Life Less Literary

So, I’ve been working down in London for a couple of weeks and, as a result, even though I’m still hugely overdrawn and in debt, I can now see a way to paying it all off, something which eluded me as recently as three weeks ago.

As a result, as always happens when I know that I’ll have money coming in soon, I got credit card happy. Lots of little treats all week (books, meals out), plus one very big treat: the lens I have been lusting after for many months now, a Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L USM. I got it second hand (a mere £690, including hood) from the Camera Café in Museum Street.

My only problem was that, for once, I was travelling without my camera (I had a lot of other stuff to take to London, and my back has been playing up so I wanted to keep my kit to a minimum). Plus what started out as a 2 day placement stretched out to 9 days in a row. So I’ve been carrying this lens around with me, itching to use it, but with no camera to put it on.

I’m back home now, and initial results are… interesting. With such a wide aperture, auto-focus is an absolute pig, and manual focus at f/1.4  with a crop digital viewfinder is next to impossible, but it’s a challenge - I need to improve my focusing skills anyway, and this is an ideal way to do it. I may get myself an ST-E2 to help with those dark moments, but ultimately I’d like to get better at getting a proper feel for focusing distances, and doing it manually as much as possible.

I’ve been feeling a bit ambiguous about my recent use of Flash - the results look great, but somehow it feels like I’m not being entirely true to my roots. The f/1.4 gives me a chance to go out and try some flash-free photography again with more flexibility. I shall try to avoid the flash as much as possible for the next month or two, and see where the ambient light takes me…

Blogged with Flock

I’ve uploaded a few new photosets to Dan Shot Me over the last few weeks and, as usual, forgotten to mention anything about them here. In fact, I’m not quite sure what I’ve posted here already, but check out the Peek-a-boo burlesque photos, the Everybody loves Hiem (featuring Pink Grease, Darlings of the Splitscreen, the Carol-Anne Showband and a tank) photos, both from last Saturday night, and especially the rather wonderful Pink Grease roller disco photos (also featuring the 80s Matchbox B-Line Disaster) and then head over to the photo galleries page and see what else is new.

Tonight I taught my first photography workshop in Wath-on-Dearne. I had been dreading it - was on the verge of panic attacks last night - but actually it went very smoothly, the kids were wonderful (there were only 4 of them - I had been prepared for 2 or 3 times that number) and everyone had a good time. It’s been a massive confidence boost to me, managing to get this under my belt.

We started the session with a quick slide-show of about a dozen of my photos, then I showed them in about 30 pictures from the National Portrait Gallery Photographic Portrait Prize over the last four years. I got them to to talk in detail about each picture - what it told them about the person pictured, and how different things like the background, clothing, possessions, pose, framing, angle, lighting etc. could all affect our understanding of the person shown, and could add up to a story about that person.

Then I got them to split into two groups of two, and take photos of one another, thinking about some of those different elements and how they could be used. I just let them use the cameras on fully automatic settings, with flash (although a couple of them worked out how to turn the flash off).

Then I mixed up the groups, and gave each group two halogen desk lamps to play with, switched off the main lights and got them to play with lighting.

Finally, we downloaded the photos and looked at them.

I’m really looking forward to next week now! And on Sunday, I’m giving another workshop to a local Muslim girls’ group.

Several more photography commissions rolling in - I’ve got a conference to do on Friday, and it looks like I’ll have another party to do next week. Suddenly, all systems are go!

This blog is six years old today.

Some exciting new photo-news. Firstly, I have been asked to hang some of my pictures at The Washington. This is quite an honour: the pub is the centre of Sheffield’s hyperactive music scene (it used to be owned by Pulp drummer Nick Banks, and ex-Pulp members can often be seen in there, along with various Monkeys of one sort or another) and has just taken down an exhibition of very fine musical portraits by local photo-whizz Chris Saunders. At the moment I’m frantically getting photos printed and framed so that I can install some in there, I hope, early next week.

I’ve also decided to participate in this year’s Open-Up Sheffield. What this means is that I will open my house up for people to come and inspect my photos (again, I need to print lots to stick up on the wall, or at least matte them for browsing). Hopefully I’ll sell a few, or at least get some commissions out of it.

Finally, for some months now I’ve been touting Photobox as the place to get photos printed (admittedly it’s not the best, but it is among the best of the bargain photo-printers: cheap, quick and pretty good (and consistent) quality. As I’ve uploaded so many photos there recently for printing, I thought I’d shift a few of them to a public gallery. So here it is, my own personalised photo-shop, you can buy some of my prints and other photo-based gift products here direct from Photobox.

By the way, if you are thinking of signing up to Photobox, please email me first. I have some special offers which means that you & I will both get some free prints when you join.

Redesigned the poster for the play.

One, two, three more for the DVD wish list. Palm Pictures music video DVD retrospectives.

Why not scare your children out of their tiny minds this Christmas with a Cthulhu Santa?

Julian Cope’s Address Drudion for September:

“Man, some rock-n-roll has got so lame nowadays. I read what those bunch of hairy no-marks Black rebel Motorbikle Club said in a recent interview: ‘We’d love to get a motorbike and ride across the USA but we’re afraid of getting shot.’ To them I say, then get shot, you wankers. For us. Even in death, you’d be more alive than you are right now.”

(via Die Puny Humans)