Done!

Finished my final shoot for a while now! Chance to catch up on some editing etc!
After a few weeks of organising todays shoot, we finally got Shola's shoot out and ready to go.
Went for a cliched "street" look at a local basketball court. Not really alot to shoot there but thankfully Shola brought a few of his mates along to join the fun haha.
Lots of swinging from Basketball nets and avoiding the occasional downpour. A short but high quality shoot with some great looking portrait photos for Shola to look through.
Thanks to everyone today for making me feel welcome. Last blog for a very long time now so lots to catch up on with editing! chris

Quiet as ever...

Sorry for the lack of bloggy-ness over the last few days. Since Saturday my schedule has consisted of sleep/shoot/shoot/shoot/sleep/shoot/shoot....shoot. And today - Edit. Edit. Coffee. Edit.
Worked on a shoot for a great character on Sunday, Laura and her carers. We had an hour to shoot everything so were busy running round my local park and then back to the studio for a few more posed shots. The photos look amazing, everything about them is so natural, I can't wait to show Laura and her carers.
Monday was Holly, another character in front of camera. Lots of genuine smiles and giggles on this shoot which was mainly studio based, trying to get a few shots together for a portfolio before setting off to bigger studio shoots over the coming weeks.

Yesterday we did a portrait photoshoot for Amy who was sooo nervous. Thankfully she settled into it and despite her nerves, her photos are looking great. My apologies (on behalf of me and emily) to Amy for ONCE AGAIN getting distracted by a squirrel on a shoot. It was one heck of a squirrel though, he came so close to the camera that I lost focus on him but refused to move incase I scared him off. Anyway, I the little fella didnt die from the chocolate cookie emily insisted on force feeding him. Lots of fun on this shoot, including emily falling down the smallest hill in the world and discovering an extra location to shoot at whilst out and about. Great shoot! However, now I face the mammoth task of editing everything from the last week or so, which is slightly daunting but it's gonna be worth it! More to come soon!

My Work On Exhibition

Just a quick blog to mention that my work has been on Exhibition this week at Birmingham University. I've worked with Sas twice, she's a fantastic stylist and together we've got some great shots over the last few months. As part of her final project at Uni, her work has been exhibitioned and features a collection of my photos for all to see.


Sadly I haven't been able to get down there this week because I've been shooting everyday but Sas kindly modeled a few of the prints at the exhibition, most of which were also printed by us.
Thanks Sas!

Rest! (ish)

Finally a day off! Feel like I havent stopped in weeks so it's great to wake up and just be sat here editing and what not. I know i'll be sick of it by the end of the day though haha.
So yesterday I shot Dylan, a local close up magician. I was suffering from fatigue most of the day so it was very difficult for me to sort of focus and keep every shot creative. However, we still managed to get some cracking shots and it was very interesting to talk to Dylan about what he does, magic/performance has always interested me - partly because the thought of performing infront of large groups of people scares the living day lights out of me. Regardless it was great to hear what it's like being on stage in front of people and performing. It sounds very different to how bands/musicians feel when their on stage, not being biased but being an entertainer and performing infront of people sounds alot more terrifying.
So we started with a few studio shots and then went over to some local woods to shoot a few unusual shots. This eventually turned into a total hike, poor dylan was walking through woods (not just woods - this was like a jungle) in a full suit so I want to openly apologize for that. However, we found a nice little place to shoot - it wasn't exactly where I had in mind, but it certainly worked and in some shots - I think it worked out better than my original ideas.
As for my home studio - it's getting a revamp over the coming weeks. We're investing ALOT of money on doing it up so it's all nice and shiney and looks abit more professional, also trying to get some new kit for the studio but I'm not sure if the budget will allow for that yet so we'll wait and see.
Anyway - there's work to be done, doubt I'll update here for a few days as there's not much to talk about as the next few days are mainly just editing. Stay tuned for some updates on the portfolio though, definitely have a lot of shots I wanna upload and share with everyone!

Shoot with Paige..

