2015 in Photographs
It's become a tradition at the beginning of January to post my favourite photos of the previous year. And who am I to fly in the face of tradition, especially when it's one of my own?
You can find previous ones here: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009
There's a varied selection, so hopefully something for everyone. I'm always interested in feedback, so if you'd care to leave a comment about which one(s) are your favourite, or any personal observations, it would be warmly appreciated.
As always, you can click on the images to see larger versions.
Le Haggis
One of the highlights of the annual "Big Burns Supper" event in Dumfries every year is "Le Haggis." And one of the highlights of this cabaret style show was aerial acrobat, Justine Squire. This photo seemed to capture some of the mood, movement and lines of the performance.
For more about this and other photos from the event, click through to:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/le-haggis-at-big-burns-supper.html
Woodland Fog
Fog does wonderful things to light, and if you want to capture the effect with a camera you need a scene with layers disappearing into it. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you get a bit of sunshine too - not too much to overpower the scene, but enough to strengthen the silhouettes. This felt like a whole bunch of elements lining up at the right time, and I was fortunate enough to be in the right place.
The Cracked Man
The Cracked Man is the band I'm in with fellow musician, Marcus Wright. The songs we create are very much a collaboration and for many it would be almost impossible to say where one contribution separates from another. I decided to reflect this thought in our EP cover where I blended our faces together in Photoshop. Mostly the left side (as you look at it) is me, and the right is Marcus, although my beard stretches across and it's his upper lip. My head, however, is considerably larger than his, which you can deduce if you look at how snug the hat is on my side, whereas we had to stick a box under it when Marcus put the hat on, to stop it dropping over his face. Bonus points if you noticed the reflection in the glasses is a mirror version of the whole image.
For more about our EP launch, including a video of us playing, click through to this post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/photos-music-and-video-from-cracked-man.html
Solar Eclipse and Crows
I discovered pretty quickly that a photo of the partial solar eclipse on its own was quite uninteresting - just a crescent of light and that was it. What would make it more interesting would be to have it next to something, such as a tree. From the back garden, our chimney seemed a likely option, but I was incredibly fortunate that while I was taking the photos, some crows decided to move around it, which lifted the atmosphere to a whole new level.
For more about photographing the solar eclipse, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/photographing-solar-eclipse.html
April Beech
A zoom lens with a wide aperture creates a shallow depth of field. For the non-photographers, what that means is very little of what you point your camera at will be in focus, and the background can often have a beautiful blurred quality (known as bokeh in camera-speak), allowing you to isolate small details - in this case a few bits of beech.
Robyn Stapleton
Robyn is a highly talented, award winning singer of traditional Scots and Irish songs. When she asked me to help her create the cover for her debut album, Fickle Fortune, we decided to capitalise on her Celtic looks - pale skin, red hair and piercing blue eyes. The result was an image that looks like a painted miniature a lover might have in their locket.
For more about the story this image click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/robyn-stapleton-fickle-fortune.html
Status Quo
As a headbanging teenager, Status Quo were one of the band names scribbled on my school bag, but at the height of their fame there was never any chance of getting to see them live. Imagine my delight then when they came to play at Palmerston football ground in Dumfries, AND I managed to get a press pass from Dumfries and Galloway Life magazine, allowing me to get up close with my camera! Teenage heaven, even if it was delayed by about 35 years...
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/status-quo-live-in-dumfries.html
Alexandra
Alexandra retired as a professional ballet dancer when she was 40, and went on to become a fitness instructor. Now aged 66 she still had a honed and supple body that would be the envy of someone several decades her junior. We met up to do a shoot for a different project I'm working on, but I felt I couldn't pass on the opportunity to explore a particular kind of lighting I'd been wanting to try out with someone who had a deep understanding of how to create beautiful lines with their body. At some point I will do something with the full set of images I have. For now, they have been entered into the LensCulture Exposure Awards competition to see how they are received.
You can find the entry here:
https://www.lensculture.com/exposure-awards-2015/event-submission/138964
Finding Albert
Finding Albert are one of more well known and popular bands from this corner of Scotland, and they managed to secure the use of Springkell Castle for this shoot. Makes a change from 5 blokes in front of a garage door...
