Friday, December 31, 2021

Me vs Instagram

As the end of the year approaches one of the modern social media traditions is to show off your Instagram Top 9 – the images you posted that received the most likes across the year.

If you don't want to scroll back through every post to count up your "likes", then there are various apps you can download that will do it for you, in exchange for data harvesting everything about you and everyone you're connected to (who reads the consent blurb these days anyway?). Some of them will even kindly put their logo boldly in one corner for you too.

What shouldn't have surprised me, but completely did, was the mismatch between the images I was expecting to appear, and what actually did.

While 2021, for obvious reasons, has not been my busiest year, I have done a few photo shoots I'm proud of, that have gained positive feedback, and I feel have stretched and grown me as a photographer.

If I was hoping for images from the Re:Dress Fashion Show, or Odin's Chair, or The Kippford Mermaid to show up, then confusion was sure to follow.

With the exception of a black and white photo of Meg, every other image was some kind of selfie, or a quick fun photo taken because I was bored and wanted to try something out.

The fact that Meg appears in 6, my wife in 3, and me in 7 of them means clearly those who follow me on Instagram respond more to family pics and selfies than they do to my professional photography.

Perhaps the clue is in the fact it's called "Social" media.

And on one level, that's fine, I get it. I really do.

But how on earth I'm supposed to build followers to expand my business, I have no idea, and am just left feeling as lost and cynical as ever.


Tomorrow I will put up my traditional New Year "Best Of..." post, where I show and write about my favourite photos from the past year - which from a photographer's perspective look quite different from the ones above.

And on Sunday, my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres live video podcast will be featuring the best photos submitted by the viewers of their own work.

Perhaps that will leave me feeling a little more inspired.


In the meantime, I wish everyone a wonderful Hogmanay, and hope hangovers and trips to the hospital are kept to a minimum!


Monday, December 20, 2021

Photographing Re:Dress - the Dumfries Slow Fashion Movement Show

Fast Fashion has become endemic in the modern world. Trends move so quickly, and production has become so cheap, that millions of tons of clothing are bought, worn once or twice and then discarded.

The problems of this are hugely damaging from environmental, ethical and social points of view.

From the appalling human exploitation in terrible working conditions in 3rd world countries to produce many of the cheaper items, to the environmental cost in their production and disposal, to the social anxiety about being judged for being seen wearing the same outfit twice – the cost to all of us is so much more than the pennies spent on the clothing.

The idea of slow fashion, then, is that items are made to last, be reused, recycled or even upcycled to create something new.

In many ways it's the how things were always done.

When I was a kid, patching my jeans when they got a rip was the norm, rather than throwing them out. Making new garments out of old ones was something my mother did all the time. And when I did a photo shoot with a 4th generation bespoke tailor, he was telling me how certain hand made coats and jackets used to be passed down the generations, and were designed so adjustments could easily be made for a different sized wearer.

Marie and Dan set up Circle Vintage about 3 years ago, where everything you buy is an original, second-hand or pre-loved item mostly from the 1960s to 90s.

Being stylishly retro and individual has never been so easy.

Combining their love of clothing with a strong sense of environmentalism, they recently set up the Dumfries Slow Fashion Movement CIC (Community Interest Company - a special type of limited company which exists to benefit the community rather than private shareholders), and launched it with Re:Dress – a fashion show at the Theatre Royal in Dumfries, where all the clothes were reused or upcycled in some way.

I was oblivious to all this when I wandered into the shop to have a wee chat and catch up with Marie for the first time since the original Lockdown in early 2020. We'd originally met shortly before the pandemic, when I stumbled across their shop and thought there could be potential for working together on a photo shoot.


Marie quickly told me all about the fashion show and asked if I'd help out with the photography as they wanted to document the event. They had a few other local photographers and students who would be taking images, so I suggested perhaps I should concentrate on creating some set pieces – the kind of shots you would expect to see in a magazine.

Initially I thought I could do this in advance of the show, but it turned out this just wasn't going to be possible – not only would trying to organise models, clothes designers, make up artists, hairdressers and the venue in advance be extraordinarily unlikely, some of the outfits were basically being constructed onto the model on the night.

The shoot was going to have to happen at the same time the fashion show was going ahead.

The main thought, then, was to create images that looked like they were backstage and behind-the-scenes, except they would be carefully crafted.

Over the next week or two we shaped the ideas, set up a Pinterest Board, and went out to the Theatre Royal so I could work out potential places to set up.

The key was going to be preparing as much in advance as I could so I would be able to grab models either shortly before going on stage, when they came off, or during the mid-interval break.

In the end I decided on 2 different spaces, and styles of shoot.

One would be in the wings of the stage, with a large single softbox to one side, and another off-camera flash with a coloured gel, slightly behind to create a back-stage look with a theatrical feel.

The other was to create a dressing room scene.

There are 3 dressing rooms at the Theatre Royal. The 2 larger ones were going to be used for outfit changes, hair and makeup, while the small, 3rd one, was going to be empty, so I could have that.

While you might think that's the set sorted, all I need to do is place people in it, in reality actual dressing rooms are nothing like as rich, atmospheric and theatrical as they are portrayed in the movies. They tend to be much sparser and utilitarian.

At this point, we brought in Marie's friend, Penny, a visual merchandiser who creates window displays.

We had access to the theatre the day before the show, as it was being used for dress rehearsals. Penny and I raided the clothing and props departments and set up our wee space to look like the kind of dressing room you would expect to see – with racks of clothes, mannequin heads with wigs, and a chaise longue.

I then had to figure out how to light it, as the bulbs around the mirrors weren't enough, and the overhead lights destroyed any sense of mood and atmosphere.

I managed to grab a couple of people to try things out, and while I started to make progress, I couldn't get a look I was completely happy with. I didn't want my off-camera flashes in shot, but it was such a small space there didn't seem to be any options to get in back and side lights.

I got home that evening feeling frustrated and deflated. I slept badly, continually waking up with it all running around my head. And I hadn't even had the chance to try out the stage wings idea, so if my best guess on that failed too I wasn't going to be able to produce anything remotely close to my original visions.

At some point, the idea of a standard lamp leapt into my head. I've used this solution before a couple of times. The trick is to place an off-camera flash with an orange gel where the bulb would have been. It creates a much stronger light, while appearing to be just a natural lamp in the photo.

