Something Rare

Today something extremely rare happened on Flickr. It was something that restored my fast fading faith in the place. Of course, to the usual fleeting, superficial visitors it would have gone largely unnoticed. But for me it genuinely made my day.

And what was this occurrence?

It was nothing more than a comment left. But this wasn’t any kind of comment. It wasn’t a “wow” or a “fantastic” or a “brilliant” one word response left in the hope I would return the same and feed another shallow ego. In fact, it wasn’t because the gentleman in question was particularly complimentary about my photography; indeed had he been really scathing I would have been equally as happy.

No what pleased me is this gentleman took the time to really study the photo in question, to analyse it and contemplate it. Too often you know people are hardly looking at the photos they comment upon. In fact, I’ve even discovered when pointing things out in other peoples photographs, the photographer hasn’t even noticed things in their own photo. However, this gentleman then took the time to comment on how he had read the photo, not in one or two meaningless exclamatory words, but with genuine thought and intelligence.

Can a photographer really ask for more than that?

This was a gentleman I had never come across before on Flickr. He wasn’t a “contact” fulfilling his duty or obligation. This was someone who just happened across my photography and actually bothered to give intelligent feedback.

Sometimes it amazes me when I see people with hundreds of contacts on Flickr. How’s it possible to really view and keep up with so many people? It’s not. Making others contacts is just a way to raise one’s popularity. I’m no longer interested in those who are there for their egos.

So thank you to that gentleman.

Thank you for being sincere and genuine.

And the winner is...

Lisa Snowdon announcing the winners of the Currys Our Lives Digital Photography Competition, at the Mall Galleries last night.

...not me! As expected none of my shortlisted photos were the eventual winners in this years Currys Our Lives Digital Photography Competition, announced at the special awards evening at Mall Galleries, last night, by model and TV presenter Lisa Snowdon.

The overall winner, as well as winner of the O ur People catagory, was Sandboy by Jonny Thatcher. Showing a young boy curled up in a hole in the sand on the beach in Hunstanton, it certainly had the cute "ahhh" factor, as well a nice muted tones and lovely light.

Winner of the Our Culture catagory was This Is England Now by Kevin Lake which showed a monochrome scene of a couple of men, with a dog, running to escape a sudden summer shower. Shot from a low angle it was one of my personal favourites, so I was delighted it was selected as a winner.

The Our Environment catagory was won with Beauty & The Beast by Kathryn Ramsay. An intriguing shot of a power station creating a rainbow with the steam it was emitting into the atmosphere it was certainly a beautiful shot. Kathryn also wins my special award for sexiest dress of the evening and prettiest winner!

Man At Work by Bernard Yeo was the winner of the Our Work catagory. Dramatically showing a trainee welder at work, with sparks flying everywhere, it was certainly an eye-catching piece.

It was a fun evening made even more enjoyable by the glasses of bubbly and live jazz band. I'd encourage you all to enter next year, should you have the chance!

Bright Lights, Big City

Tonight is the night, so to speak. Yes it’s the awards evening and private showing at the Mall Galleries, in London, of the Currys Our Lives Photographic Competition. Canapés, live music and complimentary bar whilst hobnobbing with celebrities (ok, maybe only Lisa Snowdon) and other talented photographers...will certainly make for an interesting evening.

Of course there’s all kinds of considerations before hand...how do I dress, how early/late do I arrive, etc etc.

Whilst not expecting to win (the short listing was good enough for me!) you still feel you have to go along...just in case! However, having visited the exhibition a couple of times already I can safely say there are plenty more competent and deserving photos than mine. So it will be fascinating to see who the lucky winners will be.

Watch this space tomorrow...for details of the evening!

Time Out Showcase

I'm delighted to say that I am again to be showcased in Time Out London magazine.

The photo above, entitled 'Hide & Seek', will be appearing in next week's print edition of the magazine.

I was previously showcased back in June, but it was nice that this time around Time Out actually approached me about the feature.

I seem to be going through bit of a purple patch at the moment. Much of this, no doubt, is down to me promoting and raising my profile as much as I can, as it is the quality of my work.

So get out there and let people know what you are doing...it will pay off in the end!

Two Photography Competitions!

News of two big photography competitions for you all. Do you have travel style shots of London, Paris, Barcelona or Istanbul? You do? Good! Then you should head on over to the competition being run by Pikeo in conjunction with Lonely Planet Travel Guides.

You will have to register with Pikeo and upload your images there into specific groups. There will be 4 winners (one for each location) and as well as winning a dream trip your image will feature on the cover of the new Lonely Planet guide to those locations. There are also a number of other prizes for runners up. You have until 8th September to participate. Click here for more details.

The second competition is the National Geographic International Photography Contest. Running until 31 October it is looking for images of people, places and nature. Prizes include a DSLR and a trip to Washington DC. All winning entries will also be published in National Geographic. You can enter up to 6 images. Click here for more details.

Remember, you have to be in it to win it!

Orwellian Watch (Part One)

Those of you who know me will know my views on overzealous security guards, police officers and community support officers harassing innocent photographers. So it saddens me to learn of the case of Dr Andrew Medina, a keen amateur photographer, who was hassled by security guards in Birmingham for daring to use, that supposed terrorist’s weapon of choice, a camera.

There for an international photography event, Dr Medina decided to photograph the iconic Mailbox building where he had been staying. Immediately he was approached by security guards who demanded to know why he was photographing the building, implying he was a potential terrorist and even tried to snatch his camera off of him.

Thankfully Dr Medina received a letter apology from the owners of the Mailbox building but it still leaves me wondering if anyone has been successfully prosecuted under anti-terrorism laws for brandishing a camera, or if there is any direct link to a photographer following a terrorist outrage? If not, what is the real reason for this over aggressive and paranoid targeting of photographers?

Read the full story here.

Londonist Behind The Lens

I'm pleased to say that the excellent website Londonist have featured me in their ongoing series Londonist Behind The Lens.

So if you want to find out about my dark TV secrets, my strange dreams and how a snowstorm led to me coming into this world go and check out the feature now!