Notting Hill Carnival 2009

Girl in the Window

There is no real way to explain exactly why an image or a style of photography excites someone. There is no reason why some people are attracted to portraiture and some to landscapes and some to still life and on and on. There is just a feeling that you get when you think you are onto something amazing in the course of your work. It's hard to put into words how I realise when I am on the right track. It is just a feeling inside. An excitement that I am looking at something interesting. A little voice somewhere telling me that I should keep going because what I am recording is good. Of course, there is also a louder, more distinctive voice that I hear more often telling me to stop and desist because what I am in fact creating is crap. So when it feels like I am getting somewhere I try and hold onto those ideas at all costs because they are what keeps you going. They are inspiration.

I have a confession to make to you. It is this...even though I am a user of the magic of photoshop and a purveyor of digitally enhanced work, I wasn't always this way. I used to be quite strictly opposed to digital photography and programs like photoshop. I used to stand on my soapbox and shout about the quality of using still cameras that recorded onto film. Of using real darkrooms with chemicals and waterbeds. I can still work in this way, but slowly, overtime (and it was very slowly) I realised the benefits of digital technology. I think it was when I was standing with all my negatives wishing that I had a printer which would take them and let me feed them onto my computer so I could fix the prints more easily. Slowly overtime and through working at various digital photography studios, I realised that I could still oppose digital advancements, but if I ever hoped to carve out any sort of career in images, I would have to call a truce. I would have to join the enemy and learn from it. I convinced myself that in time I would the be able to defeat the enemy from within its ranks. I would learn its weaknesses and expose it for what it was. I never thought I would start to think that it could be quite efficient and helpful really. I started to get lazy and in this new laziness digital technology was my friend. I started to hate spending all my money on chemicals and camera film and in this new economic hardship digital technology was my friend. I started to crave efficiency and progress and technical skill. I wanted to be like a retro-techniques guru, but I started to get good at the digital stuff, and it freed up my creativity and whilst I wasn't looking it became my friend, dammit!!!!

That is not to say that I am a complete convert. Like all friends, sometimes we get on and sometimes we don't. Sometimes it still likes to remind me whose boss by running out of battery or freezing mid-job. But then there are good times too. It does what I ask without question. And it doesn't turn my skin a funny colour like the chemicals would sometimes do. I still have a love/hate relationship with digital. I still do not own a digital camera (although my partner does so I use that). I still do not overly like sitting in a dark room in front of a computer screen. But then I realise that if I wasn't doing that I would be standing in a darkroom in front of a enlarger and chemical trays, so I forgive my photoshop computer and pull up a chair and remember that my fingers don't look nice when they are a funny colour.

But, I have retained some things from when I was part of the resistance. One thing I still get excited by (and as I said earlier, there is no real reason why) is black and white images. I think when I was learning the chemical printing processes, my early work always turned out better when it was black and white. That was the first step I took into the wonderful world of photography and even to this day, I cannot help but get excited by black and white images. There's something very noble and righteous about a good black and white photograph. The image above was a so-so colour picture, but in black and white it is a beautiful image which reminds me of portraits from the 60's. The irony I now find is that it was not an enlarger and a negative and chemicals that helped me create that image. It was my new digital friends. Yes, sometimes its an uneasy peace and sometimes it can turn nasty, but when it comes to myself and digital technology, the truce is well and truly in place. I guess whatever your views about traditional versus digital, what should always matter most is the quality of the work, no matter what type of process you use to create it.

Catching Fairies

Sometimes its nice to just let your imagination run wild and create a portrait that is not traditional in the slightest. By using three different images and putting them together on a white background I was able to create this single magical image. The three viual elements were the picture of the boy, the picture of the woman, and the picture of the wings. With a little time to play around the image above was born. The wings of course were not wings. They were a tattoo design that I found on a picture. But it's cool to be able to see something in a picture and make it into something completely different for use in a new image.

Swing

I took this picture on holiday of my boy on the swings. It was one of those captured moments that comes along once in a while. I only got one shot and when I looked at it on the camera I realised that the image was slightly blurred. I thought that I had lost the shot but decided that I would try and do something with it anyway because I liked it. I thought that I would enhance the colours and the blur further to see the results and I quite like the final image. If I had taken a picture in perfect focus I would never have thought of exploring further abstract possibilities. Sometimes when you a take a photo, things can go wrong. Exposure, framing, and of course...blur. This is why photoshop is such a useful tool. It can help you to correct mistakes. However sometimes your mistakes can be lucky and give you an image you never would have had in the first place. When you find that your image isn't as perfect as you wanted it to be, look at it again and try to work out if you have inadvertantly created something else that could work just as well. In this way, you might well end up using photoshop to enhance your mistake instead of correcting it.

