Friday, 18 December 2009 17:19
Evening ladies and gents,
Is that time of year again..!
There's a conifer in the lounge and my house is lit up like Blackpool.
Gatwicks closed due to some sleet, the M3 is in chaos and I'm running around like a tit struggling to think of what to buy for people.
It must be Christmas!
There's a big double line drawn in my orders book after the last entry. Everything has been packaged up and posted or filed away somewhere in my office. Had my last order of the year collected today, a custom block mounted panoramic print, very nice, which signals the end of the 2009 for me.
In an official capacity anyways. Now I get to mess about and experiment a bit over the holidays. Yay.
2009 has been a real roller coaster year.
I've had my triumphs; having my work displayed at Titchfield Haven and having my work stocked in two more local shops.
My lowerpoints; one of said shops avoiding payment when I sold a couple of prints through them, my computer dying on me, and not being able to shoot much, for one reason or another.
But I think overall its been a really successful year.
I've met some amazing people, and made some great friends and shooting buddies. I've sold more this year than any other. And I think I've produced some of my best images this year.
A few examples -
I'm hoping to carry on like this into the New Year.
I've got some big ambitions and hopes for 2010. I think it'll be a struggle to succeed in them all, but I feel I've got a point where I need to push myself, both creatively and with business.
A good friend of mine, Mark Upfield, are hoping to start up a small side business, shooting promotional images for musicians, some portraits, and some automotive stuff, as we're both petrol heads.
Working with bands and cars are two things I've always wanted to do. I play guitar and a few other instruments, and I used to work in a garage, and have grown up admiring cars. Music and motors are two of my life long loves.
I'm currently building a website to house this, so watch this space.
I'm also hoping to start travelling more. Recently I've been travelling further afield, and I feel its really helped spark some creativity. I've captured some great images whilst out in new places, and I really want to capitalize on that.
One of my major plans is to walk and photograph the Solent Way. Its a 60 mile stretch of coast line from near Bournemouth to near Chichester. No, I won't be walking it all at once, I'll be breaking it down. I've nearly finished a website for it, and am hoping to get the support of a local county magazine, to help with petrol money and to bring in some print sales; I need to pay for it some how.
One thing I've always wanted to try since I got into photography is timelapse photography. The animation of hundreds, sometimes thousands of photos into a video clip 30 seconds to a few minutes long, which condenses hours of life and light, into a few minutes. Its like watching the world go by in fast forward.
I've recently got a new intervalometer, see my review here, which I've bought specifically for my long night time exposure and this idea. I plan to capture the mundane, say Portsmouth or Southampton harbour, the ships going in and out, the ferries going past, the small pleasure boats. Capturing it for a few hours, with a spectacular backdrop of a sunrise or set, and then smashing it down into a few minutes.
Or the tide coming in and then going out at one of my normal landscape locations. Recording the water slowly come in, frame by frame, peak, and then slowly go out, all as the clouds whiz by, and the world rushes around paying no attention to it.
Its going to take a lot of practise, trial and error, and sitting around for hours, waiting for the camera to capture the right amount of images. But it'll definitely be different to anything the photographers I know and idolize are doing. And it gives me a chance to mess around with new techniques, which you know I love.
My main priorities is boosting sales. Early in the new year I'm planning to active promote the site locally. Word of mouth, having some flyers printed up for popping through letter boxes, and just being out and about more, making it clear what I'm doing.
This years been my best year for sales, but its still not enough to live off alone. This is priority #1 for the coming year. So any support, advice, or sharing of the website address is hugely appreciated.
So thats it. The year that was 2009 & the year that will be 2010.
I want to give a huge, huge thanks to everyone that's helped me out this year. All my customers, my family and mates for ferrying me around, my retailers, and of course the people that come on here to see my work and read my ramblings.
I can't explain how much I appreciate it.
I hope you all keep coming back in the New Year, and continue to enjoy what you see.
I hope you all have a very happy holiday season, and a prosperous, healthy New Year.
Thank you all again,
Matt.
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