Another 365 thread...

[gazedd]

nice set of pictures Pete,

 

[EdinburghGary]

Chocolate brownies are awesome.

 

[Snowball]

Yum, bloody yum!

Thanks for the Actions... I tried to duplicate the effect in PS and got nowhere near!

Your photos 'as always' are bloody awesome...

 

[birdy961]

Just caught up with this whole thread, don't know how I missed it.

Loving it so far Pete, the images are great. looking forward to the rest

 

[petemc]

Thinking, thinking. So this here 365 is about me, but how much of me should I put out there? I could go for broke. Emo myself up and put the real me online through photos. My pitfalls, personal problems and what its really like being me on a day to day basis. Now I could do that, I mean how hard is it to discuss things with a web page? Its not really. But thinking about it real people do read it. You wouldn't do this in real life would you? "Hey random stranger. This is a photo of how messy my desk is. Here's another showing <insert random life problem here>." You don't do it. There are things you keep from people you've just met because you want to make a good impression. If I've been having a rubbish day do I bitch and whine about it online to people I don't know?

I just can't decide how to play this. If I'm not honest then I'm lying to myself to hide problems and also deceiving people about who I really am. Of course its great to simply show the best bits of your life but life isn't brilliant every single day of the week. I'm reminded of an episode of Scrubs, 'My lunch' A recurring character dies and has her organs donated to other patients that need them. However it turns out she had rabies and the patients also got that. 2 of them die and Dr Cox is feeling down. The 3rd one dies while Cox tries to save him. It completely floors him. It has to be one of the best episodes of the series simply because it shows just how real he is, how human he is. 3 minutes in 7 years of the show is all it takes. This is the clip from that episode.

I think it simply comes down to this. Is it better to be seen as a good photographer or a good photographer who despite flaws overcomes them all to get those good photos. Are Superheroes better when they're perfect or when they're flawed? At least thats one way of looking at it. People may just see the flaws, so why make them public?

 

[EdinburghGary]

Thinking, thinking. So this here 365 is about me, but how much of me should I put out there? I could go for broke. Emo myself up and put the real me online through photos. My pitfalls, personal problems and what its really like being me on a day to day basis. Now I could do that, I mean how hard is it to discuss things with a web page? Its not really. But thinking about it real people do read it. You wouldn't do this in real life would you? "Hey random stranger. This is a photo of how messy my desk is. Here's another showing <insert random life problem here>." You don't do it. There are things you keep from people you've just met because you want to make a good impression. If I've been having a rubbish day do I bitch and whine about it online to people I don't know?

I just can't decide how to play this. If I'm not honest then I'm lying to myself to hide problems and also deceiving people about who I really am. Of course its great to simply show the best bits of your life but life isn't brilliant every single day of the week. I'm reminded of an episode of Scrubs, 'My lunch' A recurring character dies and has her organs donated to other patients that need them. However it turns out she had rabies and the patients also got that. 2 of them die and Dr Cox is feeling down. The 3rd one dies while Cox tries to save him. It completely floors him. It has to be one of the best episodes of the series simply because it shows just how real he is, how human he is. 3 minutes in 7 years of the show is all it takes. This is the clip from that episode.

I think it simply comes down to this. Is it better to be seen as a good photographer or a good photographer who despite flaws overcomes them all to get those good photos. Are Superheroes better when they're perfect or when they're flawed? At least thats one way of looking at it. People may just see the flaws, so why make them public?

Just be true to yourself mate, if you feel the need to share, then do it. I have been through your thought process more than once, and I figure that turning the sh*t in life into a bit of text which can help others relate, and perhaps, bring the readers joy, it stops the sh*t stinking so bad

Every single bad feeling in life has the EXACT opposite feeling somewhere attached to it. Find it and grab it.

Gary.

 

[petemc]

Oh I completely get the silver lining. Turn a negative into a positive. But do I want people to see me differently? Do I want them to see the other side of me?

 

[EdinburghGary]

Oh I completely get the silver lining. Turn a negative into a positive. But do I want people to see me differently? Do I want them to see the other side of me?

Only you know the answer to that, although I have seen some of the other Pete (I think), and I reckon you would be understood more often than misunderstood, which currently happens alot!

Perhaps just a little bit at a time so you can get a feel for it?

Gary.

