Jesse and Helen became parents to their son, Auryn, about 4 months ago, and last week I was introduced to him when I went out to visit.
2 days earlier a woman browsing the nearby shelves of the bookshop I was in could barely suppress her amusement as she overheard my conversation on the phone to Maggie, seeking advice while I was staring at endless books for babies and toddlers, trying to work out a gift to take with me.
However, as well as arriving at their house with a copy of the board book version of "Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes" by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury, of course I took my camera.
After cups of tea and conversations catching up on all that had been happening in the past 8 months or so, I finally pulled out the camera.
It all felt just a little too easy.
They were all relaxed in the comfort of the familiar surroundings of their own home and Auryn was full of smiles. Although it was an overcast day, they had large windows letting in plenty of natural light. All I had to do was give the smallest amount of direction, line up the camera and click.
Pictures of Helen with Auryn, Jesse with Auryn, and the 3 of them together just poured into the camera with ease.
Back home I edited up a selection of around 10 of the best, dropping them into black and white to give that timeless feel.
I was pleased with the way they turned out, and Jesse and Helen were delighted with the photos, but I found myself feeling the whole thing had been a bit too easy, and in turn feared it somehow devalued what I'd done.
I guess it's drummed into us from a young age that the harder we work at something, the more worthy it is. That argument can be demolished easily without too much thought, but the ingrained feeling still remains.
The fact is I would loved to have had some photos like that of me and Maggie when our children were babies. These are the kinds of images that grow more and more precious as time passes. Now, 20 years later, their value would be beyond priceless. But back then I didn't have a friend who was competent with a camera, so one of us (usually me) would be the one holding it, and I didn't have the skills I have now.
Maggie had to point out to me, while I was having my existential crisis, that while it may have been easy now, it wasn't always. If I'd attempted a shoot like this even a few years ago I would have been riven with self doubt, and struggled to work out the best positions, lighting and compositions. And my hit rate of successful images would have been considerably less.
It's causing me to reflect on where I'm trying to go with my photography.
Over the past few years I've been throwing myself into bigger and more complicated photo shoots whenever possible – putting together small teams of people to create ever more ambitious images (Just wait until you see the one I did for Dumfries and Galloway Blood Bikes, which involved dozens of bikers and being raised up in a cherry picker).
While there's no doubt I enjoy the challenge of creating complex images beyond anything I've done before, I think I've been forgetting how much I love the intimate, deeply personal photography.
These kind of photos might not now be as challenging to create on a technical level, but making the personal connection to help relax the person in front of the camera – working with them to create something they will love now and will mean so much more as the years pass – this is the most rewarding feeling of all.
It seems if you do something once it's an experiment; twice it's a habit; and 3 times or more it's a tradition.
Having posted my favourite pics of the previous 12 months every January for the past 8 years, this has now become a completely established tradition.
A little bit odd for me is that I have at least 4 complete photo shoots (2 with behind-the-scenes videos) I did in 2017 which won't be going public until later this year, so cannot be included in this collection of my favourite images. Still, it gives you something to look forward to...
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.
Coast To Home
An example of a photo taken the year before, but didn't go public until later into the new year, so didn't appear in last year's highlights. Coast to Home was the Castle Douglas High School Young Enterprise Group. They had created a set of artworks to sell to raise money for charity, created out of stuff found on the beach - driftwood, shells, pebbles etc. I was asked to help with the promotional photo, which we did at the beach on a grey, dreich day in November 2015. I used off-camera flashes to add some light, including one I put in the standard lamp to make it look like it was plugged in. The sea was really cold and several shots failed because of the screams when the icy water started lapping around the ankles of the pupils.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post: http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/coast-to-home.html
Exhibition at the Whitehouse Gallery
At the beginning of the year, the Galloway Photographic Collective had a group exhibition at the Whitehouse Gallery in Kirkcudbright. Rather than put in prints of my usual staged narrative shots, I decided to get images printed up of a shoot I did with Alexandra - a retired ballet dancer. We'd done the session a couple of years previously and I was immensely proud of what we ended up with, but as it was quite different to what I usually do, there had never been an opportunity to display them in public. The response to them was quite polarised. Many people loved them but some really did not - which was exactly the outcome I was hoping for.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post: http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/exhibition-at-whitehouse-gallery.html
Dr Megaphone
Dr Ian Johnston had a touring show of science, music and entertainment, along with his son, Sandy, and local musican and songwriter, Alan McClure. In need of a promotional image we discussed various ideas and ended up in a science classroom with bottles full of coloured liquids and large amounts of dry ice to create the smoke effects.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post: http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/dr-megaphone.html
The Aurora in Northumbria
Maggie and I were having a wee break on the Northumbrian coast. On a clear night I wandered down to the beach to see if I could get any photos of the stars. I hadn't brought a tripod with me, so took at plastic sandwich box to rest the camera on. I thought I could see a faint glow on the horizon, but just assumed it might be lights from oil rigs reflecting off thin clouds, but to my amazement, as I looked in the back of the camera, there was the unmistakable green and purple colouring of the aurora borealis.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post: http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/northumbrian-stars.html
Everyday Superheroes Soul Soup is an amazing local charity offering professional counselling and support for young people (12 to 25 years old) facing emotional distress and difficulties with their mental health and wellbeing. "Everyday Superheroes" was about the notion that nearly all of us attempt to appear invulnerable and easily able to cope with the world. So we created a photo of people dressed as superheroes in a group therapy session: even Superheroes are vulnerable to mental health problems.
