Raven Vandelle

A couple of weeks ago on a rainy and cold Tuesday night Val and I had the pleasure of visiting The Jam House in Birmingham for the Ben Drummond Acoustic Sessions.

The purpose of our visit was to see Raven Vandelle, local hero's striving for well deserved success, this is definitely one of the perks of being a photographer; having an excuse to go to midweek gigs and watching talent at close quarters.

Old romantic at heart.

My about me page on my website is entitled " Bohemian at heart " which ain't a bad description, but another word that springs to mind lately is romantic, I quite like the sound of that " old romantic at heart ", this came to mind this week after a chance hearing of R Kelly' s classic "Bump and Grind". Yes I can hear the note of disdain from here dear reader, there's nothing romantic about bumping and grinding I hear you cry, but the suggested intimacy in this song does lead my mind to more romantics notions .

Australian based wedding photographer Yervant points to old European films as sources of inspiration, romance being a key player in many European classics .On our quiet Sundays Val and I occasionally take a stroll through Birmingham and check out the galleries, it maybe art imitating life, but the work of artists like, Rob Hefferan and Fabian Perez I find inspiring, even though these images may not all be obviously romantic in there subject mater. For example Fabian Perez paints the prostitutes from his fathers brothel (and yes we do appear to be back where we started ) not a typically romantic idea, but from his, at the time young view point " beautiful women who could seduce a man “simply by lighting a cigarette” must have seem very romantic indeed.

Romance then it seems is in the eye of the beholder/receiver, but as a photographer what can be more romantic than kissing a form with light and capturing the image in camera .

( Is that too cheesy? I can never tell ).

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, ladies and gentleman...

The content of this blog is generally inspired by either what I've done in the preceding week or whats been on my mind the preceding week, with Christmas deadlines looming and this weeks work load being what it is, I've found myself offering you; dear reader, a small collection of images from a gig I attended a couple of months ago.The band are BonGiovi ( Bon Jovi Tribute ) I'm proud to say these guys are friends of mine and that there show is highly charged and thoroughly entertaining, as I'm sure anyone who has seen them would agree. The lighting in this small venue is pretty good, so even with a hi ISO setting the images are still pretty sharp. More images from this gig will be available for viewing in the music gallery on my main website shortly.

The train standing at platform one ...

It's amazing how this year has panned out, one minute I'm excited about the coming months, the next I'm in the thick of it enjoying the challenge and the thrill of the chase, then in a moment of charm after the storm I find myself again looking at all the possibilities open to me with the wide eyed expectation of a child waiting at a train station en route to the seaside ( that is when I was a child, before that invented motorcars ) and my current situation does feel akin to that.

I have acquired a love of train stations and airports over the years, although I've never been one for train spotting , sitting for hours in a cold station collecting numbers. And ok not one for anoraks either ( I'm more of a duffel coat man myself ).

I think it's the idea of the anticipation, stations generally being places where people collect to travel some place else looking forward to something new.

So here I am standing at my virtual station in anticipation of the next leg of my journey, but where to next ?

There's nothing like a good spring clean in the middle of winter.

I've spent some time this week reconstructing my web galleries and doing some spring cleaning on the site in general, there's nothing like being ahead of yourself is there ; when the spring comes I'm sure I'll find some more cleaning to do.
As I've been browsing image files I find it interesting how different weddings can be, not surprising I suppose in that we are all different as people. This individuality is, after all what makes us interesting in the first place, but fascinating none the less that given that most wedding have the same basic remit, that the resulting images can be so individual, this is also what makes these days so much fun to work...

Rememberance

Lest we forget

Gorgeous Forever

On a monthly basis I do a makeover session at Antonios premiere hairdressing salon in Great Barr. Here are a few shots from this months shoot.

Peace and Serenity is the new Black

Well it's nice to have a break, nothing but peace and serenity ( albeit with camera never far from reach; above images are from last weeks trip to the lakes).

Looking back over the last six months from a position of relaxation, without the pressures of work to deal with does give you the opportunity to review the business and see where your strengths and weaknesses lie.

Play to your strengths, strengthen your weaknesses.

This time around for me it's time to shake up the website a little and source new Marketing opportunities. It seems the further get down a particular path the more options there are to choose from and yet more work to be done, but it also gives you that feeling that anything is possible. So here's to the first step in the right direction, which direction is that you ask...

Onward and upward ! of cause !

The Last Wedding Pt II

Thought I'd share...

The Last Wedding.

OK, this weeks blog almost past me by. I've been so busy I'd forgotten what day it was. So today instead of my usual waffle about something and nothing, I shall just offer you this; a couple of images from this weeks wedding ( the last of the season for me ) and wish you all a great week. Next week is the start of a new chapter for my photography business and much change is afoot, watch this space...

