Festive Wishes

3 months after the first Christmas items began appearing on the supermarket shelves, we have just one more sleep before the day itself.

I picked up my son, Rogan, from Edinburgh on Thursday; my daughter, Meg, has finished college; and my stepdaughter, Holly, will be staying over tonight with our new grandson, Alfie, who will be experiencing his very first Christmas.

Most of the presents are now wrapped, and Maggie has been busy cooking and baking for a good couple of days, preparing enough food for a small army – as she does every year - despite there only being 5 adults and one baby to feed this year.

Everything seems pretty much under control.

All that remains is for me to post a suitably seasonal image on this blog and wish everyone who visits here all the very best for the festive season and year ahead.

Despite the snowfall a few weeks ago, I didn't manage to get a single photo I thought looked vaguely Christmassy. However, when the tree was going up, I noticed Meg's fairy/angel (frangel?), which she created in primary school and still puts a smile on my face. I did use it as my season's greetings image 9 years ago - https://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/happy-festivities.html – but I thought I'd give it another go.



Whatever your social, cultural or religious beliefs, I really do hope the festive season is good to you and 2018 brings you closer to your goals and desires.

Plasma Cutter

Earlier in the week I did a photo shoot out at the forge of artist blacksmith, Adam Booth. More on that will appear on this blog in a month or two.

However, several days earlier I went out for a recce. Although I've been there a few times, I needed to work out the best angles and potential lighting solutions beforehand. During the shoot it was important that I was able to concentrate on arranging people and props rather than rearranging the space.

Adam was quite happy to leave me to get on with it while he was busy cutting a sheet of steel with a plasma cutter at the other end of the workshop.

At one point I glanced over, and with the glow of the flying sparks it looked quite amazing, so I couldn't resist firing off a couple of shots.

I was quite pleased with how these turned out.

Is all photography abstract?

I was recently roped into a "Facebook Challenge" where participants were asked to post black and white photos with no people in them, and no explanations or backstories.



Because I'm a professional photographer the expectations to deliver something reasonable are much higher than they are for most people. Every time I post an image, my reputation is on the line.



But as someone who specialises in photographing people, this took me far further out of my comfort zone than it would for a wildlife or landscape photographer.

I spent (way too much) time going back through folders of images on my computer to see what I could find, and before long I started thinking about the nature of abstraction.



And with these thoughts whirling around my mind, I found myself selecting images where you could recognise what the subjects were, but you were not seeing them as you normally would.



In all photography the moment we frame the image, we chose what we are including and what we are leaving out.



The shutter speed we select might have the effect of creating interesting blurs, or making a movement static so we see things frozen in a way our eyes would never normally be able to capture.



The aperture we use affects the depth of field – what is in focus and what is not. The settings can create an effect where pretty much everything is clearly visible, or only a very small part.



And finally, when you remove the colour from an image, unless you are completely colour blind, the process of abstraction shifts up another level.



Whoever said "the camera never lies" was clearly a first class bullshitter.



So this post includes the images I ended up selecting and manipulating, plus a couple of extra ones.



Let me know in the comments which, if any, speak to you.

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The Jekyll & Hyde transformation of being an award finalist

In the days, and even hours running up to the Dumfries & Galloway Life Awards 2017, I knew I wasn't going to win the visual artist/maker category. And I was genuinely fine with that. Afterwards, I also knew I was never likely to have won. And I was genuinely fine with that too.

But in the 30 minutes or so before the winner was announced, a desperate, highly competitive side to me was shouting in my head that this award absolutely and completely DESERVED to be mine.

The Dumfries & Galloway Life Awards celebrate the business, culture and, above all, the people who live in this corner of Scotland.

The fact that some people had taken the time to fill in a form and put my name forward with an explanation of why they felt I should be awarded – and then for the judges to select me as a finalist – felt wonderful, and was certainly reward enough. I didn't feel the need to win anything beyond that.

My fellow finalists were artist, Julie Dumbarton, and potters, Fitch & McAndrew. Highly talented and internationally recognised, these people help spread the value of Dumfries and Galloway well beyond its borders.



