Weddings, portraits, pets and babies.

DSC_4625 v1, a photo by James_at_Slack on Flickr.

With the recent announcement that Getty is giving away thousands of photographers images for free use, another income stream ( let's call it a trickle) dries up.

They say the best way to make photography a living is to shoot wedding, pets, portraits and babies.

How long is that still going to be the case? What will wedding photography look like in 5 years time I wonder?

Some of the better pet and baby images seen on social media are taken by owners on their phones.

I'm not making any point here tonight (too late for that and I'm too tired), I was just thinking about what direction photography will take as the iPhone generation move in. Will they want better equipment or will they stick to an instant form of photography where wedding photos are tweeted as it happens? No more of the above palaver?

They shoot portraits don't they?

Photoshelter recently published their 'educational resource' The Photographer's Outlook on 2014. 

It is clear from their study that portrait photography remains the primary speciality of both professionals and enthusiasts.

The photographers that I get the most pleasure from and study the most are mainly portrait photographers. Weird then that I don't take many portraits.

Most white seamless studio stuff bores me.

Diane Arbus, Bill Brandt and August Sander to name but a few don't bore me.

So there is something I need to work on as a wee secondary interest - portraits.

Anyway, I have a mountain of marking to do so I'll leave you with some portraits I have taken:

Portrait of a cow, Friggie-Fraggan

Portrait of a cow, Friggie-Fraggan, a photo by James_at_Slack on Flickr.

'...in large part, migration from the land before the 1940s has to be explained in terms of the changing attitudes of the farm labour force itself. Here it should first be recognised that Scottish farm servants had a developed culture of mobility long before the rural exodus accelerated.[...]'Flitting' (or moving) to another farm, usually in the same parish or county at the end of the six-month or annual term was part of the way of life.[...]Almost all this habitual movement was localised and over short distances but it accustomed farm servant families to levels of mobility that could in certain circumstances encourage them to leave the land altogether.'

From 'The Scottish Nation, 1700-2007' by Tom Devine, pages 464-465.

In the North East of Scotland, you have to realise that many families left voluntarily. This can alter how I feel within an abandoned place but it may also alter the relationship a viewer may have to my images - if they know their history. Should I add history to my images or made up stories?

My thought for tonight after a day at work that not only sapped my energy but also my spirit. Tomorrow is another day. Maybe time for a job flitting?

Loch Ainort, Skye

Loch Ainort, Skye, a photo by James_at_Slack on Flickr.

When I first heard about Flickr I thought it was a great way to allow friends and family to see some holiday snaps. So I joined - in Novemebr 2005! How time flies.

Then, I just saw it as a place to store photos as I slowly worked my way back into taking photos. There was a long gap in my life when photography played no part. Let me explain.

I got interested in taking photos during Wednesday leisure afternoons in secondary school. So I reckon I was about 14 or 15. I remember one art teacher in particular who was so surprised and pleased when he saw my abstract images that he called all the other art teachers into the room to see them.

That one moment when I felt I had done something that others had liked, others that I had respect for, has stayed with me. I wanted to learn more about photography and get better at it.

But sadly, finding work, starting a career, gaining qualifications, buying property, getting married and generally finding my way in the world, saw photography take a back seat.

It was after seeing a Diane Arbus exhibition in Barcelona and the increasing availability of digital photography that got me back into taking pictures. Flickr was just a perfect place to put my pictures but also to get in touch with other photographers.

Sadly, since Flickr was bought over by Yahoo recently it has become almost unusable if your broadband connection isn't top notch. I still use it though and have a wee look at any activity on my photostream.

Today, for reasons that are never clear, the above image of Loch Ainort, Skye, taken back in 2009, is getting a bit of traffic.

I doubt I would take an image like that today. There is nothing majorly wrong with it (technically flawed and harsh light) but some other images in my photostream are very bad. I have given some thought to clearing out the duds from my 'stream but decided not to because there is a history there, a story of me and aspects of my life. Some truly awful images can somehow bring pleasure to some people like this one, so to hell with it I say. This was what my photography was like and if that disappoints some or think I'm foolish to leave bad images up on line, too bad.

