Happy New Year!

Hi all,

Hope you are all well. Where does time go??

I've had a busy year - a bit of a rollercoaster with ups and down too - with kids passing final consultant exams which is good, and with loosing people which is not so good.  Plans for next year look good with my older son planning to move back to Edinburgh and my sister there now too. . A  year too of engagements and then weddings to look forward to in 2016.  

The Scottish referendum has meant a reawakening of political engagement here - with the disenfranchised, sometimes for the first time, feeling that their voices can make a difference.

I continue to enjoy my photography while devoting more of my time to writing. Writing however takes a great deal of time to get right.

I have a large archive of Photos on my site which are available to license and buy -   http://pkimage.co.uk/

My Scottish Arts & Music Blog - PKImage musicfootnotes  continues to have good interest.  I expanded from doing mainly music into covering different aspects of Scottish arts, history and stories -  http://www.musicfootnotes.com/ 

I am looking forward now to Celtic Connections 2016 which brightens up the cold January nights. It gets better every year with many artists coming from across the world and highly unique collaborations.   

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! to all those who come over and read my blog and post on the Scottish Arts and Music Facebook page. Scotland has seen yet another year of a vibrant cultural scene. In fact Scottish culture has been having a revival alongside our stronger Scottish voices... Music and art continue to inspire me....Hoping 2016 brings some peace and sanity to all those who feel disenfranchised  : ))

Photography and Writing March 2015

I am still challenged by photography and I enjoy it a great deal. I am also keen to develop my writing. 

While I love art, I love writing equally as much. It is odd finishing working on a book. It seems like it may have nearly reached a point it is ready to be let go - while it is sad as it becomes part of who you are and sometimes new ideas keep coming and so it never feels really finished...?   

*MUSIC this year at Celtic Connections 2015

Celtic Connections folk festival was better than ever and I attended some incredible concerts this year –

The awesome Opening Concert Nae Regrets - We were treated to an outstanding opening concert!  Highly innovative. Multi-talented, multi-layered orchestra. Put a smile on my face -The Martin Bennett epic one off opening concert conducted by Greg Lawson, 

The Craig Armstrong concert of his film music with full orchestra was incredible - he wrote music for Romeo and Juliet and the Great Gatsby and more. The Punch Brothers were delightful with their high tempo banjos, quality acapella vocal harmonies. The concert for the life-affirming songs of folk revivalist Ewan MacColl, with Martin Carthy, Jarvis Cocker and Paul Buchanan. On top of all this it was a huge treat to hear live the powerhouse voice and music of legend Van Morrison. Mind-blowing. And not to forget the perfect concert with the Transatlantic band. 

I continue to take my camera everywhere and it is part of who I am..... 

I have revamped my photography website recently to include a Women Musicians gallery -http://pkimage.co.uk/womenmusicinans

Organization is key perhaps!!?  

'There is no luck in photography - it is all timing, observation, experience and cunning.'  (Snowdon) 

PHOTOS February 2014

I' am busy trying to concentrate on writing, after a very hectic few weeks of photos and reviews and also a very fun time at Celtic Connections 2014, which was magic and a ton of work too!   All the amazing concerts and the people I met.  If you come over to Transatlantic Sessions it really is worth it!   

My music blog now gets over 5K hits worldwide per month, more elsewhere than the UK oddly. - http://www.musicfootnotes.com/

I still love photography but feel I need to focus. For the past months while I am still writing and I am trying to edit and organise my book into appropriate chapters and all - this is crucial but also a ton of work! oh dear. Its so easy to get distracted too! I also write Life blogs, all kind of things - there is not enough time I guess?  http://musicfootnoteslifeblogs

After the quality, diversity, breadth and quality of Celtic Connections 2014 I am more than ever excited for Scottish music. 

CELTIC CONNECTIONS 2014!

This year I heard some wonderful new musicians at Celtic - Lau, RM Hubbert, Mogwai, ImeldaMay, Nicola B, Del Amitri and from Greece Alkinoos Ioannidis. I also enjoyed artists I'd heard before - Dougie MacLean, Julie Fowlis, Jerry Douglas, Karine Polwart, Kris Drever, Capercaillie. 

