Write, edit, tea, walk, rabbits, life – not in any order.
Modern stories of Victoria/Chamberlain Square, Birmingham #3 – my final and favourite photo narrative started out as a warm up exercise to get my mind into gear. I went to find a distant, deserted corner and found myself in a parallel Chamberlain Square where it was sometimes impossible to tell what was real…
[Photos taken for stories class of Matt & Pete's Photo School; next up: Spaghetti Junction photo walk and picnic on 29 July.]
Modern stories of Victoria/Chamberlain Square, Birmingham #2 – the second of three photographic narratives focuses on a group of European students – I think from San Marino – colour-coded yellow by their backpacks. Where were they (location shot)? How did they interact with the environment? Could I get any sneaky close-ups? Achieved more of a documentary feel with this one.
[Photos taken for stories class of Matt & Pete's Photo School; next set of pix will be from their Spaghetti Junction photo walk and picnic on 29 July.]
Establish Chamberlain Square location.
Continue reading "The Yellow Backpackers of Chamberlain Square"
Modern stories of Victoria Square, Birmingham #1 – here is the first of three photographic narratives I, ahem, carefully planned today in Victoria and Chamberlain Square in central Birmingham, courtesy of stories week at Matt & Pete's Photo School. They're also running a Spaghetti Junction photo walk and picnic on 29 July, if anyone fancies joining.
Went for three different focuses, zooming out. Could also work in reverse, I guess. Hopefully it brings out the idea that Brum is not the concrete jungle many think it is.
The endless UK drizzle this summer has some advantages. One is a rather lush garden. The other is the resulting ecosystem of wildlife that this brings. So today I decided to test out the 'new' secondhand macro lens to snap some garden fauna in the rain. Is it me or can snails be quite cute? Also, check out the depth of field from such a narrow focus – the backgrounds are beautifully blurry.
When Andy Bull got in touch for a masterclass he is running on brand journalism for his current book/website at Multimedia-journalism.co.uk, he got me thinking about exactly what this term means. He reminded me of a comment I left on a post of his, which goes:
"I call myself many things – web editor, blogger, content strategist – but have only recently come across the title 'Brand journalist'. The slipper seems to fit as I work for a digital publishing agency.
"I'm not producing marketing material but I am creating editorial that focuses on where the target readers' interests meet the business. The work is not just being a brand reporter but a sub-editor, commissioning editor, publisher and change management adviser – since brands are new to publishing and need a point person on many publishing fronts.
Continue reading "In defence of brand journalism"
Kings Cross last Saturday – and I delivered my first-ever workshop. While the rest of the UK was firing up the barbecue to make the most of a beautiful sunny afternoon, seven sub-editors were arriving at the very cool Centre for Creative Collaboration to learn some digital editing skills. (C4CC is a brilliant neutral space that exists to foster collaborations between and help improve outcomes for freelance creatives. If you have a creative/collaborative project that fits the bill, I highly recommend getting in touch with them and putting in a proposal.)
My workshop project arose partly because I'd already been approached by a friend whose work was drying up. She asked if she could come to Birmingham for a day and just watch what I did as a web editor. A quick ask around some other friends told me she wasn't the only one who would be up for learning some online publishing skills.
But the idea was further kicked into life after the NME posted a sub-editing job at a below-industry-standard rate on the London Freelance sub-editors forum Subs UK. There was much consternation on the group messageboard with suggestions of setting a minimum rate for those seeking access to Subs UK talent, as well as calls to boycott the job offer.
Continue reading "Helping print sub-editors go digital"
This Sunday sees the fourth and final session (for me) of Photographing the City – Matt and Pete's sociable, how-to photography course set on the streets of Birmingham and featuring a pleasant mix of arty/techy teaching, walking, socialising, photographing stuff (more egs below) and peer review.
More adventures from Photo School… Continue reading "Abstract Birmingham"
A little bit of family history was made today. This afternoon Moselele (the ukulele band I play in) performed a gig as part of a sensory weekend for the kids at Acorns Children's Hospice in Selly Oak.
There were four or five young people with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties listening in, along with carers and volunteers. Music is one of the things that stimulates the children with PMLD and as we ran through our set, some were smiling or waving their arms response to the music. It was a lovely sight.
But it was a particularly poignant day for me because my mum was Ann Cullinan, the founder of the Acorns Children's Hospice Shops. Here she is standing in front of the first charity shop in Cotteridge in 1987 – before the hospice even had a name.
When I got home from the gig, I went up into the attic to find a certain box containing a certain chapter of Acorns history.
Continue reading "From little Acorns…"
Every year, around the time of renewing my Flickr account, I pick out my favourite shots. I don't know if I'm getting more critical of my work, or not taking as many good shots, but last year I selected 75 for the final cut; this year it's just 15. So what's in them?
Well, seven water-based photos (eight if you count snow), two dogs, one swan, a flock of seagulls, three Petes, one Michael Grimes and a famous Berber. Two I included for reminding me of painters: a Vermeeresque hound and a Turneresque sunset. Two more are a direct result of Matt & Pete's Photo School. Enjoy the slideshow (or the static set)!
PS. I think this one is still my favourite. It speaks of spies going to secret rooftop rendezvous, or is that just me?
Sometimes holiday snaps produce something a little bit more artistic. I particularly like this moody photograph (of Pete) taken on the top of the rainy Parking 58 car park in Brussels. Why were we on a car park roof in the rain? Find out here. More Brussels trip posts are on Tourist Vs Traveller.
