Kinmount House | Classic Elegance

Kinmount House | Francesca & Sydney

My first time visiting Kinmount House in Annan, and I was welcomed with a great smile and such a warming embrace. Kinmount House, to me, is the perfect depiction of elegance. The buildings architecture, the surrounding gardens and just the natural vast landscapes… I could not have had imagined a better setting for Sydney & Francescas special day.

After meeting Francesca & Sydney, I straight away knew their vibe - they were my people! They were so accommodating and if I needed absolutely anything, they were ready to answer. In the morning the weather was, well? Scottish, but very calming and the bridal party was relaxed. The music came on and the morning started to ramp up. Smiles everywhere, laughter till your stomach hurt and tears when due - you could definitely tell the day had come for these two!

Kinmount House, as I said earlier, could not be more welcoming. This transferred to everything they done throughout the day if we needed any help for anything, there was always someone to ask or assist. I could not speak any more highly of them if I was asked, which is a great first-time and definitely not the last time, experience of the venue!

On the day, I was working with some of the greatest in the industry with the likes of ShadesOfSax getting the party started, WhatHannahDoes with the most impressively creative wedding favours you could get and obviously myself and the talented Rory from RHBmedia on the filming. Absolute dream-team of suppliers, if I do say so myself!

Overall, the day was outstanding. I would say amazing, but that was surpassed. Everything just fell into place for Francesca & Sydney and I think I speak for everyone at that wedding, including suppliers and staff when I say that they are very well together and some of the nicest people you will ever meet. I want to say thank you to them both for having me! It was an absolute blast and if anyone else is thinking of having Kinmount House as their wedding venue - don’t ponder, get it booked!

Dumfries House | Summer Wedding

DUMFRIES HOUSE | NORMAN & MIRANDA

The setting, Dumfries House in the peak of summer celebrating the love that Norman & Miranda have for each other. Picture it, the sun is high in the sky, friends and family are smiling and chatting away whilst Norman & Miranda get ready in the beautifully elegant setting surrounded by history of Scotland. It is perfect!

My first time here, I was working with the amazingly talented Mikey from One3weddingfilms. We had previously worked together a lot, so we knew exactly how to work the wedding day. We immediately caught the “vibe” and got to capturing the day. Miranda & Norman are some of the nicest and down to earth people I have had the pleasure of working with, so the day just became very easy to capture. Both sides of family were great! A proper good laugh and always wanted to make sure we were set. Couldn’t ask for a better wedding couple!

The staff at the venue! Incredible. Dumfries House has some of the most helpful, approachable and driven team I have had the pleasure of working with in the wedding industry. Plenty of help when needed, including a designated wedding car given to manoeuvre around the estate for some amazing wedding photographs and video.

How would I summarise the wedding of NORMAN & MIRANDA | DUMFRIES HOUSE. It was radiating. The vibe from the day, the weather on the day, the couple were a ball of joy and the friends and family made the day the most complete wedding experience. If you are considering a wedding at Dumfries House, I cannot recommend this venue enough based in Scotland. Winter or summer, the interior of the place is remarkable and the exterior is breathtaking, surrounded by beautiful landscapes - you cannot go wrong.

Eloping In Scotland - Scottish Elopements And Weddings

So, eloping in Scotland?

GREAT IDEA.

LETS CHAT.

When deciding to celebrate, what I call, the '“life graduation” when you have both decided that you know what? This is the person for me. This, is who I want to be with for the rest of my life. That’s absolutely class.

Because you know what? It should be class. You have both found the person you want to laugh with, cry with, figure out with shitty stuff with and have a home with. The person you will have a dog or cat with, the person you’ll pick-up a coffee from Starbucks for and lets not forget… the person you’ll have a we dog (or cat) with. That’s absolutely class.

ELOPEMENT OR WEDDING?

hmmmm….

When deciding upon this, make the decision based on what feels right to you, not by what feels “normal”. Well, what do I mean by “normal”. By normal, I mean the tradition set years back to celebrate with hundreds of people, very formally and that takes years to prepare for.

