Yesterday (well today as I type this but will be yesterday by the time you come to read this), I have had sales call after sales call after sales call (some 2 solid hours worth!) and every single time some one trying to sell me something I have no interest in, aka advertising and put simply, I don’t advertise, at all as its all a total waste of money, and my number it TPS registered so you shouldn’t be calling anyway.
And no matter how politely I act on the phone people seldom take the hint or even a straight no.

There are also a lot of “advertising” schemes posing as charities which as you have guessed by the pretence, is often found to be fraudulent and, as I type I am researching one from today that falls short of their initial description and thinking of contacting the charities head office in the morning.

I am pretty sure more the a few people reading this will have had similar experiences and considering today I feel provoked to answer what I do with your information as a client.

And the answer is quite simple, I keep it here, it does not get passed on, and I do not barrage you with endless sales pitches and mail shots and phone calls trying to get you to buy, or advertising special offers (which I generally don’t do).

I live by the mind set of doing a good job, being friendly with people (like another photographer said, and I share the mind set off, I like working with friends), and they will come back and refer like minded people to me.
Its a working model that over years has gained me more then a few returning clients, friends of those clients and often families and to be honest some truly bizarre but equally fun jobs to boot! (I will never forget that charity calendar).

Anyway, those people who keep coming back know I don’t pester them, that’s one of the many reasons they do, but for those who don’t know me, I am sure you can feel assured now.

This is me signing off, good night or good morning.

As if there where not enough distractions in life, Adobe announced the BETA release of Light Room 4, which its current release #3 I use A LOT, literally for me plays a huge part in my work flow though each photographer to their own there are many other products out there that probably get far more praise but as it stands this suits me fine.

So, what have I gone and done when I am supposed to be undertaking other tasks? yup downloaded the BETA and giving it a good old run on some old photos comparing what I can get out of #3 vs what the changes in #4 provide.

What is always the first thing you notice in these instances is changes to control panels, and the main controls that most people use have completely changed! Even though the basics of photography are still there that will always be there they are now arranged in a different format and obviously re-tweaked to focus on altering slightly different scales, bands, tones of the image, though I am sure non photographers will forgive me for skipping the technical jargon on this.

So, initial impressions? well I am taking to it quite comfortably as with the areas and the way it has been labelled its,,, dare I say it?? more novice friendly?? well that would be putting it one way as it makes more sense then the previous in the way that when you look at the image the adjustments description matches the areas you want to work with and the results are more obvious and by my current observations less destructive so that’s a big tick in the user friendly box.

So, what’s wrong with it??? I keep tripping myself up to put it simply, as every time they change the way a system works the way you work and think has to evolve too, as when I shoot I have to shoot with several things in mind:
Compose and expose right on the day to save time editing out simple mistakes,
Compose and expose with a final result in mind,
Compose and expose with the post production in mind to get the best final result.

So, when they do release this, apart from me being in the queue to purchase it (and that is saying a lot as I do live by if it aint broke don’t fix it), I am going to have to really take a few weeks to really get to grips and then adjust my shooting where necessary to fit in with the whole thought process.

Anyway, enough of me nattering on, back to playing.

HOLY MOLY, new camera body due to come out of the brand I typically work with.
To start with I have no need for it, not looking to buy one for novelty either.
But, its been the subject of conversation and we have been taking the look at the specs, the most obvious being 3 times the resolution of the latter of cameras that people are generally using at the current time being the big one got me adding up the business side of things:

For a start, on the basis of a wedding (not commercial work as I would shoot by wire straight to laptop) my current memory cards would all have to be replaced as they are not fast enough for the file size a camera raw file it is likely to produce from all that extra resolution and working it out on the Mega Bytes a second claimed transfer rate, so aside from 1 camera body setting me back well over £2000 (prices still to be confirmed for the UK) I would have to invest at least £500 in memory cards just for 1 wedding, so 2 or 3 weddings in one weekend would need £1500 of new cards. So just for starters basic layout for 2 camera bodies (one being a back up) plus extras would be £5500+ ish.
Which really is not all that bad when the top of the line camera body costs twice that BUT there’s more.

