September has been rather quiet with me being otherwise engaged in commercial shoots and getting some jobs done before even worse weather moves in.
I had hoped to get some large format work done but this has slipped me by but I did get to finish a very satisfying commercial shoot for Seager Home Solutions at Hadleigh. It was a pleasure working with such a happy workforce and it reminded me of what is good about photography – working with people. All too often we are seen as individuals poking their long lenses into things they shouldn’t but to work closely to a business owner and tight brief was energising and satisfying.
How does the title fit in with this thread you may ask? This shoot came about from a recommendation from a network contact. In this case, it was ‘plustwo communications’ director Adrian Merredith who was working on SHS’s new website who put the opportunity my way. I had previously worked with Adrian in an advisory capacity on another website renewal, yet all that work was well over 12 months ago. Sometimes it takes a while for seeds to germinate, but to bring the harvest in requires timing and availability. Luckily the weather windows were with us for this shoot.
Another harvesting is my recent success in selling a work at Prettys Number3 art show. This time around I shot with the exhibition in mind and was lucky enough for someone to like it and buy it. Last time I submitted what I thought was vastly superior work in very expensive frames but no such luck. I suppose this boils down to research and market targetting.
Which brings me back to something a photographer cum artist told my wife many years ago when he was submitting water colours to shows. “Anything with a red poppy in it sells”. No poppies but plenty of red in this image.
This image was made after viewing Burtynsky’s Oil show earlier in the summer. I must have been inspired and fired up. I’ll start shooting themed series of works with the next exhibition in mind but again, I shall keep potential customers in mind rather than a self serving devotion to my chosen art-form.