The big wheel in Manchester City Centre
Fun?
The big wind down begins here folks! Unless you sell tech, or toys, or Christmas Cards, you can say your year has drawn to an end. A friend of mine sells lingerie on-line, and she says, December is a big month for sales. According to this mornings news, today is the busiest day for on-line retailers, with customers placing orders for guaranteed Christmas delivery.
In my world, we are winding down somewhat. Christmas portraits are still sort after, and that side of the business is quite buoyant, but in terms of other work, we have reached meltdown. Everything halts while Christmas waves it’s cheery hand.
Yesterday, Sunday 27th, was my last studio model day. Over the last few months I have been running discounted model shoots, where the model does a few hours studio posing for clients, who hire her, and the studio by the hour.
The model days have been very enjoyable to produce, and we’ve had some great feedback from everyone who has attended. As the vast majority who have taken the time slots have been amateur photographers, they are now saving money for Christmas presents, which is quite understandable.
I haven’t been in my studio a year yet, I opened in March, but trends are trends no matter where you are situated. I am going to sit and reflect over the events of 2011 soon, and write about how we arrived where we are, from what was an empty shell of a shop. Also, this quiet time gives me some time to myself, so I may get the ol’ camera out for fun, rather than profit, and see what I can come up with.
Sounds like fun!
Street Musican
I grabbed this shot during the Matthew Street Festival in Liverpool city centre, a few years ago. This musician wasn’t one of the main acts on a stage, he had just set himself up on the pavement, as a busker.
His playing was really good, and he attracted quite a crowd around him. It was only afterwards, looking at this image, when I realised how worn the frets are on that red Fender Stratocaster of his. It has obviously been played to destruction.
Aye Aye
I see the same old treads on forums, and linked messages on Twitter, and just about everywhere else togs go to bore each other rigid. That old chestnut entitled, “How to take better photographs”!
Like an idiot, I fall for the blurb every time, and I take a visit to see what tips are being given away free, only to find the same old shit which has been around for years. Tip one, buy better glass, Tip two, buy a better camera, Tip three, buy a tripod or a bag of rice!
Brilliant! What a waste of time! There’s another ten minutes of my life I won’t get back again.
So, it made me think, why does taking better photographs solely rely on buying better kit? Surely the way to take better photographs, is to use your imagination, and to also use your eyes. Look at what is in your background, to make sure there is nothing distracting, or use a quirky angle to add a little interest. Those things cost nothing.
If you are stupid enough to think the only way to take great images, is to throw money at the damn thing, you deserve what you get. All that will happen, with your new glass, and newly found higher megapixel count, is the crap you are shooting is sharper!
Here’s my tip. Take a couple of photos, come back, and explore every detail, the exposure, depth of field, composition, and learn from any mistakes you have made. The best images are not always taken by people who own the most expensive kit, they are taken by great photographers, who have a great eye!
Fish ‘n’ Chips
Yorkshire Fish ‘n’ Chips are legendary, it’s the way they are cooked in fat, rather than the way the rest of the country cooks by using oil. It’s the smell which reel’s you in too, it’s almost magnetic.
Lime Street Station
This shot was taken 12 months ago, and it was never meant to be a street scene, it was just a snap taken on a lovely Summer Monday. I suppose if you leave me alone long enough, I get bored, and when I am bored, my mind wanders.
This photo was taken in Liverpool city centre, it’s shows the new steps which lead to Lime Street Station. The reason I was bored? My girlfriend had gone to the toilet. It doesn’t take long for my mind to start wandering!
Street Photography
“Your photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees”. Paul Strand.
Call it whatever you like, “Street Photography”, has all but died out. A form of documentary photography, which started around 1890, and continued in one form or another, to the mid 1970′s.
The style, is a candid look at the way we lived, documenting people, places, and notable events. Looking back on photographs from these bygone era’s, now gives us an idea of how people lived back then. Personally, I like the street photography which includes people, rather than the William Eggleston style, of just capturing inanimate objects and buildings. The inclusion of people in these images, somehow brings the scenes to life, and people, as always, add interest.
I thought I would do some street scenes, and based on the fact that a certain amount of urban decay adds to the overall theme and feel of this style, I chose this as my first subject. I also shot it at ISO 800 to add some grain, just to add some mood. And to cap it all off, I decided to turn the image monochrome.
This is Winwick Street, Warrington. The bridge is the railway which runs between Liverpool and Manchester.
Hard Copy
It would be a cliche to say we live in a digital world, and it would be obvious to say we have embraced the new technology, and taken the latest tech to our hearts. When I started out as a wedding photographer, there would be one or two guests shooting over my shoulder. Now, everyone has a pop at what I have set up, not only with digi cameras, but a whole host of smart phones are held to eye level all around me. It’s almost like being at a paparazzi convention some times.