Then I added up the additional time spent with current computer technology (and I have a high spec computer!), typically currently it would take me about 2+ hours give or take to transfer the raw files from the cards to the pc. 
Put in to perspective considering things like when shooting weddings I use smaller capacity cards so if one goes corrupt its only 80ish shots I would lose, which is still too much but better then 300, and even with several pc car slots a good bit of watching and swapping to transfer all files.
Then to extra external hard drives as a back up so with current tech you can estimate that it will take 3 times as long on USB2 (USB capable Externals are extremely rare at the moment with only one brand coming to mind that offers it in large capacity’s). So at an estimate that’s 6+ hours! That’s a full working day to some people just shifting files around.

Then because of all the extra data it requires more storage space that with the current climate and with floods in the far east are leaving the costs spiralling up and can be pretty eye watering when you think of how many back ups you have in case of data corruption.

There are other time aspects as well, I don’t personally think that editing will come in to the equation as that would be dependant on the photographer and the level of work involved but if like me they use a printing service and you where to send in the max resolution files which is insane if like most weddings the largest you end up having ordered is 12×8 inch, then the time taken to complete sending an order would again be triple that which as a side note can also be affected by server traffic (like Christmas, everything slows down as its just over run!)

I know talking to more then a few who do weddings that we don’t think that a 36 Megapixel camera is a wise choice at all for the job just on those basic factors alone, we do think that in a portrait setting such a camera may come in to its own greatly but what about the likes of product photography?
Well to be honest when it comes to that my personal opinion is its more about the best quality lighting, then you start thinking about how much quality each 100 pixels can punch out and the clients requirements which would then determine if I would use my own gear or hire in a Medium Format camera.

Personally, for very large images with quality controlled lighting? medium format is an absolute no brainer for more then a few reasons that I have had the pleasure of having a play with before but, its expensive to hire and even more so to buy so realism overpowers idealism to only consider bringing one in when the client is requiring the quality and is footing the bill.

This past month or more I have been putting a lot of investigation in to better photographing products as when you compare the typical offering by "budget" photographers to seasoned specialists I know I can see the obvious difference.
The typical cheep output is ‘always’ flat, lacking contrast and uninteresting but the seasoned pro’s images even if its just a plain white background catalogue image really stands out so I needed to know more, and the only way to learn more has been to play.

HAPPY DAYS!

So I have been experimenting with different types of lighting, controlling light in small ways with 100 bits of card at different angles, and to state an obvious fact to the pro’s out there, reflections really are a pain and can kill an image if they make a feature look flat like the detailing of a watch, or the label on a bottle or the highlights of a diamond ring!

But the real point of this is I think it has become an obsession!
To elaborate when you are sat drinking a glass of wine reading a book (look at me all civilised) and start observing the effect a TABLE LAMP had with the backlighting and reflections it created around the glass, which just moving the glass around had some fairly unpredictable effects though I did find as a back light it created a beautiful outline around the contents you just don’t get from sticking it in a white box.

I think last night It really hit home that you cannot in the case of any product offer a one size fits all approach, the more I look in depth and the more time I take to understand the subject that much becomes obvious.
In addition to that the time it can take to really do a good job can become substantial especially when you are looking at all of these details and planning out the best route to show them in their best light.

Think its time to pour another glass and have another play!
Cheers!

Ok, its a rarity we get the same weather as the Bahamas but when the suns out you have to be daft not to think we don’t have some of the most beautifully diverse coastline in the UK.
I love driving down the coast roads when I go in to town as I like driving up the winding back roads and the contrast of looks going from a beach to mountain range and from modern to areas to areas heavily hinted with accents of the diverse history that surrounds the Ayrshire areas.

It is in no short way a pretty damn beautiful place to photograph, and be a photographer for that matter. Just to clarify I am in no way a professional landscape photographer (meaning I take better then snap shots suitable for commercial but no where near the quality that you see winning awards).

So for 10 minutes work and loosing all feeling in my hands from the cold taking a few shots on my way to a meeting I think the results here are pretty acceptable, though looking at it as always I know I could have done a LOT better with a little forward planning and the right kit for the job.

So here’s the results, I hope you enjoy them!
(PS, copyright applies as always).

