Portfolio 2009 Book

My 2009 Portfolio arrived today replacing my 2008 book. As I've mentioned before, I produce a book of all my best work from each year. This is purely for myself to enable me to look back and see how my work has evolved and hopefully progressed.

First Shoot of 2010

Yesterday saw my first shoot for 2010. Paige Robbins came down to the studio to work on her portfolio. Was a great fun day and we got some cool images.









...and finally, here's a fun shot showing off her bendyness! Haha

Expect the Unexpected!

One of the things I love about being a photographer is that every shoot is different. Sure, you get some that are similar lighting setups, or you'll be creating similar scenarios, but often the people will be different, or something will happen that sticks in the memory. It's what makes photography so interesting.

Well a couple of weeks ago I was booked to shoot some "fashion style" images for a client's portfolio. Nothing out of the ordinary there. She'd sent me some samples of what she was after, and I'd met her previously while I was shooting for another client. Everything was pretty straight forward.

I always have a rough idea of poses and shots in my head before a shoot. They're only rough ideas, and I rarely write them down as I don't like to be too regimented in my work. I prefer my shoots to be more fluid. Anyway, one thing I hadn't planned for was that the client would be 4 months pregnant!

As well as the fashion shots, she now also wanted a few maternity shots, which I wasn't a problem...



The client still wanted the same fashion shots she'd booked me for, that didn't make her look pregnant. I'm not a fan of sitting in front of Photoshop for hours and hours retouching and liquifying people. I find it incredibly tedious! I always prefer to make people look their best in camera. So with a little rethink on posing and lighting, this was the result...

Portfolio

I'm always trying to improve my work. One thing I've found really helpful is to look back at my previous work to see how I have evolved as a photographer. I made myself a portfolio book of all my 2007 work last year, and as it was getting near to the end of the year I thought to myself that I should start thinking about 2009's book.... when I realised I hadn't done 2008's!

Well it arrived today, and going through it compared to 2007, I can see massive improvements in my work. I'm still not happy though. Someone told me I shouldn't be so negative about my work. I told them that negativity isn't always a bad thing. It's how you respond to it that determines whether it's good or bad. I see my negative attitude towards my own work as a good thing. It makes me want to get better and improve my skill and creativity as a photographer, and to better myself.... which is hardly negative???

Video Slideshow

Here's a video slideshow I put up a few months back of some of my favourite images from 2007.