Steve Edge - Dress For A Party

Every now and then, I come across a video out there on the Interwebs which makes me stop and think.

Sometimes such films make me pay attention because they are funny, other times because they are sad. Or they might be simply thought-provoking, clever, quirky, funny...

I was shown this excellent little Ross Casswell production whilst having a good ol' chat with Matt about the wonders of video now being shot on DSLRs (which this was).

We both liked it - let me know what you think.

Dress for a Party from Carwell Casswell on Vimeo.

GBP gets Savvy Marketers Award

You guys know that this year has seen me embrace the online world a whole lot further - all you need do is check out the links at the side of this page, to see where I can now be found.

The likes of Twitter and Facebook are firmly placed as a key element in my day-to-day activities and have brought me closer to so many great people - some of which I've subsequently gone on to work with.

When building your social media presence, it's very easy to forget just who's out there, who you're trying to communicate with, and who's actually taking notice.

Sure, you can post pictures, links, comments and start discussions... but what does this matter if a) nobody is listening or b) you don't gauge the success of your activities?

I've never been one to enter competitions or blow my own trumpet; if people like what I do, then I'll gladly take the praise. So, it came as a very nice surprise at the end of last week to hear that I'd won an award for my efforts!

Turns out Savvy Marketers Awards 2010 named Giles Babbidge Photography the Best Small Business in the category of Best Facebook Page. You can check out the page here.

Savvy Marketers is a great resource created by Louise Barnes-Johnston and Sam McArthur, offering valuable online marketing how-to information to the small business owner. If Louise's name sounds familiar, you may remember it from my interview with her, as described in this post.

I'd just like to say a big thanks to Louise and Sam, and a warm congratulations to all other winners in this year's Awards.

Here's to yet more successful online endeavours in 2011...

Knittage simply lit

When Inny needed some snazzy new shots of her knitted wares recently, for use on her blog and online shop, we used the absolute bare-basics approach of 'one camera, one lens, one light'. The location/studio arrangement was also just about as simple as you can get - a living room coffee table table.

What you see in the picture here is the lighting set-up... A single SB-800 with Pocket Wizard (for wireless connection to the camera); attached to the front is a diffuser panel (for nice, soft, even light). A Magic Arm was used to support the rig just off to camera right, positionable back and forth, left to right, as required.

The camera, incidentally, was hand-held.

You'll notice daylight striking the 'set' from the front - this was taken out of the equation not by closing the curtains, but my letting the flash be the sole light source (and adjusting settings accordingly). Flash light is perfect for close-up detail work, as it is very clean and crisp.

As many of you know, I don't believe in relying on post-production in order to 'save' poor technique - clearly, it makes far more sense to get things looking the way you want them at the time of capture. Case in point - the image you see up top is essentially unaltered.

The most Photoshop work that was applied here was to the image which ended up as Inny's banner - a simple case of choosing the crop and superimposing her logo, to end up with this:


Photo shoots are expensive, time consuming, stressful affairs, right? Nope. This little lot took all of about 10 minutes from setting up to taking everything apart, including time to arrange the object (a Spring Greens scarf, no less!), discuss framing options and, of course, sip a nice cuppa.

New GBP website

Things have been a little quiet around these parts recently. Have you noticed? There is good reason for this, however...

It is with great excitement and relief that I can now officially make today's first big announcement... My brand new website is now live!

Want to check it out straight away? Be my guest.

This has been a long time coming, not least of all because I have had other work, projects and commitments to attend to, but at long last I once again have a site which I am proud to direct people to (not like the previous incarnation, which I voiced my thoughts about here). Even judging by the screen grab I attached in that post, I hope you'll agree that my latest site is a vast improvement!

So, what's new? Well, the first thing you will notice is the background colour - I've done away with black (eek!) and gone for a nice, clean white appearance. This in itself fits much more with the tone of my approach to things these days, and ties in nicely with my Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages.

But by far and away the largest change has been the overall content - and, specifically, how to access it. The previous site was so complicated, with far too many links and far too many hidden pages which required multiple click-through navigation. Now, I have stripped it down to the bare essentials - a simple 6-link menu bar affair, based around a portfolio system. Much gentler on the eye and an absolute minimum amount of text for visitors to read!

