Aiming for an 'L' - Part 2

My Advisory Day is now less than a week away (if the weather cooperates). All but two of my prints have arrived, including some extras which I ordered after I received the first batch & immediately decided that some weren't good enough. I've never cut a single mount, and decided that this particular project wasn't the one to start on. So I followed the recommendation of some professional photographers and ordered them, all cut to size. They arrived in a HUGE box - fortunately much of the size was the careful packaging, so I won't need to be a weight lifter to carry my panel after all.

I suppose it's also inevitable that now I've spent most of yesterday mounting all my prints - panel contenders and 'extras' as requested for the Advisory Day - I am not all that pleased with the result. The very first thing I should've realised BEFORE I ordered the mounts (or the prints, probably), was that on big prints you really need more than a 25mm overlap of mount to image. (Especially as the framer who mounted and framed my exhibition prints last year also mentioned this...) On some of my prints this isn't a problem, but there are four where it was a particular nuisance, and I suspect that at least these larger images will need to be dry mounted for the actual assessment day in March. I guess the feedback this weekend will let me know whether or not that's true.

I have ordered all my prints in a matt finish. It seems to suit them all, thankfully. The mounts are all 'old ivory' - off white. All the same overall size, which I hope will give my panel a tidy and professional look. I think it does, but then I know all too well how little 'what I like' counts sometimes!

Another cost - although not strictly necessary - was the purchase of a portfolio bag. I've had to compromise a bit because the cost of 'proper' portfolio boxes or cases was too much on top of the cost of the prints and mounts, so I've bought a 'designer case' (as in, a case used by designers, rather than one with jewels set in the handle). At least this time I can tell myself that it will get regular use, and not just for this one-off event.

So now I am almost prepared for the Advisory Day - just two more prints to mount. Here's hoping it's all going to be worth the time and effort!

Flowers in Stony Places

Flowers blooming in stony places, in old walls, on building sites, in desolate urban landscapes, are strangely uplifting. Somehow their splashes of colour or delicacy of form against drab, unfriendly backgrounds seem joyously defiant. A reminder of beauty in broken-ness. Or of the resilience of something as simple as a daisy.

Late last summer in a huge heap of broken concrete at the edge of a car park a sunflower bloomed. It cared not that it wasn't in a garden. No-one had carefully planted and watered and nurtured this seed. Somehow it had ended up amongst the broken slabs, and found just enough space to germinate. It grew straight and tall and vigorous, formed a flower 'sun' and turned it towards the sky. Mum passed it one day when she was feeling particularly sad and lonely. It's cheerful simplicity lifted her mood and restored something to her soul.

A sunflower isn't a complicated plant. Nor is a daisy or a gerbera. They are the kinds of flowers children might easily draw. The more beautiful in broken places because of their simple forms.

There's a poem by John Masefield which I like very much. It's very short, yet thought-provoking:

I have seen flowers come in stony places
And kind things done by men with ugly faces,
And the gold cup won by the worst horse at the races,
So I trust, too.

It's that last line which makes the poem complete. Trusting through difficult, distressing, disappointing, or dispiriting times.
Trusting that a flower will bloom again in a stony place.

Review: Lowepro Off Trail 1

When my camera kit was stolen from a plane in Amsterdam one of the items I was most annoyed to lose was my camera bag. It was a CCS bag. My kit fitted into it perfectly. So naturally it was no longer available and I couldn't replace it.

Buying camera bags is a bit like searching for the Holy Grail, and I suspect most photographers have several bags, using different ones for different purposes. A quick count tells me that I have no fewer than eight! Of that eight, one is never used (it holds my old film gear which I've used once in the last couple of years), one is rarely used (it holds everything, and I rarely need everything all at once), one was bought for a wedding (I must've had a 'funny turn' when I did that), and one was bought to replace my most used bag, but in practice it hasn't. So my most used bag is still the Lowepro Off Trail 1.

The Off Trail works really well for me. It is a 'belt pack' bag. The main compartment fits either of my Nikons (D7000/16-85 lens or D60/50mm lens) comfortably. Both cameras have Op/tech wrist straps attached. When in the bag I cover the camera's review screen with a lens cloth and lay the wrist strap on top. This seems to work as I've never had a scratch on either camera.

There are two supplied side pockets/lens cases. One usually contains my SB400 flash plus other small bits and pieces, the other my keys and phone. I usually work with one camera/one lens, so rarely carry a second lens. If I do, I juggle the stuff in the existing cases so as to accommodate it, or swap out one of the smaller cases for a slightly bigger one containing my 55-200 zoom if necessary. You can buy a number of Lowepro accessories which can be attached using their Sliplock system, or even attach smaller camera cases. I sometimes add the case containing my Coolpix compact, for example.