So while it was a delight to be included in their company, I knew I wouldn't really be in the running for the top prize. But that was OK. I would still get a free dinner at the awards night and see plenty of people I know.

I donned my least faded black jeans and my least crumpled shirt for the evening. Dinner was good. I found myself seated on the same table as Doug Fitch of Fitch & McAndrew. I've met him a few times and we've always got on well. In fact, the previous evening I'd even met him in the local supermarket and we'd discussed the upcoming awards. 10 minutes later I'd met him again when he asked if he could borrow my phone as his car wouldn't start and the battery on his phone was dead. I was only too happy to be able to help out.

My money was on Fitch & McAndrew. Julie had won it in 2013 and 2014, so I figured they'd give it to the potters this time.

As the desserts were cleared off the table, and the awards began, I started to wonder whether I might actually be in with a chance after all. And as they went through the different categories, slowly moving towards the visual artist/maker award, my heart rate started increasing, and I began seeing myself walking up to the stage to collect MY award. This feeling grew stronger and stronger as the minutes passed until by the time the category before us was announced, I was totally convinced I was going to win. I KNEW it to the core of my being. In fact I completely and utterly deserved this award. It was MINE.

My precious...

Another part of my brain was watching this reaction and laughing at the ridiculousness of it. But some deeper, competitive, primal part of me was still experiencing these feelings to quite an intense degree.

Just as I was about to leap up and claim my rightful trophy, they announced Julie Dumbarton was the winner.

For a brief moment I was dumbstruck by this hideous travesty of justice and was about to demand an investigation into the obvious corruption of the judges.

And then the moment passed. Of course Julie was going to win. The same reasons she's already won twice before still existed, and the judgements were based on merit, not past history.

Like looking in the box at Schrödinger's Cat - once the outcome has been witnessed, it has always been thus. All I could do was feel a bit foolish for having thought it could have ever been any other way.

I applauded Julie, now genuinely pleased for her. But I felt a bit disappointed for Doug.

I leaned over and whispered into his ear.

"Let's go and find Julie's car and let her tyres down..."

Whirligig

Ruth Morris and Gavin Marwick make up 2/3 of one of my favourite bands, Bellevue Rendezvous. World-class musicians, they never fail to carry you off to other worlds with performances and music that are nothing short of sublime. They also live locally, regularly play in pub folk sessions and to my absolute delight accepted my invite to my 50th birthday bash last year. They had finished recording their new album "While Rome Burns" the day before and we were all treated to a live performance of it.

More recently Ruth and Gavin have teamed up with the incredibly talented Pete Garnett (of Moishe’s Bagel) to form a ceilidh band called Whirligig, and I was asked if I could do some publicity photos for them.

We decided to go for 2 different kinds of images. Firstly we wanted something that looked cool and professional – a group shot and individual portraits in the same style, while the 2nd needed to be more of an in-action shot to portray the fact they are a band you get up and dance to rather than just sit in your chair and listen.

Ever since the discovery of the edge lighting effect when one of my flashes failed to go off during a shoot a few years ago, I’ve used any excuse I can to replicate the style. However, while I generally manage to achieve the effect I want on one person at a time, trying to get it to work on 3 in the same shot proved trickier. Making sure shadows were not being cast in the wrong places required many shots and the manoeuvring of patient musicians back and forth until I got the balance right.


Whirligig


Gavin Marwick


Pete Garnett


Ruth Morris

After a well-deserved break for lunch, we began the second, more complex shot.

What we’d decided to do was try and create a shot where the 3 of them looked like they were playing to a dancing crowd, but I wanted the audience to be blurry with movement. This meant a long exposure, but in order for the musicians not to be blurred too, they had to remain absolutely motionless for half a second at a time while everyone else swirled back and forth.

It took quite a few attempts, as sometimes one of the dancers would linger too long in front of a musician, or the light balance wasn’t right, or one of the players wobbled a bit. However, we got there in the end and they were pleased with the sense of life and energy in the final image.



If you're needing a first class, world class, ceilidh band for your event, I can't recommend them highly enough.

