Wednesday June 15

It's been a long while since my last web log which shows how busy I've been, though not every job is paying out.  As a Trustee of Heage Windmill, I was asked to photograph Prince Edward's visit to the mill; this only two weeks after Dame Ellen MacArthur opened the mill's tenth anniversary season.  

His Royal Highness was charming and engaging and minded not a jot that I was flashing my camera at him constantly as he was guided round the mill, chatting most enthusiastically with the volunteer millers.  I loved his suit - very suave and expensive.  All in all, it was quite moving to have a leading member of the Royal Family coming to our little Derbyshire windmill.
I didn't mind at all that I gave up a morning's work - after all, the mill is entirely run by volunteers so one can hardly quibble over fees - but in other areas the lack of respect for professional photographers trying to make a living is quite disappointing.  A woman from Alfreton Business club emailed me, telling me that their new website would benefit from some professional photos of the town, namely the ones I had taken for a feature on Alfreton in Derbyshire Life.  However, there was no budget for this; they wanted the photos for free.  I declined to let her have any and felt like saying in my reply: "how would you feel if I approached your business and asked to use your services but told you I couldn't afford to pay you?"  Worse still, I have just looked at the Business Club website and they have gone and used one of my photos anyway.  A bit naughty, that, though I am not going to spit feathers about it.  In fact, I have emailed the Business Club and told them that in return for using my photos, they could advertise my services on their website.  For free, of course... the Business club declined my offer, saying that they are going to take their own photos.  Bad move: the two photos they have already taken themselves are very poor quality.  This is all such a shame because I get the distinct impression the woman at the Business Club has taken the hump over my initial refusal to let them use my photos for nothing.  Not good business all round...

Funnily enough, the aforementioned photo is of Alfreton's war memorial, the most poignant war memorial I have seen.  Coincidentally, a similar photo (of the same memorial on the same day but from a different angle) was framed and presented to the local Mercia regiment in a special ceremony earlier this year.  That was fine because Alfreton Town Council paid me for the photos (and that's where the Alfreton Business Club got the warm memorial pic from).  Ok, the Council was really only supposed to use them on their website and in leaflets but I could hardly complain because the Town Council employed me to shoot the pictures of that very ceremony! 
This reminds me of a phone call I had from the owner of a mill worker's cottage in Belper which I had photographed for my first Belper Calendar.  She loved the picture and wanted a print of it but didn't expect to pay because, after all, I had taken a photo of her property! As I pointed out straightaway, I was perfectly entitled to take the photo as I was in a public place at point of shoot.  What I felt like saying further was "well, if you had taken a picture as good as mine, you wouldn't have needed to ask me for a print of my photo."  However, I didn't say that and, idiot that I was at the time, I did actually deliver her a print for free.  That was when I was a softie... these are harder times now.   
Alfreton Business Club may be loathe to pay for decent photos but heaven bless Shardlow Business Centre.  The owner Mark contacted me saying how much he loved the photos I took of Shardlow for Derbyshire Life.  He was keen to use them to promote his business centre which is an old, restored canalside mill.  Better still, he also wanted me to take photos of the centre itself to attract new business tenants, so we've done a nice deal for both new and existent photos.  As such, I am more than happy to help promote his business centre here, not least because of its location, with easy access to the motorway network and East Midlands Airport.  And what could be better for a worker at lunchtime than to take a stroll along a canal towpath?
Fortuitously, one of the best photos I took of Shardlow for Derbyshire Life shows that very business centre in all its glory on a blue sky, fluffy cloud day.  That's one of the beauties of shooting for Derbyshire Life.  When featuring a town or village, I feel I have to show the place under a blue sky so it looks its very best.  As I result, I always experience Derbyshire in the best possible light - literally! 
Actually, there ARE times when you have to take photos for nothing... in the hope of returns later.  In fact, this is the whole basis of shooting for image libraries.  I would love it if I could make a living from selling the sort of images I took recently with my actress friend Tamzin.  

I introduced Tamzin in a previous blog as 'the face to launch a thousand book covers'.  I'm even more convinced of that having spent a day at Meynell Langley Hall shooting pics for submission to the Trevillion photo art image library.  Trevillion has a fantastic reputation for selling book covers to publishers all over the world.  I have already sold 7 or 8 images as covers, so here's hoping for more.  Thankfully, Tamzin agreed to do the shoot for free as she will earn a proportion of any fee for images that end up as book covers.  There's no guarantee my images will even be accepted, so Tamzin has placed a lot of trust in me.  i just hope I don't let her down.
It appears I've pleased a great bunch of chaps who call themselves YesterYear.  This is a barbershop-style choral group here in the East Midlands with great harmony vocals.  They perform purely for the love of it.  I was asked to shoot some publicity pics for them and, sensing these guys had such a strong fun element in their performing, I tried to convey that in the pictures.  I was especially pleased with the 'formal' group shot because I suggested that it look not just informal but almost like a subversive take on the formal group shot.  Thus, I got the guys to affect boredom, silliness, inattention... as if they were opposed to the whole idea of having a formal group shot.  I feel it worked a treat.  You can see for yourself here...