Rain, rain but not a drop to be had.

We've had a fair amount of rain in the past few days but like buses and policemen when I was shooting this there just wasn't any.
So what to do? Well shoot the scene in broad daylight, push and pull it in HDR and add the figure from a studio shot.
It's a book cover for Cainnt na Caileige Caillte by Alison Lang, published by The Gaelic Book Council, design by James Hutcheson.
Now if they want bright sunny weather can I do it via the Mac or do I have to go to Spain yet again?

Make mine a ....

......... Bowmore. And I won't thank you for a small one.
Just hitting the bookshops is this tome on Scotland's other great export that I shot the cover for. Whiskypedia by Charles MacLean is an essential handbook for an up-to-date grasp of the Scotch Whisky industry and it's regional variations. Design by James Hutcheson at Birlinn.
Slainte.

How Long for a Photograph?

Well 3.07 times 2 for 9 minutes of shutter action. I was on the road once again for RBS Business Sense magazine. This time it was to HJS Helicopters just west of Aberdeen, which is 3 hours and 7 minutes from Edinburgh according to the AA Route Planner. And half an hour after arriving my subject, Sidney Simpson, presented himself. And exactly 9 minutes later (I checked on the metadata) he announced that was enough. No second shot. All over in a flash I suppose.
Still before our second 3 hour and 7 minute leg to Edinburgh we got to see a little of how these helicopters are built. They are basic to say the least and based on a 1950's concept but so meticulously maintained and rebuilt that it would shame even a nearly new car.

Pulling the Shutters down......

....on an Edinburgh landmark. Well many, me included, feel it's more an eye-sore than landmark and are happy that it'll be rubble soon. Luckily I got 2 hours in there recently and some of the resulting images are now on my website.

June

On the first of the month I usually post the relevant page from a calendar that I produced at the beginning of the year. Well for this month I was away and didn't have access to that particular file.
Better late than never as they used to say .... but as I'm about to do a bulk email I thought I'd post that image instead as it includes the June calendar image.
So it's a BOGTF rather than a BOGOF.
The portrait is from a series I shot for NHS Grampian through Leith, the healthy fish dish was shot for UrbanAngel and the road shot is from a reccie and is available at Alamy if you're looking to license something "just like that".

Client Vendor relationship

NHS portraits

Just gone online on my website are portraits for NHS Grampian through Leith. Shots over 2 days at 6 different locations, including my studio, they illustrate different ways to access the NHS. Run as a door drop and 6 sheet posters.
Production by Angela Moffat, Hair and Make Up by Julie Maguire.

Selling Yourself .....

.....too cheaply.

Great Rant.....

.....that I totally agree with. Now imagine that photographers didn't just give it away.

MAY and it's Salad Days

Well here in Scotland it's not exactly high summer or even spring for that matter. But we live in hope. And don't we need to boost that immune system?

"If you sell yourself cheap......

....you will never get out of that hole".
Great American Society of Media Photographers interview video with several members on negotiating with clients. And there's tons of other information and advice there too.
Also don't forget Copyright for Clients from the AOP.
Oh how I love laying it out upfront.

Photoshoot at the Chancellor's Highland Retreat.

Coming soon to a magazine near you is my photoshoot at Chancellor Alistair Darling's Highland retreat. Please email me if you'd like to see an extended preview.

Lens Production.

Ever wondered how that lens was made? Well then take a look at this YouTube video and understand why they cost so much. Thanks to Philip Chudy on the AOP list for pointing it out.


Shorpy Photo Archive

Another website, or blog to be precise, that I really like is Shorpy. It is as they say 'a vintage photography blog featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1950s. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago.' Take a tour through it. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Blog Feed.

Those who have visited PushPixels before will already know that I have a sidebar with a small list of blogs that I follow. With two or three exceptions they are photography related.
But I've never known if any of my visitors ever go there and click through to any of them. So in an effort to push you that way I thought I'd start an irregular summery of the past week's content in some of them.
This was all prompted bescause Conscientious covered Joel Sternfeld's new landscape book Oxbow Archive (pictured). Also mentioned is Adam Bartos on his Yard Sale photographs, Lisa Wiseman who was selected for 'PDN's 30 for 2009' and who has a great page on the iPhone as the New Polaroid, there's a pointer to an article in Frieze on the Art World in the Credit Crunch and another to the work of Finnish photographer Ismo Holtto. And there's also reference to a building collapse in Cologne where there's a subway tunnel being built by the very same people building out tram line here in Edinburgh. Which explains a lot.

