Not legally a competition, but still a chance to win!

Happy Friday! And a really quick post this week.

Following on from my previous post, I’ve decided to make donating a little more interesting.

If I can hit (or exceed!) the £100.00 goal on my ko-fi account by midnight on August 7th, I will select a random donor to receive a FREE A4 fine art print of their choice from any of my personal projects.

So head over to ko-fi/takeagander, drop a donation, however small, and on August 8th, see if you’re the lucky winner. I’ll be in touch to liaise on which image you would like.

Remember, the cheapest A4 fine art print available is £60.00, with many priced at £90.00, so donate what you like and you could bag an absolute bargain! You can see all the projects at takeagander.co.uk.

That’s all folks, now go and enjoy your weekend.

Tim

Get me a coffee!

Last week I spoke about the tentative shoots of recovery as I was starting to receive enquiries and bookings again, but I did temper this with a word of caution that times would be tricky for a while yet.

What this means for many, including myself, is a constant process of working out what’s next and how we can keep going. For my part I’ve already made quite a few adjustments and will have to continue to find new ways of working and earning until the economy recovers, whenever that might be.

Lowering Costs

One fortuitous decision I took at the tail end of last year was to quit the office I’d been renting for the previous 8 years and convert an outhouse at home into a workspace, nicknamed The Bunker. Perhaps I had some incredible foresight into future events because it’s been one of the most beneficial decisions I’ve taken in a long time. Now I’m working rent-free, claiming additional work-from-home tax allowances and I have an editing space designed to my needs.

During lockdown it’s also meant I had an office which opens onto my garden, which has helped save my soul.

Diversifying

I’ve also finally ventured into video. Adding a new skill will make me more valuable to my existing and future clients. It’s also really interesting and creative in a way I hadn’t expected, and allows me to play with sound, which has always been a fascination of mine. I’ve already had enquiries about that, so I’m hopeful it will prove beneficial to my clients.

Rattling the Tin

On the flip side of my client work are my personal projects, which are so vital to my practice. These have obviously suffered through lockdown, but I’m starting them up again as best I can.

There is a challenge here though; personal projects have always been partially funded through client work, which is, as I say, tentative.

Tentative also describes the level of print sales through takeagander.co.uk. These were always a longer-term goal as it’s tough to build them up, so currently they’re not supporting the personal work either.

So I’ve set up a ko-fi account (ko-fi.com/takeagander) where people can support me with small donations if they’re not ready to buy a print. The takeagander website is peppered with “Buy me a coffee” buttons which take you to the donation page. Even the smallest amount will help, so do please spread the word by sharing the link far and wide. And of course you can make a donation here too if you’d like to support my work.

Currently I have a modest £100.00 goal to raise money for film which is already 30% funded. Since it’s only been up a short while, that’s astounding! This will be used for my current project, an un-sentimental journey across Salisbury Plain.

More to Come

Other plans are afoot, but too early to reveal yet. So to get early notice of developments, keep watching this space, or sign up to my newsletter at takeagander.co.uk. You can also see projects unfolding at takeagander on Instagram.

Also, feel free to drop me a line, comment here, or send a carrier pigeon. Moral support really is just as welcome as the financial assistance.

It’s going to be a bumpy ride for all of us, so I’ll keep saying this; if there is some way I can help you and your business, drop me a line and let’s see if we can’t make the road ahead a little smoother.

First Shoots of Recovery?

“Ok, here’s the future – everything is going to be fantastic. Business will pick up again” is what I wrote only last week.

Now I don’t wish to jinx what is clearly a very tentative, timid signal, but I am starting to get more bookings again, which is just fantastic!

Of course it’s early days and there will be tough times ahead. I think things will continue to be difficult and unpredictable for at least the next 12 months. I also think that the businesses which want to survive and thrive will keep on top of their marketing and this will involve fresh photography.

That businesses are starting to re-focus on the future is particularly encouraging, so let’s keep this week’s post brief and positive.

If you’re thinking in terms of getting your website bang-up-to-date or looking for an opportunity to get some PR going, drop me a line.

We can do this together.

Looking back, Looking Forward

One aspect of blogging regularly is that, as with a diary, you have a record of your past preoccupations.

In these turbulent times that could be a comfort, perhaps, but it can also be weird.

For example, as I was working out what to write today I found myself looking back at pre-pandemic posts and thinking, “Wow! I really had no idea what was coming.”

Which lead me to darker thoughts about whether we’ll get to look back on this time from some sunny uplands, or whether even this will start to look like some halcyon dream.

Of course I hope for the former, but listening to Norman Lamont on the radio yesterday, talking about how we’ll have to pay down the debt we’re currently running up, I couldn’t help wondering if we’ll be able to do that before the next pandemic. Or maybe China will blow up, or Kanye West will become President of the USA and World markets will decide to crash just for the sake of it.

Good grief! This post got awful dark, awful quick.

Ok, here’s the future – everything is going to be fantastic. Business will pick up again, green technology will mean the planet is saved, and all that debt? Well if every country in the world is up to its neck in debt, we just have to find the person we owe the money to and ask them to play nice or else.

Now I’ve either predicted the future, or jinxed it completely. Don’t blame me though, start with the guy we owe all that money to.