 

[Snowball]

You have a whole year Pete

Take each day as it comes, as it feels like it should, don't do anything you don't want to...

I have a huge respect for you as a photographer, but getting to know the thought process behind any photo (not just a 365) is always interesting!

Seeing how a Pro Tog leads there life is also something I take a great pleasure in reading.

Great photo today, one of the best related photos in the 365's to date!

 

[petemc]

Well on the subject of behind the scenes I'm going to wing it.

Thursday 17th July

The long road. I had a wedding shoot in Cardiff to get to. Nearly a 4hr drive there and another 4hrs back. Now the shoot was simple as it was all documentary, no staged. I was still nervous as hell. I'm still kinda shy and driving across the country to document someones family life who you've never met is a little nerveracking. So what would you think is the worst thing to happen 20 minutes before hand? Forgetting the memory cards? No batteries? No camera? Nah, thats nothing. 20 minutes before hand I decide to get some gum to have nice minty fresh breath. After a few chews my temporary filling comes out. WHAT THE HELL?! I'm doing a sporty 70mph on the motorway and I suddenly about 80% of my wisdom tooth falls out. I just got the damn thing put in on Wednesday to avoid any issues during the wedding. I did not need it to fall out 20 minutes before hand.

The wedding goes according to plan and is lovely. Half way through I get an email and quickly check it. "Your sample chapter isn't working out. We think its best to cancel the HDR guide book." Oh thats just ginger. I'm in Cardiff on a semi-stressful job and my life is falling apart, literally. I put it aside and focus on the job. I'm getting great shots so I'm happy. The location was stunning. The filmed part of Dr Who there, where Donna goes on holiday and London gets nuked. Really nice people, lovely location and great shots.

After I get in my car and sigh. 4 hours to home. 4 hours before I can just crawl into bed and sleep. The plan was 2hrs on the way home to get a lovely Little Chef meal. Its something we did as a family and I haven't had one in years. I was looking forward to reliving the memory. I couldn't do that. No comfy hot chocolate when I got home in case there was immense pain. Just 4 hours on the road. So thats Thursday. The long road.

Friday 18th July

Various small errands took place and I've yet to think about the HDR book because the other errands needed sorting. I got the tooth filled again and so far its holding. Here's hoping it holds out for the weekend because as you can see I just got my press pass for the Tall Ships event. It's one of the big highlights for the Capital of Culture and should be really fantastic, assuming the weather is ok and the crowds aren't insane. I last saw the Tall Ships in 1992 and first in 1984. The parade of sail on Monday should be stunning.

 

[EdinburghGary]

Pete, I hope your book has not been cancelled, I really do. Fingers crossed for you.

Gary.

 

[Shutterman]

Glad the wedding went ok... cant wait to see the tall ship pic's if you post any..

Really like the processing of Thursday and friday images..

Shutterman

 

[Snowball]

Pete, a really enlightening post and I can see how stressful life can be for a pro tog. Sorry to hear about the HDR book, is there a chance you could still pull it back? (I'm actually using a web guide you wrote on HDR at the moment and its great!)

Lovely image for Thursday and at least the wedding went to plan? Do you enjoy the wedding side of toggin' as much as documentary?

Should be great to photograph the tall ships can't wait to see some of the images...

Really open post this one Pete, thanks

 

[petemc]

Pete, I hope your book has not been cancelled, I really do. Fingers crossed for you.

Gary.

Cheers dude

Glad the wedding went ok... cant wait to see the tall ship pic's if you post any..

Really like the processing of Thursday and friday images..

Shutterman

Thanks. I will post some on my blog and here hopefully.

Pete, a really enlightening post and I can see how stressful life can be for a pro tog. Sorry to hear about the HDR book, is there a chance you could still pull it back? (I'm actually using a web guide you wrote on HDR at the moment and its great!)

Lovely image for Thursday and at least the wedding went to plan? Do you enjoy the wedding side of toggin' as much as documentary?

Should be great to photograph the tall ships can't wait to see some of the images...

Really open post this one Pete, thanks

Thanks There might be a chance with the book but we'll have to see. I'm not really a wedding photographer, but if I do them then I make it clear that I'm a documentary photographer not a posed one. I document the event and the moments. That is something I enjoy and the shots are better for it. Also Thursdays was taken on my 2mp iPhone and despite what people say about the camera I'm rather impressed.

