Emerson Photography Blog

Incredible Winter Wedding Photography Offer!

2011-11-02T17:03:00.000Z

Emerson Photography, providing tip-top reportage wedding photography and dramatic wedding portraiture to the good folk of the North East for the last seven years. Covering Durham, Newcastle, Sunderland and further afield.

Well, Winter is often a quiet time in a wedding photographer's life, and I suspect many of us in the North East are feeling the pinch (and the cold) a little! So I've thrown together a few warm and cosy discounted packages to guard against rising fuel bills and frosty weather :-) We could all do with some happy news as the nights start drawing in!

First up is the news that between the 5th of November and the 30th of April, I'll be offering four hours of professional wedding photography for just £400 (usual price £580). Details here.

Please note, this isn't just another budget photographer offering a tacky shoot 'n' burn with a CD of mediocre images. Clients partaking of this offer will still absolutely get the same beautiful, individually processed photographs as those paying regular Summer prices. You will receive all your full size, print ready images on a disc, as well as a web gallery to show off your big day.

So it's a bit like a wedding photography Groupon discount voucher (!), but it's limited by the number of weekends between now and the 30th of April and unlike many Groupon deals, it most certainly won't leave a nasty taste in your mouth. Neither will your feet be nibbled by Rufa Fish. Sorry, but that's the way it is.

If that all sounds interesting to you, why not get in touch, or do feel free to just call me on 07866 12 77 32 or 0191 584 5442. Please also feel free to spread the word if you know any last-minute-couples! You can also take a look at my Facebook Page to see some more weddingy photos.

Biker Chic at Middleton Lodge.

2011-09-21T16:34:00.000Z

Penny and Nik's wedding at Middleton Lodge was an absolute blast! Huge scope for dramatic wedding photography and so many well thought out details! Great people, amazing motorbikes, fabulous dress, food and entertainment. Cake by Choccywoccydoodah. A great recipe for an inspired wedding day!

This one has been featured on Brides up North, the North East's premier bridal blog - very proud! Please do pop over and have a look at their wedding photographs and write up.....

Biker wedding at Middleton Lodge

Brides up North Wedding Belles shoot

2011-07-05T13:39:00.001Z

Film Noir Bridal shoot at Hardwick Hall. Red and blue gels used with speedlights , strobist-style!

Some months ago, talented North East photographer Mandy Charlton got in touch and asked if I'd like to come and shoot a film noir styled bridal shoot with her. The whole thing was very hush-hush and all rather exciting! The shoot was put together by Julia who works incredibly hard to produce the North East's premier wedding blog. The idea was to get a gaggle of NE wedding pros together to do something a little bit different in the stunning surroundings of Hardwick Hall.

At first, I must admit to being a little concerned about reproducing a Hitchcockian, film noir look in the grounds of a quintessentially English country house, but my fears were groundless and a happy day of shooting commenced.... Here's a behind-the-scenes, documentary video of the day, put together by Steven of Forever Film. How he managed to get such fantastic footage with Mandy and I getting in his way all day is beyond me - the mark of a true pro! I'm the only guy in the video, so should be easy to spot!

With wedding gowns from Mia Sposa Bridal and Menswear, hair and make up taken care of by Lisa Cameron and Leeanne Bennet respectively, and accessories from ByGinaJewellery, we two photographers really couldn't go wrong! All these ladies were also modelling for the day along with Kristy from Simply Bows and Chair Covers and Kerry from Daisy Chain Events.

So on to the photos - you can see the collaborative efforts on the Brides up North blog.... Mandy and I worked together to pose and light the images - the day was stiflingly hot and I really felt for the models, encased in the gowns! Here are some of mine from the day....

Film Noir Bridal shoot at Hardwick Hall. Julia does a good job of looking a bit fearful, as requested!

Film Noir Bridal shoot at Hardwick Hall. I was trying to isolate the model in a pool of light here.

Film Noir Bridal shoot at Hardwick Hall. I was keen to try and reproduce something along the lines of a 50s paperback detective novel here (but with a weddingy twist, obviously!).

Film Noir Bridal shoot at Hardwick Hall. It would have been rude not to show off the surroundings...

Film Noir Bridal shoot at Hardwick Hall. Wandering off-theme for a few shots to show off the amazing wedding gowns at their best...

Film Noir Bridal shoot at Hardwick Hall.

Film Noir Bridal shoot at Hardwick Hall. Again, I was aiming for the pool-of-light-in-the-darkness here...

Film Noir Bridal shoot at Hardwick Hall. This one was just a bit of fun - Julia is being interviewed on camera behind me and she wanted some photo-action in the background. In keeping with the theme, I tried to introduce some schlock-horror, informed again by 50s detective novel covers. The shadow is my hand - it's supposed to look menacing...

Film Noir Bridal shoot at Hardwick Hall. And just a very pretty one to finish!

So huge thanks to all involved, and especially Julia for being the organisational force behind it all! You can see all the photos from the shoot HERE on my Facebook business page. Please take a second to 'like' the page if you do visit, thanks!

Kids and animals, and the joys of second-shooting!

2011-05-21T21:15:00.000Z

Grand day today second-shooting for Newcastle wedding photographer Mandy Charlton. That's two second-shooter gigs this month! Wedding photographers don't just help each other out for fun (although it usually is!) - it's always a great opportunity to learn, try out new ideas and generally get a taste for the way other professionals work. There's also a sense of freedom - I love candid, documentary photography, and tagging along at someone else's wedding gives me almost total free reign to gad about indulging my wide angle lens, in amongst the crowds!

In other news, yesterday found me shooting Elijah, an absolutely delightful little chap, approaching his second birthday.

As you can see, Elijah is a very cheerful wee soul and needed nothing more than a few bubbles to get him gurgling happily.

The next few pictures presented me with a bit of a dilemma! Wilson the Beagle was determined to get in on the act and with a little bit of help, I managed to get some lovely shots of Elijah and Wilson together. The dilemma though, was whether these photos belonged on my dog and family portraiture website, Hairy Dog Photography, or on Emerson Photography's site. Answers on a postcard please...

They get on so well together! Elijah managed to put in a good 45 minutes of over-stimulation, bubbles, flashing lights and taking modelling direction before weariness crept in. Nonetheless, he smiled right up until the end!

If you (or your dog!) would like a shoot, do just click through to my wedding and portrait website and hit the contact button to get something in the diary.

Robbie Anderson Valentines Ball, Feb 2011

2011-03-11T15:23:00.000Z

For the 2nd year in a row, Emerson Photography was proud to be asked to cover the Robbie Anderson Cancer Trust fashion show. This year, in the guise of a Valentines Ball. Held at the Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club, the evening promised to be full of glitz, glamour and beautiful people!

So many guests attended that a staggered door policy was utilised. Lovely glass of fizzy for all on arrival...

Backstage, last minute rehearsals were underway - lots of smiles and laughter.

Not quite sure what was going on here ^^^ Leg polishing perhaps?

The candles on the table now lit, the crowd began relaxing, having a few drinks and looking forward first to dinner and then to the fashion show itself. I don't usually just blog a big pile of photos without any text, but I'm in a bit of a rush today and just wanted to give an overview of the evening - so here they are!

I did actually ask for 'Blue Steel'!

Hairy Dog Photography!

2011-02-28T16:06:00.001Z

Hairy Dog Photography is now officially up and running. Thanks so much to all those who have volunteered their dogs for free lifestyle photo shoots - it really is very much appreciated. The website is now online - please take a look if you get a free minute - it's here; specialist dog lifestyle photography

The aim is to provide a specialist dog / lifestyle portraiture service throughout the North East of England including Durham, Sunderland and Newcastle.

There is still time to book your pet in for a FREE portrait session including a free 10x8" print - no obligation to buy anything thereafter and absolutely no hard sell. Why would I do this? It's a very limited offer and will last only as long as it takes to put together a really lovely set of dog / lifestyle portraits to show customers. So please don't sit on the fence - call me (Jamie) on ZERO7866127732 to get a slot in the diary.

