Shooting Camera-Shy Clients

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to shoot an engagement session.

A friend of mine from school days (which I don't mind admitting is a while ago now) got hold of me because he had seen some shots I had posted on Facebook. This is one of the few times Social Media has led to actual work for me. I know it really helps some photographers, and I make the effort and put in the time, but it doesn't often pay dividends for me.

More about that in a future post perhaps.

That said, this time it did pay off.

We agreed to meet at Hampstead Heath in North West London, because it was full of outdoor options and happened to be close to where they lived.

I arrived a little early and settled in for a coffee while I waited. I fired up my iPad and googled around for images other people had taken in the area so I could familiarise myself with interesting shooting spots. This is something I now make a habit of doing. It's a way to give myself some space relax before shooting, as well as doing a bit of a virtual reccie of the area. Looking through other people's shots also inspires me and puts me in a 'shooting headspace'.

The couple arrived right on time and we got to talking as we strolled up the hill and onto the Heath.

And that's when she dropped it. The bride-to-be turned to me and said, "I just want you to know, I really don't like having my photo taken."

Ah.

Now what?

I mean you called me right? You wanted photographs.

It's a strange phenomenon, and it happens a lot around weddings, that couples who really dislike being in front of cameras feel the need to put themselves there anyway because, well, you have to. Everyone does.

So you are faced with people who simultaneously desperately want good photos of themselves, whilst wishing they didn't have to be in them.

They were a lovely couple and we got on pretty well right from the get go, but I knew that I was going to have to work hard to make them both feel comfortable in order for them to come across naturally in the images. I find that a camera picks up discomfort very astutely. The frozen moment gives you the opportunity to more finely observe an awkward stance or expression, and then cruelly preserves it in time.

So I would have to put them at ease.

As the photographer that is my job. I am the one who lives in this space. Photography and cameras are my comfort zone (although I still don't like being in front of them that much either). It's my job to welcome them in to this space, like it would be my job to make them feel comfortable when visiting my home.

I can do this in a few ways:

Act like I know what I'm doing.

I kept telling them, "I'm good at this. I'll make it easy on you. This will be quick and painless, and even fun." That way they know that I, as the professional, will absorb all the pressure. It feels good to be in the hands of a professional in any sphere. If my computer breaks and I take it in to a technician who tells me that he is great at what he does, and he will get my computer working again soon, I feel instantly more at ease. His confidence gives me confidence in him. Admittedly, sometimes I have to fake that confidence myself, but I know it's worth it because the shots will show a more relaxed and natural subject.

Let them know they are doing a great job.

I had to learn early on that I couldn't look at the shot I had just taken and frown. They would assume I was frowning at them. Truth is I was usually frowning at the fact that I had just stuffed up the lighting, but they would assume that I was a professional and that they were more likely the problem. Being in front of a professional photographer's lens is a very vulnerable place to be. Remember that. Cover your mistakes and give them the impression things are going well, even while you're working out a way to make that true. Most importantly, let them know they are doing great.

Spark conversations which makes them talk easily.

I got them talking about their wedding and plans for the future, even while I was posing them. This is when they both became more animated and began to act more like they were just sharing plans with a new friend. At rare moments I think they even forgot they were being shot and those were the moments I tried to grab.

Use the 'testing the lighting' trick.

I do this often. I get my subjects to pose somewhere and tell them to just relax for a couple of minutes and chat to each other while I 'dial in the lighting'. What they don't know is that I am shooting the whole time, hoping to capture less guarded moments with shots they assume don't count. I have gotten some of my most natural moments this way. It's an old trick, but a goodie.

I'm sure you have a load more tricks, and I would love to hear them, but either way, it is your job to put your subjects at ease. Create a professional atmosphere, swallow your own insecurities, absorb the pressure, and make them feel at home

Here are some more shots from the day:

Photography with a Conscience

I was asked a little while ago to shoot some photos for a charity event. A bunch of musicians were getting together to support Oxfam and their fight against global poverty, and one of the musicians, who I had shot at a previous gig, asked if I wouldn't mind donating my time to come and give the event some exposure.

My diary was free, so I was in.

I don't know about you, but ultimately I want my photography to mean something. By that I mean 1 of 2 things.