You may remember that I previously included a link to my newsletter archive. Well, that still exists, but is instead accessed by a link on the Contact page, which directs you to a simplified list of all previous newsletters - with the most recent edition at the very top.

The Contact page itself is exactly that, detailing all the ways you can get in touch with me.

The Blog page? Well... clicking on that menu link brings you right to the front page of this here blog!

A new addition this time around is the Bio page - just a few lines of background info and a mug shot of yours truly.

But what about pictures? Obviously, this is the main area I addressed; it was well documented that I had far too much text versus imagery on the old site, so the balance has shifted dramatically, to put it right back where it should be.

The first thing you notice, landing on the Home page, is a slideshow of pictures, nice and big, plain and simple. The Portfolio page now houses six images, which act as links through to individual galleries for the following areas: PR/Advertising, Location, Lifestyle/Outdoor, Event, Wedding and People. Each of these open up to show a slideshow (featuring full-screen HD view, if that tickles your fancy) and thumbnail guide to all pictures in the collection.

And that's it.

Well, apart from the simplified Client Area, which remains essentially the same in its purpose - to supply my lovely clients with their pictures in the hours and days which following a shoot.

I'd like to know what you think (surprised? Come on, you know me well enough by now!). Feedback so far has been really positive (thanks to everyone who has chipped in already) - but I am still encouraging more people to stand up and drop me their thoughts either in an email or in the comments section below this post.

Right, now to prepare for today's second big announcement!

Pimp my Moleskine!

Here's a quick general interest piece, which just might inspire you to try something different and increase your productivity...

If you read my 'Looking ahead to 2010' post last December, you may have picked up on a sense that I was wanting to make changes to the work I do, the way I operate, and the way I handle my workflow. Well, you'd be quite right.

Having just put in an order for some new kit, I'm reminded that I am still very much tied down to the modern technology, but one thing is crystal clear to me now - moving back to a traditional diary was definitely the way to go! Almost five months into the year, and I have seen my productivity grow, simply because of the way I can structure my days and weeks using old (ie less-fashionable) 'technology'.

As with technique and the way individual items of camera equipment are set up, there's something to be said for feeling 'happy' with one's kit. This may sound odd, and it is a little difficult to describe, but I suppose it's a bit like a golfer having a favourite club, or a chef having a favourite knife. Whatever it may be, these items make their operators feel confident and comfortable in their day-to-day activities.

So, I've finally got around to personalising things a bit further, inspired by a small leather-bound sketch book I bought Inny for Christmas; thanks to her, my Moleskine diary is now a far less standard, corporate affair, and features a nice new buttery-feel wrap-around cover and fastening.


For anyone thinking of doing the same, there's no need to go out and spend a lot of money. The coloured chamois leather itself was an off-cut bought from an art shop, the leather cord came from a haberdashery and the alien fastening was pulled from a pack of buttons bought at Hobbycraft. Total cost - about £4.

Okay, so it's just a bit of fun really, but there is another accidental advantage to this whole process. Because it's something a little bit different, my diary has now become a talking point on occasions when I'm in meetings with clients, colleagues and contacts in my network.


And just as with so much of this kind of thing, you never know what might come out of the most trivial of conversations!

Just in case you missed the link above, please do check out Inny's site, and her exhibition (I plugged it here), which runs until the end of the month.

Documenting property

In a previous post, I wrote about a quick job undertaken locally for a good client of mine. Well, in this additional follow-up, I thought I'd speak about the idea of photographically recording your building either for future reference or for promotional purposes.

So, the second shoot, about three weeks later at the same location. This time around, the properties in question were covered in a delicate veil of snow, which had fallen the previous night. Luckily, I was just about able to navigate to treacherous roads to get there; but even more lucky (photographically, at least) was the fact that the snow had not been disturbed around the buildings, so I knew they would look wonderful in the pictures.

The first picture here shows the scene which presented itself back in November. A very simple shot, it illustrates the property clearly and smartly.

