The other day I received a phone call from O2 telling me that they were changing my tariff as the one I was on was so old it had become defunct (I've had the same number since 1994).
Taking advantage of the situation I told them I needed an upgrade to which they agreed. I searched the phones available and came across the Blackberry 8310 which took my fancy.
It arrived the next day and after a small hiccup of having to wait a further 48hours to be hooked up to the wireless network I began playing.
The Good points. I can now receive and send e-mail without a computer, a real bonus for me as I spend long periods away from the office. I can search the Internet for basic websites again really handy when looking for hotel addresses phone numbers etc. it has a 1 gig memory which can hold loads of mp3 music tracks and so replaces my mp3 player. The in built camera has a flash (hoorah) so that solves the problem of taking a small camera every where I go (I don't think it will be replacing the Nikon just yet though). It also has various neat widgets that allow things to happen i.e. updating my facebook page or even (so I'm told) this blog (I haven't tried it yet).
Now the bad points, firstly I must emphasis I'm very pleased with the phone and these are just things I have come across and not worked out how to solve as yet. Every time I receive an e-mail the phone vibrates. Also there's no spam filter on the e-mails. When you add together the fact the phone vibrates when they arrive and the fact I rarely turn my phone off I've been woken up several times this week at 2 in the morning by e-mails offering to sell me various gadgets to make a certain member of my anatomy bigger, not very impressed !! The in built sat nav is poor in that although it can give you a root and you can follow it on the screen it doesn't talk so it is of no use when driving, although admittedly would be good if you had to walk somewhere.
After a couple of days surfing I started to get the following message, "a problem occurred while trying to render the page" this started on a few sites and very quickly spread to every web site. The cure I found was this, open the browser, select the options menu. Then select the Cache Operations, delete the content cache ...... make sure the browser configuration is set at the standard default. That did the trick for me and it's now working fine.
All in all a great phone, i'll just have to learn to switch it off at night, although there is a setting for that to happen automatically and then turn itself back on in the morning!
I was asked last weekend to do some publicity shots/ PR for the British American football association and the Bingo lotto TV show.
The basics of it are the Bingo lotto launched last week and had a large photo call in Trafalgar Square. The hosts of the show, Joe Pasquale and Suzanne Shaw were there as well as representatives from various sports from all over the UK.
A percentage of the money raised from Bingo lotto goes back to sports. As well as Joe and Suzanne Antonio Fargas was also their as a guest of British American football.
Antonio is best known in the UK for playing the part of Huggy Bear in the 70's show Starsky and Hutch. He also spent time in the jungle along side Joe Pasquale in the show "I'm a celebrity get me out of here". A slightly less known fact (at least in the UK) is that his son, Justin, plays for the Oakland raiders as a running back in the NFL. As can be seen here all the celebs were more than happy to pose with members of the Colchester gladiators youth team after the all important PR shots had been captured.
Just a quick line to say thank you to all the members of the Baddow Camera Club for asking me along to speak. I hope you all enjoyed the talk and perhaps found a new approach to taking some images.
If anyone is looking for a friendly camera club in the local area I would certainly recommend they give this club a look.
Would you buy a car without a test drive? In a previous career I sold Land Rovers, without blowing my own trumpet I like to think I was reasonably succesfull and won several holidays for my efforts (including two to Canada).
One of the reasons for my success was letting the product do the selling. Every customer was offered a test drive, so they could experience what words cannot explain.
This is something I have carried over into my photography business. Every couple that contacts me regarding a wedding gets offered a free pre wed photoshoot (where posible). No charge and the pictures are uploaded on the web soon afterwards to help the couple decide.
Picking a wedding photographer is a huge decision for any couple, deciding who to trust to capture their wedding day. I strongly believe couples should have the opportunity to experience how a photographer works and to see their own images. The days of old albums with the best 50 shots of 10 years work crammed in are in my mind over (and good riddance).
Last night was the end of the season for the professional American football league (NFL) in America.
The last game of the season is a big match up between the AFC and NFC champions called the superbowl. This year the New York Giants were squared up against the New England Patriots.
The Pariots were favourites by a long way and had managed to go the whole season without loosing a match (American football does not have draws). Neither of these teams are my team but I must admit I do tend to go for the under dog and as the Giants had travelled to London and played at wembley earlier this year I was hoping they could pull off a massive upset.
