Fine Tuning the Book

I have been working on getting the book ready for April. It is looking good with over 40 images from Poppit in a hard back 13 x 11 inch book. There are a few more issues that need to be ironed out but after that it will be out there.

I have also been testing more camera parts to see what happens when I mix/match them - some interesting results - but mainly a collection of no-shows.

Future tests

Over the past 5 months I have been working on new ideas and techniques - and trying not to rule out any possible ideas no matter how odd they may seem to me - all to try and get something new. Strange then that my new work is looking distinctly old.

New lens trial

I have been trying out some different old lenses to see if they can help me move towards new ideas. The results so far have been promising.

More testing

Things are moving on well with the new work. New ideas are popping in from all over the place and I am having to keep my efforts concentrated on one specific area - and that is to create a body of work made from strongly composed unique moments that satisfy my need to create images - but allowing the constant tests and trials to alter the project in a gentle way. Oddly this is exactly how my thoughts progressed with my Poppit Sands work - giving me totally different results from what I am doing now.

As time moves on it seems that projects expand and move off in unusual directions. I have come to the conclusion that the complete and binding format of a project should not be thought of first - but should be allowed to change as the work changes. This allows me a freedom to wander and hopefully when the project reaches a conclusion the project statement could read as a summary of what happened during the journey - explaining why the results ended up as they did. This may sound obvious but for me it has taken far too long to realise.

Pushing on

The need for change is quite a strong pull for me when it comes to photography. I also have to know that what I am working at, or towards, is something different and something that hits me in the guts when I see it. I think that you would call this being true to yourself - and trusting on your own feelings about things.

It is odd because my new work excites me in different ways to my older work - but I feel that both are mine and worth standing by. The Poppit work is quite easily understood and I feel that it puts its message across without too much trouble - but my newer work is much more of a challenge. I know why I like it and what I want people to see in it - but to get it to a point where it can be understood and where it can create excitement too will be a struggle and adventure.

Unique new editions

Recently I have been holding work back from the market to start selling them as unique prints. I sometimes look at painters and see the way the work comes from them - putting so much into it - and then they let the work go, never to see it again.

Well, I feel that there is something right about that - a good way of always moving forward and not holding onto what you have done before - so I'm giving it a shot.

More work from Cardiff

These trips to Cardiff are becoming more and more productive as I fine tune techniques and ideas.

More work from Cardiff

I have been making regular visits to Cardiff - mainly to test out some new ideas and techniques.

Plans for this year

I have been working on outlining plans for this year - sorting out what I would like to achive and which direction I should be going. However, it is more than likely that things will just happen as they happen and projects that are not forced but come slowly will be the ones worth waiting for.

I constantly feel the need for new work - but often when I come to do this work it does not resemble what I had planned at all - instead it creates a new spark that was totally unexpected. And that for me is the most exciting thing.