So something... do anything

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well and not finding the Christmas songs on repeat too much?!

For me photography isn't photography until you do something with your images, whether that is printing, making a book or exhibiting them. It is so easy to shoot and leave them semi forgotten on a hard drive or phone.

One of the great joys in photography is seeing the joy in others when they produce a print or handmade book for the first time.

Making books and prints is not hard, but many are daunted by the idea - I used to be like that too. The printers themselves need not be pricey - I have a big printer which cost A LOT of money, but the one I use the most is a simple A4 machine, it produces beautiful prints.

Personally being a photographer means you must produce a print of your work, nothing transports you back to the moment like holding the print, feeling the weight of paper between your fingers or leafing through a book of your images.

In fact I would go so far as to say that making prints and books will actually improve your photography hugely, learning how to sequence images stops you thinking in terms of a single moment and encourages you to think of how to develop the story within your photographs. Developing a visual style comes through more when you make mini projects. Consistency in your post processing is improved when making books. It is all win win.

If the idea of then putting pictures into order and making pages scares you, Adrian Beasley, his wife Clea and I have been running our Image and Word series of workshops for over two years now in a bid to encourage people to make books, see more, experiment and envolve as photographers.

These 3-4 day residential retreats are designed to make you think and explore your unique view of each of the locations.

The arrival day is normally a recce day, where we all walk around the location and see what catches our eye. Day two is a full day of photography, with the three of us on hand to support or guide you as needed. Day three, we start editing and printing - you are guided through the process of image selection, running order and post processing. Finally day four Clea leads the bookbinding session, your images are transformed from print to book in easy stages.

Oh and did I mention that all meals are included too?

Our next workshop is in Northumberland at Bamburgh in February

After Northumberland we have the much anticipated Seaside Series, three workshops exploring the faded glory of the English seaside in the iconic locations of Margate, Blackpool and Skegness. The concept behind these three workshops is to build a small collection of hand bound books (if you do all three).

There is something very special about the British seaside out-of-season, it has a unique charm that is found nowhere else in the world. Photographically there are so many options from iconic architecture, amusement arcades, theme parks, beaches and of course all manner of gaudy neon and bright lights.

Looking forward to the New Year why not set yourself the resolution to do more with your pictures, print them, bind them and hold them in your hands, allow yourself to be transported back to the moment you released the shutter - you can only do that when you print your work and until the point your print you are not a photographer!

Thank you for reading