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/photographing-finding-albert-at.html
Zoe and her Matrix Coat
Zoe Bestel is a young, talented, singer-songwriter who lives in this corner of Scotland. One day I have no doubt she will be extremely famous and my claim to fame will be the photos I took of her before her rise to superstardom. In the meantime, however, she is also full of life and fun and treats me like a kindly uncle. At Eden Festival she turned up in a wonderful leather coat she'd acquired for a bargain so we decided I should photograph her doing a twirl in it.
For more photos from the Eden Festival, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/eden-festival-photos-and-birthday-card.html
Inside the Softbox
I was photographing Isabell for the same "other project" I'd originally been photographing Alexandra (see above) for. I was using my large softbox for lighting when Isabell suddenly asked what it would be like if she was inside it. There was only one way to find out...
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/inside-softbox.html
The Storyteller
Tony Bonning is a musician, author, storyteller, singer and children's entertainer, but it was his Storyteller persona we wanted to capture. The mysterious traveller in the woods is one which is at the heart of many old folk tales, so we went out to Carstramon Woods shortly before sunset to get the light streaming low through the trees.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/the-storyteller.html
Mist and Stars
Out at 2am, chasing the "blood moon" of the lunar eclipse, I had to get above the fog to see anything. In the end my photos of the moon itself were nothing special, but when I pointed the camera in the other direction it was much more rewarding. Bonus points if you spotted the sheep in the bottom right corner...
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/chasing-stars.html
Geese in The Mist
Another misty Autumn day and I was out exploring photo opportunities with landscape photographer, Allan Wright. Hearing the unmistakable sound of geese honking as they flew overhead, I pointed my camera upwards. I love the simplicity of the silhouettes against the grey sky. Feels quite Zen...
I don't Know The Address
My friend, the poet David Mark Williams, had his first collection - The Odd Sock Exchange - published and released in the autumn. To help promote it we did a few short videos of him reading to camera, using different filming styles each time. This was shot in the back his car while preparing for "I don't know the address" and has an intensity to it I love.
For more about this shoot, and the video of his performance, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/i-dont-know-address.html
Autumn Waterfall
This waterfall I have been out to on many occasions, but have always struggled to create a photo that does it justice. This time, however, I felt I'd got as close as I ever had - you can almost smell the damp leaves.
Silk Kimonos
This felt like one of the most colourful shoots I'd ever done, with the striking patterns on the silk kimonos, designed by Morag Macpherson, the use of coloured gels in the lighting, the boudoir setting in The Yellow Door gallery and the wonderful models, Jessica and Alamnesh. There was a rich sumptuousness to the whole thing.
For more about this shootand other photos from the collection, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/kimonos-boudoir-and-breakfast-for-lunch.html
Cafe Largo
Cafe Largo responded to my Givember offer for a band photo shoot. Ideas were bounced back and forth, but I loved their willingness and enthusiasm to dress up and go for it. A beach scene with a nod towards a Jack Vettriano picture was decided on. Despite the heavy, overcast day, it didn't actually rain on us. However, I'm not sure Ruth's shoes ever recovered from the wet sands...
For more about this shoot, including a behind-the-scenes video, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/cafe-largo.html
Mad Hatter's Tea Party
Senior pupils from Castle Douglas High School have been creating cake stands using vintage crockery, and I was called in to do some promotional photos. I was seriously impressed at the lengths they went to getting costumes, makeup and location all sorted out. It ended up being a more professional shoot than several I've been on. They were a delight to work with.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/a-mad-hatters-tea-party.html
Festive Selfie
For most people, a quick selfie with their phone would perfectly adequate for a seasonal avatar. However, as a professional photographer standards are expected to be a bit higher. In this case it required speedlites, coloured gels and playing with textured overlays in Photoshop afterwards. For a bit of fun and silliness I was quite amazed at the response when I put it on Facebook - it gathered over 200 "likes" making it by far and away my most popular avatar to date.
I hope you've enjoyed my selection - please leave a comment below with any thoughts or observations, and let me know your favourite!
