tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14861467188588842552011-07-28T06:12:45.433-07:00The twisted rantings of a poetic, bleeding heart passion monster.Jake Peethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362208031281453634noreply@blogger.comBlogger31100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486146718858884255.post-52091168837999016942010-10-27T05:10:00.001-07:002010-10-27T05:10:14.123-07:00In this day and age of consumer technology, digital media and the Internet I ask if the need for print ready artwork and the skilled professionals who create and prepare it is diminishing. In short yes I believe so, but I’m putting up a fight.<br /><br />One of the changes the IT revolution of the last 20 years has brought with it is the renaissance of the cottage industry. By this I mean people with personal computers are setting up businesses from home, left right and centre, specialising in services that at one point where exclusive to bespoke, high-end professionals. Now similar such services can be bought online from a single operative working form his or her front room. Such examples are photographers, image restorers and designers to name but a few. With so many talented and single minded one-man-bands out there, this ups the competition for the established institution with years of experience. Unfortunately the latter often comes with high overheads too. The rental of premises, the pay of skilled staff and so on. Our Jo Bloggs business becomes a leaner, lighter commerce machine capable of undercutting traditional market costs, and it is my experience that the population is becoming less conscious of quality and more concerned by price. The age-old adage of ‘you get what you pay for’ has never been more apt, but it is a wisdom that is largely being swept under the carpet, especially having just weathered the worst recession in over 100 years. You only have to look at the success of easyJet and Ryanair to see an example of the budget obsessed society we have become. These issues have affected the creative and marketing industry too, I know this from personal experience. Clients are opting for cheaper, freelance designers and artworkers working from home rather than the talents of established (more costly) creative agencies.<br /><br />With this saturation of new comers providing old skills comes a new and exiting challenge for the established, trained, experienced professional, one we should welcome. It means one thing, we have to up our game. We have to stand out from the crowd with the quality of our product and win business based on how excellent it is not how cheap it is. We need to re-establish this as a value.<br /><br />The second challenge of course is blindingly obvious. As the world moves in an evermore-digital direction, the need for print becomes less and less. The same issues faced me when I worked in the photographic industry. People asked ‘will digital ever replace film?’. I used to argue that top photographers would probably stick to film for it’s unrivalled quality that has stood the test of the last 150 years, and that there will always be a need for the distinctive look and feel of film. The reality of course is film is only really being used now by ‘passionate enthusiasts’ (geeks I hear you mutter) and artists. So one could use this comparison to predict the final outcome of the print and design for print industry.<br /><br />Or could we? Print of course has been around for a lot longer than photography and therefore may take longer to dwindle. And digital photography didn’t stop people printing their photographs. The other factor is this. A printed item is more tangible and less abstract than a digitally based one. It is more bespoke, weighty and important. It carries with it a prestige that overrules the cheaply created email, that defies the environmentally friendly micro-site and a thick, glossy brochure will outlast a PDF that will eventually get deleted from a server somewhere in California. Printed items have more posterity. I read recently that this generation will leave less history behind in terms of hands on written material than any generation so far. A sad fact for historians of the future.<br /><br />One thing is for sure, imagery, graphics and visual media will never die. In some cases it might even replace the written word, look at the work of Masasa Katzumie who created famous pictograms for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The IT revolution has even changed our language with ‘txt spk’ and Internet acronyms, all have done nothing but help degrade what was already there IMHO.<br /><br />So together we can do this. Let’s fight for quality and lets fight for posterity. Let’s keep print alive.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1486146718858884255-5209116883799901694?l=spikyjumper.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Jake Peethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362208031281453634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486146718858884255.post-59397948204246014962010-05-20T05:28:00.000-07:002010-05-20T05:42:06.689-07:00Last Saturday I had the privilege to shoot a friends wedding. It was a chance to get some practice as it's been a while since I've done one. It was also a chance to try out something I've been thinking about for a while, shooting with another photographer. One of my mentors in the commercial wedding photography industry, Damien Lovegrove, does so with his wife Julie and to me it makes perfect sense. Not only do the bride and groom get their own photographer during the getting ready stage, but you get two different angles during the day too.<div><br /></div><div>I was delighted to see Amanda Wordingham's results and despite her feeling maybe second fiddle to me, some of her candid shots of the couple and other guests where invaluable. While I had the attention of most people for the group shots Amanda snuck around with her 35mm lens and bagged some gorgeous snaps of folk unawares, including the star couple. She also paid more attention to some of the details I walked right past such as flower arrangements and the naturally occurring still lives so often found at weddings. </div><div><br /></div><div>All in all we were able to deliver a wide range of different shots to the couple and everyone was very pleased.</div><div><br /></div><div>So if it's wedding or portrait photography in the Farnham, Surrey area you are aftter maybe Amanda and I can help you on your special day. Do have a look at her photostream</div><div>http://www.flickr.com/photos/49503991@N06/</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1486146718858884255-5939794820424601496?l=spikyjumper.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Jake Peethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362208031281453634noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1486146718858884255.post-66669808504482383542010-05-07T02:03:00.001-07:002010-05-07T02:08:22.738-07:00<div>Hello and welcome to my blog.</div><div><br /></div><div>This blog will mostly be about portrait and wedding photography but it can and hopefully will contain posts about art, design and creative technology too. It may from time to time contain ramblings and comments less related to the above. </div><div><br /></div><div>Please feel free to follow and comment. But always be sure to check my site out if you are local to Farnham, Surrey, UK and are looking for natural portrait or wedding photography.</div><div><br /></div><div>http://www.spikyjumper.com</div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks,</div><div>Jake</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1486146718858884255-6666980850448238354?l=spikyjumper.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Jake Peethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02362208031281453634noreply@blogger.com0