Where do you come from cotton eye Joe....

The decision has been made to purchase the Canon D5 Mark2, yes all i need now is the money! I am excited, possibly a little too excited but this camera is possibly the most awesome bit of kit & I honestly believe will improve the quality of the files I am able to supply my clients.  My old camera I love but I have outgrown it and in a bid to continually improve my services and my images I want to step up and be counted as a Mark2 owner!

Somewhere it would have come in handy (with its crazzzzy high ISO settings) is the Barn dance i photographed this weekend.  Supporting my local residents association and Help The Heroes this dance and Mayfayre the following day turned out some great crowds, feel free to check out the pictures below.

Need your own events photography tips?  http://eepurl.com/pDjH

RSVP......

I have been very busy this week predominantly working on marketing material and am very excited about getting a portfolio designed and printed....the old school returns and I cant wait to give some of my clients something tangible to wrap their fingers around.  I attended RSVP on Thursday (I saw Alistair Guy if you know who that is, I have to admit I was slightly star struck!!) and have posted some images below so you can get a feeling for this Events event, the general feel was really positive and I was proud to bump into friends on a few of the stands including Group Seven Events and Ten by Fifteen structures.

I will follow later this week with some more images from the Bagatelles shoot, a good round up for that one and also some new additions to the stock library!

Bright Ideas...1

To compliment my Bright Ideas paper I have now decided to offer you a Bright Ideas post, so this will be posted every 2 - 4 weeks then the online newsletter based version as per normal every quarter.  You can download the published edition each quarter so that at the end of the year you have your very own guide packed full of good ideas on how to use your imagery to your brands best advantage be it PR, Events or advertising photography being discussed.


To get things started lets look at Start Ups, this can also apply to all brands really wishing to cement or illustrate their brand core values, people, style and business with photography.  These are all Bright Ideas however that I would suggest you might like to consider.


When you read text your brain conjures up visual images.  When you hear the word 'exciting' or 'community' your brain again creates mini visuals in your head, people tend to think visually.....


1) The home page on your website should definitely have a strong image on it.  It should give the viewer an insight into what your company does but also how they do it.  So if your traditional in method then maybe use more traditional photographic or imaging process's, or if you are modern and fresh then express this using lighting by making things clean, bright or colourful.  
2) Think about using images on the different pages of your site or in various sections.  For example, you have a contact us page...make it more inviting by illustrating that contact through a photograph of a telephone box, a phone cable, a handshake, maybe something a little bit more quirky.  Get creative!
3) Incorporate your core values into each image and make sure the pictures remain consistent, so the same 'style' of shot throughout.  Offer continuity & recognition as all of this will help people to remember your business and build up a picture of it in their head.  
4) Fit the images with your brand colours or logo.  So think of things like what colour text the images are going to be used alongside, what other pictures are being used on the same page and even try and incorporate some of your brand colours into the picture.  You don't have to go crazy but just suggestions or hints will work great.
5)....Ok I could go on but the post would end up far too long to read & there will be nothing left to put in the next one!!  If you found these useful and want to have a chat further about finding the right photographs for your new website, marketing material or promotional goods then get in touch; I would be happy to offer any advise I can.

English Music Festival....

The end of May brings the English Music Festival, a highly respected charitable event where hidden English Classics are bought to the forefront and celebrated over a number of days and concerts.  I will be there this year snapping away and capturing some imagery suitable for marketing and PR use in the future but to get things started I needed to get a few snaps of the founder, Em Marshall.  We took these in a beautiful pub in Richmond.

For more information on the English Music Festival visit their site here.