I decided to rework one of my older shots of Sebe. Nice how a bit of easy manipulation completely transforms it.
This is #2 son - Sebe. He spends about 12-16hrs a week rowing / training which is why he has muscles. Mine are long gone ;-(
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Saturday, 9 April 2011
Saturday, 5 February 2011
The marks we leave.....
The words in the fingerprint are the lines from Rudyard Kipling's poem "If". This poem is one the marks my father left on me.... He used to quote it every now & again, and when you read the words they are actually a pretty good set of values to live by. (Words included at the bottom for those that don't know this poem already.)
Folk who used to know my father and who know me always remark how similar we are... appearance, attitudes mannerisms etc. All in all, pretty happy with that - he was a good man.
Makes me wonder what sort of marks I am leaving on my boys.... at 18 & 20 already, most of the shaping from me is probably already done & dusted. They are both boys to be proud of, so I can't have screwed them up too much.
Project Soulpancake wk 1 - Examine your fingerprints.
P.S. Given that wk 16 task is "learn a poem" I may finally learn the damn thing. Always wanted to be able to quote it....
P.P.S. It's an old photo of Sebe & me from over a year ago to which I added the "fingerprint" today
P.P.P.S. People remark Sebe looks like me too. Nathaniel is lucky enough to take after Natalee appearance wise
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on’;
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling
Jim Shields Photography
Folk who used to know my father and who know me always remark how similar we are... appearance, attitudes mannerisms etc. All in all, pretty happy with that - he was a good man.
Makes me wonder what sort of marks I am leaving on my boys.... at 18 & 20 already, most of the shaping from me is probably already done & dusted. They are both boys to be proud of, so I can't have screwed them up too much.
Project Soulpancake wk 1 - Examine your fingerprints.
P.S. Given that wk 16 task is "learn a poem" I may finally learn the damn thing. Always wanted to be able to quote it....
P.P.S. It's an old photo of Sebe & me from over a year ago to which I added the "fingerprint" today
P.P.P.S. People remark Sebe looks like me too. Nathaniel is lucky enough to take after Natalee appearance wise
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on’;
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a Man, my son!
Rudyard Kipling
Jim Shields Photography
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Teenage Hoodie a.k.a. Number One Son
Decided to join Lighting Essentials Project 52 to stretch myself a little (actually probably a lot). It's all Tyla's fault for suggesting it.
OK so the exercise for week 1 is to write a Mission Statement.... "Tell us with a single paragraph what you want to be able to do with your images."
No not corporate bullshit stuff, nor even what I what to achieve with my nascent portrait photography business.... after all I take many more photos for my own pleasure & learning than I do for profit (much as I wish this ratio was reversed!), but a statement about what I want my photography to achieve for me. Ideally I would want to have this ALSO be a foundation for business success, but not necessarily. I guess that is more of a chicken and egg debate i.e. learn to build a business around what my passion / vision / mission is vs learn to enjoy what I have chosen for a business.
So what do I enjoy....
- seeing how people act & think
- telling a story about people to people
- have a dialogue with people
- look at what people do or say
- telling jokes to folk
- creating a sense of awe or fascination
- learning how to get stuff done
- creating something that is both unique and innovative
- creating something I can take pride in
- I am a geek & like playing with technology
Now convert that into a mission statement !!
Um.....
Errr....
OK - Here is a first attempt. Not sure I am happy with it and it certainly does not trip off the tongue very easily. But I'll work with it over the next month or so to make it fit better.
I find people fascinating & often amusing. I create unique and different images that communicate this wonder and humour so that there is a dialogue between the observer and the images or their subject. My images will evolve over time.
And finally the image at hand..... This is Nathaniel, my number one son. I've portrayed him as a teenage hoodie here, but in actuality he just turned 20. Lighting concept for this one sort of came from this image by Lubdah.... who is even further from being a teenager to say the least.
p.s. Look at this large to see his eyes - which was more happy accident than design
Jim Shields Photography
OK so the exercise for week 1 is to write a Mission Statement.... "Tell us with a single paragraph what you want to be able to do with your images."
No not corporate bullshit stuff, nor even what I what to achieve with my nascent portrait photography business.... after all I take many more photos for my own pleasure & learning than I do for profit (much as I wish this ratio was reversed!), but a statement about what I want my photography to achieve for me. Ideally I would want to have this ALSO be a foundation for business success, but not necessarily. I guess that is more of a chicken and egg debate i.e. learn to build a business around what my passion / vision / mission is vs learn to enjoy what I have chosen for a business.
So what do I enjoy....
- seeing how people act & think
- telling a story about people to people
- have a dialogue with people
- look at what people do or say
- telling jokes to folk
- creating a sense of awe or fascination
- learning how to get stuff done
- creating something that is both unique and innovative
- creating something I can take pride in
- I am a geek & like playing with technology
Now convert that into a mission statement !!