Emerson Photography is entirely unaffected by all this doggy malarkey - weddings and regular portrait sessions will carry on as usual
:-)

I will shoot your dog for free :-)

2011-02-25T12:51:00.000Z

Free doggy portrait session and free print too - what's not to like?

If we're friends on Facebook, you may have already seen my post about pet photography. Basically, I spend quite a lot of my life taking photos of my dog - sad, but true. Much as I love him, I do quite fancy a change, and given that I've always wanted to carve out a niche in dog photography, I am offering the following;

Free lifestyle photography shoot for you and your dog.

You can be in the photos, or not - entirely up to you. We can do the shoot in your house or on a favourite walkies at the park / beach etc. There's absolutely no obligation to buy anything - in fact I will give you a free 10x8" print just for helping me build a doggy portfolio :-) I'll be using the same top-end kit that I use to shoot top-end weddings - results are guaranteed. It doesn't matter if your dog is incapable of sitting still - all the better for action shots!

I had initially limited the offer to five people, to avoid a groupon-style, 200-shoots-beforenextweek meltdown. But given the number of emails and PMs I've received, I'm going to (have to!) extend the offer to the next 20 people who get in touch.

You can see some examples of what to expect HERE or HERE (black lab puppy content!).

Location. I live in the North East (of England) - please bear this in mind. I am occasionally up in Edinburgh, very occasionally in Aberdeen and have been spotted on the Isle of Skye.

If this appeals, please get in touch - you can contact me through my website;

Clicky here!

Or through my Facebook page;

Clicky here for Facebook!

Or just call me on ZERO7866127732 or ZERO1915845442 (zeros included to fool spammy software).

Just to recap; that's a FREE shoot, with a FREE print taken by a pro photographer with pro gear. Dogs are mandatory - you can be in the photos with your dog, or not - up to you.

Christmassy Portraits with Amelie

2010-11-27T14:18:00.001Z

North East Wedding and Portrait Photography

Portrait sessions with small children are so much fun - even for a grizzled old veteran like me! I've shot so many in and around the North East over the years - my work has taken me all over Sunderland, Newcastle and Durham. Kids are just lovely to work with - totally unpredictable. It's why I almost always try to put aside at least an hour - a child can be screaming for Britain one minute, and taking a huge interest in a soapy bubble the next, all smiles and rosy cheeks!

So yesterday's was one of my favourite portrait shoots of the year. Amelie was truly a joy to photograph - a couple of tantrums, but nothing serious and she more than made up for it by posing like a pro!

The photo above wasn't quite what we were looking for - the hope was that Amelie would wear her angel-wings and angelically sniff the roses - as you can see, she preferred to throw the roses on the ground - still works very well I think, and doesn't look at all posed (due to the fact that children won't pose unless they choose to!). She did hold it out for me to look at though.....

We had an interesting time with a santa stocking full of shiny, red Christmas tree baubles. Amelie was so taken with them that at least one bauble had to be present in every shot thereafter. Photoshop's clone tool is our friend when it comes to shiny, red baubles.

Yay! Christmassy stuff!!

The next few shots were an absolute hoot - Amelie's mum and dad brought out this fantastic little play tent which normally hangs over her bed - perhaps seeing it in an unexpected place caught her interest. She certainly seemed happy to play with the netting for a good few shots.

So, thankyou Amelie (and mum and dad!) for making my job an easy and pleasant one.

Lauren and Gav's wedding....

2010-09-09T19:38:00.001Z

.....at the Old Hall in Washington, followed by the Chilton Club, somewhere between Durham and Sunderland....

Another glorious day in the North East - perfect for a wedding. Wedding photography provides the most amazing opportunities for creativity - the creative freedom is almost unparalelled and it's this flexibility which keeps me in love with my job!

When I arrived at Lauren's Mum's house on Friday morning I did briefly wonder if I had the right day - the sense of calm was a little unnerving! Lauren was busy getting squeezed into her beautiful dress upstairs;

There were plenty of mirrors so I let my mirror fetish have free rein - it's not big or clever but I do like the effect!

Fast forward to the ceremony at Washington Old Hall - this was a new venue to me and I truly hope I get back there soon. Tardis-like, the hall looks quaint, small and olde worldy on the outside but the inside is pretty cavernous. The interior is less than perfect from a photography point of view due to the tiny windows but the groomed, ornamental gardens more than make up for this.

Gav the groom and his two best men - looking very chipper chaps!

The ceremony involved lighting a candle with tapers. Fortunately no accidents of the dripping hot wax kind occurred...

The group shots were fun - had someone had more than their fair share of champagne perhaps?

And after a suitable gap to allow for some mingling, I commandeered the happy couple for a few romantic shots - I really wanted to make the most of the fantastic gardens. One off-camera strobe was used 'bare-bulb' - the sun was pretty harsh so my brolly stayed in its bag.

Again, just one off camera flashgun in the next two shots;

Both Lauren and Gav were great sports and I shamelessly posed them all over the place - glad I bullied them now! Couldn't resist the ivy in the shot below....

Running out of time now, so will fast forward again, all the way to the first dance. Here were a couple who know the meaning of practice - what a first dance it was! A few lessons had been taken here I suspect. No let up for Lauren though as the DJ gave Dad little choice but to come up for a dance - he didn't seem to mind though!

A lovely day with a crowd of lovely people - so good to shoot a new, massively picturesque venue too!

Meg and Daz's London Festival Wedding

2010-09-06T23:11:00.001Z

I'd awoken on Saturday morning, yawning and bleary at 6 a.m. All my gear was already packed (I'd been shooting a wedding the night before but had stayed up long enough to back it all up twice and clear the memory cards. Four and a half hours later I pulled up in a field a little West of London. I knew the wedding was a two day affair, in a field, with loads of Londoners but the first glimpse of the site put me more in mind of Glastonbury than a wedding.

So far so good - the weather was holding up nicely but the occasional gust of wind kept helpers busy replacing the Order of Service booklets...

The guests were many and varied - most had a tale or two to tell about the bride and groom and some brought props....

Children and dogs charged accross the fields with reckless abandon which all added to the atmosphere. A proliferation of hairy lurchers made me think wistfully of Kasper (my hairy lurcher) probably still grumping in his bed at home.

All around were scenes of last minute preparations - I had a good old chat with an ex-neighbour of M &D who had kindly supplied and arranged the flowers. The red carpet leading into the big top was lined with an amazing array of flowers and greenery. And finally, the couple strode out with Mungo the dog.

Meg is an old schoolfriend of mine who has been through some incredibly hard times - the support for this couple was palpable throughout the ceremony. Many (happy) tears were shed.

After some amazing Ottolenghi-esquse food, the festival elements of the wedding kicked in. Oompah Brass warmed up the (sizeable) crowd before very irreverent comedians Cardinal Burns, fresh as a pair of daisies from the Edinburgh Festival caused several humour-induced heart attacks (allegedly) amongst the guests.

Untitled #1

Time to light up the fire - the night was getting a wee bit chilly, even for Aberdonians.

The evening continued apace with music from recently formed band, Bay of Pigs. These guys truly rocked, filling the dance floor and kicking Hell out of the PA system. Both of Daz's best men are in the band - one on geeetar and one on bass (Rob on bass isn't keen on having his picture taken but I got a few sneaky ones which will be up on the website in a week or so).

The nuclear fireworks surprised everyone!

Time for a long postponed photoshoot - it had been a long and lovely day so didn't keep them away from their guests for too long.

Then straight into the first dance!

Photographer now, ahem, 'tired'. The DJs were top notch and after an hour or so yakking to some lovely, characterful folk in between taking pics, I went off to my tent, stopping only to admire the coloured floodlights around the fields. Roustabout Big Tops had really gone to town prepping the site - the whole place looked and felt magical.