Edit: Just realised that my Thursday is a classic EdinburgerGary type post. Random photo that fits the feel of the day. fsck

 

[petemc]

Its been a busy 4 days so here's what happened.

Saturday 19th July

I had a great day at the Tall Ships event. I took a ride on a rib around Albert Dock to get some photos. Really fun. After I went to Wellington Dock to photograph the larger ones and the weather was perfect. Great day out.

Sunday 20th July

Another day with the Tall Ships. I started with some photos of the cruise ship Crystal Symphony and headed over for sunset. I just made it. Things went a bit weird after that. I was looking at the menu for Circo and noticed the girls inside giggling. One came out and also started looking at the menu. "Odd" I thought. Then I realised that her friend was taking a photo of her through the glass. There was a clown face on the glass you see. It wasn't until later that I figured they noticed it because of where I was standing looking at the menu. Super. After I went and got me some nice dusk shots.

Monday 21st July

The big event. The Tall Ships parade of sail. This was taken on the top of a nice yacht that I was able to use for the day. I am super sunburnt but it was totally worth it. As we moved from one dock to the other we were attacked by sailors with water bombs. They scored a direct hit. We had to wait nearly 2hrs before we could go out onto the Mersey. I took a video of that for fun but had the darn thing set to time lapse so its about 5 seconds long now. Fun day speeding around the Mersey on a yacht though. I still haven't properly been through the photos. After I had a shoot for the launch of the new media wall in Liverpool. Its huge and insanely bright. So bright it is literaly like night and day there. We had to put it to the lowest setting to get a balanced photo.

Tuesday 22nd

Its a Tuesday.

 

[Whittie]

Looks like you've had a fantastic weekend mate.

Saturday - Glad you enjoyed the day, quite cool getting to go around the docks on a boat aswell.

Sunday - Looked really busy, how many people were at the event itself?

Monday - Sunburnt! Must of been lovely weather for the day then

Tuesday - After such a nice weekend, why are you writing that kind of crap? Chin up dude.

 

[petemc]

Sunday - Looked really busy, how many people were at the event itself?

It wasn't busy on Sunday but Monday was. I've never seen that many people line each side of the river. There were even people on top of buildings.

Tuesday - After such a nice weekend, why are you writing that kind of crap? Chin up dude.

Thats just who I am. I suffer from depression so thats me today. Got a shoot later in St Johns Beacon overlooking the entire city of Liverpool, at sunset too, and ya know I'm just not feeling happy yet.

 

[Whittie]

Cheer up dude, you've got some stunning pictures, and after looking on your website, I was really impressed. You're a great photographer.

Loved the idea of the 800 people What did you ask them? "Excuse me can I take a picture please?" Were people reluctant to say yes?

 

[petemc]

Cheer up dude, you've got some stunning pictures, and after looking on your website, I was really impressed. You're a great photographer.

Loved the idea of the 800 people What did you ask them? "Excuse me can I take a picture please?" Were people reluctant to say yes?

Thanks but if I could cheer up with a click of my fingers I would As for 800 I just went up and told them about it. Most said yes, a few said no.

 

[Snowball]

Hey Pete,

I've suffered from depression before, kinda suffering a bit now but not as severely - so I know what you're going through and know that with enough people around you (friends and family) you can get through it, well they helped me anyhow!

Your photos are fantastic and I loved the ones documenting the tall ships. Really cool...

Going on what Whittie said, I was in London the other day and saw some really interesting characters who I'd of loved to have photographed but I was too nervous! Were you nervous when you first started to and if so, how did you get round it!

Regards

Paul

 

[petemc]

Were you nervous when you first started to and if so, how did you get round it!

Simple really. I had to get it done so I did it.

5 minutes before I was going to out and relax in Chester with mates an urgent request comes in. Its been one of those days. Nearly 10pm and I still have another shoot to process for tomorrow.

 

[EdinburghGary]

How you doing Pete. Some nice posts, and a sad one too. We all feel **** at times, chin up!!

Gary.