Fortunately, when I arrived at the theatre a couple of hours before the show, they were able to find me one in the props department.

I also tucked another off-camera flash down between the clothing racks on the right, thereby lighting up whoever would be on the chaise longue, which otherwise would have been lost in shadow.

To my delight, and relief, this worked exactly how I hoped, and I was finally able to get the look I was after.

Sometimes it feels like you're just not in the right flow and every step is difficult and energy draining. And then other times it feels like you're completely in the zone and everything flows almost effortlessly.

When my first test shots in the stage wings also worked almost perfectly, I felt like I had suddenly shifted from the former to the latter.

The finale of the show featured the wonderful Angela Green, who some might remember I photographed on an aeroplane at Dumfries Aviation museum a few years ago in a promotional shoot for Mrs Green's Tearoom (see – Up In The Air with Mrs Green's Tea Lounge).

During the mid-interval break I photographed her both in the stage wings, and in the dressing room – although with her massively wide dress, it was a bit of a squeeze!

I spent several days editing the images, polishing them up and pushing pixels around the screen until I had them honed the way I wanted, then sent them off to Dumfries and Galloway Life magazine, where commissioning editor, Andrea Thomson, had told me she was going to be doing a feature article on both Circle Vintage and the Re:Dress fashion show.

In the end she used half a dozen of the images, and I was delighted how they looked in print.

If you're interested in listening to me talk about this shoot in my weekly live video podcast, Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres, then click on the video below.

And scroll to the bottom of the page for the full list of credits


CREDITS

All photography: Kim Ayres
Location: The Theatre Royal, Dumfries
Concept and Execution: Circle Vintage, Dumfries Slow Fashion Movement

Dressing Room: Background clothes and props supplied by the Theatre Royal
Set styled by Penny McNeish

Reclaimed cardboard animal head wearable sculptures by Norval Forrest

Hair and Makeup (All shots)
Hair: team led by Nelson Brown, with Joyce Money and Caitlin McDonough, assisted by Katie Maxwell.
Make up: Abbie Turner and Claire Robson, assisted by a team of S5 & S6 pupils from the ASDAN Hair & Beauty course at Dumfries Academy (accompanied by their teacher, Mrs Esther Papworth).

Outfits

Designers and Makers:
Marie McKinnon
Daniel McKinnon
Fiona Gordon
Lorna Nee
Trash Nerd Clothing
Morag Macpherson
Emma Visca
Claire Hamerton
Emily Major
Julia Mesnikoff

Models:
Angela Green
Julie Ward
Joseph Harper
Emily Major
Isla Wilson
Kate Langton
Tim Zhovreboff
Lizzie Craufurd
Sarah Vose
Katy Brown
Jessica Sweeney
Katy McLaughlan


Friday, December 03, 2021

Podcast and Blog Changes

Last Tuesday evening's live video podcast of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres was the last podcast I'm doing on a Tuesday.

In a couple of days it will have a new home on Sunday afternoons at 3pm UK time.

After 86 weeks, why the change?

In essence, it's my attempt at reducing the time spent around it.

When I started the podcast back in April 2020, the world was in Lockdown, my photography business suddenly had an indefinitely empty calendar, and I could pretty much devote as much time to is as I wanted.

Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm felt like an ideal time for those who did evening classes, or attended camera clubs (of course I was thinking primarily of a UK audience at this point). It also meant I could spend most of the day preparing for it, while Wednesdays could be used for reviewing how it went, editing it if necessary, writing a blog post that was probably related to something from the podcast, and then doing all the social media stuff of putting photos and links across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn to encourage anyone who'd missed it to go and take a look.

And if that meant by the time I got to Thursday I was an exhausted wreck and all I could do was sit about, dribbling into my chest, then that was fine – it wasn't like I had any meetings or photo shoots to attend to.

As time went on, I realised that if I overdid things on a Tuesday during the day, it seriously impacted my ability to do the podcast in the evening. I couldn't push through with a coffee because that would mean I wouldn't really sleep that night and my ability to do any of the rest of the stuff on a Wednesday would be screwed. So I found I was starting to use quite a bit of Monday for podcast preparation too in order to do less on a Tuesday so I could conserve my energy.

Basically, the best part of half of my week was taken up with the podcast in one form or another.

But it was also exciting that I was building something where it would only be a matter of time before I achieved global domination, and I would have tens of thousands of followers contributing via buymeacoffee.com/kimayres. Finally I might actually be able to make the income I always dreamed of without the Chronic Fatigue limiting me. Simply put, the same amount of work goes into the podcasts whether I have 10 viewers or 40,000 so the potential seemed limitless.

However, after more than a year and half, the podcasts have failed to attract more than a handful of regular viewers. These people are wonderful, amazing and I love the interaction with them every week. I cannot believe there are not more people out there who would enjoy the podcasts just as much, but I the reality is I don't have the marketing skills to find them.

Despite what the social media platforms would have you believe, just creating something awesome and putting it out there every week, isn't enough.

So as the vaccines have rolled out, and I'm continually looking for real-world photography jobs again, at this point spending half my available week dedicated to something that's bringing me in only a small handful of donated "coffees", is utterly unsustainable.

I don't want to drop it though – I get a huge amount of enjoyment and pleasure out of helping people get a deeper understanding of photography.

The only option then, is to find a way I can contain the whole thing within one day.

After lots of soul searching, head scratching and conversations with my wife, I decided that if I did the podcasts in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday with a strong cup of coffee, instead of having my usual exhausted doze, then I might just be able to get away with it.

3pm also has the advantage of making it available to a much wider part of the world. 7.30pm UK time meant that the whole of Asia was in bed, while being on a Tuesday meant most of those located in the American continents would be at work in their afternoon. This new time means that far more of Asia will be awake in their evening, and most of the Americas will be able to tune in on a Sunday morning with their breakfast or mid-morning coffee.

So the plan is to spend the morning doing the preparation, pushing through the podcast with a good strong coffee, then do all the social media stuff in the evening.

If it works, then I will have contained everything to within one day, be more accessible to more people around the world, and it will free me up to continue my career as a real-world photographer.

However, one casualty is likely to be this blog. It's highly improbable I will be able to fit writing a blog post into the day along with everything else that needs to be done.

