And we're back! (With an Alter-Ego...)

Do you think it's too late to say happy new year? Ok, maybe a little. To all those reading this blog, I apologise for my absence but I promise I've been hard at work on photography and some ground work around the business.

Getting straight in, I wanted my first post this year to be the start of my second project. This is another idea I've had floating in my mind for a while, slowly taking shape.

Alter-Ego

The idea is to take normal situations that we all know and understand and see what they could be when looked at through the looking glass to peer into an alternate fantasy reality. Some realities obviously more fantastical than the others!

In the first image we take a look into the office world. I don't want to talk too much in this blog post. Just click on the image below to see the full versions to see one of the places I've been spending my energy, and I'll see you back here soon for more visual goodies. :-)

ADP

I wish I had a camera

Here's the scene.

Looking up a steep residential road. Late in the afternoon. Cloudy day from rain clouds which had graced us with a light smattering or rain. Through the grey clouds and the city dirt, the sun began to burn through the clouds, right at the top of the street, causing a very warm yellow-orange glow which fought to spread across the sky.

Then, over the crest of the hill, through the glow and the haze, a sleek high performance sports car eases into view (BMW M3 if you must know), blue-white xenon headlights blazing. With the bright sun behind causing the eyes to adjust, the contrast of the darkened road and buildings, and the car cutting a sharp sleek dark shadow with those blue-white eyes across the high peak was truly spectacular. It was like a scene from a James Cameron film.

There was just one problem. I was observing this scene unfold in the space of about 1 second, through my rear view mirror as I drove down said road.

If there was ever a time when I wish I was a) clairvoyant and b) had my camera, that was the time!!!

Natural Lounge - Afro hair and a child that didn't cheat. Promise! :-)

Natural afro hair. Natural afro hair education. ... It was great!

A past client, and good friend of mine put on her very first event to solidify her position as a premier UK source of information for natural afro hair. The Natural Lounge was set up to give a relaxed friendly environment for people to learn about natural afro hair and to dispel many worries.

The very first Natural Lounge event was a great success. Tickets were sold out. I always arrive early to a job, but there were some women arriving up to 45 mins early which I thought showed an amazing level of interest. By the start time, the venue was bubbling.

The energy was great. People were open, honest and very welcoming. It was a great first event...

...Even when during the raffle, the first person who had the honour to put her hand in the jar and take a ticket was a uber-cute child. She reached as far into the jar as her little arm could, gave it a swirl and picked out a ticket.

"And the winner is......!"

Her Mum! Lol!!!

I thought this was hilarious. Some thought it was a fix. But as you can see here, she definitely wasn't looking. Like the event, it was honest, and great fun.

ADP

Chinese whispers

Technology is an amazing thing. Just the other day I took my HTC Desire out of my pocket, pulled up Google Maps, quickly checked directions to where my friends were eating, then walked on. To have the worlds roads in your pocket, when you think about it, is absolutely amazing.

I read about a guy at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) who mixed a regular webcam with a mirror and some inventive programming, and made a mirror that can detect and read a person's pulse. Now that is amazing.

Just over a week ago I had to update my storage system because I was running out of space to put the new images. I won't bore you with technical details, but needless to say, I have more space and a new backup system. And in the process, I'll have a new media server to dish up the music wherever I happen to be.

Technology is amazing.

However the instructions to this amazing technology, was no so amazing.

"The xxxx is capable for 16 backup version control."

Huh? Ooooh, you mean xxxx can hold 16 backups!

"Clicking on Apply after firmed with desired schedule"

What? Not even a full stop after that sentence?!

It's like a game of Chinese Whispers. Except this game has taken me about a week to get to grips with! Grrrrrrrrr!

Yes people, translation technology is not quite up there with cool phones or mirrors that read our vital stats.

The different sides to strength in women

I was thinking of some images that I would like to create, what story I'd like to tell. I've had a few ideas for projects that I'm in various stages of. Some still only exist in my mind and it's about time to get them started.

After thinking up a view in my mind's eye, I called up a good friend who I thought would suit this image, right down to the concerned expression. We talked over the project concept and decided on poses. On a perfectly sunny and cloudy day in Oxford, we set to work creating stories.

I've had the idea of doing a few ongoing project. Ongoing because I will add to them as and when I can, but I'm not sure they will have a defined end point. One of the projects I came up with was about strong women. I wanted to do a series of portraits of women owning their space and commanding their destiny.

However, I didn't want to limit it to overt displays of strength, or the stereotypical masculine images of strength. You can be strong, do the hard but correct thing, and feel terrible while doing it. Or like leaving a long relationship that you realised was weakening you slowly like a disease, you did the strong thing but you still think about what you left and where you are going.

Because of these nuances, I wanted to start the series with a set of images of a lady on her journey. The decision has been made to go, to leave. The hard part is done. But questions still remain.

 ADP

Seriously!

Damn, what a few weeks. I've been working hard on some corporate imagery. I've been working hard on a wedding album. I've been working hard on some portraits. I've been working hard on some plans that I really want to get running, too. Some exciting projects that I'm eager to make moves with. I've even been trying to figure out how to use an app on my Android phone that  thought could help me jot down some ideas and save me time in organizing thoughts and plans. Except, I really can't figure out how to use it. It's like a Mensa-made jot pad. I'm obviously not part of the group. :-(

Although the most interesting thing that happened to me was when I was scheduled to have a meeting to discuss important top secret business. It got canceled on the day. One of the main attendees forgot it was his birthday.

Yeah, seriously!

I [insert expletive] love it!!!

You can't really ask for a better response to your hard work.

Every piece is special. Some are more special. After nurturing the birth of the idea, I had yet to find out a) if the image was suitable and b) if the image would turn out to be too big. What on earth am I talking about?! Ah yes, I have sort of started in the middle. So we'll take if from the top. Quickly.

Client comes to me with a request. "Angus, I'd like something different." Excellent!

We sat. We chatted. I had a laugh with her husband. If I was the art director on this piece, you could say he ended up being the logistics manager. So what did she want?

A panorama. A cityscape panorama.

I thought for quite a while. Then, like suddenly opening your eyes to light rain, the idea dawned on me. However I should be clear that what I thought of was not an image. No, the excitement was the method of taking the image rather than the buildings in the image itself. You see, the problem with London panoramas is that most of the angles of the London skyline have been photographed a million times over. So what you need is a new angle or a new paintbrush with which to paint the same features.

I didn't have my personal helicopter to take me around. It was having an MOT. :-(

After a few research trips and a few test images, and a few chronic duds, I realised how this can be done. I have to say it is one of my proudest pieces to date. After getting it printed, I can honestly say I was sad for two reasons: 1. I have to give it away. 2. Very few people will see it in it's full glory. Two and a half meters wide! I really do urge people to get more things printed. A good print can invoke so much more feeling.

But for those who never got to see it, here's the next best thing. Hope you like it!

ADP