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

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

Artist In Residence by Kim Ayres

"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.

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

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.

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.

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

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...

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.

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.