This month I are mostly been..

Loch Teacuis on a very calm day. About 100 yards where we spotted a pair of Pine Martens.

• A bit lazy, obviously, as I've not managed to post a single thing on the blog.
• Having a week up in Morvern with my Mum and Dad, and for a couple of days at least, my girl-friend, as well as assorted cousins and 2nd cousins. Fantastic walking, pretty good weather, great food, and more wildlife than we'd normally see in several trips. Good views of Sea Eagles, Golden Eagles, Crossbills, Pine Martens, Otters, Seals, Buzzards, Deer, and so on. I started suffering from withdrawal symptoms as soon as I got back.
• Getting out on the new bike quite a lot. Love it, absolutely love it. Even took some lessons with these guys to give me a better idea of how to deal with the more crowded and complicated bits of London.
• Shooting a strongman competition, Ross Pearson, an MMA fight, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Alex Hibbert at the RGS, all for Men's Fitness.
• Shooting some Artisan golfers for Golf Monthly.
• Taking pics of this years "Guinea Pigs" for Triathlete's World
• Shooting the Tri Grand Prix down in Kent, again for TW.
• Shooting Sean Fitzpatrick for Triathlete's World.
• Taking some shots of Chris McDougall the barefoot runner for 220 Triathlon.
• Photographing a nice bloke at Betfair for Inside Poker Business.
  
• Couple of birthday parties, bit of dancing, Cousin's emigrating do, that kind of thing.
• Reading The Isles, Midwich Cuckoos, Das Reich, and The Big Short. All get the thumbs up.
  

This week I are mostly been...

• Shooting lots of instruction stuff for Women and Golf magazine down at Chestfield Golf Course near Whitstable. Very pretty course, but very cold in the North Easterly wind coming off the coast.
• Bit of dancing, quite of bit of riding around on the new bike, including a very scenic trip down to Kingston and back to collect some gear from Nikon.
• Photographing the editor of Runner's World having some swimming coaching for a feature for Triathlete's world. We couldn't shoot in the pool, so had lots of fun miming up in the spectator stands.
• Going to see Iron Man 2, because that's the sort of cultured individual I am.
• Posting this early, as I'm off to the highlands of Scotland for a week as of early tomorrow morning. First weeks holiday in a very long time (if you don't count christmas!) See you when I get back.
  

This week I are mostly been...

• Dancing a couple of times, and out enjoying the new bike quite a bit.
• Eating too much at a friend's birthday, and finishing it off with Port and Cheese, after having spotted 27 of the Elephants around London (mostly in Green Park).
• Shooting Team PKR for Stacked magazine at the rather nice Shoreditch Studios.
• Taking a portrait of Ben and Ewan Laws for Triathlete's World. Spare them some change for their ambitious race this summer.
• Shooting a feature for 220 Triathlon on swim sighting with the good people at SwimForTri.
• Shooting a bike custom fitting session at Tri and Run for Triathlete's World.
  

This week I are mostly been...

• Not shooting much, for the first time in ages! Just the one shoot for The Holy Cross Centre Trust at their drop in centre on Friday.
• Took the portfolio round a bit.
• Dancing a couple of times.
• To the V+A to see Grace Kelly, which was OK, and Quilts, which was much cooler. Also enjoyed the Philip Lorca DiCorcia they've got on permanent display, but then I've always been a fan.
• And after promising myself I would, every summer for the past god knows how many years, I've finally bought myself a bike. As soon as I got on it, I remembered how much I enjoyed cycling, and although ducking and diving round London is a bit different to the country lanes I enjoyed in my youth, I'm still hooked all over again!
  

Custom Fitting Your Photography Business

Getting very technical with a putter at Callaway HQ

A few weeks ago I spent an afternoon down in Leatherhead at the headquarters of Callaway Golf to photograph some competition winners from Golf Monthly. The prize they'd won was to have a putter custom fitted, and then made up and delivered to them. Custom fitting is really starting to catch on in golf, as serious players are realising that there is so much variety in each person's swing that buying a standard club off the shelf may well be handicapping their game. Having a set of clubs that are fitted for the way you play will obviously improve your game, and some fitters boast it can take as many as 10 shots off your handicap. I'm not a golfer, but I understand this is a good thing!