Bosworth Wedding

One of the first images from last weeks wedding, Bosworth hall was a fabulous location I only wish we could have spent longer on the shot. I'll post some more of these images as they are finished.
The car is a 1961 E-Type Jag and what a great accessory to what was a fabulous day, Sue and Gary both looked great the album is gonna be a stunner.

Dante

" In the middle of our life's way
I found myself in a wood so dark
That I couldn't tell where the straight path lay."

The above quite is from the first couple of lines from Dante's inferno, it's nice to see that they had midlife crises even the the old days. I wonder how that manifested itself back then. I personally just bought lots of stuff that was orange, not sure why orange, but Val says at least it wasn't 20 year old girls and fast cars. I'm not sure though; orange may have been cheaper but probably not as much fun !
Only kindin' sweetheart !

Good artist copy, great artists steal.

Our house is full of books and magazines on photography. I take three mags a month and one bimonthly and I am currently working my way though two books on marketing and personal improvement .
Good artist copy, great artists steal.
With the mags I find myself reading everything, even the stuff I think I already know, quite often the way one photographer will approach a subject may spark an idea for something completely different, evoking a whole new approach to something I'm already working on .
Good artist copy, great artists steal.
In art as well as photography you can often see connections. The art of one, inspiring the other.
The work of bob Carlos Clarke for instance has surely inspired many over the years from other photographers to fantasy artists alike. Although his style may not be to every ones taste, his approach and lighting , his ability to see to shot still draws you in and offers plenty of food for the imagination.
Good artist copy, great artists steal.
And so yes since time in memorial artist, musicians, sculptors, politicians have taken inspiration from others, stealing one thing or another and making it their own. The key is to steal a small facet of something that lights your fire. Taking an idea and expanding it until it's your own.
I suppose you should just replace the word "steal" with the words "are inspired"
Inspiration is all around us, the more you look for it, the more you find it.
Be inspired this week.
Yes your right dear reader, once I start you can't shut me up ! So with that...

Detail, it's all in the detail.

Whilst working this weeks wedding it occurred to me how important detail is, (not that i didn't already now , you understand ).

I watched the staff at Birtsmorton Court Malvern Worcestershire, ever present but never intrusive, catering for the needs of there clients with military precision and yet without hardly being noticed, their attention to detail made the day a pleasure to all who attended even if the guests didn't realise it.Whether it be at a wedding or a romantic night in (or out for that matter) the elements that make it all work ;

Detail, it's all in the detail.

Daisy Doo

This weekend my hand is turned to event photography.

The Daisy Doo is a charity ball held to support the Cystic Fibrosis trust.

This is the first, hopefully of many and it is my privilege to be event photographer for the evening.

The above images are of a recent shoot with Daisy ( hence Daisy Doo ) after who this event has been named.

Alone, we're never alone.

Found this image lurking around and thought I'd share it with you, this guy was alone at the side of the road in a glen in Scotland last year.
I say alone , alone in fact except for the 20 or so tourists that were watching.

Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Garden 3 ( Hopefully not The Last Crusade )

I'm not particularly religious and I don't want to get into a debate about religion here.

I accept the concept of god, but I'm afraid the idea of religion to me is a little too subjective.

However I love places if worship and the serenity that comes with them. Shortly after taking this shot at Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Garden's we stopped to speak to a fellow sitting drawing, an ex-secondary school teacher now retired, he was the leader if an art group on a day outing. His work was superb and watching him sitting in such a peaceful place made me realise how great it must be to reach that time in your life and have a hobby that you can take anywhere with little carriage or fuss.

May we all find ourselves in such a favourable situation when the time comes.

Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Garden 2 ( Raider's of the lost Abbey )

Just thought I'd share this shot of Val, also taken at Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Garden, we had just spent a few moments speaking to a gentleman who was drawing inside the abbey ruins, he had told us he ran a drawing/painting class in Harrogate and they were there on a days drawing expedition, something they had done three times in Venice amongst other destinations. Lovely bloke, great artist, made you realise how much there is to life when you find a hobby/talent that you can take anywhere.

Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Garden

We managed to get away last week for a few days, our destination this time around was Yorkshire. The shots above are of Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Garden . This place was fabulous and struck me as a great place to host weddings, only to discover later that day that they were advertising just that in the ladies toilets.

( not that I saw the ad myself you understand ! )

Pre-wedding shoot

Anyone who knows Gary and myself personally will know that we are both musicians . Though I use the word musician loosely with Gary, as he is actually a drummer.

Later in the year I'll be doing the photos for Sue and Gary's wedding, but for now here are a few images from his pre-wedding shoot .