Either:

I want to use my skills to directly raise money for people who need it more than I do.

Or:

I want to use my abilities to tell the stories of people who need the exposure in the hope that it will draw the kind of attention which makes their lives better.

This charity event is an example of the former. It certainly didn't give me shots which I was that proud of. The lighting wasn't great and I just had to make do with a bad situation. From the moment I walked in the door I could tell this wasn't going to give me much, but then that wasn't the point. The shots were going to be used in the media to create exposure for Oxfam and it's cause. It's useless trying to measure the monetary effect these shots had at the end of the day, but for me it's enough to know that it could help redirect some funds towards those who desparately need it. I wasn't directly telling an inspiring story, but my work would hopefully help regardless.

If you're going to shoot these sort of events I think it's important just to go in to serve the cause and leave the results to others. Hopefully you are shooting for a charity you know and trust with the outcomes in the first place.

As for the latter; it is my dream job to shoot for a charity one day. More than portraiture, more than food photography, and certainly more than product photography, which just aids rich people in buying more things they likely don't need, I would love my photography skills to have a conscience about their use. Shortly before coming to London I applied for a job here to shoot for a Catholic Charity who run orphanages and homeless shelters the world over. The role would have been to travel to these different centers and visually tell the stories of the good work being done so as to help raise funds. I cannot think of anything more fulfilling to do with my camera than create this kind of exposure.

I didn't get the role, but I am always on the look out for my 'Holy Grail Job'.

Fredrick Buechner put it best when he said that, "Your vocation lies in the intersection of the world's great hunger, and your great joy."

I know this could easily be taken advantage of, but I am always looking to help a good cause, if I have the time to give. When they do present themselves I have to remember to go into these situations unselfishly. I'm shooting to tell a story, not with my portfolio in mind. If I hit two birds with one stone that's great, but the story comes first.

Take a look at the link to "The Give Back Project"  in the menu above to see an initiative I started where I challenge people out there to fund short films for worthy Charities.

Here are some of the shots from the night I mentioned at the start of the post:

And here are a couple of videos I have produced for charities which I felt needed the exposure:

I was sponsored recently to go along to the iThemba Camp in KZN, and shoot them a promotional video. It was such a great weekend and I have always found what they do so inspiring. The challenge was to shoot something which would make you feel what these camps are like for the kids, rather than the traditional promotional video which just fires info at you. I shot with x2 Canon 550D's (Prime lenses 24mm, 35mm and 50mm) and a Go Pro which I used for the bus shots and the underwater footage. It was edited and graded in Final Cut Pro X (which as a first time FCP user I'm actually enjoying). The music was purchased from SmartSound through Express Tracks. Enjoy.

My Life My Africa are doing some amazing work among the young people in Zandspruit squatter camp, Johannesburg. I shot this video to be used at the launch of their new project in a month's time, and to be taken around local companies in order to get funding for future work. I shot mostly with my Canon 550D, using my Canon HXA1s for the interview shots because of the better audio quality. I threw together a simple logo to use for the bottom right corner of the interview piece, but the client wasn’t happy with it so it was dropped from the final edit.

85mm: Focal Length Series

So this is the challenge I have given myself: to head out on a series of Photomissions where I am only allowed to use one focal length per session. I will walk the same route each time; between Waterloo Station and Oxford Circus Underground, and shoot using only one prime lens along the route to see what I can catch, and report back the experience and challenges of shooting with that particular focal length. I'm hoping to cover 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm.

This week it's the

85mm f1.8 prime.

NOTE: I am shooting on a full frame camera. If you're shooting on a cropped sensor camera (APS-C sensor) then these comments will apply more to a 50mm prime.

This is one of my favourite lenses at the moment.

I use it a great deal in the portrait shoots I do and love the way it separates the subject from the background, with beautiful bokeh and compression. With this in mind I knew I would be looking for individual subjects, and that this lens would give me the ability to pull them out of their surroundings.

Walking out of Waterloo this time I had to immediately adjust my viewpoint. I had last shot this route on the 24mm and was now on the other end of the spectrum. I stopped in the station for a little while and looked around through the viewfinder so I could lock the focal length into my minds eye. No point in jamming the camera up to my eye every few seconds for shots I would never be able to get at this focal length. I needed to be walking around with that 85mm frame in my mind to know what was possible, and to react to the right things.