I'd be interested to hear of anybody who has actually decided to clear out their photostream and why.

His love of Magritte was too much for her.

His love of Magritte was too much for her., a photo by James_at_Slack on Flickr.

I went to Inverness today with Lucy Telford to meet up with other photographers, all members of the Scottish Photographers Group.

I always look forward to these meet-ups. I come away motivated and excited by the range and quality of the work on show.

Yvonne went to a felting class today. She learned a new skill, met new people and created something.

When we came home, we went out for a meal with friends. Great food, great banter and a wee musical session at the end.

It's late now.

I'm squeezing in a blog post before the day is done to say -

Make stuff
Share stuff
Study stuff
Talk about stuff
Listen to stuff
Watch stuff
Try new stuff
Learn new stuff

Surround yourself with people and stuff that inspire you.

Oh, and every now and then, attach a chair to the top of a living room wall and see how long it takes for nosey people to notice it.

And if you feel that you can't go on. And your will's sinkin low. Just believe and you can't go wrong. In the light you will find the road.

And if you feel that you can't go on. And your will's sinkin' low. Just believe and you can't go wrong. In the light you will find the road., a photo by James_at_Slack on Flickr.

When I decided to learn how to play the guitar, way back when I was a teenager, I did what many budding guitarist did and learned to play by copying my 'heroes'.

As a matter of fact, I still do. Recently, Yvonne wanted me to learn the Civil Wars' 'From this Valley' so she could sing along. Few hours later I was playing the song and she was singing along. Great fun and a sense of achievement.

During my drive to work this week I was wondering why I never approached photography that way? Why had I never studied a photographer who I admired and then tried to copy the image? Perhaps then, try to emulate the photographer's style? That could lead on to trying to work out what was the thinking/purpose behind the photographer's images? If I could grasp that then maybe I could move closer to my own thinking?

I just took photographs. It never occured to me when I was a teenager taking photographs to copy other photographer's work the same way I was copying guitarist's work when I was playing the guitar.

Odd that.

I do sometimes combine songs I used to play or can play on the guitar with one of my images, like the image above.

"...the neat uniform and genteel work of the police constable or railway porter..."

The furthest from home she'd ever been was Aberdeen, a photo by James_at_Slack on Flickr.

"... there is much drudgery and very little excitement about the farm servant's duties, and I believe the young men dislike the former and long for the latter. By the labourers themselves slight importance is attached to the healthy character of country life in comparison with various branches of town labour. That phase of the question sinks into insignificance in their estimation, and only the shorter hours, numerous holidays and ever present busy bustle and excitement of town life or the neat uniform and genteel work of the police constable or railway porter, are present to the mind of our young farm servant."
Royal Commission on Labour, 1893. (Quoted in Tom Devine's The Scottish Nation 1700-2007, pp 466-467.)

To have quotes and extracts similar to the above with me when I visit an abandoned farm cottage help to create stories in my mind about the last occupants. Maybe there was no sadness about leaving. Maybe there was excitement and relief. Maybe they skipped down those stairs on their last day there.

Researching the history of a place and the possible reasons for abandoning it can change the mood of the image I'm seeking. The light coming through the downstairs door and the windows in the above image - do they bring light into a sad, abandoned home or do they suggest some brighter future beyond the hard, isolated life of the farm labourer?

At the time I felt the last occupants were anxious and nervous about moving away.

Having read the above quote, does it change the mood you may have felt looking at the image?

12 layers of the past. Finding 'me' under there.

12 layers of the past., a photo by James_at_Slack on Flickr.

This is the back wall of a box bed in an abandoned cottage called Allalogie. See this post for the story of my first visit there.  

I stood at this colourful view into the 'past' layers of wallpaper for a while. It was like peeling back the stories of the place - why would you put layer upon layer of wallpaper on the wall? what can it tell us about the people who lived here? who might have lived here? what would it have been like to live here?

