Posted: Thu 4 November, 2004 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Photography, Work-related |
Well, Blogger seemed to spend most of yesterday going tits up, which was a pain, and meant I couldn’t write much at all. So I may spend some of today catching up a bit. And in that vein….
On Tuesday night I went out for the first “shoot” with the charity I’m doing some photos for. I have to say, in some ways it was a very odd experience – but at least it came out with some good results. But it’s weird, those first introductions as “This is our photographer”, it’s a new job title, but I think/hope it’s one I’ll get used to.
I find I still feel slightly uncomfortable with taking pictures of people, even if they’re willing participants. I don’t know why that’s the case, I just find that at the moment it’s the most difficult part of photography. Some people find it easy, I don’t. But I’ll get there, and improve, same as I will with regarding myself as “a photographer”.
The people themselves though were fantastic. I got some shots that I’m pleased with, and that I’m already 99% certain will make their way into the publicity materials for the charity. And even if that 1% comes up, they’ll be part of my growing portfolio. The soup kitchen makes for a fascinating place to take photos, but also to talk to people – I figure that I’m not just there to take photos, but while there I’m part of the rest of it too, so I did end up talking a lot to a few of the people there. Also I guess it’s partly a psychological thing too – I’m going to be there and taking more shots over the next couple of weeks, whether it’s for myself or for the publicity stuff, and they’ll feel a lot more comfortable being photographed by someone they’ve seen before, not just a one-off occurrence.
I was supposed to go last night with the same charity on a tour of some of the “red light” areas to take photos of some of the prostitutes the charity also works with, but it fell through and instead will be done next Tuesday. It’ll be interesting, and I’m sure there’ll be a lot more thoughts and work to come out of it.
Posted: Thu 10 June, 2004 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: General, Photography |
I’ve been wavering about posting this – in some ways it seems deeply bigheaded, self-centred and many other things. (Oi, you at the back, I heard that “So what’s different to normal?”)
Anyway – I’m going to blither about this now, but it’s one of the few posts that may get deleted if I decide it’s too far up itself for its own good. You’ve been warned.
This week I saw that Panasonic Batteries are sponsoring an Amateur Photographer award. I’ve been playing with camera for a few years now, and (as we all know) got very into digital photography during the run of d4d™. And there’s been quite a lot of good feedback, from a range of sources – people who’ve seen shots I have as my desktop at work and asked where I downloaded them from, people assuming that the framed prints I’ve got have been bought from somewhere, that kind of thing, as well as the people who’ve said here that the ones I publicise can be pretty good. So, bollocks to it, I thought – I’m going to enter.
A maximum of six photos can be uploaded for judging, there’s a monthly prize for – logically – best ones each month, and a big grandy prize type thing in October. Just in time for a certain birthday…
I’ve no idea how they’ll do – having looked at some of the current competitors, I think they may do well, but obviously it’s not down to me. The site itself has some problems, and doesn’t like loading second pages of anything in the gallery, which is a pain.
Only time will tell. But I’m going to keep my fingers crossed anyway.
Posted: Mon 7 June, 2004 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: General, Music, Photography |
Finally, the photos from the concert (well, some of them – I’ve got plans for a few of the others) are online along with some more thoughts about the show itself.
Enjoy.