I headed out and began looking for interesting people doing interesting things. It's something I am learning a lot at the moment: I would rather take a bad photo of an interesting subject, than take a slick photo of a boring subject. Learning to find those moments, or create them, and then capture them is really more than half the photographers job. We all focus so much on gear and techniques, but too few of us work on creating or finding great subjects which compel. We also have to come to terms with the fact that some days you'll find those subjects, and some you won't, and the only way to 'up' your chances is with perseverance, or "Tenacity!!", as my Grandfather would yell when giving his secret to life and success.

With street photography, you have to invest time. Be patient. Stay out as long as you can.

The other great thing about this lens is it allowed me stand off at a distance more often, and grab unguarded moments without being detected and altering the scene. I know that sounds voyeuristic, but it really is the nature of street photography. The moment someone notices you they will 'pose' or 'run', and you will have lost the opportunity to catch a real moment with a real human being. It's the constant battle of the reportage photographer: how to capture human beings without changing them. I know the arguments about shooting wider and being closer, but this longer focal length does have the payoff of anonymity, and right now that suits my non-confrontational style of photography well.

This Canon 85mm f1.8 is a fantastic lens. I only bought it recently and could kick myself for not buying it sooner. It's super sharp, with beautiful Bokeh. As a portrait lens it really is one of the best affordable primes and will give you professional results every time. Well worth a look.

Here are some more of the shots I got:

24mm: Focal Length Series

So this is the challenge I have given myself: to head out on a series of Photomissions where I am only allowed to use one focal length per session. I will walk the same route each time; between Waterloo Station and Oxford Circus Underground, and shoot using only one prime lens along the route to see what I can catch, and report back the experience and challenges of shooting with that particular focal length. I'm hoping to cover 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm.

This week it's the

24mm f2.8 prime.

NOTE: I am shooting on a full frame camera. If you're shooting on a cropped sensor camera (APS-C sensor) then these comments will apply more to a 15mm prime.

24mm was always going to be the difficult one. Usually when you shoot with this width you have a strong idea of the vista you want to capture, so it's not really suited to run-and-gun street photography. 

That said I did learn some things.

I set off from Waterloo about 7pm again to try and catch some 'golden hour' light. The moment I stepped out of the station I started shooting buildings because of the extra width. The problem I experieced immediately was the distortion I got with the lens. I had to be very careful about framing because, obviously, with a lens this wide I was getting the most distortion closest to the edges of my frame (barrel distortion) so it meant I was going to have to frame my subjects closer to the clean center and ignore the rule of thirds for the day. 

I haven't corrected the distortion in the images below so you can a feel for what I'm talking about.

You do get super wide prime lens which correct for this distortion, like the Canon 14mm rectilinear, but they are very expensive. You can also correct in post, but I find that the more you pull the image around, the more detail you lose.

After sticking to shooting buildings and wide scenes I decided to mix it up a bit so at one point I set myself the challenge of shooting a person with this focal length. To be surreptitious about it I found myself having to shoot from the hip. I almost bumped into the subject to get close enough without simply walking up and sticking the camera right in his face. You'll see below that he was busy dancing so didn't really notice me, but I was less than two paces away from him when I took the shot, so this obviously isn't a great lens for people unless you are looking for something more stylised and you are able to get right in your subjects face. Don't forget they will distort like crazy too so watch the shape, although you can get some pretty cool effects shooting portraits at this focal length, like this one  I shot a while ago.

The 24mm f2.8 I was using is another of the 'cheap plastic' primes from Canon. It performed ok. I'm not sure if I'm being harsh on it because I was grumpy about being stuck with such a wide focal length, but I found there wasn't as much latitude in the light and shade during the edit, and I really had to work at the sharpness of some of the images. It's still worth it as an inexpensive lens, but if you are a fellow pixel-peeper there are annoying little traits that may bug you.

I used to shoot a lot more landscapes than I do currently and I felt myself out-of-practice with this width. Nowadays I shoot mostly in the high rise confines of a city, or up close and personal with portraits and products. My 24mm doesn't come out of the bag much, but this little exercise made me want to get out into open space again and rekindle an old love for wide angle photography. 