Flying Baby

In keeping with the whole theme of movement in pictures, this piece is a good example of being able to create something unique with very simple photoshop techniques. The actual shot was a basic picture of the baby lying on a white floor. With some photoshop magic this image was created. The colour scheme was a random choice that I thought looked good, but obviously it could be any colour in the whole spectrum that you can choose. By colouring the whole frame in one colour and then using the framing tools to taint that colour into different tones you will have created quite an interesting background for your subject.

After that I overlaid the figure onto the frame and it was then that I realised that the pattern of the frame looked like vertical movement. The pose of the baby was perfect to make it look like he was freefalling so I decided to put the subject near the top of the frame as if he was dropping through the picture. By using the blurring tool I was able to add to the feeling of movement. I also created a version where the background was yellow, but the purple one was a stronger image.

It is always good to think about how you would like to present your subject in the space of the frame. By playing around with the usual conventions of framing, you can get some original results which give your images a futuristic, quirky feel. The image above could have been a simple picture of a baby lying on the floor, but with a little freethinking, he is now able to fly, and that's much more fun. I always try and give my subject an interesting position within the frame (if it suits the piece) because that is what draws a viewer into the picture and gives them something interesting and individual to look at. But obviously, if the conventional pose suits what you are trying to achieve then don't make a point of framing in a wacky way. Used sparingly, it can be interesting. Over use it and the substance of your work will be lost in favour of something which is annonyingly over-stylised.

Girl Reading

It's amazing how little adjustments on a picture, to the cropping and colour, can enhance the image so much. This picture was a pretty standard photograph of a girl reading a book. But once I turned it black and white and coloured her eyes (the natural colour with no enhancement) and coloured the book cover, the image became much more visually interesting. I would say that when it comes to working on an image always follow your instincts and try different things. But don't do it just for the sake of doing it. There needs to be a purpose and a reason for making changes to the image. In this case my reason was because the image just wasn't that interesting. I thought that it would be better to just have her eyes in colour because the thing that she is doing is reading. The general message of the picture (if you are into symbolism and need one) is that reading that book, brings the girl to life.

But before we get too into the deep meanings behind the image, remember, remember, remember, using photoshop tricks is not always the answer. You should ideally have a reason behind your creative choices. That is how you own the image. That is how you create an individual style. This is how you give the image meaning. Anyone can use a bit of photoshop to improve an image, but an artist knows why they made that choice or used that tool. They know that their actions will have consequences for that image and for the people who see it.

I remember when I was in the last year of college, I took a history of art course. We looked at different artists and went on trips to museums and galleries. One day we went down to the gallery at Kilmainham in Dublin. I would definitely recommend a visit. It is a place of significant historical value and it is very peaceful walking around the gallery and the gardens. I really get a sense of being an artist when I go there. Last time I was there the poet and writer Seamus Heaney was walking around lost in his thoughts. The work that is on show there is random and varied. Both original and classical in style and really gets into your psyche (if you are a sucker for thinking about the reasons behind art).

Anyway, we had gone there for our final year trip and as I was standing looking at a picture of a map of Ireland whihc had been transposed over the figure of a naked woman, I realised my tutor was standing beside me. "What do you think of this work?" she asked. I looked at it and said that thought it was symbolic of 'Mother Ireland'. There were some other random thoughts that I said at the time which I can't remember now (it was 14 years ago). My tutor looked at me and said something which I have never forgotton. She said "Well, it would seem that you have stopped being an art student, and finally become an art critic". That made me feel really good in myself.

I think its good to have an opinion on art. It's good to know what you like and what you don't like, but it's also good to know why. This all helps with your own work. So my advice is to think about the images you create and always know why you have made the decisions you have made. Others will have an informed opinion about your work. So should you.

Girl Spinning

One of the things that interests me in photography is how to create movement within still images. I find that using photoshop gives you a lot of opportunity to take boring images and make them into something a bit more unusual or special. In the image above a girl is basically spinning when a selection of photographs were taken. There is nothing exceptional about these images. In two of them you can't even see her face.

