Safe is risky!

OK it may sound strange but I can promise you one thing, in the business world the most risky thing you can do is play it safe ...... So then it stands to reason the safest thing to do is take risks. Don't believe me? Find a self made millionaire (or for that matter a successful business) that hasn't taken a risk.

Can you imagine the conversation Simon Woodroffe must have had when he was trying to tell people how his Yo Sushi restaurants would work ....... Conveyor belts would carry food past people who would take it if they wanted it ..... a bit like the generation game.

I've always said if you want to be noticed do something noticeable. Believe me it works!

Another Year Older

So yesterday was my birthday and I'm now officially another year older. Is it just a male thing that the mental age stays at around 19? I really believe there's not a guy out there who doesn't believe he could fly a helicopter, run a marathon and serve with the SAS if he wanted too, just life took them in a different direction. Of course we're wrong but we like to believe we could (helps us sleep at night).

January is traditionally a slow time for most businesses and the photography trade is not exempt. Having said that over the last few days the enquiries seem to be coming in again so it looks like there may be food on the table in the near future. In truth the early part of the year is when a lot of people find their wedding photographers and that trend would seem to be holding true.

I've finally managed to find a date for my next two day "shoot to sell course" which will be the 21st and 22nd April. For anyone that's interested its a two day marketing and sales course designed around the photography business. It includes the methods to identify, find and capture clients and then practical advise on selling and sales techniques. It has proved very popular in the past and i don't know of any other courses specifically written for photographers. You can read what previous attendees have said here or here . This course has the added benefit in that I have teamed up with and excellant image display company who will be helping us over the two days by showing exactly what they can do with our images (in display terms).

Also don't forget I'm running a one day lifestyle photography day on the 30th March. This is a whole day spent where i show some of my methods which help me to get natural photographs. A wide range of people regularly attend these days from amateurs who have recently bought a new camera through to professionals looking to have a change in direction. Just drop me an e-mail to martin@martinwilmottphotography.com if you think either course may be of interest and I'll send you the info.

Oh and i nearly forgot I'm booked to give a talk for the Baddow Camera Club on the 26th Feb so if you're in the area why not come and say hi. Full details can be found here, or just go to www.baddowcameraclub.com. The talk is free but you should let the club know you wish to attend.

I really hope we can meet up some time in the near future ....... that's if I'm not busy flying helicopters, running marathons or training with the SAS.

A hard day out of the office

I was recently commissioned by John Pease motorcycles in Braintree to capture some images. As well as web / press image the brief was to show off the newly redesigned parts / accessories area.

One thing that has proven popular with those who choose to frequent two wheels is a good looking woman. Something that has been proven over many years and adverts so who am I to argue.

Some times you just have to go with the flow, it's a times like these photographers wonder if they would be happier behind a desk in some dull boring job ....... for about a millionth of a second.

The shoot went well and we managed to get shots in both the Yamaha and Suzuki showrooms before heading up to the parts / accessories area. I've put a couple of images on here for you to see, the rest you'll have to visit John Pease for or have a look on their website in a few weeks time.

Many thanx goes to Paul the Manager of John Pease, and of course the lovely Marta who was our stunning model for the day.

I must have the best job in the world!

Picture This Channel 4

Whilst setting my video to record the American football on Tuesday night I noticed a programme on channel 4 at 5 in the morning called "picture this".

After a little research it was a TV programme about four aspiring photographers who are to be put through several tasks with the chance to win a book deal and a display in a gallery.

It sounded good so I set the video and actually managed to watch it today. To me it summed up everything that i hate about photographers and photography. Don't get me wrong the technical abilities and photoshop skills were impressive and the finished images were technically correct.

However the photographers were so self centred they completely failed in their tasks. For example one of the tasks they were set this week was to produce portraits of each other. To me a portrait should be all about the person being photographed and should tell their story. So for example if i was commissioned to create a photograph of a photographer I would shoot them at work or in a dark room etc. Between the 4 people one decided the sitter should be tied up on a park bench bondage style ....... How is that a portrait? The guy wasn't into bondage (that we are aware of). The second decided to make the guy look like her and dressed him in her clothes and watch etc ????? the third had his fellow female photographer scrubbing the streets on all fours ??? The last was the only one that came near a portrait and pictured the sitter on a settee in the street next to a graffiti wall, in fairness I liked the composition of this shot.

However what really hacked me off was when they were tasked with photographing people in a British seaside town. One of the photographers got a couple of children to dance with their parents in the background of the shot. He then photoshopped a sign into the parents hands that said "the children are dancing for crack". Personally i found this disgraceful that he would betray the peoples trust to make them look like crack addicts.

At this stage I turned the video off.

I know these are my personal views but I really do believe it's the photographers job when being tasked to take a portrait to photograph the real person. In my opinion a photographer who imposes what they want and not what the client wants is a failure.

If the task had been to create art my views would have been differant but it wasn't. The brief was to take a PORTRAIT.