So yesterday was the turn of Paige infront of camera.
She came to my home studio with her mum who was so enthusiastic about the whole shoot and really wanted to get as many shots as possible for Paige, as did me and EmJ.
We ransacked the bags of clothes she brought with her and picked out the stuff we wanted to use. Although we knew this was going to be a Glamour/Beauty shoot, Paige wanted the shots to use for her portfolio, and shes only really done one shoot previously, it was important to really mix it up for her.
I'm a massive fan of David LaChappelle, not necessarily his ability to take photos but the surrealism in his ideas are perfect. In this shoot, we decided to ruin one of shots but attempting to recreate a shot of Angelina Jolie with a horse in the countryside.
Which is what we did and I was actually quite suprised how they turned out, the photos have an amazing natural feel to them, I love the simplicity of the shots. And although they may not be the most fantastic technical shots I have ever taken - there's something about them which I'm quite proud of. The shot on the left shows how we spread out across the field approaching different horses from different angles haha! This is a rare moment where Emily is saying "Chris I don't think we can do this" and me saying "Ofcourse we can!" - That is a very rare moment. Normally its the total opposite way round haha.
Following a few studio shots we went out towards Dudley to some place I can't remember what it was called but it was a nice little place to shoot, plenty of ponds and a little old building we could use.
The only problem we noticed was a few chavs that haven't encountered the female race yet, armed with camera phones and there elegant use of the English language. "Get yur tits out" and "I wanna see her naked" were amongst some of the compliments.
After Emily threatened to throw our "steel" reflector (lmao) at them - I decided to take the Hug a hoodie approach and offered them a photo if they'd leave us be. They had there photo taken and left straight away. Fools. I have Producers Forum and my three week course at UCE to thank for getting rid of them, I wouldn't have a clue what to do otherwise. It was nice to put something I learned so long ago into practice in a real situation.
On a far more personal note, I got a call from Dani half way through the shoot with the worse possible news. I obviously don't wanna go on about it here but right now Dani, me and ofcourse her family are totally devastated. You'll probably hear alot less of me from now on, I need to devote more time to being with Dani and her family.
Without ending the blog on a low note, I am really looking forward to the shoot today with Dylan, whos a local close up street magician. I've also enjoyed and been inspired by magic so today will be more fun than work for sure. I'm trying my very best to avoid any cheesy magician shots today but I just know I'll probably take atleast one lol.
I'll do my best to keep this updated over the coming weeks.
Chris

No time for your drivvle...

I'm so sick and tired of people being so ungrateful.
You know who you are and I hope you've read this.
I work so pissing hard trying to juggle all my work at the moment and it seems there's a small group of people that seem to think I devote my life to them once I've worked with them. I like to maintain a friendship with the people I've work with, but when your breathing down my neck and pick out faults at every available moment - You put pressure on me that I really don't want or need at the moment.

It's Fathers Day and I've delibrately left the day free from work to spend some much needed time with my family. Yet I find myself back here slaving away trying to rectify minor problems your not happy about. This is the first day in months Ive had to spend with my family, I hope your proud of yourself.

Just hit a thought. I'm going to just leave this CD burning and go out with them, I aint spending my only day off slaving over minor problems which can simply wait.

To the 99% of people I work with - you are fantastic people.

Even as I'm typing this I get another 2 texts from this person demanding more photos. I'm turning the phone off and going out to spend time with my family and enjoy MY DAY OFF. As I should be...

Aston Martin!!

So I've brought a new car. Only joking...
Today was my shoot with Lucy who just wanted a few simple outdoor bikini shots with this car for her portfolio.
We did the shoot at Cannon Hill Park where I havent been since I was very little, whilst there I bumped into a few old faces - The crew from Doctors - which I worked on a few months back. I didnt think anyone would recognise me so avoided looking stupid and saying hello.
I got there early to check the place out, shot the odd squirrel (photos) and a Herron that was IMPOSSIBLE to shoot.
Shoot didn't last long but it was nice meeting new people that seemed to have an interest in what I do, they were local too and Lucys mum actually works at my old primary school which is a coincidence.
Anyway, our Scotish friends are down for the weekend - they've just stumbled in drunk at 5pm so nows a good time to ask for a freebie...
Talkie of money spending - I brought a nice new filter today for my new lens. It's so nice to have the money to spend on this kit, It's becoming quite an arsenal. Still in total awe of my new lens - I will try and upload a few behind the scenes pics if I can get them from Lucys mum :)
Nice day! Weekend!
Chris x

This is quite private...

Its only a short lyric but it means alot to me.

"You Are My Friend, Don't Die Too Soon,
I look to you, I look to you
I've got the blues, someone stole the laces from my shoes
Oh, let your white light be my pillow"

Only posted it here because its the place where people are least likely to read it and I really want a place to write how I feel at the moment.
Please don't leave us all. God...