The belt is wide and easily adjusted, and the pack has compression straps which make it easily adjustable to suit whatever I'm wearing. I tend to end up with the main compartment on my hip, but can easily move the bag to adjust the weight. Wearing it this way means I can also wear a small backpack if I want to. Personally I prefer this arrangement than carrying one bigger backpack with 'general' gear and photo kit in it. (Edit, July 2013: this was written before I discovered the excellent Lowepro Photo Sport 200, which is now my most used bag. However, the Off Trail still gets lots of use too.)

An advantage of a small bag is that it is impossible to carry lots of clobber in it, and this means it is comfortable to wear for long walks or events as the capacity restricts the weight it carries. The top loading main compartment means it is easy to get at my camera, & I never have to put down the bag to get at my kit. If I am walking and carrying the camera, I often rest the camera holding hand on the bag, thus saving my arm the weight.

I have personalised my bag by adding a key ring loop to one of the fixed loops built in, and clipping to it a filter pouch, lens cloth and a sandisk case containing spare memory cards and the remote which operates either camera.

I would definitely recommend this bag for anyone with a small DSLR kit. It is compact, comfortable, practical, easy to use, and perfectly suited for its purpose.

Question: What's your most used camera case and why?

Aiming for an 'L' - Part 1

Now that we're in 2010, my 'L' (Licentiateship of the Royal Photographic Society) assessment in March feels scarily close. Last year I picked up a copy of the RPS's 'Distinctions Handbook' and over the holidays I took time to read it carefully. It has been very useful and I hope will mean I'll avoid failing on something really stupid and easily avoidable. It is permanently on my desk at the moment, with scrappy bits of paper & various notes & highlights within.

For the last couple of months I've been looking at my work and putting together some provisional panels. Applying for an 'L' is proving a useful stage in my photographic journey already because it's making me look at my photography with a far more fussy eye. Making sure all the technical aspects are spot on is one thing, but creating a 'cohesive panel' is something else, and is proving a serious challenge.

Looking at other photographers' successful panels creates a mixture of inspiration and petrification. I think I've now reached the stage where I could find myself de-railed by too much examination of any more panels. After all, my 'L' needs to be about MY work, and my own style.

Aiming for an 'L' has had another side effect too. Really helpful input from other photographers who are more experienced than I am and who have walked this path before me! It's easy to get tunnel vision when looking at your own work. Having some other eyes (not those of friends & family!) looking at what I do & how I present it has been very helpful, and certainly affected what I consider to be my stronger work. Again, it has also been an area where I've had to filter the advice and while taking on board various helpful comments, the end decisions on what I present and how are still down to me and it's important that I own them and feel that the panel I finally present represents me in a true and fundamental way, so that in future when I look back I can genuinely see how my work has progressed.

Although my assessment is in March, I have booked to attend an Advisory Day later this month. I am hoping the feedback from this will tell me if I'm going the right way with my idea of a 'cohesive panel'! The bottom line too of course is simply whether I am good enough to apply... I'm looking forward to meeting other photographers at the event, and to seeing what they're putting together.

All but four of the prints I've selected for the advisory day have arrived. I've carefully examined them for technical quality (as what you see 'in print form' isn't always what you see on screen), and already rejected one. Presenting them is now occupying my mind, as I have a mix of formats to deal with. It's a good thing I took some extra time off after Christmas/New Year as this sort of thing takes an inordinate amount of time to work through (for me anyway). Still, with the snow falling outside it is useful to have a project to make my enforced time at home profitable. Later on though I shall forget about panels and projects, wrap up and venture forth with my camera for some more 'snow photos'. Although perhaps I will take my compact as falling over on slippery surfaces & smashing up my DSLR doesn't top my list of 'things to do while on holiday'!

More to come in due course on 'Aiming for an 'L''.

2009

At the start of this year I decided to run a project, to post one photograph each month on my website, representing that month in some way. (To view the images, see: http://www.annerogersphotography.co.uk/gallery_214916.html)
Now that we are about to step into 2010, I thought it a good time to take a look back at 2009.

January: January's picture was this one, of the star which shone on the top of Faringdon's Folly. The Folly is a symbol of Faringdon, visible for miles and a welcome sight after a long journey - especially with a light on top during winter's dark times. Maybe there's something to think about there - the hope and welcome a simple thing like a light can bring.

February: 2009 has certainly been a year for snow. I don't live in an area normally known for snow, but we certainly got plenty of it in February, and again in December.

March brought the first of my regular work trips to the USA. Michigan in early spring is a chilly place, but I am lucky to work with some great people there who give me a warm welcome. This time around I had a free afternoon so wrapped up and went to look at the impressive and beautiful sculptures in the Meijer Gardens. This horse is the centrepiece at 24' tall and 7 1/2 tonnes in weight. I could have gone back to a warm hotel room rather than set off to a place I'd never been before. But what I would have missed if I'd gone for the easy (lazy) option!

