04/2/10

No More Children

Children are great at weddings. They really are. They get so bored. That means you never know what they’re likely to do at any given moment. That makes for great photographs.

There’s a problem, though.

It’s too easy.

If you watch a child long enough at a wedding they’ll so something remarkable.

Cute and remarkable is a powerful mix. Tons of documentary wedding photographs rely on this. Lots of mine do.

Worse still, these pictures end up being entered for awards, where they do very well. I should know. Photographs of children (mis)behaving at weddings have been at the heart of much of my award success in the past 12 months. My two winning panels at the 2010 National Photographic Awards featured children almost exclusively.

Nice, but in a wedding category, shouldn’t the focus be on the bride and groom?

Yes, it should.

Don’t think I’ll be handing any awards back, mind. I haven’t won nearly enough to start being dismissive of them.

Instead, I’ve set myself a rule for this year’s entries into the heats for the 2011 National Photographic Awards.

Absolutely, definitely, positively, NO children in any of the photographs whatsoever at all.

Except this one:

03/22/10

Played For And Got

A lot of people think that documentary photography is about luck. Sure, sometimes luck plays a part, though as the saying goes: it often favours the prepared.

Anyway, here’s a photograph that looks lucky. In fact it wasn’t. It was anticipated.

I took it at a wedding last weekend, while waiting for the bride to arrive.

The flower girl and pageboy were running in and out of the church – you’ve gotta do something to stave off boredom, right? I reckoned that if I could get somebody, preferably the bride with her dad, on the right of the frame and either of the children on the left we’d have an interesting photograph.

In Ireland, guests have a relaxed approach to turning up at the wedding ceremony. I’ve seen people, crowds of them, arrive half an hour late. Usually, things work out OK. Brides are, as is their prerogative, sometimes even later, which balances things out. So while I was anticipating the bride, four guests appeared instead.

Now all I needed was one of the children and I was in business.

Easy enough you’d think, but I was shooting with a Canon 5D II, which has the response of tortoise – a very lazy tortoise on Valium at that. I practically had to press the shutter release while the child was still in the building. I was a little late, as the girl’s bouquet is just nudging out of the frame. Nevertheless, her stance is good and I like the interaction between the outermost guests on the right.

Lucky? Hah!

03/17/10

St Patrick’s Day In Cork

Well, as you can see from the photograph below, things got totally out of hand at the St Patrick’s Day parade here in Cork earlier.

Crocodile Eats Press Photographer In Cork, Ireland

Moments later, he was gone. (c) Roger Overall 2010

A massive crocodile escaped from the secret zoology labs at UCC and went on the rampage, encouraged by one of Cork’s traffic wardens – that’s her with the sword. Police fired tear gas, but to no avail.

This press photographer tried to get a close up photograph using a wide-angle lens and a flash gun.

He was eaten.

I’ll spare you the photograph of that.

…

OK, OK … It didn’t happen.

If truth be told, the secret giant UCC reptiles almost never escape.

There is, though, a serious point to this. In fact, there are two.

1) A documentary photographer is constantly editing reality. This can be done to show the subject in a benign light, or in a negative one. The photograph above shows by far the most original float in the parade. It was fabulous. But it never set off in pursuit of the photographer. He simply turned away at the right moment to give me this shot. The smoke is from the float itself – a special effect. There’s a lesson here. You have to be careful how you photograph things – people just might believe what they think they’re seeing.

2) The second point is this: photographs are not worth a thousand words. Often, photographs are incomprehensible without a caption. You need to understand the context to fully appreciate many documentary pictures. Not always, sure, but you often have to supply words to give the viewer the complete picture – if you’ll forgive the pun. Imagine if you’d only seen the photograph above without any explanation. You’d have no idea what was happening.

And you’d never know about UCC’s covert reptile programme.

02/25/10

Winter Wedding

Back from Dublin, where I spent two days meeting with advertising and marketing agencies. It was a trip worthy of a blog post of its own. I’ll get round to that, just not today.

Today, I’m feeling in a wedding mood.

Spring must be in the air or something – or at least not too far away.

Here are some personal favourites from the last wedding I photographed in 2009. I remember it well. It hosed down. I got wet. Usual stuff. Fun couple to make up for it, though.

: (c) Roger Overall 2009

: (c) Roger Overall 2009

: (c) Roger Overall 2009

: (c) Roger Overall 20090

: (c) Roger Overall 2009

: (c) Roger Overall 2009

: (c) Roger Overall 2009

: (c) Roger Overall 2009

: (c) Roger Overall 2009

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: (c) Roger Overall 2009

: (c) Roger Overall 2009

: (c) Roger Overall 2009

: (c) Roger Overall 2009

02/23/10

Earlier Still

You might remember that I’m not fond of early starts. But if getting up at 4.50AM recently seemed bad, I hadn’t reckoned on a 3.50AM start for an assignment last week.