Which I have some regrets about.

For me, it's felt like a bit of an achievement to produce a blog post every single week since the podcasts began.

From the pre-Facebook days when I used to post up to 3 times a week, the blog had tapered off over the years to the point where I was often writing less than once a month.

But when I began the podcasts, I decided to use the blog to explore either things that were happening with it, or the emotional impact it was having on me, or just allow myself to shoot off on some wild tangent.

I always enjoyed creating blog posts, but with limited time, energy, and income, it had steadily got pushed down the priority list. However, by creating a regular slot every Wednesday morning where, before I'd even looked at my email, I would sit at the computer and write a post, I was amazed to find that I never failed to actually write something. Not all of them have been Pulitzer-Prize winning stuff, admittedly, but there are a few I'm particularly pleased with.

While some are purely informative – ideas and thoughts for the next Podcast Photography Challenge, for example – many are explorations of thought and feelings where I have always strived for an emotional authenticity, and occasionally peppered with a bit of wry humour.

In an earlier incarnation of this blog, I used to have on the header, "Everything in this blog is true! And some of it actually happened..."

I never received a single comment about it, so clearly "wry humour" is in the eye of the beholder...

Anyway, the point is while I do still have every intention of creating blog posts whenever I can, realistically they are not likely to be happening every week any more.


Unless it turns out that having more time by streamlining the podcasts gives me more space to write... 

Wednesday, December 01, 2021

Photographing The Luthier and Episode 86 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres

When I asked Narelle what was involved in being a luthier, she replied that if there was an instrument that was basically made of wood and strings, then she could repair it or make one from scratch.

Narelle's plan was to write a book about creating instruments. Not a step-by-step maker's guide as such, but about the processes. More of a coffee table book than a manual.

While Narelle had studied photography herself, she hated having her own photo taken, so part of my task was to create some portraits – both head shots of her looking directly into the camera, and images of her at at work.

The photos would need to match the look and feel she wanted to create for her book, so we explored Google Images, Pinterest and several books from her own collections, to get a sense of the direction she wanted to move in. It soon became clear she favoured a warm colour palette rather than desaturated blue-greys that were quite popular – less Nordic, more Italian was her comment about the style she would be pursuing.

On the day of the shoot, when I drove out to her workshop in rural Cumbria, it was a cold and dreich November day, so ideas of soft sunshine flowing through the windows, lighting up the workbench were abandoned. Fortunately she had log burner stove installed so we were able to stay warm.

The key shot we needed (the one at the top of the page) was where we started. I knew I wanted to shoot into the corner with the workbench in front and wood, books, tools and instrument parts behind her, but I struggled for a while to get the lighting I desired. I had one light to the left and another to the right, but still it was falling flat.

Eventually I realised I needed a light behind her, so balanced a third off-camera flash onto the shelf. A quick burst of a small smoke machine allowed that light to then diffuse a little and make it feel a bit more atmospheric.

A quick note about the editing – because Narelle was wearing a white top, it reflected the mostly warm brown wood colours, so the whole image looked a bit too yellow-shifted. So in post-production, I subtly moved her shirt into the blues, which had the effect of allowing the rest of the photo to have the warm tones without looking jaundiced.

The close up portraits were a simpler set up with a single light in a large softbox. The trickier bit here was overcoming her reluctance to be in front of the camera and engage with me through the lens. It's always easier to take photos of someone when the are looking elsewhere, as they don't feel so self conscious. Getting someone to look straight into the camera without appearing like a rabbit in the headlights is the real speciality of the portrait photographer, and is all about building the relationship and trust.

I was still keen on the idea of a casual photo of Narelle leaning against the bench, lit by the sun coming through the window. So I put an off-camera flash on a stand outside the window, and we angled the blinds to get the striped shadows. Another wee burst of the smoke machine allowed the beams of light to subtly show up.

Here are a few more shots from the day – wood shavings, close-up hands shot, and a photo of her grandfather's plane next to herown.

Narelle was great company throughout. From the pre-shoot meetings to the full day of photography, conversation continually flowed easily with never an awkward pause. She also made us pizza for lunch.

The book itself has been shelved (so to speak) for now. What with the onset of Covid, and the fact she is now pursuing a masters in music psychology and neuroscience, it could be a wee while until she gets back to it. However she is determined to do so once she has the time.

Meanwhile check out Narelle's website at:
http://reiverinstruments.co.uk/

and below you can enjoy Episode 86 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres, where I chat about the photoshoot with Narelle, and give critique on images submitted to the podcast.

If you decide to click through and watch it directly on YouTube (rather than here on the blog), then you can watch the Live Chat Replay and see the comments people are writing in real time as the podcast progresses.

---

2:00 - Welcome, what's coming up, greetings and comments
06:31 - Photographing The Luthier
26:29 - Moving the podcasts to Sunday at 3pm
32:53 - Introduction to the Critique Section
35:40 - Robert - horses on a frosty morning
40:50 - Jim - woodland path
46:32 - Megan - photographing the aurora
56:35 - Pat - how much editing is acceptable?
1:01:26 - Nurije - Exeter Cathedral
1:06:27 - Vandana - urban street
1:10:39 - 3 Types of Photographer - hunter, farmer, and scavenger
1:15:08 - Rose-Marie - a puppy behind bars
1:23:44 - Bennitito - Eastbourne Pier
1:27:27 - Should photos have borders?
1:34:08 - The next podcast is on Sunday at 3pm - set your reminders
1:36:01 - End

If you found this interesting/useful/entertaining, then please consider supporting these podcasts and blog posts via buymeacoffee.com/kimayres

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kimayres – to be notified of new podcasts and behind-the-scenes videos.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then either email me or join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Odin's Chair - and Episode 85 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres

Odin's Chair, in Kirkcudbright, Scotland

The Galloway Hoard has been described as the richest collection of rare and unique Viking-age objects ever found in Britain.

Buried around 900AD, it was discovered in Dumfries and Galloway in 2014 by a metal-detectorist, and then eventually acquired by National Museums Scotland and whipped away to Edinburgh.

There is currently a display of some of the items in the Kirkcudbright Galleries, and to mark it's arrival, a giant, larger than life Viking Throne was commissioned to be set up for people to enjoy, clamber over, and take lots of selfies sitting on it.

