GoNorth, Billy Boyd and Beecake

The world of film has only really been something I have interacted with as an observer. I like to watch films, preferably with good storyline, a bit of action and a large tub of popcorn.

However, the film-making course I went on a few weeks ago gave me a real taste of the creative possibilities of film - not just an appreciation of how they are made, but that creating them might actually be within my grasp - short ones at least. So when the opportunity arose for me to attend the GoNorth Creative Industries Festival last week, I leapt at the chance.

Two days of talks, seminars, live music and networking opportunities gave me a larger context in which to place my understanding. It was enlightening to see, listen to and interact with people who do this for a living (or at least a passion - it appears that like most creative industries, the best piece of advice given to those wishing to get into it is "embrace poverty" - only a tiny, minuscule amount of people every actually make good money out of it)

Exciting as making films could be, I'm not ready to drop my photography any time soon - I still have a love for capturing or sculpting light, shadow and sometimes colour into interesting images.

At a talk given on characters and storytelling, one of the people on the panel was the actor Billy Boyd, known to most people round the world as Pippin in Lord of the Rings. However, what I found most fascinating is he's also the singer in a Glasgow based band - Beecake. Being in a band myself, I'm always interested in whether those with more than one creative outlet feel that one informs the other, or if one is a way of escaping or switching off from the other.

I had a wee chat with Billy afterwards and his band were playing that evening, so I went along with my camera to take a few shots. Pub venues are always a bit difficult to get anything outstanding because backgrounds and lighting tend to interfere with, rather than assist, the photographer's eye. It didn't stop me giving it a go though, and below are a few of better ones I ended up with.

For the full set, click through to my album on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.859884774026228.1073741847.114749591873087&type=1







The GoNorth festival was held up in Inverness - about 250 miles north of where I live so it was pretty much a day's drive either side of the 2 day event. On the drive back down I detoured via Edinburgh to pick up my son, Rogan, who has now finished his first year studying physics at Heriot Watt University.

He'll be staying with us over the summer.

It's good to have him back, if only for a wee while.