Photography…mostly.

Tag: clackmannanshire

  • Andrew Huggan singer: music, photography & video

    Andrew Huggan singer: music, photography & video

    Musicians are talented. They create vibrations in air which make sense to the ear and evoke emotion. How does a photographer using light capture a creator of sound ?

    Andrew Huggan is a Scottish Folk singer songwriter from Clackmannanshire who wanted new promotional visuals. He didn’t want a Jonny Ive white studio look (as if lit by a thousand suns) which was my beat. After nosing around online for ideas and listening to Andrew’s thoughts, I decided we would do a ‘stop and shoot’ ((like a “stop and chat” as invented by Larry David)) in open and nature-rich settings. This gave me a choice of backdrops, perspectives, tones and lighting.

    Andrew Huggan Scottish Folk singer songwriter
    Shot on a pavement in Dollar with two strobes to give nice shadow drama

    During this shot (above) children walked-up to us and offered some money, wee souls. Thought we were busking!

    Andrew dressed for winter
    low key
    Overexposing to change mood
    high key

    My goal is to create interest within a rectangular shape. Outside that shape is visual trivia, but can add spice. Context matters if it affects what appears in the frame. Since we are greatly affected by our surroundings I find unusual surroundings can add that something extra. I used that here. These two shots above were taken in front of a Toilet block! The door is finished in a fantastic dimpled aluminium finish which can add gorgeous light to a shot. Here its main effect was to set the Client off-balance when told “now we’re going to shoot in front of a block of toilets”. In the first shot there is mild suspicion and doubt, perhaps even distrust and adds intensity to the expression. This worked well with bundled-up clothes and a low key (dark) tone. Even though it was in full direct sunshine. The high key shot was taken less than sixty seconds later near the same spot, and a lighter relieved expression is revealed.

    Andrew playing guitar

    I was worried the pink cherry blossom might be too ‘cheesy’, but it does work. Andrew sings often of the elements in nature like spirit, Selkies, etc

    Andrew and guitar
    Sound from the environment

    Musician Photography

    How dow you record visually something audible? Include the tools and the person.

    Guitar strings making music

    You see the vibrations, the prelude to sound and music in our ears ? Live music is best!

    We ended the day shooting scenes in forrest settings around Gartmorn dam.

    I must thank @mrmacmusic, @MitchellDesigns and @Landscapess365 for sending Andrews Twitter appeal for a photographer my way. Social rules 😛 Oh and I knew that photographing musicians was not a path to riches thanks to Brad Trent on David Hobby’s site. I enjoyed the experience of shooting a musician playing live in my outdoor studio.

    Behind the scenes video:

     

  • Clackmannanshire’s bhanana fields

    Clackmannanshire’s bhanana fields

    Note the silent “h’ in the title 😛 Rapeseed blooming early this year and is so tall I must fit a bell to the dog because she gets lost. Again the iphone shines as a grab shot camera. Lovely splash of colour in the rolling countryside now winter is gone.

    Sunset over the rapeseed field

    Clackmannanshire fields of gold

    A little shake for effect

    (Click on the photograph and navigate using arrows at bottom or press LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys)

     

  • Clackmannanshire Bridge, wherefor art thou earlier?

    Clackmannanshire Bridge, wherefor art thou earlier?

    The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation have given the new Clackmannanshire Bridge a “Highly Commended” in their annual awards. A perfect excuse to add my own gratitude to its existence, albeit late. I spent sixteen years travelling between Clackmannanshire and the Lothians in an earlier career. Each morning’s commute had a ten minute queue to negotiate Kincardine Village then cross the Forth and on to the M9. The return journey was similarly corrosive of productive time. Tapping the steering wheel for thirty minutes and more on a Friday. Adding-up this unproductive sinkhole reveals a total of thirty one days lasting twenty-four hours, spent waiting to cross the Forth. Can you believe that ?

    Clackmannanshire Bridge

    So any credit paid to this new bridge, its Architects, Construction teams, Planners etc is deserved. If it was completed sixteen years ago I could have walked the West Highland Way, painted the Himalaya in oils and still had time to build my sons a treehouse using fine-sanded matchsticks ! This photograph was taken shortly after the bridge opened in February 2009.

  • Spring wildlife

    Spring wildlife

    Some iPhone shots

  • Abstract views of winter ice

    Abstract views of winter ice

    Gartmorn Dam, Clackmannanshire is still heavily iced over, but pockets of meltwater have created interesting patterns that caught my eye. The more time spent there, the more I saw which is a theme I plan to return to.

  • Andy Scott Stride

    Andy Scott Stride is a partner piece to River Spirit.  ‘Stride’ is a man in motion rising from the earth and faces north towards Ochil hills. Where River Spirit is to water, he is to earth and sky. Stride is a hugely dynamic creation suggesting motion, flight and nature (trees in hands) which is an interesting contradiction given its metal construction.

    Birds, trees, people
    Birds, trees, people

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