Here are some of the shots:

35mm: Focal Length Series

So this is the challenge I have given myself: to head out on a series of Photomissions where I am only allowed to use one focal length per session. I will walk the same route each time; between Waterloo Station and Oxford Circus Underground and shoot using only one prime lens along the route to see what I can catch, and report back the experience and challenges of shooting with that particular focal length. I'm hoping to cover 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm.

This time it's my

35mm f2 prime.

NOTE: I am shooting on a full frame camera. If you're shooting on a cropped sensor camera (APS-C sensor) then these comments will apply more to a 24mm prime.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon when I set off from Waterloo, maybe a little too sunny. I was a bit early for the 'golden hour', which is only arriving about 7:30pm in the UK at the moment, but I decide to make the most of it anyway. 

The first thing I noticed, not having shot on this lens for while, is how wide true 35mm is. I was instantly faced with a problem when shooting on the street; if I wanted to capture subjects I would have to get right in their face to do it. I couldn't stand off at a distance and shoot without people noticing. I would have to make myself obvious. Some photographers are good at this, but I'm not one of them, yet. In fact it got me thinking at one point that good photographers are really half technique, and then half sheer balls to get themselves in a postion to get the interesting shots. I think I'm still too self conscious, which is something I have to work on.

So I ended up shooting more 'scenes' than 'subjects', which is maybe the point of this focal length.

I know many photojournalists swear by the 35mm focal length. They suggest that shooting an event with a long focal length, from across the street, will give your viewer a sense of separation from the action, because, perhaps subconciously, they know the shot was taken far from the action. If you chose to use a 35mm to capture the action there is no choice but to get in it's face, and you carry your viewer into the midst of the action with you.

What I did love about this focal length is the context it gives you. It allows you to place your subject in it's surroundings. I am most used to shooting portraits close up at 50mm or 85mm, which means that my background usually becomes insignficant bokeh, rather than meaningful context. I enjoyed getting the shots back home and looking around the corners of the image and seeing faces and details I didn't notice in the second I snapped the shutter. 

I was concerned that I would be stuck with a lot of image distortion with the extra width, but it really wasn't bad. I didn't end up correcting any of it, and 35mm seems to be the last prime on the way down to wide that gives you a relatively pleasing persective which isn't distracting.

The 35mm f2 I was using is one of the 'cheap plastic' primes from Canon, but I was really surprised by how sharp it was. It performed very well in different light conditions, and there was a lot of high contrast 'light and shade'. If you're thinking about rushing out and buying one I really would recommend it, but just note that you do have to 'baby' these lenses a bit to get them to last the years, because the build quality isn't that great, but if you're willing to love it, it will give you some great shots at a really affordable price.

This is a focal length I definitely want to play with more, although I will have to strap on a pair to do it well.

Challenge accepted.

Here are some more of the shots:

...and a selfie:)

Shooting at Big Gigs

I have followed Jamie Cullum's music since his 'Twenty Something' DVD  grabbed my attention, and then stayed on hard rotation in my DVD player for weeks on end back in 2004, much to the annoyance of my roommate at the time. He is one of the most talented musicians and dynamic entertainers out there today, in my humble opinion.

So when they advertised limited tickets for his pre-album launch show here in London, I immediately applied; and was lucky enough to be selected for a ticket in the second round.

I usually don't take my camera to big gigs, partly because of security issues, partly because I am unlikely to get good shots unless I wind up close to the stage, and partly because trying to shoot in those crowded situations can get in the way of enjoying the show.

But a few days before the gig Jamie's people sent out an email asking people to bring their cameras along because he wanted to film a crowd sourced video of one of his songs. The idea was that he would prompt the crowd to pull out cameras for a particular song and get them to film the entirety. Everyone would then head home after the gig and upload their footage to 45sound.com. The venue would upload their sound from the desk (likely post mixed) and fans could then view the song from a couple of hundred angles around the venue.

Great idea.

Mostly because it gave me an 'in' with my DSLR.

