by Tim Gander

Mind Your Language

It is often said photography is a language which communicates across multiple cultures. Well this is true, to a point, but like all languages it can also be misunderstood.

Like any language, photography can be used badly, in the wrong context or just carelessly. In fact one thing we were taught during news photography training (in my case, back in 1992!) was that context is incredibly important. A photo which is perfectly innocent in one context can be offensive, even libellous in another. It’s often down to the words accompanying a picture, but it could include the wider context too – what other pictures are placed alongside it, a headline or even the publication in which a picture appears.

But back to photography as a language…

This Summer I’ve been on a bit of a whistle-stop tour. I was in Co Durham to spend time with my brother and sister-in-law, then off to Austria to for a few days with my sister, and after a week back home I was off again, this time to Brittany for a ‘proper’ holiday with my wife.

In each case I took a film camera with me, and in each case I responded differently to my surroundings. With Brittany I took the decision to keep the photography much more casual, otherwise I would have had no real holiday at all. Ok, I did take a small film camera, but I haven’t processed the films yet and I was pretty pleased with some of the iPhone photos I shot there.

Actually, I also only had a small film camera with me in Austria too, but I put more effort into finding pictures which interested me beyond just the snap. For Co Durham I had a ‘proper’ camera; a Mamiya 6 medium format film camera.

Beyond all this blah blah about film cameras vs iPhones, what’s interesting is how each location had a different effect.

For Co Durham I’d made the decision I was going to visit a couple of areas which were documented by Mark Power in his excellent book The Shipping Forecast (buy it if you have any interest in what photography CAN be). So I spent a very wet day visiting Seaham, Easington Colliery and (in addition to Mark’s locations for sea area Tyne), Peterlee.

I came away with pictures which say something about those areas – I’m always more interested in making photos which describe how a place feels rather than just how it looks.

The ‘problem’ with taking pictures in places like Innsbruck, Austria, or around Côte Sauvage, Brittany, is they’re just very beautiful places. You really have to work (and walk) to get to where the shine is not so shiny. For Brittany this just wasn’t going to happen anyway, but I still see a reaction to my surroundings in the photos I took. There was still some kind of essence of Brittany in my shots, but you can see that as my travels progressed from Co Durham to Austria to Brittany, my approach changed. Frankly, in Austria I failed to get anything other than fairly typical tourist shots, but I did try!

I’m just going to share a handful of images with you, and perhaps you’ll see better what I mean about the different reactions to each location. After all, if photography is a language, it’s probably best if I let it speak for itself.

Sea glass collector, Seaham, Co Durham - August 2023
Peterlee housing estate, Co Durham - August 2023
Gasthaus Goldenes Dachl, Innsbruck, Austria - August 2023
From the top of Nordkette, Innsbruck, Austria - August 2023
Café Des Sports, Le Croisic, Brittany, France - September 2023
Lifeguard station on the Brittany coast - September 2023

 

in My News / Personal Work 2 comments
 by Tim Gander

I’m Still Alive!

Gosh, I have been a bit slack – I haven’t posted here since King Charles III came to the throne! Well sometimes life just runs away from you, then you get out of the habit. Before you know it, well here we are…

What started this un-planned hiatus was a thing called Photo|Frome (see photofrome.org if you haven’t heard of it). Being in charge of outdoor exhibitions meant I had no time in the run-up to the launch on June 24th to write anything anywhere.

To be fair, the result of all the hard work stunned even cynical ol’ me. Here’s a bit of a tale about it all.

Working closely with Italian photographic collective T House (Hugo Weber, Alex Zoboli and Angelo Leonardo), we achieved a first for Frome. We took over an entire outside wall of Frome Library and covered it in vinyl prints from our various projects (one project from each of us). The photos below barely do it justice, but you get a better idea of what I’m talking about.

