Last day of the Art Walk and not as many pictures as I took a bit of time out to join my friend and her pal as they walked through Porty for the KiltWalk. Still, a decent set of pics of my day at the Art Walk.

Well, it was Day Three for me - the second Saturday and a whole load more Art Houses. Another gross of images.

Day Two of the Art Walk and after a slightly later start because I was photographing the Beach Race I spent time on the beach, photographing some of the Thrift events, as well as visiting more of the Art Houses.

So, it's been a long time since I posted anything on here. Last weekend was the start of the Art Walk and I had a great time wandering about, taking pictures and talking to people. I discussed creative processes with several people and in the course of the discussions realised that documenting an event like that involves taking lots of pictures and then developing the narrative afterwards, in the edit and selection. Hence this gross of images... 

Having only got there at the end of things last week, one year on from the start of the Portobello Community Fridge, I arranged with Ewan, the current organiser, to come back earlier, before doors open, and get a few shots of the volunteers getting things ready. As it turned out local MP Tommy Sheppard was also paying a low-key visit to see what the Community Fridge is doing. Because it is giving away food  I think it gets blurred in many people's minds with food banks but, although there is a link with a local food bank and some food does go to people who need help making ends meet, the primary goal of the Community Fridge is to try and reduce the amount of food going to landfill. The volunteers collect food that supermarkets are throwing out on Friday night and make it available for people to come and collect on Saturday morning.  

Having missed last year because of covid, or at least missed an in-person wassail as we still met up on Zoom, we were back at the Donkeyfield Community Orchard to continue the wassailing tradition. As well as singing wassailing songs with the community choir, people sprinkled some of last year's cider on the tree roots, hung toast in the tree branches enjoyed some hot apple juice and gathered round the fire. The weather stayed dry until we sang our last song, when the rain came. There was also a visit from The Keeper of the Soils in the person of artist Natalie Taylor, wearing the cloak and collecting another soil for the collection.
 
From the North Light Arts website:
This community created cape, initiated by artist Natalie Taylor along with North Light Arts is for the Keeper of the Soils to wear at celebratory occasions. The Keeper, who may be a different person each time, celebrates Scotland’s rich agricultural and food growing heritage by receiving gifted soil samples from growing areas across East Lothian and the Central Belt, and keeping them safe inside the cape’s many internal pockets. The pockets are being made with the people of Dunbar during workshop sessions led by Natalie.

The cape was first worn on the eve of the Pilgrimage for COP26 at an event in Dunbar organised by North Light Arts, Sustaining Dunbar and John Muir's Birthplace. During the event there was a special soil ceremony, at the Battery in Dunbar Harbour, were the first four donated soils were added to the cape.
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Since then over 20 soils from East Lothian, Central Belt and further afield have been collected.   

I recently updated my small business photography packages, with three different levels ranging from a very basic option up to a full-on 'Day in The Life'. The entry-level package will concentrate on getting a few great personal portraits of the face of your business to use online and in marketing materials to introduce you to potential customers.  Next up is a broader 'portrait of the business', taken over the course of three or four hours and capturing not just the who, but the what and the how of your business, producing a small library of images to use now and in the future. Finally the all-day, Day In the Life option, will give you a comprehensive set of images to tell the story of your business and how you work.

While those options will cover the needs of most small businesses, there are always exceptions, looking for something a little different and needing a completely tailor-made solution. One such case was when Colin got in touch looking for some images to promote his football-based board game, Counter Attack.  As well as images to use on the game's own website, he was also looking for images to use on other selling websites and in social media advertising campaigns.

We discussed the sorts of images we might create. Colin wanted product shots of the game as well as people playing the game. However, simply taking shots of a game in progress wouldn't create great pictures, with players hunched over the board, making their moves. Instead I recommended taking 'reaction shots' of players, reflecting the highs and lows of playing the game, as well as players in 'manager mode', to give Colin a series of images to use on social media. This approach had the added advantage of minimising social contact during the COVID pandemic as the images could all be taken outside.

A personal flavour of Art Walk Porty 2021 over the past two weekends. Everyone's Art Walk will have been different. How was yours?

Ulrike first got in touch via Instagram some months ago about organising some headshots. Back then there were still restrictions on travel between local authority areas. Playing safe we left it for a few months but when restrictions were eased we arranged to meet in Portobello. She was looking for some basic headshots for a variety of business purposes - smart but perhaps not ultra-formal. She said she liked the look of some other headshots I did earlier so we met at the same place. Shooting outside we could maintain good social distancing, keeping us both safe. Please check out my headshot options if you are interested in refreshing your own images.