I arrived early to get a good spot in the front of the cue, but as we were being ushered through the security check point I was still pulled aside because I had a big camera bag on me. I found myself waiting in a pit off to the side, with a growing group of DSLR users, all pulling out our phones to show the 'Gig Nazis' the emails which had asked for us to bring cameras, all the while the rest of audience are streaming in ahead of us. I saw one guy head through with a Leica M9. I asked the security guy why he had let him go through and not me. He said, "Because he's only got a small camera. Yours is a professional one." He obviously had no clue what a Leica was and that it took much better pictures than mine. Got to get me one of those.

Eventually, after frantic conversations over walkie talkies, the 'misunderstanding' was cleared up and we were allowed into the venue with our gear.

The crowd had now filled up a 3rd of the room, but I managed to pull a sneaky maneuver via the arches and through the bar area to the left hand side of the stage. Why the left? The first thing I looked for when I walked into the room was to see which way his piano would be facing. Knowing I wouldn't be able to move around much, and that I would have to pick my angle from the start, I wanted to have a clear, over-the-shoulder-shot of his hands on the piano. The last thing I wanted was to be stuck on the opposite side of the piano and be shooting just the top of his head the whole night. 

So with some sneaky elbow work I made my way into the perfect position between his piano and his keyboard and was able to capture some great action. If there was a media pit that night, I would have been standing in it, so good was my position.

The other joy about big gigs like this is that the lighting does all the work for you. I could lock my settings into manual for most of the time and rely on the professional lighting rig to create some interesting mood changes. All I needed to be aware of was that I was never losing my exposure when the brightest lights hit his skin. Other than that I let the chips fall where they may. With gigs like this you can't be afraid of shadows, because you're not looking for even exposure of the whole scene. You're looking for good skin tone, and then you can allow the shadows to create mood and negative space.

I must admit that this is a once off for me. I don't enjoy shooting at big gigs, and unless you have a press pass it really isn't worth bringing your pro camera along to fight security and get frustrated over the shots you can't get because you can't move. Rather just enjoy the experience and forget that you're a photographer for a evening.

On this occasion I got lucky.

Here are some of the shots I got:

This is the video I shot from my prime location:

My view at the recent Jamie Cullum show at Heaven, Under the Arches in London. New album Momentum coming out very soon!

Respecting the Room

I love going to quiet, intimate gigs and listening to acoustic music by solid song writers. I'm really lucky here in London to know people who organise some amazing evenings on a regular basis where writers and performers of insane quality pedal their melodious wares.

I went through to one such gig at The Old Queens Head in Angel on a recent public holiday.

I'll be honest and say that I find shooting at these gigs quite challenging. It's often difficult to strike a balance between moving about and getting interesting shots, and making sure I am no distraction to the artists, or those enjoying the music. The fact is though that you have to move around because, at the end of the day, you are shooting the same individual, in the same sort of pose, against the same background. So you have to find ways to mix it up, whilst being respectful of everyone else in the room, and not making a nuisance of yourself.

I have made a few simple rules that I follow:

1. DISCRETION: I don't move during a song. I find a spot during the applause break and stay there until the next one. This often means having a quick look around the room before the gig kicks off and picking a couple of angles I'd like to shoot from. I also make sure that if I stand in those spots which will give me the shots I want, that I'm not obstructing anyones view. I don't have the right to ruin someone else's experience of the gig, just because I have a camera in my hand.
2. TIMING: Once I've chosen a spot for the song, I wait for a moment. I use the timing of the song, and the structure, to anticipate highlight moments where the artist will hit a high note or do something interesting with their instrument. Don't just fire continuously. I was at a gig recently where this guy was running around the room, standing in front of the patrons and blocking their view, whilst shooting away on burst mode with his camera which obviously made for a huge distraction. Don't do that! Respect the room. Your shots will also be better if you are deliberate about when you click the shutter, rather than just adopting the 'spray and pray' approach.
3. APPRECIATION: I always make sure to enjoy the song. I feel personally like I am doing the artist a great disservice if I am just concentrating on the shots I'm taking rather than enjoying the moment they're creating, especially in an intimate venue. In that moment I attempt to be present and soak up what's going on. I came to listen to music, and shooting the musician is a bonus. I never want to end up going to gigs TO shoot musicians (unless it's a job). I am there to appreciate the work the artist has put in. I see too many photographers shooting gigs and I think to myself, "Wow, you missed that entire set because you were obsessively shooting and chimping." Be a fan first! I think it will come through in your images.