High view looking down on the vinyl prints laid out on the ground.
The vinyl prints laid out on the ground as we planned how to get them up.
L-R: Alex Zoboli, Angelo Leonardo and Hugo Weber wearing high-vis vests and discussing how to install the prints. Hugo is carrying a large wooden cross which was part of our installation method.
L-R: Alex Zoboli, Angelo Leonardo and Hugo Weber discuss how we're going to get the 6 metre wide vinyls up. The 'crucifix' was Hugo's brilliant solution.
Wide view of the Frome Library showing some of the vinyl prints already installed and Alex with Alex and me working on the scissor lift.
The library installation happening with myself and Alex working using the scissor lift.
The finished library installation.
The finished installation.
Selfie of me on the left and my son Joe taken on the scissor lift at full height as we work to uninstall the vinyl prints. Joe is doffing the peak of his hard hat and holding a cardboard tube we used to roll up the banner images.
Me and Joe at the top of the scissor lift on the day of the take-down.
Exterior view of Frome Library after the images have been removed again.
Back to blank. The library is restored to its former blandness.

While T House specialise in outdoor exhibitions of photographic works, they tend to work using large paper-based posters applied directly to walls. In the case of Frome Library we had to work differently due to the uneven surface we were dealing with. We needed to use vinyl prints mounted on timber frames screwed to the building wall. This was not going to be easypeasy!

Famous artists have minions install their work for them; in our case this was definitely a DIY affair.

T House organised the artwork and printing of the vinyls, while from my end I organised liaison with the library manager, measuring the building, ordering the timber, fixings, scissor lift and general logistics (none of which I’d ever done before, so somewhat daunting). To be fair, T House had the tougher job in curating the work and dealing with me and my constant doubts about what we could/couldn’t do.

Installation took two of the hottest days of the year to complete, but the effect was powerful. I was worried locals and visitors wouldn’t ‘get it’ or like it, or have any reaction at all, but there was a full spectrum of reactions – none of which involved just ignoring the work, so that was a major achievement. The giant portrait of Monika was a particularly popular selfie spot.

As if that wasn’t enough, I also commandeered some 60 metres of perimeter hoardings at Saxonvale in Frome. This is a place many of you will know that I documented between 2017 and 2019 (which became the book What Happened Here). It was the perfect place to show our combined projects, continuations of the images we installed at the library.

The only slight concern was that this part of our exhibition was being undertaken without permission of the landowner, Somerset Council. However I calculated that it would take longer than the three week run of the festival for anyone to raise a complaint and anything to come from that. I was correct, and in fact nobody complained. We even gave Somerset Council a name-check on the information panel, so it looked official (sneaky!)

T House set about curating the images for this second mammoth installation. This time working with 2 metre by 1.4 metre poster paper sheets, they stapled images from each of our projects as far along the hoardings as we could go before running out of posters.

It took another two, hot days to get this work up, but removal commenced a bit sooner than we’d anticipated as our installation antagonised some of the local graffiti artists by covering their art. Less than 12 hours after the posters went up, they were sprayed, tagged and torn. But that was ok, it meant the work got far more exposure than we could have hoped for, and the ‘intervention’ became part of the narrative of the installation. None of this was planned, but it was all good. Some visitors were even taking fragments of poster away with them as keepsakes!

Alex, Hugo and Angelo hold a poster in place and staple it to the wooden hoardings.
Alex, Hugo and Angelo get busy with the stapler.
A female visitor looks at one section of the Saxonvale installation.
Within moments of finishing the installation and we have our first "gallery" visitor.
Photographer Tim Gander sits on the pavement in front of his print which is stapled to the hoardings. The photo behind him depicts the flames and smoke of a burning caravan.
I was so proud to see my work here. Alby's caravan on fire from What Happened Here.
A section of the poster installation showing the graffiti the day after we finished.
The day after installation, the posters are sprayed and torn, but it worked well with the theme.

 

Three weeks after all this effort, and it was time to un-install everything. To be fair, the graffiti artists and the weather did most of the work for us at Saxonvale, but the library show needed to come down in a more controlled manner.

This time I didn’t have a team of three highly-caffeinated Italians, but my son Joe stepped in and we got the lot down safely in one long (sometimes excessively wet) day.

It would be easy to question the value of all this effort, but I know that what we did had a huge impact locally. It was also a big hit with the many thousands of national and international visitors to the Photo|Frome festival. On a personal level I now have three very special Italian friends whose enthusiasm, professionalism and the sheer exchange of ideas has helped me enormously. I’m very much looking forward to working with T House again.

So having not posted for a few weeks, this one has turned into something of a marathon essay. I haven’t even touched on the wider Photo|Frome festival (which really was a very special thing), or my involvement in the various aspects of it. Nor have I mentioned any of the client work which of course carried on over that period.

