The posts I've put in this blog have only ever been the posts on photography, repeated from my main blog - http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Photography.
It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I've never been convinced that anyone reads these ones who wouldn't have seen them on the other site anyway.
So now I'm going to stop repeating them here, and if you are one of those who was following my posts here, then please now redirect your attention over to my main blog.
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Photography.
Friday, 7 December 2012
Thursday, 29 November 2012
Launch of the Workshop Gallery
The Galloway Photographic Collective was launched earlier this year – 7 local, professional photographers (including me) coming together to pool resources and marketing power - with an aim to highlight the captivating photography produced in this beautiful part of Scotland and to raise the profile of photography as an art form.
Although we periodically have group exhibitions and a couple of members have their own galleries, we talked at various times of having a permanent or semi-permanent outlet for work by the Collective, but costs for both a suitable space and staffing proved to be prohibitive.
However, a chance conversation with Kenny, a man I met several years ago when his daughter and mine were in the same class at school, seemed to offer up a possible solution.
A.D. Livingston & Sons are antique restorers and furniture makers, run by two brothers – one of whom is the aforementioned daughter’s friend’s father.
Their workshop is situated in an old 18th century courtyard off the high street of Castle Douglas, the town where we live. It’s quite a large space and for years contained both their workshop and showroom. Not too long ago they acquired a shop on the high street just a couple of doors up, which they now use as their primary outlet. This meant the original showroom was just being used as storage space and Kenny and Ian started thinking about other possible uses.
The upshot of all this is last week several of us were down there one evening to help paint the room, and yesterday we were busy hanging the photos. And tonight (Thursday 29th) at 7pm is the launch of The Workshop Gallery featuring the work of the Galloway Photographic Collective. You can find the Facebook Event Page here – https://www.facebook.com/events/231079003689474/
It’s a slightly different affair for me than the rest of the Collective. All of the others have photos to be sold off the wall. For me, as a portrait photographer, I don’t expect anyone to buy my photos in that way: what I’m selling is a unique, personally tailored experience rather than scenic artwork. As such what I have to do is put up images to give people a taste of what I can do for them, and hopefully inspire them enough to pick up the phone and book a session with me.
If you can come along, please do. If you can’t but can tell a friend, please do. And if you can’t because you’re on the wrong side of the planet, then start thinking about your next trip to Scotland.
Meanwhile, here are a few photos I took when we were setting up yesterday.
Morag eating a roll from the Deli for breakfast.
Ian Biggar was also taking photos
You can never have too much bubble-wrap...
UPDATE
The launch went well. Despite fears it might only be us and a few family members turning up, in the end it was a respectable turnout, even though there were sub-zero temperatures outside.
I'm not that great at visualising, so even when we were hanging the photos on Wednesday I wasn't entirely sure how it was going to look, but I have to confess I was delighted when I arrived. With bits of furniture and the lighting installed I was impressed with how it appeared.
Here are a few more photos...
Waiting for the first guests to arrive
Kenny's daughters made some lovely wee cupcakes for the occasion
A good turn out on a cold winter night with people coming and going over a couple of hours
Although we periodically have group exhibitions and a couple of members have their own galleries, we talked at various times of having a permanent or semi-permanent outlet for work by the Collective, but costs for both a suitable space and staffing proved to be prohibitive.
However, a chance conversation with Kenny, a man I met several years ago when his daughter and mine were in the same class at school, seemed to offer up a possible solution.
A.D. Livingston & Sons are antique restorers and furniture makers, run by two brothers – one of whom is the aforementioned daughter’s friend’s father.
Their workshop is situated in an old 18th century courtyard off the high street of Castle Douglas, the town where we live. It’s quite a large space and for years contained both their workshop and showroom. Not too long ago they acquired a shop on the high street just a couple of doors up, which they now use as their primary outlet. This meant the original showroom was just being used as storage space and Kenny and Ian started thinking about other possible uses.
The upshot of all this is last week several of us were down there one evening to help paint the room, and yesterday we were busy hanging the photos. And tonight (Thursday 29th) at 7pm is the launch of The Workshop Gallery featuring the work of the Galloway Photographic Collective. You can find the Facebook Event Page here – https://www.facebook.com/events/231079003689474/
It’s a slightly different affair for me than the rest of the Collective. All of the others have photos to be sold off the wall. For me, as a portrait photographer, I don’t expect anyone to buy my photos in that way: what I’m selling is a unique, personally tailored experience rather than scenic artwork. As such what I have to do is put up images to give people a taste of what I can do for them, and hopefully inspire them enough to pick up the phone and book a session with me.
If you can come along, please do. If you can’t but can tell a friend, please do. And if you can’t because you’re on the wrong side of the planet, then start thinking about your next trip to Scotland.
Meanwhile, here are a few photos I took when we were setting up yesterday.
Morag eating a roll from the Deli for breakfast.
Ian Biggar was also taking photos
You can never have too much bubble-wrap...
UPDATE
The launch went well. Despite fears it might only be us and a few family members turning up, in the end it was a respectable turnout, even though there were sub-zero temperatures outside.
I'm not that great at visualising, so even when we were hanging the photos on Wednesday I wasn't entirely sure how it was going to look, but I have to confess I was delighted when I arrived. With bits of furniture and the lighting installed I was impressed with how it appeared.
Here are a few more photos...
Waiting for the first guests to arrive
Kenny's daughters made some lovely wee cupcakes for the occasion
A good turn out on a cold winter night with people coming and going over a couple of hours
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
John Hegley, John Keats and a Stick of Celery
John Hegley is a poet, musician and comedian. Known for his dry, laconic style he’s also quite big on audience participation, getting the crowd to bob and weave in unison, or click their fingers to create a rhythm which he then reads or sings over.
John was on my hit list of people I wanted to be involved in my authors-as-characters project with Wigtown Book Festival this year. He’d not responded in advance to the blurb that had gone out from the Festival organisers to all the guest speakers, but I was planning on going and seeing his performance anyway and hoped to catch up with him after that. However, as luck would have it, while I was setting up the lights for a different photo shoot that morning, he wandered into the room and we got chatting.
Although there wasn’t enough time to source a costume and do a shoot with him during his short time in Wigtown, he expressed interest in the project and was keen to be dressed as the 19th Century poet, John Keats, as he’d just done a stint as residence poet in Keats’ house in Hampstead. He gave me his email address and told me to keep in touch.
I thoroughly enjoyed his event and when I got home checked his website to see when he might next be anywhere close. It turned out he was appearing in Peebles – a town in the Scottish Borders, less than 2 hours away – a couple of weeks later.
I trawled the Internet for images of Keats and there were surprisingly few. Or perhaps not so surprising given he died of tuberculosis aged only 25. The ones I did find mostly seemed to be a variation on a theme of him looking wistfully off into the middle distance, while sitting at a table with a book
So, where to find a suitable costume? It proved to be far trickier than expected, but eventually we used a jacket from my wife, one of my linen shirts, a strip of muslin for the scarf, again supplied by Maggie, and the waistcoat came from my friend, storyteller Tony Bonning.
John was running a workshop in the afternoon and doing a performance in the evening at The Eastgate Theatre, and they allowed us to use their stage area to do the shoot in between.
We set about replicating the angle and the lighting for the image, but John had brought something extra for the photo – a stick of celery. It turned out there’s a comment in one of Keats’ letters to his brother where he writes, "This is Monday morning—nothing particular happened yesterday evening, except that when the tray came up Mrs. Dilke and I had a battle with celery stalks—she sends her love to you."
One of the things I love about portrait photography is it is always a collaborative affair. It is not product photography – what the sitter contributes to the photo is just as important as the photographer, and this series of photos of authors as characters has really captured that.
It had been suggested if the photo worked out, it might be used for promotional material, so we took a few variations, including one of John pointing off to one side where potential events could be written next to him.
Sure enough, a short while later he was in touch to ask for a photo to use for an event he was to be involved in helping raise money for Amnesty International.
If you’re down London way and it’s not sold out, an evening of poetry and music with John Hegley and friends takes place this Thursday. And for a mere £12 a ticket, I can’t think of many better ways to spend an evening. If I lived closer, I’d certainly be going. Details can be found here - http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=20442
To round off, I trawled YouTube to find a snippet to give you a taste of John Hegley on stage...
John was on my hit list of people I wanted to be involved in my authors-as-characters project with Wigtown Book Festival this year. He’d not responded in advance to the blurb that had gone out from the Festival organisers to all the guest speakers, but I was planning on going and seeing his performance anyway and hoped to catch up with him after that. However, as luck would have it, while I was setting up the lights for a different photo shoot that morning, he wandered into the room and we got chatting.