Furniture designer and maker, Ian Cameron-Smith (https://cameronsmithdesigns.co.uk/) was approached to create the 3-times-larger-size chair, and he enlisted his son, also called Ian, to help with the rune carvings, along with Callum King to make the also-3-times-larger-size metal ravens to go on it.

I've known Ian for several years, so was delighted to be asked by Dumfries & Galloway Life to do a shoot for the magazine about it.

Along with Ian, Ian and Callum, we were joined by body builder, Adrian Philpot, dressed in a Viking outfit supplied by the Galloway Longfhada Vikings - a reenactment group based in Dumfries – to be our Odin.

Odin is the King of Asgard, and leader of the Viking Gods in Norse mythology. He has one eye, and two ravens - Huginn and Muninn (thought and memory).

However, as great as all this seemed in my head before the shoot, the reality of photographing anyone next to a giant chair is it makes them look tiny.


(your photographer now knows what it feels like to be a hobbit)

My solution, for the most part, was to use a wide-angle lens and get in close. This had the effect of making anyone nearer look much larger than the background.

Where lighting was concerned, it was a bright, sunny day. However, at the point we began the shoot, the sun started to disappear behind the building next to the chair, throwing it into shadow.

I set up an off-camera flash to the left, which emulated the hard light of the sun, and cast some nice shadows from the leaves of a tree next to it. I was also able to place a large reflector against another tree to the right, which was still in the sunlight, so was able to bounce some of that light back onto the chair and fill in the darker shadows. The combination helps to give a strong three-dimensional feel to the images.

The article about the Galloway Hoard, and the making of Odin's Chair are in the December 2021 issue of Dumfries & Galloway Life magazine.

Meanwhile enjoy Episode 85, where I chat about the Odin's Chair photoshoot and show more behind-the-scenes images. I also give critique on images submitted to the podcast.

And if you decide to click through and watch it directly on YouTube (rather than here on the blog), then you can watch the Live Chat Replay and see the comments people are writing in real time as the podcast progresses.

---

1:58 - Welcome, what's coming up, greetings and comments
04:45 - Photographing "Odin's Chair"
26:58 - Introduction to the Critique Section
27:58 - Vandana - High rise architecture
33:30 - Sandra - side lighting on a still life
42:11 - Garry - old book pages
48:46 - Roy - wishing well
1:04:12 - Coming up next week
1:05:56 - End

If you found this interesting/useful/entertaining, then please consider supporting these podcasts and blog posts via buymeacoffee.com/kimayres

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kimayres – to be notified of new podcasts and behind-the-scenes videos.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then either email me or join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

31 Years - and Episode 84 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres

"My mother’s looking after the kids on Saturday evening," she said, casually dropping it into the conversation, as though her mother would quite often have the children to stay over for no particular reason.

"Perhaps I’ll pop round, if I’m not doing anything else," he said, trying to appear nonchalant while his mind raced on how he might get out of his sister’s birthday celebrations.

31 years later and Maggie and I recall how this embarrassing exchange led to the start of our relationship.

Happy anniversary, my love x


Meanwhile, enjoy Episode 84 of my podcast, where I review the images submitted to the Book Photo Challenge I set last week.

And if you decide to click through and view it directly on YouTube (rather than here on the blog), then you can watch the Live Chat Replay and see the comments people are writing in real time as the podcast progresses.

---

2:10 - Welcome, what's coming up, greetings and comments
5:32 - Robert - set of old books
9:48 - Sarah - dictionary found on a walk in the woods
12:48 - Sandra - psalms 84;15
18:58 - Gary - close ups, and 'the spectral hand'
24:58 - Debbie - wedding register
28:14 - Sophie - engrossed in reading
31:30 - Ed - never to young to start on Naom Chomsky...
33:14 - Ben - the conscious mind
39:50 - Erich - book and head
45:52 - Nicola - book, stone and leaves
50:55 - Roy - a communication about excommunication
55:12 - Nurije - tea, biscuits and gardening
56:37 - Still Life is a chance to max out on composition techniques
1:04:44 - Jim - a photographer's desk
1:12:22 - Vandana - cook book
1:17:32 - Inga - bull mirror
1:22:09 - Stacy - still life with memento mori undertones
1:27:57 - Mac - colourful composite
1:34:50 - Rose-Marie - books, doll and briars
1:40:45 - Mandy - the book tent
1:44:30 - Viji - adventures in paper
1:47:55 - Coming up next week - Odin's Chair, and Critique
1:51:35 - End

If you found this interesting/useful/entertaining, then please consider supporting these podcasts and blog posts via buymeacoffee.com/kimayres

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kimayres – to be notified of new podcasts and behind-the-scenes videos.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then either email me or join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/

Saturday, November 13, 2021

Remember - you have no chance of winning...

"Remember," said Mark's text, "you have no chance of winning!"

I was touched by Mark's thoughfulness just as Maggie and I were heading off to this year’s Dumfries and Galloway Life Awards, in which I was a finalist for the Visual Artist/Maker category.

This all makes much more sense if you know about my experience last time I was in this position, 4 years ago, which Mark and I had been reminiscing about a couple of days previously.

See - The Jekyll & Hyde transformation of being an award finalist

I didn’t want to go through that mental assault course again.

I’ve been to the D&G Life Awards several times, usually as a guest for someone else, and it's fun evening out.

I tend to know at least half a dozen or more of the people who are up for the awards in different categories, and this year I noticed, with a certain amount of smug pride, 4 of them had photos I'd taken, being displayed in the programme and projected onto the screen when their category was announced.

Trevor Leat, who was the actual winner in our category, I’ve known for many years, so I was genuinely delighted he was the one collecting the award.

But as I’d feared, just like last time, from about half an hour or so before, my mind began turning to thoughts of being up on stage, shaking hands with the sponser and being photographed holding my rightful award.

I could feel my enjoyment of the evening getting hijacked by that part of my brain which as a 4 year old child wouldn’t let anyone else play with his toys.

As the winner of the category was announced in the one prior to ours, I turned to Maggie and said, "Remind me…"

She looked me in the eye, held my gaze, and then with all the love and support of a woman who has been my soulmate for nearly 31 years could muster, said,

"Kim - you have no chance of winning!"

And finally, I was able to relax.