To say I was a little burned out after all that would be an understatement, but I’m now looking forward to a period of breaks and holiday time in the coming weeks. That will mean another interruption to my blogging, but I’m hoping to get more regular again in September.

For now, have yourself a splendid Summer and I’ll see you again soon!

in My News / Personal Work 1 comments
 by Tim Gander

Bye Bye 2022

What. A. Year!

It’s fair to say 2022 has been a bastard. I don’t even want to list the reasons here because it’s too depressing, we all know what I mean.

So perhaps it’s unsurprising if I feel a little guilty that I’m sitting here in a (relatively) warm home, with food in the cupboards while I look back on what has been an unexpectedly successful year for me. But feeling guilty isn’t constructive, so I need to do more in 2023 to give and give back where it can help others. I did some of this in 2022 and hope to do more 2023.

2022’s Achievements (and disappointments)

Before writing this, I checked what goals I’d set for 2022 to see if I’d achieved any of them. It turns out, I didn’t set much in the way of targets, but there was a vague hint in that post about something big.

That ‘something big’ was getting my book What Happened Here designed and launched in time for Photo|Frome in June, which I just about managed. Sadly, for the official launch I caught covid and had to bail out, which didn’t help initial sales of the book. However, it’s been going steadily ever since and even my local bookshop were keen to stock it! So now people can buy online from me, or walk into Winstone’s Hunting Raven in Frome and purchase a softcover copy in-person.

Photo|Frome 2023

Photo|Frome 2022 was a huge success, and while I did what I could to help with setting up, not long after launch I was under quarantine so missed most of the festival. We’re already working hard to make Photo|Frome 2023 happen, but finding cash for an event in the teeth of a recession will be no small task. If you’re able to help, do drop me a line!

What Else in 2023

My hope is that having diversified into video during lockdown, this recession might not hit me as hard as previous ones have. Businesses actively wanting to ride out the storm will need a combination of stills and video for their marketing. Being able to offer both is a huge advantage. Of course I can’t predict how much it’ll help, but I’m glad I have the additional skill now.

And Finally…

I’m going to leave you with a smattering of 2022 images, all from personal projects and trips made this year. They illustrate my key photographic interests when not on commission.

It just remains for me to wish you all a super Christmas and all the very best for the coming year. Let’s hope that in 2023 Putin is deposed, the Iranian government is replaced by people who understand civility and China stops acting like a petulant toddler.

Oh and thank you, in what ever way you’ve supported me over the past 12 months. It doesn’t go unnoticed!

Black and white portrait of musician Ralph Stelzenmüller looking to camera with organ pipes in the background.
February - A short break to see friends in Switzerland, including the highly talented musician Ralph Stelzenmüller
Installation of screens bolted together and facing a gallery wall reflecting back the different colours within each unit.
August - A trip to Compton Verney in Warwickshire to see work by David Batchelor
Outdoor photographer self portrait of Tim Gander holding his book What Happened Here
September - I put myself in front of the camera to promote my book
Square black and white minimalist landscape photograph taken near Chitterne, Wiltshire, with dark clouds above an undulating grass landscape
November - I manage a rare trip to Salisbury Plain to create a new landscape image
in My News / Personal Opinion / Personal Work 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

We’re Not “Post-Covid” yet

Looking at when I last posted here, it seems I’ve let things slip a bit. I hope you’ve missed me.

My excuse is I’ve been busy with work, a book, a photo festival and covid finally got me. Then I got over covid, and work came back with a vengeance.

Ok, a bit more detail to explain all this.

Since December 2021 I’ve been working on my first photo book, What Happened Here (the book of the Saxonvale project I shot between 2017 and 2019). I started work on the book when I agreed to be part of Photo|Frome. I was invited to be part of an exhibition and to present a talk on What Happened Here, which meant I really needed to have the book in place for the festival.

Putting a book together isn’t easy if you want it to be the best it can be, and never having done a book before made this an even more challenging kind of challenge. However, I worked with designer Victoria Yates for the book layout and colours, and graphic designer Nik Jones who produced a map to help tell the story.

