Getting out there!

This inspirational piece has come in from our Socialstock photographer, Simon Ford, who contacted me a few weeks ago about popular images Socialstock were being asked for.
After a short chat, Simon has made contact with a local community centre and shot the following collection. 
Simon also got model release on all the images.
From my personal opinion, we will start selling these images quite quickly.
Please read and be inspired and as Simon says, you can always give me a call.
If you click on the images you can view them in our library, you will also see a good short description of each shot and the keywords, which I think has been executed very comprehensively. 


Nick Fallowfield-Cooper


'Sometimes working alone from home can lead to loss of motivation and inspiration if you do not keep keep on top of yourself. Many freelancers do work alone and some of us can lose focus when commissioned work is short and the days are grey, short and miserable as well. Events to photograph on spec are few and far between this time of year and normally at the weekend anyway. So what do you do to keep the images coming?
I decided to take a pro-active and research the market and see what is being published. A good place to start is to speak to the picture editors of the libraries I use and see what is popular and what is selling. I had spoken to Nick Fallowfield-Cooper last week about key wording and we had a general chat about what was selling on Socialstock and from there I decided that I could not wait for opportunities but had to make them.

Given the client base of Socialstock I decided to trawl the local council websites to see what services they were offering and when I found a suitable area of interest I looked up the relevant person to contact and obtain permission to come onto their property and photograph. Once I had explained my intentions I was invited to attend the premises and met the manager who introduced me to the staff before being given open access to all areas of the facility. It was down to me to then approach the subjects and begin chatting to them and take a genuine interest in them and their story rather than see them as a commodity. Personal skills are important and first impressions go a long way, so does a round of teas or two. I had an enjoyable days shooting, given access to other centres and made a number of contacts for future shoots.

Research, effort, personal skills and cups of tea are just as important as an eye for a picture and a nice camera. But also, keep in contact with your picture editor who will know what is selling and what is being requested.'
Simon Ford