Things are happening again.

A (much needed) break with the family over and the new business cards have turned up. Makes everything seem a little more real, although to be honest it feels like there is still a long way to go.

Looking forward to having everything up and running and being able to spend more time behind a camera again. I've got a wedding to shoot on Saturday which I'm looking forward to, although the weather forecast is horrid. The results will be up on the TewinGreen website early next week.

R.

A nice day out

One of my favourite jobs over the last couple of years has been an annual 'corporate away day' at Knebworth House in Hertfordshire.

I like it for a number of reasons; its local (10 mins in the car), they are a great bunch of people and it is normally something that everybody enjoys. It's nice to take photos of people enjoying themselves!

The day normally starts with a bacon buttie (never a bad thing) before everyone is divided into groups and goes through a series of activities. These normally give people plenty of opportunities for making themselves look silly, often with me standing nearby with a camera ready.



I know from past experience that days like this are often one of the first things to go when the budgets are tightened. Having seen first hand what it can mean for a team to get out of the office and spend time together I'd say that it is a false economy. I'm sure you would find that productivity goes up once people have stopped talking about it in the few days after it. If I had the time I'm sure I could dig around the interweb to find the stats to prove it, but for now you'll just have to take it from me!



You know what, even if it wasn't a sensible commercial decision these type of team days might even be worth doing just for everyone to let off steam every once in a while...

R.

Making the world a better place...

While looking through some old assignments for images to go on the new website, I came across this one. It is one of those photos I had always liked, but it has definately grown on me since I first edited the photos from the shoot.

Part of the appeal for me was knowing that this was taken despite losing camera gear to the electronics gremlins (I guess thats why we have back ups!). Things had also changed between setting up before the event and it starting, meaning it was taken pretty much on the fly. Instinct kicked in while setting up the lights (the room was pretty dark so this is lit by flash units from each side of the auditorium) and I was pleased that I was able to nail it first time.

The real reason I like the photo is emotional though. The person in the photo is Lord Laming of Tewin, and it was taken at a presentation for a local charity. They have been providing grants to help local people make the most of opportunities that come their way and I've done a number of jobs for the charity over the last year. It never fails to impress me the hard work and dedication that so many people have for making the world a better place, and how often these people are doing it for no financial reward.

It is hard when running your own busines (and indeed setting up a 2nd one to run alongside it) to remember that there is a world around you where life is not so easy. Not everything runs as smoothly as you'd want it to out there. It is a goal of the business though that I'm going to be putting something back. At the moment it is quite small things - freebie/reduced rates for charities, donating time and/or services to raise funds, that sort of thing but as things take off then I'm hoping to expand on this. Do I know what this will look like? Not yet. Is it good for people to think about it. Definately.

So why am I writing this? Is it because I want to look good? Nope. There are probably even some people out there that will be put off by it, but I'm writing it because it might make someone else think about starting small and because I firmly believe that what goes around comes around.

R.

gearing up...

Things are now beginning to kick into place and I'm looking forward to the 'formal' launch of richardlakephotography.com at the end of next month. It is hard work and trying to launch of a new business at the start of the busiest time of the year for the existing business is "brave" to say the least. It does make sense to split the increasing amount of corporate & editorial work from the existing wedding & portrait business.

The big test will be how the website comes together over the next month or so. Initially it is going to be kept simple, the exciting stuff will be phased in over the autumn when things cool off on the wedding photography side of things and I get the chance to be as hands on as I want. The downside of being a control freak I guess.

Anyway, I thought a little teaser image might be appropriate, I'll be adding more to the blog over the next week or two alongside developments on the business side of things.