New Magazine-style Blog Layout

With a backlog of over 1,040 posts, spanning more than 12 years, I've often felt the layout of my blog was limited.

I know regular visitors will only be interested in the latest entry, but for newcomers there are all sorts of gems hidden in the archives which, unless you know exactly what you're looking for, would never be discovered.

My series of interviews with some amazing photographers, for example (under the heading "Chasing Shadows"), include some of the posts I am most proud of.

I also know there are some readers who are less interested in my photography but love the stuff about my family, or are curious about my daughter's Down's Syndrome, or wonder how ME/CFS has impacted on my life.

For a while I've been aware of "magazine-style" layouts for blogs, but finding the time to investigate suitable templates - and then figure out how to install them - has taken a while. And even though I'm reasonably web-savvy, it's still taken me the best part of 2 days to get this far.



However, for the moment I quite like how the new layout looks. There's plenty to explore and easier access to some of the key themes than ever before.

Do dive in and have a rummage around and, if you have a moment, let me know your thoughts about the new look in the comments. Does it excite you with possibilities for your own blog, or does it make you want to run away screaming...?

Turning 51

At school, my birthday almost always fell during the October break, allowing me to escape the bumps, thumps to the arm and any other unpleasantness dreamed up by sadistic bullies. As an adult for most of my birthdays, outside of advance education, I was unemployed until I became self employed. The upshot of this is it's been very rare for me to actually have to work on the 25th of October.

A wonderful benefit to all this is on my birthday I'm able to completely let go of feeling I need to be doing something else. It is the only day of the year other than Christmas where all the voices in my head telling me of all the things I need to do, go quiet.

Over the years they have learned that on this day I am not going to work. This is my day, prioritised for me, and not for anyone else.

And I relax.

I genuinely, truly, unwind and lose any feelings of the burdens of responsibility.

It is wonderful.

And so rare.

Also, hitting 51 didn't seem anything like as scary as turning 50. So no big party like last year - just a gentle, relaxed day.

The sun made a rare appearance in the morning. I've been needing a new profile pic for my photography business so I took a shot of myself at the window with the sun behind me.


Needing a pic where I look friendly and approachable

Maggie made up a picnic and then we took Meg with us down to Carrick beach to lob stones into the sea.


Me and Meg on a windy beach

Then it was off to Cream o' Galloway for ice cream.

Later in the afternoon, Meg took me for the best mocha in 100 miles, at one of my favourite places, In House Chocolates.


Meg treats me to a coffee with thick chocolate in it.

My stepdaughter, Holly, came round for dinner, bringing my 4 month old grandson with her.


My grandson with the birthday card he made me (with help from his mum).

And Maggie made my favourite kind of birthday cake - one which is all filling and no cake. This year it was a chocolate biscuit base, with a thick layer of chocolate, smooth peanut butter and mascarpone cheese, topped with an equally thick layer of chocolate ganache.


Basically, a thick chocolate peanut butter cheesecake covered in thick chocolate

I was stuffed to bursting!

The evening was spent replying to birthday wishes on social media, and watching a movie in front of the fire.

It was a really lovely day.

Today, however, I can feel all the tensions of responsibility creeping back in...

The Lost Chronicles of Gallovidia

'We're running a project about the hidden histories of Dumfries and Galloway. This region is full of the most amazing characters! We’re currently focusing our efforts in Northwest Dumfries, and tying it in with things like "Vikings," "Outlander," and "Game of Thrones." Through various talks, hands-on workshops, re-enactments and live action role-playing we’re helping people gain a real interest and pride in their history. And we need you to help us take a photo that will embody what we’re up to!’

As we sat, slurping our hot chocolates at my favourite meeting place, Debz from Sleeping Giants told me about Warrior Training Bootcamp, banquets, and costume making workshops.

I didn’t need the hard sell to come on board.

Back in my early 20s I used to belong to a Dark Ages re-enactments society where we would dress up as Celts, Saxons and Vikings, hit each other with swords and spears, and get blind drunk at banquets. I also have a great love for historic fantasy – from “Lord of The Rings” to “Game of Thrones” to the legends of King Arthur.