Sean Taylor
Sean Taylor is an incredible blues singer-songwriter and guitarist, and I never miss an opportunity to see him play live. I've photographed him a couple of times in the past - indeed one of my images ended up on the cover of his 2nd album, Love Against Death. I had an idea for a shoot by streetlight when he visited the Mill on the Fleet in Gatehouse back in March. Despite near sub-zero temperatures, he was as obliging as ever.
Earth's Crust Bakery Earth's Crust Bakery in Castle Douglas creates such fantastically brilliant bread and other baked products that they were finalists in the 2017 BBC Food Awards. Presenter of the BBC Radio 4's "The Food Programme", Sheila Dillon, along with world renowned chef, Giorgio Locatelli, came up to this corner of Scotland to interview them. I was asked to capture a few photos, which I happily did, negotiating my fee in bread products...
The Screen Printer
In addition to being an amazing graphic designer and web designer, my good friend Douglas also creates highly collectable screen printed posters out of a shed in his garden. Douglas’s shed is laid out perfectly for him to operate with everything to hand as he needs it. It’s not designed, however, to fit a second person in with a camera. It was definitely a wide-angle lens job.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post: http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/handcooked.html
Allan Wright
Allan Wright is an outstanding landscape photographer, good friend, and he lives just around the corner. Several years in the making, he recently launched his book of Galloway. If you ever want to see just how beautiful this corner of Scotland is, then you have to buy a copy of his book. I was happy to fire off a few shots for him at his book launch.
Moniaive Comic Festival
Once again I teamed up with hairdresser Ralph Yates-Lee at the Moniaive Comic Festival to create a set of photos - this time inspired by the futuristic, post-apocalyptic visions of the comic 2000AD.
Here's another behind-the-scenes video of the shoot
Selfie with Alfie
In the late spring I finally got myself a smart phone - upgrading from it's more dimwitted cousin I'd been using for several years. Suddenly I understood why selfies have become so popular. The convenience and ease with which I could take a quick snap of myself holding my day-old grandson was something of a revelation. While I will still be using my big, chunky DSLR for professional shoots, I've discovered a new love for the immediate intimacy a phone camera can bring.
For more about my thoughts on rediscovering a love of the snapshot, click through to this blog post: https://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/rediscovering-snapshot.html
Where The Skin Lies
Another example of a photo shoot that wasn't publicised until much later. I was asked to be a "Still Photographer" for a horror film set in Kippford, called "Where The Skin Lies" in September 2016. Obviously I couldn't release the photos straight away, so it wasn't until last summer that the images got to see the light of day.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post: http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/where-skin-lies.html
The Lost Chronicles of Gallovidia
10 people in costume, in the cellar of Buittle Tower, promoting The Lost Chronicles of Gallovidia project. With the number of people involved and trying to get the lighting I wanted in such a restricted space, it was one of my most challenging shoots up to that point, but also one of the most rewarding.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post: http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/the-lost-chronicles-of-gallovidia.html
Whirligig
This promotional shoot for the ceilidh band, Whirligig, was far more complicated to achieve than it looks. We’d decided to 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.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post: http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/whirligig.html
JD Keys
The big epic photo shoots are always fun, but I also enjoy the more intimate one-on-one photography of a man in his workplace. After seeing the shoot I did with Douglas doing screen printing in his shed, Joe of JD Keys wanted me to take a similar approach to my photo shoot with him.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post: http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/jd-keys.html
Buittle Tower
Back to Buittle Tower, only this time it was to do a shoot for Dumfries & Galloway Life magazine for their Christmas edition. Despite it only being early October, a tree and decorations were put up in the main hall, and a goose with all the trimmings was cooked for a meal shoot. The photos can be seen in the December 2017 edition of the magazine, but this was my favourite of the set.
Selfie at In House Chocolates
I get complaints from my regular blog visitors if I don't include at least one photo of my daughter, Meg, in any collection of images. This is my favourite of the 2 of us together, at In House Chocolates - the best place for a hot chocolate for 100 miles. Once again I loved the ease and intimacy the phone camera allows.
Plasma Cutter
I was out doing a recce at the forge of artist blacksmith, Adam Booth, for a shoot which will no doubt appear in next year's Year Review photos. While there he was using a plasma cutter on a sheet of steel. The combination of light from the doorway and the sparks proved irresistible and I had to fire off a few shots.
For more about this shoot, click through to this blog post: http://kimayres.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/plasma-cutter.html
Christmas
6 months on and my grandson, Alfie, got to experience his first Christmas. Here he is sitting on his grannie's knee.
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 2018.
