Although my business is wedding and portrait photography I still enjoy shooting landscapes, although I have to admit that the (very) early starts have become less appealing as I’ve got older!

Ian

Dorset wedding and portrait photographer

Wedding photographers are great resources for Brides, as we deal with lots of wedding vendors and can recommend those we consider to be excellent, and we can also provide guidance for the planning of the day itself. As we’ve always on the lookout for great wedding venues we can talk you through the pros and cons of locations that you might be considering. One of the obvious services for couples to consider would be to hire a wedding planner, as they can take away a lot of the anxiety surrounding the day and (depending on the extent that you want them involved) can also be a part of the day itself … co-ordinating things and being on hand to iron out any last wrinkles.

This is a great shot of Melanie from Bellissimo Wedding Planners caught “in action” as she adjust the buttonhole of one of the Ushers (because we all know that men are useless when it comes to this sort of thing, don’t we?).

Cheers,

Ian

Dorset wedding and portrait photographer

]]> http://ianh.co.uk/blog/2012/02/winter-chills-dorset-photographer/feed/ 0 http://ianh.co.uk/blog/2012/02/purbeck-sunset-dorset-wedding-photographer/ http://ianh.co.uk/blog/2012/02/purbeck-sunset-dorset-wedding-photographer/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:19:01 +0000 ianhco http://ianh.co.uk/blog/?p=4019 And so to the start of my own Challenge for February – to post a photograph each day (hopefully this’ll be easier than having to write a Blog post!).

Today’s is a simple image, taken today as the sun was setting over the Purbecks. I was meeting a lovely couple this evening to talk about photographing their wedding, and had some spare time – so I popped down to Alum Chine and this is what greeted me …. what a glorious evening! The surf was foaming as it hit the shoreline, and the colours of the sunset were reflected in the wet sand – but it was bitterly cold!!

Oh, and in case you’re wondering ….. they’ve booked me to shoot their wedding this year – so a great end to a cold and wintry day!

Cheers,

Ian

Dorset wedding and portrait photographer

I have to be honest and say that I’ve not found it easy! In the early days it seemed quite simple to find a subject and write about it, but as time progressed it became more and more difficult – not helped by the fact that the business was picking up as we moved away from the Christmas/New Year break …. so finding the time to write became a challenge in itself!

I’m not a natural writer – yes, I can pen business communications, but I’ll never be an author or journalist … that’s just not me! I tend to communicate with images, which is pretty handy in my line of work I guess!

Anyway, the Blogging Challenge has come to an end and I’ve absolutely refused to take part in a video blogging challenge – that’s just not me! However, I’ve set myself a challenge for February – to post an image a day (and perhaps a few words), so watch out!

Thanks to everyone who’ve commented on my posts, and well done to all of the participants – hopefully you’ve enjoyed it as well.

Cheers,

Ian

Dorset wedding and portrait photographer

There’s an interesting article on the BBC News website today about something called “Trendfear” ….

Do you ever have a worry that things are moving so quickly in the world today you’ll miss out on something and get left behind? Should you be on Pinterest? How often should you be Blogging, Tweeting, updating Facebook, checking into Foursquare ….. the list goes on, and on, and on!

Some people choose to say “I’m not interested”, and ignore the siren calls of smartphones and iPads, but what if you have a job or (perhaps more importantly) your own business where you HAVE TO keep in touch with breaking news and the latest trends? Do you feel alienated if you find out something in a news bulletin on the TV instead of seeing a Facebook update or Tweet a couple of hours earlier? Do you have to know everything, right now?

Do you avidly read the social media Blogs and check out the latest websites, tools and trends – Flipboad, Zite, Summly or whatever?

If that’s a description of you, then why not switch off the phone, close the lid on the laptop, and pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read for a couple of years?

I have to admit that over the past 12 months or so I’ve noticed that I spend a lot more time on social media than I used to! Getting a smartphone was a great idea – to keep in touch with clients and respond to enquiries quickly, but what’s happened? It’s switched on at breakfast so I can check emails and social media (no, I don’t leave it switched on 24 hours a day!) – it peeps and pings at me during the day telling me I’ve got updates, and I check it in the evening when it should be family time! So, yes, it’s had a negative impact in some respects.

Why not let me know how you feel about technology, and whether it’s taking over your life?

Cheers,

Ian

Dorset wedding and portrait photographer

The words of that classic Paul Simon song, referring to the archetypal transparancy film (that’s was around for nearly 75 years), came true in 2009 when Kodak announced that production of this wonderful film would cease.

