Sleeping Beauty (Oh yes it is!)

It must be nearly Christmas. It's not long after midday and the sun is starting to set, my keyboard is covered in a lovely golden glow. In just over a month's time I'll have had my fill of the driest meat there is and will be sitting down to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Mary Poppins (guilty pleasure).

Christmas season wouldn't be the same without the wonderful German Market in Birmingham (which I hope to visit soon) and the tradition that is pantomime season. You can't beat a bit of interactive theatre!

A little while ago I had the pleasure of shooting some promotional shots for the Tamworth Pantomime Company, who have a production of Sleeping Beauty running this December. For the shoot we had use of some of the rooms in Tamworth Castle, this combined with the fantastic costumes made for some great photographs.

As with any good shoot we didn't have much time, in fact we were actually shooting while visitors were in the castle (the faces on those that came into the rooms were priceless!). We ran a little bit over but the staff were very gracious and waited a little longer for us to finish up, I am very grateful to them.

The cast made this shoot one of my most enjoyable, they are so much fun and I will most certainly be in the audience when the production begins. If you can get yourself to Tamworth December 19th - 23rd or January 3rd - 6th I suggest you do the same!

In the meantime, sweet dreams!

Tom :-)

Radio Ga Ga (Part Two) - Tapping like Fred Astaire

These pictures were an absolute must for me to blog, if anything for the story behind the images. At the TCR FM studio in Tamworth I got to meet a singer/songwriter turned music manager Rebekah Ryan when she came in for an interview with DJ Alex Farrell.

Rebekah gave a refreshingly honest interview about the current music, the bad and good of the industry and her hopes for the artists she manages. As if that wasn't enough she sang KT Tunstall's 'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" live in the studio, a song I love performed a-mazingly. So amazing in fact that some video footage I managed to make during the performance is completely and utterly useless!?!

Lately, where an opportunity arises I have been experimenting a bit with video. In this case, video was not something I have been commissioned to do, but would be something I'm sure my client would be grateful to receive and a nice bit of experience for me. Many modern DSLRs offer video capture to HD standard and it's amazing how many people (myself included until recently) never make use of it. One of the limitations is that a DSLR camera being so light, there is a lot of movement unless you make or invest in some equipment to stabilise it. But my Spielberg days have not yet arrived so that little expense can wait.

Generally a careful grip brings the movement to an acceptable level. What I hadn't taken into account was how Rebekah's singing would make my right foot tap uncontrollably and the result is some video that looks like it's being shot by someone mid-seizure. End result - epic fail on the video front but at least I got the aforementioned "nice bit of experience". Live and learn :-)

Interestingly, the way the recording worked in the studio I could not hear the music Rebekah was singing along to, so my Fred Astaire foot was purely responding to the vocals. Rebekah has a facebook page you can get to here, which has performance dates etc. for Rebekah and her acts. A very beautiful and talented lady, my foot and I recommend you have a listen.

Tom :-)

Radio Ga Ga (Part One)

I've been thinking a bit about how people say "do the thing you love as a job" and yet the same people would say "work takes the enjoyment out of everything".

I suppose I see both sides of it. When I was in secondary school, I loved to draw portraits. I used to buy magazines that had an interesting photograph of someone and sketch it (rather than face the embarrassment of asking someone to model for me). I really enjoyed sketching as it gave me a lot of focus and quiet, but when asked to produce something for Art class, I could think of 100 reasons not to do what I clearly enjoyed.

I honestly have to ask myself why, because it was something I just instinctively did. I wasn't too worried about criticism of my work (not that I think my drawings were fantastic, but they at least looked human). I think it was because drawing was my bit of peace and as I never gave myself a deadline, I resented any that was imposed.

When someone commented that my art was good and I should continue with it as a career I would immediately respond with "but then I wouldn't enjoy it". And I think I was right about that statement, Art class was proof enough. Even now it's a rarity for me to pick up a pencil and draw, but there are some moments of calm :-)

Photography has never been like that for me. Yes it's true that taking a pictures when I'm on holiday or of my family is a very different feeling than when I make a photograph for a client. But it's still, for me at least, an enjoyable experience. There are challenges that have to be overcome for it still to be fun, but these are necessary challenges. For me the main challenges are subject, objectivity and pressure. There are undoubtedly more, but when I deal with these I feel like my photography gets better (yes the challenge/opportunity cliché).

Subject - When it comes to paid work, I'm not always going to be photographing someone or something I know about or perhaps have much interest. But what I can do is find a way to present it in an interesting way and I like how that keeps me thinking. As much as I want to create a unique style for myself, I don't want to be the "photographer that does...", I'd prefer that kind of statement to be a list.

Objectivity - When I photograph my son it's easy to think the photograph is amazing simply because he is in it. This is the very thing that made me hesitate so long about working as a photographer, yes I like a photograph but would a client? I do a lot of homework now where I look at other peoples work and my own with a very critical eye (probably too critical of my own work but I think it's necessary).

Pressure - The absolute difference I think, between shooting personal work and shooting commissioned is pressure. When I do some street photography I can take dozens of pictures and be happy that I've got just one single perfect shot and discard the rest, not the type of service I would be offering to a customer. Self-doubt can easily take over and the only way I have found to deal with it is to be that little bit more prepared each time, confidence is king.

I'm about a million times happier when I've overcome these challenges and made a photograph I'm happy with.

Recently I've been doing some commercial work for TCR FM, a community radio station based in Tamworth (you can find out more about the station and even listen live here). All of the DJs working at the station are volunteers and their dedication to the craft is an inspiration. They are definitely doing something they love and should be proud.

Below are some photographs taken in the TCR FM studio when DJ Hanna Smart interviewed boy band FTW.

One last bit of news, I've set up a facebook page for Saol Photography so I can post up a lot more photographs that don't make it on the blog. You can find it at www.facebook.com/SaolPhotography or by clicking here, please feel free to give it a 'like' and add any comments.

Tom