This year the awards were live streamed onto YouTube, so if you'd like to see the point where I had no chance of winning then here's a link to that part in the video (4 hours and 5 minutes in):

https://youtu.be/_cdnvhZSvyE?t=14702

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

The Book Photo Challenge - and Episode 83 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres

Books are incredible things.

They can contain knowledge, expertise, thoughts, dreams, facts, fictions, photos, paintings, sketches, graphs, numbers, text – all bound up and created to pass ideas and information to another mind.

They are also physical objects made to be a particular size, have a particular colour palette, weight and texture.

Every book was designed with an aesthetic in mind.

The Challenge I'm setting for next week's podcast, then is Books!

It could be a book on it's own, or combined with other objects in a still life.

It could be several books together creating a pattern, or a library.

It could be held by someone, be read to someone else, or worn as a hat

Close up and macro, highlighting a piece of text, a note in the margin, or a finger running over it.

Wide angle and distorted, creating leading lines to significant other aspects of the image.

At a distance, but where context becomes an extension of the narrative.

How will you respond to the Books Photo Challenge?

See how you get on – I'm really looking forward to seeing what people are going to produce! But if you find you're struggling, then you can still submit a photo you're having difficulty with - just explain the problem and I can include suggestions and ideas in the podcast too.

Place your photo (just the one please) into the Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/

or email it to me if you don't do Facebook

Try and get it in before the end of the weekend, or by Monday (15th November) at the latest. Anything that arrives on Tuesday runs the risk of not being included in the podcast.

You can use a phone, tablet, point-and-shoot or DSLR (or mirrorless).

And then, make sure you tune in to YouTube - https://youtu.be/oK3Vi0QQ3Z0 - on Tuesday 16th November at 7.30pm (UK time) where I'll go through the photos, and give comments and feedback, and hopefully we will all become inspired by some of the submissions to go and try out new things with our photography.

Meanwhile enjoy Episode 83, where I go into more detail and give examples of using books as the inspiration for photographs.

And if you decide to click through and watch it directly on YouTube (rather than here on the blog), then you can watch the Live Chat Replay and see the comments people are writing in real time as the podcast progresses.

---

2:02 - Welcome, what's coming up, greetings and comments
06:17 - Introduction to communication via books and photography
13:14 - Ideas for photographing books
30:19 - Introduction to the Critique Section
31:28 - Ben - a leaf and backlighting
40:55 - Viji - folded pages and different crops
49:30 - Matt - 2 subjects and a large gap
58:28 - Inga - shadows in a portrait
1:10:20 - Coming up next week - The Book Photo Challenge
1:13:50 - End

If you found this interesting/useful/entertaining, then please consider supporting these podcasts and blog posts via buymeacoffee.com/kimayres

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kimayres – to be notified of new podcasts and behind-the-scenes videos.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then either email me or join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/

Wednesday, November 03, 2021

Imposter Syndrome? Moi? - and Episode 82 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres

"I'll be glad when it's all over!"

"You'll be great," I said. "You've done this kind of thing loads of times before. Once you're up there in front of everyone, you'll be panicking for a few moments and you will fall into 'mode' and that part of you will take over, and you'll be fine."

"I don't know why I even signed up to this..."

"Because at the planning stage it sounded brilliant, and afterwards you'll look back with a sense of achievement. It's just the bit in between that's crap and full of overwhelming feelings of Imposter Syndrome," I said.

"Well that's very true, but I doubt it's something you experience." It was said more as a statement than a question.

"Of course I do. All the time."

"What? You? No way!"

"Why do you think I understand exactly what you're going through?" I said.

(a more or less word for word conversation I had last week)

Imposter Syndrome is the overwhelming sense that everyone else knows what they're doing but you're out of your depth, and at any moment someone's going to notice, catch you out, and reveal you are not as good as anyone thought you were.

Utter humiliation is only a hair's breadth away.

If this sounds familiar, then it just means you're not a psychopath, and have a certain degree of self awareness.

It is something pretty much everyone experiences from time to time, and some people experience on a daily basis.

Creatives – artists, makers, writers, actors, models, presenters, the self-employed – in fact anyone who has to at some point put themselves in front of other people where they might be judged - more or less live with this feeling constantly.

And most people think they are the only one experiencing it.

For the most part it comes out of the fact that we only ever see other people's final, polished, creation, whereas we are very aware of all the stuff that's gone wrong before we were able to submit ours.

I'll do a photo shoot where we need 6 edited images for publication or promotion.

I'll take 400.

By the time I have whittled it down to the best 15 to choose from, I've had to get rid of 385 photos that weren't up to the mark.

And some of them were downright awful.

On the first sweep I'm having to delete all the ones that were out of focus, where the subject was blinking, where the camera settings were wrong, where the equipment failed, where I clicked too early or too late.

On the second sweep, I'm having to get rid of all the ones that were technically fine, but the composition was boring, jarring, or giving the wrong message.

And even the selected finalists will have to be edited and polished up – they are not quite good enough as they happened in the camera – they can always be improved by lightening a bit here, darkening a bit there, cropping that bit out, subtly colour adjusting this bit, or even removing that section entirely and pasting a different one in from another photo.

So if someone looks at one of my final, published images and remarks that I'm a great photographer, all I can think is, "Yeah, right – you might think that, but you have no idea that the vast majority of my photos are shite, and this time I just managed to get lucky and was able to rescue some and polish them up to make them look better than they were."

Of course no one wants to hear that – especially clients who you've just charged a wodge of money to. So instead you say, "That's really kind, thank you!"

There has never been a single photo shoot I've gone to where – as I'm putting on my shoes and coat ready to leave - I haven't been overwhelmed with fear that this time is going to be the one where I am going to fail utterly, be shown up as an incompetent photographer who has just been lucky in the past, and is now going to experience total humiliation.

Every time, my wife tries to reassure me that I always feel like this, and that once I'm there I will fall into "mode" and be fine.

Every time I think it's easy for her to say that, but this could well be the time when I'm finally going to be revealed as not being good enough.

So far though, no one has caught me out... yet...


Meanwhile, enjoy Episode 82 where we review the images submitted to the Halloween Photo Challenge I set last week.

And if you decide to click through and view it directly on YouTube (rather than here on the blog), then you can watch the Live Chat Replay and see the comments people are writing in real time as the podcast progresses.