Later, back home processing the image, I started daydreaming about being able to strip away layers of my own history to see the changes, to see the good choices, to see the not so good choices with the benefit of hindsight. What would the 'original wall' look like, stripped of all the coverings? Would it be the real me or is the real me the accumulation of all these changes, all these choices, all these shifts of direction?

Last Easter holidays I began reading Steve Simon's book The Passionate Photographer, determined to really 'do it', i.e. work through his tasks and exercises, as the book had been highly recommended to me. 

Well, did I not get stuck at Step One - finding your inspiration, finding your passion! 

A huge part of getting that right is knowing who you are and it seems each time I try to find 'me' it becomes a bit more elusive than I expected. Am I alone is this? Is it just me or is trying to know 'who you are' really quite difficult? 

Maybe I'm a bit more Anaglypta than Flock - repeated patterns?

Past, present and what future? Balhennie, Groddie.

There are times when so much seems to be happening beyond your control that you just decide to take each day as it comes.

Today was one of those days.

In an attempt to do something 'under my control', I decided late in the afternoon, to grab the old D50 with a plastic Holga lens on it and go to a ruin called Balhennie, not far from my house. 

When I got there, the sun had just dipped behind Morven casting a shadow on the abandoned farmhouse of Balhennie. Missed my shot. Undaunted, I headed for inside the cottage with camera gear that would struggle to capture anything in the darkness.

A walker then appeared, just down from Morven. He was from Crieff but was staying in Craigendarroch. He also intended to take a picture of Balhennie in the evening sunlight. We both made comment on how quickly the sun dipped away. 

He was still going to take a picture anyway and would I go inside and stand by the window? Why not, I thought. Might as well keep flowing with the flow. Two snaps later, and he was gone.

My efforts at getting anything decent inside wasn't happening. The light was too low and I had no tripod. 

I went back to stand at the window and took the image above. I stared at the path leading to the open gate but you'd have to make sure you avoided the puddles. The sunshine and hills are beyond but a fence blocks the way so just follow the path and hope it leads to an opening? That's when I realised I was standing in someone's past in the present wondering about the future. 

It was also then that I realised I'd never used the on camera flash with the Holga lens. Back to taking pictures and back in control, having fun and not thinking about anything. 

Here's two images using the flash: 

And some more window images for good measure.

The bike at Blairglass

I have been visiting this abandoned farmhouse, Blairglass in the Gairn Shiel area for nearly 10 years now and it never ceases to amaze to me that this old bike is still there and, incredibly, still leaning upright against the wall, despite all that the Cairngorm winters throw at it.

I can't find any information about Blairglass farmhouse and farm, which surprises me as it was an extensive and substantial farm. The last occupants had some of their belongings dumped near the house.

Why?

Who lived here and why did they leave?

Who owned the bike against the wall?

Blairglass farmhouse has a modern door on it and is locked, suggesting that maybe it is still used for shooting parties to have somewhere to go for a dram and food.

In the summer, someone puts up many beehives nearby. I wonder if there was always bees kept at Blairglass?

If only that bike could talk!

Macdonald Aisle or tomb.

This is the private burial ground of the Macdonalds at Remicras. It is about half an acre in size, surrounded by a stone wall and one can see the remains of where an iron gate used to be. The Aisle is basically a square vault with two headstones. One states, ‘Within this tomb is laid the remains of Jas Macdonald Esq of Rineton who died on the 9th May 1776. Likewise of Helen Tulloch, his wife and several other Descendants.’  The inscription of a daughter of Helen and James, Christine, reads, ‘…wife of Lieut John Farquharson of 76th regiment…she departed this life on 29th August 1781, in the 49th year of her age, leaving one son and one daughter. The stone is erected by her son, Colonel Farquharson of the 25th Regiment.’ The stone was erected sometime between 1814 and 1817. A right in perpetuity was granted to the Macdonalds for their burial ground on payment of a nominal feu duty of one and a half pence (old money) per annum.

