In Print, Funding & Other Stuff

So for the last few weeks I've been working on a funding bid to submit to Creative Scotland, formerly known as the Scottish Arts Council. After many edits, revisions, wailing and gnashing of teeth I submitted the Project Inspiration bid a few days ago. Now just got to wait eight weeks to find out if I'm successful or not.

Eight weeks.... It's going to drag. On the plus side, I do have several things to do to distract me, which is always good. Besides the shoots I have planned I'm compiling corporate sponsorship applications too, in the event I'm not successful, or funding I can apply for alongside the Creative Scotland support.

Did get a wee bit of good news the other day too. Digital Photographer magazine dropped me a message asking me to submit a headshot because they're going to quote me in an article about Photo Retouching in their next issue. I'd made a post on their forum a few weeks back in a thread discussing Photo Manipulation and Retouching, and I'd made several points about how it is acceptable to a certain level to edit photographs. Basic examples of this are simple mono conversions, spot removal, bits and bobs like that. 

Then I brought up an example of twiggy or lulu in the Oil of Olay advert where their skin was photoshopped to a ridiculous level and the press jumped on it. It was a couple of years back now, but basically it was tantamount to false advertising.  I finished by saying that people need to learn where to draw the line between acceptable manipulation and lying, and how I believe photographers should be firm where they draw it. 

I asked the editor to tell me which bit they were going to quote, but I haven't heard back, which is a pretty shrewd move on their part - now I'll have to buy the magazine to find out!!!

In the meantime I'm thinking of adding a section to my site on photo editing and retouching, explaining what I'll do, what I won't, and how for me it's all about the lighting and showing the subject off at their best, but NOT changing them into someone else.

And lastly, just a quick update on the project - it's all been emails, emails and emails. Chasing people down to invite them to participate in the project is a frustrating experience. If I can direct them to the message, either on the website or here, then they inevitably say yes. The frustrating bit is trying to get the information past the agent/publicist/webmaster. Because there's no money involved, many of the agencies just delete the email straight away so it never gets to the subject. I need to find a way around that..... but I have a plan!!!

Craig

Stats after a month

Okay, I know, boring title which will probably make you groan and click desperately on something else, but the geeky part of me finds this interesting, so I thought I'd share a bit of what's happened with the blog in the first month it's been online.

568 hits (delighted about that. My old blog got 3000 in 18 months)
489 views from the UK, 57 from the US, and the rest a mixture from places around the world like Australia, Sweden, India, France and Germany. I think that's kinda cool.... although that probably says a lot about my definition of cool lol!
Someone even browsed the blog on an iPod. I didn't even know that was possible!

Now here's the weird thing.
The most popular posts on the site haven't turned out quite as I expected. The Project Inspiration posts have held quite a lot of the traffic which is great, and the Mini-Muse posts have been looked at a lot, but the most popular post on my blog to date, outscoring all the other posts by quite a way.......

Boredom..... the one where I shot a self portrait.
Seriously? 
My fugly shot is the most popular post on my blog?
I'm beginning to wonder about the tastes of some people.....  :D

Anyway, wee bit of statistics there for anyone who hasn't fallen asleep yet.
Thanks for visiting and keep coming back in the future. You can even leave a comment.... hint hint!

Craig

June's looking busy!

So here's what's in the pipeline, because June's looking like a busy month. 

For a few days over the first couple of weeks of June I'm going out with Jamie from REVEAL Scotland to meet and photograph the other featured artists from the website. Jamie is producing a magazine later this year and he's asked me to do the photography for it, which is really cool.

As soon as the tickets arrive for Edinburgh Zoo I'm off out to photograph it, and write up a review for the disabled access website Able2uk www.able2uk.com I'm really looking forward to doing this review, and I'm hoping someone from the zoo will be available to help me get some good positions for some cracking images.