---

2:03 - Welcome, what's coming up, greetings and comments
6:20 - Megan - day of the dead face painting
13:18 - Rose-Marie - silhoutted trees and birds
15:48 - when cropping limbs, don't crop at the joints...
18:09 - Jack - light painting
21:39 - Innes - zombie nun composite
30:28 - Robert - cemetary
33:28 - making sure a submitted photo is on theme
36:57 - Viji - Mahalaya Paksha
42:45 - Roy - fun run, and emerging from the grave
47:15 - Mac - 5 pic composite
50:00 - Jim - pumpkin floral display
54:13 - Nicola - scissorhands
58:58 - Garry - muslin and a Venetian mask
1:03:12 - Coming up next week - Photographing books, and Critique
1:06:30 - End

If you found this interesting/useful/entertaining, then please consider supporting these podcasts and blog posts via buymeacoffee.com/kimayres

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kimayres – to be notified of new podcasts and behind-the-scenes videos.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then either email me or join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

The Halloween Photo Challenge - and Episode 81 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres

Samhain, Halloween, The Day of The Dead!

We are at that time of the year when, according to some beliefs, the barriers between the worlds of the living and the dead become thinner, and cross overs can happen.

Ghosts, ghouls, vampires, witches, skeletons, zombies, monsters, wearwolves, mummies, or even our ancestors might be roaming the land.

Costumes, guising, trick-or-treat, pumpkins, carved turnips, jack o' lanterns, spiders, webs, and black cats are all part of the cultural props that accompany this time of year.

This, then, is the Challenge I'm setting for the next podcast – create and submit a photo that captures the fun, or spookiness, of these celebrations!

See how you get on – I'm really looking forward to seeing what people are going to produce! But if you find you're struggling, then you can still submit a photo you're having difficulty with - just explain the problem and I can include suggestions and ideas in the podcast too.

Either place your submission (just the one please) into the Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/

or email it to me if you don't do Facebook.

And when you submit your image, please tell us a little bit about it – either what it is, or why you decided to take it, whether it has any particular significance for you, or any challenges you had to overcome.

Try and get it in before the end of the weekend, or by Monday (1st November) at the latest. Anything that arrives on Tuesday runs the risk of not being included in the podcast.

You can use a phone, tablet, point-and-shoot or DSLR (or mirrorless).

And then, make sure you tune in to YouTube here -

https://youtu.be/z-PIxFpahzc

on Tuesday 2nd November at 7.30pm (UK time) where I'll go through the photos, and give comments and feedback, and hopefully we will all become inspired by some of the submissions to go and try out new things with our photography.


Meanwhile enjoy Episode 81, where we review the images submitted to the Asymmetrical Symmetry Photo Challenge I set last week, and I reflect on the idea that I should really have just called it "Symmetry, but not quite" to avoid confusion...

And if you decide to click through and watch it directly on YouTube (rather than here on the blog), then you can watch the Live Chat Replay and see the comments people are writing in real time as the podcast progresses.

---

2:01 - Welcome, what's coming up, greetings and comments
7:40 - Introduction to the Asymmetrical Symmetry Challenge
9:53 - Ben - garden leaf
13:30 - Debbie - black and white cup with reflection
17:39 - Opti - windows, walls and texture
22:00 - Garry - clock
28:20 - Matt - lighthouse
33:55 - Viji - leaf skeletons
41:06 - Inga - columns, stairs, people, but is it symmetry?
45:20 - Jim - money
50:40 - Mac - avenue of trees
56:00 - Nurije - gap in the rocks
1:04:51 - Roy - red bins
1:07:15 - Sandra - heart shapes
1:12:10 - Stacy - The Franklin Institute
1:15:14 - Vandana - escalators
1:19:08 - Mark - Crawick Multiverse, and a symmetrical building
1:25:55 - Nicola - under the bridge
1:29:20 - The tilt shift effect
1:35:17 - Rose-Marie - still life of tin cans
1:39:18 - NOTE: The clocks go back in the UK this weekend, so timing might be different next week in your country - check online
1:41:35 - Coming up next week - the Halloween Photo Challenge
1:48:07 - End

If you found this interesting/useful/entertaining, then please consider supporting these podcasts and blog posts via buymeacoffee.com/kimayres

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kimayres – to be notified of new podcasts and behind-the-scenes videos.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then either email me or join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/

Monday, October 25, 2021

55

If 2 years ago, my birthday felt like part of a well established routine, and last year's in Lockdown felt distinctly strange, this year felt like an odd mix of both – not the same amount of restriction, and yet not a sense of total freedom either.

If we were to rewind to the early part of this year, when the vaccines first properly started rolling out, I was pretty certain that by mid-summer, our lives would be more or less back to normal. Certainly by my birthday I would have expected to be looking back on our Covid days as an unusual part of our past.

And yet, nearly 5 months since my 2nd vaccine, Maggie, Meg and I are still uncertain and wary about going out, especially where there might be a more dense gathering of people.

We're getting better with going to cafés, although there's still a heightened awareness of anyone who walks close to our table, and of course whoever is taking our order is still wearing a mask (at least here in Scotland – the rules seem more lax south of the border in England, which in turn seems to be reflected in the rocketing number of cases and hospital admissions).

We have been having a weekly delivery order from Tesco since the pandemic began, and don't feel in any rush to stop. Although we will pop into the Co-op to get a few bits of shopping every now and then, during quiet periods, we still haven't returned to live shopping in Tesco supermarket itself, which feels just a little too crowded and scary.

However, at the weekend, Tesco suffered some kind of hacking problem – the site went down, and no one could update their orders. Although they are apparently back on top of things, one side effect of this was our weekly delivery, which should have been here between 9am and 10am, ended up arriving just after 2pm.

Once we realised it was going to be late, we knew we would be fine going off to our favourite place for a mocha, In House Chocolates – a standard birthday treat we couldn't do this time last year.


Meg and I enjoying a very chocolatey coffee

However, the delayed delivery meant we had to miss out on the traditional picnic, walk on the beach, and ice cream.

First world problems, of course. Does it really matter? Not particularly. Way more important was we were still able to have my stepdaughter and grandson over to join us for dinner.

But it did act as a reminder that the world is not yet "back to normal", and in fact probably never will be.;

And that a "new normal" has yet to be established.

We are in a time of transition.

