Taking Stock ?

A lot of the work I've been doing lately has centred around working with people - in portraiture, and in events - and whilst I really enjoy that aspect of photography, I have been thinking that perhaps I need to push myself to explore other genre's too.  I also want to start pushing myself to use different techniques - I am very aware that my photography is nearly always representational, its the style I prefer - but the idea of experimentation, with not only post production to create different effects, but also to be a little more creative at the point of taking the images, has a lot of appeal for me.  I've been very lucky, lately, and met a lot of incredibly creative people, who I admire immensely - and seeing their work has inspired me to gather my courage and at least try to move towards a far more creative and artistic approach to some of what I do - while I think I'm 'creative',  the term 'artistic' is not one I'd usually apply to myself. 

At this stage, however, I also think that I need to consider any potential commercial use that any images I produce can be geared towards .  It would be fantastic if I could sell any images as prints, perhaps as wall art, but I know how competitive that area is, and I am not confident that the work I produce is that good .  So, I'm looking at the idea of selling some images as stock, via sites on the internet.

So - for a few days, I've been playing around with a variety of different bits of equipment and settings on my camera, and post production techniques.  The equipment has been in the form of filters - I bought a set of mounts, for use on 3 different lens, and a small selection of filters, several weeks ago, and I decided it was time to really play around with them, and see what I could come up with. I also played heavily with camera settings, and in post production, I pushed one or two effects to a far greater extent than I would normally go.  The following images are produced using one, or a combination, of the following - built in red or blue filter on my camera settings, a selection of cookin filters (including sunset, red and ND ),  using a set of macro filters, boosting sharpness/sats/contrast on the camera whilst keeping ISO as low as possible, techniques like locked off motion, and post production effects, such as unsharp mask, contrast and levels.

These images are very different from the style that I usually veer towards - I like strong colour and contrast, but to me, these are far more creative in an artistic sense, than the type of image I generally produce . I actually really like them, and have really enjoyed trying to push myself in a 'new' direction - I've always had a hankering to be able to produce artwork, and these feel like the closest I've come to that point.

Whether these will sell as 'stock' images remains to be seen - looking at the huge variety of stock images out there, the range covers everything from the mundane to the very abstract, so I am finding it very hard to judge .  Any feedback or constructive advice/criticism would be appreciated, by the way :)

Whatever happens, I have really enjoyed pushing myself to be more creative, and its an area that I hope I can continue to develop and explore.

18th Birthday Party Pics

Having been lucky enough to have had the chance to try and capture some quite large, public events with the camera, I wanted to  also try my hand a photographing a smaller, more personal 'event' . Thanks to good friends, Hazel and Jo, I was given the chance of attending the 18th Birthday party of Ffion, Jo's nice, in Llay Miners, a couple of weeks ago.  Because of family commitments, I could only be there for an hour or so, and though there wasn't a 'brief' as such, I knew that Ffion and her Mum, Heather, would like photographs of Ffion with her brother and cousin, informal portrait style, a few general shots of the guests, and shots of the band who were due to play at the party.

I arrived at the party after it had been going for around half an hour, and had a brief chat with Ffion and her Mum, during which I suggested that it would be nice to get some shots of Ffion, Heather and Heathers' Mum, the 3 generations together too.  Jo asked if I could get some shots of her, her husband and little girl too, and I said I was quite happy to take photographs of any group or individuals at the part who wanted me too - Ffion and Heather seemed to like the idea, so it was out with the camera and off I went.

First on the list was to get the group portraits shots involving Ffion - before the party got too hectic, and so she could concentrate on just enjoying herself.  We headed just outside, as I knew the light would be particularly good, and I started snapping away.

 Then they were joined by another cousin,

 And I couldn't resist this picture ...     















And then the shots of Ffion, with her Mum and GrandMother

Once these were done, I then just 'wandered', grabbing photographs whenthe opportunity presented, but trying to include as many guests as I could - in between, Jo and her family, and a couple of other groups asked me to take more portraits outside.

The the band took to the stage - they are called 'How Monsters Function' - and I walked into a cracking rendition of 'Teenage Kicks', after the last set of photographs outside.  I'd spoken to the band in advance, asked their permission to take photographs, and agreed to send them copies, so I set to work . . . they had a got the guests up dancing, so I took some shots of the guests, as well as the band .

I delivered the photographs about a day later - Jo was able to tell me that both Ffion and her Mum were very happy with what I had done.  How Monsters Function liked the pictures that I had taken so much, that they used a lot of them on their website gallery.

How Monsters Function Website

It was a fun experience, and again, lots learnt - not least that I need a really good flash gun, asap!

When the Vikings Came to Ty Mawr

Myra, who is a good friend of my oldest daughter, contacted me a few weeks back, asking would I be prepared to come and take some photographs of a two day Viking re-enactment  event, happening at Ty Mawr Country Park .  It was being hosted by The Glasshouse, Cefn Mawr and Ty Mawr, and by Cwmwd Ial, The Welsh branch of The Vikings society.

Myra put me in touch with a lovely lady called Beryl Partridge, who is part of the Glasshouse, and The Dee Valley Community Partnership, and we agreed that I would attend the two day event, over the Jubilee weekend, and try and get as many images as I could, to document it, and capture the atmosphere.

