Busy start…

Traditionally for me this time of year is spent preparing for meetings, discussing bookings or talking to clients about contract renewal. I also feel the right now is the time to be self-employed and a small business, given the turmoil on the financial markets. With our ‘grim reaper’ media doing their best to out gloom each other, I’d hate to be in a medium or large company, wondering what sort of memo will drop onto your desk next. So I’m keeping my head down and getting stuck into a little (non shooting) time in the office.

My work with SEAT UK is now into it’s 7th year and already I’ve been busy in the studio with some corporate portraiture, together with some editorial photography for brochures. They continue to be a great company to work for as they encourage ideas and input en-route to getting the best of out whatever we’re doing. My contract is for a block of days over the course of the year and in between those commitments I shoot many other things on a private and commercial basis, something which ultimately benefits all concerned as variety is the lifeblood of anything creative.

I’ve also been enjoying a busy period of enquiries on wedding work. I rarely have many actual wedding shoots in the first couple of months of the year, but January has brought more calls and emails about bookings than usual. I never advertise, but have very good links to several venues and wedding planners via whom commissions are secured on a regular basis. The key, as always, and especially in this economic climate, is flexibility. Meet the clients somewhere in between what you both expect to gain from the relationship and you won’t go far wrong long-term. I hear of many of my colleagues who stick to their guns both on price and supply logistics, just to find that when the music stops they have no chair – if you see what I mean.

Another element of my work which is expanding is portraiture. I’ve always done it, and enjoyed it, but now doing much more than before. I’ve said in several previous posts that I love to shoot simple, uncluttered portraits of people, and I’m now getting the chance to do that quite often. My next post will concentrate on a day spent doing some private work where the key was to let the pictures just happen, as the subjects in question were a little manic and didn’t want to stick to the script! 

In the meantime please take a glance at the ever-changing portfolio on the main site, markbothwell.com