Every Snow Cloud...

There's a lot in the news at the moment about the 'chaos' caused by the snow.  The media like to use words like 'disaster' and 'disruption' and 'snow batters UK' and 'grinds to a halt'.  But there is a positive side to it all.

Yes, hospitals are struggling for staff and people can't get the medical help they need, which is obviously very serious and not to be made fun of.  Yes, airports are shut meaning thousands can't get away (and let's not get into the insurance companies blaming an 'act of god').  Businesses are no doubt losing out.  I know I've lost around £400 worth of business this week due to people not being able to get to me.  Although hopefully the Christmas Market will be rescheduled and my lost customers will re-book.  But let's have a look at the positives.

A while ago I wrote about turning a crisis into an opportunity.  Community spirit hasn't been big business lately, but this morning a neighbour I haven't spoken to since we moved in lent me a shovel so I could dig out my wife's car.  I heard from a friend of mine this morning that his whole street helped dig each others cars out!  That can't be sniffed at.

And the schools are shut as well.  Teachers get an extra few days holiday (not that they're short of them...) and kids have time off at a time when their parents can't get to work.  What better time is there to wrap up warm and get out in the open?  There are loads of parks around just begging to have a snowman built on them with good hills perfect for sledging.  Or go out and do it in your garden.  My nephew built a fort to shield him from his friends' snowballs!

I couldn't get my Skoda Igloo out yesterday so I walked to Tesco.  As did loads of other people.  Brilliant excuse to get a bit of exercise!  At a time when massive proportions of the population are the size of a snowman it can't hurt...

And let's not forget how pretty everything looks in the snow.  The perfect time for a photographer!

Lifestyle Portraits

I absolutely love studio portraits!  You get complete control over everything that happens (unless the kids are acting up of course).  The light does exactlty what you tell it too and if you don't like it a couple of presses of a button fixes it.  You know exactly what the background will look like and it doesn't matter what the weather's like outside.

But if you want something a bit different a lifestyle shoot might be just what you're looking for.  So what's so different about it?  Well for a start it's not in a studio.  The idea is to capture those relaxed fun moments when you're just enjoying yourself outdoors.  They are usually taken in a park, a field, on the beach or anywhere else you can think of.  Yes you can pose the shots, but the best lifestyle shots are the ones where the subject is just relaxing and having fun.  A natural smile is much better than one where the photographer has told you to smile!

For the photographer it throws up a whole load of new challenges that you don't get in the studio.  First is the light.  You're relying on the sun.  You can't move it or change its brightness so you have to adapt every shot to the lighting conditions.  Yes it can be 'modified' with reflectors or diffusers (or trees!) but you are limited.  That's good though because you can achieve some fantastic effects that you just can't get in a studio.

Next is the background.  White backgrounds are great, but they don't come close to a dramatic sky, a beautiful beach of a brick wall.


So if you fancy something a bit different this summer why not give lifetyle portraits a go?