Then as Photo|Frome approached I got involved with planning my talk as well as another event I was to be involved with, a conversation with documentary and portrait photographer John Angerson. All this while work continued to roll in.

But just as the festival got underway, John caught covid and had to pull out of his talk. Then I got covid and had to cancel mine. It was all a bit of a mess really, and deeply disappointing.

screenshot of photofrome website homepage
Screenshot of the Photo|Frome website

 

What I haven’t been disappointed by is the success of photo|frome. Although I wasn’t one of the main organisers, I did jump in to help and support as much as I could (cut short only by my testing positive for Covid for 10 days). The festival was testament to the need for high-quality talks and exhibitions around photography, and there’s little outside London that caters to such a broad range of people as Frome’s festival did. The plan is to make it even bigger next year and they’ve already got national and international photographers lined up.

Equally encouraging has been the reception my book has received. I had people reserving copies before it was even printed. I expected to sell the majority of the books at my talk, but sales have been steady even without that. And because the book is very limited edition (just 50 hardback copies and 100 softcover versions), there’s a risk that by the time I come to reschedule the talk, the books might already be sold out.

So there you have it. I think it’s fair to say I’ve been a bit preoccupied lately and that’s not going to change drastically in the next few weeks at least.

I have my talk to reschedule, client work to handle and I’m also painfully aware just how neglected my current personal project on Salisbury Plain has been. I need to get back to that before it keels over completely.

In the meantime, if you’d like to support my personal work, and be the proud owner of a very limited edition photo book, head over here to purchase your copy of What Happened Here. Every copy I sell justifies all the stress and hard work just that little bit more.

Thank you,

Tim

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 by Tim Gander

Hacked Off

Ukrainian flag
are hackers Putin's virtual invaders?

Is Putin’s War the Cause?

It’s possible I’m turning into a conspiracy theorist, but having had my website hacked twice in two weeks, each time within hours of tweeting something derogatory about Putin and his invasion of Ukraine, I have had to wonder if there wasn’t a connection.

Even if it’s un-related, it’s been a complete pain in the !@*^# to sort out. It has disrupted my schedule and soaked up my time; I’ve had to postpone blogging for two weeks, I’ve postponed much-needed updates to my website, I’ve been trying to compose the text for my book What Happened Here as well as handle client enquiries and prepare for up-coming work. All this has been disrupted while I tackled the situation.

All that might sound trivial, and of course compared with the horrors being inflicted on Ukrainians by Putin’s invasion, it is indeed piffling. But if these hacks do have tentacles reaching back to The Kremlin, that would make them part of Putin’s war effort. Ok, perhaps that’s going too far. If it’s a theory with any legs at all, it could simply be part of a mass, un-targeted attack on any IT vulnerabilities the hackers can find, regardless of their importance.

Impact on the Sole Trader

The impact of these hacks is also greatest on those of us who operate as sole traders and freelancers because we don’t have large resources to fight back. Even with outside help, we’re having to be there liaising and dealing with the situation. We can’t just hand the problem off and go and do other tasks. If you’re a sole trader handling sensitive customer information through your website, it could be crippling.

Thankfully I did manage to get some help from my wonderful web design colleague Ben who finally got everything back to normal. I have now beefed up the security to a level which should keep the hackers out. Only time will tell.

And Just… WHY?!

Dismissing my earlier, possibly paranoid theories, it still begs the question of why my site. I haven’t the foggiest idea what the hackers wanted to achieve. There were malicious files found (now deleted), but there is no client database to compromise, no e-commerce aspect to the site. Presumably it was “just because we can” hackers.

Hacking is big now. It affects everyone. From personal Facebook accounts to huge corporate databases, everyone now has to spend more time battling hackers. We could be approaching a time when we’re spending more time using technology to sort out problems caused by technology (or more accurately, the misuse of technology) than we are using technology to assist our lives and livelihoods. Technology could be on the way to becoming a zero sum game.

Chain Reaction

Now I know this next conspiracy theory is straying into tin foil hat territory, but last weekend I was on a bike ride with my best friend. He commented that his blue and yellow bike was in the colours of Ukraine. Twenty minutes later, his rear gear mechanism packed up and his pedals would only free-spin. He couldn’t pedal anywhere and had to call his wife to come and pick him up. Coincidence? Or conspiracy? You decide!

