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.

These are a few of my favourite things.

All photographers have their favourite subjects and projects. My own is probably still-life photography, in which I can - and often do - lose myself for hours on end; occasionally without even creating something I feel is worth printing. But I do love all the creative alchemy that goes into making - rather than taking - a picture.

Second on my list of favourites has to be family portraiture. I do love taking children's portraits and I can usually build a rapport with children very quickly - possibly 'cause I haven't grown up much myself in the last 50 years, and they can sense the 'Granpa' in me - and that's important when the subject is a wee bit shy. But, on a personal level, I enjoy shooting family groups more than individuals; the dynamics of a family are so easy to interpret, making the photographic capture all the easier to perform. Having a family group interacting with each other within the confines of a studio is a fantastic experience. The very fact that they are all together, usually dressed especially for the occasion but, at the same time, totally out of the comfort zones of the places they normally visit, means that they always seem to want to express themselves a little more: smiles come easily, jokes are told, laughter resounds off the walls. Really, all I have to do is just make sure the batteries don't run out on the equipment!

Such was the case recently when I had the fortune to work with Carolyn & Kenny and their daughters. The fact that I did little direction during the shoot is testament to the fact that they enjoyed the experience and that Carolyn got really involved; directing the latter part of the shoot herself in an effort to make sure that she got the pictures she wanted, rather than have me construct them for her. Such collaboration is always welcome; it makes for a far more productive shoot and, in consequence, a much more intimate and tailored portfolio of pictures.

Carolyn called after she received her prints to say that she loved them, and I think that her own participation in their creation made them more special to her. My only disappointment was that I didn't have more time to work with Kenny and his new daughter. The shots of them both together were taken at the end of a two hour sitting and the wee one was beginning to tire of all the activity. But I'd love to have them back again to take up where we left off.

Time

Where does the time go?

I keep blogging that I'm not as busy as I should be, but then I complain that there aren't enough hours in the day.

The last week has seen me trying (mostly) to keep up with the business of this business: writing back and forth to the Tax dept, debating with Scottish Power over what my bill should be for the very little time I've actually spent in the studio these last five months. This whole discussion was (I hope) brought to a close on Friday when the said electrical supply company realised they were trying to get me to pay for a seperate address! Such was their ineptitude (faxtored up to 10X by the inclusion of loads of misaddressed junk mail and debt-collectors FINAL NOTICE requests, that I have now opted to go with OPUS; they're a helluva lot cheaper and they seem to have my account in order.

Inbetween bouts of bee-like industry on a business level, I've also had the opportunity to take the camera outdoors on a couple of occasions. My poor 5D, 1st time I took the lens cap off the shutter 'squinted' - just not used to seeing daylight these last months.

My mate Sammy and I went to Lanarkshire on Saturday, hunting for some landscape stuff, but it was a waste of time. That area is pretty much flat as a pancake and, with the trees now almost totally denuded, there wasn't much to look at.

On Sunday I had the pleasure of welcoming Samantha, Brian and wee Megan to the studio. I'd had the fortune to get a 'materinity' session with Samantha - just days before she gave birth to the gorgeous wee Megan. Samantha and Brian liked those pics, so i was requested to follow on with a 'Family' shoot at the studio.

This evening I have Maggie Henderson and her Daughter at the studio. I haven't met them yet, but Maggie's daughter hopes to make it in modelling one day and she's asked me to help add some images to her growing portfolio and I'm looking forward to meeting them both later this evening.

Samantha, Brian & Megan