Shocking ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Microsoft 'outage' has been a bit of a hoo-ha, hasn't it? (I genuinely thought the letter 'r' had been dropped from the word when I saw it as a TV sub-title.) Planes grounded, Sky News up the swannee. I hope you aren't stuck in an airport or trying to pay for your weekly shop at Morrison's ..

It's yet another reminder that the world we live in is made of fluff and electricity. There's nothing really THERE! Only last week I blogged about the joy kids today must feel when they load a 'real' film into a camera or put a 'real' record onto a turntable. Physical, tangible stuff that you can touch and feel and hold. Stuff that's THERE!..

As I sit here my desk is half taken over with a large pile of negatives. Stuff to scan, stuff to digitize (ho-ho!), but at least it's HERE in front of me and I know where it goes when I've finished with it. Whereas almost every photograph I've ever taken since the early 2000s is .. er .. in boring external hard discs in a case in a shed, or in this flat, rectangular glowing box that hums in front of me. What on earth will I do when I can't afford to pay for electricity? Shocking ..

Ps .. I hope you can actually read this!!     

 

I've seen the future ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There've been two 'photography' stories in the 'paper this week, the first about Jessops, the camera store chain that was bought out by Dragons' Den star Peter Jones. It seems it's (once again) on the brink of collapse because of tax debts. And yet the second article was all about the rise and rise of 'film' photography, with more and more people trying out the 'old' way of doing things. (Pentax have even announced the launch of a new 35mm half-frame camera.) Is there hope for Jessops, then? Will I once again be able to walk into a shop full of cameras and lenses, with shelves and shelves of film and chemicals and Ilford Multigrade paper, and photographers loitering around telling each other how amazingly busy they've been lately? Oh, what a dream ..

Or is it? I can still remember when digital photography started to take hold and how I resisted changing to the new-fangled 'future'. But then someone told me that, with digital, I could vary the ISO ( .. or ASA for the old farts like me) between individual shots. What? Really? OMG! And so off I went down the Fuji Finepix highway and I've never looked back. No more changing rolls after 36 shots, no more long cold/hot nights in the darkroom, no more wasting chemicals and paper as I feverishly burned and dodged. (I'll blithely skip on from the hours/days/weeks I spent tearing my hair out over colour-balance and photoshop and geezers telling me I should always shoot RAW.) Oh yes, it was digital all the way and, as with the 'experts' who tell me that music definitely sounds better on vinyl, I've resisted the idea that photographs look better when they've been shot on film. (Don't they know you can add grain in photoshop?) ..

Don't get me wrong, I can understand the attraction of film and vinyl (and cassettes!) for kids. When all you've ever had is the mysterious, invisible world of digital it must be an absolute delight to actually have something to hold on to. And so, kids, the film world is all yours, and I hope you have fun whilst you're in it ..

Oh, but did I mention the cost?

   

Ps: Today I get another chance to show you a montage I made last year, showing my transition to digital with examples of every camera I've ever used. (And yes, I do still own them all.)

Brings tears to your eyes...

 Well, there's a first! I had a young lady round last night to talk abut her Wedding Photography and, as sometimes happens, instead of arriving with her fiance she visited with her Mum. Now I'm not the type to go prying into lady's ages, and I promise you this information was volunteered without prompting, but it turns out I'm older than the Bride's Mum! Her Mum! How's about that for a landmark moment in one's career? For the first time, as far as I know, I'm actually older than the M.O.B! (Mother of the Bride!) Well, I think that'll silence all my mates, who think I spend every minute of a Wedding chatting up the bridesmaids and it's a sign that, now that I'm in my 34th year as a Photographer, it's not just digital that's changing things! Brings tears to your eyes...

Some good news! I'm organising my own Wedding Fayre! It's going to be at The Raven Inn, in Glazebury, near Warrington, on March 25th, and I'm planning to get 'one of everything' together in the one place on the day. Obviously, that won't take much doing, as my list of Wedding suppliers is long and varied so it's rather amusing, then, that another photographer has already asked how they can take part in the Fayre! You can't! It's mine! Go away! Jeez! Brings tears to your eyes.....

Look at me, look at me!..

This is a bit long-winded, but stick with it! I shot a Wedding last summer, and the bride's dad owned the Roll-Royce that she arrived in. Turns out he's got a sweet little collection of sexy motors and was looking to get into the Wedding market, so he and I have kinda teamed up and now I link to his website from mine. Anyway, he asked me if I could make him an exhibition banner like the ones I use at Wedding Fayres and, to that end, he dropped off a memory stick and CD of images he'd taken of his wheels at Weddings. To cut a long story (finally) short, I found this shot in his collection - a picture he'd taken of me, up my ladder, taking pictures at his daughter's Wedding. Love it! How cool! Look at me! Not one, not two, but three cameras on the go! What a guy! What a champ! I'm not even holding on! (Hey, it's my blog, I can blow my own trumpet if I like!) Anyway, it made me wonder how many times I must appear in 'other' people's photographs. I know it'll be quite a number because I often spot people taking shots of the nutty snapper up a ladder! But they're shots I'll never see or even know about, because they'll never, ever be printed. There's the next casualty of the digital age .. Prints! So I'm lounging unbeknownst on who-knows-how-many memory cards and computers, along with shots of current buildings, car styles, fashions, hair do's, street scenes .. all important indicators of passing history that won't be available to future generations, because they're never, ever shown! Mind you, in this case that mind be a good thing! Check out the spooky twins at the bottom of the shot!
Oi! You two! Look at me!...

The double-edged sword..

Not a complaint, just an observation!
Digital Photography is amazing, and it's made photographers of us all!  Wrong!
Digital Photography is amazing, and it's made us all capable of getting a photograph that will turn out ok!    Right!
So, I set up a shot of a Bride & Groom signing their register, and (Sigh) in the 'old' days might hope to sell the odd reprint or two of the moment. Not so these days! Look at this shot. There are six people in this frame alone, taking their own version of 'my' shot, and I say 'taking' because I've done the 'making' of it! The shot just didn't happen! That's what couples need to remember when their pal with 'a good camera' offers to do their Wedding Photography.
They'll find they're going to get Wedding 'Snaps', not Wedding Photography.
Hm, ok! Maybe a bit of a complaint...