Yes I know that should read 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' but I actually think that detail and beauty are not far removed from each other. For example look at a lovely painting and one of the main attractive features might be the attention to detail. Now I know what I am going to say may cause some contention but I'll go ahead and say it anyway. Us men are not necessarily blessed with attention to detail genes; in many ways it actually helps us; we can do more with less. When a man is blessed with these remarkable abilities they tend to end up highly revered - a Gok Wan of this world, a celebrity that never becomes a 'z lister'. Why am I mentioning this? The field of make-up is the one exception to the rule. You can't get away with doing more with less, I'm sure most women will testify to that idea. Good make-up done well can create a flawless masterpiece whereas good make-up done badly can reveal and accentuates flaws. I had the privilege to work with a make-up artist whose skills and attention to detail in my opinion were second to none. A make-up artist who holds the promise that she can teach her skills over the course of 3 days. Her name is Maryam Taqi; an internet and instagram sensation with some 21 thousand plus followers to her name. I responded to her casting where she had requested some beauty shots done of her latest students' work. Under her watchful eye the pupil delivered style after style whilst I clicked away in the background. Maryam was very clear in what she wanted and in what the end outcome would look like and it fell to her student to deliver on her requests whilst she advised and directed her until she achieved the required outcome. The thing I will take away from seeing Maryam teach is the understanding that real perfection is actually the ability to repeatedly provide smaller consistent corrections, slowly chiseling away on a work of art until it is the best it can be. The second aspect I will take away is the knowledge that you need always to be practising to consistently improve. Then it came my turn to deliver on the shots and again Maryam was just as clear on her directives on what she wanted. I was pleased by the end shots I took and also that Maryam was able to take the shots there and then before we parted company. I slept assured knowing that whilst make-up artistry might never be my forte, its the small things that I do well which makes me great in my own way. 

Its well worth checking Maryam out and the different services she provides. Her website is: http://maryamtaqi.co.uk/

For as long as I can remember I have always been passionate about helping social enterprises succeed.

As a photographer I carry that ethos; that determination to help those trying to establish a business for themselves, change their lives or create something that makes a difference. In my time at Active 8 Images I have successfully provided packages to several brands that have been essential to helping them succeed at competitive pricing that really makes it possible

Quality photography can make all the difference, having incredible images that engages the eye can equate to customers staying longer on your site, having an accurate representation of your skills, having a 'wow' factor portfolio that gets you hired or casted and even having a solid promotional base for all your material.

My latest assignment was for a jewellery company established by a woman who had overcome incredible odds to find her inner polish and is now helping others to do the same. K.ing was one of those kinds of work which at first glance seems relatively straightforward but actually is quite an intensive piece of work.

First thing was the shoot. I have been highly recommended on many occasions for my proficiency in casting. With my contacts I have been able to cast often at short notice with high quality models and I have a shrewd short-listing process preferring to work with those I have worked with before and can trust. Models don't get a second chance if they fail to show or cancel at the last minute. Time is money.

Four models were selected, three female and one male and a studio was sourced. Again, I have a solid reputation with different studios which have different types of looks and feel. I built a solid relationship with the brand owner, for me it was essential that I understood her brand and could translate it in terms of a vision and images. In the studio I am a consumate professional; model releases were signed, the females were given every ounce of privacy and I like to have fun, experimenting with new ideas. I remember seeing this huge silver reflector against the wall and I am like "hey - lets shoot against that" the outcomes were incredible.

With the shots in the bag the real work began in terms of retouching. Those of you who know me well or have seen me work will know that my style is to shoot as much as possible, hence there was a mammoth amount of images to go through. From those a short-list of about 100 were selected and from those about 60 went into the final pieces. I aroused interest from Frost Magazine who were really interested in the work and were happy to consider and article, I even organised a writer to cover the first drafts.

From there came the video promotional material. In this case with the subject matter being jewellery, the project warranted images of elegance and sounds that mirrored the magnificence. Of course copyright issues are paramount which mean that the soundtrack was required to be sourced before even the images were put into place. Then came the structuring of the showreel and timings. I place emphasis on pacing, timing and emotional content. I always feel that the strongest images are those which create emotion and convey a story.

The video complete, I tested the video with a small selection of the models and with the jewellery designer. The feedback fantastic the final pieces were to create a social media campaign and various articles for promotional material for K.ing to showcase to customers. The end result from a commitment of hours is a wide variety of materials for the customer to use, a fantastic response from the client base and increased engagement and ultimately potential sales.

Dare Party As a photographer it’s hard to decide what I enjoy most. Is it seeing people fling themselves into the whole festive season with wild, wanton abandon, CEO’s doing the Runnning Man on the dancefloor or bopping to tracks by Bob Marley? Is it seeing people drink enough alcohol in celebrating their achievements to become automatic members of AA? Or is it seeing some teams bond with sincerity with a good old fashioned board meeting? Maybe it’s the look on the Secretary’s face as she decides whether she’ll accept or decline the 7^th dance offer of the night. Some companies go the whole hog; whole fancy dress, DJ sound system while others go for the quiet drink.  

Either way as photographer one of the biggest compliments I regularly receive from my clients is on my personable nature with people and highly professional attitude. Put it simply, I just love people and love to have fun. In the field of photography this means that in events I get invited to take a lot of snaps purely because I am approachable and people come up to me (even when I am setting up) and say ‘hey, can you take a snap of me and…my girlfriend/my boss/my ceo/me defacing this wall/my tattoo on my left bumcheek’ etc. Equally, because I work quickly and I’m unobtrusive I get in and out of groups quickly, taking snaps that most people don’t realise until after.

Dare Party Last week I was out covering two events and in one case they had their own ‘company issue’ photographer as well. Working the event was real fun. I am a true team player and work as such; I didn’t see them as competition as we were on the same side which was keeping the client happy as that was going to be most important at the end of the day. But I watched him and it was such a shame that despite the fact he had all the gear, he simply had no idea how to communicate with people. He also fell a little bit flat because when you are taking shots in a dark environment such as the arena of a club, you should be checking your shots back often as the lighting radically changes moment to moment. Also in contrast to popular belief you don’t ‘always’ need a flash which is great for ‘freezing action’ but terrible at sucking the life and colour out of people’s faces.

I could see the surprise on people’s faces when they were asking me ‘why didn’t the flash go off?’ and then when I showed them the image they were like ‘WOW’. Now, the use of flash is a very personal choice, but for me I like ambient light and save my flash for times when there is little other choice for example portraits of the team by the bar. Anyway, all of this meant that I got invited to take some very limited edition snaps of the CEO drinking what must have been her 12^th shot of the night which unfortunately I cannot share – personable and professional remember…

Dare Party Now the professional part means as a photographer I work very quickly. As of my last count there were over 250 usable shots for each event for just the few hours I was there which means that my rates are very competitive. The only disadvantage being that Onedrive and Dropbox really suffers when it comes to uploading them as I shoot in hi-res (4.5GB upload anyone?) so it can take time to get a link to the client. But when the client sees the shots, that’s when I get the emails of thanks and the only shame is I never get to see people’s faces when they see the shots themselves because if what they tell me is true then they effectively relive the moment which can only be an incredible thing.

Anyhow I am going to leave my blog here and get back to editing the snaps. If you want to see examples of my Event photography click on this link and if you are interested in booking me head over to the Prices section by clicking on this link.

Best wishes for now

Jnr