Although there wasn’t enough time to source a costume and do a shoot with him during his short time in Wigtown, he expressed interest in the project and was keen to be dressed as the 19th Century poet, John Keats, as he’d just done a stint as residence poet in Keats’ house in Hampstead. He gave me his email address and told me to keep in touch.
I thoroughly enjoyed his event and when I got home checked his website to see when he might next be anywhere close. It turned out he was appearing in Peebles – a town in the Scottish Borders, less than 2 hours away – a couple of weeks later.
I trawled the Internet for images of Keats and there were surprisingly few. Or perhaps not so surprising given he died of tuberculosis aged only 25. The ones I did find mostly seemed to be a variation on a theme of him looking wistfully off into the middle distance, while sitting at a table with a book
So, where to find a suitable costume? It proved to be far trickier than expected, but eventually we used a jacket from my wife, one of my linen shirts, a strip of muslin for the scarf, again supplied by Maggie, and the waistcoat came from my friend, storyteller Tony Bonning.
John was running a workshop in the afternoon and doing a performance in the evening at The Eastgate Theatre, and they allowed us to use their stage area to do the shoot in between.
We set about replicating the angle and the lighting for the image, but John had brought something extra for the photo – a stick of celery. It turned out there’s a comment in one of Keats’ letters to his brother where he writes, "This is Monday morning—nothing particular happened yesterday evening, except that when the tray came up Mrs. Dilke and I had a battle with celery stalks—she sends her love to you."
One of the things I love about portrait photography is it is always a collaborative affair. It is not product photography – what the sitter contributes to the photo is just as important as the photographer, and this series of photos of authors as characters has really captured that.
It had been suggested if the photo worked out, it might be used for promotional material, so we took a few variations, including one of John pointing off to one side where potential events could be written next to him.
Sure enough, a short while later he was in touch to ask for a photo to use for an event he was to be involved in helping raise money for Amnesty International.
If you’re down London way and it’s not sold out, an evening of poetry and music with John Hegley and friends takes place this Thursday. And for a mere £12 a ticket, I can’t think of many better ways to spend an evening. If I lived closer, I’d certainly be going. Details can be found here - http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=20442
To round off, I trawled YouTube to find a snippet to give you a taste of John Hegley on stage...
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Portraits for a donation to Down's Syndrome Scotland
This Saturday (17th November), I’m going to be taking fast, fun portraits for a mere £10 donation to Down's Syndrome Scotland, at the Catholic Church Hall in Kirkudbright (on High Street, across from The Tolbooth) from 10am to 4pm
Stewartry Camera Club are holding an Open Day with an exhibition, slideshow, tombola, refreshments, home baking, and people to offer advice on photography. Because of the talks I have given to the club and a competition I judged for them (see The Challenge of The Self Portrait), they have kindly offered me a space to set up a wee area to do portraits to raise money for a great organisation.
I have to confess that at this point in time, I have no idea whether there will be queues around the block, or if I’ll be sitting there for 6 hours twiddling my thumbs, with only the occasional friend turning up to show a bit of support.
Despite the fact £10 is barely much more than having a passport photo taken in a booth, I’m not convinced most people understand the value having their photo taken by someone who knows what they’re doing.
The question is, when you and everyone you know has a camera on their phone with auto-focus, auto-exposure and even face-recognition, why bother parting with money to have someone else take your photo?
It’s a question all portrait photographers have to face in this instant, digital age.
The only real answer to this is - I have to go places the iPhone can’t.
That means it’s not about the technology – whether I have a bigger camera with fancier lenses and a higher megapixel count – because advances in technology will soon make any such advantages redundant. Your average camera-phone today is superior to a professional digital camera from 10 years ago.
Therefore, it’s about the vision; the creativity; the style. Of course anyone can take your photo, but can anyone take your photo like Kim Ayres does?
Although Saturday is primarily about raising money for Down’s Syndrome Scotland, it will be interesting to see how successfully I’m getting that message out there.
Do come along if you can, and bring a friend. But if you’re not in the area on Saturday, then feel free to pass this on to anyone else you know who might be.
And if you can't make it along, but would still like to donate (any amount - even £1/$1/€1), then please visit my page on JustGiving.com - http://www.justgiving.com/kimayres
Stewartry Camera Club are holding an Open Day with an exhibition, slideshow, tombola, refreshments, home baking, and people to offer advice on photography. Because of the talks I have given to the club and a competition I judged for them (see The Challenge of The Self Portrait), they have kindly offered me a space to set up a wee area to do portraits to raise money for a great organisation.
I have to confess that at this point in time, I have no idea whether there will be queues around the block, or if I’ll be sitting there for 6 hours twiddling my thumbs, with only the occasional friend turning up to show a bit of support.
Despite the fact £10 is barely much more than having a passport photo taken in a booth, I’m not convinced most people understand the value having their photo taken by someone who knows what they’re doing.
The question is, when you and everyone you know has a camera on their phone with auto-focus, auto-exposure and even face-recognition, why bother parting with money to have someone else take your photo?
It’s a question all portrait photographers have to face in this instant, digital age.
The only real answer to this is - I have to go places the iPhone can’t.
That means it’s not about the technology – whether I have a bigger camera with fancier lenses and a higher megapixel count – because advances in technology will soon make any such advantages redundant. Your average camera-phone today is superior to a professional digital camera from 10 years ago.
Therefore, it’s about the vision; the creativity; the style. Of course anyone can take your photo, but can anyone take your photo like Kim Ayres does?
Although Saturday is primarily about raising money for Down’s Syndrome Scotland, it will be interesting to see how successfully I’m getting that message out there.
Do come along if you can, and bring a friend. But if you’re not in the area on Saturday, then feel free to pass this on to anyone else you know who might be.
And if you can't make it along, but would still like to donate (any amount - even £1/$1/€1), then please visit my page on JustGiving.com - http://www.justgiving.com/kimayres
Saturday, 10 November 2012
Masayuki Kino at The Mill Sessions
Back in September, one of The Mill Sessions I was able to attend featured world class Japanese violinist Masayuki Kino.
Being a small venue, where you cannot fit more than about 50 or so people in the audience, has plusses and minuses. The biggest advantage is the intimacy – it has the feeling of being just one step up from having someone playing in your living room. You are sitting just a few feet away from the performers and can often feel the music resonating in your chest.
The disadvantage is it means even if the venue sells out, there’s still a very limited amount of money to pay for high quality, better known performers.
We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve managed to find a lot of really good up and coming singers and musicians, and there’s a wealth of local talent we’ve been able to tap into for support acts.
Masayuki Kino, however, is in a totally different league. You would be expecting to pay big bucks for a ticket, and probably dress up in your posh gear to attend a performance. However, this was a case of someone who knew someone who knew someone else, and as he was in the area was happy to do a set in exchange for the door takings to be donated to charity.
He also had two young protégés with him, Tomone Yokoyama and Ena Shibata, who started off the set with outstanding playing, before Kino-san himself treated us to a virtuoso performance.
As with most of the Mill Sessions over the past 2 years, I took photos of the performers for the Mill Hall of Fame before the evening began.
Masayuki Kino, Ena Shibata and Tomone Yokoyama
Masayuki Kino
Ena Shibata
Tomone Yokoyama
Being a small venue, where you cannot fit more than about 50 or so people in the audience, has plusses and minuses. The biggest advantage is the intimacy – it has the feeling of being just one step up from having someone playing in your living room. You are sitting just a few feet away from the performers and can often feel the music resonating in your chest.
The disadvantage is it means even if the venue sells out, there’s still a very limited amount of money to pay for high quality, better known performers.
We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve managed to find a lot of really good up and coming singers and musicians, and there’s a wealth of local talent we’ve been able to tap into for support acts.
Masayuki Kino, however, is in a totally different league. You would be expecting to pay big bucks for a ticket, and probably dress up in your posh gear to attend a performance. However, this was a case of someone who knew someone who knew someone else, and as he was in the area was happy to do a set in exchange for the door takings to be donated to charity.
He also had two young protégés with him, Tomone Yokoyama and Ena Shibata, who started off the set with outstanding playing, before Kino-san himself treated us to a virtuoso performance.
As with most of the Mill Sessions over the past 2 years, I took photos of the performers for the Mill Hall of Fame before the evening began.
Masayuki Kino, Ena Shibata and Tomone Yokoyama
Masayuki Kino
Ena Shibata
Tomone Yokoyama
Sunday, 4 November 2012
Debi Gliori, Tobermory, Cats and Controversy
Debi Gliori is a children’s author and illustrator with at least 75 published books to her name, the latest of which is called The Tobermory Cat, loosely based on a stray ginger tom that was well known about the town of Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, off the West coast of Scotland.
As something of a local celebrity, the cat was even given a Facebook page by a local artist, Angus Stewart, who photographed the cat, made up wee stories about him and posted them online.
Debi’s publisher became aware of the cat on one of his many trips to the island while in conversation with a local bookstore owner and thought it might make a lovely children’s story and approached Debi to create one.
What should have been a delightful project, which might have boosted positive publicity for the Tobermory, Debi, the cat and Angus, all turned sour when Angus accused Debi of stealing his idea and started a campaign against her, the publisher and the book. And as word spread from this one-sided perspective, some Internet trolls fuelled by a sense of righteous indignation, or just plain malice, got rather nasty – initiating cyber attacks, phone calls, insults and threats. You can read Debi’s own account of events on her blog - The Tobermory Cat, the trolls and me.
I found out about all this when I was at the Wigtown Book Festival a few weeks back (see - Return to Wigtown Book Festival) with a new project to photograph authors as literary characters. The Festival organisers had put out feelers to the authors attending to see who might be up for getting involved, and Debi was one of about a dozen who responded.
Debi decided she’d choose the character of The Cat and the Fiddle from the nursery rhyme, as not only did it fit in nicely with part of the story from her new book, but she also plays the fiddle herself.
The Festival had provided me with an empty shop I could use as a studio, so we fixed a time in the evening when it would be dark outside and I could control the lighting.
I set up a single light to cast a strong shadow and I photographed Debi sitting on a stool reading the book. We then removed the stool and book, fitted a little band with cat ears on it to her head and she took up a stance with her violin to create the shadow we wanted to use. Working collaboratively is part of what I love about creating images via the camera, and Debi was a delight to work with – interested, involved and contributing ideas all the way.
Then it was down to some serious editing in Photoshop to merge the two images and add a tail.
This was the final result
Debi Gliori, The Cat and The Fiddle
Thanks also have to go to Renita Boyle for all her help and support.
I’ll be posting more photos from the series of authors as literary characters over the coming weeks – stay tuned...
As something of a local celebrity, the cat was even given a Facebook page by a local artist, Angus Stewart, who photographed the cat, made up wee stories about him and posted them online.
Debi’s publisher became aware of the cat on one of his many trips to the island while in conversation with a local bookstore owner and thought it might make a lovely children’s story and approached Debi to create one.
What should have been a delightful project, which might have boosted positive publicity for the Tobermory, Debi, the cat and Angus, all turned sour when Angus accused Debi of stealing his idea and started a campaign against her, the publisher and the book. And as word spread from this one-sided perspective, some Internet trolls fuelled by a sense of righteous indignation, or just plain malice, got rather nasty – initiating cyber attacks, phone calls, insults and threats. You can read Debi’s own account of events on her blog - The Tobermory Cat, the trolls and me.
I found out about all this when I was at the Wigtown Book Festival a few weeks back (see - Return to Wigtown Book Festival) with a new project to photograph authors as literary characters. The Festival organisers had put out feelers to the authors attending to see who might be up for getting involved, and Debi was one of about a dozen who responded.
Debi decided she’d choose the character of The Cat and the Fiddle from the nursery rhyme, as not only did it fit in nicely with part of the story from her new book, but she also plays the fiddle herself.
The Festival had provided me with an empty shop I could use as a studio, so we fixed a time in the evening when it would be dark outside and I could control the lighting.
I set up a single light to cast a strong shadow and I photographed Debi sitting on a stool reading the book. We then removed the stool and book, fitted a little band with cat ears on it to her head and she took up a stance with her violin to create the shadow we wanted to use. Working collaboratively is part of what I love about creating images via the camera, and Debi was a delight to work with – interested, involved and contributing ideas all the way.
Then it was down to some serious editing in Photoshop to merge the two images and add a tail.
This was the final result
Debi Gliori, The Cat and The Fiddle
Thanks also have to go to Renita Boyle for all her help and support.
I’ll be posting more photos from the series of authors as literary characters over the coming weeks – stay tuned...
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Irish Singer Songwriters
You go for ages without photographing any, then 3 come along at the same time…
At the Mill Session last Saturday we had Irish singer songwriter, Eleanor McEvoy, performing a much smaller gig than she’s used to, although I think she enjoyed the intimacy the venue gives. With a high ceiling, the acoustics are rather lovely, while the fact you cannot seat more than about 45 people in the space means it has the feel of being only one step up from your living room.
I met up with her in the afternoon before the gig to take a photo for the Mill Session Hall of Fame. Despite being the most well known performer we’ve had there, there was nothing of the diva about her. Friendly and down to earth, she was interesting to chat to and photograph.
Looking through the photos afterwards I decided to go against my usual black and white style when I realised this photo looked so much better in colour.
Eleanor McEvoy
Then on Monday, out of the blue I got a phone call from Irish singer songwriter, Ben Sands. Although I’ve still yet to see him play live, I first met him about 6 years ago at a small, one-off mandolin-playing workshop he ran in a nearby village as a favour to a friend.
We kept in touch and when I started my photography business I told him to call in and get his photo taken if he was in the area. It took a few more years, but sure enough he took me up on my offer, popping round in the afternoon. Most of the photos he has of himself are friendly, smiling and holding his guitar, and we did one of those, but I also wanted to do a slightly more darker, moodier photo of him, which he was up for. Below is the result.
Ben Sands
Finally, this Friday evening (21st Sept) is another Irish singer songwriter playing at the Mill Sessions who goes by the name ODi. I’m going to miss her performance and the chance to take her photo as Maggie and I are off to the Northumberland coast for a weekend away in celebration of our 17th wedding anniversary, but I’ve no doubt those attending the gig will be in for a treat.
At the Mill Session last Saturday we had Irish singer songwriter, Eleanor McEvoy, performing a much smaller gig than she’s used to, although I think she enjoyed the intimacy the venue gives. With a high ceiling, the acoustics are rather lovely, while the fact you cannot seat more than about 45 people in the space means it has the feel of being only one step up from your living room.
I met up with her in the afternoon before the gig to take a photo for the Mill Session Hall of Fame. Despite being the most well known performer we’ve had there, there was nothing of the diva about her. Friendly and down to earth, she was interesting to chat to and photograph.
Looking through the photos afterwards I decided to go against my usual black and white style when I realised this photo looked so much better in colour.
Eleanor McEvoy
Then on Monday, out of the blue I got a phone call from Irish singer songwriter, Ben Sands. Although I’ve still yet to see him play live, I first met him about 6 years ago at a small, one-off mandolin-playing workshop he ran in a nearby village as a favour to a friend.
We kept in touch and when I started my photography business I told him to call in and get his photo taken if he was in the area. It took a few more years, but sure enough he took me up on my offer, popping round in the afternoon. Most of the photos he has of himself are friendly, smiling and holding his guitar, and we did one of those, but I also wanted to do a slightly more darker, moodier photo of him, which he was up for. Below is the result.
Ben Sands
Finally, this Friday evening (21st Sept) is another Irish singer songwriter playing at the Mill Sessions who goes by the name ODi. I’m going to miss her performance and the chance to take her photo as Maggie and I are off to the Northumberland coast for a weekend away in celebration of our 17th wedding anniversary, but I’ve no doubt those attending the gig will be in for a treat.
Friday, 31 August 2012
Spring Fling Featured Artist Q&A
Spring Fling is an annual open studio event across the South West of Scotland where all sorts of artists – from potters and painters to sculptors and jewellery makers – open their doors to the public for a long weekend.
It’s been going for the past 10 years. I’ve been in it the past 2 and my wife, Maggie, has been for the past 4.
This year the Spring Fling blog started doing features on the different artists involved, and this week I take centre stage.
You can read all about it here:
http://www.spring-fling.co.uk/blog/kim-ayres/
It’s been going for the past 10 years. I’ve been in it the past 2 and my wife, Maggie, has been for the past 4.
This year the Spring Fling blog started doing features on the different artists involved, and this week I take centre stage.
You can read all about it here:
http://www.spring-fling.co.uk/blog/kim-ayres/
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
A Model From The '50s
Pat and I have been blogging buddies for over 6 years, so when the opportunity arose to meet up with her in person 3 years ago, I leapt at the chance (see Meeting a Legend). She turned out to be every bit as interesting, elegant and warm as you would expect from reading her blog, and what was supposed to be just a mid-morning cup of tea and a scone stretched into lunch. It seemed over all too soon as we had to head off. Quick photos were taken in the car park and promises made to meet up again if we were ever back in the area (not that frequent as we live about 400 miles apart).