The process of custom fitting involves a combination of technology and hands-on analysis by the custom fitter, and the balance between these two varies from fitter to fitter and brand to brand. Some are very heavily reliant on their clever radar launch monitors that tell them how far the ball has travelled, along with spin, launch speed and stacks of other info. Others place much more emphasis on the personal side, spending longer analysing a players swing, and even building in lessons as well (many fitters are qualified golf pro's, and have come into it from this background.)

What occurred to me, having shot this process many times in the past 3 years, is that even though Golf is quite a big industry, the job title "golf club custom fitter" is hardly a recognisable, commonplace career, and as such there is no accepted stereotype of how one should behave. If we think of Doctors, Policemen, Pilots, Teachers and any number of job titles, an instant image (good, or bad) pops into our heads, and we judge our experiences of those people against these long held stereotypes. The first time I shot one of these fitting sessions, it occurred to me that the guy doing the fitting was free to choose how he provided his services, and what impression people were left with of the custom fitting experience. There's no fixed template for how a fitter should behave, although it should be obvious that many of the key skills in any job (good interpersonal skills, communication, ability to create an instant rapport) will be as useful here as they will anywhere else.

Now, what has any of this got to do with photography, I hear you cry? Well, the parallel should be obvious - who's to say what a "photographer" should be like, and how they should behave? Since the vast majority of photographers are self employed, and answer to no line manager/supervisor or similar figure it's up to you how you want to brand yourself and portray yourself. I realise we've had a bit more presence in the media over the years, from Blow Up and Peeping Tom, to Spiderman's alter ego than have Custom Fitters, but that doesn't mean our image is set in stone. The opportunity is most definitely there to mould your business in a form you choose, and bring as much of your personality to bear on it as you wish. It's your call whether you want to be a cold, technical still-life meister, who's respected for your laser-like clarity and ability, or a sensitive, egotistical fashionista whose creative energy is matched only by their temper tantrums. Just remember that your role and your public image isn't set in stone, and be aware of what a large role it plays in getting (and keeping) you business!

This week I are mostly been...

• Buying a new Car. An absolutely brand new car. Am quite chuffed, so far.
• Shooting some golfers having their clubs custom fitted, for Golf Monthly.
• Heading down to Surrey to photograph James Haskell putting some Men's Health Readers through their paces.
• Attending the second of the three "Photography Isn't Dead" events. I expect by the third one I won't have to rush off half way through, as I've not seen through to the end of either of them yet.
• Shooting a feature for Men's Fitness at The 25 Club. Shots will look quite cool when finished, as there's a little bit of photoshopping work to be done to them.
• Going to see "The Ghost" at the cinema. Very enjoyable, and very beautifully shot.
• Spending a very long, but all in all very satisfying day at the London Marathon today for Fast Track. Started at 6.30 in the morning, and carried on till about 4, covered a lot of miles myself, and now have a very sore neck. Luckily I'm off to see the Osteopath in the morning....
  

This week I are mostly been...

Ah, the joys of "one eye", how the army drink this stuff I'll never know. Miles and Jonathan using up leftover rations from when I was last learning survival from Colin Towell.

• Taking some pics of Andy Hodge, at the GB rowing centre, for Men's Fitness.
• Snapping some lucky fellas getting custom fitted with Taylormade Drivers for Golf Monthly.
• Taking a group shot of some triathlete's from Credit Suisse, for Triathlete's World and running into some problems with security along the way.
• Going dancing twice.
• Taking my 2 godsons for a 10 mile walk in the Peak District in perfect weather - building a shelter, doing navigation, eating army rations, running round an assault course, and jumping in peat bogs made for a pretty perfect day. Well done lads, it was a lot of climbing, and a lot of walking, but the "one eye" helped keep us going.