The game kicked of at about 11.30pm and finished at about 3.30am but was one of the best games i've ever watched. It came right down to the last few seconds with new england leading. A fantastic play saw the Giants QB scramble away from a definite sack and throw a pass to a receiver who made a catch that will probably not be bettered for many years. To cut a long story short the Giants came out winners in a game that a Hollywood scriptwriter would have been proud of.
The catchphrase the NFL had used in marketing the superbowl this year was "who wants it more" The QB scramble and catch were certainly proof that the Giants wanted the win. Who wants it more is something that could be used when assessing your own business ..... you or your competitor.
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!
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.
I was recently commissioned by John Peasemotorcycles 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.
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.
It seems to be a growing trend that weddings are now taking place throughout the year.
On Saturday I was lucky enough to shoot a wedding at Layer Marney Towers near Tiptree. It was a fantastic day and the wonderfull couple were obviously so in love.
Shooting in the winter brings new challenges, the main ones being lack of light (it gets dark by 4pm) and lack of warmth. We were really lucky on Sunday that all the rain fell the day before and the sun actually came out and did its best to keep the temperature above freezing.
I was really pleased with the above shot, I used the light from the video mans camera to backlight the couple and just natural light to capture the image. All in all a fantastic day spent with fantastic people.
Being as we are so near to the end of the year I thought I'd put together the slideshow above of some of my favourite images. I struggled to cut down the images and could easily have had treble the amount of photographs but finally settled on these. You can see it larger if you click here.
For those of you still waiting on your Christmas cards don't panic I haven't forgotten you, I'm still waiting for them to come back from the printers so it should be any day now ...... sorry.
Uncle Bob is an occupational hazard for any wedding photographer. Let me explain, at every wedding there will undoubtedly be someone (normally an uncle, hence the nick name) who has a keen interest in photography and has all the gear his local camera shop can sell him. They are often referred to as "all the gear with no idea".
Normally I have no problem working with uncle Bob's and often have a chat in quiet times and talk photography. However occasionally there's one that gets in the way and physically stops me from doing my job.
I recently had one of these at a wedding. The venue was a top west end hotel in London and the main ball room has mirrors all over including behind the top table. Mirrors make taking photographs harder for several reasons i.e. flash has to be bounced rather than direct, you have to shoot at an angle so you're not in the shots etc.
It was during the speeches that uncle Bob continually stood in the centre of the table firing his flash straight into the mirror (he couldn't have got a single shot) and being in every photograph. Every time I would set up a shot and take a step backwards he would be under my feet ..... a complete nightmare!
I have no problem with people taking photographs but please, have some respect and stay out of the way.
On another note the next Lifestyle portrait training day has been booked for the 30th March 2008 at the Pontlands park Hotel near Chelmsford. Drop me an e-mail if you feel like coming along (it would make a better Christmas present than socks).
I was recently approached by the Baddow camera club to give a talk on my work and lifestyle photography in general.
The talk will take place on the 26th February 2008 starting at 19.45 and It's completely free (although tea ect will be for sale). You don't have to be a member of the club to come along. The location is the BAETelford Systems theatre, on West Hanningfield Road in Great Baddow near Chelmsford.
I'll be showing some of my images and sharing a few secrets of how they are achieved, in my normal witty way. There will also be a time at the end where I'll be happy to field any questions people may have.
Before I start I want to make it clear to my insurance company and any health and safety bods that may happen to be reading this the following story is actually completely made up and totally fictitious.
OK, so today I was booked to do some commercial work which involved shooting a companies lorries at their yard. It had to be today as the shot is required by Thursday and weekends are the only time the fleet is at the depot.
Unfortunately it was also the day we got a weeks worth of rain in one day, but being as there was no chance of a re shoot we pushed ahead regardless. Endless shunting of vehicles back and forth and we were eventually ready for the shots.
Anyone who's read my free down loadable photography tips from my website will know one of the things I constantly talk about is finding interesting angles to shoot from, normally high or low. I'm not afraid to climb on top of something or lie down if I feel it will add to the shot. With this in mind I asked the boss if it would be possible to bring a forklift out for me to get a bit of height.
The forklift trundled out to where I had thought the best place would be with a pallet for me and my tripod to stand on. I mount the pallet grab hold and say to the driver "take it up as far as it will go" at about the half way point I realised that i had underestimated the maximum height of the forklift. I thought it would go to about 6ft where as in actual fact it went to about 30ft (or at least it felt that way).
