Urbanographer

For the past couple of days i have had this word (which is actually two separate words put together) stuck in my head, i don't know weather i thought of it or saw it somewhere but it absolutely fascinated me and got me thinking about what avenue my photography is heading towards. Yesterday i had a shoot with a very dear friend of mine who is on her way to bright lights and loads of £££ signs, I have known Amy for almost seven years and i have yet to tire of hearing her amazing singing voice. I took pictures of Amy a long time ago when i was just finding my feet in photography and i figured its about time we updated her portfolio since a lot of industry people are showing an interest in her so why not.

Our make up artist of the day was Abbie who is a friend of Amy's and she did a fantastic job and also assisted Amy with changing, I of course was assisted by Jamie McLaren who is a fantastic photographer himself and i trust no other than him with my equipment. The highlight of the shoot i have to say is after about 20 minutes of walking to the location we found this fantastic little ally way which had a curved door way, which for a photographer SCREAMS shoot me!!! so we decide this would be the best place to start the shoot and so Amy and Abbie start to work on make up while me and Jamie go through the lighting set ups we thought of to get a visual idea of what it will look like and to get ball park figures of the settings we will use. The girls had just finished their make up and me and Jamie were very happy with the results of the tests so we decided lets start, and as we walk literally 6 steps around the corner to the ally way a DRUNKEN MAN HAD URINATED ON OUR SHOOTING LOCATION it even started to trickle down all the way to our second area of shooting....... THANKS THANKS A LOT!!!!

The pictures are not done yet but here is a sneak peak as to what to look forward to.

Being The Industrious Mouse

Today i had a shoot with three young but very talented guys, first up were Gianni & Alex from SuperhumanEnt who will be releasing an album shortly, and straight after them was none other than Samuel Furniss who is an up and coming comedian currently touring the comedy circuit. The location was set and it was in the back roads of Farringdon (not too far away from Tinsletown which have some AMAZING milkshakes, a little on the £££££ side though but still worth it as a once in a while treat). Today i was stepping out of my comfort zone of shooting in doors where i can control lighting as it allows me to start from black and then build lights as i go to get the right look that i want, but as we were shooting outside from 2pm till 6pm with the blazing sun above us i thought to myself I NEED TO GO BACK TO strobist.com or maybe send a prayer to the GOD of lighting that is Joe McNally.

I think it is important to challenge yourself and i think you learn soooo much more when things don't go as you thought they would because it prepares you for a situation that you may encounter in the future and that experience will make you a better photographer and give you something to joke about with whom ever you are photographing (if your subject is alive and can understand you that is). I am a big believer in getting your client/subject comfortable with you from the get go, even before you take out your camera or drop a light stand. The person you are photographing has to feel secure with you and trust you to know what you are doing, and i think this will open up so much more options for you and it will even encourage your client/ subject to suggest some ideas to you.

I watch these Photographic Savants like Joe McNally, David Hobby, Zach Arias, Chase Jarvis, Isak Koval, Patric Demachelier.... the list goes on and i see a potential that i could achieve, if i work hard and always strive to learn more by pushing myself and teaching what i know then maybe one day i will be an inspiration to a young breed of photographers. Like any other photographer i have gear envy but i think the most important lesson i've learned is that TOP quality gear will open up more options for you but having it doesn't mean it will make your pictures better. What will make your pictures better is looking at other photographer's work and deconstructing them to figure out how that picture works and then recreate it but add something of yours (now i don't mean take someone's unique work and call it your own, if you like something then do it, but give credit when it is deserved) . Shoot more especially now in the digital age, because it doesn't cost you anything to process other than time and believe me if you do it right and organise it well enough then it is TWS (Time Well Spent).

(ow by the way i titled this the Industrious Mouse, mainly because i think these guys are gonna be Big in the coming years and i think the pictures i have of them will have great weight then)

Till Next Time

Minyahil

Minyahil K. Giorgis?

I put the question mark at the end of my name because like so many others out there i am trying to find out my purpose in life and i'm still looking. But so far i have discovered a passion for photography and performance, i don't know what it is about being on stage and looking out towards blinding lights or taking a picture of someone when they are smiling that puts me at ease and makes me feel so relaxed. I have been more of a photographer than an actor lately but to me its all good as i am doing two things that i love.

I was editing through some of my old pictures as my collection was getting monstrously large and devouring my hard drive and i came across one image that i took of a lovely actress by the name of Natalie Jennings and this image about a year ago was just another ok image to me but now i saw its potential and after a few tweaks it made me realise a very important thing..... that photography isn't just about pointing the camera getting the settings right and then pressing the shutter button, its about discovery and rediscovery. Photography is different for everyone but to me it means immortality because it is a moment that is frozen, a moment that will never ever repeat again and to me that is something to treasure.

Natalie Jennings