Just to let you know that I will be taking a stand at the Wedding Fair tomorrow so if you want to pop along and say hello then I'd be delighted to see you. I'll be running a competition for a free Pre Wedding Shoot with images supplied on disc, and a free Wedding Web Site. This applies whether I am your Photographer or not.
Well, here I am at Braid Hills Hotel, right in the middle of Photographing the Wedding of Fiona and Mos (hope I have spelt that right, his real name is Momsin). The guests are having their meal and I have been fed and watered too by the brilliant staff here at Braid Hills. I have taken advantage of this down time to download and check the pics from 1 camera - just to be sure. I have been doing things slightly different at this Wedding, I have been using my new lastolite easy box so when I change something I just want to make sure that all is well - and it is.
I arrived early as usual, Fiona, who until has been the most laid back Bride I have ever seen was getting nervous and even confessed to crying at the rehearsal last night. There had been an issue with the flowers but it was well under way to being resolved when I arrived.
Fiona looked Stunning, Mos is a lucky man.
Here are a few shots to whet your appetite, I'll post more through the week when I have time.
Fionas engagement ring in the middle of the flowers - these were the replacement ones. 
These pearls are Fionas Mothers and are very special to both of them. 
Mos and the best man, poor guy he was extremely nervous and I am not sure my banter actually helped him. The service was at Bellevue Chapel in Edinburgh, the Minister was Paul and he was very laid back and easy going which makes a Photographers job so much easier.
I really liked the stain glassed windows in the church, unfortunately I just missed the light, during the service it was shining very brightly through these round windows but it passed before the service finished.
I’ve been a little worried the last 2 weeks, normally I can be sure to get at least 1 Wedding booking per week, sometimes 2 but things have dried up a little over the last wee while. Anyway, the flood gates have opened again, in the last 3 days I have had 4 bookings so I am back on track.
This is a very quick post as I am heading off in a minute to Edinburgh for the Wedding of Fiona and Mos in Braid Hills Hotel, I have a funny feeling this will be an interesting Wedding so I’ll try and publish some shots early next week.
Next week is busy with commercial stuff and another 2 meetings to discuss Weddings for next year. Also, I want to have 2 days holiday as Susan is off work for a week and we want to have some time off.
Phase 2 of my web site is going live next week, it’s nearly finished and Danny has done a great job on it, what he does not know yet is that I am already thinking about phase 3 – sorry Danny!
Today I was in Birmingham to attend Focus, this is an annual trade show for Professional Photographers. It was a
long day, waking up at 5am to catch the first flight from Dundee to Birmingham. This is a good service but it was only a fraction full which is a pity, I hope they keep the flight going.
I had originally planned to spend 2 days at Focus but as I am pretty busy at the moment I decided one day would do it. With hindsight I should have spent 2 days there, this is the main trade show for Pros every year and it requires more than 1 day. What I did wrong was not to plan, I really should have studied the catalogue and made a plan of what I wanted to see and then get stuck in. I did know that the Flash Centre had a Lastolite Ezybox on special offer and I had planned to buy one for a while so I headed there first to make sure they had one left. I noticed that they had a few seminars running which looked interesting. This is quite a feature of Focus, seminars and thats why I wanted to spend more time.
I bought the ezybox, this is a portable soft box for a speedlight, it creates a great soft light and is ideal for Wedding Photography. The softbox was being sold with a stand and various reflectors as part of a kit, I asked them to bag it up for me to get on the plane easily, when it was taped it resembled a gun.
I watched a few seminars, mainly regarding off camera flash, I looked at various Album suppliers, test drove the new Eos 1d mk2 which I am considering buying - at £4k a big investment but it is a great camera. I also spoke in detail with Adobe about lightroom, some people say this will really speed up my workflow, they convinced me it would so I have bought that too. Hey it's only money!
It was getting on and I was on the 3.55pm flight, I wanted to get there with enough time to put my package in the hold if they would not let it on the plane. I checked with customer services, they said it was ok to take it on. I got to security and as expected once it had been through the xray there was questions to answer. The problem was that it had been bagged and taped up by the salesman. They asked if they could open it and then I realised that I did not really know exactly what was in it as the bags had all been closed when I bought it. Anyway, they opened the bag and out popped this soft box so all was well. I now appreciate, with hindsight, that it was not wise to tell the security man it was actually a gun. Thankfully the handcuffs came off in time for me to get home!