In the intervening years since that encounter, barely a week has gone by when I haven’t kicked myself for utterly failing to capitalise on the fact that Pat was a model back in the 1950s. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve stared at my camera and pondered that missed opportunity.
So when Rogan and I started planning our road trip this summer, there was only one thing at the forefront of my mind – I had to get a photo shoot with Pat. Of course there were other things like meeting family, climbing tors and visiting Stonehenge, but this was one highlight I didn’t want to miss.
I emailed Pat to see if she’d be about during our trip down South and whether she’d be interested in a photo shoot. To my delight it was a yes on both accounts. But rather than just go for standard poses, we thought we’d have a bit of fun and recreate our own versions of some classic images, with Pat sending me links to photos she particularly liked. I did my best to try and work out how they were lit, and when we set off I made sure I took a portable lighting kit and backdrop with us.
It might have only been the 2nd time we’d ever met up, but being back in the company of Pat was as comfortable as if we’d been friends for 20 years. This time we also got to meet her husband as well as “French Son,” both of whom were very welcoming and friendly. Between long chats, plentiful food, cups of tea and an afternoon siesta we even managed to get some photography done.
Although we were never going to have time to do all the shots we’d like to have, we did manage to construct the couple I was most keen to do.
The first was a classic Hollywood type of photo in the style of Marlene Dietrich, complete with a fake cigarette.
While for the other, Pat wanted to see if we could approach something of the feel of Annigoni’s portrait of Her Maj, the Queen.
The vast majority of people I photograph begin by feeling very uncomfortable in front of the camera, and a fair proportion of any photo shoot is spent building their trust and helping them to relax with me before we start producing images that don’t have an expression like a cross between a grimace and a startled rabbit.
With Pat, however, from the word go she was right there with me – patient while I adjusted lighting, committed to each shot and working collaboratively to produce the best image. If we lived in the same town there’s no doubt I would be making excuses to photograph her on a weekly basis.
You can find Pat's blog about our day here, with a couple of set-up shots and one of me & Pat together, here.
In the intervening years since that encounter, barely a week has gone by when I haven’t kicked myself for utterly failing to capitalise on the fact that Pat was a model back in the 1950s. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve stared at my camera and pondered that missed opportunity.
So when Rogan and I started planning our road trip this summer, there was only one thing at the forefront of my mind – I had to get a photo shoot with Pat. Of course there were other things like meeting family, climbing tors and visiting Stonehenge, but this was one highlight I didn’t want to miss.
I emailed Pat to see if she’d be about during our trip down South and whether she’d be interested in a photo shoot. To my delight it was a yes on both accounts. But rather than just go for standard poses, we thought we’d have a bit of fun and recreate our own versions of some classic images, with Pat sending me links to photos she particularly liked. I did my best to try and work out how they were lit, and when we set off I made sure I took a portable lighting kit and backdrop with us.
It might have only been the 2nd time we’d ever met up, but being back in the company of Pat was as comfortable as if we’d been friends for 20 years. This time we also got to meet her husband as well as “French Son,” both of whom were very welcoming and friendly. Between long chats, plentiful food, cups of tea and an afternoon siesta we even managed to get some photography done.
Although we were never going to have time to do all the shots we’d like to have, we did manage to construct the couple I was most keen to do.
The first was a classic Hollywood type of photo in the style of Marlene Dietrich, complete with a fake cigarette.
While for the other, Pat wanted to see if we could approach something of the feel of Annigoni’s portrait of Her Maj, the Queen.
The vast majority of people I photograph begin by feeling very uncomfortable in front of the camera, and a fair proportion of any photo shoot is spent building their trust and helping them to relax with me before we start producing images that don’t have an expression like a cross between a grimace and a startled rabbit.
With Pat, however, from the word go she was right there with me – patient while I adjusted lighting, committed to each shot and working collaboratively to produce the best image. If we lived in the same town there’s no doubt I would be making excuses to photograph her on a weekly basis.
You can find Pat's blog about our day here, with a couple of set-up shots and one of me & Pat together, here.
Monday, 6 August 2012
Photographing Bellevue Rendezvous
Several years ago on a day trip to Carlisle, I came across a woman busking with a stringed instrument played with a bow. It was a bit larger than a viola – but rather than pressing the strings with her fingers there were an array of keys being fingered to change the notes. Additionally there were several strings sitting below the main four, which weren’t played, but vibrated sympathetically with the notes that were. The overall effect was a deep resonant sound that you could feel in your chest as she played. After standing mesmerised for several minutes I suddenly remembered I was supposed to be meeting up with Maggie and the kids. I dropped a pound coin into her case and headed off into a world that was now subtly different.
Two or three years later the same woman, with the same instrument, turned up at a folk session in a pub I was at. It turned out she lived locally, the instrument was called a nyckelharpa and she was called Ruth.
Over the next couple of years, Ruth would occasionally turn up to the folk sessions with her partner, Gavin, who played a mean fiddle. I lost count of the number of times that when she played the nyckelharpa I had to stop playing and just listen to – indeed feel - the sound reverberating deep inside me.
I then discovered Ruth, Gavin and another guy called Cam, who played the cittern (not dissimilar to a bouzouki, but with 10 strings instead of 8), had a band called Bellevue Rendezvous. Far from being just a local outfit, they toured in Europe, played at Celtic Connections, and had CDs you could buy. So I bought them and played them to Maggie who also fell in love with their sound.
Maggie and I were both desperate to see them play live, but on the rare occasions when they were performing locally, awkward timings or lack of babysitter meant we weren’t able to.
For the past 18 months or so I’ve been involved with The Mill Sessions - a small venue with lovely acoustics, which can’t hold more than about 50 people in the audience. It means the gigs have an intimate feel – barely a step up from having performers playing in your living room – but those limited numbers also mean there’s little money available to pay for high quality, better known musicians. I knew, however, if I could get Bellevue Rendezvous there, it would be something special indeed.
So to help sweeten the deal I offered to top up the fee available from the Mill with a photo shoot so they could have some good publicity images. They agreed and on the morning before the gig I went out to Ruth and Gavin’s with my camera, laptop and a couple of portable studio lights.
We started with an idea I’d been mulling over for a few days, with Ruth sitting with the nyckelharpa on her lap, Gavin on a high stool behind her to one side and Cam standing further behind and to the side, creating a sweeping diagonal across the image.
It took a bit moving stools and adding cushions to change heights but we got there (as always, click on the images for larger versions).
With an acceptable shot in the bag, I was now free to try some other arrangements and managed to get some great diagonals and triangles in this one:
Pleased with that I felt I could now play a bit more and I pulled out the wide-angle lens, which had the effect of distorting the image a bit and exaggerating the size of the instrument, as well as creating some stronger lines.
Finally I decided to ramp everything up by getting in really close with the wide-angle lens, and adding lots of texture in the post-processing of the image afterwards. It’s my personal favourite of all the images, although I’m well aware it won’t be to everyone’s taste.
With the photo shoot out of the way, that evening I was able to just sit back and enjoy the gig with Maggie, and it was truly every bit as wonderful as I’d hoped for, and more.
With my camera resting on my knee I recorded a couple of their tunes. The sound is only coming through the built in microphone, so doesn’t do it full justice, but the videos below should give you a reasonable idea of their music. But if you can’t get to see them live, the next best thing is to buy their CDs, put them on a really good quality sound system and turn it up loud enough to feel the vibrations in your chest.
Two or three years later the same woman, with the same instrument, turned up at a folk session in a pub I was at. It turned out she lived locally, the instrument was called a nyckelharpa and she was called Ruth.
Over the next couple of years, Ruth would occasionally turn up to the folk sessions with her partner, Gavin, who played a mean fiddle. I lost count of the number of times that when she played the nyckelharpa I had to stop playing and just listen to – indeed feel - the sound reverberating deep inside me.
I then discovered Ruth, Gavin and another guy called Cam, who played the cittern (not dissimilar to a bouzouki, but with 10 strings instead of 8), had a band called Bellevue Rendezvous. Far from being just a local outfit, they toured in Europe, played at Celtic Connections, and had CDs you could buy. So I bought them and played them to Maggie who also fell in love with their sound.
Maggie and I were both desperate to see them play live, but on the rare occasions when they were performing locally, awkward timings or lack of babysitter meant we weren’t able to.
For the past 18 months or so I’ve been involved with The Mill Sessions - a small venue with lovely acoustics, which can’t hold more than about 50 people in the audience. It means the gigs have an intimate feel – barely a step up from having performers playing in your living room – but those limited numbers also mean there’s little money available to pay for high quality, better known musicians. I knew, however, if I could get Bellevue Rendezvous there, it would be something special indeed.