Now would be a chance to create a photo in this genre – something I’ve been itching to do for years.

I went along to one of the launch evenings where among other things Fran Halpin, who is essentially the food designer on Game of Thrones, gave a talk. Every time the characters sit down to eat, the tables and food have to be styled to look authentic and in keeping with the place and characters. So the Lannisters would eat off gold plates, while the Boltons would use pewter. And pomegranates wouldn’t be in just anyone’s fruit bowl. It's one of those things that once said is obvious, but until Fran's talk it had never occurred to me there would be so much work involved in something most of us would be unlikely to consciously notice.

I was more excited than ever.

Characters were being created, costumes made and scenarios discussed, and eventually the plan became to shoot a scene with about 10 different people around a table, campaigning, plotting or eyeing each other up.

Originally we decided to do the shoot at Lincluden Abbey – a beautiful ruin in Northwest Dumfries – but the weather was so unreliable over the summer, we realised we needed an indoor setting. The new owners of Buittle Tower near Dalbeattie offered us the use of their vaulted cellar and we were set to go.

I had the most amazing group of people to photograph in a fantastic setting. Now all I had to do was not screw it up.

Anxiety levels rose when I realised the space was a lot smaller than I remembered. During our recce, there had only been 2 or 3 of us in the room, whereas now there were more than a dozen. With the side walls in shot, it was going to be far more difficult to get the interesting lighting I’d planned.

After several different approaches, eventually I settled on a light on the right with a yellow gel, which gave a candlelight cast, with a light on the left with a blue gel to feel like moonlight coming through the narrow window slit. I also placed a flash with an orange gel into the fireplace to look as if there was a glowing fire in there.

Fran was also on set (the helmeted, chain mail soldier on the right) and dressed the table for me, which was wonderful. She has an eye for detail like no other. For example, I love the curl of apple peal you can see hanging off a fruit bowl if you zoom in.



After I felt I had the photo I wanted, I then set about doing a series of individual portraits of the characters in the same setting, but making changes in the table layouts (again Fran was invaluable) and this time having them looking into the camera with attitude.

Here are a few of my favourites, although you can find the full set on my Facebook Photography page here:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/kimayresphotography/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1822209661127063


The Monk


The Bard


The Witch


The Priest

With such a great project and a fun set of photos, it was no surprise that it all ended up heavily featured in Dumfries and Galloway Life magazine.

Not only did they use one of the group images for the cover, but inside the main shot was given a double-page spread, while a few of the individual character portraits were used in the article.









I think this counts as quite possibly one of my favourite shoots of all time!

JD Keys

JD Keys in Castle Douglas is where you get your shoes repaired and keys cut. Unlike the various chain stores supplying this service in the majority of towns and cities, this one is completely independent. The JD is Joe Donohue – it’s his name above the door and his skills and customer service that have built his trusted brand over the past couple of decades.



About 3 years ago, on the run up to Christmas, I had the brilliant idea of offering gift vouchers people could buy to put towards a photo shoot. I was convinced this would bring me in tens of thousands of pounds of extra income.

It didn’t.

In fact, I only ever sold one voucher, and that was to Joe’s wife, Margaret, who bought it as a gift for Joe.

At our original meeting, Margaret and I had chatted about cool ideas, outfits, locations, storylines and the infinite possibilities of a staged narrative photo shoot. However, it turned out this just wasn’t Joe’s style, and it all got put on the back burner.

To be honest, I’d pretty much forgotten all about it but the shoot I did with my old friend Douglas in his shed doing screen-printing earlier this year (see - Handcooked) caught Joe’s attention. A man in his workplace appealed far more than dressing up and being a hero in an epic scene.

And so a couple of Sundays ago, Joe and I met in the shop and did a shoot that embodied the man in his environment.

Here are a couple more of my favourites.





While I do love doing the big epic shoots, it's also lovely to be reminded how much I enjoy the more intimate one-to-one photo sessions too.

