2020: Good Riddance

Headshot clients from 2020 — Reuben, Séamus and Isabelle

It’s New Year’s Eve. And instead of attending a party with friends I am, like so many of you, sat at home. And in my case, writing my first blog entry in nearly two years (the last one was in April 2019, for crying out loud).

The studio is cold and quiet, and will stay that way until the current Tier 4 restrictions get lifted. Bookings this year have been scant — that’s okay, I’ve had other ways to keep busy and keep the lights on — and the time and energy needed to do more creative and conceptual work have been scanter still.

And as we celebrate this arbitrary line in the sand, this throwing-in-the-bin of the year just gone, coupled with unreasonable hope for what begins tomorrow, I don’t know when I’m going to be picking up a camera again, at least not professionally.

Maybe when I do it’ll be more headshots, Maybe it’ll be something more “arty” (whatever that means). Maybe, maybe, maybe…

Here’s hoping your 2021 is better than your 2020 was, whatever that means.

New Year, New Start, etc.

It's 2019. And lo, everyone was thankful that the mess of 2018 was over and done with^*.

I didn't make any resolutions this year. After nigh on 38 years, there's not many New Year's resolutions that I can think of that have either stood the test of time or been particularly helpful. Most of the good stuff we do in our lives is about the forming of habits and the following-through on the promises-to-self that we make in the wee hours. So it goes.

But it's a New Year, so it's a time to start thinking about where I've been^** and where I want to go in the next 12 months.

Where I've been

I didn't create much in 2018. And that's not to say I didn't shoot much. I shot quite a lot, and although it wasn't as prolific a year as some have been, I'm satisfied enough with it from a volume-of-work-done point of view. Actors' headshots shoots have become more common, and with a bit of marketing I can see the chance for some real growth there.

But I didn't really push the boat out, creatively. I didn't do any of the crazy big production shoots that I've done in years past. I didn't do much in the way of work on my current projects — although I shot quite a lot of frames for subject|object, I didn't do anything for Celtic Gods. I didn't start any new projects and, crucially, I didn't finish any of the old ones, either, despite my intentions at the outset of the year.

Where I'm going

I've got a number of new challenges and Things To Keep Me Occupied this year. A lot of them aren't for the pages of this blog, really, so I'll spare you those. Photographically speaking, however, here are some Things:

Refurbish and relaunch the studio

Okay, technically not just photography-related, but whatever. I've had my studio space for about two years now. In that time I've shot quite a bit of work in it, but I've never been really happy with it. It's cold, because it's in an old mill. It's dark because it has no windows. It's untidy because it's mine. Etcetera. Hitherto, it's not been the most welcoming place for clients, and I've often found myself apologising for it.

So, new year, new space. Except I'm not going to move — partly because I don't want to spend the extra money on rent and partly because right now I've got all the space I really need (if not all that I'd really want, but see point 1). Instead, I'm refurbishing the space that I have: new floor (laminate wood instead of painted concrete), new furniture (at the very least a couch upon which clients can chill rather than the old office chairs I've been using for the last while), new lights (some reasonable IKEA wall lights rather than the horrible fluorescent overheads which are currently in use).

I'm part way through the project right now; the floor is down at least, and I've put shelving in to house all my equipment so that it takes up less floor space. Already it feels new and exciting, and I like being in it more than I did.

Ideally I'd like it to be more than just a photo studio space. I already use it for musical jams with a group of friends. I hope I'll use it for more things still — there being other forms of visual art besides photography.

Shoot more conceptual stuff

This last year I've shot a lot of portraits. I like shooting portraits; it's my comfort zone. And like all comfort zones, sooner or later, it can get boring.

Once again I find myself with a notebook full of ideas for more concept-driven images with wildly different visual aesthetics. I'm finding myself inspired by Alexia Sinclair, Tim Walker, Gregory Crewdson, John Keatley and others. And I'm in a position where I need shoot the images in my head or get off the proverbial pot.

And here's the thing, as ever: the only thing that's holding me back is me, and how much energy I can bring to the creative process.