So to help sweeten the deal I offered to top up the fee available from the Mill with a photo shoot so they could have some good publicity images. They agreed and on the morning before the gig I went out to Ruth and Gavin’s with my camera, laptop and a couple of portable studio lights.
We started with an idea I’d been mulling over for a few days, with Ruth sitting with the nyckelharpa on her lap, Gavin on a high stool behind her to one side and Cam standing further behind and to the side, creating a sweeping diagonal across the image.
It took a bit moving stools and adding cushions to change heights but we got there (as always, click on the images for larger versions).
With an acceptable shot in the bag, I was now free to try some other arrangements and managed to get some great diagonals and triangles in this one:
Pleased with that I felt I could now play a bit more and I pulled out the wide-angle lens, which had the effect of distorting the image a bit and exaggerating the size of the instrument, as well as creating some stronger lines.
Finally I decided to ramp everything up by getting in really close with the wide-angle lens, and adding lots of texture in the post-processing of the image afterwards. It’s my personal favourite of all the images, although I’m well aware it won’t be to everyone’s taste.
With the photo shoot out of the way, that evening I was able to just sit back and enjoy the gig with Maggie, and it was truly every bit as wonderful as I’d hoped for, and more.
With my camera resting on my knee I recorded a couple of their tunes. The sound is only coming through the built in microphone, so doesn’t do it full justice, but the videos below should give you a reasonable idea of their music. But if you can’t get to see them live, the next best thing is to buy their CDs, put them on a really good quality sound system and turn it up loud enough to feel the vibrations in your chest.
Friday, 29 June 2012
Midsummer Music Festival 2012
Last weekend was the Gatehouse Midsummer Music Festival. Once again I went along with my camera for a bit of practice at performance photography on the Friday and Saturday evenings.
Low light is the biggest problem. With the performers moving, slow shutter speeds (a technique for letting more light through the lens) aren’t possible as the images will end up blurred. The only other option is to dramatically increase the ISO, which means the images become “noisy” or “grainy.” However, by dropping them into black and white, the grainy quality can help make them look a bit more like music press photos.
Here’s a wee selection of the images I took, but you can find more on my Flickr or Facebook pages here:
Flickr
Facebook
Alasdair Roberts
Samba Sene
Finding Albert
Sally Campbell
Shiznitz
Shooglenifty
On the Sunday afternoon, the band I’m in, Scruffy Buzzards, was performing, but as I was playing I was unable to take any photos. If, however, you’d like to keep up to date with Scruffy Buzzards performances along with videos and photos as they appear, then please visit our Facebook page and hit “like”
www.facebook.com/scruffybuzzards
Low light is the biggest problem. With the performers moving, slow shutter speeds (a technique for letting more light through the lens) aren’t possible as the images will end up blurred. The only other option is to dramatically increase the ISO, which means the images become “noisy” or “grainy.” However, by dropping them into black and white, the grainy quality can help make them look a bit more like music press photos.
Here’s a wee selection of the images I took, but you can find more on my Flickr or Facebook pages here:
Flickr
Alasdair Roberts
Samba Sene
Finding Albert
Sally Campbell
Shiznitz
Shooglenifty
On the Sunday afternoon, the band I’m in, Scruffy Buzzards, was performing, but as I was playing I was unable to take any photos. If, however, you’d like to keep up to date with Scruffy Buzzards performances along with videos and photos as they appear, then please visit our Facebook page and hit “like”
www.facebook.com/scruffybuzzards
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Farino in the Stairwell
When the high-energy, foot-stompingly good guitar duo, Farino, performed at The Mill Sessions last year [see – Farino At The Mill Sessions], I did a photo shoot with them for The Mill’s Hall of Fame.
When they were invited back for another high-energy, foot-stompingly good gig at The Mill last Friday, I did another photo shoot with them in the afternoon before their performance.
To be honest they really hadn’t changed that much in the intervening 14 months, so doing another set of headshots seemed a bit pointless. Instead I thought I’d try and go for something a bit more compositionally interesting, looking at the use of lines and shapes.
I had a few ideas, which I was pretty certain would look good, but they based around the idea of being outside with plenty of light and space. Unfortunately it was chucking it down with rain that had no intention of easing off.
After trying out a couple of potential places, we settled on the stairwell of The Mill.
Making the most of diagonals
More sweeping shapes
The gig was sold out, which was good for the local band supporting them, as it gave them a bit more exposure to a warm crowd. This was particularly good news for me, as the local band was Scruffy Buzzards – the one I’m in.
I’ve gone back and checked through past posts and am surprised to discover I’ve not blogged about Scruffy Buzzards at all, and this is the first mention of them. I will rectify that soon, but for those who interested, you can find out more about us on Facebook here:
www.facebook.com/scruffybuzzards
When they were invited back for another high-energy, foot-stompingly good gig at The Mill last Friday, I did another photo shoot with them in the afternoon before their performance.
To be honest they really hadn’t changed that much in the intervening 14 months, so doing another set of headshots seemed a bit pointless. Instead I thought I’d try and go for something a bit more compositionally interesting, looking at the use of lines and shapes.
I had a few ideas, which I was pretty certain would look good, but they based around the idea of being outside with plenty of light and space. Unfortunately it was chucking it down with rain that had no intention of easing off.
After trying out a couple of potential places, we settled on the stairwell of The Mill.
Making the most of diagonals
More sweeping shapes
The gig was sold out, which was good for the local band supporting them, as it gave them a bit more exposure to a warm crowd. This was particularly good news for me, as the local band was Scruffy Buzzards – the one I’m in.
I’ve gone back and checked through past posts and am surprised to discover I’ve not blogged about Scruffy Buzzards at all, and this is the first mention of them. I will rectify that soon, but for those who interested, you can find out more about us on Facebook here:
www.facebook.com/scruffybuzzards
Friday, 1 June 2012
Spring Fling, Artist in Residence, and The New Book
Last autumn, I was artist-in-residence at the Wigtown Book Festival, where I took 173 portraits of visitors, residents and authors over 10 days.
These photos were then pinned to walls of “The Hut” – the studio space I’d been given to use for the duration – and each person’s name, along with the title of ‘a well-loved book,’ was scribbled underneath.
I’ve now created a book of the event, which includes all the portraits and a journal of my experiences as I progressed from naïve enthusiasm, through loss of confidence and on to final success.
Like my previous books, Facing The Weekend, and Staring Back, it’s been created via blurb.com – an online, print-on-demand publisher. You order the book and they print it and post it to you. Unfortunately, it’s not very cheap, but then copies are being printed off individually rather than en mass.
However, you can download it for your iPad or iPhone for a mere £2.49 (approx €3 or $4) because there are no printing or shipping costs.
If you would like to see and handle a printed copy, then I will have one with me this weekend when I am back at “The Hut” in Wigtown for the Spring Fling Open Studio Event (studio 6 in the brochure – visit the Spring Fling website to download the brochure app), from Saturday 2nd to Tuesday 5th June
If you can’t get over to visit, then take a look at the widget below to give you a taste.
If for any reason, the widget below isn't working, then click on this link for more details
www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/3244464
These photos were then pinned to walls of “The Hut” – the studio space I’d been given to use for the duration – and each person’s name, along with the title of ‘a well-loved book,’ was scribbled underneath.
I’ve now created a book of the event, which includes all the portraits and a journal of my experiences as I progressed from naïve enthusiasm, through loss of confidence and on to final success.
Like my previous books, Facing The Weekend, and Staring Back, it’s been created via blurb.com – an online, print-on-demand publisher. You order the book and they print it and post it to you. Unfortunately, it’s not very cheap, but then copies are being printed off individually rather than en mass.
However, you can download it for your iPad or iPhone for a mere £2.49 (approx €3 or $4) because there are no printing or shipping costs.
If you would like to see and handle a printed copy, then I will have one with me this weekend when I am back at “The Hut” in Wigtown for the Spring Fling Open Studio Event (studio 6 in the brochure – visit the Spring Fling website to download the brochure app), from Saturday 2nd to Tuesday 5th June
If you can’t get over to visit, then take a look at the widget below to give you a taste.
If for any reason, the widget below isn't working, then click on this link for more details
www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/3244464
Thursday, 31 May 2012
"My Community" - a photographic exhibition
A couple of months ago, I began an after-school photography project with 7 pupils at Moffat Academy, aged between 12 and 18.