Wishing each and every one of you all the very best for 2016
You can find previous ones here: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009
There's a varied selection, so hopefully something for everyone. I'm always interested in feedback, so if you'd care to leave a comment about which one(s) are your favourite, or any personal observations, it would be warmly appreciated.
As always, you can click on the images to see larger versions.
Le Haggis
One of the highlights of the annual "Big Burns Supper" event in Dumfries every year is "Le Haggis." And one of the highlights of this cabaret style show was aerial acrobat, Justine Squire. This photo seemed to capture some of the mood, movement and lines of the performance.
For more about this and other photos from the event, click through to:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/le-haggis-at-big-burns-supper.html
Woodland Fog
Fog does wonderful things to light, and if you want to capture the effect with a camera you need a scene with layers disappearing into it. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you get a bit of sunshine too - not too much to overpower the scene, but enough to strengthen the silhouettes. This felt like a whole bunch of elements lining up at the right time, and I was fortunate enough to be in the right place.
The Cracked Man
The Cracked Man is the band I'm in with fellow musician, Marcus Wright. The songs we create are very much a collaboration and for many it would be almost impossible to say where one contribution separates from another. I decided to reflect this thought in our EP cover where I blended our faces together in Photoshop. Mostly the left side (as you look at it) is me, and the right is Marcus, although my beard stretches across and it's his upper lip. My head, however, is considerably larger than his, which you can deduce if you look at how snug the hat is on my side, whereas we had to stick a box under it when Marcus put the hat on, to stop it dropping over his face. Bonus points if you noticed the reflection in the glasses is a mirror version of the whole image.
For more about our EP launch, including a video of us playing, click through to this post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/photos-music-and-video-from-cracked-man.html
Solar Eclipse and Crows
I discovered pretty quickly that a photo of the partial solar eclipse on its own was quite uninteresting - just a crescent of light and that was it. What would make it more interesting would be to have it next to something, such as a tree. From the back garden, our chimney seemed a likely option, but I was incredibly fortunate that while I was taking the photos, some crows decided to move around it, which lifted the atmosphere to a whole new level.
For more about photographing the solar eclipse, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/photographing-solar-eclipse.html
April Beech
A zoom lens with a wide aperture creates a shallow depth of field. For the non-photographers, what that means is very little of what you point your camera at will be in focus, and the background can often have a beautiful blurred quality (known as bokeh in camera-speak), allowing you to isolate small details - in this case a few bits of beech.
Robyn Stapleton
Robyn is a highly talented, award winning singer of traditional Scots and Irish songs. When she asked me to help her create the cover for her debut album, Fickle Fortune, we decided to capitalise on her Celtic looks - pale skin, red hair and piercing blue eyes. The result was an image that looks like a painted miniature a lover might have in their locket.
For more about the story this image click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/robyn-stapleton-fickle-fortune.html
Status Quo
As a headbanging teenager, Status Quo were one of the band names scribbled on my school bag, but at the height of their fame there was never any chance of getting to see them live. Imagine my delight then when they came to play at Palmerston football ground in Dumfries, AND I managed to get a press pass from Dumfries and Galloway Life magazine, allowing me to get up close with my camera! Teenage heaven, even if it was delayed by about 35 years...
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/status-quo-live-in-dumfries.html
Alexandra
Alexandra retired as a professional ballet dancer when she was 40, and went on to become a fitness instructor. Now aged 66 she still had a honed and supple body that would be the envy of someone several decades her junior. We met up to do a shoot for a different project I'm working on, but I felt I couldn't pass on the opportunity to explore a particular kind of lighting I'd been wanting to try out with someone who had a deep understanding of how to create beautiful lines with their body. At some point I will do something with the full set of images I have. For now, they have been entered into the LensCulture Exposure Awards competition to see how they are received.
You can find the entry here:
https://www.lensculture.com/exposure-awards-2015/event-submission/138964
Finding Albert
Finding Albert are one of more well known and popular bands from this corner of Scotland, and they managed to secure the use of Springkell Castle for this shoot. Makes a change from 5 blokes in front of a garage door...