It’s very true to say, digital technology has given people the confidence to snap away, at almost anything which stands still long enough to become subject matter. Party, this is due to cost. It costs absolutely nothing to take a picture these days, at least, once you have the kit it doesn’t. Whether that kit be a 5 grand Canon 1Ds or an iPhone.
One of the side effects of the digital revolution, which only started some 10 years ago, is, nobody owns photographic prints any more. Everything we snap is either stored on our phones internal chip, our on our computer hard drives. And while this may not be a problem right now, it will be a problem in the future.
The reason for the problem is this. There is no documentation for future generations to look back upon. You may think that is a ridiculous statement, because surely they can just look at our computers. You may consider this statement a little deeper though, and you may ask yourselves, how many gadgets from 10 years ago, do you still own? I used to use floppy discs, but children today don’t even know what they are. The PC’s and smart phones of today will be totally obsolete in a few short years from now, and much of what we have photographed during this last decade, will be lost forever.
Unless you make a hard copy and print them!
The Big Picture
The world begins again, and is marked as 24/09/2011.
I guess like most pro photographers, I see myself as a photographer, and sometimes forget that also I am a businessman, and being in business means you have to market yourself to the masses. In my case, I am working in “niche” markets, of varying kinds. With my business head on, I do look at where work may come from, and like all of us, I have fell into traps, and also, I have fell for some pretty lame sales pitches in my time.
I recently advertised in a magazine, which at the time, I knew would be a waste of money. However, while my head said “No way”! My mouth decided to say “Yes, great idea, where do I sign”? So I said goodbye to £180, and to be honest, my head was completely right, as the return from the set of adverts was zilch!
Facebook! I don’t like Facebook. Facebook hits me with all kinds of adverts, which usually have a dating theme. Facebook, for some reason, thinks I am an ugly, boring, single, washed up, can’t get a date for love nor money, type of person. And when I don’t visit for a while, it reminds me to come back for some more abuse. I can assure Facebook that I have a rather beautiful partner, thank you very much, and I don’t need a date!
I guess, with not liking being bombarded with adverts myself, I am pretty reluctant to advertise there myself. In fact, I have advertised on Facebook, and waved bye bye to even more money. It doesn’t work! And I don’t need a date!
So what does work? Google has changed over the years, at one time, using Google submit would get your website ranked on the relevant pages pretty quickly. Nowadays, submitting to Google Submit is a complete waste of time. Google now looks at ranking you, by working out how important they think you are, and if you have a new website, like I have, you will know, getting your new site to work it’s way up the rankings, can be a long winded affair.
This is what I have found over the last few months.
Tag everything, all the images on your website should be tagged, so Google can pick them up. That aids Google to list your site in the relevant categories.
Google bot looks at meta tags, so make sure every page has the correct meta tags, but also, Google also expects the content of your page to include what is included in the tags. For instance, if your meta tags say “studio hire”, somewhere on that page, you should mention “studio hire” in the text content.
One major thing Google takes into account, is how important you are. Or more accurately, who important Google thinks you are. The more websites which link to your site, the more important you are seen to be. However, having “backward links” from sites which are not relevant to you, can do you harm. If you run a photography site and you have a 1000 links from un-related businesses, Google will believe you are trying to cheat their system, which, to be honest, you probably are. Be careful of companies selling backward links. Any backward links really do need to be valid and reputable.
I also came across this website, which is very interesting if you are trying to get your website further up Google rankings. It is well worth a read! http://thekeywordacademy.com/
Starting From Scratch
I think one of the most difficult aspects to running my blog, is getting to grips with what it is supposed to be about. I take photographs for a living, but I also enjoy taking photographs, just for my own pleasure. I think the crossover between where pleasure ends and work begins, was causing me a problem.
It’s fine writing about photography in general, but when you turn a blog into an extension of your work website, chaos takes over. One, because clients and customers, who visit, expect service related posts, and people who visit for other reasons don’t expect to be bombarded with sales pitches. Two, it’s difficult to be passionate about something, which is driven by the requirements of other people.
Therefore, I came to a decision, actually, a couple of decisions. One, to open a blog, solely related to my studio and work, and, Two, to strip this blog clean and start afresh.
I think part of the problem I have with posting is, I don’t know where what I want to say, fits in with what has previously been posted. It has become a bit of a mishmash over the last few months. I guess I’m like everyone else, I horde things I don’t need. I horded blog posts which meant very little, but I was a bit worried about losing them all.
Now they’re all gone, I feel quite good about making a fresh start.
