A bit of an update!

Its been a couple of months since my last blog so I thought I should get stuck back into things and do an update for everyone. We are settled in Waiouru and are absolutely loving it! Yeah, I know, Waiouru? But honest, its a great place with some great people. It has been hard on the old body doing the long hours but its been worth it.

Ordered my new camera and lenses the other day. I have decided to migrate from Nikon gear to Canon, so we have to replace everything. Its an expensive process. I have purchased a Canon 5D MkII so am really looking forward to it arriving in the next couple of days. A review of the Canon 5D MkII

Over the past couple of months, I have had the opportunity to take some time out, have a think about things, look at my future direction. I thought I would share some of those who stood out to me. I do like their style and am happy to be influenced by them, some very cool work.

Gavin O'Neill
Gabriele Rigon
Robert Voltaire
Raya
Victor de Mello
Ellen von Unwerth

Its time for a change!

Since starting my career back in 2005 I have spent a lot of my time trying to bring work to Wanganui to support my home town, and to develop a studio where I could work with my family and friends but its time to grow up and move on.

Finding out about my Asperger's Syndrome, my son Tyler's Autism, and how life will not be the same has added to an interesting few years but its time for a change.

My wife Shana and I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing people, and through Sexy Backs we have also met some wonderful souls too. But, just like my career, its time for some changes and Sexy Backs is going to have a holiday whilst we get things organised. It will be back early 2009.

Over a long and stressful couple of weeks, decisions have been made. I have decided that 2009 will not be like the past few years.

Anyway, Wanganui isn't going to be home for much longer. I am about to take the first steps on what will hopefully be a long and exciting journey.

** Merry Christmas **

Well, its the 25th of December 2008, Christmas Day. A wonderful day to spend with friends and family, we hope you have a great day. 

Many will spend the day in a range of differing circumstances and we just hope that the Christmas spirit touches them in some way. A smile from one to another, a fond memory, or something else that makes the day special for them.

2008 has been a long and tough year for my family and we are hoping 2009 will be better.  We know everyones idea of tough is perspective based and we definitely know of others who have to battle for the day more than us. 

Watching my kids this morning, opening gifts, seeing the smiles, and watching the innocence as Santa gets such praise for knowing exactly what they wanted. Its heart warming to know that they are genuinely good kids. They didn't ask for much, and during these tough financial times, we are lucky this was the case. Books, games, chocolates, clothes, a guitar, we have three very happy kids. They have all disappeared to their  corners to play. 

Have a great day, our love goes out to everyone at this wonderful time of the year!

James

Riley

On the 17th of December I had the opportunity to photograph Riley for Sexy Backs. A great shoot, I also had the chance to do some natural light portrait shots. The results speak for themselves. You can see the Sexy Backs photo on the Sexy Backs blog 

Anyway, I keep getting asked about my facebook profile. If you have a facebook account, please say Hi! Here is my fb badge:

Time for some changes

2008 has been an incredibly strange year, and to be honest, not one I would want to have to do again. My career has been a complete roller coaster ride, constantly learning about my Asperger's, Tyler's Autism, life, love, and all the rest has just been exhausting. How Shana (my beautiful wife) does it, you know, puts up with all this, and me, I just don't know.

So, anyway, 2009 is going to have to start a bit differently. The first thing is to shut everything down for the holidays, have a break, and come back bigger and better when we are ready. Sexy Backs is going to get its own website that is easier to manage and maintain, I am going to spend some time looking at my career and then work out my future direction. I am looking forward to shooting a new portfolio, something that reflects my personality... I know, I know, it concerns my wife too! hahaha

A new look, a new direction, so in short, there is going to be some changes next year! Since starting my career I have covered Fashion Events, photographed Weddings, Bridal Portraits, Commercial, Product, Beauty, Fashion, Creative Portraits, and I always keep coming back to women. So, in short, I am still going to continue photographing women with a focus on Portraiture, Glamour, Beauty, and Fashion, but I will pay a little more attention to Fashion Editorial.

Anyway, I will keep posting updates as they can be announced. My website will be coming down until we have everything set up for 2009.

Its not about technical ability!

Every now and then I get email from someone who asks "When do you know you have the right photo?". Well, the things that truly make a photograph a success for me are that the person I took the picture of is proud of it, and that they see themselves. Then, it is that they see the person I photographed the same way I saw them when I took the photograph. Sometimes this isn't always what the subject wants, it can be incredibly intimate, and has been described to me like they caught me reading their diary. This is a good thing in many ways, but like they say, the truth hurts.

I have always believed that the closer you are to the truth about someone in a photograph, the more you see how layered people are. By virtue of the intimacy of a photograph you automatically see that there is always more.  I am so glad that I seem to have this talent as a photographer, because this is not what 'one' does, it is who 'one' is.

I like being able to enter into their lives in such an intimate way, images are so powerful so it is important that photographers ask themselves what impact their photographs will have on the persons they have photographed and on the people who will see them.  The good, the bad, and the ugly are all acceptable in the right context but as a picture can be worth a thousand words they say, and it is then those words you use to describe someone that can create either a positive or negative impact, I am humbled by the trust those I photograph have in me.

During Sexy Backs and Creative Portraits, I have seen tears, and I have heard the laughter, its the emotions that I strive for at each shoot, and its those same emotions that have become my drug of choice.

More about distorted beauty, and a video

In addition to my blog yesterday I want to clearly state that I am not on a crusade to save women from the nasties of the fashion and beauty industry! The argument will never go away and I feel I can do more working with the industry rather than against it. Moderation and common sense should be the regulators, not the advertising standards board. Having only been in the industry for the past three and a half years I can only speak of my personal experiences. Yes, it is true that most of the women I have worked with have had some damaged self esteem, but I have also had the pleasure of building the self esteem of a few as a result of my style and love of women.

I love women and have always been proud of the fact that I openly discuss this. I grew up with three sisters, a mum, aunties, nana's, and considering most of my friends are women I take it that I have learnt something that allows me to open to so many unique relationships with out the need for testosterone to damage them. Maybe its the fact I have Asperger's and its a part of this that my favorite thing about women are their eyes. So intimate are they that during the time I am setting up a shot I can see the little girl, the teenager, the love, ones ability to lust, and the insecurities we all hide. But, most of all, I can see the soul that cries and laughs, loves and hates, the essence of womanhood that holds and nurtures, that something that not only creates love but carries one as she makes love, its also something that there is no product you can buy to cover it up when damaged.

My passion for women isn't to make them beautiful, God has already done that. However, using the light nature has provided it is my job to paint away what life has done, and then capture as much of the soul I can see in every one of my photographs.

I am not endorsing or promoting Dove or any other product, but I do get what they are trying to do. Watch this ---