It was not an easy place to photograph. I liked the decayed, dead, fallen and abandoned look of this shot, as well as the only blink of sun I got on the Aisle. I decided to try the cheap plastic Holga lens on my D50 and I'm happier with this image than the ones with the other expensive lens.

Remicras settlement and the Macdonalds

At the settlement of Remicras (or Riemicras as I’ve seen in an other book) you can see ruins of longhouses and later ruins of a farmhouse and U shaped steading. There is a kiln and a grain mill with the remains of the mill dam. The wee stone bridge across the stream in still in situ. The lade was well engineered and would have taken considerable effort to construct. The whole area seems to have benefited from a substantial investment to construct these buildings that replace the earlier buildings. This was the home to the Macdonald’s who claimed to be descended from the third son of John, Lord of the Isles. Legend has it that they got their property from the Earl of Mar after the battle of Harlaw (1411) when Macdonald was taken prisoner. The residents of this Macdonald ‘kingdom’ were tenants, many with the same surname. The land was sold to Invercauld in 1822 but there were still Macdonalds there until 1880 when most had left to make way for more profitable sheep. Most would have gone to cities to find work but many would have tried their luck abroad in America, Canada or New Zealand.

The Impassioned Eye

Tourists and MacLeod's Tables. Skye, a photo by James_at_Slack on Flickr.

The title comes from a documentary on Henri Cartier-Bresson which I recently watched again. I'm looking back at photographers I admire to see what I can learn from them or what may inspire me to help me move forward with my photography.

Bresson's work is well known and he is often considered one the best photographer of all time. Watching the documentary again, it was interesting what lessons I actually took from it.

We all know that, 'decisive moment' phrase and his images are testament to the joy of geometry, when everything seems right and balanced. He had a questioning stare. He could sense there was an image there - it was just a matter of looking and waiting.

There doesn't seem to be any real, deep messages in most of his images. They are celebrations of beauty of form and emotions. He saw, he felt and captured that moment as everything 'clicked' into place.

He also often shot was amused him. That simple - he looked, saw aspects of life that amused him and he captured these at just the right moment.

His images aside, what I was inspired by as much as, if not more by, was the way he lived and embraced life. He was clearly deeply moved by classical music. Drawing and painting was a real passion and something he continued to do all his life. He read poetry and most of his friends were artists. He had a huge respect for maths and mathematicians. He lived one day at a time, grateful for all the joy and pleasure that day brought. His fantastic portraits captured his love for his friends and his respect for their talent and work.

The lesson I took from the Bresson documentary is to engage with life - all aspects of life; to be curious, always looking and questioning. Make more room for science, literature, poetry, music, theatre, art, friends and family - probably at the expense of photography - to improve my creativity and perhaps my photography.

I've talked about this idea before - that if you want to improve your photography, then embrace life more. But watching Bresson was like some kind of reassuring proof for me.

Finding time or wasting time?

The clinging remnant., a photo by James_at_Slack on Flickr.

This is a subject that interests me a lot.
I've heard full time photographers talk about how they put up with doing commercial work so they can have some money to take a few months off doing their own,creative work. Most aim for getting about three months to themselves to be creative. It was hearing this that made me realise that, although I work full time in a job that is still regarded as one of the most stressful, teaching, I have 12 weeks holidays a year, ie three months!


Why couldn't I get more creative work done?

Well, it takes time to clear your head of work concerns, time to sit and think. Also, there are major projects I like to get on with at home - stuff that needs weeks of time. So it gets back to priorities and taking into account other people and your responsibilities.

The bottom line for me is, and it is this point that I think that separates those who achieve their goals and those who don't, work ethic. It is getting up off your backside and doing it whenever, wherever, no matter how tired you feel. It's that 10,000 hours thing Malcolm Gladwell talks about. As Nike said, just do it. But that means everything - work, family duties, social duties and being creative.
Procrastination, tiredness, apathy, be gone with you!