A number of unrelated events led my thoughts to the subject of this blog post: a visit from a local camera club, a talk with my good friend at Somerville Photography and viewing the now ubiquitous Battle at F-Stop Ridge.  I had considered a similar project based around photographers in a military recreation, one that I might enlist some of my film maker friends on (should they be willing). All that was put on hold when is saw F-Stop Ridge: obviously another similar video made so soon after would seem like cheap imitation.

The concept still had some weight though; photographers always talk about “shooting” and there are so many other aspects that could have crossover (make-up artists as medics anyone?). So if not a promo video then what? Well why not just have a bit of fun with the idea, so below I’ve listed the Rules of Engagement, a photography based game for 4-∞ players. Any ideas for a snappier name are more than welcome.     EDIT: I really didn’t mean that pun, but I appreciate it now it’s there

Rules of Engagement

Overview: An active outdoor game based loosely around the military recreation style found in airsoft and paintball. It is a non-contact game, emphasising strategy, quick thinking, technical skill and artistic flair.

Photographers are provided with limited equipment, chosen before the game starts, and a “magazine” memory card with only a limited number of shots available. The aim of the game is to capture as many sharp, well exposed images of other photographers without getting shot yourself.

Equipment
Each photographer may only carry a single camera body and a single memory card (granting 30 images). They must then choose only two of the following
- Additional memory card: Grants a further 30 shots to the photographer
- Flashgun: Good for short range, narrow aperture
- Telephoto lens: Snipers choice
- Standard zoom: The all rounder
- Spotter: Useful for snipers, carries a reduced extra clip (10 images). Worth extra points if captured

Suggested Builds
- The sniper: Telephoto lens, spotter
For the person who likes to take their time and capture the perfect shot
- The soldier: Standard zoom, telephoto lens
An all rounder that allows the photographer to function both at a distance and close up
- The shotgunner: Standard zoom, flashgun
Set your f.stop high to maximise depth of field as you get in close to shoot everyone in range
- The machine gunner: Standard zoom, extra memory card
Snapping away on continuous mode, this photographer puts faith in quantity over quality

Scoring
Gaining Points
• Scoring is based on a combination of several elements: composition, exposure and sharpness.
• For every image that meets these criteria they are awarded 5 points per element
• An image that shows acceptable quality at all 3 is worth an additional 20 points
• A perfect headshot (well composed, exposed and sharp) is worth 50 points

Losing Points
• For every images captured of them a photographer loses half the number of points the capturing photographer gains.
• Spotters lose their photographer full points

Ending the game
• When a photographer has used up all of their “ammo” they have to return to the safe zone. They are still a viable target until they reach this area.
• When in the safe zone they are out of the game: their score will be tallied and no further points can be gained from them.
• The game ends when either of the following criteria are met
- All the photographers have run out of ammo
- The time limit (recommended 20 mins) has elapsed

After lots of tweaking, editing, googling of various web design solutions I’ve finally managed to reach a point where I’m happy with the website. It’s been a long road getting here, from a website I liked the look of but couldn’t update to one I could update but tried to avoid the sight of, I have got a healthy mixture of both benefits with none of the drawbacks in the new design.

I’m of course going to continue to update it; I’m finding the practice of coding surprisingly enjoyable for the time being so I’m planning to try out new tricks to make it look smarter and shinier than ever before. As they say; watch this space.

Look, an image link

The studio is now finished after 5 months of work.  It has come a long way since we first moved in to an empty industrial unit in the middle of winter and its now a multi-roomed, comfortable and versatile photography studio.  The crowning achievement of all this effort was the mounting of the hi-glide kit, which took 14 hours to complete.  As you can see in the photos below, taken when the studio was in use, that the studio is now easily adjustable and tidy thanks to the hi-glide and wall mounted backdrops. My thanks to the lovely Rukshana for letting me interrupt her studio hire for this photo.