The next morning and the food kept coming - I met one of the best men on his way back to the tent with Untitled #2

Apparently, he had a sausage somewhere to complete the dish. There were still some survivors sitting round the campfire, mostly crew members - stouthearted souls, kept afloat only by the grace of bloody mary and her reviving warmth. Photos were taken, and swiftly deleted....

The planned BBQ was held up by a swift but saturating rain shower - no-one seemed to care as by now a pair of intriguing musicians had taken to the stage in the big top. Kari Flo consisted of one part tabla player and one part vertical violin player. Sublime sounds to wake up to on a Sunday.

To finish then, huge heartfelt thanks to Meg and Daz for asking me to shoot their one-of-a-kind wedding. To be able to create that festival buzz amongst a group of friends from such a huge timeline and geographical space is something special - all the best!

Glen Sligichan, MTB, Skye.

2010-04-06T21:00:00.000Z

Got back late last night from an all too short trip to visit family in the Isle of Skye. Took adavantage of the reasonable weather to ride Glen Sligichan on my mountain bike. Did the ouit and back route - there are alternative routes back to Slig, but all of them involve a fair old road bash and those who've tried the other glens reckon they're a bit boggy at the best of times... The going is very rough - loads of melon sized rocks, drainage channels and other 'interesting' obstacles. It really has to be ridden with a bit of speed just to keep you rolling over the rocks. This was a wee bit harder omn the return leg as I was cold, tired and because I bent my rear brake disc within half an hour of setting off (comedy over-the-bars moment). The disc was bent back roughly into place by standing on my frame and heaving until a relatively flattish shape was acheived, but it still rubbed pretty badly and I had to pump the rear brake three or four times before it would work. The vid is shot on a £15 MUVI camera from Hong Kong - as you can see, it's not at its best in low light - probably best not to watch if you suffer from epilepsy! Enjoy!

Glen Sligichan MTB out and back, Skye. from User Removed on Vimeo.

How to choose your wedding photographer

2010-03-12T02:16:00.004Z

Emerson photography, wedding photographer based near Sunderland, Durham, Newcastle and covering the North East, providing unobtrusive, candid, modern photographs of your wedding day.

Intrigue and Industry Insider knowledge!!

Wedding photographers are a varied bunch – some good, some less so, as in all walks of life. Hiring a wedding photographer is something which most of us will do only once. We’ve never done it before – what should we be looking for? What questions should we be asking? I got married myself last October (2009) and realised that for anyone outside of the ‘wedding industry’, choosing a photographer is a bit of a challenge. So I thought it would be helpful to put together a quick checklis. Nothing didactic or over the top - just a few, hopefully salient pointers...

• How long has the photographer been in business for? There are a huge number of new start businesses out there – statistics tell us that although things are better than they used to be for new enterprises, at least one third of start-ups are still going bust within the first two years. So today’s entrepreneurial wedding photographer may have gone back to his day job after the recession loosens its grip. Don’t lose your deposit to tomorrow’s telesales guy. Lack of experience usually shows up pretty quickly too.

• Do you like the photographer’s work? This may seem blindingly obvious, but when we’re on a budget (and we usually are!) price is always going to be an issue. It’s very tempting to take third, fourth or even tenth choice of photographer so we can afford an extra bottle of wine on each table at the reception. Without getting all corny and schmaltzy about it, your photos will still be there when the wine is long gone (along with the food, the flowers and after the dress has been ebayed!).

• Does your photographer have insurance? Most photographers are classed as ‘sole traders’. They are lonely little one man bands, ploughing their picturesque furrows through the landscapes of their clients’ lives…. Or something… Fact is, we work alone – what happens if I get hit by a bus the day before your wedding? Hopefully it’ll never happen (hasn’t yet, touch wood!) but if it does, your photographer should be fully insured so at the very least you’ll recover all your money. Secondly, your photographer should have a very solid network of other wedding photographers to step into the breach if a disaster does occur.

• Ask to see a whole wedding. This old chestnut crops up all the time in bridal forums, but for a good reason. If you go to a bridal show, or have a photographer come to see you, there’s a good chance he / she will have a few huge prints of their best work, and usually a sample album or two. Make sure you’re seeing a full day’s coverage so you can make an informed decision about style and content – some albums are a collage of a photographer’s best work.

• Why can’t my uncle take the pictures? He’s got some amazing pictures on Flickr and his camera cost hundreds of pounds! Well, he can. And he may make an excellent job of it too. For some couples, a family member or close friend with a camera is just the ticket – free / cheap photography, carried out by someone you can relax with and are close to. But I wouldn’t recommend it…… They are known within the industry as ‘Uncle Bobs’ – talented (sometimes!) amateurs with an eye for a nice landscape or portrait. A working pro will have several backup solutions in case (for when) things go wrong; two or three cameras, lenses and flashguns, a system in place to make sure the day flows whilst making absolutely certain the couple get the photos they want - a good few years experience helps here….

Finally, although I could go on for hours, (!) just look at the pictures again. They’re what count – not the price, not the fancy talk, not the flashy website. It’s all about the photographs.

Valentines Day Special!

2010-02-14T12:36:00.000Z

Two snippets of news.... First up, Emerson Photography is offering romantic couples a whacking great 10% off any of our packages (that's over £100 on package two!). If you have proposed / been proposed to on Valentines Day, please have a look here for the details

http://www.jamieemersonphotography.com/page10065.html

Secondly, Emerson Photography finally has its own Facebook page - hooray! Please have a look here;

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=148811&id=307793329652&saved#!/pages/Emerson-Photography/307793329652

Please (please!) feel free to become a fan - it'd be very much appreciated!

Wedding Faves from 2009

2010-02-04T18:12:00.011Z

Emerson Photography's Wedding Photo Favourites from 2009

Well, this time of the year is usually pretty quiet - less so this year what with family commitments and an exciting new line of work taking photos of various horrible injuries for a lawyer's firm (sorry, no pics...).

So in a spare moment, I thought it'd be nice to have a quick flick through my hard drives and pick out, say, a dozen of my favourite photos from this year's weddings. Hmmmm - the first cull got me down to about 30, and after an hour of staring at the screen, I've managed to whittle it down to under 20, picked in fairly random fashion..... If you have a minute, please do have a look, and as ever, if you want to see any of the pics at a decent size, just click on them.

Hallelujah!!

Ah hahahaha! Well, I thought so.....

More comedy moments....

Aaaaaw - look at those eyes!

Newcastle fans, please look away now!

Moments like this prove that formals don't have to be dull and stuffy. Even better, the groom got poo-ed on by a large pigeon seconds later - how lucky is that? Actually, not so lucky for me, as I had to Photoshop it out on every photo thereafter :-)

A quiet moment at the edge of the dancefloor - Damn, I'm sneaky!

Weddings are B-O-R-I-N-G when you're a kid....

Fireworks and snow, WAHEY! What a fantastic end to a fantastic year of photographing fantastic weddings . Have I said fantastic enough times yet?

Robbie Anderson Cancer Trust Fashion Show

2009-11-06T20:25:00.003Z

I'm always game for a new challenge, especially where a good cause is involved - and causes don't come much worthier than this!

The event was held at Lineker's in Newcastle - a full on fashion show, showcasing work from various designers. The Robbie Anderson site is here.

What a fantastic night it was - lots of beautiful people wearing beautiful clothes and being, well, beautiful!

As always, please click any of the pics to see them at a decent size. If you're reading this in Facebook, it's probably worth reading the original on my blog for better quality pics (link at bottom of note).

Never in my life have I seen so many sets of straighteners......

Good thing the whole place is filled with mirrors!

Through the curtain....

Reminds me of my goth days - except the makeup is definitely being more skilfully applied here!

One for the laydeez.

And in the interests of fairness and equality, one for the boys.

The baying crowd.....

