With a global 4am Project date coming up soon David got some hardy photography souls together and headed out into the rain drenched streets of Birmingham! Check out his blog post about the morning and his DSLR photographs. Thanks for organising the walk and for inviting me along to speak to your photo societies David!
Have a look at everything that is happening at Fotofilia. Not only is there a fabulous photo studio for hire (at a great price), there are classes and lessons and courses. David arranges exhibitions as well as running the photographic societies.
What David said about my talks: “Karen has now delivered two presentations to the photographic societies we run here at Fotofilia. I had wanted to bring Karen along to speak for some time, having heard many great things about the 4am Project and admiring the innovative concept. On both occasions, the presentations were fun, informative and inspirational - (anything that can encourage our members to consider getting up at 4am to take pictures must be recommended). The presentations were well paced and friendly, with any questions being handled honestly and concisely"
It's a networking event for geeky girls and women in Birmingham and the West Midlands!
It was a fantastic first event, with about 40 ladies coming along to Urban Coffee. The event organisers, Rachel McCollin, Nivi Morales and Karen Bugg did an amazing job, and considering it was the launch event, it actually felt very established already. A testament to all their hard work.
The ladies asked me to do a short talk at the event, and I spoke about the 4am Project, how it began, how I used social media to make it global, and gave a few hints and tips on managing an online project. Btw, there will be another global event coming up in April which I'm aiming to announce next month!
And a raffle - and I won a book! CSS Detective by Denise Jacobs. Hey, I'll be a Girl Geek yet! :)
And I had to draw the next raffle ticket out, and I pulled out my Mum's numbers! What are the chances of that. She was very happy as there was some gorgeous jewellery to be won as well!
There are even some dates set in place for the next events:
Evening of 16th Feb, 17th March, 19th April, 17th May, 23rd June & 19th July! A full schedule for your spring/summer diary. Just keep an eye on their website and twitter for more info. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet other ladies and some new faces too, and I really recommend it :)
I have known about Pecha Kucha for some time and it's been on my to-do list since last year.
I finally booked myself book onto the Birmingham Pecha Kucha night (volume 4) which was held upstairs at The Victoria pub in the city centre.
What is Pecha Kucha? It's a night of presentations that consist of 20 slides/images where you have 20 seconds (if you time it right!) to talk about each one.
Initially I was going to do my presentation on Heartache. Unfortunately I ran out of time to prepare it, so I based my talk on the 4am Project and made it a shorter version of the presentation I gave at the Redeye Photography Network event in Liverpool I gave earlier in the month (that one was about 20 minutes long)
So with a bit of (very) tight editing and highlight selecting I managed to pare it down to about 7 minutes, and I also made some notes on a piece of paper.
It was a really well attended event! Normally when I go to events in Birmingham I already know a lot of faces, but PK night was different. I only knew about half a dozen people or so. A whole new crowd!
I had asked the organisers if I could give my presentation earlier in the evening (then I could sit back and relax).
A weird thing happened though. I suddenly got really nervous! Like butterflies in the tummy kind of nerves. It was a really weird and new feeling and I'm not sure why it happened. I've give presentations in front of strangers and I normally feel really confident. So strange!
The 3 speakers before me did really good presentations. They didn't have any notes with them, so at the last minute I ditched mine and just hoped for the best!
Despite the rare onset of nerves, it all went well and I got a great response, the audience were interested and asked questions afterwards.
I'd really recommend Pecha Kucha as a night out. You'll hear interesting talks and meet new people too! And if you are up for the Pecha Kucha challenge, the next Birmingham date is the 20th July! You can also follow PK Birmingham on Twitter.
Of course I would! Speaking at a Redeye event had been one of my goals for the last couple of years! I hadn't actively done anything about arranging it, but it had been on my must-do list, so when the call came in, I just had to do it.
What a weekend. I am all photography inspired.
I arrived in Liverpool on Friday afternoon with time to check into my hotel before reaching the Bluecoat for the opening of the LOOK11 festival. Even just listening to the opening speeches, I just knew it was going to be a good couple of days.
On Friday night I had the chance to have dinner with other attendees and speakers at the NPS. We talked about our work and inspirations and whipped out our iphones to look at one another's photo galleries. In such prestigious company I found myself wondering what these wonderful photographers would think of my work.