Now, am I saying weddings are a bad idea? Absolutely not! I love weddings, it’s a lovely time to get the family together; have a few stories exchanged; get pissed and forget what happened the night before - with more memories created in the process. Also, meeting family members you last met when you were in nappies is always fun! Anyway, getting carried away. Weddings are beautiful, but, so are elopements.

Sure, weddings are fun. But, have you ever gone to a place with someone you care about and just sat, admired the surroundings, looked at the person and felt like you are overflowing with pride, joy, love, excitement and happiness? That’s eloping. Elopements are all those feelings with the factor on-top of knowing you are finally getting to legally declare your love for one another for the rest of your lives.

You get to go somewhere breathtaking without worrying about how others will get there; you get to go places maybe you wouldn’t have thought of ever going and with all this, you can get these moments captured to never forget (hehe, that’s where I come in… pls book me.)

CONCLUSION?

DO WHAT YOU TRULY FEEL.

I know I may seem like I am swinging more for elopements, I just love them. But, I love weddings too. The morale of this is that you should do what you both mutually feel is right, not what you both feel is socially correct.

I would love to hear from some of you in the future after reading this that you either eloped or had a traditional wedding! If you do read this far, firstly congratulations! But secondly, I would love to hear some of your stories in the comment section below as to what you did if you’re already married; what you’re going to do if you’re not yet married and what swayed that decision or if you even thought about elopement at all.

Exploring The Beauty Of Scotland - Photographers Perspective.

SCOTLAND

Scotland is a place we all know and love… at least when the weather is like it has been recently!

Recently I got the chance to go away for three days to Oban, Inveraray and Tarbert. Now, I am a Glasgow boy so all I know is first busses and empty bucky bottles on the streets of Glasgow - the norm of our city, but it’s class, people make Glasgow. Wouldn’t change it for the world.

But, when you get the chance to venture out, leave the city and break down the things that consume you like internet; mobile devices; electronics; watching endless TV; shopping for no reason - when you are taken away from all this consumerism and just bad habits you actually get to see what a beautiful place this world is and in my case it is Scotland. My country of birth and I had never seen it in the light I saw it in that I did last week.

INVERARAY

We made a quick pit-stop on the way to Tarbert at Inveraray during the week on a Monday - doing this we got to experience the quietness of the small town but also the amount of tourists we get through Scotland and for a small town it filled up quickly throughout the hour or two we were stopped for. This place was beautiful. From the local markets to the locals in general, the friendliest of people you could meet. Having this time with my family made me realise life is great and as a photographer I had to capture these moments while they last to share not only with the world but my future family to come. Here is some of the photographs from Inveraray.

OBAN

Getting to Oban was a HAUUUUUGEEE PAIN IN THE AR-… Anyway, this post is about the beauty of Scotland… Moving on!

We were at Oban for around half a day, this was the busiest place we had been to on our three day trip and let me tell you, getting parked near the seafront is one of the most difficult things ever especially with four drivers getting parked in the same place.

Something about the waters; the beautiful architecture; the friendly locals; the tourists having fun and the friends and family with us it all combined just made for breath taking moments and photographs. I believe in minimalism, being away for three days with basically no internet connection, having everyone in one cabin at night; cooking homemade food and having a little drink; watching old homemade films and playing around with the youngins - it really just gives you a feeling that no electronic, purchase, item or money can give. It is like a constant flood of endorphins throughout the whole day. Visiting Oban and seeing all the historic landmarks there and where Scotland came from and is doing is really mesmerising, the amount of crafted individuals Scotland had and keep producing is fantastic and I am very proud to be Scottish. Here are a few of the photographs from Oban - with some family pictures included!

TARBERT

I didn’t have many pictures from the actual place we stayed as I was more focused on spending time with the family other than snapping away pictures - but it was beautiful. The cabins were really homely and warming, it was bliss. I came to the realisation at these three days away there is nothing more important than family and keeping close. I do not want to get sucked into consumerism and capitalism instead wish to live a minimalistic life; travel the world with the best people and document it through my art - photography. Scotland is such a beautiful place and these places I visited were only a few of the places Scotland has to offer and I want to see my country and its beauties. If I had any word of advice to my generation and the generation after me it is put the phone down; go out and connect with people not through a device; save your money and travel the world. Forget the newest iPhone; the newest fashion trend; the newest DSLR - use your money to a gateway to freedom (or as close to freedom as we can get, if you know what I am saying haha…) so, here is a few family photographs of Tarbert.