I have been pretty fully booked for July this year for quite some time, I have 8 Weddings, that's every Saturday, some Sundays, some Fridays and a Thursday. Yet 6 days from the last 7 I have had enquiries for dates this July. Even 2010 and 2011 have dates booked in July in my diary. So, if you are planning a July Wedding and want a Photographer, I’d suggest that you speak to them soon.
When I am fully booked I am passing along my enquiries to a Photographer in Edinburgh who I know will do a great job, of course the downside is that as they are great Photographers, they are also busy most Saturdays. So, if any Photographers read this and would like to discuss the opportunity of taking on some of my enquiries for dates I am currently booked, please email me or contact me through my web site at www.amforbes.com
It goes without saying that I’d need to be completely satisfied with your work before I could recommend you.
Sorry I have been away from the blog for a few days, I get emails when nothing appears here – you know who you are! I’m just glad that some people are interested in what I do.
Most of this week has been taken up with my education clients, I’m working on the photography for a University Prospectus at the moment, this is quite a responsible job, the Prospectus is the main document to entice students to a University and as such it is important that the imagery is of a very high standard. It is fair to say I was absolutely delighted to be chosen as the preferred Photographer for this prestigious job.
I cant mention the University or feature any of the images at the moment as the design is confidential, I am very hopeful that I will be able to feature some of the images here in a month or so as well as the cover of the Prospectus. As I have mentioned before, Education organisations, rightly have a duty to protect their students and all of the images taken this week feature students so I cant publish them without both their permission and that of the University, I hope that this will be granted soon. However, if any clients would like to discuss this in detail, I can show you the images and tell you more about it privately. I have over 500 images selected from the many more that were shot and I now have the enviable (!) task of processing and cropping them all.
This evening I noticed some snow ball sculptures in the field where I walk the dogs, I thought they might make an interesting night photography exercise so I dragged Susan along this evening with my tripod, camera and flash to shoot these sculptures. I was disappointed to find that some kids had knocked over the interesting shaped ones leaving only a couple of snow balls. As we had plodded through the snow with camera gear we shot a couple of frames.
This was the first attempt – not very successful. What I did was put the camera on a tripod, leave the shutter open using the B facility then run round the field like a mad thing with my flash gun lighting things as I went. You can see the large snow ball in the foreground, then you can see Susan and I in the middle of the frame, I need more light on us. Right at the back (you’ll need to click it to make it bigger) you’ll see another snow ball lit with the torch.
This is slightly better, the snow ball is lit well, you can see the dogs to the right but they moved during the exposure so they are a little blurry – don't know why they wont stay still!
So, that’s called painting with light, I sometimes use this technique to light large offices, you should see the look on the peoples faces, me running about like a nutter with a flash gun. Interestingly, the word Photography comes from the Greek, and is translated as Painting with light – Photo for light and Graphy for painting.
You always learn things reading my blog !!!!
Those of you that have read my previous blogs (and there are around 2000) might remember the sorry tale of my experience with Warehouse Express and a faulty 450D. If you dont then read back a few pages in the blog. My new 450 arrived and I excitedly opened the box and charged the battery fully. I was a little apprehensive, what if the same issue was there in the new one? I’d have to accept that the 450D was not a good investment – I can’t understand why people use these for Weddings, they are good (well should be) but not that good.
So, I stuck the battery in, put a lens on and – well, nothing actually, no power, just like the battery was flat. So, I took it out and stuck it back in the charger but the green light came right on. So I took the lens off and tried again – it powered up fine. You know that sinking feeling when you just feel something is going to give you grief! I took a few test shots and had a look at them, they were better, I still think slightly soft but I’d probably have been happy had I not been looking for these issues.
So, I stuck the card back in the camera and switched it on again, nothing, nada, zilcho – and any other words for nothing I can think of. It just wont power up so I tried removing the battery, the lens, replace the lens, try a different lens etc but still nothing. I left it a bit and tried again – still nothing. I was getting hacked off – can you imagine. I decided I had reached the end of the line with a 450D so I emailed Christine at Warehouse to tell her I wanted a refund. I also took a short video clip of it not working, just in case it started I wanted to show that it at least was an intermittent fault.