When I am not working, traveling, visiting family or suffering severe migraines I have found a love for the local back roads, the sources of some beautiful photographic scenery and always in typical good stead I forget my better equipment (or all of it) when a photograph opportunity occurs.

So all I can offer is this token taken on my camera phone, and wonder how you can not enjoy such a view! I know I did. (colours where a bit drab in the original so punched it up a bit in photoshop).

Not to any professional standard but an image that is rather then an image that could have been is always the better of the latter.

PS, for those not in the know, thats Dunure Castle and looking over the see to Arran, what a pity the camera could not capture the snow on the peaks, they disappear just beyond the haze.

A while back I posted on my Facebook page about the value of a photograph, even referring to something that meant a lot to me which was the loss through corrupted storage.

I learnt my lesson with that a LONG time ago thankfully so for every image that is kept from the initial cull (usually deleting any that may be out of focus, lights didn’t fire etc), has at least 3 back ups of the raw file on different sources just to be safe, and without getting to technical that requires a hell of a lot of storage talking in multiple Terabytes and if you are not a company with 16 staff and a million pound turn over that also becomes extremely expensive and time consuming keeping organised especially where photographs are stored for years.

As you can tell I have been thinking about it a lot since that post and its made me question a lot of my procedures for long term back up and storage not only of the raw files but the finished and client documents.
Which then brought in to question the paper work, all the legal formality’s, including me asking what procedures, what legal assurances have I got in place when my storage terms come to expire and I delete the old work?

Its an important question when you are supplying licensing rights to companies for commercial work, and storing wedding photos for 3 years which drew up questions to copyright to.

And as you have guessed doing the research left me with some startling thoughts and some worrying truths for the clients and me on the matter.
in the coming month or several I will be looking to tighten up all aspects of the business including strict enforcement of my own rights and making sure all documentation is bang on for the benefit of the clients knowledge and my own.

And if any photographer, graphics designer or other is reading this, I hope it makes you think and look closer at the business and makes you think and value your copyright also.

I want them for some up coming shoot ideas and they have to look vintage to fit in with the look.
This year as I have previously said I am looking to do more studio based work and this fits in heavily with my plans and can be expected to spread across the board over many Genres.

I am really looking forward to this!

Catch you on the other side.

As part of my assessment of what needs to be done this year I have been looking at past works and thinking what areas I  need to look at improving my skills on and while doing that noticed a distinct lack of men in there!

Technically that’s not totally down to my preference when shooting models and so on as some where between 80-90% of people who employ a photographer are women (at least looking in my records its almost always a Mrs or Miss on the booking details).

So I have put quite high on the list that I need to get some more work in with male models to build on my current understanding of posture and composition which I think should be interesting to say the least.

I say that in that when starting off researching posing I pose myself as its a good foundation to separate between what would be perfect and what would be achievable to those of us who are not able to get our legs behind our heads, and every time I look I know I don’t see the best example of masculinity and coolness or even smartness looking back (I do dress for comfort an awful lot!), so when it comes to “striking a pose” I often look stupid.

So its going to be fun!

Thats not to say I do not take a keen interest in fashion, I have to as clothing styling, fitting, colours and so on do not suit all types of lighting, poses or people so I have to account for a lot to try and suit each set of images.
That and to be honest it is actually pretty fun and just looking though a catalogue or magazine can actually get the imaginative cogs whirling.

So to conclude, looking for male models in the up coming future and a lot would fit comfortably in to some shoot ideas where the fine details have already been laid out.

If your interested you know how to contact me.

Ok I am way too late to be saying this but then for me January is a tedious month packed out with birthdays, insurance premiums due, contracts to sort out etc etc.

So let me start off by wishing everybody reading a fun, adventurous and prosperous 2012 and here’s hoping you all had a great Christmas too.

Things are getting back in to the swing of work here, with my new home here in bonnie Scotland, I am still getting a few things set up and organised, the cameras are away getting a long overdue professional cleaning (dreading the bill for that) along with my lenses, stocking up on a few new spares, fell on some bargain hard drives so plenty of safe storage space.

Also planning how I am going to use my new spare living room that’s pretty spacious as a small studio for my commercial, fashion and head shot work.

So an exciting year ahead full of changes, here we go, head down and back to work.
Thanks for dropping by!