How To Take The Best Photograph

TAKING THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHS

p.s. to the person who invented rule of thirds - please f**k off (just kidding you have saved our lives too many times to count… INTO THE ARTICLE)


So, let me save you some time. Put away your notepad; come off the notes app on your mobile and clear your intentions of taking any sort of informal notes from this post. Although it will contain true facts from photography basics, I will be writing about how myself and other photographers take the best photographs we possibly can in whatever we are shooting.

RULE OF THIRDS

Framing is a huge part of photography and the balance of what is in the frame. The rule of this is that your sensor is divided into sections which you have to create a balance of objects within your subject or frame the subject from the rule of thirds which is true, although, you can totally disregard this rule where ever you see fit. Some of the best photographs I have ever seen taken and taken myself defy these laws of rule of thirds, if you are going to break this rule it usually is down to creativity and how you want your shot to turn out.

COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPHY

Even though this is not in-camera, this type of photography if you have thought out how the end result will look this can step-up your photography game by levels, and then I say levels? I mean… LEVELS. Recently I have been testing this out and so far not many people have been able to tear apart my composite photographs between my in-camera shot photographs. This isn’t to trick your viewers, some people do this photography very well and let it be known it is a composite but you can also do some subtle changes that make your photograph pop for example add in a plane; add in a person; change the sky; add particles, you name it! It is just that final push to your photograph that can make a boring image into a perfect image just by seeing what is in your library of images or going out and shooting a composite in mind.

ZOOM WITH YOUR FEET

You may have heard this before to “zoom with your feet” and no, I know what you’re thinking it is not a sonic reference or naruto run - although, that would be pretty fun, it’s not. Have you ever been out in street photography with a prime lens say a 50mm or 35mm and been like “ah damn, if only I had zoomed in closer” or “if only I had cropped my framing” well, you can’t, it is a fixed focal length so you do have to move and that is what taught me that moving into and out of a photograph can make it drastically better and saves all the cropping in lightroom which can make the photographs at final a bit… choppy? Yeah, choppy.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS

Photography is about capturing and when you can capture anything you imagine that is special - anything you visually imagine you can virtually create through rule of thirds and composite photography. Between the two, you defy the laws of photography that were set out when photography began. I believe in breaking the rule of thirds very frequently and being different also leading to why I now composite as your photograph could be great right? But why be great when it could be outstanding. I will leave some of my photographs below which I have shot either breaking rule of thirds or have composites, enjoy the photographs.

PETER MCKINNON

Oh, and I almost forgot. Watch this guy to instantly step up your photo game; video game; YouTube game; anything creative game - listen, the guys a genius. I will link a video of his top five tips on photography and hope you learn a-lot from him in his previous and to come videos.

What's up guys! Today, I'm sharing 5 easy tips that you can use right away to start taking better photos. No extra gear required, just a bit of thought and about 10 extra seconds of your time! Start implementing some of these steps and you will rapidly improve your photo taking skills.

Making Money As A Creative

HOW TO MAKE MONEY AS A CREATIVE

So I am guessing you are reading this article after a long day in your hospitality, office, retail or whatever industry job you have - point is, you are not happy and considering freelancing in whichever creative field you are in. Read this.

 

LET’S BEGIN

There are a few things to take into consideration when you are thinking of going freelance in a creative field such as what is it you are wanting to sell; do your services have oomph; do you have a passion for your creativity; how much will you and are you going to make; are you willing to go through rough patches ect. These are a few of the factors you have to etch into your big plan when laying down the foundations before you flip off your boss and run for the door with dollar signs in your eyes - chill, slow down and build steady.

