The Little Things????

From time to time I find myself reading other photographers' Blogs.  They are often insightful, frequently funny, and make me sit and wonder about things.  Quite often they are very high profile photographers too, like Delly Carr and Joe McNally for example who I've followed for awhile. 
It's hard to imagine a photographer as great as Delly Carr having a bad day, or a bad shoot, or having a crisis of confidence.  Do you believe that this happens to him??  I've been reading his Vodka Borsch and Tears Blog posts.  They are great!  His commentary on the KGB and how much toast and rolls of butter he thinks he's allowed to have make the edges of my mouth curl in a smile, as I read with the nail of my thumb in my mouth. Just has his tendency to want to scream out loud with the exertion of dragging 25 kgs of equipment up what seems like hundreds of stairs.

Reading his recent Blog (Part III - see link above) made me smile, and recollect the times I nearly put my back out struggling to lift my camera bag above my head without giving away that I'm about to collapse under the strain.  How I frequently feel sick as I rush towards an airport.  How the very thought of flying makes me feel sick in the stomach and the thought of missing my plane makes me sick with nerves, and bite my lip in anxiety on the drive there.  Or when I arrive at a venue, stable or farm that I have never set foot inside before, let alone gotten a camera out, sees me feeling instantly anxious.  Will I try to open the gate the wrong way, or not be able to work out where to go? Where will I stand the horse and how quickly can I figure it out while a stallion groom stands twitching the lead impatiently with the beginning of a scowl starting to appear?  What will they say when I get my left and right around the wrong way and can't convey how I want the horse's body positioned?  And will they get the idea of what I am trying to do, and work with me, and find the funny and fun side to it?  Or snarl and tell me they are busy and it's just a photograph and only give me 2.5 minutes which will make me anxious whether my editor/client will like the resultant images?

I suppose it is akin to me trying to hide my fear of the monster from Archie while I do my best to ride him past calmly so that my fear doesn't transmit to him and make him even more frightened....  It is reassuring to read I am not the only photographer who has bad days, gets tired, low on confidence, not to mention homesick.  At least I haven't ever had to contend with the KGB agent glowering at me across the hotel's restaurant while I struggle to eat a meal on my own.  Delly Carr..  I think you are even more ace after reading your Blogs, because you are human...

A nice email lobbed into my in-box this evening from Australia Post.  I've been working with them (again) on another stamp issue.  This one has actually taken quite a long time to come to fruition but I have my image on one of the 4 stamps.  Again I'm very pleased about this.  It will be my 3rd Australia Post stamp, on a discipline that is close to my heart.  I am looking forward to my first look at the artwork and to hearing when the release date will be.


I rode Archie again this morning and spent some lovely time with my best friend Lyn..    Archie worked really well.  I'd love some images of him working so that I can track his progress (or curse if my riding looks untidy).  Happily I'm not as sore as I anticipated.  However I couldn't get Archie to take the canter on the left rein though.  Try and try and try as I might, he either ran through the transition and didn't canter, or took the wrong lead when he did canter.  There was no point fussing, it's a gradual process which will improve over time. 

Speaking of gradual improvements, on a final note for the evening this is Heath's homework effort..  I wonder at his imagination.  I also love his spelling mistakes and his basic grammatical errors...  I realise his spelling needs to improve drastically, however he is tackling learning reasonably earnestly (well, he did this afternoon anyway when completing an exercise he hadn't finished at school today).  Bad spelling and grammar can be an endearing and sweet tendency when it is performed by certain people..  He tackled his work this afternoon with such enthusiasm, without a trace of an argument or tears, which after last week's disaster was a wonderful improvement...  Jessica read with me this evening too and that was lovely as well. 

Samaready (More Than Ready - Samar) - the subject of my photoshoot yesterday.  She doesn't swim and didn't want to have a bar of the sandroll.  So we stuck to pretty headshots and walking shots instead....
 




Samaready and her trainer Mick Price



Heath's homework:  "Why is your Homework Late?"

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