The “Transitions” placement was a jointly funded and supported venture between the Spring Fling Open Studio organisation and the Education Services through the Creative Learning Network (CLN), which saw 3 different artists being placed in 3 separate schools in the region, myself being one of them.
As well as giving talks to the pupils about technical, compositional and practical aspects of photography, my goal was to put on an exhibition of their work at the end of it.
The title “My Community” was broad enough for the pupils to interpret it individually, and the aim was to produce a cohesive collection of 8 photos each.
The exhibition is being held at the Old Well Theatre in Moffat over the weekend (2nd & 3rd of June), but the preview evening is tonight, from 7pm to 9pm.
While I do, of course, know what all the photos look like, I’ve not yet seen them being displayed. Some of the older pupils helped the art teacher, Miss Young, who has been a wonderful support through this project, put them all up last night. Needless to say, I’m really excited about seeing them all in place tonight.
They’ve been a great group to work with, and the potential and creativity they have all shown has been amazing. All I can really say is I’m dead proud of them all.
For those who would like a taster, or who can’t make it along, I’ve picked one image each from their collections for you to view below.
Alex took a series of shots of friends revising for their exams and nicely caught the sense of tension and pressure
Alison's family like to go sailing on the loch so her photos captured the people and action in this environment
Tom went exploring the streets of Moffat, taking photos as an observer
Mairi had fun with her friends at the park, organising them into a variety of fun poses
Daniel concentrated on photos of the band he's in
Ruaridh captured the last day at school for the senior pupils as they all went around signing each other's shirts
Min took her camera to the skateboard park to photograph her pals on their bikes and boards
If you can make it along to see the photos, your support would be appreciated and I know you won't be disappointed. But if you can't, lovely people that I know you are, I'm sure you'll be wishing them all the best.
The “Transitions” placement was a jointly funded and supported venture between the Spring Fling Open Studio organisation and the Education Services through the Creative Learning Network (CLN), which saw 3 different artists being placed in 3 separate schools in the region, myself being one of them.
As well as giving talks to the pupils about technical, compositional and practical aspects of photography, my goal was to put on an exhibition of their work at the end of it.
The title “My Community” was broad enough for the pupils to interpret it individually, and the aim was to produce a cohesive collection of 8 photos each.
The exhibition is being held at the Old Well Theatre in Moffat over the weekend (2nd & 3rd of June), but the preview evening is tonight, from 7pm to 9pm.
While I do, of course, know what all the photos look like, I’ve not yet seen them being displayed. Some of the older pupils helped the art teacher, Miss Young, who has been a wonderful support through this project, put them all up last night. Needless to say, I’m really excited about seeing them all in place tonight.
They’ve been a great group to work with, and the potential and creativity they have all shown has been amazing. All I can really say is I’m dead proud of them all.
For those who would like a taster, or who can’t make it along, I’ve picked one image each from their collections for you to view below.
Alex took a series of shots of friends revising for their exams and nicely caught the sense of tension and pressure
Alison's family like to go sailing on the loch so her photos captured the people and action in this environment
Tom went exploring the streets of Moffat, taking photos as an observer
Mairi had fun with her friends at the park, organising them into a variety of fun poses
Daniel concentrated on photos of the band he's in
Ruaridh captured the last day at school for the senior pupils as they all went around signing each other's shirts
Min took her camera to the skateboard park to photograph her pals on their bikes and boards
If you can make it along to see the photos, your support would be appreciated and I know you won't be disappointed. But if you can't, lovely people that I know you are, I'm sure you'll be wishing them all the best.
Friday, 25 May 2012
Win a free photo shoot for you and a friend!
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Spring Fling Open Studio trail across Dumfries and Galloway (2nd to 5th of June - I’m Studio 6 in the brochure), I’m offering you the chance to win a free photo shoot for you and a friend.
Between now and the 5th of June 2012, all you have to do is ask people you know to visit and “like” my Facebook page – www.facebook.com/kimayresportraitphotography - and get them to leave a comment saying who recommended it to them (if you aren’t already following me, then you need to visit and “like” my page first. Once you have done so, just tell your friends to “like” my page and say who sent them).
On the 6th of June I will randomly select a new fan from the comments and he or she, along with the person who pointed them in my direction, will win a free photo shoot for them both.
The photo session will last 2 to 3 hours and the aim is create a series of images of you together and individually. We will explore a variety of looks and moods, and I will show you how we can manipulate the images in Photoshop – from removing stray hairs to making you look like a character from Lord of The Rings.
The final images will be put on a disc for you to print off as many as you wish, or send to friends and family.
You can share this chance with as many friends as you want – the more people who mention your name, the more chances there are for you to be involved in the photo shoot.
Please note: the photo shoot will need to take place in Dumfries and Galloway within the next 12 months – unless you are prepared to pay for my travel, food and accommodation for the photo session to take place elsewhere.
For more about the Spring Fling Open Studio trail, visit www.spring-fling.co.uk
Between now and the 5th of June 2012, all you have to do is ask people you know to visit and “like” my Facebook page – www.facebook.com/kimayresportraitphotography - and get them to leave a comment saying who recommended it to them (if you aren’t already following me, then you need to visit and “like” my page first. Once you have done so, just tell your friends to “like” my page and say who sent them).
On the 6th of June I will randomly select a new fan from the comments and he or she, along with the person who pointed them in my direction, will win a free photo shoot for them both.
The photo session will last 2 to 3 hours and the aim is create a series of images of you together and individually. We will explore a variety of looks and moods, and I will show you how we can manipulate the images in Photoshop – from removing stray hairs to making you look like a character from Lord of The Rings.
The final images will be put on a disc for you to print off as many as you wish, or send to friends and family.
You can share this chance with as many friends as you want – the more people who mention your name, the more chances there are for you to be involved in the photo shoot.
Please note: the photo shoot will need to take place in Dumfries and Galloway within the next 12 months – unless you are prepared to pay for my travel, food and accommodation for the photo session to take place elsewhere.
For more about the Spring Fling Open Studio trail, visit www.spring-fling.co.uk
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Sean Taylor back at The Mill
Singer/songwriter/excellent guitarist, Sean Taylor, was back in the area on Friday appearing once again at The Mill Sessions.
For those of you with good memories, you may recall I photographed him last year (and for those that don’t, here’s the link - Sean Taylor and the Mill Sessions). And he and his manager liked the photos so much, they were used for his new album, Love Against Death.
So with Sean back for another performance, it seemed liked a good opportunity to take a few more shots.
This time he arrived earlier in the day, so rather than rushing to get a shot in just before the gig started, I went over to the house he was staying at around mid afternoon.
I took a portable backdrop and lighting equipment with me and set about getting a good headshot.
What became apparent almost immediately, though, was he was not feeling particularly comfortable while I was taking the photos. Most people aren’t in front of the camera, so a lot of my time is spent helping people to relax in the unnatural setting of someone pointing a large lens at them and clicking.
However, for Sean it was more to do with the fact he didn’t have hold of his guitar. While I was playing with the lighting and checking the connection of the camera to the laptop, he just sat and played.
Catching him immersed in his own world of music felt much more authentic, so for the next shots in front of the lights he had his guitar with him.
Of course as soon as he had the guitar in his hands he started playing again, which, as anyone who has seen him play live will know, is completely mesmerising.
The idea of photographing against a neutral backdrop is it makes it easier to manipulate the background later in post-production. But as I clicked away, I realised pulling back to include the lights and surrounds looked more interesting. Revealing the stage set seemed more in keeping with the lack of falseness or pretension you feel when he plays.
And as he continued to play, I felt like I was getting a personal concert. There was no one else about to enjoy the way his fingers move around that guitar and the soulful mood of his voice. So after confirming it was OK with him, I flipped the camera into video mode and recorded Sean singing “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues”
My wife, Maggie, didn’t get to see Sean Taylor when he played last year, but has been thoroughly enjoying his albums since I came home that night singing his praises. So on Friday evening we made sure we had a babysitter on hand and Maggie came along to The Mill with me, where we were both just blown away by his performance.
With the camera on my knee, I recorded him singing “Coal Not Dole” – my favourite track off his new album. Unfortunately the light was really low so the visual quality is not very good, however the sound is good enough to get a sense of just why you have to see this guy live.
For those of you with good memories, you may recall I photographed him last year (and for those that don’t, here’s the link - Sean Taylor and the Mill Sessions). And he and his manager liked the photos so much, they were used for his new album, Love Against Death.
So with Sean back for another performance, it seemed liked a good opportunity to take a few more shots.
This time he arrived earlier in the day, so rather than rushing to get a shot in just before the gig started, I went over to the house he was staying at around mid afternoon.
I took a portable backdrop and lighting equipment with me and set about getting a good headshot.
