A Sneaky Portrait

I had to post this photo I took of one of my friends. He hates it but he never reads my blog posts and will never know. He looks like he really loves his job!

Bang!!

Self Portrait:-
Definition. When a Photographer wants to take photo's but doesnt want to get out of his seat!

Still a favourite

Quite long ago I did a series of photo's of my Daughter all on a Pentax 67. I come accross these photo's on occasion and am always amazed at one photo in particular. I dont do many really close up portraits but this one still amazes me. A very windy and cold day and the light was nearly completely gone. What makes me laugh is we travelled all the way to a location by the sea only to have no background whatsoever.

Inn on the Lake Wedding

Here's another example of an animoto slideshow. There's some really nice new ones that are great to share on facebook ect.

Its also an example of how I sometimes incorporate a little bit of retro looking movie on some slideshows.

Photography How things have changed

I remember many years ago (24 years ago I think) I was doing my works experience at a local photographic studio. The advice I was given was this:-

"Dont be a Photographer because you will never make much money
Computers! Thats what you should do!"

Of course I paid no attention. I had the ambition to be a photographer and nobody was going to put me off.
I knew thats what I wanted to do and I had already fought the odds to learn photography skills.
I attended a school that had no photographic facilities and I had to set my own darkroom up in a cupboard that was used to keep paper towels and cleaning products.
It was the school janitor that showed me how to develop my first black and white film and there was no Gcse or A level photography exams available there.
In a way though the lady that owned the Studio that I ended up working part time at, did have a bit of a vision of all our futures as photographers. Computers and digital technology has taken over.
She was from Old school traditional Photography. She had a false bookcase background that as a small child I was photographed in front of along with my family. Wages came in cash from the till at the end of the week.
There were a number of old school photography studio's at the time and two of them were on the same street.

I dont know if she still does photography now but she has no presence on the web at all. All those studio's did shut down though. Whether they set up elswhere and evolved into different types of photographers to move with the times, I dont know.

Natural Portraits

I have been having fun doing portraits without the usual lighting, background ect lately.
The last 2 portraits I have done the lights ect have stayed in the car. I've definately found its all a much more relaxed experience for everyone and I really think it shows in the photo's.
I have never used any artificial lighting or backgrounds for my weddings, so why not for portraits?
Here's some photo's of Joshua that I took at the weekend.

Mr & Mrs Larkin

A fantastic Wedding!  See below. Animoto is well worth the subscription fee to create something special for couples. I have started to post a brief highlight of the couples wedding day onto their facebook page and its proving very popular.

The Wedding Secret

Its always nice to get all the lovely feedback from the couples I photograph.
Its also nice to get some recognition from others within the Wedding Industry.
Take a look at the Link below! I'm very pleased with their comments and photo's they have chosen.
Its a nice well informed site which I'm sure would be a great one stop place for couples needing idea's, tips and recommended suppliers for their wedding.
I'm chuffed to bits that someone like this has made a bit of noise about my wedding photography.
Please take a look.



http://www.wedding-photography-secret.com/real-wedding-in-the-lake-district-3474

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!

After a week in Ayr by the Beach I have came back with the worst Cold ever. Its not suprising really with the weather being the way it was. I must have been soaked through every day always whilst on the Beach.
So now I suffer for my heroism!

Rachel and Ben

Most Recent customer comments

Paul,
 
The photos are brilliant! You've really captured the happiness of our day and we love the DVD to music. So clever, I dont think we'll ever get tired of watching it! Thankyou so much!
 
Can I also say thankyou for being so relaxed and great to work with on our day. You were the perfect mix of blending in and getting the photos that you know we would have wanted. Having been to a few Weddings we know how the photographer can take over the day, and you never did that, just brilliant!
 
We would not hesitate in the slightest to recommend you to anyone getting married! All the best with your career!
 
Cheers
Rachel and Ben Mattinson
 

I was completely in the Dark

The other day a friend of mine asked me if I could quickly take some pictures of his kids. In a rush I slung my camera bag over my shoulder and headed out, remembering my studio lights were still in my car.
Little did I know that my cables and softbox were not.
I had to go ahead with the quick shoot anyway without any lighting.
This wouldnt be a problem but it was so dark that its not something I would have attempted under normal circumstances.
I chose a spot that was comfortable for the kids and and had a little bit of window light. It really was very dark.
However. With 1.8 aperture I managed to get some lovely shots. I feel that they turned out much more relaxed than if I had all the studio equipment set up.
See what you think.

Sunny Silloth

Strange Year!!

This really is the strangest year I have had for Wedding Photography. What started out slow, I suddenly seem to be getting lots of last minute booking. What I consider last minute is people booking their wedding photography on the same year they actually get married.
I alway try to look for reasons why these things happen so I can recognize trends in following years. This year however just baffles me. Obviously I'm happy to accomodate these bookings, but I cant see why this year has been completely different from all my previous years. Remember I've been doing this for over 15 years now, but things just seem to change from year to year lately.
Is it my advertising? No, because I dont advertise. Is it my position on Google? No, because if you did a search on photographers in my area, you would still find me on page one million.
So what I am doing hasnt changed suddenly. I am going to stop overthinking these things and just accept each year as it comes. As it happens this year has now become a very busy year for me and I can only be happy about that.

Little Monster

My little girl, taken a few years ago with Canon F1 and Tri-x film

The Film Archive 3 (Took this with a Canon F1 as far as I remember)

The Film Archive 2

                                         

Some from the old Film Collection

I thought it may be time to upload a selection of some of my portraits from the days before digital took over my life. I'll upload more in following posts.

Alex Self Port

When my daughter is about I barely have my Iphone in my hands. If she isnt playing some silly games on it then she is taking random photo's of things. I came accross this little series of photo's she had taken of herself the other day which I thought was kind of cool!

Saturated Photography

We are in a time now which is very hard for well established photographers. I can see already that this year is not going to be very busy for me. The problem is that everyone is a photographer these days. The industry is completely saturated. Digital photography has made this the case. Anyone can set up a photography business now for less than £500.00. The fact that they do not have either the skills or experience doesnt seem to matter any more.
The recession then adds to this problem because everyone wants to save some money and hire the cheapest photographer. Hell, many people are just getting uncle Bill to do their photography because he is doing it for free.
So where does that leave the skilled photographer who gained their skills in the darkroom. Who had to carry 2 Medium format cameras and a couple of 35mm Slr's to a wedding.
I'm afraid that many who chose photography as their career choice 20 years ago may now regret it.
Many have had to take on what my father would call "A proper job" otherwise they would not be able to pay the bills.
I'm aproaching 38 and I have to admit it keeps crossing my mind to hang up my camera and call it a day.
Its not that I don't believe in my own abilities as a photographer. In fact I think I'm a little bit too arrogant to think that I am one of the best at what I do. Lately though I think I would have been better off being a Hairdresser!
For now anyway, until the digital tool comes out to allow people to cut their own hair.