Then it's time to photograph the latest addition to the Project Inspiration list, Ian Rankin. A world-famous author who's books have been turned into TV shows, and a household name, I was absolutely delighted on friday night when Ian agreed to participate and I'm very happy with his enthusiasm. I'm bouncing a few ideas around just now, so watch this space. In a few weeks time.

Then towards the tail end of the month I'm shooting Dougie MacLean up in Dunkeld. REALLY looking forward to that too, especially because I've been listening to his music since I was a kid and can even play a couple of his tunes on the guitar (badly)

At some point I hope to fit in Jim Kilpatrick too, and I've got some spectacular ideas for that particular shoot. Jim's a drumming legend, and as a long time drummer myself, the minds eye is prodding my imagination towards some very cool shots.

Then at the end of the month I'm helping my mum out with a fundraising event for Clic Sargent Scotland, a charity that supports Children with Cancer and Leukemia, as well as their families. She's been organising a charity PA with Big Brother 11 winner Josie Gibson, and I'll be photographing her a few times over the weekend for the event website, as well as making up a pretty cool video too. 

At some point during the month I hope to fit in Chrissie too, who due to the adverse weather conditions has just spent three hours tonight at my house. Talking my ears off! We usually only end up seeing each other every six months or so, but it's always great catching up and she's fun to hang out with. I've got a couple of cool ideas for the shoot with Chrissie but I need to research a couple of bits first before I tell her. And if you're reading this Chrissie, you'll just have to wait lol

Anyway, lots happening in June. Expect lots of blog posts, lots of new images, and if I've got time I'm gonna squeeze in a wee portfolio shoot too - I've got an idea I've been itching to try for at least 18 months now!

Craig 

Gemma Chan

So we did more than just the motion shoots that are in a previous blog post. I thought I'd pop a few up here.

Gemma was really good to work with, so I'm sure she'll feature again here soon.

Craig

Project Inspiration: Part 6

Well, the list of people involved in the project is going upwards and that makes me a happy person!

Yesterday I heard back from Jim Kilpatrick, and he confirmed he's happy to be involved in the project. Jim is a legend in the Pipe Band community, not just here in Scotland but all over the world. He's won the World Solo Drumming Championships a record 16 times, he's the Drum Major of House of Edgar Shotts & Dykehead Pipe Band, one of the top bands in Scotland that has won the World Championships 15 times, and he's been at the helm since 1987.

He teaches internationally, he is heavily involved in the development of pipe band drumming technology, and he also has an MBE. Jim is a classic example of the type of person I'd like to be involved in this project.

But there's more....

Jamie from REVEAL Scotland has been on the phone with me too and has asked me to photograph each of the profiled artists on their website. I'd discussed with Jamie before about including them in my project, so it looks like we'll get to kill two birds with one stone. Jamie is looking to use the photographs for a magazine coming out later in the summer, and it's always a wee bonus for me seeing my work in print.

I also spoke to a friend of mine a few days ago, Chrissie Red, who you may have seen shots of on my blog or website. Chrissie has suffered from anxiety at a debilitating level and has managed to become Scotlands top art-nude model, sought after across the whole of the UK, and a pretty nifty photographer too. In the modelling word of hyper-criticality, (if that's even a word) it must have taken a great deal of courage and perseverance as well as talent to get to where she is today. When I asked her about her involvement she said, "If it helps one person out there with their anxiety, then I'm in."

More people like the ones above please!

Craig

Motion with Gemma

Yesterday I had a wee shoot with Edinburgh model Gemma Chan. One of the things we decided to try out was to capture motion. We talked about getting blurry but focussed shots, with lots of energy in them, plenty colour and just have fun and experiment with it.

I'm happy with the results, Gemma's still hyper 24 hours later, and I thought I'd share a few here. Enjoy.

Craig

Fiona

Sunday dinner is a family affair, usually held at my mum and dad's place. My sister, Fiona, just had her hair done and asked me to do her a few updated profile shots for facebook.