YOUR PASSION

You don’t have to be a genius to work it out that you need to have the drive and passion for whatever it is you are wanting to pursue creatively in a freelance world because if others cannot see the determination and drive you have for your business then no one will? And what was the point leaving your comfortable salaried or contracted job for something you are half arsing? Exactly, no point. If you put in minimum effort you get minimum results it is math 101. But, if you put in your all you will see the results, reap the benefits and others will see you mean what you say and you are genuine in what you do. Say someone has the option to hire you or someone for a wedding; you, the person who has all the equipment; is fully qualified for the job; has an outstanding portfolio due to working your ass off and has their “creativity and determination on their sleeve” vs. someone who is fully qualified; has a portfolio of client work; has all the camera gear but no passion - it is just a person with a camera and remembers the rule of thirds, camera angles, how exposure works yadayada. The point is, if you do not have your determination and passion to the max, no one is going to believe in what you are selling them because if you don’t believe in it no one will and people can smell that a mile off.

CREATIVITY

Don’t be scared to be different, the market of visual creation is way too over-saturated in this digital age for you to follow in the footsteps of your idols - sure, look up-to them, take inspiration but be yourself. I cannot be bothered seeing another Brandon Woelfel neon sign portrait or another photo of a girl standing in a field playing with wheat. Whilst those photographs are great and aesthetically please people the thing is you wont remember it, it wont stain in your viewers memory. Try taking your viewers outside their comfort-zone of instagram (complying with the law obviously, don’t do some dodgy shit) and make your audience remember you. After all, how do you think neon lighting portraits got named Brandon Woelfel portraits? You work it out.



FINANCES

Let me start this off by saying for the love of God please do not undercut your services simply to make a quick buck. Value your services and charge market prices. I have done this before and do it regularly but not by a huge amount, if you love doing what you are doing and you do it to a great standard but just simply want more work then sure feel free to do this but do not do it in a significant price drop as you are underselling yourself. This links to my point of passion if someone is qualified same as you; has the same high end gear like you; has a portfolio professional like you but they charge £150 less or £200 less whatever the price, that is significant. Whilst they may get bookings and may seem like they’re doing alot they are undercutting for a reason. Now, I am not saying everyone undercutting is skeptical but people I have known to undercut by tis much with a high skill level are simply in it for the money or have no drive to be creative or which ever reason it is, there usually is a reason ti the major undercut. Do not do this to yourself if you have the passion, creativity and know your worth as you will make a name for yourself if you build steadily and become reliable to clients as word of mouth will spread and so will your finances because when your skill level increases; when your job possibilities rise and you secure more high tier jobs then guess what? So does your price bracket leading you to financial freedom once you reach the top and you will as long as you believe.

So, What Do I Think?

Just be yourself. Do things you would do normally; show off your skills whenever and where ever you can; keep challenging yourself; remain happy and humble no matter how big of opportunities you get and always value your services. If you believe in something to your core and you can show that to someone, chances are they’ll believe in it too and in the situation where you have to sell a service to someone it will not come across as “selling” it will come across as a conversation, as a human interaction as us as people we value that in the world of business. So, be you, be happy and keep creating you bunch of beautiful people!

Writers block: PHOTOGRAPHY EDITION

Ever hit a wall with photography? Do you have “writers block” but instead of the pen and paper it is the camera and drawing board?

SIMPLE STEPS TO KEEP THE CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING

FOLLOW THESE STEPS TO KEEP YOURSELF ON YOUR TOES

Photograph by www.quotecatalog.com

 

  1. CHALLENGE YOURSELF

  2. CHANGE UP GEAR

  3. COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS

  4. SHOOT OUTSIDE YOUR GENRE

  5. RE-CREATE OLD PHOTOGRAPHS

  6. CREATE WORK FOR ZINES

CHALLENGE YOURSELF

“A challenge is something new and difficult which requires great effort and determination.”

