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Jun
13
When I look at people I often wonder about their aspirations. You see couples just walking together, sharing little private jokes and happy knowing they are with someone special. In my job, not only do I get to photograph a diverse range of people, but I also get to know them a little bit and just for a very short moment they let me see a small part of their private world. Martina and Anthony were no exception when they opened their world to me as we walked around Watermead in Aylesbury to do our Pre Wedding photoshoot.
They arrived a little late but they are such lovely people they apologised immediately. The came in separate cars; Martina’s boot was loaded with a suitcase full of clothes. I thought they took my suggestion of bringing a case full of clothes literally, but as it so happens they were on their way back from an overnight social gathering. Already I could see the dynamics between them; I had begun to gauge how to conduct this photo shoot the moment we said hello, but when I saw how their were together I wanted to try a few rarely used compositions.
Anyone who lives in Aylesbury will be familiar with Watermead; as photographic playgrounds go it does have many features to play with. My style of photography, if I were to label it, is motion in stilled life. When I direct my couples I rarely ask them to ‘just pose’. I ask them to move and to be as interactive with each other and me as much as possible; I get the best results by setting an imaginary moment, very much like a movie director would, and ask the couple to ‘go there’. Martina and Anthony were fantastic at this. I frequently asked them to feel what they mean to each other; every time that ‘feeling’ would surface into expressions my Nikon would capture.
The shoot was enormous fun, we chatted about life, relationships and of course their wedding at the end of June 2013.
Pow Pow Pictures is exciting to have them as clients. If we can get these types of photos in a couple of hours, imagine what we could do together during a wedding day…
Much love and peace. God bless.
Terry.
Jun
04
The Starlight Childrens Foundation is an establish charity design to help seriously ill children in Hospitals and Hospices provide support, stimulation and comfort to both the children and their family. In the past 12 months they have helped 500,000 poorly children. This charity is the subject of last night’s gig organized by Victoria Norris and her volunteers.
Victoria Norris has organized music fundraisers a few times which I have covered so I was already familiar with the setup. In all the of her events she is in the middle of setup, seating, planning, set list and a hundred other things. She is incredibly modest and has time for everybody she encounters! I had no idea how she does it; remain incredibly calm and seemingly pull it off with ease!
The event was held at The Distillers Pub in Hammersmith; a quaint and lively pub in South London. Upstairs is the Regal Room. A modest sized venue for intimate events. Personally I wish they had better lighting to make the artists on stage really pop, but I’m just being a picky photographer. The Regal Room is perfect for those cosy acoustic songs played to friends and music lovers.
There were six musicians on the tiny stage that night. Here are some of my personal highlights.
Freddie:
If I were to describe Freddie it would be a gifted and sensitive young soul. The fact that she’s sixteen is irrelevant because, regardless of age, if you can hold an audience’s attention through your words then you have star power.
There’s no denying she’s pretty and photogenic. I managed to get a short moment with her to get some nice portrait poses done. She was very natural in front of my Nikon. She took directions well and was very capable of improvising. She is definitely one to look out for. With right guidance and management she can break the music scene.
Jamie Lawson:
To be in the room with Jamie is something very special. On first impressions he is an unassuming guy who you would not notice in a crowded room such as The Regal Room. I could not tell he was one of the acts that evening. Aimee, our host for the evening, announced Jamie on stage. He plugged himself him; said a short and soft introduction and then began to sing.
Jamie’s voice I would describe as gentle, warm and humble. The ambient chatter in the room was hushed very quickly as everyone was enchanted by Jamie’s words. There was just the right amount of guitar level to compliment his voice. Pow Pow Pictures was mesmerized. Jamie was not physically dynamic on the small stage, but he did not need to be. His performance was through his singing.
Between songs he would interact with the audience with an easy tone. He is naturally funny and engaging. He made a joke about wanting people to buy his new EP on iTunes; apparently if “five people buy his EP he would shoot up the iTunes charts!”.
Pow Pow Pictures is definitely a fan. You can find his EP on iTunes and his Facebook page on http://www.facebook.com/jamielawsonmusic
Lex Collective:
Pow Pow Pictures has known Ellie for a few years now ever since her band Slashed Seat Affair came into my town. That is all sentimental history now. Ellie has formed a very new act with musician Alan Bond. Together they came on to perform three new songs; one of them they had only written days earlier!