What became apparent almost immediately, though, was he was not feeling particularly comfortable while I was taking the photos. Most people aren’t in front of the camera, so a lot of my time is spent helping people to relax in the unnatural setting of someone pointing a large lens at them and clicking.
However, for Sean it was more to do with the fact he didn’t have hold of his guitar. While I was playing with the lighting and checking the connection of the camera to the laptop, he just sat and played.
Catching him immersed in his own world of music felt much more authentic, so for the next shots in front of the lights he had his guitar with him.
Of course as soon as he had the guitar in his hands he started playing again, which, as anyone who has seen him play live will know, is completely mesmerising.
The idea of photographing against a neutral backdrop is it makes it easier to manipulate the background later in post-production. But as I clicked away, I realised pulling back to include the lights and surrounds looked more interesting. Revealing the stage set seemed more in keeping with the lack of falseness or pretension you feel when he plays.
And as he continued to play, I felt like I was getting a personal concert. There was no one else about to enjoy the way his fingers move around that guitar and the soulful mood of his voice. So after confirming it was OK with him, I flipped the camera into video mode and recorded Sean singing “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues”
My wife, Maggie, didn’t get to see Sean Taylor when he played last year, but has been thoroughly enjoying his albums since I came home that night singing his praises. So on Friday evening we made sure we had a babysitter on hand and Maggie came along to The Mill with me, where we were both just blown away by his performance.
With the camera on my knee, I recorded him singing “Coal Not Dole” – my favourite track off his new album. Unfortunately the light was really low so the visual quality is not very good, however the sound is good enough to get a sense of just why you have to see this guy live.
Thursday, 3 May 2012
Now available for your iPad and iPhone
Last year I put together a book called Facing The Weekend which included all the portraits I took over the Spring Fling Open Studio weekend, and the year before, I created a book of my exhibition, Staring Back.
Facing The Weekend, and Staring Back were both published using the online service, blurb.com (as the new book will be too).
Now while the quality is superb, the drawback is they are not particularly cheap. By the time printing and postage costs have been added, you won't get any change out of £30, even for the softcover edition.
However, Blurb have recently introduced the option of selling downloadable versions designed for iPads and iPhones, which means you can now experience these books on your devices for less than a tenth of the cost of the printed versions.
Follow these links where you can also preview the books before you decide whether to buy for only £2.49 – that’s about €3 or $4
Facing The Weekend
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2488930
Staring Back
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1314623
The book I’m currently working on – Artist In Residence: Please Let Me Take Your Photo! – should hopefully be ready in time for the coming Spring Fling weekend in just over 4 weeks time.
Facing The Weekend, and Staring Back were both published using the online service, blurb.com (as the new book will be too).
Now while the quality is superb, the drawback is they are not particularly cheap. By the time printing and postage costs have been added, you won't get any change out of £30, even for the softcover edition.
However, Blurb have recently introduced the option of selling downloadable versions designed for iPads and iPhones, which means you can now experience these books on your devices for less than a tenth of the cost of the printed versions.
Follow these links where you can also preview the books before you decide whether to buy for only £2.49 – that’s about €3 or $4
Facing The Weekend
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2488930
Staring Back
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1314623
The book I’m currently working on – Artist In Residence: Please Let Me Take Your Photo! – should hopefully be ready in time for the coming Spring Fling weekend in just over 4 weeks time.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
A Weekend of Photography and Art
This weekend is going to be rather busy.
Last year I teamed up with several other local, professional photographers to form the Galloway Photographic Collective. The idea is we are pooling knowledge, experience and resources to promote our businesses, photography, and this corner of Scotland.
It’s taken a few months and lots of debates and decision making, but we are officially launching this weekend.
On Saturday evening of March 31st, there will be a preview of our joint exhibition at The Catstrand, followed by a talk by internationally renowned photographer, Colin Prior.
The following day is an Open Studio Trail with 4 different venues where the public will be able to view photographs, talk to the photographers and sample their home baking.
It’s all looking to be quite an event.
Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to attend as I had already arranged to be at the Scottish Tattoo Convention in Edinburgh that weekend (see last post) taking photos of people with ink-adorned bodies.
However, my photos will be on display at the Catstrand and at the Lock Ken Gallery and Café, where Allan Wright has kindly given me some wall space for the Open Studio Trail.
And if all this wasn’t enough, the WASPS Studio buildings in Kirkcudbright, where my wife, Maggie, has her studio is also having an open weekend for the public to view and buy art direct from the artists.
So if you're any where near the South West of Scotland this weekend, there's a visual feast to be had.
If you'd like to keep up to date with developments and events from the Galloway Photographic Collective, then do visit and "Like" our Facebook page, which can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/gallowayphotocollective
Last year I teamed up with several other local, professional photographers to form the Galloway Photographic Collective. The idea is we are pooling knowledge, experience and resources to promote our businesses, photography, and this corner of Scotland.
It’s taken a few months and lots of debates and decision making, but we are officially launching this weekend.
On Saturday evening of March 31st, there will be a preview of our joint exhibition at The Catstrand, followed by a talk by internationally renowned photographer, Colin Prior.
The following day is an Open Studio Trail with 4 different venues where the public will be able to view photographs, talk to the photographers and sample their home baking.
It’s all looking to be quite an event.
Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to attend as I had already arranged to be at the Scottish Tattoo Convention in Edinburgh that weekend (see last post) taking photos of people with ink-adorned bodies.
However, my photos will be on display at the Catstrand and at the Lock Ken Gallery and Café, where Allan Wright has kindly given me some wall space for the Open Studio Trail.
And if all this wasn’t enough, the WASPS Studio buildings in Kirkcudbright, where my wife, Maggie, has her studio is also having an open weekend for the public to view and buy art direct from the artists.
So if you're any where near the South West of Scotland this weekend, there's a visual feast to be had.
If you'd like to keep up to date with developments and events from the Galloway Photographic Collective, then do visit and "Like" our Facebook page, which can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/gallowayphotocollective
Friday, 16 March 2012
Portrait and Tattoo Photography
Last year, invited by a guy I’d photographed singing in his punk band, I went up to Edinburgh for the Scottish Tattoo Convention. As a portrait photographer who loves faces, seeing all these people covered in piercings, tattoos and more than a few outlandish hairstyles, I felt like a kid in a cookie factory (click here for the post about it).
One of the things I came to realise afterwards, was there seems to be very little good tattoo photography about. There are millions of photos on the web, but most are very amateur. It seemed odd to me that people can pay hundreds of pounds, even thousands, for their tattoos, and yet the best photo they have of them was taken on a phone or a cheap camera in poor lighting.
In response to this revelation, this year I’ve taken out a stall at the Scottish Tattoo Convention (Sat March 31st & Sun April 1st) and will be setting up with camera, lights and a laptop. For a very reasonable rate I’ll take people's photos, edit them right there and email it to them so they can put on Facebook, print it out for their wall or send it to their granny.
So for the past couple of weeks I’ve been honing my skills by taking photos of anyone I can grab with a tattoo and have been discovering it’s quite a different kind of photography to my usual black and white portraiture. Not only am I having to think much more about colour, it can also be a tricky thing to strike a balance between a person’s face and their tattoo - because that’s mostly what I want to do – take portraits of people with their tattoos rather than just the tattoos on their own.
I’m in the process of getting a banner printed up to hang above the stall to attract attention. Ami, with her brightly coloured hair, piercings and back piece that runs from her neck to her derriere was an ideal choice.
For a few more photos of the colourful Ami, check my Facebook or Flickr pages.
I’ll be taking my son, Rogan, along with me - partly for the company, and partly to help deal with waiting customers when I’m busy.
However, I’ll be letting all the tattoo artists know he’s only 16 years old, and he will not be allowed to enter the Win-a-Free-Tattoo competition...
One of the things I came to realise afterwards, was there seems to be very little good tattoo photography about. There are millions of photos on the web, but most are very amateur. It seemed odd to me that people can pay hundreds of pounds, even thousands, for their tattoos, and yet the best photo they have of them was taken on a phone or a cheap camera in poor lighting.
In response to this revelation, this year I’ve taken out a stall at the Scottish Tattoo Convention (Sat March 31st & Sun April 1st) and will be setting up with camera, lights and a laptop. For a very reasonable rate I’ll take people's photos, edit them right there and email it to them so they can put on Facebook, print it out for their wall or send it to their granny.
So for the past couple of weeks I’ve been honing my skills by taking photos of anyone I can grab with a tattoo and have been discovering it’s quite a different kind of photography to my usual black and white portraiture. Not only am I having to think much more about colour, it can also be a tricky thing to strike a balance between a person’s face and their tattoo - because that’s mostly what I want to do – take portraits of people with their tattoos rather than just the tattoos on their own.