I was messing around with some templates that I had on my computer and came up with a design for the frame above. I realised that if I could put these images in the frame and create a sort of montage then the images took on a new life as a single design. I muted the colours (this is another theme in my work) outside the inner boxes. That left anything inside the frames brighter. This meant that I didn't need to have a completely white border (which has been done so many times before) but at the same time, having the image continue over the frames did not distract the viewer from the images within.

I think that when you look at the image you can sense a feeling of movement and energy in the picture. At least that was the plan.

I think that photoshop can do wonders with shots that you have maybe given up on. So have a look again at any photos you have that you thought were duds and see if they can be given a new lease of life as part of a more complete design. The best thing to do is visualize what you hope to achieve with your chosen images and keep the technical stuff as simple as possible. A little can go a long way. The above image was created with an original frame template, two layers, the opacity button and the curves grid. Go on, give it a go. See what you can create.

AaronFest

When I turned 30 a while back I decided that I didn't want anyone organising a surprise birthday party for me. The rumours were out there and I thought the best thing to do would be to organise something myself. Being in the filmmaking business I kow a few bands here and there so I decided to organise a small music festival at a venue in Belfast.

The first step was to design and print a poster and some tickets for the event. I went with the film poster theme and adapted it to name all the acts that would be performing and the information about the venue and the price. The design is very simple but has a dramatic impact with deep reds and a strong font and the explosion in the background. Apart from obvious size constraints on the tickets (which had to be business card sized) I decided it would draw more attention to the smaller writing (venue and price details) if I put it vertical down the side of the design.

Needless to say, the beer flowed, the music was great and the audience enjoyed it. If you build it, they will come. You just need to make sure that the advertising is strong, sharp and sexy. Good music also helps.

Venice

A while ago I went to Venice for a weekend. I'd never been before and was astounded by the architeture and quiet, peaceful nature of the place. It really was a great place to lose yourself and rejuvenate. I took my camera with me and went looking for some shots that weren't so touristy. Some of the side streets offered scenes like the archway above. It was great because there just seemed to be photo opportunities everywhere. I realised when I got back that some of these pictures just looked better in black and white. Some looked better with the colour muted to give a cool evening feeling. And for anyone wondering, neither of the two gondola shots or the pidgeon man shot were posed. I was just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. But I am especially happy with the archway shot. I love it everytime I look at it.

Sometimes you will go somewhere and just see the perfect natural framing already there, staring you in the face. It is great when that happens. If you find that you don't have a lot of time to take an assortment of pictures, just have your camera set at a wide frame. Keep it as steady as you can. I find going down on one knee suits me best and take the shot. Follow this by taking more at various distances, but make sure that first one is wider. The reason for this is that when you feed the image into photoshop (if it is the only one you managed to capture) you can crop in to suit. It is extremely difficult to add extra to a picture. It can be done depending on the frame, but will involve hours of cloning and may not give you the results you require unless you're shit hot with photoshop. So stay wide and crop in later. As you get better, you'll find you get a natural feel for framing eventually.

My filmmaking is useful that way, as I learned very early on how to frame to get exactly what I wanted. At the start I had to edit in camera as I went and everything had to be right. I guess those rules still stay with me and I apply them to my photography also.

Winnie

As a contrast to 'Butterfly Universe' I have put this image on to show how your creativity is only limited by our mind. The technology will do anything your mind can think of. The problem is getting your ind to think of it in the first place. The image above was just a very plain picture of a girl. I knew that I wanted to make her black and white because she had dark features, but beyond that I wasn't sure how to make it stand out. After looking at this black and white image for a while I realised that the Winnie and Piglet design on her jacket looked better in colour, so that became the colour aspect of the image, but I was still left with all this white space on the other side of the image (convention told me that it needed to be in the picture so that the girl was looking into actual space).

I decided to use the colour sampler tool to take colours from the design on her jacket to make blocks of colour. I don't know why I chose blocks. Again I just went with my instinct. Maybe I was reading a book on pop art that week or something. Don't be afraid to borrow from the world around you or the styles and images that inspire you. Use these things to create something truly original. The image works I think because the colour in the blocks relate directly to the colours in her jacket. I even connected the subject to the picture by putting her between the inner and the outer red frames.

At first I didn't really like this image but I do now. It has aged well. I created it around summer 2004. The only thing I can't work out is if it is a black and white portrait or not. What do you think?

