Life lately. Instagrams, musings and personal bits
The sun is finally shining for a few solid days and it would be a wonderful chance to top up my vitamin D levels but I am sadly sofa bound after hurting my knee a couple of days ago. I expect to make a full recovery in a couple of weeks but I am feeling a little sore and sorry for myself, if the truth be known. More on that below.
I’m swinging by today to share a little behind the scenes update. For a very, very long time I was only really sharing wedding stuff on this blog so I felt it was time to come out from behind my computer a bit. You can read previous updates here.
All pictures are from my personal Instagram, unless otherwise stated.
Some things that happened
Yep, that’s me exposed on to a piece of tin, like magic. I was lucky enough to have Angela Ward-Brown take my portrait at SNAP few weeks ago.
I had to sit perfectly still for six seconds with a Pringles tube holding my head in place, while a large format camera looked right into my soul. Contrary to popular (or just my….) belief, you CAN blink so the significant amount of time I spent practicing not blinking was entirely wasted.
It’s pretty awe inspiring to see your own face magically appear on a sheet of tin and I love that this is a truly one off piece of work. Today’s digital photography can be endlessly reproduced and reprinted, which is brilliant in many ways but there’s something very special about a one off work like this.
Being very honest I was a little nervous about being photographed in this way. The results are often raw and very real. I’m in a good place in terms of how I feel about myself at the moment though and I’ve been really focussing on a healthy diet and exercise this year. It’s really helped me to feel better about myself generally. I really like how honest this image is and I’ll treasure the little piece of art that Ange created for me.
Some places I’ve been
Since my last post I’ve travelled around the UK a fair bit. I had a really quiet start to the year, spending a lot of time under a blanket or gently pottering around Bath. My mental health hasn’t been in great shape since so far in 2018 but a combination of walking, looking after my diet and taking medication has meant I’ve felt like a new person for the last couple of months.
Two images from my ‘Pete being made to stand places’ series
There have been a few jaunts around the UK for work stuff (more details below!) and there’s been a lot of exploring locally, as I’ve had various friends come visit from abroad over the last few weeks. I’ve done the highlights tour of Bath a few times, including my first visit to the Roman Baths as a tourist. I’ve photographed a wedding there before, but this was the first time I’ve properly visited the whole space and it was pretty mind blowing. I also had a jaunt up the Cheddar Gorge, a poke around the Mendips and there’s been lots of walking around the city.
Some work stuff
From March onwards I had a super busy period of speaking and teaching at various conferences and workshops, including Looks Like Film‘s UK meet up in Leeds, The Photography Show in Birmingham, Rock Your Shot in Sheffield, SNAP Business Sessions in London and Brighton and SNAP Photography Festival in Norfolk.
The Photography Show saw me speak to a packed room of approximately 200 people. It was a little terrifying but I really enjoyed it and had lots of lovely feedback from people who attended. My big take aways were
1) my heart rate was around the same as my rate when I do cardio…. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing
2) speaking via a mic, when you also have a light shining on you, means you’re entirely unable to hear or see the audience, which is disconcerting
3) I should definetly find out what the mic situation is before I style my hair next time
In seriousness I love speaking and my talks this spring covered an a-z of business, branding, intangible value and workflow. If you happen to be a conference organiser who’s reading this, I’d love to chat to you. I’m also just about to get accredited as a trainer through the Institute of Leadership and Management too, so hopefully I can bring some awesome learning to your event.
If you’re a photographer who’d like to come to my next business workshop, head here.
Me, hiding behind a lectern crapping my pants a tinnnyyyyy bit.
Some random thoughts
I wondered about posting this publicly. Unfortunetly I had to arrange for one of my lovely couple’s weddings to be covered yesterday. When I chat with couples before they book me they often ask what happens if you’re ill on the day. I always explain that no photographer can give a 100% guarantee against cancellation and I’ve photographed weddings having heard of a family bereavement on the same morning, with a chest infection and with food poisoning.
In fact before this weekend, I’d never missed a wedding. I take my responsibility to my couples exceptionally seriously, so as soon as I’d realised I’d injured myself I reached out to my networks, before I even went to A&E, so I could ensure I had cover arranged.
This picture of food has literally nothing to do with the topic here…
The stress of being injured was massively exacerbated by the worry about my couple and, frankly, the financial worry that the injury might be so serious that I’d have to cancel other weddings. Being self employed is wonderful in many ways but it really sucks if you get sick. I was able to get two of the best photographers I know to cover for me, so I know my couple was in brilliant hands, but it’s still a stressful situation for everyone involved.
I should add that my couple were SO lovely and understanding and I am so grateful to them for that. I’m resting up at the moment and I expect to be back in action by the time I m due to photograph my next wedding at the end of this month.
A thing I got
Excuse the terrible image quality – I totally pinched the image from Etsy, but as I’m pointing you right at the artist’s Etsy store I figured it would be ok. It was my birthday this week and Pete got me this beautiful lino print of the Roman Baths and framed it. I love it. Weirdly when I was there the day before my birthday I took a picture from exactly the same perspective. 
What’s next?
Pete and I have a week in the office before we head off to Malta for some rest and relaxation. I’m looking forward to switching off for a week, swimming in the sea, sunshine and seafood. If you have any recommendations for things we should do or see drop me a comment below.
Thanks for reading and do swing by my blog to check out my recent work.
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