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