Manifest Live ft. Cat Chinn

So I've been a busy little snapper lately. So much to blog and so little time! Will have to remedy that.

Before April was out I shot my first live music event. The very talented Cat Chinn launched her EP 'The Roads We Chose' in the O2 Academy Birmingham.

I always like to use available light where I can, so I can capture the atmosphere better. Flash when it's too strong can overpower other sources of light and you end up losing the ambient colour that sometimes makes an image.

I knew the low-light would be a bit of a challenge during the performances and brought some fast lenses and a good flash. Even so I was still surprised to find the none of the stage lights pointed towards the singer of each act (the front of the drums were perfectly lit!?!). Good thing I'd prepared.

I'm quite happy with the results but really looking forward to doing some more live music. It's such a great feeling to be doing something you love while your enjoying fantastic music and a great atmosphere. I was particularly blown away by Jasper In The Company Of Others and the headline act Cat Chinn.

At the moment I've been working on some lifestyle and commercial portraiture, will be sharing some of that soon. Here's some images of the acts that performed on the night, each of the names is also a link to their music.

Scott Yoko Churchill

Charlotte Carpenter

Jasper In The Company Of Others

Emma Skipp

Cat Chinn

Happy listening, Tom :)

Back to the street

Despite short-changing us all by a day, February was kind enough to offer me a bit of time to take to the streets with my camera. Here's some shots taken around Birmingham city centre. 

Scotland's valiant performance against France in the rugby managed to momentarily grab my attention as it was playing on the big screen in Victoria Square. At least I wasn't the only one :-)

 Interesting menu . . . Sexy Juice and Irish Moss!?!

 

 

Wedding Workshop with photographer Steve Gerrard

It's been a hectic few months since Christmas. My day job has had me visiting every country in the British Isles at least twice (I can't complain too much as I've managed to squeeze in a visit to Dublin). And while the people I work with are really nice and friendly, it's hard to be away from my little monster who is becoming all too good at saying "Bye Daddy".

However, the past couple of weeks my feet have been firmly in Birmingham and it's a good thing too because this week I attended a Wedding Photography Workshop with Steve Gerrard. Not the wannabe-DJ/footballer for Liverpool, but an actual DJ turned Photographer based in Birmingham. If you're not familiar with his work take a trip to http://stevegerrardphotography.com/ for some amazing Music, Wedding and Portrait photography.

Thanks to the twitterverse (@tdkavanagh) and little Cullan waking up at 3am, I read about the first Wedding Workshop that Steve had decided to hold and booked myself on immediately. To say I'm grateful is an understatement. I've been so inspired by just looking at his work and got to spend the day hearing how he does it. I held my wee for a stupid amount of time, afraid to miss a thing :-)

I don't know why but I didn't expect to get so much detail and insight, perhaps I'm to used to people guarding their secret way of working like Gandalf had warned them to. The fantastic photographer Emma Case (http://emmacasephotography.blogspot.com/) was also there, impressively signing what Steve was saying for another participant. I've been working in training for what must be seven years now and thought for the first Wedding workshop it was extremely professional. A part of me is jealous of the people attending the next sessions, something that good just gets better and better.

The group I attended with were great aswell, I also learned a lot from talking to them. Now my head is just bursting with ideas and I desperately need to start putting these into action!

The day even included a shoot with Steve and two models who were great, especially given how cold it was in the shade. These pics are the ones I liked the best, if you've already jumped over to Steve's website be gentle, I'm only new ;-)

Colour is the new Black and White!

The weekend has drawn to a close without the sound of the shutters closing; however, all is not lost! With my procrastinating at an all time low, I've managed to put the weekend to good use by spending some time practicing the dark arts of Photoshop. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been enjoying the wonders of cross processing and am well and truly hooked.

I've revisited some of my older shots and am amazed by the new life the technique brings to them. I don't think it works for every picture, and I doubt it will ever exceed my love for black and white pictures. Maybe Colour is the new Black and White! :-)

I need to get it out of my system and let it take its place as another tool on the belt. A few more pics to help with the exorcism (or perhaps add more fuel to the fire!). Your thoughts are welcome as always :-)

Cross Processing

So another weekend arrives, the gloom of the corporate world is temporarily lifted . . . and all too quickly replaced by crazy interchangeable weather.

But every challenge brings opportunity (an expression I can only abide outside of work, inside I normally want physical harm to befall its speaker). I've decided today's opportunity was a bit of Photoshop practice and a quick go at Cross Processing.

This is an interesting effect born in the film era and now replicated in the digital world. Its origins are from people (intentionally or otherwise) processing film with chemicals appropriate for a different type of film. If you've seen the film Domino, you'll remember the funky contrast and green/yellow hue.