It was a 9.30 start to the day on the Saturday. The first event I went to was a talk by photographer, artist and Professor of Photography at the University of Ulster, Paul Seawright. He talked about documenting the conflicts in Northern Ireland, showing us his photographs and the story behind each one. This is something I could really relate to. Having lived in NI (Derry, Coleraine & Kilkeel) from about 1978-86 I am all too familiar with the troubles. (Perhaps I'll tell you about that sometime).
Paul also talked about his photography missions to Africa for his project Invisible Cities and also the USA for his current project Volunteer.
The next event I attended was called: The Future is Now: Photographers and their archives.
I thought this would be good to go to due to the huge 6000+ digital archive of 4am Project photographs.
This was led by Paul Hill from The Photographers Place. Paul has a very impressive photography history! He is also a former Birmingham Post & Mail photographer (we swapped a few stories as that's where I first cut my photography teeth!).
Paul Hill from the Photographers Place
The debate of archiving was opened up to the attendees. Some things that were discussed....
Never delete a photo
Film vs Digital
Storing prints/negatives (laminating seems to work well but not recommended!)
Using meta data on digital images
How everyone with a camera is a photographer (a good thing in my book!)
How with the digital age, it's hard to spot talent as there are so many photographers & photographs (I argued against that!)
All good stuff!
The next talk was: Imagining the photograph centre of the future.
This session asked.... What should or might be the role of a centre of photography?
What form should it take?
Should it be physical or virtual?
Who is it aimed at?
It talked about recent attempts in the Scotland, Wales and England to set up centres of photography, and compares this to the experiences of other countries and disciplines.
I must admit to leaving this before it ended. My session was coming up and I wanted to get a chance to go over the notes of my talk and make sure the room was set up ok.
Next...
My talk!!
I was a little worried that not many people would come. I guess that's not such an unusual worry for someone giving a talk. I had been tweeting about my talk and using the #nps3 hash tag to promote and tell people about it.
I needn't have worried though. It was almost a full house!
I talked about how the 4am Project began, how I used social media to garner support and spread the word about the project world wide, how I received funding and sponsorship. who takes part and why and my plans to take it forward.
I had 20 minutes to deliver my talk, and I pretty much was dead on with the timing with just a few minutes spare to answer any questions.
There was so much more to the weekend than the few things I have mentioned. There were photo exhibitions on the subject of Confined. Some particular favourites were:
I got so much out of the weekend. I met some great people and wonderful photographers.
It made me realise that practically all the photography I do at the moment is for clients. That's not a bad thing in itself! It's just that I have left myself with no time to play, to imagine new projects, to do my own thing exactly how I want to. So, to rectify this, I have schedule Photography Project days in to my calendar for the next few months. Just one day a month or so, but at least it will give me time to exercise my creativity and imagination, and I can't wait.
I've also realised I haven't really been looking at other people's photography very much, and the photography I have been looking at is kind of the same genre. I would like to open my viewing platform and appreciate other styles and genres.
Some other quick thoughts, which I can work with in my viewing other photography work and my own photo project(s)...
So what if the image is blurred - it's still an image, there to give thought to
So what if there's camera flash shadow - I'm always at pains to avoid that in my professional photos
You CAN crop square! Again, this is something I have avoided for ages...
I just feel that, oddly, what I saw and heard at the weekend has almost given me permission to go and do 'my thing' with photography, whatever that might be. We shall see!
Thank you to all involved for a great weekend, for allowing me to achive one of my goals and for all the photography inspiration.
If you get a chance to go to the next LOOK festival, I can highly recommend it!
I'll be speaking about the 4am Project on Saturday at 3.45pm in the Garden Room. I'll be covering how the project started and captured people's imagination world wide, how I have garnered support for the project using social media, and my plans to take it forward.
I'm really looking forward to learning at lot, and meeting fellow photographers. It's going to be a packed two days. If you are going too, be sure to say hello! :)
PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.
It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.
I've been meaning to do a Pecha Kucha night for AGES! Time hasn't been on my side. Until now!
And now the date is approaching, I'm getting a little bit 'eeek!' about it! I thought of a subject: Heartache. I think. Though I do have another subject idea, but I had better make my mind up soon! The topic of Heartache may sound a bit depressing, but I'm hoping to suprise you ;)
I'll be speaking along with 8 other folks, all with a story to tell and entertain you with! And it's not just happening in Birmingham - events are taking place in 100's of cities across the world too.
