Drummer and former colleague of mine, Ben Leach invited me over to meet the guys and set the ball rolling with a few personal shots of them in practice mode, ready to take it to the masses. A talented bunch of guys with a good attitude to the music, I’m excited to see how they progress in the months/years to come.

The initial shoot went well, I managed to come away with 300+ shots, really just getting to know guys and how the group dynamic is working. All going well I’m hoping to get them together for studio shoot very soon…

Do you ever get that feeling in the pit of your stomach, yearning back to the gold old days?

Like the first time you saw Star Wars, or the fist time you kissed a girl…or when your parents let you use the Polaroid for the first time. You pointed, it clicked and then after some grunting and wining a picture pops out the bottom. You held tight, staring intently waiting for the magic to happen…

…well, now you can have the magic directly on you desktop with Poladroid.

Visit the website, download the app and away you go. Just drag your digital snaps to the desktop Polaroid camera and after a couple of seconds and some grunting and wining you’ll get your Polaroid conversion…along with figure prints, saturated and faded colors.

If you fancy a play visit the link above and download your own Poladroid software, give it a go for yourself. I warn you now its a bit addictive. I’ve had a little play myself, which are over on my Flickr page if you fancy a look.

Have fun…

• “Vanity Fair” Portraits: A Century of Iconic Images
• The Half: Photographs of Actors Preparing for the Stage

Being a huge movie fan I think these will sit nicely on my book shelf . Some fantastic imagery from some of my favourite photographers…Cecil Beaton and the awesome Annie Leibovitz being just a couple.

On a slightly different note…

Around this time I picked up on a little photography related quote that was doing the rounds via Twitter. This was in reference to a New York post article “Behind Obama’s People”, highlighting the power of imagery and the whole portrait process with reference to the following…

In “Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography” Roland Barthes suggests that any time a subject steps in front of a camera to have his portrait taken, four people show up…

…Who that individual thinks he is, Who he wants others to think he is, Who the photographer thinks the subject is, Whom the photographer will try to make use of to bring about his art.

Being the armchair psychologist and a keen people snapper, I found this very relevant and quiet thought provoking. I’ve never sat down to consider these options when I’ve had a camera in my hand, its really been a case of the shot I want to achieve rather than the impression or ‘persona’ I want to create for the individual within the portrait.

A great thought process to think about when you next consider what you want to achieve from a portrait shot. It’s definitely something I will be making a concerted effort to consider the next time I’m pointing my camera at someone.

Take a click on the link above and have a read for yourself…