I wasn't really prepared for this! A few of these needed a spot of photoshopping to keep the pics decent, and no, the originals aren't for sale ;-)

Big smiles all round - can't ask for any more than that, and all for a great cause.

Another Skye Trip!

2009-09-13T17:07:00.011Z

Please click on any of the pics to see them at a decent size!

Just realised how long it's been since I updated this! Lots of beautiful weddings which I absolutely will get around to posting here......

In the meantime, I've just returned from visiting my parents in Struan, Skye, . Managed to squeeze the bike in this time - always wanted to take it, but somehow there's never been enough room, what with dogs, luggage and the wife :-)

I really fancied doing Glen Sligichan, but was told that a lot of the river crossings would be impassable, due to the huge amount of recent rain. Didn't really fancy cycling hub-deep through a bog, so turned my attention to Glen Brittle, and the Forest of Brittle instead.

I parked up at Carbost and cycled up the road a few miles (and I do mean UP!) to the start of the forest track. Then realised I'd left the map in the car and had to go back for it. Grand.

The pic at the top is right at the start of a nine mile circular route through the Forest of Brittle. Not exactly hard core, but enough to whet the appetite. Good variation in terrain and lots of routes to choose from. Pretty hilly too, so warmed the muscles up nicely.

_

Unfortunately, the route I chose led to the situation above - after a good three minute steep descent, the track was completely blocked by felled trees. Great big fir trees at that. No getting through them, but determination will out, and I managed to scramble above them and make my way along the treeline - even managed a few pedals!! On the other side, three forestry workers stood with their mouths open as I attempted to climb down a muddy cliff with my bike on my back, using felled trees to hold on to.

One joker quipped, "Did ye no' see the signs? Ye'll hae to go back".. Ho ho, how I laughed.

After flailing about in the forest for a while, I popped out right at the start of the trail which leads up to the fantastically named, 'Fairy Pools' - a series of pools and waterfalls overlooked by the massive bulk of the Cuillins. The sun came out and I knew I'd have to take the trail or forever feel like a total woose. The pic above ^ ^ shows the start of the ascent. It was a ratio of about 20% riding to 80% pushing / carrying all the way to the top of the pass - around 360 feet (height, not distance!!).

Looking back down into Glen Brittle from Bealach a Mhaim ^ ^ The going was pretty rough - lots of unrideable rocky sections and some hoppable drainage channels.

The start of the descent ^ ^ I had to force myself to get off the bike to take a pic - this was the most fun I've had on a bike in years!! Who needs trail centres?! The same features which were unrideable on the way up the other side suddenly flowed under the tyres - the faster I went, the easier it got!

Stopped to take a quick 5 shots for stitching into a panorama later.... Shortly after this, had my one and miraculously only fall. A crazy dog was bounding up the hill towards me with its anxious owners bellowing at it to stop. Because I was watching the dog, I lost my line, and took a header off a three foot drop. No lasting damage and the dog was fine too.

_

Final shot of the day - I was glad to see the hotel nestled in the glen below. Would have stopped for a pint, but had a 14 Km uphill road bash back to the car at Carbost - some of the hardest riding ever - I was pretty shattered.....

Cameras for Pleasure....

2008-12-28T17:41:00.005Z

Well, it's just gone Christmas, and everyone deserves a break, even wedding photographers.

My wife and I (still sounds wierd!) are at my Mum's house on the Isle of Skye for a few more days before heading home. It's been many a month since I've used any of my photography kit for fun - shooting weddings is a passion for me, and the creative possibilities are endless. Now and again though, it's absolutely necessary to get outdoors with a tripod and shoot stuff for fun!

I find it stops any staleness creeping in - other photographers will know the strange compulsion which sets in when let loose in wonderful scenery with a camera. Everything starts to look like an image waiting to happen - any time spent eating, drinking or sleeping feels like time wasted.....

No? Just me?! Can't believe it! Anyway, here's a few from the last few days. Click on any of the pictures to see them at a decent size.

The road from Portree coming down into Struan, sunset yesterday.

Sunset over Loch Beag

Panoramic shot near Storr

Panoramic shot taken from Mum's front garden this morning - the size of the image doesn't do the scenery justice... you can view this one large here:

http://www.ephotozine.com/photo/1086933/large

Ah well, it's been a grand week or so - New Year headaches beckon - looking forward to it!

Katy and alan

2008-12-12T17:09:00.012Z

Hot on the heels of Lynne and Brian's traditional English wedding, comes Alan and Katy's Scottish wedding, held at Pollockshields Burgh Hall, Glasgow.

Alan is an old friend of mine and it was one of those weddings where it's hard to decide if you're a guest or a wedding photographer! This confusion was made worse by the fact that many of the guests were also old friends - it was a fantastic day in a great venue, surrounded by the best folk you could ever want to be wedding guests.

At the start of the day, best man Sean proves he knows what he's doing.

Katy got herself ready at the rather spectacular Mal Maison, helped by her bridesmaids.

Match day traffic didn't stop Katy from getting to the venue on time (but it nearly gave the photographer a heart attack when his sat-nav guided him into the world's biggest traffic jam!)

Yes, she is on her way.....

You might not be able to tell, but the chap on the right hand side has on a tartan tie, so he was allowed into the 'kilt shot'.

Katy looked absolutely radiant, and the bridesmaids and flower girl seemed to have scrubbed up quite nicely too!

Straight after the best man's speech. The speeches were done in a refreshingly laid back way, and all were excellent. The emotion shown on Alan's face says it all.

Right, time to relax.

Alan and Katy had found a cracking celidgh band - they were so good that someone managed to dance their shoes to pieces - nobody claimed the shoe-heel found on the dance floor.....

The joys of rear synch / slow flash again.

Frosty grass and a midnight run!

These last two were taken towards the end of the night - the DJ was really going for it, and so were the guests! I kind of felt I'd done my job at this point, so was having fun with some 'experimental' stuff. Both of these were shot using a Sigma 10-20mm lens (super wide angle) and 'narrow flash'. This involves manually zooming the flash head into the body of the flash to achieve a 'spotlight' effect.

All in all, a great day was had - huge thanks to Alan and Katy for trusting me to shoot their wedding. It's always an honour when a couple ask you to capture their day, and especially so when the request comes from good friends.

Winter Wedding!

2008-12-11T16:37:00.015Z

Well once again, it's been a while - haven't managed to get any infrared film out of the freezer so you'll just have to content yourselves with looking at wedding photos!!

Lynne and Brian's wedding

... was on the 22nd of November in Houghton-Le-Spring, followed by a reception at Hallgarth Manor, Pittington.

The usual anxious following of the long term weather forecast was rewarded by a crisp, cold, sunny day (as forecast!!). I arrived at Lynne's house to get some images of her preparing....

Lynne looked stunning even whilst wearing her tracky top. A make up artist and various relatives were helping, and a general air of calm prevailed.

Attention to detail.....

I love mirrors!

The dress...

And the shoes............

Mum helps out.

Natural light.

Fab jewellery!

Mum helps out again!

I just loved this - it's probably not one for the album, but when I heard the bouquets were in a pan, how could I not take a picture!!

Like I said: stunning.

Fast forward to the reception. There are some great shots (I think!) at the church, but I can't put up all the photos - more's the pity! Hallgarth Manor is just outside Pittington. It's a great venue and the staircase, chandelier and arched window were crying out to be used in a photo or two. This one was shot at a fairly high ISO to make use of the ambient light. The best man is standing further up the staircase with one of my strobes (SB-800) to give a bit of fill.

There was just enough light to head out into the garden for the formals - I snatched this shot into the low winter sun on the way out the door. More and more, even at the darkest of winter weddings, I'm tending to keep the flash work to an absolute minimum. This is mostly due to the Nikon D300's ability to shoot at crazy-high ISOs without crazy-big noise....

The best man's speech. It's very, very rare that I actually listen to the speeches - there's usually way too much to think about. But not only did I listen to this one, I actually laughed out loud, more than once. As you can see, the rest of the room were also a little tickled....

