personal
You know the week, the one in-between Christmas and new year. The only acceptable time other than being on holiday where you can drink all week and apparently that’s fine.. ‘cos there's nothing else to do’. Well, I don’t need any encouraging now do I!
So, yeah some sore heads in the monrings but good evenings with family and friends.
And then we end it all with the final party on new years day for my birthday. What a great way to wrap up Christmas 2022.
Time for a something a little different…
A week in sherwood forrest. Some time to chill and a much different view to the coastline. Obviously I took my camera (or two) along to capture a few frames when I had chance. This wasn’t really a trip for me to maximise photography but it was nice to have a walk around and take a few frames. more of a mindful wander about, enjoying the environment and taking some time to chill with the family.
It has been another strange one and yes we can’t mention Christmas 2021 without covid. It’s just a way of life at the moment but we made the most of it - I’m hoping you did too!
So I have been mixing it up as of late, and i’m sure some of you have noticed a few black and white images making their way into the work that I’m putting out into the world. I made a decision a few months back that I wanted to dive back into the monochrome world and this Christmas was going to be solely documented in black and white. Back to basics you could say - just snaps of little moments that happened.
Heres’s my photo essay of Christmas 2021.
Enjoy
Steve surprised us by walking through in what I can only describe as a skin tight Christmas jumper, we thought had got more tattoos for a minute.
It was a hit! We laughed.
..and the back
Granny surprised us by pulling out a sandwich bag from her handbag, containing her slippers.
Why are they in a bag inside a bag?
Granny: “incase they smell, silly”
Do they smell?
Granny: “No”
A lovely spread.
of course you need matching elf costumes
this is as much as you need to know about Lydia
right, just one serious photo please
Granny, look this way for a photo
it doesn’t matter
guess what Santa brought
Gem made a nice little job of the table
Gem keeping warm
ladies and gentlemen, the king.
A very quiet covid Christmas dinner
This is probably the best photo I took all Christmas.
you know it, another very lovely spread.
The only thing missing here was a bottle of port. don’t worry, I pulled it out the cupboard later on.
of course she had to win
What do you call a reindeer with no eyes? No idea.
Cheeeeeese
he might have been nodding off.
We had a few drinks
Em had a few sweets, it has the same effect as the drinks ha!
Oh to be 7 again, swing me!
more drinks were flowing by this point
something tickled Gem
Clearly having a good time
Time to open the bubbly. So you probably need to know Mick is a big kid, he very much likes to shake up the Champagne while opening it.
Nita swiftly removed the bottle from him.
I asked if I could help do some drawing, I was told no.
Its clearly a cat. I was very wrong to suggest it might look like a bat.
someones getting a little tired now.
drinks and cards! I actually really enjoy this. I should have had a glass of whisky to go with it.
Getting Nita a crack a smile took all my ‘professional photographic experience’
You gotta find the corners and edges first! I did not know this.
a phone box. Just because. well you don’t actually see that many of them now.
Bradly came down for the day to shoot around the fitties with me. It was great to head out and shoot some different stuff over Christmas.
:)
a very nice effort.
Someone was very spoiled this christmas, they got a new swing, and a deluxe tyre version at that!
!
something quite Eggelston about this. I very much liked it. I told Brad a few times that I very much liked this too.
Toby was tied on his lead to the side of Brad. He would sit and wait whist Brad lined up and shot the scene, as soon as the shutter went, he would jump up ready to go. He knows its time to move after each click.
Im wondering if I can teach Gem this.
/ /
Yeah I have had a few nights on the rum too!
time for your close up Toby! This was requested by Karl Bailey. Here you go buddy!
Like a pro! Just getting bright enough to hand hold the camera at this point, what a treat!
You know when you look back at vintage cars form years past. Well one day this is going to be worth something. the photo, not the car lol!
Circles and triangles.
I just liked this composition, something pretty pleasing to my eye. I think I told Brad this a few times as well haha!
someone went all out this year
Probably my favourite scene / landscape from the Fitties. Brad and I both stood appreciating the view. We concluded it’s the flag that makes it.
How very refined of us.
Roll change. Have you heard of this new tech that’s going to be massive? You won’t ever have to change your roll again. I’m not sure its going to catch on though.
Hello mr dawgy
One of these days the kids that climb to the top of this ride are going to fall off, and I’m going to feel so bad whist I photograph it.
the latest in Ford engineering technology. I give you the cup shelf.
it was fooking freezing. I don’t know what he was thinking.
That glorious moment someone actually won something!!!
Time for a bit of street photography around the city of York.
“uncle Dan, can I tell you a secret - Daddy got a speeding ticket”
I often walk my plants too. it’s good to get them out the house for a bit.
the Christmas tree holding pen.
Do you remember when people used to sit and read news papers?