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 by Tim Gander

What Happens Next?

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. By the way, do you also suffer the anxiety of not quite knowing when to cease starting emails and texts with that line? It’s ok, you’re not alone! I’ll stop around Jan 20th, if that’s any help.

At the end of last year I promised a look back at 2021 and a look forward to 2022, so here goes. I won’t dwell too much on last year because my final post of 2021 summed up most of what I wanted to say. However, as I wrote that article, I didn’t know how soon I’d be back on the subject of covering vaccines.

More Vaccine Work!

On December 22nd, at a time of the morning I prefer not to know exists, I was up and on my way to Stonehenge. This time I was covering a pop-up vaccination clinic at Stonehenge, again for NHS Banes, Swindon and Wiltshire CCG (BSWCCG). The plan was to invite Solstice visitors to have vaccines once they’d celebrated the sunrise over the stones.

It was a cold morning, but the sky looked spectacular as I came across Salisbury Plain and the visitors were treated to a beautiful sunrise. Of course I missed it because I was busy setting up alongside the clinical team who had commandeered the visitor centre cafe for their work.

The session went incredibly well and by the time I left Stonehenge, my client had a rush set of images for immediate press release.

A young woman in colourful Winter Solstice costume is vaccinated by a man.
A Solstice celebrant gets her vaccine at the Stonehenge visitor centre cafe.

The shot shown above got really great take-up by local press and on social media. Even my humble tweet got over 4,300 impressions! Not bad considering we didn’t even know if anyone would take up the jab on the day.

Except for shooting a quick wedding for friends who got married on December 28th, that was pretty much it for me!

So how is 2022 looking?

More Of The Same, But Different

Well I’ve already got bookings in the diary; a mixture of stills and video work, and I’m looking to plan more trips to Salisbury Plain soon. I didn’t get much time over Christmas and New Year to do any end-of-year tidying-up, so that’s sort of happening now. I did get time to start on an exciting new project, but more on that when the time is right. Exciting eh?!

My main focus as we enter 2022 is to keep developing the corporate work, while building the Salisbury Plain project into something more cohesive and rounded. That might sound a little vague, but I hope it will become clearer as the year progresses.

A waggon is laden with round hay bales with a farm track running past.
From Choulston Farm near Figheldean, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.

In the meantime, this shot from November was a good way to end 2021’s Salisbury Plain sessions. I’m keen to get back, but with a long-term project, patience is everything. I need to update the project gallery with some of the latest work as I try to make the personal projects as self-sufficient as possible. So don’t forget, if you like what I do and would like to see more, please feel free to support me in whichever way you can! None of this happens without my amazing supporters 🙂

And finally, whatever your plans for the coming year, I hope they come good for you. Here’s to an exciting 2022!

 

 

 

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 by Tim Gander

From the Archive: The Musicians

This week I’m going to talk about a collection of pictures which are relatively recent, but which seem much older. To be honest, anything from 2020 now feels like a different era.

Rachel and Silas

One, a portrait of Rachel Byrt, is already in my Business Portraits portfolio. While the other, featuring Silas Wollston, hasn’t made it in yet, but I think it needs to because it’s a strong image. There are in fact a few potential candidates in the set.

Viola player Rachel and harpsichordist and organist Silas visited my home back in August 2020. It was part social/part portrait session, so for the portraits we made space in our kitchen/dining room for a mini studio. As ever through 2020, the prevailing Covid restrictions were observed.

Viola player Rachel Byrt in black and white, holding her viola and looking to camera.
Viola player Rachel Byrt.
Colour photo of Viola player Rachel Byrt wearing a black coat holding her viola and looking to camera.
An alternative shot for Rachel.
Colour portrait of harpsichord player Silas Wollston holding his virginal and looking to camera.
Silas' profile portrait.

Working Smart

Being such a tight space, I had to be creative with just a single studio light and a black backdrop which I used as a flag to control the lighting. Our bright yellow feature wall took up backdrop duty. This worked very well for both the colour and black and white photos.

Each portrait required a slightly different setup, but for an impromptu music session I took the studio gear away and captured some action using my medium format film camera.

Photo showing Silas Wollston standing with his up-ended virginal, with the photographer's studio light and "flag" in shot.
A tight space for so much kit.
Black and white square format photo of Silas Wollston siting at his virginal (harpsichord), seen through two music stands which are in the foreground.
Silas Wollston during a practice session.

Because Rachel and Silas are busy professionals, it was important to ensure they had a decent choice of pictures for different areas of their work. Also, without knowing where pictures will be used it was important to have a variety of upright and landscape oriented images. Both Rachel and Silas have their own picture galleries from which they can download what they need, when they need it.

Ready for the Comeback

I would love to do more musician profile work, but of course it’s been a tough time in the creative arts. Fingers crossed 2022 will be the year when live music really gets going again. When it does, I’ll certainly be happy to do my bit whenever it happens.

in Case Studies / My News / Older Work 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

Lens Love

It may surprise you to know this, but I have little time to get sentimental about camera equipment. I do enjoy working with my old film cameras, but my digital gear is just tools for the job.

The exception to this is one lens which I’ve been using a lot lately. It’s one of those little gems that just seems to quietly help you get the job done.

The Joy of 40mm

I’ve long favoured fixed 40mm lenses. I discovered the joys of a 40mm lens when I bought Canon’s dinky 40mm f/2.8 STM lens, which I use on my Canon film bodies. This prompted me to buy a Voigtländer 40mm f/2 lens for my 1973 Nikon F2. However for my new digital gear I only had zooms.

That is until I picked up the Sigma 45mm f/2.8 Contemporary lens. Yes, 45mm is close enough to 40mm for me.

Reading forums, this lens divides opinions. Some write it off for being too “slow” (as in, the maximum aperture isn’t nearer f/1.4). It’s claimed not to be sharp, but my God is this lens ever sharp! It is light, quick to use, engaging and I just love the results it can deliver.

I’ve used it on quite a few jobs recently, and almost exclusively on the recent Covid vaccination jobs I’ve shot for NHS BANES, Swindon and Wiltshire CCG. Its unobtrusive size, speed of use and quality were perfect for the fly-on-the-wall images I needed.

Practice Practice Practice

Between commissions I’ve been trying this lens out extensively. As I’m sure I’ve said many times before, using a commission to get familiar with kit is not a great idea. It’s best done in down time, not at a client’s expense.

So this morning I spent more time with the Sigma lens working on some tests shots with a new flash unit, another piece of kit recently acquired as I transform my equipment line-up to better serve my clients’ needs.

One of my favourite test subjects at home is our dining table, which we bought via Facebook from an artist. We were going to strip and re-varnish it, but decided we love the paint splashes and gouges so much we’ve left it as-is. It makes a great backdrop to still life images, which are perfect for controlled equipment tests.

This image might become part of my Home Front series, which I started during the first lockdown of 2020. At the very least it was a good exercise in testing this new lens/flash combination, but the more I worked on the picture, the more I liked what it said as a photo, above and beyond mere test subject.

A still life looking down on a paint-smeared wooden table with a green bowl of yellow bananas with a red-chequered napkin behind and a candle in a bottle to the right of the bowl. A black and white chequered floor, yellow wall and bottom of a red cupboard are visible beyond the edges of the table. beyond
Still Life: Bananas in a bowl.
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 by Tim Gander

A Busy Quiet Day

Some days look quiet on the diary, but in practice are anything but restful.

Take yesterday as an example; I had no commissioned work on, so I decided to make a trip to Salisbury Plain to work on my much-postponed project.

That required a 5am alarm call (I had forgotten what a punch in the face that feels like!) This was my first trip to the Plain in many weeks, and the plan was to retry a shot I’d done before, but wasn’t entirely satisfied with.

Unfortunately, after such an early start and a three-mile walk (no, it’s not a great hike, but with medium format camera, lenses and tripod it feels a bit longer), the weather decided to be too dull to make the picture I was after.

The view of an image of Stonehange as seen on the focusing screen of a medium format camera.
The view through my camera - a very scratched focusing screen!

Ok, so the six-mile round walk wasn’t a killer, but the early start was giving me a bit of a kicking. Time to head home.

On the way back I swung by my local picture framer to pick up a couple of pieces of non-reflecting glass. This is part of my master plan to keep improving how I digitise my negatives, squeezing every last drop of quality I can from the process. I didn’t stay long, he was busy with framing work for London galleries.