April arrived with the spring flowers in full bloom. What a joy to see them after winter. Am I the only one who loves the variety of our seasons (even when the weather is 'varied' indeed)? Or who finds it reassuring to know that despite the cold & bleakness of the winter, the bulbs, shrubs and plants are already readying themselves for spring as I write. Yes, there are already a few green spikes in my garden, although they've been frightened off a bit by the recent plunge in temperature.

May is the month of my birthday and I am thankful every year for the friends who celebrate it with me.

June included another trip to the US. I'd planned to spend some extra time there on holiday. But the weather once again interfered, stranding me in Chicago O'Hare. One of my bigger disappointments of the year, but really only a minor inconvenience in the overall scheme of things. I was far sorrier for the poor girl trying to get to a wedding, and another young mum who had already been stuck in an airport for 48 hours with a 2 year old...

July was the month of my first photography exhibition. I seriously underestimated how much work, planning, effort, cost etc etc it would be, but it was all up in time, and it led to some good opportunities which may not otherwise have come along. Not quite sure when I'll be doing the next one, or how it will be structured, but (I can hardly believe it) it is already in the discussion stages...

August provided another challenge. This time a physical one as I took part in the Great Capital Run. A short event (only 5k/3m), but faster than I'd ever run it before. There were world class athletes running in the same event. OK they finished in about half the time it took me (no kidding), but there aren't many sports which can be so inclusive as running, & so enjoyable even for slow runners like me. So much is about completing, challenging yourself, and not being discouraged by other faster runners in front. Celebrate your own achievements, and don't apologise that they aren't as big as someone elses! To you they may be bigger, relatively. There's no point in thinking about others in a race - you have to focus on your own plan, fitness and ability. There are plenty of other areas of life which I ought to approach in the same way, I think.

September was the 'challenge month' for mum. She set off to cycle around Holland, raising money for the Sam Beare hospice who looked after her partner Bob in his last days with compassion and dignity. Mum worked a LOT harder than I'd done the previous month, and I went out to Holland to cheer her on and join her for the return journey. Isn't it great to be able to help other people achieve their dreams and ambitions, big or small? How can we do this more for those around us?

October was an extremely busy month which included another run - this time the Cricklade 10k (6m) but the highlight was attending the wedding of my friend Jo who married Marcus in Chester on a wet but joyous day. What a privilege it is to share peoples' celebrations.

By the time we got to November I was badly in need of some time off, & so I went to Jersey for a few days. It was wet, cold, and the days were short but I really enjoyed the time away, and I met some people from the Jersey Photographic Club who were very welcoming to a visitor from the UK.

December has been full of all the usual pre-Christmas busynesses with work, and illness immediately before Christmas which was a bit miserable. But Christmas itself, despite some last minute changes of plan, was still a time of memories, rejoicing, traditions, and hoping.

So 2009 like each year has had it's ups and downs. But we move into 2010 looking at the old year with thankfulness, and as my grandmother used to say 'simply trusting' for 2010.

Happy New Year.

'Nativity'

My last post referred to elements from a Christmas poem. Here is another which I especially like. It's called, simply, 'Nativity'.

When God decided to be bones and skin and blood like us
He didn't choose a palace, nothing grand - no frills and fuss.
He slipped in through the back door, with the straw and hay and dust.
He just became a baby with no choice but to trust.
And love us without question, as every baby must.

But Creation knew the wonder of this tiny newborn King.
The crystal depths of space were touched, the air itself would sing.
The Word is flesh. The silence of the glittering stars is shattered. Heaven rings.
The sky blazed wild with angels, whose song was fire and snow.
When God lay in his mother's arms two thousand years ago.

Jan Dean

What an amazing thing this poem reminds us of. Emmanuel, 'God with us', a helpless baby. Born to a seemingly unremarkable young girl in a stranger's stable. And the sky 'blazed wild with angels', announcing His coming. God's gift to a world suffering then and now - and a heavenly host sent to announce His arrival. Can you imagine how incredible it must have been?

Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men

I love Christmas poems, as you might have noticed from the quote I've used this month on the home page of my website.

Henry Longfellow's poem 'I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day' was written in 1864, during the American civil war, but the fourth verse:
"For hate is strong and mocks the song, Of peace on earth, good will to men" rings just as truly now as it did 140 years ago. How many Christmases since then have approached with hatred mocking the call to Peace on Earth?

Yet we come into the season looking past the neon Santas and rushing crowds, to the very basis of Christmas - the birth of a baby whose coming would change the world. So we can echo the final verse of Longfellow's hymn: Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men."

Amen, may it be so.