Tickets for the event are £5 and you can buy them on Eventbrite. Pecha Kucha are donating the money to Japan earthquake relief.
This last week has been very busy and when I finally had time to sit down and let my mind wander I realised it's been a pretty awesome week! So I'm going to acknowledge it and make a note of the highlights.
I ran my LONGEST run! SIX miles! PLUS a 3 mile walk. I did the run in 64 minutes which was a nice surprise too. My best friend (ever in the whole wide world hehee) is coming to stay at the end of this month so I am planning to do my first 7 miler with her then.
Wedding Photography
I did my second wedding photography shoot of the year! It went really well. I did a lot of planning for it, story boarding and checked out the venues before hand. My planning paid off as did my timings (being where I was meant to be at the right time!). The newly weds were great and I can only wish future wedding photography clients are as ace!
I'm looking forward to editing the pics and can't wait for the couple to see them.
On the subject of wedding photography, I had another enquiry this week about a booking for next year! Usually with other photography, bookings might be made a month in advance but usually with a lot less notice. I guess with wedddings I'm going to have to get used to planning much further in advance!
4am Project
The 4am Project event last Sunday went amazingly well! A great turn out, lots of fab feedback and it made all the preparation worth while.
Speaking Engagements
Talking of the 4am Project, I'm going to be speaking about it at a Red Eye event on 14th May in Liverpool called the National Photography Symposium. Are you going? Come and say hello! I'll be there from the Friday evening until late Saturday afternoon.
I also had another request to speak at a photography festival. I'm just waiting to get some more details about that one first, but it's always nice to be asked!
MORE on the 4am Project!
I received approaches from two companies (one from the UK, one from the USA) showing an interest in the 4am Project. It's very early days and maybe nothing will come of it, but it's great that companies are showing an interest. Whatever comes out of it (if anything - keeping my feet on the ground!), I've got to make sure that if a company gets involved it's got to be the right fit for the project and I won't be rushing into anything or making hasty decisions.
Meme'd!
Kathryn Ashcroft meme'd me and said some nice things on her blog about me too! Like most people, meme's don't hold much interest to me, but I've had a quick scan of the questions and I think they'll fit in nicely with this 'a bit more....' blog. I might do it in a video form, but it probably won't be for a few weeks yet.
Chilling with friends
I had a lovely night with my friends Sas and Marty and other friends at their Chilli night! I played games with the kids and then we all did karaoke (and I NEVER do karaoke). Thankfully I don't think anyone audio boo'd it. Thanks for a great night guys! I'll be round again soon!
Burning Man
Friends Fiona Cullinan and Pete Ashton invited me to their Burning Man party. Pete had been busy cutting down trees and was burning them and a party built up around that!
"We're also inviting people to bring an effigy to burn. This can be a representation of a person, institution or idea that you'd like you remove from your life. You can make a detailed doll or just scribble on a piece of paper. It's all about the catharsis"
Cool!
I nearly didn't make it after doing 9 miles on my feet earlier in the day and was wiped out in the afternoon, but managed to get a second wind.
With the invitation to burn something, I cut out '50lbs' and 'NO'. Of course the 50lbs represents the weight I have lost and I wanted to say goodbye to it! The NO was to represent negativity (N) and saying NO to negativity and negative people. I don't want any negativity in my life (who does) and I'm lucky I'm surrounded by a great group of friends. I don't have much negativity in my life (as it's banned!) but just to make sure, I wanted to burn it too!
So April ended and May started on a high! I can't wait to see what the rest of this month brings!
Oh, I know! I'm partaking in Birmingham's Pecha Kucha night on 18th May. I've been meaning to take part for ages now, so I'm pleased to have finally set a date. I think I'm going to be talking about heart ache! haha. Hopefully it won't be as depressing as it sounds! See you there?
And to top the month of May off, as I mentioned before, my best friend is coming to stay! To say I can't wait to see her is an understatement. I am soooo excited. I know we are going to have a ton of fun and silliness all weekend! Also, she hasn't seen me since I've lost weight, so she is going to get a big surprise.
Right, I'm going to chill for the rest of the day. I had a shock when I looked at my diary for this month and realised I haven't got one free day in it, except for Sunday Me Days where I don't make any plans. I'm going to need those days this month especially.