Challenging yourself in life should be a regular occurrence, wether it be hiking that mountain you have been putting off for years; running that marathon for a great cause but your work demands are too time consuming; presenting your first public presentation as a bag full of nerves. These are very real things, as big as the ones listed or as small as taking a walk to the shops with severe anxiety. All these things are challenges, every challenge has the same end goal which is to overcome a difficult task which requires great effort and determination, I would say that you apply this to every aspect in life which is challenging, and hey? If you want photography as a main income so badly, the only person stopping you in this freelance world, is you. Go out, shoot outside your comfort-zone; shoot in new profiles for different contrasts and colours; buy filters and explore more creative thought-out techniques or maybe try moving image and video. There is always a new challenge in photography, you just have to be willing to venture and find new perspectives just like you would when photographing a subject till you find that sweet spot.

CHANGE UP GEAR

I don’t know about you, but I cannot afford the newest prime lenses as soon as they drop or the new Canon and Nikon DSLRs - does this stop me from switching up gear? Nope. I have found shooting on disposable film cameras so entertaining as if I were a kid again playing with new toys at Christmas. Not into disposable cameras? Try an actual SLR 35mm, whilst it will challenge you like point number one, you will learn the invaluable lessons of making sure all your settings are calculated to perfection before taking the shot which many of us never got the change to experience as DSLRs took over the scene.

I am also going to guess you have some zoom lenses - sell ‘em. Well, don’t just go out on a lim and throw them to the closest store for a quick buck, trade them up, get some prime lenses under your belt and watch your photography game change and your portfolio with it. Sure, prime lenses can be a bit more expensive but the image quality you get; the premium feel of the glass; having to change your own stance, perspective and vision to capture the image you desire instead of simply zooming in and out with a trigger happy finger - trust me, the prime ways are so much better and force you to think differently before firing off the shot.

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COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS

Got some people on the gram you admire? Reach out - the worst case scenario they say no. I am always trying to collaborate with others if I like their work both models and other photographers, I just feel it is always good to see someone else’s vision to the same subject and how they would approach your ideas then vice versa.

SHOOT OUTSIDE YOUR GENRE

So are you a portraiture photographer? Shoot architecture. A documentary photographer? Shoot portraiture. A product photographer? Shoot documentary - always push yourself outside your field and genre even if it doesn’t work, you’ll gain experience and it’ll feel new and challenging which will give you motivation to complete it so you have something to look forward to when shooting.

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RE-CREATE OLD PHOTOGRAPHS

Re-creating old photographs either of mines or historic photographs is a personal favourite of mines as you could have a photograph that was amazing a few months back to years, but you’ve noticed a few flaws - re-shoot it. You would be surprised to see how much better your images can be with minor subtle adjustments! Or even better, creating pre to modern historic images for comparison in years to come - what may seem like a boring street shot now, could be the next historic comparison in years to come.

CREATE WORK FOR ZINES

Now, zines. I haven’t gotten round to making zine yet but it is essentially a body of work in a small magazine like booklet which can be very creatively challenging as you have to think out sizes, design, positioning throughout the whole book as you want the zine to flow nicely for the viewers experience. I aim to make my first zine by the end of 2019 possibly making it about Christmas as Scotland has the Edinburgh and Glasgow Christmas markets.

When should photographers work for free, if ever? - SMPhotography

When, if ever, should photographers work for free?

The big question, especially if starting out in photography is… what should I charge? I remember back when I got my first clien-… Infact, scratch that, my first actual conversation about having a possibly paid job. It was a great feeling, everything was going well and I was establishing a true connection before the business side swept in as I felt that link was more important than pushing a business proposition.

I made sure the person wishing to hire me was comfortable and trusted me as a person before the money came into the equation as the client will feel at ease and that will make their decision in picking you the easiest decision of them all. The way you need to see it is, every photographer, videographer, writer, director or creative in general can all offer the same service - you need to have the service that sells, you need to give someone an experience and make them feel like they’re having an actual human interaction as if it were a friend. This usually is what has worked for me, and hey? If you do make a few friends through clientele work that’s a winwin.

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1. Know your worth

We all have a skillset as creatives whatever category you fall into wether it be videographer, photographer, writer, artist you name it. And, as freelancers we have to respect ourselves and know our self worth. What about all those student loans you’ve taken out during your studies? What about all those hours spent learning? All those likes on the Gram and your following? That’s all worth something, even if it is a few dollars here and there - your service is worth something and you need to let people know that.