It is good to see and hear the confidence, creativity, pride and range in Scottish music these days - and I can remember when it was all tartan shortbread caricatures and Jimmy Shand and his band or Andy Stewart's 'Donald where's yur troosers.'  Its a huge boost for Glasgow to host this international event each year.  Folk music is driven by a desire to progress the musical traditions thorough musical abilities, playing live, ethnic traditions, vocal harmonies, unaccompanied singing, story telling songs and words with a message, real instruments (??) and by diverse collaborations. There is much encouragement given over the festival to new musicians – with the Late Sessions, Open mic and also Showcase Scotland with music people worldwide attending these concerts. 

After the warmth of all these concerts I try to get back to normal this cold time of year. I enjoy the writing too and it is all a hectic buzz too!  Most of photography is about the post processing, uploading, contacts, online, media, text and info...  

Rob Noakes -  with  Where Dead Voices Gather' - still relevant and even better than his younger days. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/rabnoakes 

Photography Inspirations

I first got inspired by photography through the amazing images in Life magazine, Vogue and later in Vanity Fair. I can’t remember exactly when, but I don’t remember a time that I wasn’t drawing either fashion, ballet or portraits. I took Art as a subject for Higher and won the Art prize (to my surprise). I particularly enjoyed pencil sketching portraits of my friend Laura. I was also always writing poems and stories in notebooks, it was my way to make sense of the world.

For many years I had little time for art or writing due to work and family commitments. By accident eight years ago I took my first steps in photography at a venue in London. I captured a few interesting shots with a small disposable camera (!) and I realised much of good

photography is about having a good eye for it while of course good equipment is like having good tools! I discovered when I got my first SLR in 2006 that professional photography  required numerous technical skills to understand how the lens and camera worked and that using automatic is not an option to have more control over good results and difficult lighting conditions.

One of the hardest skills in photography is the organisation and editing of work.   

Organisation is key. Probably the hardest skill of all is learning to sort and select images quickly, and recognizing what makes a portfolio image. I discovered that 'in camera' selection was very important. And the Big Question – what makes those portfolio images? Some photos might be good but they don’t have that magic quality in them. I also worked very hard at making contacts and studying how the photography business worked and looking at others work.

While I enjoy street and nature photography, my main passion is music and portrait  photography. I aim to take flattering images which in my mind is the skill of a good photographer. I hope I have an artistic instinct for flattering angles, light and the use of soft light.

My Music Photography

Music is the reason I do photography, music is my passion.

I started out taking small venues and local festivals. My particular interest is Scottish singer songwriters. In 2007 to 2009 I took photos of several up and coming artists here. I received good feedback on my work – I had requests for the use of my images for promotional purposes, I was invited to a live album shoot in Manchester, and I was thrilled to receive a call from no less than the manager for Emeli Sande for a photoshoot.

The two big events for me continue to be Celtic Connections Glasgow and Edinburgh Book Festival. I first took at Celtic in 2008.

What next? To develop printing techniques and my main focus on mono (black and white) images. To submit more and to work more on the business side. To take more photo shoots hopefully. To hope for those magic images!  To paint.

There is really not enough time. 

And it really does take much more than a thousand hours.

Emerging artists I have photographed who are now signed to major labels - Emeli Sande, Hurts, Warpaint, Everything Everything, James Blake, Admiral Fallow, Metronomy, Head and Heart, Broken Records, Miles Kane, Low Anthem, more. A live album shoot in Manchester for Kirsty McGee and Mat Martin.

Emeli Sande has been working on her music since 2007 when she was commuting weekends to London. She left medical school after obtaining a medical a degree for a Publishing deal in 2008. Most wont' realise the work that has gone in before reaching the stage she's at now with her platinum selling album 'Our Version of Events'. David Sneddon has also been working behind the scenes on his song writing since 2004. He's had many preconceived hurdles to overcome, but finally this year he has over come them at long long last and he has received recognition for his songs on several number one selling albums.