FINISH STUFF

I'm terrible at finishing stuff. Absolutely, demonstrably awful. This year, I'm going to finally finish subject|object, and at least get the ball rolling on an exhibition for it.

I've got more Celtic Gods shoots in my notebook than I can shake a stick at, and yet I've done nothing with that project for nearly two years now — and the stuff I shot two years ago once again languishes unfinished.

For subject|object I simply need to go somewhere other than Manchester for a few days and shoot there, because it'd difficult to get ethnic diversity I want in this town, believe it or not. London is a much likelier place to find the folk I want to work with for this last phase. They say the last 10% of the work costs 90% of the efford, and that's definitely what I'm feeling right now.

TL; DR

2019 has to be the year of shooting or getting off the pot for me.

End.

^* Except for those people who see January first as an arbitrary boundary, and believe that all of existence is in fact just one long rolling shitshow from one day to the next. To each their own.

^**Okay, technically this should have been done at the end of 2018. It's a few weeks' difference; I'll live.

Fifteen-minute Portraits: An Arty Christmas Gift

Okay, let’s get this out of the way: Yes, it’s November. Yes, it’s not actually Christmas yet. And if you get me started on the fact that the Manchester Christmas Markets are already being built then you’ll have to hand me a beer and let me rant for a few hours.

Doesn't mean I’m above marketing my services as a Christmas present, however. So, on to the meat of the message!

Fifteen-minute Portraits are back for a second year!

Last year I started a Fifteen-minute Portrait service, which was a roaring success. The basic premise (which I shamelessly nicked from Jeremy Cowart), is this:

Here's how it works: the sitter comes to my studio in Manchester, we have fifteen minutes to shoot and chat. We pick a few favourite frames together, then we're done. The selection of the final portrait is mine, and because I'm limiting the amount of retouching I'm doing, the sitter should have their image within 24 hours.

This year, I’m not just offering the option to book a session with me. I’m also offering gift vouchers. Want to buy your loved one something quirky and different? Buy them a Fifteen-minute Portrait voucher.

The vouchers are valid for up to a year, so let’s make something cool together!

Do something, do something different

Without wanting to put a jinx on it, I think we're finally coming out of The Winter That Would Just Not End. Maybe. It's time to start doing something. Anything would do, frankly. It's also time to start making new stuff and updating promos and sending stuff out and making people aware that I'm alive.

Which is the most exhausting thing ever and something that I'm really not all that good at. In fact, putting it bluntly, I absolutely hate the self promotion aspect of photography. (If there's anyone out there who wants to become my marketing consultant in exchange for free corporate headshots and the occasional pack of Jaffa Cakes, do yell…).

Thankfully, it's also the time of year for the stuff I'm good at: shooting pictures. As the winter weather starts to turn to spring I can finally get out of the studio and start shooting on location, and refresh my portfolio a bit. Or at least, that was the plan.

I put out a call for folks to shoot with on Instagram and Twitter (my general loathing for Instagram does not extend to not using it when it's useful, it turns out). Leona replied, and we quickly set up a test shoot. We wanted to shoot entirely on location, but in the end, thanks to the Manchester weather, that didn't work out. Leona had also wanted to shoot something in her red suit, so once we'd brought the shoot into the studio I set about trying out a couple of ideas that were in my head.

The first — at the top of the page — was to shoot the red suit on a red background with some kind of over-the-top facial expression. The second, below, was to shoot the red suit on something close to a complimentary colour so that the red really popped.

Looking at my portfolio page, there's not a lot of bright colour there. I tend towards darkness and shadow, even when I'm using coloured light. I want to expand my range a bit, so pushing myself to use bright colours is a nice change. The portrait-on-colour-with-silly-expression has the potential to be a portrait series, I think — maybe I'll shoot some more of those just to get a consistent set of looks that doesn't completely clash with what's already in my portfolio. I love that red-on-red image, but it doesn't fit with the rest of my work right now.

Creating more stuff that doesn't fit in my comfort zone is one of my goals for 2018, so this shoot is a good start.