This particular day I shot everything with my 50mm and 85mm primes, and I tried to use the afternoon light coming in through the windows wherever possible. I often shoot in these venues at night so I was keen to have these photos stand out from the rest by making the most of the sunlight coming in.

Here are a few of the shots I took. I have added links to the artist's web pages below the images. Be sure to look them up. They are all very good at what they do.

(Some of you may recognise the second shot is a Bokeh Panorama made up of 12 stitched shots.)

Antonio Lulic and John Parker

www.antoniolulic.com

Kal Lavelle

www.myspace.com/kallavellemusic

Russell Swallow

www.russellswallowandthewolf.co.uk

...and for a giggle, this was the impromptu media pit including the talented duo from Mid Tea Sessions. A very respectful group of photographers who shoot music professionally:

Mid Tea Sessions

midtea.com

Bokeh Panorama

...also known as "The Brenizer Method" because this technique has been popularized by New York Wedding Photographer, Ryan Brenizer.

The idea behind the shot comes from a creative bit of problem solving. The question which needs answering is "How do I build a shallow depth of field (lots of focus blur) into a wide angle shot"? As you will probably know, when you shoot with a wide angle, everything is usually in focus. When you shoot at a longer focal length your background compresses, and you get a pleasing blur, or 'Bokeh', which serves to really separate your subject from it's surroundings.

So how do I build 'long focal length blur' into a 'wide angle shot'?

Well the answer is, "Shoot your scene by stitching together a series of images shot with a longer focal length, and low aperture, to make up your wide angle." This way you can create a shot with plenty of context, but your subject will now 'pop' off the out-of-focus background.

There are many techniques for this shot, but personally I usually use my 85mm f1.8, because I want both a lens which will compress the background, and has a low potential aperture (sub f2).

You need to start by composing the scene in your head. You obviously won't be able to do this through the lens as you normally would, so you need to imagine the borders of your shot. The trick then is to shoot in such a way that you piece together your total shot one frame at a time. It's vital to keep a track of the areas you've covered, which means you always have to have the big picture in your minds eye. Some people shoot in a spiral out from their subject. Some people shoot in a grid. You'll have to find the technique which works for you, but it's important that you cover all the areas of the total image otherwise you will have 'holes' in your final stitch which you'll have to deal with in post.

When you are ready to shoot you need to make sure all your settings are manual so they don't change from shot to shot. Remember you are shooting pieces of a whole image, not individual shots. Here's a check list to get yourself ready for the shot:

1. Put your camera in Manual mode.
2. Select the appropriate ISO depending on the ambient light.
3. Set your aperture as low as your lens will allow so that your depth of field will be as shallow as possible.
4. Dial in your shutter speed until you have the right amount of light for your subject. If you are shooting a person make sure the skin is exposed correctly.
5. Set your white balance.
6. Then focus your lens on the subject and click your focus to manual (you don't want your lens refocusing between shots).
7. Plant your feet firmly and burn that final image into your mind.

Then build your shot one image at a time. I begin with the head and torso of my subject, then the legs, and then I begin to fill in the scene around him/her by shooting a spiral outwards from the body on all sides.

Here is a recent Bokeh Pano I shot with a French Model in Bermondsey:

And these are the raw shots out of the camera which went into making it up:

The number of shots you need to take will vary depending on the setting. I have shot some with 8-9 frames, and then some with 60+ frames, which was quite an ask for my version of Photoshop Elements to stitch together. You will also notice that I am making sure to create some overlap between the shots so as to ensure I have no holes in the final image.

After this I open up photoshop and run file/automate/photomerge, and then select all my images and let photoshop go to work. Sometimes it does a great job, sometimes there is some work which needs to be done afterwards to fix areas where the stitching hasn't worked.

A quick tip: if you are shooting a series of these Brenizer shots, just shoot a black frame (with your hand over the lens) between each set so that you can easily identify the first shot of each batch when you come to the editing stage.

This technique really allows for a quality image. Due to the combined resolution of all the shots you've used, you could blow this image up to the size of a billboard if you wanted to. Not to mention the fact that no lens in the world could actually get this shot, because it would have to be a 15mm f0.4 or something like that; and they don't exist... yet.

