Updates and shmupdates

Yet another of my meandering blog posts, I'm afraid. Here's what's been happening with me over the last week or so ...

1) I've got a new hobby, and it's called photography! You see, with the digital age comes disposability (is that a word?) Don't like a photo? Just press delete and it's gone, no cost to you. This often leads to people taking a million pictures and liking just one or two. So, my new hobby is this: grab my wife's old Nikon Film camera, loaded with a roll of black and white film; grab a random lens that happens to fit the camera; grab a light meter; go for a walk, again, somewhere pretty random, and take photos. Of what? Anything! The only rule to this game is that you get one shot at one thing - no repeats. What this does is force you to get everything absolutely spot-on in the camera, so first comes a meter reading, which tells you your aperture and shutter speed, then you compose the shot as best you can, focus and shoot. And the best part is you'll never know what you've shot like till you get the film developed. Well, I like it anyway.

2) Product research - My philosophy on the products my business offers is very simple: they've got to be good enough to make you think "wow!" This is what I said the day my print samples arrived anyway. Not all printers are created equal, it turns out. So, I'm currently having fun seeking out the coolest and best quality products out there. I actually take a pretty big risk (so would say many other photographers) by giving my clients DVDs of high-resolution images .. after all, why would a client come back to me for prints when they can just take the entire DVD to Asda or Snapfish and get something that looks good for 1p? Quality. My products (not talking about the images here) are amazing. They rock. They look and feel so so good, that after having them you may not ever want to go back.

3) Photo Training - So, I'm thinking very seriously about putting on an action-packed, hands-on crash course in beginners' photography. In an afternoon you can learn all about crazy things like Exposure (no in the flasher sense), different lenses, aperture, ISO, and all the other scary things that lurk in the basement of your Digital SLR camera. No more Auto!

Bye

Being a chameleon

OK, so you're probably wondering (as am I right now) what I must have taken to make me put a title like 'being a chameleon'. I'll level with you, I have a seed of an idea, which I'm hoping will grow just by typing, stream of consciousness style.

For quite a while now - pretty much since I started my photography business - I've been constantly asking myself who I am as a photographer, and consequently, what is my brand? What is my place in the market? What is my natural style? This is something I've been having some major headaches over. It's true, when you hear a guitar riff, you can take a guess at who could be playing it. I don't know much about painting but I could probably recognise a Picasso if I saw one.

Here is the problem: I like Picasso, but I also like Rembrandt. I like Indian food, but I also like Italian. Sadly, the two are not particularly reconcilable. It's the same with my photographic influences. I love the fresh, carefree, lifestyle approach of photographers such as Mike Larson, Jose Villa and Jonas Peterson. But ... I also love the fine-art, restrained, high taste feel of Damien Lovegrove, Jerry Ghionis, etc.

I'm beginning to get to the point of this post I think. Creating a successful brand is largely about being true to who you are, and - to a point at least - modelling your business and your art into an avatar of yourself. One of the most annoying things about me (from my point of view) is my tendency to change depending on who I'm with, or, in artistic terms, to let my influences sway me too much. For example, after looking at a fine-art portrait by Damien Lovegrove, all I want to do is create high art that people can look at whilst sipping port and smoking a Cuban (cigar, not citizen). Then, ten minutes later I check out Mike Larson's blog and I just want to drive to the nearest beach at sunset and have a fun shoot with a great couple.

I'm not sure there is an answer to this conundrum, other than to return to the title of this blog.
A chameleon can change its colour, but it's always a chameleon, it can't morph into a completely different species. So maybe I should just relax, whatever I do, so long as I stay true to my vision, it will still be .. me.

The end, for now

Happenings

One of my goals for 2011 is to try and keep this blog updated. So, without further ado, let me tell you all what is happening in my world at the moment. I currently share a house with two sick kids (well, just slightly ill really), and it's beginning to drive me slightly bonkers. I've been meaning to take some more 'arty' photos of Caleb for a while now, but whenever I think of it, he's not interested in the slightest. Today, however, I managed to take a series of shots, one of which I like. Right after this one he proceeded to vomit milk out of his nose.

Apart from this, I'm really trying to think about what direction I'd like to take my photography in 2011. I've even downloaded a handy little app onto my iPad, called Moodboard Pro, where I can make a collage of all the images that really inspire me, and make me say "wow, I wish I'd taken that one!" I've only just started, but am finding that photographers such as Jose Villa, Mike Larson and Jonas Peterson are producing some really great stuff. Their work is so fresh and full of life, that it makes me want to go out and take pictures. In fact, I think I'll carry on with that right now!

Ben & Clare's Classy Winter Weddding!

I know it's been an age since I've written a proper blog post, but then I have had another son, and it has been Christmas :)

So, last Wednesday was a day I'd been looking forward to for aaages. Yes, it was Ben and Clare's wedding. What I loved about this wedding, as well as the couple themselves, of course, was the way they made it just how they wanted, and in doing so, showed themselves to be people of great taste.

The day began at around 8am at the Lancaster House Hotel, next to the university. Oh yeah, they'd decided to walk in to the ceremony together, which meant they were able to enjoy breakfast together too. The light was still struggling to break across the horizon at this point so I got chatting to some guests, whom I hadn't seen since we all left school in 1998 (is it really that long ago?!). After a brief panic about my camera, I discovered it had been set to 'lock' mode. Regaining my composure, I came back in and started shooting the day, as I saw it, in a mostly documentary style. We got to do a great 'first look' series of shots, when Ben saw Clare in her dress for the first time (maybe I'll get to blog those sometime soon).

Next was the ceremony, and the venue was the Ashton Memorial in Lancaster. This is a stunning building right on top of a hill. A string quartet played a mixture of classical stuff and tunes by modern bands like the Verve & Snow Patrol.

Next was Hipping Hall in Kirkby Lonsdale. This is another beautiful cozy little place, which happens to serve amazing food. We hung out in the lounge for the group shots, then headed off for lunch. Later in the day I got to take Ben and Clare off for a few shots by themselves, and, as it was pretty much dark by this point, we went for some more dramatic, flash-lit pictures. So, all in all, this was such a cool day. Sublimely classy and fun too :)