Butterfly Universe

This love of design and creativity that tortures us poor sinners and compels us to sit in front of the computer for hours twiddling with the mouse, dodging, burning, using curves, isn't just about creating logos for companies. It isn't just about working on commissions or to deadlines. Sometimes we lock ourselves in the dark recess of the studio for fun. We lock the door, load the images into photoshop and just let our minds wander where they will.

The piece above was created on such a day. I just wanted to get away from the usual work that I was creating and do something a little different. I had no brief and didn't know what this image would look like when I started. It didn't even have a name. The name came later when I looked at it after it was finished. I started with a pretty normal faded image of a butterfly and from there it just evolved. It took about two hours and is something I would happily frame for the wall. For me the image is about movement and existence, but I don't want to get too deep and meaningful. I'm not sure why, but I have never went back to this style since completing this work. There's no real reason for that. It just occured to me now here speaking to you that this piece is a true original. At least it is within the confines of my portfolio.

When you want to spent some time being a little creative on photoshop, I suggest you plan for at least six hours. The time will fly, I shit you not. Maybe take a day off work for yourself. Go on, you deserve it, you've been working a little too hard lately anyway. Take a day, make a coffee, and switch on the computer. Take a minute to remember that you are in no rush. If the computer is slow, breathe for a few minutes. You're not in the office now and time is definitely not money.

Sip your coffee. Look through your image archive for anything that inspires you at that time. When you find something you like, load it in and just go with the flow. The hardest thing to do is to let go of convention and just explore your ideas. But if you can manage to embrace techniques and ideas that are foreign to your usual style, I promise you will be pleasantly surprised. If you start to get into what you are doing, you will advance to autopilot and before you know it, six hours gone, just like that. Go for a walk or something and when you look at your work again, you may even find a smile creeping onto your face. I did when I looked at my 'Butterfly Universe'.

PD International logo

One of my first commissions was from a company called 'PD International' that produced environmental products. They were based in Northern Ireland but their products received a lot of interest from the American business community. When they started looking for investment over there they commissioned me to produce a video for them. Whilst thinking about the video I realised that it may be a good idea to produce something that Americans would recognise. So instead of a tired old advert, I produced an infomercial on the product and the company. This was then sent to prospective investors in America. It was successful in raising the company profile and gaining interest in investing, so on the strength of that they asked me to create some company logos and brand designs.

I create an assortment of images for them to choose from. This was back when I was just starting out and before I knew to concentrate on one main idea or theme. Above is one of the ideas that were not chosen. Regular pc users will maybe recognise the background image as one of the standard template images you used to get on your computer. I took this image, coloured it and laid their logo over it in a nice crisp, clean font.

All the time I'm sticking with the idea of blue being a recognisably environmental colour. And Gold being the symbol colour for success. Capital letters for the font also to give the same idea. As I said, this wasn't the image that they chose to go with. I think the one they chose was a close up of a drop of water causing a ripple on the surface of a river. Again with the whole water, blue imagery.

It's always important to know what your client is advertising or selling or the impression they are trying to make. If you can find out about their product or company then you will get a good idea of the design approach you should take. You definitely don't want to walk into a meeting with a group of businessmen who are expecting clever corporate designs and you have cartoons in your portfolio. The opposite is also embarrassing so do your homework in advance. Some of us have made these mistakes, so that the rest of you don't have to. Think on!!!

Goldheart Appeal 2005 - Racing Day Event

The Goldheart Appeal in 2005 also had some exclusive jewellery designed to sell for charity. They had a stand set up at Sandown Race day and needed some advertising leaflets for the event. I used the background image of the horses to give an immediate visual of what the leaflet was about. Then I took images of some of the celebrities involved with the charity appeal and got pictures of them wearing the jewellery. I wanted to keep the design in the same style as the other Goldheart design and therefore it was overtly white with the pictures in boxes placed over the faded horseracing image. I guess the symbolism here would be that at the racing day, the important thing is the Goldheart Appeal jewellery stand. With the charity logo at the top I added the goldheart in the bottom corner as a final connecting factor.

I think the best thing to do when creating an advertising design is to keep things simple. The design can be as complicated as you want or need it to be, but I think the information on the design should remain simple. Unless you have a specific brief or piece of writing that must be used (as I did here) you should use as few words as you can get away with to convey your message. Go by the old 'who-what-when-where-why' and you won't go far wrong. Even then if you can get away with less, do.