Ellie owned the stage, but there were moments she looked vulnerable which made her more endearing. There’s no doubt that all eyes were on Ellie; personally I would have liked a longer set rather than just the 2 songs from Ellie. Pow Pow Pictures would like to hear her take on a cover; the Regal Room is perfect for intimate and individual expression. Perhaps next time Ellie!?
Ellie was oozing confidence with moments of wildness; she was fun to watch and always great to listen to. We have missed her on stage.
Afterwards I caught up with Ellie. She seemed excited to be back on stage.
If you have an event you would live to be covered, then please email [email protected]
May
04
Just a sneak peek from yesterday’s wedding.
First of all, I want to thank God (in every sense) for providing a glorious day! The sun was just beautiful.
This wedding was funny, emotional, entertaining and just full of amazing moments. Some of the guests were fantastic fun. I cannot remember the last time I laughed so much with wedding guests!
I just wanted to post a few quickly edited photos from the Greigs wedding. If you want to see more then please visit www.facebook.com/powpowpictures where I post more frequently.
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Apr
17
Just a quick blog update to show you some photos of my good friend Kelly and her beautiful family.
Mar
05
Hey folks. I went to the big Focus on Imaging event yesterday with a friend. There was so much to see so I’m only going to summarize what took my interest.
The Nikon Stand.
Nikon used to be the premiere of SLR cameras, Canon were seen as the annoying cousin but how times have changed. I’ll talk about the Canon stand in a minute but Nikon’s presence was typical of how they approach their cameras, little innovation, same stand layout and difficult to see anything on display.
I had a quick play with the D800, D600 and a D4. I used a few of the big lenses as well. I visited the Nikon stand twice because I knew I would be visiting the Canon stand later to compare cameras. In short, I found the bodies of the Canons more comfortable, the dials and layouts more intuitive on the Nikon but the focusing to be faster and sharper on the Canons.
Overall I found it just the same as last year. I’m sure even the stand is exactly the same! As one of the two biggest names in camera hardware I am disappointed. The staff were friendly enough. All were knowledgeable in camera tech but some were not that convincing as to the target audience for some of the cameras such as the Nikon 1 compact cameras.
The Canon Stand
I would not say Canon’s stand was anymore impressive than Nikons, but it’s definitely bigger! Where as Nikon had two booths (one for SLRs and one for lenses), Canon has a multitude of eye-candy to view.
I didn’t stay long but I did get to play with a Canon 5D mark 3, a 1Dx a 60D and a couple of tiny compact cameras. I was able to view more because even though it was crowded the Canon layout meant people were able to move around more. I really wanted to try out a 5D mark 3 again. The weight was right (although I would probably add a battery grip). The Canon staff were friendly and informal. I was joking around with one girl who was good fun, and a proper camera nerd!
Feb
03
I had an amazing time at Jess and John’s wedding yesterday. It was held at the fabulous Cliveden House in Taplow. The venue is literally round the corner from Hedsor House where I have photographed weddings several times.
I just wanted to post a quick preview from the Scannel’s wedding. Without doubt possibly the most personal wedding I’ve done because Jessica is my cousin!
Jan
06
Dance Photography in Black and White
Dance photography has been something on my list of subjects for a long time. In the past I have found good dancers, but when I put them in a photography studio environment they do not quite deliver the confidence and performance I seek. A dancer must be able to take minor direction and be able to free flow with sometimes abstract instructions. I struggled to find a dancer like this until yesterday when I found two; Victoria and Mel. I wish to start with Victoria.
Victoria and I do not know each other well but through a mutual friend we are familiar with each other’s work. I had never seen Victoria dance before so I was not sure what to expect. We certainly had not worked together in a professional capacity. I showed her a few examples of work I liked and we went straight into the shoot due to my very limited time with her and Mel.
Victoria went after Mel so she had some insight as to what I was after in the dance. She went straight into a flowing and fluid improvised routine that was incredible. Without looking at the back of my Nikon I could tell I caught some magic.
Dec
28
Portrait photography is very special to me. Pow Pow Pictures has spoken to many folks and I feel has made a real connection with those we have photographed. As well as the laughs there are small moments of openness that is shared. Maybe it is a personal story, or a moment that happened on holiday.
Anyway, these photos that I have chosen mean a lot to me because of the stories behind the faces.