So I'm now standing 30ft in the air with my camera on a tripod whilst the rain is pouring down, There are no railings and just a pallet to stand on (that seems to have shrunk since we left the ground, unlike my tripod which has expanded to take all the room). There's nothing for it other than to get brave let go and look through the camera, luckily the tripod needed only the very minimum of adjustment to get the composition I wanted. Needless to say I set the camera to bracket (30ft in the air is not the time for light readings) and shot of about thirty shots.
All in all a succesfull day even if the adrenelin was of the brown variety.
Pin ItLast weekend (is it a week already) The NFL brought over two American football teams to play atWembley stadium in a regular season game. In sports terms this was BIG, it was not a friendly with second string players it was the real thing with points at stake.
The club I'm a member of (the Colchester Gladiators) are without doubt the most forward thinking club in the country. Over several months prior to the game they had been and booked the Green man pub for a massive pre (and after party). The weather did its best to stop any fun but due to the good natured crowd and the excellent wet weather planning everything went well. The club had organised a massive marquee which housed a DJ trade stands and a bull ride which went down extremely well with the gathered crowds (over 2,000). Added to that the dance performance (you can see one of their performances here ... I'm stood next to the DJ wearing the No.53 shirt) by the Kukriallstarzz and everyone was very happy.
After several pints loads of football chat and being interviewed by Nuts TV (details to follow) it was time to head down the hill to the stadium.
From the outside Wembley is an absolutely stunning stadium and seemed to cope well with the masses all turning up to get into the game. To say tickets were hard to get hold of for this game would be an understatement. The NFL had half a million ticket requests - Wembley at max capacity can only seat 90,000.
Everyone entering the stadium had a search for security reasons. I had my D2x swung round my neck with the plan being if they said i couldn't bring it in I'd run back to the Green man and leave it with the guys there (OK it would be a fast walk). After several of the security men had a chat they decided I could bring it in as long as i promised not to use it ..... yeah right. The seats i had managed to get were in the upper section and after several escalator rides we reached the viewing are. Stepping out into the arena was a truly breathtaking experience a fantastic venue for any sporting event. One of those things that has to be experienced to be fully understood.
Not only were the seats I had in the upper section they were also very high, in fact if they were much higher you need a Sherpa to guide you to your seat. In fact a couple of times during the game we had to ask God to sit down so we could see.
Having said that the view was fantastic, better than at crystal palace or Don Valley stadium because although you are high you're not far from the sideline.
The game itself wasn't a fantastic spectacle and was heavily affected by the constant down pour (with such a fantastic stadium you'd have thought they'd have put a closeable roof on it). Just before half time i decided to go and grab a programme. in typical British style here's where it starts to go wrong. At every food counter massive ques stretched back after a long walk i found the merchandise stand again with a massiveque. Although i didn't eat at the stadium word soon spread that they had run out of beer and food and the staff serving couldn't speak English causing a mix up in almost everyone's orders. In typical Brit fashion we build a fantastic stadium then act surprised when a hungry thirsty crowd turn up. Down get me wrong I love this country but some things really annoy me.
The second half got slightly more interesting when the Dolphins rallied and made an attempt to get back in the game scoring a great passing touchdown. However their plans were scuppered when they attempted to kick an onside kick that simply skidded accross the pitch and out of bounds leaving the Giants to simply run the clock out. Getting out of the stadium took a little longer than most stadiums had been to (although in fairness they aren't capable of holding 90,000). Also gone were the escalators just never ending rows of stairs to go down. Once outside we headed back up the hill to get back tot he Green man in time to watch the next game amongst friends.
All in all an excellent weekend made even better by the Colchester Gladiators tailgate party at the Green man. the weather could have been better (it didn't stop raining all day) and the service inside Wembley was very poor. The stadium though is well worth a a visit.
One of the perks of working like I do is that I'm not tied down in one area. At the drop of a hat I can pick up my gear and go.
Sometimes I rely totally on the client to pick a good venue although I do try and do some research prior to the booking. Recently I took the journey up to Rufford Abbey near Ollerton and did a family portrait shoot for the two sisters seen here. You can see some of the images from the day by clicking here.
I've been asked by photographers how far I would travel to do a shoot, (then i mention i shot a wedding in Australia a while back and they get the message). In honesty i don't think there's a limit as long as the criteria is right I'll go. It knocks seven bells out of sitting in an office all day or even worse a white background studio!
If your name is Katie McKinley (i think e mail is something like katiecolourmc@ I don't know.co.uk ) and you left a message for me this morning on the answer phone can you ring me again as I can't make out your e-mail address .... thanx.
