A Fresh Start

Firstly apologies for not having posted this sooner and not being very responsive to people's messages, but in my defence i've been a bit busy and am at a very important point in my life. For the past couple of weeks i have been in training and working for a really great company that i hope i still feel the same about in the next couple of years as i can actually see myself having a future with my current job. When i was younger i absolutely loved the sense of security and routine, it made me efficient and confident but unfortunately it also made me arrogant and while the other kids my age were playing football, tag, jump rope etc... i spent my time reading, doing my multiplication tables and talking with my teachers to see how i can learn more and improve my knowledge of things... in other words i was a teachers Chihuahua!!! It was the same when i first came to england, i tried to keep to myself and also to my studies but little by little i started to change and as i started to go in to higher education, the sense of routine and stable life kind of started to scare me as i had started to improvise and take things as they come instead of mapping my life out before i have even done anything.

Now i have been given an amazing opportunity and i am so very happy to be at a point in my life where i am excited by whats going to happen but i can rest assure that as long as i work hard and keep pushing myself to do better, i can achieve the goals that i set for myself. I love performing and i love photography, but i think above all the thing i love the most is... connecting with people and to me that is the most valuable thing and i am so grateful that i get to be able to balance all of those three things in one job that pushes me to do better, that inspires me to help and inspire others.

Well my point is that life will throw you an obstacle course and you can try to plan what route you are going to take or you can just run through it blind, but if you take a moment look around you and tackle the course section by section and actually enjoy and find away to make the obstacles easier for yourself it no longer becomes an obstacle course but a fascinating maze to explore.

As for the pictures, they are from a recent production titled "She From The Sea" that a very good friend of mine designed. The production is a part of a bigger company which aims to give women who have had a rough journey and have been involved with the justice system a fresh start and a chance to explore a passion weather it is in performance or other aspects. I wish them all the best of luck with their careers and i hope to see more productions in the near future.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Ok the title will explain itself as you read on so let me start at the beginning.....

I once again had to grab my trusty Lowe Pro bag with all my gear in it and run to Central School of Speech & Drama, and this time i was helping out a friend of Suzi's who i now consider a friend of mine as well, ow and her name is Rachel. Rachel is a costume/set/ Graphic designer and an all round genius when it comes to the world of art and creativity. I of-course once again unaware of what it is that i have to shoot grab most of the gear i think i will need and turn up to see the challenge set for me and this time there was a good enough challenge. The challenge was the seriously low lighting (i am in no way criticising the lighting design as it really helped set the mood and tone of the production) as theatre photographers know this is an absolute pain that we have to work through. So far the human eye is the most advanced lens out there as it can see detail in extreme contrasts and make out shapes in almost pitch black scenarios, this is somewhat of a very TALL order for modern day DSLRs.

The production was King Lear, now i have never read or seen a production of King Lear but from what i saw i really like it. I love shakespeare (when i can understand it), i love the relationship between the characters, the misunderstandings, the supernatural aspects etc... the list goes on, but it takes me at least 3 reads of the same play to get a good grasp of the story and relationships. The lovely rachel grabbed me from reception and got me in to the performance studio and everything was going fine until i snapped two frames and this really frustrating director motions me over and whispers into my ears (yet still in a commanding tone)

"Your shutter is too loud, Make sure if you are going to take a picture, you know exactly what picture you want to take before you press that button, don't just click randomly!!!"

Now i'm a very easy going person and i like most other normal people out there show respect to other professionals when i am working with them, to me that was a HUGE insult because A) i'm going there to help out, B) I've invested money in to USM lenses as they are virtually silent, there is very little i can do about the camera shutter sound since its a REHEARSAL!!!! not a live performance, so i can't justify spending a tone of money on a camera body noise dampener, and C) I didn't walk over to the actors and tell them what lines to cut, where to stand or who to look at as they are saying specific lines so WHAT gives him the right to tell me "don't just click randomly".... like i just press the button for 2 hours and hope for the best!!! IMBECILE!!!!

Ahh..... sorry about the ranting on, i just needed to vent, Rachel and the other creatives did a fantastic job with the production and i wish i hadn't seen the production through a viewfinder and got the chance to sit among the audience and really enjoy it, but no doubt one day i will hunt down a production of King Lear and hopefully be FRONT ROW for the experience.

Thank you for reading.

"Just when i thought i was out....."

I thought i would have probably given up blogging by now, but i kind of find it a bit relaxing so i guess its here to stay. Yesterday i had 2 different shoots, both of which were favours to friends of mine (to whom i now officially am their photographic wench, meaning shall they have any photographic needs i will be getting a phone call, which is JUST FINE WITH ME). The first one was with Susannah Lombardelli & Helen Broughton who were working on a show at the White Bear Theatre, called Le Silence. Helen was the director and Susannah the designer, i knew helen from university and Susannah from The Gielgud Theatre where we worked together so i was excited to take pictures of their production. As you can figure out the first two pictures are from that same production.

About a week and a half a go a very good old friend of mine sent me a message asking me to go and take pictures of a fashion show she was modelling. its been a very long time since i saw or spoke to Chumma so i jumped at the chance, plus it was another opportunity for some great pictures and new people to meet. So after i finished taking pictures of Le Silence i jumped on the bus and headed towards the fashion show. When i got there i saw Chumma and within seconds it was like we never even lost contact, now here is where the story gets interesting, now Chumma had no idea that photography was only allowed for the official photographers and they told me and her this as soon as i got there. So at this point i figured eh well so much for the pictures but at least i A) get to see Chumma again B) Meet new people & C) Get to watch a fashion show for free :). but right when i was about to pack my gear away a good friend of mine Ola Yiwola turns up with all his equipment. To put things in to context Ola is a friend of mine from Jessops, where we worked together and ever since i left we have stayed in contact as i respect him as a photographer and he i hope does the same of me, so the chances of me just randomly bumping in to him were quite SLIM. To make things more interesting Ola is the main Official photographer of the event, and as soon as the producers of the show turn up Ola Gets me a pass as a photographer. Maybe this is where all my recent bad luck will start to take a turn, but hey just gotta wait and see now.

Before i go, i gotta say a very big well done to all that were involved in both Le Silence and the African Fashion Show, as there was a lot of talent and hard work put in to these two events. Le Silence will be running at the White Bear Theatre for the next three weeks so go and grab a ticket before they sell out.

Till next time :D