Interesting shot - who's it for?

It's not such an odd question when you consider the superfluity of potential viewers and the disparity of individual points of view.

Above image: Tidal recession on pebble bank, Porlock Weir, Somerset.

Nikon D810, 14-24mm f2.8 Nikkor at 24mm, ISO 64, 3 seconds at f13, tripod

2nd August 2015

I love this one, it's a personal favourite, but it's just that and nothing more. It has been neither generally popular nor a commercial success

Is the image (or image collection) for: Your personal portfolio? A client? An agency? Your family? An exhibition? A competition? A picture editor? Your camera club? The other togs on 500px or Flikr?

That's a helluva list and, probably, if you put your mind to it, a very incomplete list too. How on earth is one image, or set of images, going to satisfy them all, including you? Well, as a general rule, the short and truthful answer is - it's not.

Left: The modular concrete ceiling of the lobby of the National Theatre on the Southbank, London.

Nikon D810, 14-24mm f2.8 Nikkor at 14mm, ISO 64, 6 seconds at f13, cafe table top used as camera support

25th February 2015

This one is not what I would call a personal favorite but it was commercially successful.

If you can further your career, expand your portfolio and satisfy your creativity entirely on your own terms with your favourite photographs as your output then you are probably in the Michael Kenna and Charlie Waite league. If not, you are going to have to consider where your images are ultimately heading before you submit them to their destinations.

Above image: "Conclusion"

Twilight view across Bridgwater Bay shot from the coast of Somerset at Doniford Bay

Nikon D810, 50mm f1.4 Nikkor, ISO 64, 20 seconds at f13, polariser, hand-held

3rd September 2015

I like this one and so did the OPOTY 2015 judges. My agency didn't though, therefore it had no chance of a publication as an editorial image in a national daily paper....

Producing material in a way that brings you fulfilment is essential to your creative integrity, however, your output is not necessarily going to be universally appreciated by your peers, by editorial agencies or even by your family(!). I wrote in a previous post about the importance of developing a personal style, so keep focussed on that, while, at the same time and whenever possible, producing photographs (for example) for competitions or agencies as part of a personal workflow. Remember that they are not automatically the same thing at all. I routinely have images rejected by my editorial agency because they're just too weird or abstract. The one above, for example, didn't make it through the agency filters and into the submissions to the national daily paper picture editors and yet it has recently been short-listed for the finalists stage of OPOTY 2015.

How about this one of the red truck? I think it's a good idea that, with some more thought at the point of capture, I could have developed further into a sequence but, because of time constraints, I didn't. It doesn't make it into my personal favourites portfolio, nor was it published... Was it popular? Was it commercially successful? No, none of the above. ;-) I'd still say it's a keeper though.

So, as I said in the title, interesting shot, but who's it for? Well, it might be worth entering into a car photo contest, either as-is, or re-processed perhaps, so maybe it's for a competition judge... You be the judge.

Above image: 90s Toyota 4x4 pickup looking retro-cool outside a WW2 aircraft hangar.

Nikon D810, 50mm f1.4 Nikkor, 1/80 second at f11, tripod

25th June 2015

On my way back to an airfield car park, this is an impromptu shot that I processed a bit like an HDR. Toyota GB liked it on Twitter and that's as far as the commercial and popular success went...