Temporary accommodation specialist Allspace were putting in one of their largest units at Cork airport for a helicopter company. Problem was, the unit was too big to get through the nearest access gate, and overhead cables meant that lifting it over the fence into place was out of the question.

That meant using an alternative gate.

On the other side of the airport.

Except there wasn’t a road as such from the alternative gate to where the unit needed to go.

There was a nice, straight, broad strip of perfectly good concrete they could use. It even had lights up either side to guide them. Of course, they’d have to make sure nobody else needed it – you know, for landing aeroplanes on or anything. So, the operation had to be done so early in the morning even Ryanair doesn’t fly.

In the end, we didn’t get the shot we’d hoped for. Airport security is such these days that I wasn’t able to shoot from a vehicle driving alongside or ahead of the convoy going up the runway. Everyone had to stay tightly single file. And I certainly wasn’t allowed to park out on the runway and wait for the convoy to pass.

In the end, I decided to wait for the convoy at the helicopter company site. It allowed me to get a shot that was at least suggestive of the airport environment.

Allspace delivering a Portakabin Titan unit at Cork International Airport. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Allspace delivering a Portakabin Titan unit at Cork International Airport. (c) Roger Overall 2010

Final preparations are made to the site where the unit will be placed. Cork airport's new terminal in the background. (c) Roger Overall 2010

The large unit wasn’t due to be lifted into place until a few hours later, after the arrival of two smaller modules. While not part of the assignment, I decided to get photographs of the final lift as well, to soften the disappointment of not getting the runway shot.

In the end, the client was thrilled, prompting the local director to email me: “…those images are outstanding – better than anything I’ve ever seen in all my years of Allspace and Portakabin”.

Makes it worth getting up early for, no?

This man is lifting an entire Portakabin unit with only one hand ... All right, he isn't. There's somebody else on the other side helping him. (c) Roger Overall 2010

01/12/10

Down Wexford Way

I travel a bit for my work. At this stage, I have seen more of Ireland than my wife – and she was born here.

Last year, my photography took me as far north in the Republic as Ballymascanlon, as far west as Baltimore, and as far east as Wexford. In one instance, I had to drive from southwest Co. Cork to the top of Co. Louth in one night. I listened to an entire Red Dwarf audio book on the way. Twice.

These photographs are from a wedding I covered in Co. Wexford towards the end of last year. Huge fun, especially as I’ve known both the bride and groom for a couple of years now through BNI.

Flower Girl Eyes A Glass Of Wine - Documentary Wedding Photograph Cork Ireland

Three things separate the flower girl from the grown-ups. Height is one. Make-up and alcohol the others. Children often exist in their own world on wedding days; almost as if they are living in a parallel universe. (c) Roger Overall 2009

Two Bridesmaids Applying Lipstick - Wedding Photograph Cork Ireland

Two mirrors on either side of the wall and a bit of luck. I managed to get one shot off before the moment passed. (c) Roger Overall 2009

Page Boy Peeks Through Crack In Door Glass - Documentary Wedding Photograph Cork Ireland

Inquisitiveness makes for great pictures. (c) Roger Overall 2009

Bride, Bridesmaid And Mum - Documentary Wedding Photograph Cork Ireland

There was a Marilyn Monroe moment a few frames before this one, which is why everyone is laughing. (c) Roger Overall 2009

Bride And Groom - Documentary Wedding Photograph Cork Ireland

There are two glances here. I'd gone for the big obvious one, waiting until it happened. Then when I was working on the image in post, I noticed the altar girl's quick glance, which lifts this photograph above the average - for me, anyway. (c) Roger Overall 2009

I'd love to know what was said, wouldn't you? This just makes me smile every time. (c) Roger Overall 2009

Bride And Flower Girl - Documentary Wedding Photograph Cork Ireland

One of my favourite photographs from last year, mainly because it was planned. Well, part of it was. I'd noticed that when people walked up and down the corridor, they would be bathed in light for a second. I also knew that the flower girl would be appearing from a door on the right at any moment, so I waited. It took an age, but when she did appear look who she had on her arm. (c) Roger Overall 2009

Generally, I hang back while the bride and groom are waiting to be called for dinner. It's one of the few moments on the day they are just in each other's company and I don't like to intrude. Nevertheless, this is when some very tender moments occur, so I make sure I don't disappear too quickly. (c) Roger Overall 2009

Typically, I finish my standard coverage with a photograph of the bride and groom entering the dining room. It gives a nice end to an album. (c) Roger Overall 2009

01/4/10

Just Pictures, No Words

Bride Getting Ready - Cork, Ireland - Wedding Photography

Oratory of St Finbarr, Gougane Burra, Co. Cork, Ireland

Bride Arriving at the Oratory of St Finbarr, Gougane Burra, Co. Cork

Blessing of the bride and groom at a wedding at the Oratory of St Finbarr, Co. Cork, Ireland

This is not what it might look like. The priest asked the congregation to bless the bride and groom by holding their hands over them. The effect is a little surreal and could be, er, you know, misinterpreted. (c) Roger Overall 2009

Bride and groom entering a sunny patch in the woods

01/3/10

2009 “Professional Photographer” Magazine Awards

The last day of 2009 brought a nice surprise.