Below is my eternal source of inspiration and the catalyst for many a sleepless night. My cross processed son Cullan :-)

Macro World

Went exploring today with my macro lens and happened across this little wonder. The door handle was resting in the soil just a few feet from the path. I must have had my macro eyes on and managed to spot it.

I've probably watched Guillermo Del Toro films too much but my thoughts were immediately of fairytales, trolls and magic doors to other worlds. Perhaps I should make up a story about it, to tell my little monster when he's older.

It's made me wonder what Del Toro's take on Alice in Wonderland would be? That's a film I would love to see made, Guillermo through the looking glass.

Think I need to buy Pan's Labyrinth and take a walk in his world again! :-)

Street Photographer

So far everything I've learned about photography has been self-taught. Every mistake I've made has led me to a better understanding of the camera (or myself). I have countless books and magazines on photography littering the house (or so the other half would say). I pour over these leaving some half-read, awaiting my return.

When I decided to make this a professional pursuit I also made the decision to learn more and keep on learning. Like with this blog, I want to always have a reason to take a photograph and get better at it (lest the procrastinator in me takes control again!).

As I began the blog I also started to attend a weekly photography class. It will lead to a qualification and while that's a wonderful thing, it's not the real reason I signed up. For me it's about taking the time to explore what type of photographer I am and want to be. A reason to get into the techniques that I've so far attempted half-heartedly.

Our first assignment was on the theme 'Street', to be interpreted as we see fit (in the time-old tradition). I've always had a love of street photography, a quick browse on my hard drive revealed the majority of pictures on there were of interesting places, buildings and people. My first thought was of the buskers on Grafton Street in Dublin, the undiscovered artists and musicians that captivate us as we make our way from Molly Malone to the Green. Unfortunately jet-setting for my photography is not yet on the agenda (perhaps one day).

During a trip into Birmingham's city centre, I spied a fellow enthusiast capturing some images of Victoria Square. I quickly took my picture whilst he photographed the beautiful buildings and a statue of 'Ole Queen Vic herself. It was only afterwards I remembered, when I bought my first DSLR I stood in almost the same place and photographed the same things. What first looked like an interesting composition now has a lot of meaning for me. Below is the first photograph I took in 2007 after purchasing a Canon 400D.

Needless Photoblog

The truth is unavoidable. I am a procrastinator. A slacker of olympic proportion (if procrastination was an actual event, I wouldn't even make it to the stadium!). Worse still, when I start to make an effort, it's usually thinking of excuses NOT to do something. I can avoid life like no other. Well at least I used to. I'd thought maybe the last thing the 'interweb' needed was another photoblog, but perhaps it does. Either way, it would be just another excuse.

For quite some time I've had a tingling in the quiet part of my brain (the 'doing' bit), a whisper that has slowly grown into an almighty shout. Heard of the saying "You work to live, not live to work"? I used to think that was the motto of the working class. Punch in, punch out and have fun before the cycle starts again. But the tingling suggested otherwise.

I've always wanted a career that involved being creative, but I've been working solidly since the age of 18 in what have mostly been the 9-5 office environment. Hell with fluorescent lighting, where metaphorical walls are replaced by actual ones (albeit padded cubicles to prevent you from distracting yourself with life). And while it's led me to meeting some amazing people that have enriched my life, it's also led me into soul destroying bureaucracy and the most horrid facet of human nature - 'ego'. I'll move on from that unpleasant talk of management.

When 5pm had passed and my anger subsided I would allow myself to become absorbed in the lovely flashing box I call television, the abyss that is the internet or (where the anger hadn't fully subsided) the nearest violent video game to hand. All the while doing one of these I've longed to be the creator, the Ridley Scott, Akira Kurosawa or Annie Leibovitz. Though to qualify the final aspiration, I'm certain I would make an awful woman and an even worse Jew, I don't have the legs for it and you'd have to pry the bacon sandwich from my cold dead hand.

I love making pictures. I love that an image can capture a memory and emotion as well as create them. As more and more days of my life have passed and shutters closed where I made the time, I have become acutely aware that some, if not a lot of, people actually make a living from photography. The tingle had begun.

You work to live, not live to work. It's a sad thing to see that someone's work has taken over their life. Sad, unless perhaps it's something they love (no we're getting there!). I love making pictures. I'd also love to be my own boss. I think you can hide from the truth, especially if you're a world class procrastinator but at some point you I can't escape it. Now here I am, perhaps for the first time in my life unable to think of reasons to not follow my dreams. I've finally managed to escape the prison of my own making.

I've decided to write this blog to record my entry into the world of professional (i.e. paid) photography, as a way of measuring my successes as I go and also to share the journey with those interested. My hopes are that I might share my thoughts, inspirations and warning signs to those that venture on the same path. I hope that as you are reading these words, you too are following a dream.