I'm sure in 10 years we will look back and, knowing how things played out, feel the path was inevitable and we won't be able to imagine it could have been any other way.

But from this perspective, here and now, the future still feels very unknown.

However, for this evening at least, having eaten too much in the way of birthday chocolate hazelnut brownies, I am feeling loved, stuffed and contented.

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Asymmetrical Symmetry - and Episode 80 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres

Symmetry – we all know what that is, yes?

If not, a quick google search will tell you.

Can't be bothered to google it? OK, basically it's when 2 sides of something reflect each other perfectly.

In essence, if you stuck a mirror in the middle of the image, the reflected half in the mirror wouldn't really look any different to the actual half if you removed the mirror.

So a circle is symmetrical and so is a square, but an arch is only symmetrical left-to right, not top-to bottom.

Which brings us on to Asymmetry, which is where one side is totally different from the other.

So where the Canadian or Japanese flags are symmetrical (left to right), the American and South African flags are not.

In photography, asymmetry is often favoured. The "Rule of Thirds" is all about having your main subject off-centre.

Part of the reason for this is when something is perfectly symmetrical, the brain doesn't have to work very hard to absorb the image, and so doesn't feel the need to devote much time to it.

Seen it. Got it. Next...

So what's Asymmetrical Symmetry then?

Photographically it's about capturing an image that at first glance appears symmetrical, but it's not quite. There's just enough symmetry to appear pleasing to the eye, but just enough asymmetry to hold the attention.

So think of a door with a window on either side, but with a cracked flower pot sitting on only one of the windowsills.

Or a cat sat, facing forward, staring into the camera, but the tail or the tongue coming out on one side.

Think mirror-like between the two sides of the image, but with something subverting it, and undermining the reflection.

This, then, is the Challenge I'm setting for next week's podcast – create and submit a photo that has an asymmetrical symmetry to it.

See how you get on – I'm really looking forward to seeing what people are going to produce! But if you find you're struggling, then you can still submit a photo you're having difficulty with - just explain the problem and I can include suggestions and ideas in the podcast too.

Either place your submission (just the one please) into the Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/

or email it to me if you don't do Facebook

Try and get it in before the end of the weekend, or by Monday (25th October) at the latest. Anything that arrives on Tuesday runs the risk of not being included in the podcast.

You can use a phone, tablet, point-and-shoot or DSLR (or mirrorless).

And then, make sure you tune in to YouTube here -

https://youtu.be/3i_HevtHg7A

on Tuesday 26th October at 7.30pm (UK time) where I'll go through the photos, and give comments and feedback, and hopefully we will all become inspired by some of the submissions to go and try out new things with our photography.


Meanwhile enjoy Episode 80, where I explore these ideas of asymmetrical symmetry, and give feedback and critique to submitted images.

And if you decide to click through and watch it directly on YouTube (rather than here on the blog), then you can watch the Live Chat Replay and see the comments people are writing in real time as the podcast progresses.

---

1:57 - Welcome, what's coming up, greetings and comments
08:04 - Introduction to Asymmetrical Symmetry
22:46 - Moment of panic as I accidentally close the browser
24:03 - return to summing up Asymmetrical Symmetry
29:54 - Introduction to the Critique Section
32:15 - Vandana - a cross and a cobweb - bringing the elements together
39:30 - Mac - the problem of seeing the edit
44:45 - Rosie - creating a larger expanse to emphasise the mood
50:45 - Rose-Marie - photographing fungi - when subtle images get lost in crowd-voting sites
1:10:05 - Coming up next week - The Asymmetrical Symmetry Challenge
1:12:10 - End

If you found this interesting/useful/entertaining, then please consider supporting these podcasts and blog posts via buymeacoffee.com/kimayres

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kimayres – to be notified of new podcasts and behind-the-scenes videos.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then either email me or join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Computer... AAAARRRGGGHHH... and Episode 79 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres

Without warning, my computer died almost 2 weeks ago.

I left the room.
I came back into the room.
The computer was dead.

No amount of pressing the power button, or unplugging it and plugging it back in, made any difference.

A deep, gut wrenching, soul withering, primal panic gripped my insides.

The last time I felt like this was when I drowned my car.

The computer is so much more than just something to send emails and watch funny cat videos on.

I run my business, I do the podcasts, and especially since the pandemic it has been my major vehicle for interacting with the world.

It's like suddenly seeing a thousand futures all slamming their doors in front of you.

Massive over-reaction and what feels like an infinite stretch of time before the practical, problem-solving part of my brain kicks in, feels a bit too familiar.

And just as that practical, problem-solving part of my brain starts to surface and says, "Calm down, you have everything backed up...", guilt sauce gets splattered all over it as I remember it's several weeks since I last did.

Breathe? What do you mean breathe? I'm hyperventilating here!

Rogan! Let's phone my son, Rogan – he built the computer for me – he'll know what to do.

Strange how as we move through life and there comes a point where our parents stop being the first people we turn to for help, and then a couple of decades later, our kids become the first port of call.

It's not long before I have the panel off the side of the computer and am trying to take a photo of the insides with my phone, to send to Rogan. The thick layer of dust coating everything isn't helping.

Fortunately we had already arranged to head up to Edinburgh to see Rogan for the first time for nearly 2 years, so a couple of days later we turned up, computer in hand. He tried a few things, and then I left it with him.

The following day he said it was definitely the power supply which would have to be replaced. Unfortunately, until it was he wouldn't know if anything else was fried, so other bits might need replacing too.

However, when we had last seen him face to face, my computer was already 3 years old and we'd been talking about upgrades. But before anything could be implemented the world went into Lockdown.

So if he was going to be replacing various bits just to make it work, why not do some upgrades at the same time?

Once we talked through all the improvements I wanted it became clear he was basically going to have to build me an entirely new computer.

Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, this Friday I should be heading up to see him and can pick up my new beast-of-a-machine.

It can't come soon enough.

One of the immediate causalities of the death of my PC was my live weekly video podcast.

For the past 12 days I've been using my 10-year-old laptop which overheats and one of the screen hinges is broken – meaning every time I open it up I'm half expecting the screen to break off entirely.

I postponed last week's podcast straight away as I knew the laptop wouldn't be able to operate the programmes I use for screen sharing and live editing submitted photos.

