15/11/2008 by jim.

I was looking for an image to use on a friends Birthday card and realised that when you work for the Press you have to be very careful when you alter the content of an image.
No such problem here. I wanted an image of Gateshead that a talented artist would appreciate.
I hope that you like it Alan.

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14/11/2008 by jim.

The traditional business portrait can be a tricky assignement. It needs to engage the sitter with the viewer straight away. It needs to have a degree of animation to make the subject dynamic, it needs a degree of power to instill confidence.
For this portrait I used my favourite light - a 1.5 metre Octa on an Elincron Ranger Speed powered head. It was still daylight outside and the curtains didn’t close so I need to overpower the ambient light. I needed to use 100 ISO to get the best quality from my camera. I wanted a greater depth of focus than usual, shooting at at least f16, I wanted drama yet maintain shadow detail and the Octa makes that possible. I also used a couple of small Canon Speedlites using good old Strobist techniques to add a little hair light and also to put just a hint of light into the background.
I miss the old days of Film Star portraits when they all held a cigarette in their hands. Hands are weird things to photograph, leave them out and the subject looks too static, include them and they can just appear to wave about in thin air. They can add power to a portrait but they also have the ability to do exactly the opposite.
Lots to think about and the pressure is usually intensified by lack of time. Busy men have tight deadlines. You just got to love doing business portraits. I do.

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07/11/2008 by jim.

It’s a particularly sad day for me. I get back from covering a couple of assignments to listen to a message on my answerphone informing me that the rumours circulating about the closure of the Spalding Target are true and the next isssue will be it’s last.
It’s sad not just because I have lost a client that I enjoyed working for but also because three people who I have come to regard as friends have lost their jobs. As newspapers in general are going through a tough time along with the rest of the economy, they will undoubtedly find it challenging in the job market right now.
Another reason that I feel a real sense of loss is that working for the local press has renewed my faith in human kindness and compassion. Over the last few years I have covered many assignments that have highlighted these wonderful qualities in the population of this fast growing Town. Young people in particular are prone to receiving bad press but contrary to many stories that populate our National Daily papers, the Target gave credit where it was due, to the many youngsters in our Town that play an active, positive and meaningful roll in our community.
Taking photographs for the Target has shown me exactly how much positive energy there is in the population of Spalding and that has been an emotionally rewarding experience for me.
Next Wednesday 12th November, 2008 will be a sad day, not just for me but for Spalding as well.

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28/10/2008 by jim.

I have covered a lot of local events over the last few years but some never make it to the printed page and others don’t get the coverage they deserve. This should be rectified with the launch of Spalding News Desk, a Community based, on-line News site.

One of the first stories covered has an environmental theme which is close to my heart.

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26/10/2008 by jim.

I have finally got around to updating my on-line portfolios.
My main “Pro” portfolio is at www.pro.photoimagery.co.uk and
The current state of the “Faces of Spalding” art project is at www.faces.photoimagery.co.uk

I find it very difficult to decide how to present portfolios and this time I have gone for a Flash based presentation made using Lightroom.

Any comments good or bad are welcome.

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24/10/2008 by jim.

It was slow getting off the ground trying to arrange appointments throughout the “Summer” month(s), however the project is now taking shape with some 30 portraits in the can.
I have put them on a web site here.
There are loads more subjects in the pipeline so this project looks like it will be growing rather larger than expected.
I will now have to give some serious thought about presentation. This will be my first solo exhibition so it will be a steep learning curve.

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11/10/2008 by jim.

For years I have been trying to find Hadrians Wall, usually while coming back from somewhere else, but I always seemed to miss it. A very elusive wall!
This year we made a determined effort to find it and set off to Northumberland for a few days holiday in October. I went with a view of getting one shot of the wall that I had in my mind and, to that end, I am quite pleased.
As a photographer I am never sure whether I have had a good holiday until I get to look at the photographs - how sad.

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24/09/2008 by jim.

Sometimes you just get lucky.
There was a lot to think about to get this shot.
I knew roughly where the fireworks were going to be before they went of but not exactly so camera positioning was a but of a guesstimate. I tried three different camera positions but did not have a tripod with me just my beanbag for a 2 second exposure.
I was shooting in the dark trying to get a good exposure balance between the illuminated fountains and the fireworks in the background. Focusing was turned to manual. Exposure also manual at 2″@f5.6. I needed a low viewpoint to get reflections in the water so the beanbag was on the grass. I got a pretty decent set of photos but one in particular stood out.
I would love to say that I had asked a newly engaged couple to stand where they stood on the bridge and have a little smooch but that was the lucky bit. My thanks to them for making this shot a special one.

This is a straight shot with no Photoshop manipulation to balance fireworks and fountains.

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13/07/2008 by jim.

“People of Spalding” - Arts project. (Current working title)

I am hoping to start a new photographic project that involves taking portraits of people who play a positive role in Spalding life. These individuals may not necessarily be well known public figures but they must have one unifying quality – their positive attitude towards local life.

The aim is to show the people of Spalding who have and communicate a positive social commitment in their working or everyday life. Initially I am hoping to hold an exhibition of these photographs at the Geest Gallery in Ayscoughfee Hall and future uses could include further exhibitions, an E-Book or, hopefully, published as a printed book.

The exclusivity of these photographs for use in this project and this project alone is very important. Although I am probably best known in Spalding as a newspaper photographer you can be assured that photographs generated for this project will never appear in any other context than this intended use. Both sitter and myself will sign a model release form from that restricts the use of the portraits for this purpose and none other.

This is not a political, commercial or cultural project and although many subjects will have interests in these fields, my aim is to show individual members of a vibrant society in a positive light. I will want to photograph these people in their relevant environment but the pictorial emphasis is very much on the individual rather than the place setting. There will be a unifying pictorial style that will entail a high professional approach to each portrait sitting. No priority will be given to any individual, inclusions are anticipated to be in alphabetical order not social status.

Initially at least all costs for this project will covered by myself and there will never be any sitting fees charged. If the project grows to such an extent that it requires financial support I may apply for any Arts grants that may be available but commercial funding will not be an option. This must remain a totally independent project free from political or commercial pressures. The only funding that will be accepted will be from companies involved in the actual production process such as exhibition venues, printing and framing services etc.

Whilst the choice of individuals will include some obvious high profile examples, many may not be in the public eye. I hope that as this project gathers momentum more sitters will be suggested to me. I do not wish these people to be seen as my personal list of preferences nor as a Who’s Who of Spalding.

If you think that somebody who deserves to feature in this project please get in touch with me.

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10/07/2008 by jim.

This modest young lady has won 107 sporting medals plus a Squadron sword and I needed a shot that was a bit special for the story. We went out onto the track but that was a bit shabby so we found the best spot that we could and laid the medals out.
In order to hide the condition of the track I underexposed the ambient by 1.5 stops and selected Tungsten colour balance on the camera. This would make the track dark and blue making it recede (hopefully).
I then used a full CTO on the main flash (Canon 580ex) to the left of camera. As it was windy I used a bare flash rather than a shoot through brolly.
I then placed a second flash (Canon 430ex) on the ground, behind the young lady, zoomed in to 105mm.
These were sync’d with Elinchrom Sky ports.
This lighting managed to hide the shabby track and make our subject look like the hero she really is.

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