Dinner over and through to the dance hall. Spot of rear synch flash for the low light conditions and the essential pic of wee lads sliding around on the dance floor...

But it's not long before they're kicked off to make way for the big kids!

Nice hat!

And, as with all weddings, before I've noticed time passing, my job is done - a fantastic day with a genuinely nice crowd. Everyone was very friendly and co-operative, the venue was photogenic, and the couple got the picures they wanted. I love my job!!

Lindy Jazz Summer Ball, Durham.

2008-07-15T20:25:00.010Z

Or, Emerson Photography faces a blackout challenge.....

Well, just finished editing and processing around four gigabytes of photos taken at the Lindy Jazz Summer Ball - the culmination of Durham's Streets of Dance Festival. You can read about the event here: http://www.jamieemersonphotography.com/news7963.html

If you're here for the gory technical details, read on.

Aaargh, Blackout!!

The organiser, Joo-Lee had warned me that it would be dark. She told me that other photographers had struggled with low light levels at this venue. But I must admit to being somewhat taken aback at just how dark it was inside the Three Tuns.

Hopefully, you'll see a pic below of the scene that greeted me. Fast moving subjects in a large candlelit hall is a recipe for blurry photos, even with the best kit, the right training and a go get'em attitude (although, happily, I am possessed of all three :-D)

All photographers worth their salt would have a few tricks up their sleeves to deal with low light and fast action - this is the way I did it.

Firstly, thankfully, I was able to 'warm up' by taking portraits of the guests as they entered the venue. This is always good for calming the nerves and settling into the job at hand.

Secondly; take a deep breath, think of Mr Myagi from the Karate Kid and use the force.

Thirdly, bump up the ISO on the Nikon D300 and D200. I know from past experience that the former of these will cope pretty well with being on ISO 3200. Okay, that's slightly better. Next, put the SB-800 and SB-600 flashguns into rear/slow synch flash mode. This means that I can use longer exposures with the flash going off at the end of the exposure.

Everyone's seen pics taken like this - loads of light trails and ghostly transparent objects with the main subject lit by a burst of flash - because the flash comes at the end of the exposure, the movement appears to 'follow' the subject rather than vice versa. At an event like this one, this method also means that the pictures retain some dynamism - some of the movement is captured, in the form of blurred, flailing limbs. Regular flash makes everything static - dancers would look to be stuck in an unnatural space, hanging awkwardly, mid-move.

Fantastic! So off come the diffusers - nice, low, white ceiling to bounce the flash off and I'm away! Except that now I find that these guys dance fast. Damn fast. I get stuck into the action, wandering the dancefloor, unconsciously tapping my feet and weaving about in the way one does when trying to cross a nightclub to get to a bar. Although now, I'm viewing the world through a viewfinder so I keep my left eye open too, to avoid embarrassing collisions.

Now that's just verging on abstract....

At anything over around 35mm (on my 17-55mm, f2.8 lens), I'm finding it hard to get a usable shot - my hit rate seems to be about one in five which would normally be pretty dire, but given the circumstances, ain't half bad. So there's nothing for it but to stay in the thick of the action using a wide angle - my 70-200 f2.8 hasn't left my bag. It would be a fruitless exercise as my flashguns haven't the reach to cope with a tele lens and my shutter speed's already risible without piling on extra focal length......

As the night progresses, I'm blown away by the standard of the dancing. Lindy Hop is a kind of fusion of other types of dancing; to my untrained (apart from five years of Ballet, foisted upon me by well meaning but misguided parents) eye, it most closely resembles Jive, but with elements of swing, ballroom and jazz. You can read about it here; http://www.lindy-jazz.co.uk/index.htm

I'm sweating just watching the dancers and briefly switch to my 50mm f1.4 lens, partly to give my neck and shoulders a break from the bigger lenses, and partly so I can sit down for a few moments. I'm also interested to see if the extra stop will make much difference (not really) - my hit rate is dropping as the night progresses - I'm beginning to flag a little and at 11.30 I call it a day and pack up.

Every job is a learning experience; from the preparation, by way of the shoot, right through to outputting the images on disc or paper. This was certainly one of the most challenging jobs I've ever undertaken - the sheer breakneck speed of the dancers combined with the extremely low light combined to give a proper nosebleed. I do feel though, that I coped as well as any photographer could have and I've got a few 'shots-to-be-proud-of' too.

Off to take pics of my coal cellar,

Cheers for looking in..........

And if you get a moment, please have a quick look at the http://www.emersonphotography.co.uk website!

Kasper gets a walk

2008-06-05T22:45:00.006Z

Well, it's been a while. As regards infra red film, I've bought a test pack of Rollei IR film from Silverprint which includes five IR films and a wee bottle of high speed Rollei developer. I shot the first film last week and wasn't terribly impressed.

I've also gone through two rolls of Ilford SFX (one was for a thirty day challenge: one camera, one lens, one film, organised through facebook) and really, there's no comparison with a 'true' IR film. It's easy to use - you can load / unload in subdued light and the ISO of 200 makes handheld shots possible. However, it's a bit cr*p really, truth be told........ In anything other than perfect IR conditions, it behaves much like Neopan 400 with a red filter. Yes the sky darkens down ( a little ), and yes, the foliage goes slightly white, but Pah! Give me back HIE any day of the week.

Rollei Infra Red; it was a very sunny day with contrasty light bouncing around all over the place. The only pics which came out well were shot in shaded areas of woodland, with no direct sunlight. I have scanned in the negs, but can I be bothered to switch on the desktop, save the files onto a memory stick, download them onto the laptop and post them here? Can I bollocks. I'll do it in my next post.

The (very few) successful negs were shot at a speed of between 1/30th of a second and one second. The longer exposures, even in shaded areas produced very dense negs. Devved in the 'forementioned Rollei HS dev.

The film was shot using a Lee filter holder and a Cokin X-Pro IR filter. I used a Nikon FM2n with a metal shutter release - next time, I'll take the pneumatic release cable as it's almost impossible not to shake the camera during long exposures with the metal cable release.

As an aside, I've got a UK retailer of deep infra red Efke film saved to my favourites menu and will buy some as soon as the bank says I can.

I'm boring myself here, so onto Kaspers walk, which today was the old standby: Barnard Castle to Cotherstone and back down the other side of the river - one of our favourites.

As you can see, Kasper had a cracking time, pausing only to chase; a rabbit, a pheashant, another rabbit and a guy who he thought had a dog but didn't.

Wanted to practice with a recently purchased Nikon 70-200 VR f2.8 lens, so Kasper was bribed with Mmmmmmatheson's mini sausages to run almost ad nauseum, from A to B, preferrably with an obstacle of some kind in his way. Both the pics above were shot with this lens - the top one also involved a Kenko 1.4 teleconvertor. The cheesy montage above did not - it was too dark to lose a stop of light.

Anyhoo, off to bed - will post again shortly................

Compact cameras, Kasper's walk and Hawthorn Dean

2008-04-13T16:39:00.007Z

Not long back from Kasper's walk in Hawthorn Dean, during which I rediscovered the joys of the compact camera. Usually, I'll have my Lowepro AW Rover II (massive photo rucksack) with me, stuffed to the gunwhales with D300, lenses and a massive tripod.

I recently bought Clare (fiancee) a Pentax Optio A30 compact camera. When a friend at work asked me to buy him a camera, I thought the Pentax was still the best beast for the cash - around £100 if you look around. Said friend then found out his wife had bought him a Sony for his birthday, so I'm lumbered with it now.

All being well, you should see a pic of Kasper on the left....

It's a great little camera with 10MP, a huge, clear review screen, burst mode (takes several pics in quick succession), image stabilisation, facial recognition and loads of other clever stuff. You can set it to shutter priority (called TV in the menu) but unfortunately, not apperture priority, so far as I can tell.