But if you are working for a client, always follow the brief. On occasion I have made changes to a design that the client has requested, but the first thing I always show them is a design based on the parameters that they have set. I show them my exact interpretation of what they have asked for and wait for their response. I then take notes. Only then do I offer to show them a few other ideas I have come up with. Once they have looked at these (indeed if they want to at all), I take some more notes and then adapt the brief they have given me accordingly. Once I know I am on the right track I rarely start all over again (unless it is absolutely necessary). The way I look at it, if the brief changes drastically for whatever reason, then that is an additional cost.

The Goldheart Appeal 2005

I was commissioned to do some design work for a British children's charity a few years ago when they were having their yearly Goldheart appeal. The brief was quite simple. The theme for the year was about being a hero. They had managed to connect the appeal to the premiere of the 'Spiderman' movie so I took the idea of hero and superhero and combined them to produce this very simple design. The idea is that anyone who buys one of the Goldhearts would become an instant hero to one of the kids who very much needed their help and support.

The tagline 'There's a hero in all of us' was meant to convey the fact that this appeal was aimed at you, at me, at everyone.

I made sure the gold heart badge was repeated and obvious throughout the image. And at the bottom was a sybolic message that we hold their hearts in our hands. I know the way I've described it here may seem somewhat pretentious but it was a worthy and worthwhile cause to be involved in. The message had to be clear and strong and hopefully it jumps off the page at you just like it did back then.

The 'One Week' Poster Design

I thought since I was a filmmaker at heart, it was only right to start with an image I created for one of my future film projects. The script is about a guy who experiences one of the seven deadly sins each day in what turns out to be one hell of a week. This was my design for the cover of the DVD and the advertising posters. I took inspiration from the trainspotting poster and really wanted the image to stand out and get noticed. I have an idea I might put some photographic images in the coloured bars, but in the meantime I like the simplicity of the poster. It doesn't always have to be the most complicated ideas that end up creating the best pieces of design work. When I am involved with design for film posters I look at the design and if it is something I would put on my office wall then I am happy. Incidentally, most of the images that you will see on here are also on my myspace page. If you want to look follow the 'My Web Page' link in my profile page.

Pendragon Pictures ain't just about the movies...

Asides from being a filmmaker, I also dabble in the world of photography and digital retouching. I love messing around with photoshop. When I left school I decided to do some night classes in creative subjects like video production and photography. This was a great way to learn the photgraphic processes. Students were given access to the dark rooms and I started producing a lot of images just to get practice. After I had learned the black and white printing techniques,I moved onto the colour process and learned that as well. This was about 1997 and digital cameras had still not gone widespread.

When I finally left I had all this knowledge of photography, developing and printing. Then suddenly everything went digital and I was more or less back to square one. I left university in 2002 and couldn't really get a job in the movie business. Most of the positions were for work experience, but by this stage I was looking for full time work with a salary. I did move down to London and went for a few interviews but the salay for a runner job was £8000 a year. There was no possible way to afford to live and work fulltime doing that. Besides that, the work really was shit and some of the people in the industry were living much too far up their own arses. I figured if you are working for idiots and getting paid lower than minimum wage money, then what was the up side. In short, there wasn't one. I did have one good job when I went to London working with really nice folk, but it was only working on a short film in Ealing and obviously was over when the shoot finished. The film was called 'Short' starring Samantha Janus and Rupert Proctor and can be viewed at the following link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/A3753650

That's when the call came from a friend of mine asking me if I would like to come and work at a photography studio that was opening in Swindon. I asked him what I would be doing and he told me that I would be a digital retoucher. I told him I had no idea what that was of how to do it and he said that he would teach me. I moved to Swindon on the Friday, learned as much as I could about photoshop on Saturday and Sunday and started work on the Monday. I learned the basics of the process used by the company and the rest I picked up as I went along. To cut a long story short, I worked there for a year and then moved to London and worked for the same company at a different studio. This got me through the next few years and now besides my job in the media industry, I work freelance when anyone comes to me with an interesting project or a digital retouching emergency.

I've decided to start this blog to run along side the film business blog to show you lovely people some of my images and describe a little about where the ideas came from, what they were for and how they came about. I hope that you will be able to draw some creative inspiration from my work and pick up your cameras, or slide up to your computers and create some gasp-inducingly good images of your own. As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free.