been a tad snow locked. On the flip side of that though, it’s been a great week to finally release a portfolio of my commercial photography through a separate website. It’s been one of those ‘must get around to it’ jobs, for oooh, only a year or so. Being commissioned to work commercially is not as divorced from social photography as you may think. (Probably not a suitable analogy when discussing wedding photography in the same blog entry.) Many commercial photographers believe that wedding work is so far removed from their own creative skillset that they would baulk at the very notion of being asked to raise a lens at someone’s nuptials. But it’s not so different. The cast list play fairly similar roles when you start to think about it. You have a leading lady and/or leading man in both genres, of which you’re expected to photograph in a flattering style. In commercial world, there’s often an art director. Same difference in a wedding environment, although here, it’s a role assumed by the wedding planner. Commercially you have assistants and/or grips. At a wedding the assistants are usually far less inclined to wear baggy jeans and are known as ushers. With respect, I think of the vicar or registrar as performing the project director’s role. But perhaps most importantly and a lesson I’ve digested whilst studying how other photographers perform their professional role at weddings, both genres of photographer receive and work to a brief.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Friday, February 6th, 2009
It’s been somewhat of a quiet week at Breathe Towers. You see, round our way the powers that be spent much of the annual budget over the last twelve months it seems on fancy ornate brick footpaths, endless road improvement schemes all within a mile of each other (sponsored gridlock) and plush away days for pin striped executives. Thank heavens they didn’t have the misguided foresight when times were financially dizzy to invest in trips to Iceland to deposit large lumps of cash in unknown banking systems. Perish the thought that we should have had enough reserves of cash left to purchase things that we really need, like grit, or salt. Today I had been planning a trip to Brum, to enjoy a seminar by a particularly talented photographer from Australia called Tero Sade. However, in that it took three hours to do a ten to fifteen mile round trip, the other one hundred miles could only have been achieved with the aid of a jet pack. And so I sat for hours, in a queue of traffic, listening to the local radio station listing school closures, before deciding to call it quits and return for a good old fashioned fry up. As an aside, when you’re in a queue with nowhere to turn or method of escape, isn’t it amazing how many adverts feature the sound of running water? By the by, we used the time instead to practise a skill Tero Sade could never have even begun to understand coming from Tasmania, that of building snowmen. I’ve plonked Jack there to give it some scale. Not the largest example you’ll ever see granted. This afternoon I’m planning to go and dig up an ornate footpath or two, have the bricks individually crushed and use what’s left over to grit my driveway.