There's various other very silly shooting modes, including 'dog' or 'cat' - what a load of humbug - and you can do the usual 'hilarious' frames thing. Its most appealing feature has to be the ability to shoot video clips - youtube here I come!! This has Clare and I falling about in hysterics as we review clips of Kasper doing something side-splittingly funny, like, say, fetching a stick or digging a hole. As a newcomer to the whole moving image thing, I'm still totally enamoured of it - I'm sure it'll wear off in time.

Below, you should see my latest masterpiece, imaginatively titled, "Kasper Comes Back".

I'm rather afraid this new found ability will lead to my publishing numerous, tiresome, didactic 'tutorial videos'. I'm already imagining videos on subjects like processing infra red film, setting up a Nikon D300 for various light conditions and so on and so on..... Apologies in advance! I'll have to get to grips with some editing software first though - for instance I was very keen to add motorbike noises to "Kasper Comes Back", but sadly, lacked the wherewithal to complete my vision.

Other than acquiring yet another b****y camera, things continue apace. The wedding photography continues to come in - finally getting more word of mouth work than any other sort - this is fantastic for many reasons - not least because it means I can think about lessening my scary-big marketing spend! It's also a sign that past clients like what I do. Grand!

For those looking for info on infra red film ( Kodak HIE, Maco, Ilford SFX ) my sincere apologies - you can blame the weather. I haven't shot any of the 'fore-mentioned films in the last few weeks but will get round to it soon.

For those reading in hope that I will divulge some morsels regarding my personal life, Clare and I are still looking forward to getting married in October - I spent an entirely miserable afternoon in Newcastle yesterday, hanging around waiting for Clare to have a wedding make up makeover in John Lewis. Never in my life have I drunk so much Starbucks coffee. Yuck.

Anyhoo, cheers for reading.

Kodak HIE discontinued - eeek!

2008-03-19T22:40:00.003Z

Well, I'm always the last to know. No-one round here tells me anything. Or maybe I just took my eye off the ball (grumpy harrrumph).

It certainly seems to be serious this time. After a few scares and capitulations by Kodak, it looks like the end of the line for HIE. I still have a few rolls in the freezer and refuse to be terrorised into paying £17.49 for ONE, yes ONE roll of the film. Ooyah!

Oldest trick in the sales book - create a perceived scarcity of any product and the value goes through the roof. Except this time, unfortunately, perhaps it's not a perceived scarcity :-(

Anyhoo, I've bought in a couple of rolls of Ilford's SFX, which I tried years back in medium format and didn't much care for. Results will be posted shortly. Also, looking forward to trying Maco's IR offering available from Silverprint.

Apologies for the lack of pics - some will follow shortly..................

Back on Track..........

2007-09-20T16:00:00.000Z

Well, when I started this nonsense, I was going to write about the joys of starting up a new business. I seem to have got a little sidetracked (!) - so much so, in fact, that this blog is now officially less about Emerson Photography, and more concerned with Kasper (the dog), photography for fun and life in general. Whew, some sentence.

Having said that, business plods on - a few new wedding bookings, the odd family portrait shoot and a fair bit of commercial work (press releases, pics for folk's websites etc.). Still hugely enjoying the whole adventure - just can't wait for the day when I can quit my part time job. I've had it since my university days and whilst it's not the worst job in the world, I'd be delighted to get the hell out of it. Even 12 hours a week is beginning to feel like a humiliation I could do without.

Now looking forward to getting hitched in October next year - haven't actually popped the question yet tho....... I did ask Clare's dad whilst attending someone else's wedding and he said yes. To marrying Clare, not him. I think...............

The inestimable Mr James Burns has very kindly agreed to do the whole photography thing (aah, so that's who cuts the barber's hair) - can't think of very many other people I'd trust to do it, to be honest.

And so it begins: the beginning of a great adventure, as Lou Reed's wfe said to him. I'm interested in a detatched kind of a way, as well as getting excited on a personal level. I'm hoping it'll give me an insight into what's going through the minds of all these people I go to see regarding their wedding photos.

I will try to keep this humbug updated on a slightly more regular basis, just in case anyone actually looks at it......well.............?anyone.....?

Camping instead of Working - Huzzah!!

2007-06-15T18:34:00.000Z

The better half is away right now, so I type this with the dog, Kasper asleep on my feet. He's not usually allowed upstairs so this is a huge treat for him. I'm enjoying it too as he's keeping my feet warm.

The last few days have been pretty busy as I've had a couple of major jobs on photography wise.

The first was the Blueprint Awards Ceremony, held in the Stadium of Light last Thursday. I had decided not to use any flash but stick to fast lenses, high ISO and aggresive noise reduction.

This all sounds well and good, but when I arrived, the light levels were extraordinarily low and at ISO 1600 f2.8 I was struggling to get a 60th of a second - many of the shots were taken at a 30th and some as low as a 15th!!

One 15th of a second with a Nikon 80-200mm lens handheld isn't a recipe for success - that's one big, heavy lens! Even the 17-55 f2.8 is a fair weight. The shots looked fine on the review screen of the D200, but I suspected that when seen large, they'd be a bit soft. I stuck on a 50mm prime (f1.8) and used the D70 with an 85mm prime (f2) and used this combo for much of the night.
Not interested in techie details? Sorry, but I do love my kit!

The second job should have been a piece of piddle, but Photoshop, pictures saved in different formats, my printer dying and several other factors conspired against me. A couple whose wedding I shot last February found they were too busy to put together their own album as per agreed so I offered to print out contact sheets to let them choose which pics went into the album. The job should have taken half an hour max, but ended up eating an entire day. In the end, I sent the files to the excellent Photobox and received the prints, as usual, the next day.

Camping instead of working

On Friday, when I should have been processing the many hundreds of photos taken at Blueprint,Clare, Kasper and I headed off camping to Dent, near Kirby Stephen, near Penrith, etc.

We'd been recommended the High Laning camp site as being dog friendly and otherwise just a great place to stay, and indeed it was. Great situation, nice, friendly pubs and lots of good walking.

Above is a snap of the Dancing Flags, which were sadly static when we arrived. Perhaps they heard us coming and lay down for a rest. I bet they look great right now with a torrential river tearing over them (I should inform my huge foreign following that it's been pissing down here for the last couple of days, causing flooding all over the place).

At the top of the lane leading out of Dent, the vista opened up and though the light wasn't fantastic, I'd dragged my tripod up the hill in sweltering heat and damned if I wasn't going to use it. So here's the view.

The next day (just as hot) saw us heading home, stopping at a few points of interest along the way, like this viaduct. I seem to have formed a habit of getting into trouble with landowners and this day was no exception. I had hauled myself very carefully up onto the dry stane dyke to get a decent viewpoint, when the local farmer roared up the other side of the valley on a quad. Despite not being able to hear what he was shouting, I got the impression he was unhappy with my current situation and wanted me off his bloody wall. Quickly.

Finally for today and just to keep up my hard earned reputation as one of today's foremost practitioners of infra red shooting (hah!), here's one from the most recent effort, showing yet another viaduct a little North of Durham.

Yet More From Hawthorn Dene......

2007-06-03T18:11:00.000Z

Filim, schmilim.

Well, finally put the film cameras down (not like at the vets.......) and took the Nikon D200 to the Dene. I thought it was about time to capture the verdure (wot's that then) in all its glory.

Also took along my Sigma 10-20mm lens, slik tripod,a mixed bag of prime lenses, the dog and a Dairy Milk in case of emergencies.

Having consulted the OS map, we entered the Dene through a field and found ourselves in the thickest, least visited part. The path(s) were barely visible so we dropped down the steep bank (literally) and followed the river along the valley bottom. I've included the pic below, not because it's any cop as an image, but just to give an idea of the terrain.

After thrashing about in the undergrowth for several hours, Kasper (the dog) and I found ourselves back on a path and shortly thereafter, in the wheat field I'd photographed several days earlier.
I had another pop at using a long exposure to emphasise the waving of the wheat, using the Oak tree at the far end of the field for background interest. This same location can be seen shot on infra red in an earlier post.

At this point, Kasper went completely mental, diving in and out of the waving wheat like a thing posessed and eventually upsetting the tripod, and me, in one fell swoop. I wonder if the feeling of running throught the wheat is similar to being stroked by a thousand 'Fairy Soft Hands'©. This sensation might explain his increasingly erratic behaviour.

At any rate, a fallen tripod and D200 constitutes an emergency in anyone's book, so I felt justified in cracking open the Dairy Milk, which Kasper and I thoroughly enjoyed.
Toward the end of our wanderings, I spotted this vast
fallen tree spanning the gorge. Of course, I had to run accross it whilst the dog went wild trying to follow me.

This one was shot at the very widest end of the Siggy 10-20mm lens and using the maximum self timer time on the D200 - a measly 20 seconds. Do Nikon want people to break their legs scrambling along trees? 30 seconds would be reasonable........

This last pic was taken on a grey and miserable day during a walk out of Durham last week. Couldn't resist the texture of the tree trunk. P'raps a wee bit over photoshopped but that's what happens when one has too much time to play!

T0 those who have read this far; I thank you. To those who read the description of the blog and are looking for hints and tips regarding setting up a small business; I apologise, but all work and no play, etc, etc.....
I will try to get back on track over the course of the next few sessions!

Today's Infra Red effort - more Kodak HIE

2007-05-18T19:25:00.000Z

Well, I promised earlier today that I'd upload a few pics if I got out to play with the camera. I know some of you will have been sitting refreshing my blog every five seconds, emitting anxious groans at each fresh disappointment....Well groan no more!

The sun did come out so I sallied forth with the trusty Nikon FM loaded with HIE, and the slightly less trusty (it's new, off ebay) Nikon F2Mn, loaded with EliteChrome 100 ISO. And the dog, who was extremely well behaved, for a change.

The Dene is just lush right now - it's so green and dense it's actually quite hard to find a pleasing composition - nothing stands out! There are several species of rare wild orchids apparently, but I wouldn't know one if it jumped onto my face , crying, "Pick me, you goof, I'm worth thousands to the right dodgy dealer".

The picture which should be on the left, but could really appear anywhere if past experience is anything to go by, is one I've been after for a few weeks.

There's a lovely 'S' shaped curl in the path and the ground vegetation is very thick and very green - ideal for IR purposes.

The second I got in the door, the film was in the tank (plastic, not advisable, but what the hey...) and devved.
Used a squeegee for the first time in years as I was in a hurry to scan the negs. This seemed to do them no harm, and I may use a squeegee more often.

As is usually the case, all three of these pics were taken using my Kood dark red filter. I actually invested in a Hoya 52mm screw in IR filter which arrived this morning. It's been a while since I used a 'proper' IR filter and all the shots taken using it are black. Bah!

The picture which may be below (boggered if I'm spending ages reformatting the blog after viewing it in a new window and realising everything's in the wrong boggering place. Again.) was taken from the edge of achest high wheat field. It's on the edge of the Dene and I hadn't seen it before.

The wind was really going for it, so I tried the new opaque screw in filter (mentioned earlier) which I hoped would give me a nice, long shutter speed, resulting in lots of nicely blurred wind blown wheat. I got a black neg. For safety, I also shot a few using my dark red filter and that's the result below (or wherever it turns up...)

More of the same here, really! Thanks for having a gander - off to buy some chips! Yum!

Late Wedding Booking Discount, or, Copying Airline Marketing Tactics

2007-05-18T11:59:00.000Z

I was just looking through the Sunday papers and idly checking out the last minute booking offers from hotels, airlines and so on, when it struck me that perhaps I could steal this powerful marketing tool and apply it to wedding photography.

I don't mean I'm going down the bargain basement route, just that if they can do it, why shouldn't I run a similar, if somewhat toned down, campaign?

Accordingly, my wedding website now has a news story along the lines of 'Discount for Last Minute Bookings'. It makes a lot of sense - if I'm free on their big day, I might as well take a lesser fee - beats sitting about at home, reading the Sunday papers and coming up with crackpot marketing schemes! Have a look here:

http://www.jamieemersonphotography.com/news3204.html

Had a swift look at my self assessment tax return form this morning (shudders....) and swiftly put it back in the huge pile of paperwork on the floor of my office. I really must get a filing cabinet. And an accountant.

Nearly went on the Inland Revenue's (still shuddering.....) course for self employed folk. I'd heard good things about the course, and apparently, they're more likely to make life easy for you if you approach them first, rather than waiting to be hunted down like a gay dog in Macho Dog Land. The first one was full though, and I've never worked up the enthusiasm to try again. Oh well.

Waiting for the sun to decide whether or not it's coming out to play. If it does, I'm desperate to take the dog down to Hawthorn Dene: a primeval expanse of incredibly verdant deciduous woodland ten minutes down the coast from here.

I shot an entire 36 pics there a few weeks back before realising there was no film in the ol' Nikon FM. I thought it was fully loaded and ready to go with Kodak HIE IR film. Bah!

If I get any this time, I'll post some here.

Orange Phones for Business Use - Bah! Also, lessons learnt regarding fickle customers.

2007-05-13T13:56:00.000Z

I recently realised it had been ages since I'd had an upgrade from Orange. Also, my tarrif was a two year old ripoff based nightmare. I phoned them several times as it seemed everyone I spoke to at the call centre had a different idea of when I could upgrade, and which models I might be entitled to.

A friend of mine who helped out on the last wedding shoot had an extremely effective sat nav system on his phone, enabled by a widget of some description purchased (I think) on ebay.

You can have a gander at his blog here:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/ThoughtsFromTheMindOfJames

I was very impressed by this and my choice of phone was greatly influenced by the thought that sat nav really is a useful thing to have. Accordingly, I spent £100 upgrading my old phone to Orange's SPV M700, which has GPS built in for sat nav use.

The phone duly arrived and I spent the next week trying to send a text message. The next week was slightly improved but it was also gradually dawning on me that the sat nav function was not included with the phone. After some research, I found the service is offered by a seperate company, who want £80 of me hard earned.

They do offer a free one week trial which I spent most of last night trying to organise, to no avail.

I've now downloaded google maps which does a similar but less effective job for nowt.

I hope, that given time, my M700 and I can learn to at least get along, if not actually fall in love. It does have some absolutely top notch functions which I'm slowly getting my head round but by thunder, it's a demanding relationship.

On a lighter note, I went to our local country park today to watch thousands of women running round it dressed in lycra and / or fancy dress. My girlfriend was running so I hadn't really any choice, despite not feeling the best due to a good night in last night. It was also a good excuse to give the Nikon 80-200 f2.8 lens a workout. It really is a crackin' bit of glass.

I like this one purely due to the pained expressions on the faces of the two girls behind Clare.

Clare at full zoom, f2.8. I love my Nikon lenses!

On fickle customers

The right to rant :-)

Perhaps fickle is not the right word, and after all, my customers allow me to eat, pay my mortgage and have the odd pint. A better title might have been, "All customers may reserve the right to change their minds about everything previously agreed, right up until the moment the shutter is released".

It wouldn't do to go into specifics for obvious reasons, but I have learned a valuable lesson this week: don't assume anything until you've got a signature . Yes, I know it's a basic rule of business, but you know when you've got someone's word on something? When everything's organised and you've put time aside? When you've come to trust someone? I could continue but from now on, nothing is set in stone until either there is money on the table, or a binding contract in my hand.

Rant over, here's a calming picture of Clare and Kasper with Roseberry Topping in the background.

Everyone Wants My Money!

2007-05-10T10:03:00.000Z

The Underdogs of the Business World

Or, wedding photographer North East is selling his granny for food.

Small businesses always have a hard time of it. We are at the bottom of the food chain so far as cold, hard cash is concerned.