Um.....
Errr....
OK - Here is a first attempt. Not sure I am happy with it and it certainly does not trip off the tongue very easily. But I'll work with it over the next month or so to make it fit better.
I find people fascinating & often amusing. I create unique and different images that communicate this wonder and humour so that there is a dialogue between the observer and the images or their subject. My images will evolve over time.
And finally the image at hand..... This is Nathaniel, my number one son. I've portrayed him as a teenage hoodie here, but in actuality he just turned 20. Lighting concept for this one sort of came from this image by Lubdah.... who is even further from being a teenager to say the least.
p.s. Look at this large to see his eyes - which was more happy accident than design
Jim Shields Photography
Friday, 17 December 2010
Into the light
A quick portrait practice shot with my son. Most of the time he is OK with posing.... as long as it is either quick as this one was (2 or 3 mins), or fun stuff like throwing flour or lightpainting.
This was just experimenting with lighting techniques to get a slightly more unusual portrait.
This was just experimenting with lighting techniques to get a slightly more unusual portrait.
Sunday, 28 November 2010
If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people jumping up and down for joy?
If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people jumping up and down for joy?, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....
He had me set up my big white studio paper backdrop up outside & we used a projector to project an image of the sky onto it, then Sebe did a few (hundred) jumps. I would never have conceived of this. Odd doing nothing in a shoot but taking direction.
A few extra in the comments section of this photo in my flickr stream (Just click on the photo to get there)
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Angel shining bright
Had some fun with my son Sebe a couple of days ago. Practised some "Light Painting" techniques.
Light Painting is where the photo is taken in darkness, and one uses a flashlight or equivalent to paint streams of light in the air. For me the most difficult part was remembering where I had painted - so important to have the whole act of painting clear in one's mind first
I also used strobes from each side to light up his body. Strobes were set off at the start of the 30 second exposure before I started "painting"
Sebe seemed to enoy it too..... Luckily quite happy to pose half-nekkid at night in October in the UK (the young are hardy & foolish).
Light Painting is where the photo is taken in darkness, and one uses a flashlight or equivalent to paint streams of light in the air. For me the most difficult part was remembering where I had painted - so important to have the whole act of painting clear in one's mind first
I also used strobes from each side to light up his body. Strobes were set off at the start of the 30 second exposure before I started "painting"
Sebe seemed to enoy it too..... Luckily quite happy to pose half-nekkid at night in October in the UK (the young are hardy & foolish).
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Doodling in Photoshop
This started off as a copycat of the fabulous Froukje, but then somehow wandered off into some bizarre photoshop doodle. No idea where the heart came from, but it just seemed right to add it.
I suppose that photoshop is a guilty pleasure, so it's OK to indulge in occasionally as long as it doesn't go to excess.
Any way I had fun with this, forcing my son to pose for me, then doodling away..... It isn't perfect, but I learnt a bit more about photoshop which was half the point of it.
I suppose that photoshop is a guilty pleasure, so it's OK to indulge in occasionally as long as it doesn't go to excess.
Any way I had fun with this, forcing my son to pose for me, then doodling away..... It isn't perfect, but I learnt a bit more about photoshop which was half the point of it.
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
“Aw, Dad, you've done a lot of great things, but you're a very old man, and old people are useless.” - Homer Simpson
Just came back from the chiropractor.... did my back in a couple of weeks ago. Shame that getting older & wiser also means that you start falling to bits.....
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Advanced Pilates
Fun time with my son playing with gravity & rotations today.
Yes - He really is doing that!
Yes - He really is doing that!
Monday, 6 September 2010
Essential skills for photographers - Part 1: Capturing Bokeh
Essential skills for photographers - Part 1: Capturing Bokeh, originally uploaded by It's life Jim.....
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Three Hats
Damn.... I really should have sucked my gut in for this one... My sons look considerably slimmer than I do.
Not often that I persuade the boys to participate together. Makes a pleasant change.
Not often that I persuade the boys to participate together. Makes a pleasant change.
Saturday, 17 July 2010
"Let me die a Youngman's death"
50 years old this week..... Yippee?
Normally I don't bother too much about age, feeling old, mortality etc etc, but the whole "celebration" of this milestone (we have a party & BBQ planned) seems to make me think about it now. The poem describes exactly the sort of feelings I would prefer to have about ageing & mortality.
The poem is by Roger McGough...... He has some other wonderful & droll poems as well. If you have not read any of his, then take the opportunity to do so if you can.
Normally I don't bother too much about age, feeling old, mortality etc etc, but the whole "celebration" of this milestone (we have a party & BBQ planned) seems to make me think about it now. The poem describes exactly the sort of feelings I would prefer to have about ageing & mortality.
The poem is by Roger McGough...... He has some other wonderful & droll poems as well. If you have not read any of his, then take the opportunity to do so if you can.
Monday, 12 July 2010
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