2. Equipment and subscriptions

“Oh hey man, what do you use to edit your photos? They look sick”

“Wow, your shots are beautiful, what camera do you use?”

“Is that the new X lens everyones using? Wish I had that man!”

How many times have you heard such or relative questions to these? I bet it will be in the thousands! These things aren’t cheap. When people are hiring you they’re not just paying for your amazingness, they’re hiring out your camera gear, your hours of editing in those paid subscription applications, your smexy premium glass thats on your elite full-frame [mirrorless or non mirrorless… although I prefer non mirrorless] camera. People know you have such things they do not have access to, that all comes into consideration when negotiating a price if it be hourly, set, daily or whatever you decide to do - your gear which accumulates up into possibly thousands worth is all in the price you set for yourself which also relates back to my first point - know your self worth.

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3. Exposure and popularity gain

Ever heard someone propose that if you shoot for them you will get photo cred? I can bet with my life you have. Or even better, for exposure? While I argue this does sometimes have great opportunities but sometimes not. For example, if you have a really big brand or person coming toward you asking and you know it will cause more traffic through your website and socials then I would say do it - the experience of working with big brands or online influencers is invaluable when starting out or even if you haven’t worked for them before. Now, on the other hand, you have the smaller people which say you can have exposure, photo cred, you name but just not a paid job… I would tend to fly by these chances. Not to say that you are ungrateful? But it is just, exposure cant pay the bills, neither can photo cred and that is the harsh reality of it.

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4. When to work for free

This is what you are all here for, while the answer is short and simple but still difficult in some ways, it comes to this - work for free as you see fit. Personally I have worked for free for musicians I love, friends and family, to get “a foot in the door”. The thing is, you cannot continue to work for free for the rest of your life, otherwise you cannot live the rest of your life. Who is going to pay your bills? Who is going to buy your groceries? Who is going to keep paying for your Adobe packages? You need to charge something, even if it is small amounts here and there - do it. I hate the financial side of photography as it is something I love, something I can pour any emotion into and give it my all to then see a body of finished work and feel proud to present that. It is an outlet to me and whilst I would love to work for free if money wasn’t a thing the harsh reality is it very much is so and it is getting more intimidating in life as we progress through leading to many creatives such as myself to hit the panic button, but it will all work out. If someone can see your drive, passion and determination along with the personal friendly links you establish during talking to potential clients and especially offering unique and different services - you are set, you’ve won, and I promise you that.

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How does music photography feel?

Music photography huh? How does it feel to capture and document a band or musicians energy? I’ll share my experience with this.

Music photography to me has always and will always be an all-time favourite, forever. The feeling of running around the stage, constantly staying switched on to be ready to change settings according to light situations; feeling the music run through you and sharing an emotion with the crowd; experiencing the rollercoaster of feelings before during and after the performance is magical and it always comes then goes - never the same, the feelings always change each time and I always get amazed everytime.

Glass Caves - 16.02.19

Glass Caves - 16.02.19

One of my absolute favourite bands to shoot is and always will be Velvet. They are an upcoming five-piece band from Glasgow, Scotland. I first captured this band at The Classic Grand, their performance shocked me I was absolutely blown away with the energy and music they produced for an upcoming band? They played like it was their last ever and continue to every gig. It was a huge challenge to capture these guys with the lights constantly changing; the guys running around putting on a show and the crowd jumping - this is what made me enjoy this from the photographers point as I was continuously challenged.

A few days gone past Velvet approached me and asked to have me shoot their gig in Audio, Glasgow which I grabbed with both hands. Also, fun fact, this was my first ever paid music gig as I was not long in the music scene which made me very excited to earn money from something I love - music and photography. This was one of the best nights not just of my photography, but in general. Sharing the emotion with the guys beforehand; watching them pick their entrance music; becoming hyped up for the stage and being able to capture all this? Subliminally magic. This is why I will always do music photography and this is why I love Velvet.