Picturework Portrait and Wedding Photography

I did this shoot last summer. I had photographed S (blond boy when he was about six – nine months old, he is six years old here) but his mother’s friend brought her kids along for the shoot too – J&T (dark hared boy and little girl with hat). They were so cute and part of the shoot plan had been to photograph all three together but the boys proved far too boisterous to risk it, but it was still a lot of fun.

I am experimenting with a lot of things, work flow and finished image look and feel. Here are some images from the shoot with some of the looks I am introducing into my repertoire. It would be nice to get some feed back or reactions.

2012 matches on remorselessly. I promised myself this is the year I grow up – don’t get me wrong, I am a grown man by all academic and social definitions of the term (but in many ways I am also a kid at heart – most creative people unfortunately are) but I’m determined to define the boundaries where it is appropriate to be and where it is not. Growing up is a hard thing to do, at any stage in one’s life, especially as there are so many bad examples all around. I have so many personal and business targets I’ve set for this year (sometimes they frighten me to be quite honest) when I look through the list. In my days at London Transport, I remember attending a customer service training course where we were taught about setting SMART goals, whilst I’ve lost the training documentation from the course, I very clearly remember the logic behind the thinking and embrace it totally.

So having made the decision to knuckle down and man up socially and entrepreneurial wise  - I had the great pleasure of meeting and shooting JJ’s business portraits. He is founder and CEO of a very successful business based here in the UK. I was referred by someone we know in common (thank you so much Kae). We spoke a few times on the phone, went through the usual questions and finally set up a shoot date. On meeting him I had no idea who he was, he was very polite and very clear (in a very nice way) about what he wanted and how he wanted it (a trade mark of people who know where they are going and are clear on how they want to get there). The shoot was done in 30 minutes and the images you see here were selected, edited and dispatched via email to him the next day.

As a rule I always send a thank you note with every work I deliver and did so (but this time via email) as I was not going to meet him again to deliver the job in person (he lives out of town and coming to the studio for the shoot was a long drive for him – and I respected him even more that he would go to all that trouble to have his portrait done at my studio). What is more remarkable is that he personally replied my email, saying quite simply “John, images received with thanks. Regards,” his name and CEO. Was I impressed, HELL YEAH!!. He had style and class.

I took the time to follow the link in his email to find out more about his company and business. Doing this made me more aware and focused about what type of business and business owner I want to be – and for that also, I say a big thank you JJ.

2012 is only a few days old and it has already claimed the scalp of one of the UK’s major high street photography businesses – Double Take, bringing back the memories of Olan Mills closing a few years before.

I am particularly saddened about the demise of Double Take because it’s establishment and growth was quite an audacious and impressive business move for the owners who themselves where not photographers  – either by trade or calling. And whilst there were other reputable studios such as Gloss (formerly Cover Shot) who had cornered the makeover photography market. The arrival and success of Double Take proved that with drive, imagination and wit – anything was achievable and inspired me to pursue my dream of establishing my own high street studio.

Every day we read in the papers and hear on the radio and television how the high street is perishing (and make no mistake that ‘perishing’ is quite an apt phrase). The recent report about Tesco failing to match the Christmas sales achieved in 2010 last year underlines the gravity of the situation. As a high street business I have observed the changes as they occurred over the last few years – cost of living and trading going up whilst incomes dropped off. Big high street studios have a huge challenge surviving because the cost of trading is high and most of the tools for trading in our business are quite perishable – add to that the high cost of marketing, staffing and the high incidence of failed attendances to booked shoots – I know because even as a small studio I face the same challenges every day (albeit on a much smaller scale).

As some celebrate the chance of getting a share of the pie that Double Takes demise leaves on the table, I urge caution. Every photographer, full time part time and in between must look closely at their conduct and see if they are helping to stem the drain or letting the blood out of the trade. I do not wish to be drawn on the debate of how the market is flooded with amateurs who charge next to nothing and deliver poor quality and by so doing surly the pure waters of our noble trade bringing it into disrepute – yada yada etc. The conversation I want to engage in, is how we educate our clients and get the general public to understand the difference between the pro and the amateur and why the pro deserves his fee. It is like football – it has leagues and divisions and most people understand the difference.

We are collectively part of the cause of our troubles – the established pros who fleece the amateurs with dubious training programmes that encourage them to go out after a one or two day course and tout themselves as pros having been equipped with images that were set up by a pro including lighting and posing even the camera settings used. All the amateurs had to do was press the shutter and two days later they have a portfolio to put on their site or show potential clients – they have no real experience – which can only be gained or mastered over time through trial and error, refining and revising the processes we employ until one arrives at an understanding that is consistently reliable and proven.

So in closing, – let us take a moment to mourn the passing of Double Take and other photography studio giants who fell before. Like gladiators in a theatre of war, we must recognise that nothing is certain, some we win and some we don’t. The choice is how we want to go out, blazing a trail of glory (as Double Take did for a while) or quietly disappear unfulfilled or noticed.

I don’t know about you but I am busting with excitement and just can’t wait anymore. I’ve got so many things I want to do, experience and achieve in 2012 the anticipation is making me quite giddy, and that is a big deal (in a good sorta way).

I have spent most of the later part of 2011 in quiet reflection whilst contemplating some things and directions I want to explore with my life and enterprise – key to all of this being that I must live my life in the ‘now’ from here on – I’ll still be making plans for the future whatever that might be but I will also take the time to take in the ‘moments’ that seem to just creep by – unnoticed because one is too busy being ‘busy’ to really LIVE.

Well that’s me all set up for 2012. I look forward to sharing and discussing my photography journey through life in the new year. The image posted here is a teaser of what’s to come.

So it’s been ages since I posted anything. I have wondered why it took me so long. I read other peoples blog near enough every day and finally I figured it out. I have been hidden away working at making changes to the way I work and what I do and why I do them. Being of a certain age makes one well aware of not just existing but having purpose for existing, in that vain I could not just go on posting randomly.

Over the next year I hope to better articulate in the images I post and subjects I address my purpose and reason for being. Here is a shoot I did two days ago of Isaiah – he is my youngest son, he has grown up so quickly that I almost feel that I missed it happen (this is the result of being a busy photographer/father and constantly under pressure to deliver work on time and not disappoint my clients). Looking back over the past few months and at this shoot I am revising my life. These were fun to do and I am having so much fun just hanging out with my boys, and I find myself doing that more and more and finding the time I spend with them unbelievably amazing good fun. These were shot in the studio reception, I am challenging myself by doing more and more shoots in really unexpected situations to see what is possible – enough said. See what you think.