Get out there and give it a go!

Here are a few examples of other recent Bokeh Panos I've shot:    

To end off, here is Ryan Brenizer himself speaking about the technique and demonstrating its use:

Move!

Recently I took a day long bus trip to Stonehenge and Bath.

I assumed shooting at Stonehenge would be really easy. I mean these are iconic stones which are instantly recognisable around the world. But it turns out that shooting them in a way which is interesting is quiet hard when pressed in with the crowds of tourists.

For starters, you can't actually approach the stones any more. They are roped off from the public, who are confined to a circular foot path which you can use to walk past the stones. The issue immediately was that the rope in front of the stones was jammed with people getting their friends to take shots of themselves on ipads and mobile phones with the stones in the background.

I have a quiet giggle at these shots because they seem little more than 'proof that you were there', like holding a newspaper in a ransom photo. There must be millions of albums out there with just a string of shots of happy holiday makers standing slightly awkwardly in front of the usual list of landmarks. Needless to say that it didn't really make for a great foreground when trying to capture the sense of this ancient place.

So the best vantage point was blocked, and wasn't about to clear up.

So I had to walk around a bit, even traipsing through some mud, but I eventually found a few vantage points away from the hoards to shoot. It seems a simple a lesson but it's one I've come back to again and again: MOVE.

If you're getting stuck, if you feel yourself getting frustrated with your shots and it's just not working: MOVE.

I pushed my headphones in my ears, pumped up some Justin Timberlake, and then just began to walk around. I didn't shoot at first. I knew I had 20 minutes or so, so initially I just walked around and changed the angle. As I did that possibilities began to present themselves and shots opened up. I was on my 5DmkII with my 24-105mm f4 lens on, which gave me maximum flexibility. I needed to be able to frame quickly and precisely with the zoom in order to compose. The old "use your legs as your zoom" adage touted by 'prime purists', isn't always possible.

So here are a few of the shots I managed to get.

Remember, if you're getting stuck, don't give up: MOVE.

Find Your Angle

On New Years Day I went into London to shoot the Parade.

The streets were lined, 2 or 3 people deep from the curb, with on lookers from all around the world, wielding their own cameras. As the parade began to go by, and with a cursory glance at the LCD screens of the cameras around me, I realised that I was getting exactly the same shots as everyone else.

I had one of those moments of clarity where I realised that if I was just going to be replicating the shots everyone was getting that day, I genuinely didn't want to bother shooting at all. I'm not creating at that point, I'm merely doing a shoddy job of reporting.

Who cares if I have a full frame DSLR?

It would be difficult to pick my shots out of a line up from the images being grabbed by the happy-snap holiday makers with point-and-shoots all around me, unless I could find another way to shoot this parade.

I committed that if I couldn't find a better way to shoot this, or a different angle, then I would put my camera away, and head home. In fact, given the icy wind, it only took a couple of minutes of fighting the crowds and cold before I resolved to head back to the soup I had waiting for me on the stove.

I was walking back to the tube station and decided to take some back streets and avoid having to push my way through the mass of humanity crowding the road side along the parade route. I rounded a few corners and stumbled upon the prefect situation; I walked right into the staging area for the parade, and as luck would have it there was no security to stop me.

I stayed there for a good hour, walking among the floats and acts as they lined themselves up to join the throng on the main street. I was able to walk into the middle of the road and get down to eye level for some shots which, I knew, would be something more intimate than your average photographer was able to get further up the way. It was worth the walk, and made the whole mission worthwhile.

My 'take away' from the day was to always look for another angle. If I am shooting the same shots as everyone else, then I am not being creative enough.

It reminded me of a documentary I watched recently about 3 of the founders of Magnum: Robert Capa, David Seymour, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

In their early adulthood they were in Paris during a series of protests, and as friends they decided to Photomission and cover the happenings. One of the commentators in the documentary spoke about how you could mix those photos up on a table and still be able to tell whose was whose. Capa loved strength and drama, choosing to shoot men with fists in the air. Seymour caught the softer side, capturing woman and children as they watched. Cartier-Bresson loved to find a new angle, an interesting composition.

Each found their own way of shooting the events; their own angle.

So...

Find another angle.

Find your take on what's happening.

Here are a few of the shots I captured: