Today, while shooting alpacas, I met a woman who told me about a trip to China she took as a teenager with a group of fellow cycling students, where her party came across a village deserted due to bubonic plague, complete with dead bodies. She honestly believed that she wasn't going to get out of there alive...

Well, I'm not quite that ill, but I have though been feeling a little off colour, a tummy bug me thinks. I blame it on all the schools I've been in recently. I don't think there has been a day gone by for 2 weeks when I haven't spent some time in a school with those little dwarf-like plague-carrying humans they call 'children'.

I'm not quite sick enough to take time off work, but just sick enough to make it a hindrance. My mind has not been fully on my photography, and I've struggled when trying anything taxing. But despite the grumbly-in-the-tumbly I've managed a couple of good photos today which has cheered me up a little.

One was a funny picture of the alpacas, the other was a portrait of a hairdresser who had just returned from London where she had spent the last 3 1/2 yrs styling the hair of celebrities like Sharon Stone. While trying to get her to smile for the birdie (while all my equipment was failing around me - which reminds me, gotta charge a load of batteries) she says "I hate my teeth"...Well, I wasn't quite sure what she wanted me to do about it. Lend her mine? Believe you me, that would have looked a lot worse! I couldn't see anything wrong with hers, so I told her to keep smiling and we got the picture.

Did someone say bad teeth?

(It was only ever going to end one way from here on in for the player in blue/white. Today I can sympathize...)

This morning I was in work early...

An hour early to be precise. I had to be at a school before all the kiddywinkles arrived to photograph the head teacher (understand it was I that was photographing the head, not all the kiddywinkles...that would be insane) who was backing some crusade led by our leader (the editor) to revamp our roads, in particular an A-road running right through our leader's village. (Draw from this your own conclusion.) So I go pick up the car from work, along with the relevant reporter. Oh, since I'm out that way, could I also do another job just round the corner? "why, of course!" I say, drawing another much needed breath into my tired body which is starting to feel like its falling apart. The knot in my shoulder has flared up again, and I can't understand why my knee hurts!

Anyways, back to the job. We get there, the head is having a nightmare morning and the children haven't even got there yet. Its raining, the light is yucky dull and i'm far from being inspired. Trying to get anybody to do anything like what I wanted, when I wanted, was like trying to push a rhino in the opposite direction to what it wanted to go, and nearly as dangerous.

(This is Zimba, he is only a baby at 1 yr old)

That road really does carry a lot of traffic, and where we were was very narrow. It was hard work, my pics were rubbish and things didn't really get much better from then on...

My second job was just around the corner, but could I find it? Could I eckers like?!? I'm looking for 11. The house numbers I found went 5, 6, 1, 2, 12! Turned out to be right behind me all along, tucked behind a van that was parked taking up all of the narrow road. They were lovely people, and it came to light that I had photographed them before, which was nice. But, no time for hanging around, I was already late. No pratting around with flash, a straight f.2.8 portrait at 70mm and I'm away, now to track down my illusive reporter back at the school before attempting to be at my next job in 5 minutes. Easy, right? besides, its only 20 minutes away!

more tk...

I covered the Battle of Britain memorial service last weekend and got there early, giving me time to find some angles before the service kicked off...although I don't think one 'kicks off' a memorial service. Anyways, I shot the above without being harassed or arrested for photographing children in the park...and no, I didn't offer them any sweets. This was a test for what turned out to be the front page photo.

I was trying to find new, more interesting ways to shoot this annual event. I'm sure what I came up with was nothing that hasn't been seen before, but it was different to me and more interesting. I knew the paper would usually use a max of 2/3 pics, but I wanted to shoot more for myself, and let the subs choose what they wanted from that.
I think this is a healthier mentality for me than thinking "oh, they'll only use one, so I'll only shoot one" and "they'll be expecting this picture, so that's what I'll give them".
It's very easy to fall into thinking and doing just that (and at times I do) especially under time constraints and with several jobs in quick succession. But for the sake of sanity, I've started to have the confidence to shoot for myself while getting pics for the paper, and submitting them with (or instead of) the expected/safe options.
Heres a couple more from last weekend...


A veteran reads the names on the cenotaph...

Wreaths laid at the base of the cenotaph with veteran in the background...

Veterans lined up in rows at the service...

Three pipers piping...or not as the case may be.

More wreaths, more veterans...

In total I had 6 pics published (5 used big on one page, and 1 on the front), which is 4 more than I was expecting. They also stuck them all on a slide show on the web!...which is nice :)

So many things happened today, I dunno where to start. I had a hectic morning, including 4 reception classes and 2 other jobs (one 20 miles away from the office) all before noon. I was also on my last day of a 7 day stretch, so I'm pretty exhausted as its been a particularly heavy 7 days...

Here's a piece of advice for ya, if you are going to make a stupid joke about something someone said, make sure you actually hear what they said. Unlike me. I swear a teacher called one of the kids Lennon, so I said "which ones McCartney?" (BOOM BOOM!!) She smiled and said "I'm lost..." I then go on to explain I had made a reference to the beatles, "you know Lennon and McCartney?"...still nothing. Turned out she hadn't said Lennon, or anything close. And just to clear it up, there was no kid called Lennon. So next time you fancy making a stupid joke, don't. Just don't do it.

Having quickly changed the subject, I carried on shooting kiddies...

This evening, however, I remembered why I do what I do. I went out with Jo (one of our reporters) to do a feature on the local mountain rescue team, including a dog named Skye. Its something we had been trying to organize for a couple of months now having met them at another job I had been doing. Since that day I'd had a vision in my head of the picture I wanted to do. This evening, after weeks of obsessing, I was able to complete it. The team were super helpful and at times it felt like I had my own crew of assistants, shooting on location on top of a big mountain. It was an awesome experience, a feeling I would love to repeat often throughout my career. These people are amazing, dedicated humans who shy away from the hero status they deserve. They are thoroughly nice and kind, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for them.




A sneak preview...

More tk...

Just a quick one. Matt Hammonde has been working very hard to finish off the rebuild of my new website. Its now gone live (still with a couple of little things to change and iron out the wrinkles). Let us know what you think...

www.joeriley.co.uk

Anyone seen the film 'the prestige'? I just watched it, and had a revelation. My work, photography, lighting - its just like being a magician! Magicians create illusion, they know the secret and baffle everyone else who don't. But the audience don't really want to know, they enjoy being fooled. Once they know how it is done they lose interest.

I spend all my time slaving away, working out how to photograph something, how to light something, which angle will show/hide the important bits. I tell a story, I create an illusion. Everyone loves the illusion, but no-one wants to know how I did it. Once I've told them the illusion is shattered, their interest is lost.

When I talk to most people about how I set up a photograph, they are generally disinterested or show some interest out of politeness. The only people who want to know are the other magicians (and even some of them would rather not know), and only so they can perform the same trick!

So, my job. Illustration...or Illusion?

Do you like to know how things are done, or do you like to be fooled?

Your comments, please...

At the moment I am in the middle of an epic task. To photograph some 60-70 primary school reception classes in the area as part of the paper's First Class supplement. I agreed to do all of them, so that they would match in style. (As it turns out thats not quite logistically possible, so some will be done by the other staffers.) The other staffers think I'm mad, but I'd like to think they are appreciative of my sacrifice :p

Truth be told I'm quite enjoying the challenge. Dealing with little kiddies all day can be really hard work, but it can also be fun and some of the antics they get up to keep me amused. Today I had a bit of a nightmare, as one of my wireless receivers was playing up. Coupled with that I had a kid crying because the sun was too bright ( I looked up, all I saw has cloud! It was a little bright, but seriously kid...), and the teachers were worried and trying to understand what was wrong with the kid, as well as trying to keep all 28 children in check. I was also running late (no surprise there then) and needed to be somewhere else 5 minutes ago...

I ended up just shooting with one flash trying to light 28 kids. Not ideal. (don't tell anyone, but I used a frame when both flashes went off, then photoshopped a couple of heads that were, shall we say, 'unfavourable'.)

I was also filmed later on in the day for a little video preview for the First Class supplement. I wait with baited breath for the results of that...

More tk...

Hello everyone,

After much deliberation I've decided to start a blog, so here goes...

A little bit about me;

Joe Riley, 28, Senior Press Photographer for a regional daily newspaper



This is me... perhaps it's best I don't explain.

I live in Cumbria, UK. My hobbies include motorcycling, rock/metal music and eating...mainly oranges.

So the reason for my blog is to share with you all some of my work, thoughts and influences. So I'll start with something I shot today...

I got told to get a shot of a girl who started a cinema club at the local theatre. I'd seen a Dan Winters pic with Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt in which I liked, so I set about having a go at copying it. I didn't have a 8 ft octabox, a studio or a room full of assistants. I had a bag full of portable gear and about 15 minutes...



I used a single snooted sb-800 at the back to act as the projection light, then lit their faces with a shoot through umbrella complete with black cover on reverse to turn it more into a softbox. Basically just trying to control any spill.

More tk...