For the past couple of months I’ve been working closely with the Glasgow University Photographic Society to host an exhibition. This is now open at the Firebird bar on Argyle Street in the West End of Glasgow. A collection of work from more than 20 artists will be exhibited on the walls from the 27th March to 29th April, so I would encourage you to stop in and have a look if you are ever in the area. All the photographs are for sale, with the proceeds going to the Prince & Princess Wales Hospice. Over the course of the month anyone can place an advance bid on any of the photographs using the forms provided in the venue.

On the 29th April a special live event will take place with the live auction of all the prints and live music by Brass Jaw

Click the image for more information

GUPS website>

I recieved a most interesting piece of mail today:

It came through the door in a handwritten envelope with the note attached. At first I was curious as to whom I know by the name of ‘J’ that might be thinking of me while browsing through their copy of the times however on surface inspection of the article found a few problems with it. It’s shamelessly uncritical, mentions the website at every possible opportunity and makes no mention of the author. A search of The Times website for that date finds no corresponding article.

In the age of a million spam e-mails a day I find this piece of real world spam rather astounding. The sheer volume of work that has gone in to crafting this is awe-inspiring: it’s printed on what seems to be newspaper print, the font, layout and style match The Times and it’s even torn at the edges as if from a real newspaper. The real selling point for authenticity is the reverse side:

Now I’m not obsessive enough to check these stocks against those from the 9th December 2009 but its certainly a nice touch. Even the inclusion of the date is a nice bit of potential authenticity, though doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

What convinced me it wasn’t real even before The Times search was the fact it mentions his website 6 times (7 if you include the note) and a photo caption would never be that long. The tone is also a little too praising, unless his dad is the editor of the paper I can’t imagine anyone getting such a shamelessly glowing report, with far too many uses of words like “acclaimed” and “genius”.

All in all a good conversation piece and a real eye opener in the lengths people will go to in order to get you to visit their website.

As with 90% of the Glasgow fashion scene I attended the POSED magazine launch at Classic Grand. I’ve attended a magazine launch before so was expecting a similar affair but I was very pleasantly surprised by the scale and professionalism of the launch.

The stage shows were particularly entertaining; I’ve never actually seen a burlesque act before and they are rather entertaining. There were two acts that night: Suspenders and Vanity Kills. Both were entertaining but Vanity won my vote for the music choice, which I swear was the same as the Jessica Rabbit intro in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The catwalk show was also good, though my memory is terrible so I’d appreciate it if a kind reader could inform me who the stylist was.

The turnout was fantastic and I was comforted to see a few familiar faces in the crowd: I’ve not done a tremendous amount of networking so I was half expecting a crowd of anonymous faces. It was good catching up with so many people and mending a fence caused by a communication breakdown some months ago.

All in all a good night. Special thanks go to Ian McKinnes for helping make such an excellent magazine that will no doubt be a tremendous asset to the Scottish fashion scene, as well as for his contribution to solving the mystery of my mysterious doppleganger.

Today was the first of the two part open day I hosted in the studio. I’d advertised on model networking sites and received a response that was too large to host on one day so I split it over the full weekend.
I’d like to thank Daniel, Kevin, Lisa, Chris, Jay and Andrew for coming along today and making the day a success. We got some good shots and everybody seemed to have a good time.

So on the 12th January I headed down to London for the SWPP Conference; the conference lasted for over a week and was made of several different events, I had set aside time for 5 days at the conference taking in the business school and a lot of practical lectures.

I won’t go in to tedious detail here but all in all the conference was a fantastic experience. I’ve learned an awful lot about photography and about business that I will be applying to my own work and which will benefit myself, my collegues and my clients.

Most importantly of all I met a lot of good photographers and made some good friends. I don’t have time to list all of them here but I do encourage you to look at the work of these individuals as they are all fantastic photographers:
John Denton
Roshnee & Sanjay Jogia
Sean East
Ken Reid
Stewart Randall
Shazia Niven