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 ! )