Posing the question ..

Trumpets! Fanfare! Mucho celebration! My studio's been open for a year! Hurrah! I made it! I'm really pleased!..

With today's anniversary comes the end of the 'Free Portrait Shoot' promotion that I was running, and I'd like to thank everyone that took advantage of it. I'll confess it wasn't a exactly a rip-roaring success - the floodgates didn't exactly open - but it was worth the effort and there are just that many more people around now who know about the studio.

I do feel that it's time for some kind of a reality check, though. When I opened the studio a lot of people told me that portrait photography was dead. The camera-phone is king, and all that! Hmm ...  what to say to that? Well, I think it's got a slight cold, that's all. Portrait photography is feeling a bit yukky but, once its nose has stopped running, it'll be back. Stronger, fitter .. and looking for a great acrylic framed black and white image for the front room! That's what I think! Eventually, and as the economy improves, it'll dawn on people that the camera-phone just doesn't cut it. Actually - re-wind - the camera-phones these days are bloody good, but the lighting and scope for posing that a studio offers are always going to be better than anything you can do on your Samsung. That's when I'll be ready, Nikon in hand, and with the confidence that a year of running a studio has brought me. Will I still be here in another year? Now there's a question! Happy Birthday, StudioFiveFour!...