I’m in the process of getting a banner printed up to hang above the stall to attract attention. Ami, with her brightly coloured hair, piercings and back piece that runs from her neck to her derriere was an ideal choice.
For a few more photos of the colourful Ami, check my Facebook or Flickr pages.
I’ll be taking my son, Rogan, along with me - partly for the company, and partly to help deal with waiting customers when I’m busy.
However, I’ll be letting all the tattoo artists know he’s only 16 years old, and he will not be allowed to enter the Win-a-Free-Tattoo competition...
Saturday, 4 February 2012
Album Cover Photo for Sean Taylor
In the post this morning I received a copy of Love Against Death, the new album by blues/acoustic singer-songwriter Sean Taylor – even though it’s not due for release for another 8 weeks.
It’s not a pirate copy, but a complimentary one as the cover and internal photos are ones I took of Sean when he played at the Mill Sessions in Gatehouse of Fleet about this time last year.
It was the middle of winter and dark outside. I was given a large empty room, but I only had one studio light with me, and I had about half an hour before he had to be downstairs for his performance. I switched off the overhead lights and shot by illumination of the single light, creating stark shadows and a deep moody atmosphere.
Fortunately for me Sean was less self-conscious than most people I photograph, which meant I was able to get several shots I was really pleased with. I edited the best 3, put them on my blog and sent him copies. I was delighted when he started using them as his Facebook profile pics.
About 3 months ago I was contacted by Sean’s manager, Stuart, saying they wanted to use my photos on the new album. Over the past couple of years, Sean’s profile has been on the rise as he’s played at major festivals and made various radio appearances. Stuart has high hopes this will be the breakthrough album to propel Sean to a much wider audience.
It’s a great album. My personal favourite is track 10, Coal Not Dole.
The rest of the world won’t be able to buy the album until March 26th – 12 months to the day after the TUC ‘March for an Alternative’ protest, when hundreds of thousands of people united on the streets of London against the government’s austerity measures and in support of a fairer society.
The first song on the album, Stand Up, is about this protest – here’s the video for it
He's booked to play at the Mill Sessions again this May - I'm really looking forward to it.
It’s not a pirate copy, but a complimentary one as the cover and internal photos are ones I took of Sean when he played at the Mill Sessions in Gatehouse of Fleet about this time last year.
It was the middle of winter and dark outside. I was given a large empty room, but I only had one studio light with me, and I had about half an hour before he had to be downstairs for his performance. I switched off the overhead lights and shot by illumination of the single light, creating stark shadows and a deep moody atmosphere.
Fortunately for me Sean was less self-conscious than most people I photograph, which meant I was able to get several shots I was really pleased with. I edited the best 3, put them on my blog and sent him copies. I was delighted when he started using them as his Facebook profile pics.
About 3 months ago I was contacted by Sean’s manager, Stuart, saying they wanted to use my photos on the new album. Over the past couple of years, Sean’s profile has been on the rise as he’s played at major festivals and made various radio appearances. Stuart has high hopes this will be the breakthrough album to propel Sean to a much wider audience.
It’s a great album. My personal favourite is track 10, Coal Not Dole.
The rest of the world won’t be able to buy the album until March 26th – 12 months to the day after the TUC ‘March for an Alternative’ protest, when hundreds of thousands of people united on the streets of London against the government’s austerity measures and in support of a fairer society.
The first song on the album, Stand Up, is about this protest – here’s the video for it
He's booked to play at the Mill Sessions again this May - I'm really looking forward to it.
Friday, 20 January 2012
The Challenge of the Self Portrait
Last year I was asked by The Stewartry Camera Club to give a talk to their members about Portrait Photography. It seemed to go down well and I was asked back this year to talk about self-portraits and to set a competition, which I did on Wednesday.
In some ways, self-portraits can be seen as one of the most challenging forms of photography for most photographers, because there are significant obstacles to overcome on 2 levels.
The first is to do with the technical difficulties in getting the exposure, composition and focus right when you can’t actually look through the lens – at least if you want to avoid the cliché of just standing in front of the mirror with your camera in front of your face.
So you have to try and get everything set up then either set the timer, run round, get into place and adopt the right posture and expression before the camera goes click, or you need something like a cable or remote release that allows you to trigger the shutter from a distance – at least if you want to avoid the other cliché of holding the camera at arms length and just pointing it at you.
However, in many ways the far bigger challenge is in deciding how you wish to portray yourself to the world.
It’s one thing for other people to take your photo – it is their interpretation of you in that moment. But if you are taking it yourself, you have to make the final decision about how you want to appear. Intelligent? Sexy? Cool?
However, the problem with trying to look cool, for example, takes us back to those dilemmas from our teens. Cool people seem to be effortlessly cool. People trying to be cool are inherently un-cool. So how do you make yourself look cool without looking like you’re trying to make yourself look cool? The risk of ridicule if you get it wrong is gut-knotting.
The reality is that while most people are wary about having their photo taken in case they look awful, most photographers feel this even more intensely. Indeed, for many, one of the primary advantages of holding the camera is precisely so you don’t have to be in the image. So to tell an audience of camera club members that I wanted them to turn the device on themselves was never going to be an easy sell.
However, I did my best to try and fill them with enthusiasm for the idea, primarily pushing the notion of photography as storytelling. It can be like having your own dressing up box – you can pretend to be whomever you want.
And once you move away from the suggestion that it has to be some kind of accurate representation, and into the idea of performance and play, then the possibilities for creativity and fun open up massively.
I don’t know how many will enter the competition. I know it will push almost all of them completely out of their comfort zone, but I feel the experience of doing it will be all the more rewarding because of that.
In about 3 weeks I’ll be given the submissions to look through and judge, and in the 2nd half of February, I’ll be going back to announce the winners.
Although anyone who is brave enough to overcome their reluctance and actually enter is already a winner in my eyes.
And if you have 5 minutes to spare, below is a video about the making of the Lavazza (coffee) 2012 Calendar, where they asked 12 famous photographers to create self-portraits. Each had a very different take on the concept.
The LAVAZZERS 2012 from Eugenio Recuenco on Vimeo.
In some ways, self-portraits can be seen as one of the most challenging forms of photography for most photographers, because there are significant obstacles to overcome on 2 levels.
The first is to do with the technical difficulties in getting the exposure, composition and focus right when you can’t actually look through the lens – at least if you want to avoid the cliché of just standing in front of the mirror with your camera in front of your face.
So you have to try and get everything set up then either set the timer, run round, get into place and adopt the right posture and expression before the camera goes click, or you need something like a cable or remote release that allows you to trigger the shutter from a distance – at least if you want to avoid the other cliché of holding the camera at arms length and just pointing it at you.
However, in many ways the far bigger challenge is in deciding how you wish to portray yourself to the world.
It’s one thing for other people to take your photo – it is their interpretation of you in that moment. But if you are taking it yourself, you have to make the final decision about how you want to appear. Intelligent? Sexy? Cool?
However, the problem with trying to look cool, for example, takes us back to those dilemmas from our teens. Cool people seem to be effortlessly cool. People trying to be cool are inherently un-cool. So how do you make yourself look cool without looking like you’re trying to make yourself look cool? The risk of ridicule if you get it wrong is gut-knotting.
The reality is that while most people are wary about having their photo taken in case they look awful, most photographers feel this even more intensely. Indeed, for many, one of the primary advantages of holding the camera is precisely so you don’t have to be in the image. So to tell an audience of camera club members that I wanted them to turn the device on themselves was never going to be an easy sell.
However, I did my best to try and fill them with enthusiasm for the idea, primarily pushing the notion of photography as storytelling. It can be like having your own dressing up box – you can pretend to be whomever you want.
And once you move away from the suggestion that it has to be some kind of accurate representation, and into the idea of performance and play, then the possibilities for creativity and fun open up massively.
I don’t know how many will enter the competition. I know it will push almost all of them completely out of their comfort zone, but I feel the experience of doing it will be all the more rewarding because of that.
In about 3 weeks I’ll be given the submissions to look through and judge, and in the 2nd half of February, I’ll be going back to announce the winners.
Although anyone who is brave enough to overcome their reluctance and actually enter is already a winner in my eyes.
And if you have 5 minutes to spare, below is a video about the making of the Lavazza (coffee) 2012 Calendar, where they asked 12 famous photographers to create self-portraits. Each had a very different take on the concept.
The LAVAZZERS 2012 from Eugenio Recuenco on Vimeo.
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