Natural light is utterly gorgeous to human skin so I dragged her to stand beside a window, and using a bit of net curtain as a nice diffuser, I rattled off a few quick shots, and here's the result.

 

I'm not going to show you the out-take I edited up where Fiona pulled a 'fish-face'. I did turn her bright orange, put an image of Nemo alongside her and then titled it 'Finding Femo'.... sometimes you have to take the opportunities in front of you! :D

Craig

Project: Inspiration Part 5

BIG development on Project Inspiration - the First shoot is in the diary, and I'm pretty delighted with who it is. 

Dougie MacLean.

If you don't know who he is, he's a Scottish folk legend. An internationally renowned singer, songwriter, musician & composer. He's probably best recognised for his tunes 'Caledonia' and for his composition 'The Gael' used in the movie Last Of The Mohicans. Hundreds of artists have covered his work, and in 2011 he was awarded an OBE in the New Years Honours List. He's even appeared in 'The Broons'.

If I looked for someone that can stand as a figure of inspiration, or someone who's followed their dreams, Dougie MacLean definitely fits the bill, and I'm honestly delighted he's agreed to be part of the project.

The shoot is a few weeks away, but I'll post the pics up here and on my website so you can see them for yourself. In the meantime, drop by his site and check him out for yourself.
www.dougiemaclean.com

Craig

Boredom: The Enemy

The other night I got really bored, so I got one of my lights out, put the beauty dish attachment on it and started mucking around with some self-portraits.

Now, I definitely see the irony of me using a beauty dish. I'd quite happily count myself among the fugly of this universe. I just wanted to play around with light, and there was no-one else around. Apart from the cat and the dog, and they never want to pose.

Anyway, here's a picture of me that doesn't cut my head in half, doesn't include a hat, and there's an absence of grimace. Bit of fun.

Craig

Project: Inspiration Part 4

I want to make it clear I'm not doing this for my own personal profit. Not that anyone's suggested that. 

I'm just saying...

Which brings me onto the topic of this particular post - charity. Which one to support with this particular project? Or which ones?

Part of me wants to support AYME - The Association of Young People with ME - as Abbi, my niece and the first Mini-Muse I posted about, has had ME since she was around two years old. She was one of the youngest children ever diagnosed with it in Scotland, and seven years later she still suffers with it every day. My dad has raised funds for the charity before by doing the Great Outdoor Challenge, walking over 200 miles from the West coast of Scotland to the East coast of Scotland in twelve days.It's a topic that's dear to the heart of my own family.

Then again, part of me wants to support the Disabled Arts in Scotland too, because that's very much about what the project means to me. Facilitating inspiration through art, and if that's the case, isn't it more appropriate that any funds raised from it go directly into that area? 

I don't know. 

It's doing my head in, to be honest. 

There's so many worthwhile charities and causes out there, and everyone needs money in the current climate. More thought required on my part I guess.

However, on your part, the reader, I'm looking for suggestions from you of suitable charitable organisations that could benefit from any profits I make on the project. Sensible suggestions only please! :D
Drop me a line to craigmcguirephotography@gmail.com or leave a comment on the blog. 

Craig

Spotlight: Neil Shelby Long

"The words 'can't do that' are an alien concept to Neil Shelby Long and although said with tongue firmly in cheek, his Twitter account describes him as 'The Worlds Best One Armed Photographer'."
(taken from Neil's website)

I first encountered Neil and his work a few weeks back when I'd started surfing the net to find other photographers in the UK with disabilities. His work is focussed clearly on people and I found it refreshing and full of life, and you can tell from the images that shooting with Neil must be a lot of fun.
I emailed him to say that I found his work quite inspirational to me, as he was the only professional photographer with a disability I'd found at that point in the UK. I'd explained how I'd been feeling a lot more inspired and positive having seen the work that photographers like Neil, Tony Beck and Christopher Voelker could produce and that I was reconsidering my position on a lot of my own work because of it, for the better.
He was nice enough to take the time to write me back and point out a couple of things.
"I think generally, as a creative, it’s hard to stay positive 100% of the time, but that’s usually because we’re our own worst critics. The only thing I’d say, is not to worry too much what other people are doing and just enjoy what you do."
You can tell from a quick browse of Neil's site that he clearly enjoys what he does, and he's damned good at it too!
http://www.neilshelbylong.co.uk/

Craig
ps Read the about section. The 'two stories' section is pretty chuckle-inducing!

Coby

Coby or Michael Cockburn is a friend of the family, and he popped into my sisters place last night, guitar in hand, and fortunately I had my camera with me.  I took a few shots, here they are.
(No rambly speech in this post, eh?)

Craig

I also wanted to add this one in at the end, because in Michael's own words... "Lookin' sexy, man"!

Mini-Muse: The Juzzlet

A few days back I posted about one of my 'Mini-Muses', Abbi. The other is Justine, my 9yr old niece. 

Justine, or 'The Juzzlet' as I call her has had to suffer me sticking a camera in her face for a while now too, and it seems to provoke an instant reaction to fidget, move, turn around, pull faces or just plain run away half way through the shoot. (She did that during our wee ten minute shoot, about an hour ago!)

She usually settles down pretty quickly though and listens to me patiently while I explain to her what I'd like her to do. Like today. 

With it being quite nice out in the back garden today I grabbed her and pulled a bit of a fast one. I know that getting her hair brushed chills her right out, so I dragged her out for some 'messy-hair shots' prior to getting a few more serious ones. Worked a treat.

Images all shot on my deck, with natural light and occasionally a big black hat. 

This last image deserves a bit of an explanation. It's the 'Messy Hair' shot. I wanted to get a picture of her that was a little dark, a little intense, and not the average portrait of a 9yr old girl. I get the impression that you'll either love or loathe it. I'm quite happy with it. It's what I wanted to achieve.

Please feel free to leave a comment. Blogging is meant to be an interactive experience, and I'm more than happy to hear from any visitors. 

Craig

REVEAL Scotland Part 3

So it occurred to me that I hadn't posted up a link to the profile that Jamie Smith put on the REVEAL Scotland website for me.

http://revealscotland.org/reveal-craig-mcguire-photographer/

I'm super-pleased with this, and if you're reading this Jamie, thankyou!

If you haven't visited the REVEAL Scotland website, please do. There's some amazing artists on the site, each with their own amazing stories. Be inspired and swing by.

Craig

Project: Inspiration Part 3

So yesterday I emailed out requests to nearly twenty potential subjects for the project - a mixture of musicians, artists and others, including a climber, a model and, a comedian.

The responses I've had back so far have been really good, all positive, all up for helping out and being photographed, so I guess I'm off to a good start. Once I've got the subjects agreements I'll pop their names up here.

Might even be shooting as early as next week.... exciting stuff!

Aside from that, I've been looking at potential sponsorship too. I'm very conscious that I'm going to have costs, and that's to be expected with any project. I'm funding this myself and I know the costs are going to be pretty much petrol and time, and time I have in abundance. The only costs other than that are going to be printing costs and equipment problems but I'll deal with those when the time comes I guess.... unless I can wrangle some help beforehand! 

I'll keep you posted.

Craig

REVEAL Scotland Part 2

So after much wailing and gnashing of teeth I got my shortlist down to six. Well, actually ten.

I opted for a mixture of images combining some detailed mono portraits, a couple of the mini-muse shots in the blog post from a few days ago, and some of the shots I've done with models I've worked with over the last couple of years, each with their own story behind them.

It kinda surprised me that I haven't actually had that much time as a photographer. I bought my first DSLR in September 2009 and it was January 2010 when my back went. In that time I had images published in magazines and a photography book, as well as showcased on a few different websites. Not a bad start, I guess!

Since then it's been a lot of breaks between shoots. I had to take most of 2010 off due to my back, and since then I've had to learn a lot about how to shoot with a disability. It's not like I can just power through anymore, or shoot for four hours straight. I'm just not physically capable. I have to shoot 'smarter'.

Anyway, this post is veering wildly off topic, so I'll get back on it. 

I've attached a couple of images to this post that I've included in the selection for Jamie. The first is of a family friend, Stevie. He has what I call a 'character face', and I shot this at a party in his back garden. The second image is of a Club DJ known as 'Honky-Shuffle', a friend of a friend I was visiting. 

I really love black and white character portraits. Why will be another blog post though. Can't go veering off topic twice in one blog, can I?

Craig

 

REVEAL Scotland

So this morning the phone rings, and it's a guy called Jamie Smith who I'd exchanged a couple of emails with a few weeks back.

Jamie runs REVEAL Scotland, a website dedicated to promoting disabled Scottish Artists, and is funded by Creative Scotland and the National Lottery. I'd dropped him a line a few weeks ago to compliment him on the site and offer some encouragement.
There's a link on the menu on the left to the site. Please take a couple of minutes to check it out. There's some fantastic content on it.

Today Jamie asked me to submit some images so they could do a wee feature on me, so I was rather chuffed and immediately said yes. The rest of today has been taken up trying to pick out half a dozen images to send in.

I'm definitely my own worst critic. 

When it comes to my own work, I invariably see the flaws. That in itself can be a good thing, I guess, because it drives you to improve constantly. It also makes it very difficult to pick out my best images, or rather the images that others consider to be my best work. It's very easy to get lost in the technical aspects of a photograph, how it conforms to the established rules, the contrasts, tones and textures, and the post-production of an image and ultimately lose sight of the content of the image - what it's a photograph of.
I'll figure it out though.

The rest of this afternoon will be cutting my shortened shortlist of ten images down to my best six or eight. Aaaarrrghh!

Craig

Mini-Muse

I have two nieces, both of whom are used to me pulling out the camera on occasion and making them pose for shots. Poor girls!

This is Abbi, she's eight, a source of constant inspiration, and one of my two 'Mini-Muses'. 

As with many kids her age it's a real challenge getting her to sit still for two minutes, to try and get her to be serious for long enough to take a good portrait, and to stop her trying to touch her nose to the camera lens. (She likes the 'in-your-face' shots!)

The following shot is one of my favourite photographs I've ever taken. Ironically, Abbs (one of many nicknames for her) looks remarkably like her dad, but she's very solemn, serious and her expression is very thought-provoking to me in this particular image.  

 

I get the feeling that it's a shot that I'll be doing as part of my nornal portrait portfolio again and again with every subject I shoot. Something about the eyes....

Anyway, I'll finish this post with a wee shot of Abbi and I, with me being me and Abbi being.... well.... Abbs!

Craig

 

Craig

Project: Inspiration Part 2

Been a few days since my last post, so I thought I'd blast an update on the blog. 

I really should get round to announcing my blog to the world via all the usual places - facebook, twitter, forums, etc, but for some reason I haven't yet.... bizarre. 

Still quite surprising that I've had 88 hits though. 

Wonder who you all are?

So, onto the project...

I've got a list of 99 names so far... I'm sure it's going to get longer. I've also tracked down 23 email addresses, but that's proving to be a lot trickier. Some people are really difficult to get a hold of!

I've also contacted a few of the arts organisations in Scotland to see if they can offer advice or guidance, or any suggestions that could make things a little easier. Anything from pointers to places they can suggest that I can use to shoot in... I'm open to any and all suggestions really. 

My plan is at the end of the week to start emailing requests out to people on the list and ask if they'll be subjects for my project. 

Really looking forward to it. 

I'll update as it goes on, hopefully with success after success, but then life isn't like that. I'll update with success, failure, frustration and delight. And probably some stuff in between too.

Craig