Glyn Davies at Musings from the Anglesey Photo Artist tells of his interview for a Welsh Language Arts tv programme, individual prints selling and news of a print sale with lots of great photography including this shot.

Mrs Deane has a review of the work of Prix HSBC pour la Photographie winner Matthieu Guafso, muses on change, moving on and ruins and a piece on 2 found postcards one of which has very sinister overtones. Or does it?

Meanwhile LensCulture has a review of Look Me in the Eyes:Russian Photographic Portraits happening in Paris, the World Press Photo 2009 awards and a story on how the residents of a Kenyan slum are mounting photographs on their roofs big enough for Google Earth to see. And this site has a vast archive of photography to view and buy too.
And The Strobist has.... well tutorials and kit stories and .... well go there if you're after a How To? or 2.
And what of the non photographic blogs? Well my friends at Bohemia Life have kids clothes from Phister and Philine (which is a slightly odd name to choose if I may say so), The Little Experience Craft kits for Kids and lots and lots more for body and home including my nudes. Tom Morton at Beetcroft moans about ITV's Red Riding. I agreed with some of what he says about set design but I've sympathy with the designers who can't find all the necessary 60's tat as its all been chucked save for the really high end stuff. And that wasn't required in that film was it? But I thoroughly enjoyed the episode with the exception of the sound quality. Or is it my tv set? Or even my hearing? And finally my friend Mike Coulter at DigitalAgency relates a story on crap iPhone customer service from O2. How much longer will Apple allow this monopoly to exist? Great device. Pity about O2's grasp of our nuts.

Ahoy there! New Website!

ALL or At Long Last I've finished my promised re-building of my website. I've expanded it into a simplified format with 4 "Books" and "Info" and "T&Cs" pages. And rather than talk too much about it here I'd like you to go visit it HERE.

Hope you like it (and do please report any errors).

MARCH

March is here and it's time for some DIY. Also look out for my updated website later in the week.

Twitter Part 3.

One Phil Adams (of Blonde) and family are now proud owners of one of my Shadow Nudes. Phil won the print in the raffle run as part of the recent Twestival here in Edinburgh which raised £3500 for CHARITY:WATER. Enjoy it Phil.
The total raised from the Global Twestival stands at $250,000 USD on 18 February 2009 - confirmation from over 80 cities is still pending. Not bad for something conceived and delivered in just one month.
And what's this? A photographers blog page without a photo? That's a first.

Twitter or Twestival part 1

You'll have been stuck in a jungle somewhere or you'll have heard of TWITTER. It's one of the simplest and greatest of the Social Networking devices currently available. And at less than 3 years old it is having it's first global festival or TWESTIVAL next Thursday, 12th Feb, 2009. Moving from the virtual to the real, faces behind the avatars will meet and greet in person at over 175 different venues throughout the world and all in aid of CHARITY:WATER.
In Edinburgh it's happening at 19:00 at Hawke and Hunter, 12 Picardy Place, Edinburgh EH1 3JT.
And one part of the evening is an auction that I've been persuaded to contribute to. So if you want a print from my Shadow series (normally £150 at Bohemia, Dundas Street, Edinburgh) get on down there.
(Further images and info on next post).

Twitter or Twestival part 2

Here's what Bohemia Design have to say about me and the images:
This series of archival quality limited edition prints are made on a heavyweight watercolour paper with natural pigment inks.
An elegant play of light, form & shadow in gorgeous rich tones describe the enduring mystery of the female figure.

Brendan MacNeill is a graduate of London Central Polytechnic & now works from his studio based in Leith, Edinburgh.
With a portfolio of portraits which include David Bailey, Terence Conran, Mohammed al Fayed, Jimmy Boyle, Hugh Collins, Carol Smillie & Murial Gray, MacNeill's photographic skills are in constant demand. He shoots for a wide range of clients across the editorial & design industries.

Limited Edition of 25 copies

Image size: 53cm x38cm
Paper size: 61cm x 43cm

Supplied unframed