In fairness to Warehouse Christine called me at 8.30 the next day to say they would collect it and refund my money. I still needed a small travel camera though, buying a Nikon was not an option as all my lenses are for Canon. In the end I opted for a Powershot G10, it has arrived , it works and I am happy. It feels like an old Leica I used to own in the good old days. It is very like a Canon slr in operational terms, you can choose P or manual and over ride shutter speed or exposure. The only thing you can;t do is stick on a Polariser filter.
Lets hope we have a happy relationship!
Saturday – I was in Edinburgh for the day, I was a little knackered after driving back late from the Lake District but I had to cover the Wedding Fair in Ingliston for a commercial client, the fashion show is always good so I tried to plan my day to get me there for the 1st showing at 11am.
However, before that I had a few things to do. Firstly I had to find a Church in Rodney Street, I am Photographing a Wedding there in a couple of weeks time and I wanted to check out the area, especially as Parking will be difficult. I was right, parking will be a nightmare, I’ll need to make other arrangements. The reception for this particular Wedding is at Braid Hills Hotel, it’s quite a while since I was there so I drove up to have a look round and remind myself of the layout. Braid Hills Hotel is a very popular Wedding Venue in Edinburgh and I can understand why, it’s set on a hilltop with great views over the city, I hope the weather is nice to me on the day and we can make use of it. I always make a point of talking to the Wedding Coordinator to see what areas other Photographers use, I’m not proud and if another Wedding Photographer is using a particular area then I’ll certainly consider it. She told me that most Photographers use an area by a hedge, it looked pretty boring to me, just a green background. However, there was not much else. I looked round the inside and found a lovely spiral staircase with quite nice natural light – I’ll use that!
One I’d sorted out that I went to Ingliston to the Wedding Fair. I collected my press pass and realised I was just in time for the fashion show so I wandered round a little before it started.
Various suppliers were demonstrating their wares, this Wedding Cake supplier had this mock palace cake on display, he was a really nice guy and I got chatting to him. He had a sign up saying no photography, I asked why that was and he said that people take pics of his cakes then go to other bakers and ask them to bake it for less, he gets people coming to him with other peoples work. What is the world coming to.
The fashion show started, there was a huge range of Wedding Dresses on display, after a while they all looked the same to me but I saw lots of people taking pics with camera phones, maybe they are doing the same with dresses as they do with cakes! I was collared by security for taking pics but after they say my press card it was ok.
Something for the ladies, this guy flicked up his kilt at the end, that got a load of whistles, I didn't photograph what he had (or didn’t have) on underneath – sorry girls.
One for the flower girls.
And finally, who said being a Photographer was a boring job – I ran out of batteries at this point!
I wandered round a little and on my way up an aisle I happened to see what I thought was one of my photographs on display, I casually walked past but then turned and walked back again, it was definitely one of my shots and there were others too!!! However, it was ok because the stand belonged to The Royal Scots Club in Edinburgh, I had photographed Jim and Tracey there a while back and had given them some of the shots to use. I stopped and had a chat with Leila Arfa the Events Co-Ordinator, it was good to see her again. IT’s a stunning venue and right in the heart of the City.
On my wanders I heard someone calling me, it was Claire Rennie of Berry Scrumptious, I had Photographed Claire and Ross Wedding and apparently they have been recommending me to other people, I worked out that they had actually started a little chain of recommendations – so thank you Claire. If you want something truly different for your Wedding day then I cant recommend them enough, I have tasted them and they are wonderful. Clare had a stand at the show and it was very busy.
A little further on this chap made comment about the size of my lens so I stopped to chat, he introduced himself as David Ho, another Wedding Photographer so it was good to chat with him about the market, industry and general photography related stuff.
Then it was time to leave.
On Friday I travelled to Staveley in the Lake District to attend a 1 day flash course with Brett Harkness at the Annabel Williams Studio. Brett is a very talented photographer and he works with his wife Christie as a Wedding, Fashion and Commercial photographer in Manchester. He describes his style as edgy fashion!
I felt that a bit of a refresher on outdoor lighting was required, balancing ambient and flash light is quite a tricky operation requiring a little bit of maths, not exactly my strong point.
I stayed in the Eagle and Child Pub , I was disappointed, the room was tiny, walls paper thin, food pricey, service not great and the shower – well pitiful!
We started the day with a short lecture from Brett and a slideshow of the type of work we’d be covering during the course of the day. We then got into 2 groups of around 6 photographers (my only complaint of the day was that there was way too many of us) and started shooting the young lady (sorry can;t remember her name) .
