STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY // BACK IN THE CAVE // FAMILY PORTRAITS // PHOTOGRAPHY AS A JOB

Monday 2 March 2015



The studio business is currently in a period of change. Since Cass has left us, I am now training Bhav - our newbie. Here she is - WAVE BHAV!




(Sorry Bhav!)

I have been used to managing the business over the last couple of years, with Cass in solidly at weekends shooting, and I have been taking care of all the editing and admin side of things.

On Saturday just passed, I had 7 sessions - in a row. It's been a good few years since I photographed so many portrait sessions back to back and if I am completely honest with you, I was dreading it a tad. I wasn't dreading meeting the new families/pets and the beautiful chaos that would ensue, but I was more worried about the workload in the fact that I hadn't crammed so many sessions into one day in a long, long time.

Turns out, I loved every minute of it.

I have really enjoyed being back amongst it over the last few weeks and I think it's safe to say, I have fallen in love with studio photography all over again. As I have been concentrating on post production of the short film and as the wedding side of the business seems to be taking more and more of my time, I had left the studio side of the business to tick over recently without very much intervention at all. This was not an approach adopted and chosen, but more so one that just seemed to happen. I want to be sure Bhav is ready for when she starts taking on the sessions on her own, and I like to think it's good for her to see me work - as ultimately she will be shooting more like me the more she sees of my work! That's the theory anyway.


Every photographer is different and has their own unique style, but I have a passion for two-d photography in that I do want us to be a little bit different.

There are so many reasons why I love being let loose in that big white room with my camera, still – after all these years.



I love it when the sessions finish up and the kids (And even sometimes the dads...YES the dads...) don't want to leave because they're having so much fun.

I love it when pets go nuts and run around uncontrollably. At first their owners are a bit worried, but then they see how much I am enjoying myself and they relax. Every crazy dog will eventually get tired anyway! I had three lovely dogs in this week end. I got covered in hair and slobber, and loved every minute of it!






I love meeting a brand new life. There's something truly amazing about capturing these tiny humans in their early days! So many years, and so much life ahead of them. I get excited for them, and also the parents. This little guy was only 8 days old!





I love it when a family of six generations comes in to document this amazing span of life, blood and family. It is indeed an honour to get a glimpse into such an amazing thing.



My job is epic and I am blessed to be doing it. I get to meet so many different people from all walks of life. I think every time you meet someone, a little bit of them stays with you. A bit of their knowledge, a little bit of their story stays there and helps you too to grow as a person in some kind of crazy way. It sounds a bit like a Jerry Springer final note, but its so true. I have only begun to realise that the job we do here is actually really important.

With the digital age we find ourself securely in, in a thousand years all of our descendants will be able to access our digital lives in the form of images and video, and will be able to see exactly how we were, what we thought about, what we look like, what we did in our lives.

DEEP!

;)

- Dan








FASHIN SHOOT // IMAGE BARBERS // COMPETITION PHOTOGRAPHY

Sunday 8 February 2015




Today we had a shoot for Image Barber’s. I have worked with Mic and his team now for several years. They enter lots of nationwide barbering competitions every year, and are valued clients. We have won two of them with our pictures, with both Mic and Kade. I love these shoots as the lads give me a lot of creative freedom both in the planning stages and the photography and post. It’s a chance to really let the imagination fire up, and get the creativity going.

We've got some quality concepts this year, so keep an eye on this blog for some exciting upcoming projects.

Good luck to the lads for all of the competitions we’re entering this year! Hopefully we can bring back some more awards!


- D

A YEAR IN A POST // BLIMEY

Thursday 5 February 2015

I am sat here blushing. I have just realised it's been nearly a year since I last wrote a blog post. A whole freaking year. When I look back, I cannot believe the amount of stuff that's happened in that time. My fiancé ( <-----first bit of big news!) has been nagging me to get back into blogging. She spent a lot of time in the social networking/internet-web-thingy world, and stresses that blogging is what it's all about for getting your name out there, and your images recognised by google!

I thought I could sum up the last year with a series of pics. In no particular order.

Deep breath, go!


- Got engaged in PARIS




- Saved a lush puppy dog called Penny from gypsies - she is now family.







- Photographed some celebs.




- BOUGHT A FREAKING HOUSE!




- Walked the walls of the colosseum in Rome

















- Sunbathed in Portugal (and shot a wedding)



- Photographed first same sex marriage!



- Got USB's with my NAME ON!



- Was best man and my mate Lee's wedding! Took a great selfie!



- Photographed first Asian Wedding!





- Absorbed the studio business, so I no longer have a business partner (but we're still mates, it's all good!)







- Hired a new photographer / studio manager / sales person / diary manager - wow, official.



/\ not her



- WROTE, DIRECTED AND SHOT A SHORT FILM - this is exciting.





- Booked like 37 weddings!! A new record amount.











- Ate brussel sprouts for the first time since I was 8. They are still HORRID.

- And a whole bunch of other stuff...























WHOAAAA! Busy year.

The weddings scene has been steadily improving. I have increased all of my prices by 25% for VAT reasons, but after a large wedding fair at Centre: MK last week end and booking one on the day, this is appearing to be a good thing! It was nerve racking at first, but we've never booked a wedding at an actual fair before so this is really gooooood. We have also booked 37 weddings so far for 2015, so I guess supply and demand calls for it.

So I'll be spreading my time over the coming months between editing a film which we hope to finish in April, shooting a tonne of weddings, and keeping the studio running while I train the newbie.

What have you been up to?

- Dan