The keener-eyed amongst you will have noticed that it’s been a little quiet around here over the past month or so. It happens from time to time, when things get hectic, but that doesn’t really make me feel any less guilty for my lack of updates.
So, I feel as though I owe you some kind of explanation.
It’s been an interesting time of late – both personally and professionally. True to form, I’m not going to divulge anything about the former, other than to say events have taken up rather a lot of my time – often unexpectedly and without warning.
As for professionally – well, there are all kinds of fun and games going on there, too. Some activities you will have probably caught wind of online via Twitter and the TAP Facebook page, but there are certain developments which I know I haven’t mentioned.
The biggest of these concerns collaborations and forging new working relationships within the outdoors community. One of these is with Onfire Adventure, who I have had many conversations and meetings with; we’ve been discussing all kinds of exciting ventures including expeditions and joint outdoor/photography workshops. I was hoping to head over to Russia with them towards the end of the year for the Snow Leopard Expedition; alas I’ve had to pull out – but watch this space for the future, as they say.
More recently, I have touched base once again with young Alex Staniforth – the gutsy 19 year-old who was all set to become the youngest Briton to summit Mount Everest via the south face until the terrible events (avalanche, political to-and-fro wranglings etc) put a premature end to his incredible plans. I have no doubt that he will do great things next year, when he makes the trip for a second time.
Anyway, Alex and I have been talking about getting together to shoot some promo/portfolio images and even record some podcast audio for you! A matter of logistics, but exciting things are on the cards for the coming month or so, all being well.
One of my biggest (happy) distractions in recent weeks has been concerning self-promotion and creating opportunities with new clients. Specifically, I have been beavering away slowly but surely, constructing an all-new website. This latest version will have a much more editorial feel to it, reflecting the sort of work that I am increasingly being involved in. The site should be live within the next couple of weeks and of course, I’ll let you know just as soon as it is.
Once that is done, phase two will be the construction of a new portfolio. Not online, real-world. That’s right – an actual hold-in-your-hands, flick-through-the-pages, constructed and printed book. Having sought advice, it seems this is very much something which I need to have in place. Quite exciting as a) I love to see my work printed and b) it’s been quite some time since I went through the ruthless task of pulling out select images from the archive. Needless to say, I’ll be turning to my peers for their input.
One thing that has already become clear is that I need to feature more examples of my portraiture work. Of course, there will be examples taken from the archive, but I am already well under way in the process of arranging and executing self-driven shoots (the first of which, soon to be broken down in an article here, features a scramble bike rider).
Last but not least, there’s the small matter of my activities as a writer. This is an area which I am pushing further into at the moment, regularly constructing magazine features for the outdoor/lifestyle market. I’m also getting some thoughts together regarding an ebook or two, which I think you’ll be very interested in. More to come, all in good time!
So there you have it. Busy, busy, busy, one way or another.
Sure enough, even as I write this, my mind is already wandering off towards the tasks that I have lined up for the coming days. One thing on my to-do list is head out onto the South Downs in the coming days, researching a route for an article and checking out potential locations for photo shoots.
All said and done, I reckon a gentle walk in the countryside is just what I need!