While shopping for a suit, I found a copy of the January 2010 issue of Professional Photographer magazine with the results of its 2009 awards. I knew I’d been shortlisted in the Social Reportage/Wedding category, but didn’t know what had come of it. Turns out my entry, which was reproduced in the magazine, was commended. That’s jury speak for “Very Good, But Not Quite Good Enough”.

Still, better than a kick in the teeth, no?

Commended in the 2009 "Professional Photographer" magazine awards. (c) Roger Overall 2009

I should also point out that the results were recently announced for the European Photographer of the Year Awards.

I entered two categories … [drum roll] … and didn’t make a mark in either.

The next awards to be announced that are relevant to me are the National Photographic Awards here in Ireland. That’s not until the end of February, though.

12/22/09

Conversation Piece

It started with a tweet. I can’t find the exact date and time, but it was a retweet posted by Paul O’Mahony, a good friend of mine and one of the sagest men I know.

Omaniblog Needing free photo? RT @mayhemstudios: Places to Find Photos http://tinyurl.com/dxgpl2

Well, free photography doesn’t fill the heart of a working pro with great glee. So I responded:

22.14 hrs, 1st December 2009: RogerOverall Am I obsolete? Free photography: RT @Omaniblog Needing free photo? RT @mayhemstudios: Places to Find Photos http://tinyurl.com/dxgpl2

Then I checked out the link and found something abhorrent to a professional photographer:

22.15 hrs, 1st December 2009: RogerOverall Re previous tweet: It gets worse. These people will do FREE commissioned photography. http://www.photorogue.com/

Free commissioned photography is sky-falling-down territory. Professional photographers are under enough strain as it is.

So how do you face up to a competitor who will shoot for free? In fact, how can any business respond effectively to such a threat?

I was in the Netherlands at the time with only intermittent internet access, so it was a day later when I saw Paul’s tweet that contained the key to everything:

22.29 hrs, 1st December 2009: Omaniblog @RogerOverall The thing I can’t get from a stock photograph is: conversation

Apparently “conversation” is a very old concept in business and somewhat passe. It does, after all, date back all the way to 2008. That’s practically Jurassic.

Nevertheless, it was new to me and it’s a phenomenally rich concept that gives everything I want to do with the business an overarching theme.

For instance, conversation is interaction.

Conversation is relationship building.

Conversation is responsive.

Conversation is revealing.

Conversation is door handles. (We’ll come back to that)

It’s all the things that make a client want to deal with you instead of somebody else.

An important aspect of the conversation is content and quality. What is it you want to say and how are you going to say it? My conversations with clients are more productive since I decided what it is that I want to tell them.

I’m a documentary photographer and I want to photograph my client’s wedding day, family, company in that vein.

With that simple ground rule set, it’s much easier to have a fruitful conversation with a prospective client. They know instantly whether I’m the right kind of photographer for them.

The conversation can move on to other aspects. I shoot produce a lot of black and white work. Is that what the client would like? We talk about that. We have an interaction going.

The real power of the concept of conversation, as I interpret it, is that you can apply it to things as seemingly insignificant as the door handles in the space were you receive clients. Are they pleasant to hold and turn? That simple interface between the client’s hand and the handle is part of the conversation with your business. If the door handle is uncomfortable, what does that say about your business? What is it contributing to the conversation between you and them to help build that relationship?

In the context of conversation, cheap and free photography don’t pose a threat to me. My clients are looking for a rich conversation. Stock is anonymous and sterile. Even the free commissioned photography is done by email: send a request, get a picture back that may or may not suit your needs. None of the human face-to-face that my clients are looking for.

As an aside, the concept of conversation suits something I’ve said before: I have no competition from other photographers. They can’t compete with my conversation, just like I can’t compete with theirs (if they even have conversation, which many don’t). If a client likes my conversation better, they will book me. If they prefer someone else’s, they won’t.

More to come in future posts on the topic of conversation…

12/16/09

Reflections On A Wedding

I have a problem. I recognize that.

[Deep breath]

I can’t get enough of reflections and splits in my photographs.

There, I’ve said it.

[Oh, that feels so much better to get that out. Cathartic]

You’ll see how bad things are in this selection of photographs from a wedding this summer. Fortunately, Niamh and James are a very understanding couple.

I am seeking help.