It’s a real shame – many of the iconic colour images of the second half of the 20th century were captured on this fabulous  medium. Time Life, National Geographic and many others used shots from this fine grained film, with its unique tone and “feel”.

Mayrhofen 1937 - W. Robert Moore / National Geographic

In the Summer of 1937, National Geographic magazine photographer W. Robert Moore took the first Kodachrome shots for the publication whilst on assignment in Austria. For a world that was used to seeing “action” photographs in black and white this was a revelation, and National Geographic was quick off the blocks and soon most of its photographers had the film in their camera bags.

In the days before the travel industry catered for the masses, magazines like National Geographic brought the world into people’s homes – showing them wonderful places that they’d never heard about.

Although I use digital for the majority of my work, I still hanker after using analogue for landscapes and the demise of film is a sign of our unrelenting “progress” as a society. Only 7 or 8 years ago, digital cameras were so expensive and out of the reach of most consumers that everyone shot film. Kodachrome was readily available in three speeds (ISO 25, 64 and 200) and could be processed in a number of labs worldwide. By 2009 that had dwindled to just one speed (ISO 64) and one lab in the world – “Dwayne’s Photos” in Kansas (you’ve got to love that name!)!

Piccadilly Circus 1953 - David Boyer / National Geographic

It’s easy with today’s computer-manipulated imagery to enhance colours and tweak exposure – with Kodachrome you had little margin for error and had to nail the exposure (with processing taking a couple of weeks it’s a far cry from checking the histogram and shooting again!), but if you got it right the results were almost magical!

It was hard work, but it was the best way to learn about getting the correct exposure – on a film that was incredibly fine-grained with a natural way of recording colour (something that I feel can’t be recreated digitally).

There’s something else – we know that film has a life of at least 100 years (it’s been proved) – we have no idea how long digital media will survive!

Kodachrome 1935-2010 – RIP

Ian

Dorset wedding and portrait photographer

I’ve posted several times on this Blog before about not taking things for granted – our family, friends, health etc. and that applies our work as well. Here’s a reminder of a story I heard a year or so back  about one of the USA’s leading children’s photographers, a lady by the name of Lisa Jane:

Many years ago Lisa took a portrait of her best friend and his little boy, but a day or two after the shoot, they were both killed in a car accident. Hers were the last photographs ever taken of this father and son.

She printed and framed an image and wanted to personally deliver it to her friend’s mother. On boarding the plane to fly to the funeral, the flight attendant wouldn’t allow Lisa to bring the print on board, as it was too big to fit into the overhead locker and violated FAA regulations.

Lisa explained the position but the attendant wouldn’t compromise – however, the pilot overheard the story, took the print and said, “I thought I had an important job flying all these people around, but my job is nothing in comparison to the importance of yours”. He took the print and put it behind his own seat in the cockpit.

As photographers we’re in a privileged position of being able to capture some of life’s most memorable occasions, such as weddings, christenings and family celebrations. In today’s digital world everyone’s looking to do things quicker, being encouraged to take shortcuts and make compromises by the “I want it now generation”.

The moral of this story is that as photographers we never know how important our images may become later on, and for that reason, we should never compromise on the quality and the effort that we put into every shoot.

In Lisa’s own words – “In our business we can’t afford to compromise, you just never know when a portrait you take of someone may be all a mother has left to hold on to….”

Ian

Dorset wedding and portrait photographer

A year or so ago one of my fellow professional photographers tweeted and asked the question “What is art“?

Not surprisingly, a number of my peers around the country responded, and I chipped in with “Art is whatever you want it to be” – so it rather caught me by surprise when people agreed!

The point is – everyone’s tastes are different, be it with regards to photography, painting or whatever. There are those who will say that “art” is classical in style, some will say it’s something that draws an emotion from deep within you, but I think it’s just whatever you like – there are no rights or wrongs. Forget the pretentious opinions about art, and just enjoy it!

There are also those who say that photography isn’t an art, it’s a mechanical (well, electronic now I suppose) capture of a moment in time. But the word “photography” is actually derived from an ancient Greek term meaning “painting with light”, and I have to dig my heels in and say that I truly believe that photography CAN be art – it isn’t always, believe me, but with the right techniques a superbly executed photograph can rival many a painting.

This photo I took of Chloe could be considered to be “artistic” by some, but I love it for what it is:

Think I need to add that quote to my site and Blog – it’s quite good (even if I do say so myself!)

Cheers,

Ian

Dorset wedding and portrait photographer