A Very Quick Rant

I have alot I need to update on but this is just a quick short rant in the meantime.
Why is it that when people cancel - they always have to make up that
a) their house has been burgled (This excuse was total BS)
b) A relative has passed away
c) They had a car crash 2 weeks before the shoot (Not even an excuse surely??)

Fair enough - If (b) is true, then I totally understand, but I know some people blatantly just lie about things like that as an excuse. Why do people book and then cancel so close to a shoot? What pleasure could they possibly get out of booking a shoot then not actually having it? I run my business as a full time thing - imagine losing a days pay every week because your bosses cat has the flu - that's how frustrating it is.
Anyhow...

Excited!

I feel like a kid on Christmas eve! I get my new lens tomorrow which I've just forked out nearly £1k for but I know it's going to be worth it. It'll get straight to work the following day as I have a christening on the Sunday so can't wait to push it this weekend.
I've spent most the week at Danis this week looking after the house/cats/plants - well she has - I've spent most my time twiddling my thumbs but rest assured that I will get back to doing some work next after a nice peaceful week "off" - I say week off, but it isn't - If i'm not shooting - I'm editing - but family recon that's a day off - infact - they think because I'm not a don't work 9-5 shifts or come home going "I HATE MY JOB" every evening - this means I'm "unemployed" - yet, demanding rent is still a priority. Only joking - there very supportive!
Anyway, im gonna crack on with this editing and finalise plans for collecting the lens tomorrow - I'll post a picture of it because I'm a total freak.

Bored...Should be busy

Hello, I've had a nice handfull of quiet days this week following weeks of constant shooting. Don't get me wrong - I love shooting, but I need to use this time to chill out and plan upcoming shoots. I've spent today planning shoots for the next coming weeks whilst chasing up the usual things that have to be dealt with seen as I run this as a business.
There's so many photographers out there that earn money from their photoshoots - I bet hardly any of them are registered as an actual business. I thought "it's best to be nice to revenue and customs and tell them i am a business - that way I risk getting in any trouble months down the line". No... Instead they're just constantly on my back about things I thought I sorted back in like February, jeeez, go chase those you aren't paying theyre way and quit faffing around with unimportant minor details.
Rant over (I have alot of ranting to get off my chest but here isnt really the place for it). I'm currently sat at my girlfriends, on her laptop - which is becoming strangely more and more accessible - normally I cant stand laptops, but the busier I get - the more I myself HAVING to use it. However this one is slow and coco the cat has secured a place on my lap so I think it's time to go.
Just dropping by and showing that I haven't forgot to write this little thing.
Chris

Calm after the storm

After perhaps one of the busiest weeks since I started working for myself - I finally have a chance to sit down and enjoy a coffee. Which is very different to working and drinking coffee, I can't explain how.
Been shooting constantly all week (except Sunday - but that was only because the girl rescheduled lol). Worked with Char who was just looking for some nice general portraits - heres one we made earlier. Back into the fields again now the suns out (every now and again)!

Either way - I'm currently sat staring at the monitor blankly terrified of all the editing I have to complete by next week. Today I'm shooting a girl called Nicki, it's only studio shots but I'm really looking to try a few new things today - Just to make my editing abit more exciting haha.
I'm thinking of doing some TFP shoots soon, With lots of crazy make up and high fashion models/stylists etc. I feel like my portfolio needs some killer fashion shots, it all seems to be looking too standard portrait-ish at the moment. When I first started - every shoot had a theme, something unique - and I hate how it's become a day job in some ways, I presume it's the same in any creative job. It's one of the things that puts me off working for the BBC, I don't want everyday to be the same, which is exactly what TV offers.
So yeah - I'm determined to try a few wacky ideas today, I'm getting the hang of the lighting lark but still think I'm a bazillion miles away from achieving anything of any quality. Don't get me wrong - I'm happy with my portfolio but I think it needs some more kick somewhere.
Once i'm finished at the shoot - it's straight back to Danis where I'm currently staying for the week - trying to juggle my editing amoungst that is proving a tad difficult.
However - all my hard work is paying off in terms of the old cash flow - My first year profits are all being pumped back into the business which means I get to buy lots of fancy new kit. I only paid off my new camera last week and already have my eyes on a new beasty lens which should sort us out for weddings and the bigger live gigs I have towards the end of the year (The Hoosiers, The Courteeners and Katie Melua).
Anyway - going to plan some ideas for todays shoot! Speak soon!