Only 6 days till I go to see the Dolphins v Giants at Wembley can't wait! :-)
It's that time of the year when the organised people (that's me out then) start arranging what they are going to get grand parents etc for Christmas presents.
As a result the diary starts to fill up as families organise themselves. The family seen here had that exact idea (click on the image for a slideshow showing a few more images). Of course the phone continues to ring right through to December with people who are a little less organised (unfortunately that's the bracket I'd put myself into when it comes to Christmas shopping).
It seems there are more and more professional people that are needing portfolio images recently.
Today I had the pleasure of meeting and photographing a journalist come author who has recently won a very prestigious award for writing. He entered a competition where the first few chapters of a book had to be entered and he won. Since then he's been in demand and it would appear he has a great future ahead.
Click here to see the images we got today. Sometimes when there's only one subject it can be hard to get enough different pictures but I'm really pleased with today's results, see what you think.
I've been completely snowed under recently trying to catch up with various shoots including another two this weekend (images will be uploaded when I catch my breath).
Anyway this Sunday I took a trip down to St Albans to meet up with a good friend Mel Corley . I first met Mel we he came on one of my day of discovery days and since then we've stayed in touch.
I had been commisioned to photographs Mel as he worked.
The brief was to capture images of Mel as he carried out a portrait shoot. The images will be used to help promote him and his business. Whilst we worked together exchanging ideas, and searching out exciting backgrounds, I managed to get the shot above of our stunning model.
I strongly recommend you go to Mels site and see some of his fantastic work from the day under the portrait section ...... they're great!
I've always been a Nikon user. Ever since my first steps into photography (in the army) where an FM2 was thrust into my hand and I was sent out with rolls of film to go get some shots. I love the cameras and have got to know each one I have owned almost personally. In fact I'm so bad I've still got them all (where's the sense in that). I was very slow taking up the digital revolution as i have always been more than satisfied with the film cameras. However rising film/processing costs eventually made the decision for me (although i still occasionally shoot film). I can't be the only one who still gets inspired when opening a film can and smelling the emulsion on a fresh film can I?
Any way the main beef I had with Nikon was how all my lenses from my film bodies suddenly became different focal lengths when attached to my D2x. I suddenly found I had to be further away from my subjects and it caused me to have to change my approach to the subjects. This of course was due to the size of the image sensor Nikon used as a result I believe several photographers jumped ship and went to Canon who offered full frame. For years Nikon insisted they had no intention of going full frame and instead concentrated on new lenses specifically designed for digital bodies. All that changed last week with the announcement of the D3.
It looks a very impressive piece of kit and boasts several new widgets including, the ability to have 2 memory cards, some new fancy autofocus system and several other techy things (that if I'm honest don't interest me cause they're techy, I'm more interested in what it produces rather than how).
However I'm very impressed with the pricing policy, estimated at £3,300 that's a lot cheaper than the Canon equivalent.
I got a pleasant reminder last weekend of the importance of being ready to get grab shots at all times. We'd just finished shooting some formal stuff at a christening and where walking out of the park when the shot here presented itself.
These are the shots you can't create and just have to be ready for when they present themselves. The trick is never turn the camera off and the lens cap only goes back on when the camera goes away. If I'm honest I prefer these shots to the more formal type of shot that the majority of people want.
Here's another example of the same baby but captured a little more formally. I always try and get a bit of both and that way it's the best of both worlds.
On another note skype seemed to have dropped the ball over the last two days. For anyone not in the know skype is the free online phone company owned by E-bay. They normally provide an excellent and very cheap (and in many cases free) phone service anywhere in the world. Their problems are something to do with a software problem, but for a major provider like this to go down for two days that's major. We'll see what happens over the next couple of days.
Regardless of the current problems I'd advise anyone who has a broadband connection to get skype. Especially if you regularly phone people on the other side of the world.
For the last week the NFL have been running an American Football school in Colchester assisted by the Colchester Gladiators. Here's some images from one of the days.
If you're not already using google alerts I strongly suggest you do. What it does basically is search the web for any key words you tell it too and every time the google spiders find a new website that mentions your keyword it sends you an email.
I have several keyword I use and it's always fascinating to see what other people are writing about them. For example this morning I was sent this page.
How fantastic is that! Without the help of Google I probably would never have found that page. I don't think I know the guy who added me to the best photographers in the world list but I guess he liked what he saw. That's a real important lesson for anyone in business, the best marketing is recommendation, If you can create a buzz people will pass it on.
