Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

So it's been far too long. I feel like I'm seeing an old friend for the first time in years, where nothing has changed and yet somehow everything has! The reason I haven't visited this place for a while is really because I haven't had much to write about. It's odd. I like to write about things I find interesting but it seems as soon as one settles into the humdrum of a job, things one may have found interesting previously become the norm. I expect this is the same for almost everything in life. Whether that is being a business man and the enjoyment of putting your first suit on before you start work, akin to that of the first day at school, having the pride of the uniform. To being a fighter jet pilot. Without a doubt the coolest job there can be. Careening through the sky faster than sound sonerates (yes it's a word - it's the way sound moves).

Much has changed. The main thing was that I graduated university. Goodness knows how much I managed an  2:1 BSc degree in Forensic Science (yes I do think it's a ridiculous degree and so I shouldn't be taken seriously in life). The reason I find it astonishing is because I spent probably a considerably larger amount of time playing the amazing XBox360 game Borderlands than I did revising for my finals. Albeit Borderlands was spread over the course of the year whereas the finals revision was spread over four weeks. 

The other change is my career decision. Those of you who know me and frequent this blog regularly know that my other passion is photography and as of about January I decided that this was exactly what I want to do with my life. As I have followed the blogs, tweets, videos and any other internet communication of some of my heros Joe McNally, Scott Kelby, Joey L, David Hobby (Strobist), Drew Gardner and many many more, I have learnt outrageously large amounts, I have spent my student (when I was one) budget on books by these guys, instructions, software all sorts along with the obvious - equipment. Although I often remind myself that buying new gear does NOT make you a better photographer! Getting out there and taking photos does. Or as Ansel Adams said "You don't take a photograph, you make a photograph".

So that leads me on to where I went next. As of the 7th August I started a job with a wedding photographer. When I think about it this strikes me as something quite extraordinary. I was most fortunate and somehow managed, after a couple of trials, to get a job with a wedding photographer based in London. This has been quite a whirlwind tour of weddings. I've ended up photographing 7 weddings in 5 weeks (including a having a weeks holiday). These have been good, although it has definitely told me that weddings are not what I want to end up doing! That is a topic for another time. I thought I would share a brief collage of some of my weddings photos from these weddings should you care. If not why are you reading this?

(Click for a bigger version)

There are definitely perks to being a wedding photographer. One is the wonderful experience of showing a couple wonderful photos of their day. Others include: Canapés, free Champagne, often a very good meal, seeing some great location, picking up tips for great (and awful) speeches (I wish I had heard some of these before I did my best mans speech!) but really it's just the opportunity to take some photos, to make some people happy and to make a living while I'm doing it. 

As I mentioned earlier I don't intend on doing weddings for the rest of my life but I shall not go into too much detail now. I was recently doing some contract work (where I was the contractee rather than the contractor (I'm sure there's a more apt name for this that my trade-orientated friends would know)) this was a nice easy few hours work for earning a little bit of extra pocket money while helping out another photographer. More importantly than that though, I made a contact. Contacts are remarkably useful things to have as in this profession along with many others it is often (to start with) more who you know that what you know. He has offered me more work helping him with a number of tasks (some admin, some photography) but also said that if I'd like to use his studio I may! Now this is wonderful as my space or budget doesn't really allow for a studio at the moment (one day I think I'd like one!) so being able to use a fully functioning studio for my own personal projects would be amazing. I had big plans for this Summer. I had two or three photoshoots I really wanted to do before Autumn came. Sadly the people I wanted to be involved were never free at the same time as me so they haven't (yet) come about. But it doesn't mean they never will!


Talking of personal projects, I've recently been reading (again!) of the aforementioned Joe McNally as he did a project just after 9/11 called "Faces of Ground Zero" where he photographed some of the people involved in 9/11. Fire-fighters, families, volunteers, and Rudy Giuliani the mayor of New York at the time. This wasn't just a standard set of pictures though. He used the worlds largest polaroid camera. Imagine the (now vintage) polaroid cameras where you take a photo then watch it develop. Well this camera was exactly the same. Although the prints it creates are life size! The camera is as big as a garage and takes 3 people to operate it. (For those more techy minded at f45 it has a depth of field of half an inch!) 
I recently read a blog post of Joes where he spoke of how he speaks to one of the familys he photographed that year. It was heartfelt. I fully encourage a read and it can be found here. 




Well that's really it. I know where I am, I know where I want to go, and I know an awful lot of work needs to occur before I can get there. But when you're doing what you love it's not quite as challenging!


People often end blogs with a question vaguely related to the blog topic.But I have no intention of doing that. So I will end with a witty statement.




I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.