 

[petemc]

Don't mean to sound rude but there's a difference between everyone feeling sad now and then and having depression. Try feeling empty, sad, down for 15 years and even at the height of your career when you're doing what you love you still feel that way. The funny thing is that I often feel like no-one wants to hear me whine about how crap I feel so I'd rather post something that's acceptable. "oh stop moaning. You take ace photos why so sad?" *sigh*

 

[foodpoison]

Don't mean to sound rude but there's a difference between everyone feeling sad now and then and having depression. Try feeling empty, sad, down for 15 years and even at the height of your career when you're doing what you love you still feel that way. The funny thing is that I often feel like no-one wants to hear me whine about how crap I feel so I'd rather post something that's acceptable. "oh stop moaning. You take ace photos why so sad?" *sigh*

I've been through depression, be it only 6 months, but it was depression nonetheless. Not a nice time of my life, and I felt very much helpless, and I know I wouldn't want to go through it again.

I don't know how you feel, there are no doubt very few people on this forum who do. But I have a taster.

I believe that people's moods are like the weather. Sometimes it's sunny, sometimes its cloudy, and sometimes it tips it down and doesn't show any sign of stopping.
But it can't rain forever.

Hold on until the sun pokes through the clouds, and for that brief period that the sun shines wonderfully on your face, and you feel on top of the world, grab on as tight as possible, and keep that memory for when it rains.

I don't know how you'll take that, perhaps you'll be thankful, perhaps you'll be rude and ungrateful, but hey, take it or leave it.

 

[Whittie]

I'm in no position to comment on your depression Pete, but I really hope you cheer up soon, of what i've spoke to you, you seem like a lovely guy. Who happens to be O.K at taking pictures (Sarcasm, you're fantastic tbh)

 

[petemc]

I've been through depression, be it only 6 months, but it was depression nonetheless. Not a nice time of my life, and I felt very much helpless, and I know I wouldn't want to go through it again.

I don't know how you feel, there are no doubt very few people on this forum who do. But I have a taster.

I believe that people's moods are like the weather. Sometimes it's sunny, sometimes its cloudy, and sometimes it tips it down and doesn't show any sign of stopping.
But it can't rain forever.

Hold on until the sun pokes through the clouds, and for that brief period that the sun shines wonderfully on your face, and you feel on top of the world, grab on as tight as possible, and keep that memory for when it rains.

I don't know how you'll take that, perhaps you'll be thankful, perhaps you'll be rude and ungrateful, but hey, take it or leave it.

Yer it is kinda like that. Some days it is sunny, and I'm inspired by that to get great photos and I'm happy. Then I'm suddenly just feeling empty again. Its really annoying because work is great and I have nothing to be depressed about but I am. Thats just me.

I'm in no position to comment on your depression Pete, but I really hope you cheer up soon, of what i've spoke to you, you seem like a lovely guy. Who happens to be O.K at taking pictures (Sarcasm, you're fantastic tbh)

Most times when I have my camera in my hands everything goes away and I take good photos. Thats when I'm fine. Often its still a struggle to get there, which is silly and I just know that if I had the energy of 15 sugar fed kids I'd be all over the world by now.

 

[foodpoison]

Look forward to your update Pete. Your work is very different to everyone elses and it's nice to see something refreshing.

 

[EdinburghGary]

Don't mean to sound rude but there's a difference between everyone feeling sad now and then and having depression. Try feeling empty, sad, down for 15 years and even at the height of your career when you're doing what you love you still feel that way. The funny thing is that I often feel like no-one wants to hear me whine about how crap I feel so I'd rather post something that's acceptable. "oh stop moaning. You take ace photos why so sad?" *sigh*

Sorry didn't want to belittle your feelings. You are right though, obviously a big difference between feeling sad, and having clinical depression, and "chin up" isn't going to cut the cake.

Leaves me in a pickle, as I want to reassure you somehow or leave it on a lighter note, but can't. I just hope one day you do come out of the tunnel and see the light.

Gary.

 

[petemc]

Look forward to your update Pete. Your work is very different to everyone elses and it's nice to see something refreshing.

Thanks, means a lot

Sorry didn't want to belittle your feelings. You are right though, obviously a big difference between feeling sad, and having clinical depression, and "chin up" isn't going to cut the cake.

Leaves me in a pickle, as I want to reassure you somehow or leave it on a lighter note, but can't. I just hope one day you do come out of the tunnel and see the light.

Gary.

No worries dude. Its just when you feel *that* low and someone says "Chin up" or some other cliche and you know that tomorrow is just another day in a long line of "another days" all you can think is that they have no idea. If I actually said things, well I won't but it ain't pretty. But today is another day and today I'm ok with things, despite no change in anything. So heres the past 4 days, edited for family forum friendliness.