Talking of business the next "Shoot to Sell" course is coming up on the 8-9 October. Can't wait to meet some more of you guys and share my business secrets.
Its not often that I'm at the other side of a lens so its nice when someone manages to grab a shot of me at work. This one here was taken by Sally Schrieber who attended the last "Day of discovery" training day that I ran.
Sally very kindly sent me this link to a photography forum where she commented on my training day and put up one of the pictures she got. Great job Sally.
Also another photographer, Mel Corley who also attended one of my previous training days has just recently come second in a photography competition with an image captured on the training day.Well done guys you should both be very proud!
Places are going quick for the next "Shoot to sell course". It's on the 8th and 9th of October and is two days designed to help photographers gain a boost or launch their photography careers concentrating on marketing and sales. The guys who attended the last course were blown away but you can read what they thought here. Drop me an e-mail if you think you might be interested, it could be the best thing you ever do!
Today was my latest photography training day run at Pontlands park hotel. It was a real pleasure and a treat to meet some new faces hopefully pass on some of the methods I use.
We were really lucky with the weather although it did try its best at times to stop us working outside. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing and look forward very much to seeing some images the guys took on the day as they come through. I'll post some more stuff tomorrow (when I've recovered a bit).
Thank you to our fantastic four models today you were great! (some of my shots below). Oh and of course what would I do without the help of the superbly talented Toni Bunn, who helped me out, what a star!
Yesterday I covered another fantastic wedding. One of the joys of being a wedding photographer is the chance to discover a different traditions.
For example traditional christian weddings have bride and grooms families on opposite sides of the church were as Jewish weddings have male and female sides (as can be seen here).
Another thing I noticed yesterday is in the traditional Jewish wedding the groom actually places the wedding ring onto the index finger of the right hand. At some stage later the bride normally moves it onto the ring finger of the left hand.Intrigued by this discovery i asked the Rabbi who kindly explained, "the reason goes back to the time of the Talmud and the difference in beliefs at that time about which finger is closer or more direct to the heart. Christianity taught the ring finger: Judaism taught the index finger."
Another thing that would appear to be apparent is how different religions view photographers. I have photographed many Jewish weddings and without exception they are more respectfull to any the professionals employed to record the day. I always find it very sad when a couple are denied the main part of their day to be recorded because the person in charge decides that's what they want (irrespective of the couples wishes). Of course there are exceptions to every rule and I have worked alongside some excellent Christian ministers.
Ok, I am really busy at the moment, I've nearly finished ny end of year accounts and then i've got a stack of images to get sorted. But sometimes it's nice to take a break and relax. Here's an online game that has taken up far too much of my free time lately ..... Be warned it is highly addictive!!
I've been bonkers busy over the last week so I'm afraid the blog has been a little quiet. Here's some of the things i've been up to.
A while back I agreed to an interview with an online forum. Some of the questions that came forward really got the grey matter ticking over whilst others were more simple. You can read the interview here and at the same time why not join the forum?
Last weekend I travelled down to Sussex and watched (shot) the American football match between the Colchester Gladiators and the Sussex thunder (slideshow to follow). As this is the part of the world where Emma Duggan lives I dropped in and we spent some time talking all things photography.
We swapped lenses and ideas and set about shooting each other (and Emma's dog Freddie). During this time Emma got this great shot off me (not the easiest of subjects).
The "Day of adventure" photography training day has now started to fill up and I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone. It seems like we've got a great cross section of people coming from complete amateurs to all out professionals. I really love these days as there's nothing better than spending time with creative people.
A couple of weeks ago the Colchester Gladiators played the Ipswich Cardinals. The game was probably the wettest I've ever witnessed, torrential rain from start to finish. I certainly learnt quite a lot from working in these conditions. I had the camera wrapped in a tesco bag and had to continually keep wiping the lens. Lighting was poor too and i finished shooting the game at ISO 3200, don't you just love the British summer?
I love the Nike phrase, just do it. I wish I had though of it as it fits in perfectly with many of my thoughts on life and business.
I firmly believe that If we all did what other people told us to, no forward movement would ever be made. There are too many people who are willing to give "advice" that will ensure that the person receiving it doesn't move forward (and do better than the advice givers).
I find customers are bored rigid with safe and normal things and leap at things that are different. For example when I started my mad bride photographs (see below) wedding photographers began asking if i had lost the plot! I had many conversations which went along the lines of .... but Martin your going to scare away customers. What they (and most other business people) failed to realise was that I couldn't deal with everybody! There are millions of weddings a year and I can't photograph all of them (nor would i want to if i could). So if I put off the people who didn't get me than I was doing both them and me a big favour.