Moniaive Comic Festival's New Model Army

Following the success of last year’s Manga inspired photoshoot, Ralph (the hairdresser from Basement 20 salon) and I were invited back to Moniaive Comic Festival. This time we were part of the actual programme of events rather than an unexpected extra.

To tie in with the 40th anniversary of the launch of the groundbreaking and influential comic 2000AD, Ralph came up with the idea of creating a set of characters that wouldn’t look out of place in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic world, suitable for the magazine. Catherine Campbell, Ruby Drake and Abby Gray were styled by Ralph, with makeup by Poppy McMillan, and then photographed by me.


Catherine


Abby


Ruby

Once again, the public could come in, watch the proceedings and have a go at sketching the models, with artists Doug Braithwaite and Dave Kendall leading the way.


Catherine by Doug Braithwaite

My good friend Allan Wright once again videoed the proceedings and gave me the files to put together a wee behind-the-scenes video of the event. Local band Black Mango were kind enough to let me use their track "Holding Up The Sun" as a soundtrack for it:



Comic book writing legend, Alan Grant (Judge Dredd, Batman, Lobo and many, many others) then penned a short, 6-panel comic strip based on the characters and set them in Dumfries, a century into the future, while Alan’s grandson, Elliot Gray, was tasked with illustrating his script.


Panel 3 from the comic strip

With photos, sketches, a script and comic strip it was felt there was enough for a small exhibition, and once again The Stove were kind enough to offer up space.

We had the exhibition launch on Tuesday past, and on Tuesday coming Alan Grant will be at The Stove at 7pm to talk about life as a comic book writer (https://www.facebook.com/events/361743230912310/ for more details). Do come along if you can!

The exhibition is on until September 29th

Where The Skin Lies

Last year I was asked to be a "Still Photographer" on a film set for a micro-budget horror film being shot in Kippford, just a few miles down the road from where I live.


Where the Skin Lies - Teaser trailer from Michaël Boucherie on Vimeo.

The film - Where the Skin Lies - is now doing the rounds at film festivals and an article I wrote about the experience has appeared in the September issue of Dumfries and Galloway Life Magazine.


3-page article in Dumfries and Galloway Life magazine, September 2017

My role was to take behind-the-scenes photos and an image that could be used for the poster.

When you look at a lot of film posters it’s easy to believe the images have come from a frame, or still, from the movie. However, most movie cameras are not filming at a particularly high resolution. It’s fine for the film, but if you blow the image up for printing, you would find it too pixelated to use. So what happens is after the scene has been shot, the photographer steps into the place where the movie camera was, and under the same lighting and set up conditions, shoots with his own camera. It’s this image that is then adapted for use for the posters and publicity.


My original photo


Adapted for the poster

Now the magazine article has been published and the film publicity is on the go, I thought I would go back through the behind-the-scenes photos and choose a selection of my favourite images


Director, Michaël Boucherie, discussing the next shot with actor, Amelia Bennett 


Director, Michaël Boucherie, and Producer, Joy Harrison, watching the action from the adjacent room


The cramped confines of a bathroom shot. Is that a photographer I can make out in the mirror?


Very little room to get the shot set up


Actor, Simon Rivers, spicing up his beans on toast




Amelia taking a break. One of the few photos I preferred in colour as the black and white version didn't do that 70s sofa justice.


Special effect makeup artist, Alex Knights, applying a knife wound to Amelia. Again colour was needed for this one as the wound wasn't so obvious in black and white


Michaël overseeing the set up for a scene


Left to right: Nathan Wright, Tristan Beint, Louise Williams, Amelia Bennett, and Simon Rivers


Actor, Nathan Wright


Actor, Simon Rivers


Images, sound and light don't happen without these guys!


Director, Michaël Boucherie, and Producer, Joy Harrison


Making sure Louise is in shot


When a bulb goes, someone has to fix it!


Watching back the last cut


The director gives instructions


Working out the best camera angle for the scene


The actors (including Georgia Winters on the right) rehearsing while the crew set up

One fun side effect of all this is I now have my own entry on the Internet Movie Database, IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm8680659/