This is taken with 1 lastolite easy box placed camera right.
Lastolite easybox to camera left and a flash behind her head to create the rim lighting.
We then had a male model and went outside, it is a lovely area and the sky was a clear blue, a little cold but very pleasant. The shot above is taken with a lastolite easybox to camera left
This was taken by a car garage under a tunnel thing, a little dark. Softbox to camera left, this is about right in respect of the balance of daylight and flash.
The model had to go to work so we shot Bretts wife. A difficult shot with very strong back light, it is really strong and creates that lovely rim light that you can see round the edge of her body but it also creates lens flare. I like it though. I need to practice this type of shot so if any aspiring models read this then please get in touch and I’d be happy to shoot you. (with a camera)
All in it was a good day, as mentioned above, too many people in my opinion but I still learned something. There was a really good mix of people from other Professionals to people just trying to learn a little more about their hobby. I bumped into Christina Golian from Edinburgh, her and her Husband run a very successful Wedding Photography Business called Elemental Weddings it was strange to see her as I have been reading their blog. Christina supplied me with this picture, not a great model but I really think she could have done some work on my double chin – shame on you Christina!!!!
On Thursday I was in Glasgow working for 2 Education Clients, firstly it was a local college for a half day shoot to fill some gaps in their requirements for the prospectus then I was onto one of the Universities for a quick shot of a Student who is featuring in a profile. She has done particularly well in getting a great job and the University understandably want to feature her.
The brief was pretty open, they wanted a shot of her that was different and unusual !! The office block she worked in was a modern normal building, nothing exciting about it. First problem, apart from the lack of exciting backgrounds, was fluorescent lighting as this makes skin look very green. I could not switch it off as she shared an office with other people. Mixing flash and fluorescent is a tricky one as the parts that are lit by flash look natural but the rest of the room looks green. One way round this is to cover the flash with a CTO gel to make the flash go green too then bring the whole shot back at the processing stage. Howe
ver, I didn’t have a cto gel with me.
We found a conference room that was in darkness, it was bland and uninteresting but I noticed some blinds inside the window panes between the room and the corridor, they were controlled by a little nob on the window frame and could be adjusted, I reckoned this might offer something different.
As always I did a few different head and shoulder shots round the office, at her PC etc just for safety in case the designer didn;t like my ideas, at least they would have a workable shot to use.
Then I placed my small flash on a voice operated light stand (otherwise known as my client) and got her to stand outside the room pointing the flash into the room at the subject who was by the window, after a little adjustment of the blinds and the flash power I got the shot I was looking for.
The second shot here is using the only real background I had, a white wall. I wanted to show a sense of importance by creating a large shadow on the wall. It’s fair to say I dont think it worked, she is too feminine for this type of shot. It worked brilliantly a while back for a photograph of a boxer but it’s not for women I think!
A few days ago, our neighbour Ian arrived in the evening with a thermal imaging camera that he had borrowed from someone. Knowing that I am interested in all things technical he thought I’d be interested in seeing it. Ian works in the construction industry and these cameras are sued to check how well insulated houses are so we took a few shots of our house.
You can see the red spots on the windows where heat is escaping but otherwise it looks pretty sound, not bad for a Betts House! Strangely the tree you can see just above the roof of the house has held its heat for a while and it was showing up as a hot spot.
The dogs were wandering about so I took a photograph of them to see if they were loosing heat anywhere, it was interesting to see the cracks between their ribs are showing up as a heat source. I think this is the same sort of technology that Customs People use to check for illegal immigrants in lorries.
On a more interesting note, the company that lent him the equipment had a commission from a newspaper to photograph scantily clad young women to see where the heat sources were – see for yourselves!
As it is the end of the month, Danny at Aerovision IT sent over the stats for January and they are looking good. I considered putting the actual numbers here but on reflection I decided it was just too confidential information to release into the web. However, I wanted to share some information about how things are going, here are the stats:
| Visitors | Up by 55% on last month |
| Cities visited from | Up by 66% on last month |
| Bounce rate | Up from 31% to 33% |
| New visitors | Up from 48% to 57% |
| Average time on site | Up 2.4% on last month |
I keep having a big debate with myself regarding my placement on Google, what the keywords should be etc etc. Part of me thinks it's not worth getting excited about but on the other hand, Google control so much of the world so I do feel it is important.
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