How my 2018 went

It’s a little bit late but its been a while since I have updated my blog and thinking today about how fast last year went I nearly lost track of what I got up to so thought I would sum up my photography journey of 2018.

There were some ups and downs but on a whole I think I accomplished quite a lot with photography and progressed a lot with my own skills.

I started the year working on edits from the first wedding I had done over the Christmas period, this had built my confidence up a bit so started sharing my services a little more instead of holding back and waiting for people to approach me. It wasn’t long before I had 2 more weddings ready to go, as mentioned in a previous blog about my nerves…. well they were still there, which looking back is a good thing because it made sure I did all the preparation correctly and made sure everything was in place and ready to go!

I had quite a few portrait and family shoots over the year which took up most of my free time, so I didn’t get much of a chance to take photos for myself but when I did then I made sure I had fun! I got more into light painting this year, playing around with long exposures using steel wool, Kevlar cloth and lighter fluid and various lighting devices... mostly children’s toys and light sabres wrapped in electricians’ tape! Now if you are thinking about having a go at light painting be very careful…. You will get burnt at some point, be wary of your surroundings so you don’t do any damage but most of all… be prepared to catch feelings for it and become addicted to it, you will find yourself looking at everyday objects that give off light and wonder how to attach them to some rope or stick to make a pattern.

I had the opportunity to meet up with some friends one of whom is Ian Hobson, a light painter whose work I have admired for some time. When he sent me a message saying him and some people I knew where venturing out I jumped at the chance of joining them! We spent a few hours at Cullercoats during the night waiting for the tide to recede so we could get into the caves, it was a great night and I got some fantastic tips from Ian for light painting; if anyone ever wants got join me one night you are more than welcome.

During the year I covered many events, mostly covering the Saturday matches for my hometown football club Ashington Community football club with photographers Keith Saint, Rachel McDonald and Ian Brody. I’ve also had loads of fun covering for Koast radio, I especially loved their summer madness event with the mods and rockers where they raised a fair bit of money for charity and its been of mutual benefit as they have had me in the studio many times to help promote the various charity work I’ve been involved with over the year.

One shoot that was close to my heart and meant a lot was a relaxed photoshoot for children with additional needs and their families. This was arranged alongside a local support group called Calmer Therapy. This group does absolutely loads to help those that need it so I couldn’t think of a better place to hold the shoot and help their service users. I asked fellow photographer and friend Adam Richardson if he would give me a hand and without hesitation he agreed, this way we could get more families booked in and give them more of a choice as he is brilliant at low key portraits whereas I prefer hi key, this way we had a bit of variety. The shoot was a huge success and of course with all charity work I never charge so this way was even better for the families to be more relaxed. Sometimes families of children with additional needs miss out on things like this because their children are uncomfortable in a new environment or very active so its hard for them to settle and sit for a photo... we only had one rule… do whatever makes them feel comfortable, we might have got a hundred or we might have only got one but there was no pressure and we even got a couple came dressed up as their favourite superhero!

I decided to launch a new youtube channel, I have added a few montage videos of some of the events I have covered and still trying to decide if I’m going to make some photography videos or not as one thing I’m doing this year is making a conscious effort to get out at least once a month to take photos for myself. This isn’t in a selfish way it is to try and enhance the skills I’ve picked up over the year and not let them go stale. Not many people read blogs anymore, most prefer a short 5 minute video so as long as I’m having fun doing it I might as well give it a shot but one of the main reasons I got it up and running was because I knew I had an event to cover for team Susie and I wanted to do something a bit more special for then than just take photos.

So we move on to team Susie… if you follow my social media pages and seen previous blogs and event coverage you will know that the love I have for these is unreal and they never have to ask twice for my help, well this year will be hard to beat! There was another dance-athon organised and I was looking forward to be covering it as I also wanted to experiment with some videography and give them a video they can use to promote themselves and what they do for cancer research. All set up and Lindsey Humble who is the main instructor told me she had a surprise in store. Lindsey is an absolute diamond and loves to have fun so I knew it would be something great. The weeks leading up to the event she had been secretly teaching a few of her Zumba class a special dance for one of the members and one of the key members of team Susie, Lisa Seccombe.

Lisa received some bad news and was diagnosed with breast cancer and after everything team Susie has faced you would think that this was another kick in the side for her.. no not for Lisa! She faced it head on and never let the smile slide from her face, with the help of the team around her she never let it get her down and continued on as normal although with even more determination!

Part way through the dance-athon the music dipped the roaring from the speakers came the song ”this is me” from the greatest showman along with a group of women in pink tutus marching from the rear of the hall ready to perform a special routine dedicated to lisa and the strenght she has shown! Please check out the video HERE … I was in tears editing it!

During the year I visited some amazing places, Fountains Abbey, Studley Royal, Brimham rocks and even the Edinburgh fringe.. I have worked with some talented people and one that stands out is Stacey Belisle. Stacey is a very talented make up artist so when the chance came up to work with her I obviously jumped at it! It was near halloween so we decided on a spooky witch type shoot in the woods and with the help of the Beautiful Rachel Lowdon we were ready for Stacey to work he magic... and she did just that! The results were fantastic and we had a great shoot! Please check her out here, I'm really looking forward to future shoots!

So saving the best until last, some of you will know I was voted Wansbeck local hero 2018 for charity work and work in the community although it was presented to me I really couldn't of done it without all of the wonderful people I have worked alongside and none more so than the previous years winners and them crazy angels Team Susie!!!

Once again we were off but only this time a very daring challenge.. a Calender girls calender with members of the team baring all for charity! I was honoured that the women trusted me enough to ask me to be the photographer, we researched themes and had many discussions and everyone at one point was nervous about one thing or another.. no one more nervous than me though and I didn't even have to flash! I wanted to do the best job I could to do these women the justice they deserve for facing their own fears and doing this. I have told each of them many times that they are the bravest women I have met for doing this, each one of them are amazingly beautiful and hopefully by seeing this through they will believe in themselves a lot more and believe in the potential they all have to conquer anything if they really want to!

The day came and though the meaning behind the calendar shoot was very serious and meant a lot to everyone involved we all had a great time doing it. We all had a great laugh and it wasn't long before even the most timid there strutted in front of the camera not a care in the world! After hundreds of poses and prop adjustments I had a canny pile of photos to go through and edit to see what ones were suitable for a the calender, once we had a few of each month we chose the final selection and with a bit of help from a colleague at work we made them print ready and sent off to be made up.

It wasn't long before all the prints had been done, made up and delivered. I couldn't believe it! a calendar printed and ready to be sold with my photos and my name on it? Coming from taking photos with my phone not so long ago to actually having a published calender and best of all collaborating with a group of some of the most inspirational people I have ever met. Come the launch night I was proud beyond belief of the women that took part but also that my friends and family were there to celebrate it with us.

(calendars are still available to buy for 7 pound, the cost of printing was covered by companies sponsoring months so all monies from sales go direct to charity 5 pound to cancer research uk and 2 pound to the women vs cancer charity)

sorry if I have worked alongside you in 2018 and not mentioned you, I have tried to condense this as much as I can, I didn't have 1 bad shoot and enjoyed everyone of them.

Thank you to eveyone that has been part of my 2018 or has booked me or bought prints, I really appreciate it and hope you liked the results. Keep an eye out because there are some more big things planned for 2019,

Much love x