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/photographing-finding-albert-at.html
Zoe and her Matrix Coat
Zoe Bestel is a young, talented, singer-songwriter who lives in this corner of Scotland. One day I have no doubt she will be extremely famous and my claim to fame will be the photos I took of her before her rise to superstardom. In the meantime, however, she is also full of life and fun and treats me like a kindly uncle. At Eden Festival she turned up in a wonderful leather coat she'd acquired for a bargain so we decided I should photograph her doing a twirl in it.
For more photos from the Eden Festival, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/eden-festival-photos-and-birthday-card.html
Inside the Softbox
I was photographing Isabell for the same "other project" I'd originally been photographing Alexandra (see above) for. I was using my large softbox for lighting when Isabell suddenly asked what it would be like if she was inside it. There was only one way to find out...
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/inside-softbox.html
The Storyteller
Tony Bonning is a musician, author, storyteller, singer and children's entertainer, but it was his Storyteller persona we wanted to capture. The mysterious traveller in the woods is one which is at the heart of many old folk tales, so we went out to Carstramon Woods shortly before sunset to get the light streaming low through the trees.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/the-storyteller.html
Mist and Stars
Out at 2am, chasing the "blood moon" of the lunar eclipse, I had to get above the fog to see anything. In the end my photos of the moon itself were nothing special, but when I pointed the camera in the other direction it was much more rewarding. Bonus points if you spotted the sheep in the bottom right corner...
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/chasing-stars.html
Geese in The Mist
Another misty Autumn day and I was out exploring photo opportunities with landscape photographer, Allan Wright. Hearing the unmistakable sound of geese honking as they flew overhead, I pointed my camera upwards. I love the simplicity of the silhouettes against the grey sky. Feels quite Zen...
I don't Know The Address
My friend, the poet David Mark Williams, had his first collection - The Odd Sock Exchange - published and released in the autumn. To help promote it we did a few short videos of him reading to camera, using different filming styles each time. This was shot in the back his car while preparing for "I don't know the address" and has an intensity to it I love.
For more about this shoot, and the video of his performance, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/i-dont-know-address.html
Autumn Waterfall
This waterfall I have been out to on many occasions, but have always struggled to create a photo that does it justice. This time, however, I felt I'd got as close as I ever had - you can almost smell the damp leaves.
Silk Kimonos
This felt like one of the most colourful shoots I'd ever done, with the striking patterns on the silk kimonos, designed by Morag Macpherson, the use of coloured gels in the lighting, the boudoir setting in The Yellow Door gallery and the wonderful models, Jessica and Alamnesh. There was a rich sumptuousness to the whole thing.
For more about this shootand other photos from the collection, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/kimonos-boudoir-and-breakfast-for-lunch.html
Cafe Largo
Cafe Largo responded to my Givember offer for a band photo shoot. Ideas were bounced back and forth, but I loved their willingness and enthusiasm to dress up and go for it. A beach scene with a nod towards a Jack Vettriano picture was decided on. Despite the heavy, overcast day, it didn't actually rain on us. However, I'm not sure Ruth's shoes ever recovered from the wet sands...
For more about this shoot, including a behind-the-scenes video, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/cafe-largo.html
Mad Hatter's Tea Party
Senior pupils from Castle Douglas High School have been creating cake stands using vintage crockery, and I was called in to do some promotional photos. I was seriously impressed at the lengths they went to getting costumes, makeup and location all sorted out. It ended up being a more professional shoot than several I've been on. They were a delight to work with.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post:
http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/a-mad-hatters-tea-party.html
Festive Selfie
For most people, a quick selfie with their phone would perfectly adequate for a seasonal avatar. However, as a professional photographer standards are expected to be a bit higher. In this case it required speedlites, coloured gels and playing with textured overlays in Photoshop afterwards. For a bit of fun and silliness I was quite amazed at the response when I put it on Facebook - it gathered over 200 "likes" making it by far and away my most popular avatar to date.
I hope you've enjoyed my selection - please leave a comment below with any thoughts or observations, and let me know your favourite!
Wishing each and every one of you all the very best for 2016
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