Actually what happened when Ii began using these adverts was the complete opposite, I got more referrals from this style of advertising than any other printed media I have ever used. I have no doubt that some brides may have been put off when they saw these images but the ones who did get in touch where right on my wave length!
Take it from me if you truly believe something is right ...... Just do it! (Just don't bet your house on it).
For those that maybe interested in my "shoot to sell course" I finally managed to tie the date down for the next one. It will be over the 8th and 9thoctober this year. It is designed to help photographers who want their business to grow or new photographers who want to start. It is two whole days of marketing and sales. See my blog for comments from the last batch of students, if you're interested drop me an e-mail.
My great mate Emma Duggan sent me this picture! It was taken by a friend of hers on their mobile and she new it would hit a cord with me.
Whilst it won't make sense to many, the guys who came on the "Shoot to sell Course" will immediately recognise the significance (I hope).
I'm currently trying to put another two days together to run the course again so if you think it may be of interest keep an eye on this blog (if you sign up it will be emailed every time i update) and i'll put the dates up here as soon as i have them. In the meant time the "Day of Discovery" on the 1st July is already starting to fill up. Why not come and spend a day with like minded photographers and learn a few new tricks.
I'm in shock! One of my favourite wedding venues in the local area has been completely destroyed. Apparently this morning a fire started in the kitchen that spread through the old building very quickly.
I heard a rumour but presumed it was an over exaggerated story about a small fire. As I'm sure you can see from the photograph it'sgoing to be some while before they hold another wedding here.
I feel sorry for any couples who have booked for this year. It's going to be a complete nightmare trying to rearrange at short notice.
If you are in this unlucky situation the management of Orsett house have set up an emergency number which is 01375 891402.
At last the British league has started again! Gives me something to look forward to on Sundays again! Sorry I haven't updated the blog lately its been really busy .... wil add some more stuff soon.
I don't know if I'm strange but I seem to measure things differently to most people. For example I regularly meet many photographers, some run great businesses, others run very expensive hobbies that they call a business.
Many people in business fall for the line that to be successful you have to be busy. I regularly hear of photographers who's only aim in life is to shoot more weddings next year. Perhaps I'm wrong but my vision of a successful business is one that aims to work less not more? Surely by taking on less work it means the jobs that you do have can be done to a much higher level?
Any way I've had a few more comments about the "shoot to sell" course I ran last week that I thought I would share. It feels great to know that the people who spent two days with me have gone out with renewed passion and now have the necessary knowledge that will help them build a successful photography business.
"Hi Martin
Hope all is well with you and you have had a well deserved rest after the course earlier this week. It was 11.45pm when I got home and I then spent another couple of hours at the computer trying to capture all the ideas that were floating around in my head!
The course content was magnificent and it was delivered in a very professional and friendly manner. I would recommend your courses to anyone who is building up or starting a photography business.
My day job finished yesterday and i am now officially a self employed photographer ..... I couldn't have wished for a better start to my business, I know that if i put the effort into using your techniques and following your invaluable advice there is no reason why I can't make a success of it.
You are a very talented photographer and businessman and i feel very honoured to have been given the opportunity to work with you. Thank you again for everything .........."
I have no doubt that Karen will have a great future in the photography world. Check out Karen Petry's website here.
Here's what Andrew Burton had to say (unfortunately I can't show you his website yet as it's not live yet)
"Hi Martin
What a fantastic couple of days I have just experienced. The best course I have ever attended, with excellent ideas and inspiration from start to finish, along with great company. I now feel all fired up to push my business forward.
Martin thanks for a truly fantastic couple of days."
I needed information, inspiration and a kick up the rear and your two day course has provided all that and more. I really enjoyed meeting the others and Emma too. You worked your magic again and now I'm buzzing with ideas of what to do next and after that too! I'm writing them all down so I don't forget them and linking them in with the notes you gave us.
I second Johns sentiments - you should definitely offer this course to a wider range of businesses especially smallish ones who would benefit greatly before making too many costly mistakes.
Thank you for all your effort and your kindness in sharing "the secrets" of your business model with us. I'm sure we will be making great use of this new and exciting information. I know I will be :-) .....................
I know from the amount of e-mails I have already received there is enough demand to run this course again. As soon as I have a date i will publish it here. If you think it may be what you're looking for drop me an email to martin@martinwilmottphotography.com and we can have a chat.
I have a new toy!!
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