Nothing more than that, it is a simple record shot - and one which has already been used in a number of promotional activities by the client.


The second shot - very obviously the same building, and essentially an identical shot, but this time with a slightly different message behind it. Specifically, this picture illustrates how these new-build houses offer comfort and shelter from the elements. If this is not immediately apparent, it is perhaps worth mentioning that I also shot some interiors, featuring inhabitants, in order to support the 'making this house our home' message.

To all you business owners out there, I would say this: Regardless of your sector or type of property, it's always worth considering how you might go about exploiting your premises in order to educate and encourage new customers. After all, assuming that you are paying out on a lease and utilities, it makes sense to get the most out of such a great asset.

With the change of seasons comes a fresh set of new opportunities for exploiting what you have at your disposal. Perhaps you run a hotel which looks equally lovely at first light in the summer months as it does last thing at night as it is bathed in the crisp winter light. Or maybe you are a landscape designer who could be documenting the changing face of a client's gardens.

And if the above does not fit with your requirements, because you are not thinking in business terms, there is still relevance here. It might be worth you documenting the various changes your property goes through over the years - whether this be because you want to track building work and modifications, or because you have family and/or sentimental reasons for doing so.

On this latter point, you only have to see the popularity of activities such as the tracing of one's family tree to see the value of keeping a photographic record for future generations.

Whatever your situation, it's well worth giving this some thought.

Old photographs influence the way I work

This morning saw another local networking meeting, and my turn to give a 10-minute update about just what GBP is all about. At times like these, it's very tempting to go full-force into the 'official' promo blurb about professional digital imaging, how I work closely with my clients, building up one's status, blah, blah, blah...

But as regular followers will know, either via the GBP Blog or my Twitter feed, that's not my style. I'm far too down-to-earth, and perhaps far too honest, about the reality of the way I operate day-to-day. I don't like BS and I don't like people who are blatantly out to impress in an all-out blagging fashion (transparency, in such individuals, is not a good quality!).

So, the basis of my presentation today was to turn things around... ignoring the technical, the corporate, the case study, the computers... instead concentrating on what I know best - me, and specifically, how my passion for old photographs directly influences the way I work.

The picture on the left here is a quick scan showing a number of cartes de vistes dating back to the mid-1800s (ok, to be picky, perhaps I should refer to the larger ones as 'cabinet cards'... but that's not important now).

CDVs have a quality all of their own. Sometimes haunting, always intriguing, they link us with our past and, by default, help create and shape our sense of identity. I always get sucked in by good examples of vintage photography, to the point where my computer Bookmarks folder is bulging and my collection of reference books/cuttings/hastily-jotted notes is dictating the practicality and layout of my office space!

Cutting to the chase, what does this amount to? Simple answer - visual awareness.

By default, the 'source imagery' that I consume also informs, inspires and directly influences the work I produce both for personal projects and for my commercial clients. Maybe a lighting technique, maybe a method of posing subjects, maybe even a colour balance; I never know from where the next moment of inspiration will strike - but it's always an interesting process when it does.

We are all familiar with the process of taking family snaps. And at first, such a loosely-bound approach to photography may seem worlds apart from what you'd expect in my day-to-day high-level work. But there is a common thread between the two - the balance of formal/informal conventions...

I like to work in a relaxed way, regardless of my subject matter. Whether it's a high-brow global corporate or an up-and-coming local musician, I always draw, as much as possible, on my knowledge, passion and interest in order to produce imagery that everyone - myself included - is delighted with.

As such, it is very rare that I produce stiff, 'deer-caught-in-the-headlights' portraits (as often seen in 'traditional' studio shots); much more appealing is to get people relaxed, laughing, enjoying the experience rather than fearing the camera as the cold, hard, recording device that it once was. Often, my subjects aren't even aware of the camera, crazy as that might seem - which is why they look so much more 'themeselves' in the resulting photographs.

What inspires you? What are your experiences of having your picture taken? I want to know - and the best way to tell me is either via the comments section below or by connecting in real-time via Twitter.