The first time in 18 months I didn't do the podcast.

Felt weird.

I didn't want to postpone it a 2nd week, so I decided to go ahead last night with a focus on it being more of an interactive chat. I asked people to send me questions, and in turn I had questions for the viewers.

I was quite convinced no one would turn up. In fact I'd already received several messages from people saying they wouldn't be able to make it along. So I was pleasantly surprised to have over a dozen viewers show up and join in the chat.

In some ways it felt like the most personal and interactive podcast I've done.

However, I'm looking forward to operating with a proper computer next time – not least because the laptop temperature rose to alarming levels while I was live streaming, and I had to have freezer packs sitting underneath it to take the edge off!

Next week I'm going to be talking about symmetry and asymmetry in composition – an understanding of which can be a really useful extra tool for photography.

But in the meantime, enjoy Episode 79 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres below, and be utterly amazed and impressed that I get to the end without the laptop computer literally melting on me...

---

0:00 - Welcome, explanation of why this podcast is different to usual, and dealing with an overheating, 10 year old laptop...
2:15 - What's coming up, greetings and comments
7:30 - When did I start in photography?
11:05 - Problem of interacting with people in Street Photography
15:40 - Understanding the power balance between the photographer and subject
19:35 - ASK THE VIEWERS: what is your most common camera mistake?
31:10 - How many lenses should you have?
36:45 - In-camera photographers
41:41 - What lens should you use?
46:20 - Triggers and off-camera flashes
50:00 - We learn from all the things that go wrong, not from things that go right
54:48 - How far in can you crop?
58:45 - What's the difference between a full frame sensor and a crop sensor?
1:05:15 - Shooting from ground level
1:08:28 - ASK THE VIEWERS: Fantasy Landscape - where would you most like to photograph?
1:15:48 - How to approach photographing "dreich"
1:23:12 - A bit about abstract nature photography and in-camera-movement
1:25:00 - Indoors vs outdoors photography
1:29:18 - How do you get people to feel comfortable behind the camera?
1:31:08 - Is there a maximum click count we should take into consideration?
1:33:00 - ASK THE VIEWERS: what is the best piece of photography advice you've been given?
1:43:30 - For black and white, should we do it in camera, or take colour photos and convert afterwards?
1:45:00 - Coming up next week
1:48:50 - End

If you found this interesting/useful/entertaining, then please consider supporting these podcasts and blog posts via buymeacoffee.com/kimayres

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kimayres – to be notified of new podcasts and behind-the-scenes videos.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then either email me or join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/

Thursday, September 30, 2021

The Kippford Mermaid


Zoe as a mermaid

When I met Heather Molloy from PAMIS (Promoting a More Inclusive Society) for a cuppa, she told me she was looking for a promotional photo for a multi-sensory story book called, The Kippford Mermaid.


Front cover of the book

Based on a local legend, the book had been created by "The Arts End of Somewhere", which creates inclusive and accessible arts workshops and events working with the community to support individuals with PMLD (Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties)

Heather already had ideas where the 7 members of the group would be dressed up as mermaids and sailors so we set about exploring options from shooting on the beach to using a swimming pool, but given mobility restriction with some, not to mention the practicalities, we soon started paring it back a bit.

However, we didn't just want a quick press-photo with everyone in costume, in a row, smiling for the camera and holding a copy of the book above their heads. Now in full flow, bouncing ideas back and forth, we decided something that looked like it could be the scene from a theatre production held real possibilities.


The final image with added moon, stars, beach, and mermaid symbol on the sail.

We created a Pinterest Board to post ideas for the visuals and over the few weeks had a couple more meetings, one of which I invited Izzy Leach along to, who I'd been mentoring as part of the Upland Emerge programme.

Officially my time mentoring her had finished, but because most of it had taken place under the blanket of Covid, Izzy had never had the chance to accompany me on a larger photo shoot – something she'd been keen to do from the very beginning. And on the day of the shoot, she was a superb assistant, helping to create the set and take behind-the-scenes photos among other things.


Setting up the photo - image courtesy of Izzy Leach

It turned out my daughter, Meg, knew at least half the people involved, so she came along as an assistant too.

Heather managed to get hold of the Baptist Church in Dumfries. A large modern building, it gave us plenty of space for the shoot, as well as for hair, make-up, costumes and socialising, without feeling cramped. And Simon Lidwell of Wordsmith Crafts managed to supply us with a pile of boat related props for the set.

By this time though, pretty much everyone involved had received at least one vaccination, and most had both. And with a team of around 18 people, including carers and volunteers, involved on the day, everyone was doing flow tests on the run up to the shoot to ensure it wouldn't become a Covid hot spot, particularly as several people taking part were in high-risk categories.


The full team. Can you spot Meg?

While all the effort up to this point was to get the main group photo for promoting the book, we also wanted to create individual portraits of each of the members in their outfits.

Few of them had ever been involved in a photo shoot before, let alone one where hair, makeup and costumes were included, so it was an opportunity for them to feel a bit special.

The 3 sailors were easier to do as I we were able to use the set we'd already created for the group shot.


Courtney


Faye


Katie

The mermaids, on the other hand required an entirely different treatment.

In my mind it all seemed pretty straightforward – I would photograph them against a green screen, and create an underwater scene for them in Photoshop once I got back to the computer.


Zoe against a green screen - photo courtesy of Izzy Leach

Sometimes it feels like one of the continual themes of my life, is throwing myself into something I thought would be quite simple, only for it to turn out to be way more complicated than I could ever have imagined.

I went down so many dead-ends trying to find a way of creating at least semi-convincing underwater photos, that it took me several days before I finally cracked it. Even then each photo took a lot of time to assemble, but at least I now knew what was required.


Skye


India


Sarah

Here's a behind-the-scenes video of the shoot

If you would like to see me talking through the editing process, then watch from 22 minutes and 32 seconds in to the Episode 78 of my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres video podcast:
https://youtu.be/tvAscXoYxj8?t=1352

And if you would like to get a copy of the book, then head over to the Curly Tale Books website, here:
https://curlytalebooks.co.uk/product/preorder-the-kippford-mermaid/

All proceeds go to PAMIS

And as a final treat for everyone involved, the main photo ended up in a double-page spread in Dumfries and Galloway Life magazine, while Zoe adorned the Contents page!