It's been a very busy few months, but the last few weeks especially have some major milestones in my creative career.
Back on the 18th July I joined the "Portobello Market, London" group of the Worldwide Photowalk. I had a brilliant time, photographing people as much as I could as it was an area I knew I was wary of. It felt much safer doing so on a day where lots of other photographers were off doint the same thing, especially in an area like Portobello Market which is PACKED with tourists and shoppers on a Saturday. My portfolio of shots from the day is found here on Flickr.
At the end, we could pick two images to enter into the associated competition, and each walk leader then picks one photo from their group selection which they submit to the next "round". Imagine my surprise when my photo was picked!
I was really proud of my photo, I call her "Purple lady". She was a stall holder, aware her photo was taken as it would surely have been hundreds of times a year by various visitors to London passing through. The instant I took it I knew I loved it. The composition and colours from the view on the camera just made me "know" it was my favourite, and luckily viewing it on the PC later didn't change that. Phew!
Well, some time later, and the winners were announced of the Worldwide round - nearly 900 entries, whittled down by Scott Kelby to 11, one overall winner and 10 runners up. I scrolled down his blog page and got the shock of my life... there was my Purple lady, a runner up! Hee made the following comments about it:
"When I look at this image, I just want to know her story. She looks like she’s led a fascinating life, and has amazing stories to tell. I love the flower in her hair, the look on her face, and the wonderful lighting. I even love the coffee cup—it all adds to the story. The colors work so well together and the composition is spot on. The shot, and the subject, have an awful lot of character. I wish I had taken it."
Ahhhhh!!! Amazed!
Surely that's all? Well no... on a slightly less grand scale, but equally important to me, I was contacted by a guy called Chad who was interested in using my Phoenix Rising From The Smoke image for his band's album cover. My image has a Creative Commons license, so although that technically gives permission for others to use, I love that people contact me too. I like hearing from others, especially if they're interested in using my work. Long story short, I'd offered my services to clean up the image and edit it to their album cover idea and so after a few weeks of emailing back and forth, we reached a result him and the band were pleased with. I really enjoyed working on it, frustrating at times, but exhilarating doing it for someone else. It meant a new dimension when looking at my work, it wasn't just for me, it had to fit the needs of others and I had to interpret the brief given.
I hope the guys go far, check out their Myspace page here - good luck Paradigm Shift, p.s. remember me when you're famous! ;)
Then, finally, there's the ongoing story from my last blog post about the DVD cover. Again, email correspondence to discuss the design and make a few amendments to better suit the product. All source images used were checked for commercial use, and only a few days ago through the post came my own copy of the DVD - complete with cover using my design.
It's been a very, very busy time lately! As a result I decided it was about time I fixed my site properly to make it a portfolio... and after weeks of struggling with a layout I finally reached a point where I could update the URL with the new version. Still needs the "projects" page - where I'll describe some of the progress with commercial endevours, but for the moment I'm pleased to have a better place to show off my work.
Anyone else out there wanting to work with me? Please get in touch :)
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