This one reminded me of a blank 35mm frame.I got some funny looks as I lined up to shoot a window of ‘nothing’.
not another bloody jigsaw!
the phone has her now!
Apparently if there is a steamed up window and you don’t shoot it, you are breaking some kind of photographic law. I thought I’d better take a frame to be safe.
you just know he’s up to something.
Everyone drinks gin now. It’s very trendy!
I had a rum, correction, a double rum. Im so avant-garde.
Yeah, you spotted me.
Even Santa got Covid!
Only after I shot this photo did I notice I was snapping a fellow Leica shooter. I feel he would have approved.
So, a weeks worth of Christmas holidays, a shit load of drinks and probably more food consumed than the local McDonald’s drive through.
Mike, could you visually sum that up for us?
Perfect!
I have had a few conversations recently with different people that have mentioned that I seem to have got it all figured out with my photography and creative process.
Its interesting how people perceive my work from different perspectives, so let’s burst this bubble to get it out the way – I have very little figured out. I think Instagram has a lot to answer for on this misconception. Its easy to look at something online and draw conclusions based on your own thoughts, but this is often all they are.
Everyone’s process is different so there is no one size fits all when it comes to creativity. The only thing that seems to be a common thread when I’ve talking to other creatives, is taking your own path. This again is something different for everyone with a variety of starting points and different forks within it to navigate.
I have been taking photography somewhat serious for about 16 years now but its only in the last 4 years that I would say that I have got onto a path that I’m now enjoying. In these last few years, I have seen many people pick up a camera for the first time and get onto a path that has led to great places. But that is their journey and as tempting as it may be to try and replicate what they have done, it would not work. How do I know this, well trying to mimic would only get me so far faking it. The biggest realisation I had was that I had to produce the work that really excites me, it’s the images that I produce as a default setting. This doesn’t mean I don’t have to try, I have to put a lot of effort in, but I know I have to produce the images that satisfy my eye. This thought process was the start of the path that I’m now on – making the images that I care for and that aren’t reactions to what I think others might like.
Its seems that the genre of photography that I’m interested in has taken an exciting turn in the last few years and with that has come some approaches that I’m not a fan of. A competitive edge seems to have taken root and I see many feel the need to get onboard with that. For me, I’ve never really been that competitive, probably why I like photography. It’s a chance for me to walk out into the world and explore it with a camera. I very much enjoy the creative process and when I get into the flow of it, hours can pass by without me noticing. This is what drives and excites me, and probably the only thing that we can figure out. Once we know what we want to do, we have to put the work in to actually doing it. The more you work at it the more it pays off.
This is the lure of photography, it looks so simple, and yes, the mechanics of it are once you lean how to control your camera. The hard part is working out what to point the camera at and when to capture that moment. That has very little to do with the camera and all to do with what’s going on in your head.
So what do I know, what have I figured out?
Be honest with myself about the work I want to produce and produce it!
Take inspiration from others but don’t copy.
Be patient – 16 years and counting.
Turn my weaknesses into strengths – I don’t know what I want to photograph but I know what I don’t like, so I just please my own eye. (sometimes that leads to images that not many others like but that’s fine).
There are no short cuts so take the harder path and put the work in.
Take the rough with the smooth, there are many knock backs but learn to ride over them.
Most importantly, to enjoy what I do – otherwise why bother!
It’s no secret that I have been putting a fair amount of my time and creative energy into photographing the seaside. To be more precise, the Cleethorpes seaside that I now call my home, in my latest project; By the Sea. Recently have spent a little time away and travelled down to the East of England while I have been walking the streets (and seaside locations) photographing what I find.
I never really have much of a plan of what I’m going to capture. I believe working in a reactive way to the situations you find yourself in is less inhibiting but this is just a process that I loosely use. It’s great at time to head out without no real plan and shoot what you find but sometimes this can be a bit of a pain, especially when you’re not finding situations to photograph. Going through times of little or no inspirations always happens and having shot for several hours and coming away with nothing can get a little frustrating. Then again the beauty of street photography is no never know what you might unearth around the next corner. There’s always that day when you review you photos and find that hidden gem of an image that didn’t seem to be much at the time but after reviewing away from the situation often completely changes how I feel about the images.
For many of the images that I have shot on this trip, I think that I have allowed my ‘By the sea’ project to influence my shooting on new places. Perhaps that could be down to my own growth and maybe I’m becoming more sensitive to images around the coast. I’m not saying this is something negative, it’s just an observation that I have made on my own work.
It's rare that I share many personal images (outside of the confines of my personal street photography) but I'm obviously still shooting the everyday things that go on around me. It's a compulsion as many photographers reading this post will understand and you simply don't just shoot one subject matter, it seems to saturate your life and before you know it, the people around you become a rich part of that documentary tapestry.
So heres a behind the scene look into the everyday family fun that goes on around me.
All images shot on Leica M10 + 50mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPH
