All in the name of Charity

Have you noticed that sometimes, like London buses, you get a gap in a type of work you do and then you get 2 or 3 all at once!

Last other week was no exception. On the Wednesday I was at a networking event, talking to a Charity based in Colwyn Bay, about shooting a Calender for next year. On the Friday I was at a Charity Ball with nearly 300 guests and then on the Saturday we started shooting for another Calendar to raise money for Charity.

The Charity Ball was held at Carden Park in Cheshire, which means arriving at 5.30pm to set-up a studio on site before the Guests arrive. The next challenge was to try and get some shots for them to use in Cheshire Life, with only 30 minutes before they sat down to dinner.

Then it's the "Quiet before the storm". A few trickle out to the bar and have a few shots taken in "The Studio" between courses, one of which is the guy doing the announcements. 2 minutes later he's on the mic, talking about having his photo taken and holding up the print in his hand.

Before I get chance to do anything else, there's a queue of 20 people, waiting to have their picture taken. The reason for this is quite simple, we offer the guests not only the opportunity to have a picture taken in their ball gowns and black ties, but we add an element of fun and an experience to remember, so they can't help but show off their photo's. It also helps that they can see the results on screen straight away and even have a print in 30 seconds of choosing it.

The Ball finished at 1am, but the guests stayed a lot longer and we didn't finish until around 2.15.
You can check out the images for the Precious Ball in our Events Section.

Having gone to bed at 3.30am, it was only 3 hours until it was time to get up again and meet the girls for next years OCS Calendar. There are 22 girls who work for OCS and will be featured in the calendar in a "Calendar Girl" fashion, so as they work 7 days a week, the only time to get them all together was 7am.

Despite the lack of sleep, we got the first five months shot and are scheduling in the rest very soon, so watch this space to see the results and maybe support the charity by purchasing a calendar.

And it's all in the name of Charity

View More of my work at www.ajwphoto.co.uk

Why Bother Using a Pro?

With the modern age of Digital cameras that can take an almost foolproof photos, do you really need to get a professional photographer in to take some images for your business or of your family??

Even in the field of Event photography at Society Balls, everyone around the table has a pocket sized, super-duper digital camera, so why pay a pro to do that job?

The reality is that anyone can take a good picture these days, so often you can get away with your own images. The difference is that a Pro won't just take a picture, they will "Make" a Picture.

I was talking this week to a Manager of a Golf Club and this very subject came up. His daughter is a budding Pro and with the same camera, he will take a picture which turns out ok, but she will make a picture and by his own admission, a hundred times better. Often it is the ability to see how a final image will look and have the knowledge and understanding on what changes to composition or lighting are needed.

On a recent commission for Conwy County Borough Council's European unit, we needed to show an area of land that had received European funding to set-up access and facilities to the site. From a normal level, it just looked like any other field, so the answer was to take to the air and show the area from above, detailing all the access and how it linked in to the surrounding community.

Again, last week I was doing a shoot for Carpet Scrub, based in North Wales, where the solution in creating something different and eye catching, was to get on to the ground and close up. The straight on shot just didn't have the same impact.

What you have to ask yourself is "Are your own pictures good enough to represent your company in the best light" In this age of competition, first impressions count, so saving a few quid by doing it yourself, could cost you thousands in the long run.

Check out my web site at http://www.ajw-photography.com/