Back home, I tried a bit of admin, but by now my brain was aching for a little sleep, so I took a power nap (ok, 90 mins) to recover before lunch.

Then it was back on the admin, handling client enquiries, a bit of social media work and planning next week.

I did manage a bit of R&R in the evening, but then the lure of photography drew me back again. I’d recently updated some flash equipment, so had a bit of an experimental session with that. Focusing on areas around the home, I looked at how I could use the new gear to create different effects. Call it play, call it fooling around if you will, but a photographer who only works with their new gear once they’re commissioned to use it is a fool.

By the time I’d quit trying things out, it was 10:30pm and I was finally ready to stop, but not until I’d transferred my test flash images to my computer and had a look through the results. So ok, it was nearer 11pm when I finally shut the laptop.

I sometimes beat myself up that I’m not dedicated enough to what I do, but then when I sit back and look at it properly, I don’t think I’m any kind of slouch; I just need to remind myself that even a day which doesn’t produce solid results isn’t a day wasted, it’s a day invested in something yet to happen.

in My News / Personal Opinion / Personal Work / Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

No One’s Bursting My Bubble

I’m not sure “busy” quite describes the intensity of my work recently. The fact is, since April I’ve been busier than at any other time in my 23-year freelance career.

This is a post-covid bubble for sure. Pent-up plans, postponed events and long-neglected websites have suddenly become the focus of many corporate marketing teams, and I’ve had the pleasure of working with many to shoot the stills, and now video, they need to bring those plans to fruition.

Biggest Project to Date

One project in particular has dominated my diary. I suspect this won’t be the only blog post I reference to it either, and that has been the stills and video content for Shaw & Co’s new website.

The Shaw & Co website homepage.
The new Shaw & Co website.

Shaw & Co has been a long-standing client of mine. In fact I first photographed company founder Jim Shaw way back in 2010 when he was at a different, now defunct firm in Bath. But my work with the Bristol-based corporate finance firm came about by a chance google search for a photographer which has kept me going back ever since 2017.

And so for the past 5 years I’ve been taking Shaw & Co’s team shots, head shots and office stock images. But then during 2020 their Chief Marketing Officer Paul Mills brought me into the picture about their plans for a re-brand. This was going to be a bit more than the usual photo session.

This time there would be video alongside stills on the website, so I started to look into whether I could deliver that for them. My cameras were video-enabled, but I knew enough about video to understand you don’t simply switch from stills to video mode and wave the camera about a bit. At least not if you want anything vaguely usable.

Lockdown Learning

Lockdown proved a useful breathing space for me to research and learn the very basics, but there’s nothing quite like having an actual commission on the books to focus the mind. In fact it was essential for me to have a goal to work towards. Video is a huge discipline and you can stray off in all directions if there’s no end-goal. You can also spend your way to bankruptcy if you’re not careful. Knowing what the requirements were for what I needed to deliver allowed me to focus on the kit and the skills I needed to develop as priority.

Being Part of the Process

Perhaps what has been most unusual about this project is just how deeply embedded I’ve been with its development – seeing the brand graphics as they evolved, liaising with the design agency Design By Structure at various stages and even finding my own suggestions being incorporated where appropriate. With some projects I feel I could be a robot with a camera, told to “stand there, shoot that,” but not on this occasion; I was definitely part of the team here.

The website launched this week and given the time period over which it has been developed and implemented, it really is an astonishing achievement. I’ve known much smaller projects to take far longer, which is testament to Paul’s enthusiasm and drive and his ability to enthuse all those around him.

Having Faith Helps

It’s also fair to say that the confidence Paul (and Jim) placed in me has sometimes outstripped my own self-belief, but I’m incredibly proud of the speed of my development and more importantly of the work I’ve turned in.

You can now see the stills and video clips over at Shaw & Co’s new website and even if their work isn’t an area you’re familiar with, I’d love to know your thoughts here.

Is That It Then?

Now I know I said this was a post-lockdown bubble, and things have quietened off a little as we get into August, but I’m still busy with new work and projects which were delayed by covid.

I also know that whatever happens next, I’ve gained valuable skills I can offer new and existing clients. I also know Shaw & Co are keen to build upon what we’ve started, so bubble or not, I’m confident there’s more to come.

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