Coming out of lockdown (again)

Sunday 9th May 2021…..

It has been sometime since my last blog post, why I hear you ask, well Corona Virus is the answer to that question. Most of the photography that I would normally do has been cancelled since the beginning of the pandemic. It has been a tough time for most of humanity and to be honest I haven’t really suffered, but my creativity has suffered. I have been so un-inspired for so long now I am not sure how to break to cycle. Back when we had the first lockdown last year I started a daily photo challenge based on FB where I would set a challenge and then go live each evening and review the submitted images. The idea was to inspire people to go and take pictures and to encourage me to take pictures…..it kind of worked to start with but my personal inspiration waned quickly. I reduced the challenges to every other day and then eventually to once a week, then in March this year I decided to take a break and stop the weekly challenges and reviews. We had some issues within the family and I just felt I needed to take a break and have some time for myself. It has now been several weeks since my last live broadcast and photo review and I’m not sure when I might start again.

Having said all of that, the break has been good as it has given me time to concentrate on the other things including my other business interests. I am beginning to find new inspiration for my photography and I have had the chance to photograph my friends model daughter a couple of times. We are now looking at starting to run some workshops again, all of this being possible because of the easing of restrictions.

I am still missing travel, both locally and foreign but we have a trip to London planned soon and another trip to Derbyshire so I am hoping that the change of scenery will help to re-ignite my love of picture making. I’m sure many of you have felt the same as I do, at times it has felt stifling. I like to live life to full without restraints on where and when I can do things, G and I are used to doing things at the drop of a hat. It was not unusual for us to just go and do stuff, no plans, no “Oh should we”……no lets just go and do it !!

I look forward to a future where not everything is how it was but a new future with new possibilities and new adventures…….

To be continued :)

A New Year......working smarter !

As we step into 2020 I wonder what the new year holds for me, more so this year because 2019 was crazy. It was a year filled with travel to destinations including New York and Milan, both of those trips were to shoot fashion shows. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to take part in these events and to have meet so many amazing people along the way. I have spent many a long hour into the twilight editing and working on social media to promote my work. This year I plan to work smarter as opposed to working harder, so I begun with a proper clear up in my office, yes I can now see the surface of my desk. I am determined to keep on top of the constant flow of emails, phone calls and client meetings. This I will back up with a promise to myself to follow up on client leads and general business promotion…….

This all sounds excellent but how will I manage to fit all of this into my busy life which already includes running two businesses, being a husband, a father, a grand father and fitting in regular travel (my favourite thing !)

The simple answer is I’m not sure but I think that being more organised will help, along with focusing on the important tasks and ignoring the things that tend to distract us like browsing social media to see what other people are doing.

Reading this now at 5am ( I can’t sleep so I decided to get up and do something useful ) it all sounds brilliant but how long will I maintain the drive to work smarter ?