Consistency and Stability

The two words above are very important to me when it comes to arranging and doing shoots.

I recently worked with a model and because I had not worked with her before I suggested picking her up. The train times were not very agreeable and the drive was, on paper, straightforward. The other good thing about this was that we had time to chat in the car and that served as a further ice breaker.

My drive was fine until the last 5 miles, and due to an accident all my timings were off. It was all fine in the end and we got to shoot and have a good day. However, that problem with traffic upset my creative mojo. This sin turn meant that the pictures I shot were not, in my opinion, up to usual standard. This was a paid shoot, so I did not have a commitment to the model as a customer, but to my mind that is no reason to not shoot your best.

I made some different choices on lighting for some shots during the day, and I am not sure why I did that. The lighting is probably why I am annoyed with myself, and I am not sure why I did check myself as I would normally. The end results were not bad or a disaster, but I see some little errors that I would normally not have had made.

I felt slightly stressed through the day, and this was entirely down to that traffic messing up my plans. That is what I mean by consistency and stability. I can blame myself, but no one is to blame, it was just one of those things. What was important was that I got to build a solid foundation with the model for future work. That outweighs any negatives.

It did serve as a reminder that I need to factor out these wrinkles in my planning as much as possible as they can have a detrimental effect.

Not Just About Taking Photographs...

Some people may think that taking photographs is all a photographer does. Well, for some it may be, but I have always tried and liked to embrace a fuller picture.

This summer I have attended various art auctions, camera fairs and exhibitions. I find it very rewarding to immerse myself in the ‘art’ world. I do this all through the year, but some things just seem to work better in the summer.

I recently attended an art auction where a painting that was estimated as selling for £12000 ended up selling for £18750. In it’s own way it was exciting as the two remaining bidders got into what looked to us like a bidding war. One was a suave older gentleman in a navy blazer, with a cravat and cream trousers. This was topped off with a panama hat. The other bidder was a lot younger and looked like a punk rocker from the 1970’s. I am convinced they knew each other, so there could be an interesting back story to this assumption.

When I am in London I try to include a visit to The Photographer’s Gallery. In 2012 it moved to a new site which is far more suitable for what it has become. It has always been a good place to view some work, but also to treat myself to a coffee and a piece of cake. If you have camera equipment with you it is often easy to end talking to your neighbours and discuss anything ‘photographical’ (I know this is not really a word). If you have a film camera, it is even easier, as many people find that subject interesting. Business cards can be exchanged and friends can be made.

The camera fairs are a great chance to step back a few decades or more, and look at the equipment that I would have loved to own, but maybe could not afford or justify. Beautiful older cameras can be picked up for a fraction of what they originally cost, and sometimes in excellent condition. If you want to create a display, you can collect non working items for a very reasonable price.

This is a world with a past, present and future, and to many they are all valuable in their own way.

The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2017

I believe that sometimes one needs to go out and get inspired or promote conversation by visiting galleries or exhibitions. This week I went to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London.

There were things there that I loved, liked and disliked at the same time, and others that left me unsure as to what I thought.

The BBC broadcasts a television programme each year a few months ahead of the exhibition, and this often serves to get me excited about going.

It was an interesting and thought provoking day. I look forward to next year.

Inspirational Film - A Month in the Country

There are many things that influence me creatively, and it has always interested me how some of these go back many years.

When I first started taking pictures, most were landscapes. It was a subject that surrounded me, was easy to get too as I was too young to drive and was rewarding. As I got older, I started to watch more television and films, which were also an influence.

One such film was a based on a book by J L Carr, called ‘A Month in the Country’. It was released in 1987, but I saw it on video a little after that. The film was very influential for me and had an impact on the way I shot my photographs for quite a while afterwards. The influence is still there today, but diluted.

It did not seem to be available for a while, and in recent years I think the British Film Institute bought the rights. I have purchased the dual disc version with the Blu-Ray disc.

There are only a handful of scenes that influenced me as above, but to see them again was a very enjoyable experience. The use of a slight haze on the tent in the field, the picnic scene in the church yard and the scene with the rabbit in the woods immediately come to mind. They are a small part of the film but I found them heavily influential. If I had not seen the film recently, I would probably have told you that there were far more scenes like these. In fact, I think just the countryside in summer was featured enough to be as influential on it’s own as well.