Master Connor .... and Mum.

Some portrait sessions are more fun than others, and I was treated to a fantastic shoot with this handsome little chap who brought his stunningly gorgeous Mum - former Miss West Lothian winner - Claire Molloy, along for company :-))

Reach

I recently had the great pleasure of attending a Masquerade Ball which was organised by Stephanie Tennant on behalf of the charity, Reach.

Some of the women looked resplendent in their ball gowns and masks, and both myself and my assistant, FSM Agency Model, Charlotte, had some great laughs with those guests who had their pictures taken for posterity.

Pictures from the ball:

Fair trade

I enjoyed an afternoon at St. Catherine’s Primary school in Edinburgh recently when I was invited to photograph a group of pupils who had set-up their own Fair Trade stall in the school’s market area.

It turned out to be one of the most popular stalls in the hall – attracting a good deal of attention as well as, I imagine, a fair profit. Most of all though, the underlying experience of sourcing, pricing, displaying and retailing the goods they purchased will doubtless inspire these budding young retail entrepreneurs to bigger and better things.

The pupils of St. Catherine's:

Little Princess Smiling Face.

Little Katie’s winning smile won me a bronze award from the Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers when I entered her image into their August competition.

Katie is definitely one of the best models I’ve worked with this year; not only is she a beautiful, fun-filled wee person, but she has a smile that melts my heart.

Also, should I live so long, I’ll be able to blackmail her with these images when she’s 16; a cunning scenario which I’m also developing in respect of my own grandchildren (insert mad, cackling laughter).

Katie:

The 'Cute' factor

Having made photography my profession – rather than my passion and pastime – I’ve had some insights into the more difficult aspects of the work; it’s quite technically challenging for a start: I no longer have license to pick and choose when and if I decide to shoot, it’s now a case of being where I have to be and then trying to grapple with any conflicts I might find – such as light and weather.

On the other hand, it does have its massively PLUS points, and two of those were presented to me just recently: Alana had commissioned me to take a passport sized picture of her daughter, Ruby. But what was a simple enough shoot (despite the latter technical trials and tribulations of getting the wee ones face to fit the very precise passport authority requirements) soon turned into a great fun session as Ruby’s inherent ‘cuteness’ forced me (with Mums permission) to shoot off another batch of pics.

Ruby had brought her friend Olivia along with her for company and that just pushed the ‘cute factor’ right off the scale.

Alana, Ruby & Olivia

What does WC Fields know ...........

W.C. Fields once – famously – said “Never work with animals or children”. But he was an actor and actors are often upstaged by children; kids tend to be more relaxed, more energetic and less likely to conform to the ‘artistic’ direction of the photographer or the sympathetic cajoling of the parents. On the upside, though, is the fact that photographing families in general – and kids in particular – is just great fun.

Woe betide the photographer who takes it all a bit too seriously; the children will NOT think too highly of his creative direction, nor are they likely to be much impressed by his attempts to ‘place’ them in the picture. I’ve found that the best way to deal with kids is just to let them do their own thing: they’re not going to sit still for long, so I try to make an art out of catching them on the move. Then again, I’m not a great advocate of families all sitting together and watching the birdie with a nice smile on their faces, I much prefer to see kids laughing – mostly at their own antics as they try their utmost to confound both photographer and parents.

This family fitted the bill perfectly: the eldest youngster was all over the studio and no amount of persuasion would get her to sit still for the camera. So we just allowed her to do her own thing until, eventually, she must have felt she was missing out on all the picture taking activity and got involved again. It was a fantastic shoot which I – and I hope the family – enjoyed. They were certainly delighted with the finished pictures.

Quick as a flash, eh?

My last few days have seen me with the nose to the grindstone as I printed a series of 31 x A4 prints.

You have to kinda steel yourself for a task as repetitive as that; you have to make sure your mindset is right and you have to be prepared to stay at it.

It took me around five hours to complete the series and, although I wept silently as I replaced empty ink cartridges one – one after another after another, or so it seemed – I did enjoy seeing the images transposed from electronic imagery to hard-copy prints. It’s a cathartic process that reminds me of developing my prints back in the good old back ‘n white days of yore; the cyclopic blinking of my Dad’s ‘Gnome’ enlarger with its excellent ‘Star’ lens, the rattle of the negative tray, the smell of the chemicals and, of course, watching the images materialise from out of the white paper. It’s not so different now … well, OK, I guess it is.

Things are a lot quicker now though, are they not? Or are they? The fact is, those images I spent all of yesterday printing were first consigned to digital ones n’ zero’s in the camera’s CF card way back in October of last year; a wedding I had originally been commissioned to cover at around this time last year!

As well as being a lovely couple, the bride and groom are also a busy pair and they only finally produced their list of wants just last week. In fact, yesterday marked four months to the day since I did the shoot. I have also to say that the full sum of the invoice was paid just a few weeks after the shoot, and that I have had further orders for reprints.

Isn’t it ironic though, how for all the ease of workload and speed of turnover in the digital age, we humans can still draw things out :)

What to do before dinner.

The great thing about the festive period is not knowing that you’re going to receive new presents but – and especially if you’re a parent or grandparent – it’s the certainty that your family are likely to make a welcome appearance.

At the turn of last year, my wife June and I had the pleasure of entertaining a host of family members for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, June (a staff nurse) was working right through the festivities – including Christmas Day – so the meal was delayed until 5pm. That did allow me to schedule some studio work with my youngest Son and two of my three Grandchildren.

There is a system to photographing children that I’ve found works almost everytime, though it’s a system that has to be carefully weighed against the characters of the kids themselves: first, it’s always best to have the studio set for the shot; if you spend too much time mucking around with lights, backdrops and props then the kids are going to get bored. Have it all set up and the kids love the new ‘game’ of getting their pics taken and the energy just flows. Secondly, they are going to get bored, so you have that time to try and capture some of the moodier – or less effervescent – portraits. And, once they get past the bored stage, they enter the frustrated stage – and the shoot is then over.

As for the adults, well, you can always blackmail them with extra helpings of the coming dinner.

Jodie & Duncan with Uncle David.