So - The first day dawned - and typical of Wales, the heaven's had opened, and it was pouring down.  Nothing daunted, off I set with my 11 year old in tow, arriving at about 9.45 am.  I met up with Beryl, and Penny, who I believe is Chairwoman of The Glasshouse, and they both made me very welcome.  I was given a gillet to identify me as part of the 'team', and a stack of consent forms, to cover the use of any images of children that I took.  And then it was Off to meet the Vikings.  I met first Ian Grant, who leads the Welsh Branch of the Viking Society, Cwmwd Ial, who was quite happy for me to take photographs, though he also wanted to look over the images before they were published anywhere - it was clear that he puts a lot of time and effort into the society, and was very keen that any image taken reflects the work that goes into his, and the rest of the groups efforts at maintaining authenticity and realism.  Neither Beryl, Penny or myself had any problem with this, so it was time to get to work with the camera.

Two settlements had been erected at the park -one for the Welsh/Saxon families, and one for the Vikings.  Immediately apparent was the attention to detail - in the camps as a whole, in the clothes, in the utensils and tools, the weapons - and at this point, I need to thank the assorted Vikings, Saxons and Welsh participants, who without exception, were friendly, informative and were quite happy to have me wander round and point my camera at everything.

Incidentally, one of the many things I learnt was that its a myth that Vikings had horns on their helmets - that piece of information is down to a mistake made by early Victorian archaeologists - as is the belief that they had 'wings' on the side of the helmets!

In the foreground, the Viking encampment, and in the background, part of the Saxon/Welsh camp.

The camps gave such a fantastic insight into life during those times - as well as entertaining, everything about this was educational - but in an incredibly fun way !

 Then it was time for the first of two re-enactments - Ian introduces and explains to the audience.  As you can see, it was still raining - but this didn't stop the fun, and the following are a selection of images from the two battles that day.

And despite the pouring rain, the whole 'battle' was amazing . Due to the weather, the audience was small this first day - but they still seemed to really enjoy it.  As for me - I was in my element :) I soon ended up mud covered and I was completely soaked - but, if I will go and photograph outdoor events in Wales, that's just part and parcel of the whole experience, on occasion!

It was a little funny though, to see how many brave warriors 'died ' on their shields, rather than directly onto the wet grass

Sometime after 4pm, when the event ended for the day, I left, got home, wrung about 2 pints of rainwater from my underwear alone, enjoyed a hot bath, and selected 20 or so of the images to hand over the next day, as they were wanted as soon as possible, for press releases, by The Glasshouse and Ty Mawr.  And the next morning, I was up and ready to go again.

The difference in the weather was amazing - blue skies and sunshine, all day - which meant a lot more visitors, including a lot of youngsters who were obviously having a fantastic time:)

Wandering around the two camps, I was struck again at how 'authentic' it all was, and I was really happy with some of the images I got

Even the clothes of the tiniest Viking, Saxon and Welsh children were incredibly authentic

Then the first 'battle' of the day, and the crowds started to move towards the battle field

These staged battles were amazing - skilful and dramatic, fought with real weapons . . .

Time and again, Vikings, Saxon's and the Welsh met their 'deaths' - and then the 'Gods' would be called upon to bring them back to life, to fight again.

At the end of the main battle, it was one on one combat - turning to fight each other, one on one, until just one warrior was left standing - and in honour of the Jubilee, on this occasion, the winner was presented with a McDonalds Crown and a souvenir mug !

Then, it was back to the camps, where I grabbed some more shots

And then - a special event, for the children amongst the visitors.  They were invited to come and train as 'Young Vikings' .  The parents were promised that no matter how sweet and well behaved their children were, after training, they would get back completely hyped little savages instead - and that was so true !  The kids loved it - and it gave me some of my very favourite images of the two days .

I think that the enjoyment all the children got from this is so evident in the photographs !  And at this point, I have to thank all the marshal's, who stepped in and helped me get all the many necessary consent forms signed by the parents .

Then, a couple of  last snaps from the camps . . .

 Before the last battle of the event . . .

The Viking and Welsh leaders go head to head

True to history, just as some Vikings chose to abandon their shield in favour of a second sword, so did this warrior - and the skill with which he used the two swords was amazing !

 Judging by the smiles, I think the warriors all had a blast too !

Before I left, I grabbed a snap or two of some of the lovely people who had also contributed to the event

The Scouts did a great job of providing Burgers to the visitors

And these lovely ladies provided tea and (very welcome) coffee and cakes too!

Ian looked over the images from the previous day, that I had brought in as potential press releases, and said he was quite happy for them to be used - Penny and Beryl had already expressed that they were more than happy with them.

And that was my Viking adventure over - sadly. I really enjoyed it, and again, as well as it being an amazing learning experience, I had the pleasure of meeting some really nice people and hopefully, building a few more contacts too.

After editing, I had several hundred images that have been handed over to Penny and Beryl, and hopefully, some of them at least will feature in displays or exhibitions at The Glasshouse and Ty Mawr, and hopefully on web sites and pages.  Some were sent out as press releases, and both the Wrexham and Friday Leader printed them, with myself being credited as the photographer -

And I am currently waiting to hear if the Viking Society are going to perhaps use some of the images on their web site too - I'll update when I have confirmation and links .

Thank you to Penny and Beryl - and to Myra, for setting up the contact in the first place.  It was an absolutely brilliant experience !