I've been quite fortunate as almost all of my customers have paid up in a timely fashion. Now, though, the tables are a wee bit skew-whiff as everyone from suppliers to the bank is screaming for my cash. Not that I have any to give them; still, this fact does not deter any of them from pursuing me like a pack of cash-strapped deerhounds, with special pointy teeth.

It's the same old problem - I have a fair whack of cash coming in but it's not here yet - a couple of wedding deposits, payment for a portrait job, a large grant courtesy of the European Development Fund (hurray for foreigners!) and revenue from ebay sales.

As a brief aside, if you are starting a business, you could do a lot worse than going to see your local Business Innovation Centre (BIC). If nothing else, they will usually manage to sort you out some free cash from somewhere.

Do Barclaycard want to hear about the lady in Vancouver who has yet to pay me for a camera body she won three weeks back on ebay? Do they b******s. I've tried but these people are so unreasonable.

The handsome chap in the picture is wearing a fine German Goretex army jacket, starting at a very reasonable £1.99, in case you fancy a bid. It can be found on ebay should you require a top notch raincoat.

Still though, at least I now know there's light at the end of the tunnel, with the grant due in my business account next Tuesday - this should keep the wolves from the door (more dog and money related terminology - is there a pattern emerging here...?)

Well, thanks for popping by - I must go and steal the slates off the neighbours roof.

How not to shoot Infra red film (Kodak HIE).

2007-05-08T14:32:00.000Z

One of the things I derive most pleasure from is Infra red film. Specifically, Kodak HIE. Nothing is safe from me and an old Nikon loaded up with this film.

In case you don't know, and care enough to find out, IR film has a few odd characteristics, the most obvious of which is that it turns any foliage white - this is due to the way in which green foliage reflects IR light (I think!). It will also turn the sky black if you have a deep blue sky.

Above, is one of my earliest IR attempts using Konica IR film. The grass and leaves went white but the sky remained resolutely pale. Why? Because I was treating the IR filter as I would a polariser - that is, shooting at 90 degrees to the sun. I now know that all you have to do is look for the darkest part of the sky, and this is where the IR effect will be strongest.

Graveyards make great subjects for IR photography as you get a fair bit of peace and quiet. They also tend to have large expanses of grass and foliage. The graves themselves obviously add some pictorial interest and the grey stonework tones are unaffected.

In the photo above, the sky has almost gone black, but the slight haze and cloud cover meant that I was never going to get a good, rich, black sky.

What you need to shoot Infra Red photos

Surprisingly, not that much in the way of special kit.

I use an old Nikon FM or FM2n, an F90 and until recently, a selection of medium format Bronica cameras. Be aware that some modern cameras may fog yer film

Either a deep red or a full on IR filter

A tripod is a good idea, and a necessity if you're using an opaque IR filter

A shutter release, if you're going down the tripod route

Loadsa money for writing off the films that didn't work.

How to shoot and process Kodak HIE Infra red film

I have developed a method of shooting Kodak HIE which (mostly) works for me. This has cost me daft amounts of cash to develop, so give it a whirl.

Don't let this film see the light of day, at any point in the proceedings. Use a changing bag to load the camera and to load your dev tank. Rate the film at 400 ISO (ASA) for starters and set the apperture to f11. I mostly use a Kood deep red filter now, as you can hand hold the camera and see what you're shooting. Due to the focus difference when using IR film (see later) this size of apperture will give you a bit of lattitude. Whatever the meter tells you at this stage, I find it best to close up at least one stop and then bracket another two, i.e., f11 @125th, f11 @250th, f11 @500th.

When I first started shooting, I frequently got really dense negs, so now I err on the side of caution and underexpose the neg somewhat. The fastest shutter speed of my bracketed set (thinnest neg) almost always seems to print the best.

Once you've set up the scene and are happy with the composition, you need to refocus. There's tons of stuff on the web regarding this, so suffice to say, there's probably a little line, or red dot on the focussing barrel of your lens. Turn the focussing barrel to line up your original point of focus with this mark, and you're ready to shoot. I've been known to guesstimate this without serious consequences.

Once you've shot your HIE, get it into your developing tank ASAP - it doesn't like sitting about in a black metal or plastic camera in the sunshine. Again, use a changing bag and never underestimate the lengths this film will go to in order to fog itself. The stuff is like some kind of mutant infra red lemming.

Get the loading of the spiral done as quickly as you possibly can. I've learnt through very, very bitter experience that even the heat from your hands will fog this film. If you're sweating and cursing with a sticky spiral for more than about ten minutes, you can expect fogged negs.

On a similar note, I find that a cotton changing bag works better than a rubbery / nylon one, as less heat is generated and there is less gooey hand sweat to gunk up the spiral. Use scissors to cut the corners off the end of the roll of film - it'll go on much more easily.

To develop my HIE, I use Agfa Rodinal at a dilution of one to fifty and give it ten and a half minutes, with pretty heavy agitation (15 seconds every minute). Stop and fix in the usual manner.

Voila! Great negs, hopefully.

OK - so we've established that deep blue skies with little, white, puffy clouds are the ideal conditions for shooting IR film. The picture on the left shows that you can get interesting results in less than perfect conditions (am I sounding a little too like Lee Frost here? Feel free to pickle me in speed fix if so....).

This sunken lane (left) was shot in pretty murky conditions, with just a hint of sunlight on the moss and foliage. It had to be a tripod and shutter release cable job as it was f8 @ an eighth of a second.

The gravestones on the right were shot almost directly into the sun which is like, totally not advised, but it has given an interesting backlit effect, with the overhanging branches almost completely bleached out. The print needed a lot of dodging - all the pics shown here are scanned negs and have all been a wee bit prettified in CS2. They're not a patch on a quality fibre based print produced in tray though, should you have such facilities to hand.

Above is another example of HIE exposed under less than perfect conditions. This tree was far too weird not to photograph, set as it was in a primaeval swamp, and with its insect-like branches reaching out to eat the brains of humans......

Anyhoo, it was another case of the sun being in the wrong place at the wrong time - on this occasion, at about 10 O' clock (in the sky, not the actual time). I couldn't help myself and shot away, acheiving this near silhouette of the tree (devourer of human kind) fading into the mysterious forest at the right of the frame. The sky is totally washed out but this, I think, can occasionally be a price worth paying.

If 'n you'd be good enough, ladies and gents, to cast your eyes upwards, you'll see another early effort at IR photography. This one was shot on Maco film (now Rollei to all intents and purposes) using an IR filter and a polariser.

Never again. IR film is already so contrasty that putting a circular polariser in front of the lens is asking for trouble, and I got it in bucket-loads. The contrast was off the scale - all blacks and whites with hardly anything in between. The location is a disused magnesium extraction plant in Hartlepool. I have hundreds of pictures of this fascinating place (now pretty much levelled) on various formats. They form a good record of its slow, inexorable decline and I shall post some more shortly.

A momentous occasion

2007-05-08T12:03:00.000Z

8th May 2007

Wow - my first blog - will it last? Who knows. Will anybody care? I doubt it, but I'm told this is a good way to maximise ones' chances of getting ones' websites picked up by Yahoo, Google et al.

I am a newish wedding photographer covering the north east and am genuinely committed to providing wedding photography of the best quality.

Also, I do feel I may have something to contribute to the WWW. I've learned almost everything I know about photography from the web. I have a degree in Photography as Fine Art (yeah, yeah, yawn on), but almost all the technical knowledge came afterwards.

The only other sensible reason I have for starting a blog is that since turning my hobby into a business, I have been left with thousands of pictures which don't fit into my business model and are therefore languishing on my hard drive or in neg files. I hope this site will be an outlet for my stifled creativity (are you crying yet? Through boredom or through laughing?)

If I can help a few poor souls along the way, I'll be a happy man.

If you have a few mins to spare, have a quick look at either Emerson Photography, or Environmental Photography, thanks!