Take it to the limit

Another one of those well thought out, knowing-nod to popular culture titles, eh? Well hello again to any blog followers I still have left. It has been a while.

Last weekend I was in London at the SWPP (The Photographic Societies) annual Convention, one of the largest UK conventions mainly for professional photographers. I was invited by a company to be on their stand at the 3-day trade show. This particular company retails and distributes lighting equipment and printers primarily aimed at the fast print market…event photographers and in-store print kiosks.

I was not brought in as a sales person, but as a photography demonstrator and to advise customers coming to the stand about my experiences using the lighting in real-wold photography business situations.
So many times we were being asked “Tell me about that light”. I noticed that sales people either start by saying the price or reading a spec sheet.

My approach was to ask a series of four questions:

1. “Who are you?”
2. “What do you do?”
3. “What do you already know?”
4. “What do you hope that the purchase of that light will do for you?”

A series of customer-focused questions. 1 and 2 designed to find out the basics about the customer. 3 was to make sure I wasn’t treating the customer like an idiot and to save time going through the basic skills. 4 was to establish where my best and impartial advice was going to be directed.

We all love new toys and there are many wonderful new toys out there. They are released by manufacturers who would like you to believe that by throwing money at this thing or that, you will be a better photographer.

NO YOU WON’T

My advice to anyone thinking about buying gear is this,

1. Work to the absolute limit of the equipment you already own.
2. Achieve the limit of your own knowledge and understanding.
3. Ask questions of those who are already at a skill and knowledge level above you.
4. By this time you will actually know if it is right to spend your money.

Spend your time in learning and educating yourself. There are innumerable resources out there in internet-land. Watch the videos, read the articles and reviews, best of all spend time (and money) meeting and training with the best.

That’s all the free advice I’m giving you. If you want to know more, sign up for one of my training workshops….. 😉

A couple of images from my presentations in London.

Time flies when you’ve no time to have fun!

Can’t believe it has been so long since my last post. My apologies if you have been waiting for my musings and if you have been holding your breath waiting for the latest words of wisdom…my condolences to your families.

There has been a lot happening, not least my invitation to be a demonstrator at SWPP in London last January. A great few days meeting photographers and suppliers from the UK and across the world.

One of the big things I have been aware of and started using much more now is the use of high powered speed lights and studio-type strobes. the greatest advantage has been the fact that we are no longer stuck in the studio. The advances in battery technology mean that I can have much greater control over powerful lights without the restriction of being tied to mains power.
Also, in previous years, I had been limited to a certain set of parameters which were constrained by things like shutter speed sync and special flash modes. Now, the restrictions barely apply. Turning day into night and shooting with wide open apertures to give depth of field separation (blurry backgrounds) is as easy as you need it to be.

I will be running a series of workshops in the next week or so but here a sample of the kind of image we will be creating:

Here is the link to the event and I believe there are still spaces http://www.eventphotographysolutions.co.uk/take-control-light.html

See you on the other side with some more exciting news to come about Air Image activity coming up in the Autumn.

A Feeling Of Community

This year Scotland faces a major decision…stay in the UK or become independent. I’m not going to go political here; however, over the last couple of weekends I have experienced the feeling of the people of Scotland being a community.

A community who cares and a community who take action to support that community.

I have been involved in photographing some events for Yorkhill Children’s Charity, a wonderful organisation that supports Yorkhill Children’s Hospital (or to give it the formal title ‘Royal Hospital for sick Children) in Glasgow. On Easter Sunday there wash the Easter Egg Run with around 1200 motor bikes parading the streets, raising money and donating gifts. The following week was the Glasgow Kiltwalk which saw over 6000 kilted walkers hike 23 miles and raising sponsorship for a number of charities, including Yorkhill, Debra, Anthony Nolan Trust, Children’s Hospice Association, Epilepsy Scotland, etc.

There was very much a feeling of togetherness. Nothing mattered other than being one group, doing what was right…helping others.

It was wonderful to be a part of that. Thanks to everyone for their financial support to these incredibly deserving organisations, but thank you for a wee reminder of what it means to be part of a community.

Glasgow Kiltwalk 2014 at the Yorkhill Pit Stop.

 

Easter Sunday 2014: Yorkhill Hospital, Glasgow

On Easter Sunday hundreds of Bikers assembled at Yorkhill Hospital for a parade through the streets of Glasgow. This was the 35th annual event which raised thousands of pounds for Yorkhill Children’s Charity. My photography company, Air Image was proud to be involved as the event’s official photographers.

With a couple of willing volunteers, we headed up to Glasgow to set up in good time before the crowds arrived. It was incredibly well organised with members of the Mercury Motor Cycle Club being responsible for organising and marshalling the gathering. We reckon that by the time everyone was gathered, there would have been over a thousand bikes. Just before noon came the shout, ‘Gentlemen and ladies, START YOUR ENGINES!!’ and the noise was amazing. There were so many wonderful sights as the parade left Yorkhill. So many had made the effort to dress up…Scooby Doo, Muppets, The Predator, a knight in shining armour, 3 Evel Kneivels, Batman, Spidermen, Nemo, and several Easter Bunnies of course.

 A 40 minute parade round the streets of Glasgow and they headed back to Yorkhill.

A fantastic event and a fantastic sight but behind it was the generosity of giving. As well as many fundraising donations, gifts, Easter eggs, etc. each biker paid at least £10 to be part of the parade. this all went to provide much needed support to Yorkhill Children’s Charity. This hospital has great significance personally to me and many of the people closely connected with Air Image and it was a real honour to be able to play a part in the success of a major fundraising event.

Bikers in the past have had a bit of a bad reputation but I must say that this was one of the friendliest gatherings I have ever attended. Much respect to these guys for what they represented and what they achieved.

All our photos can be seen on the Air Image website www.airimage.co.uk and some selected highlights on our Facebook page.

A Brave New (to me) World

My first ever Blog and I have almost no idea what to say or do. So, an introduction…Brian Muir, age 40 something (only just), owner of Air Image which was established in 2006 as an imaging company and, at that time, mainly …