Thursday 24th July

I had a nice afternoon out on Crosby beach with my sister and nephew. While it was warm it wasn't exactly blue skies n sunshine, but it was nice to walk barefoot along the beach, occasionally in the cool water.

Friday 25th July

Friday was one of those days. I got up around 10ish, browsed the web and checked my email. My sister called and wondered if I would like to visit the farm. I said I needed to get a shot so sure. We went and saw about 5 animals. Not exactly the best farm. I then had to dash off and buy a frame, mount and mirror plates for a client before heading to the dentist. I was a bit stressed and arrived late, which he made a point of despite the waiting room being empty and there no need to rush. I had my new filling put in and went for a drive to relax. After about 6hrs the numbness went and I found that the new filling hurt like hll if I ate anything. Super.

Saturday 26th July

A rather busy day. I started at 10am photographing a cruise ship, then I went to the new Apple store to get a iPhone 3G dock. I nearly bought an Apple TV box but figured theres no real point. I was having one of those days where everything feels pointless. Why? Well because while eating breakfast the 2nd temporary filling I had put in came out from eating toast. I couldn't eat on the left and now I couldn't eat on the right. Such a small silly thing but it just added to everything. What if I got low blood sugar, what could I eat? So here I am sitting on the steps of Liverpool 1 very slowly eating a sausage roll. I headed off up through town to see the L1 festival, stopping to grab some shots of some rather lovely ladies. I spent some time chilling at the L1 festival and headed back to Wirral to get photos of the cruise ship leaving. I nipped home for some toast and then out to see a mates exhibition. Great to see real photos not just tiny little ones on Flickr. After I raced to Albert Dock to photograph PIzza Express at sunset and dusk. Annoyingly after sunset there's like a 30-45 minute wait until the perfect dusk light. I got the shots I needed and headed home once again.

Sunday 27th July

Sunday. My sister, her boyfriend, my nephew and I took a trip to Southport. We were there only for 2hrs but it was great. I was back in time for Top Gear which was simply classic.

 

[foodpoison]

Lovely insight.
Sucks about your fillings mate!
I haven't had much luck with dentistry either.
Had to have 11 teeth taken out.
Not fun!

I like seeing the photos in set rather than one by one. It allows you to go through them all very quickly and get an idea of what's gone on, the life of a pro tog, if you like, rather than waiting for each day where the impact is dampened.

 

[Tsukiyomi]

Nice scenes but they could really do with some colour on the odd shot.

 

[petemc]

Nice scenes but they could really do with some colour on the odd shot.

If they need colour they'll be in colour and I've posted colour shots. This is a documentary of my life and I'm happy with this style.

 

[Tsukiyomi]

Thats cool like that your happy, but some of the scenes you document have a scene that would benefit more from colour. Like the picture of the pink club and car you did which was dulled down because of your over use of black and white even though that wasn't a 365.

It's looking a little one dimensional thats all, but up to ye what ye do.

 

[petemc]

Well thats just silly discussing something that isn't relevant to this project. This is my life I'm documenting and I'll do it as I see fit because its here for no other reason than for me. Oh and that photo was not dulled down in any way. It works better in B&W. I'm not discussing that photo any more in this thread because its pointless.

 

[Just Dave]

4 great shots there Pete, I like the B/W conversions my favs the uni-cycle one,

 

[Tsukiyomi]

Well thats just silly discussing something that isn't relevant to this project. This is my life I'm documenting and I'll do it as I see fit because its here for no other reason than for me. Oh and that photo was not dulled down in any way. It works better in B&W. I'm not discussing that photo any more in this thread because its pointless.

Not that silly, this Is a thread about your 365's after all. No ones saying you can't do It your way either just some of the street scenes look like they fit another technique other than the one you use the most on the photos. The ferry photos and landscapes could use some colour.

It was dulled down because without colour It's just another photo since It was a pink fluffy car and no pink In the photo.

 

[EdinburghGary]

Liking the latest batch Pete. Kepe up the good work, colour or not

Gary.

 

[petemc]

Not that silly, this Is a thread about your 365's after all. No ones saying you can't do It your way either just some of the street scenes look like they fit another technique other than the one you use the most on the photos. The ferry photos and landscapes could use some colour.

You're really not getting it. These are photos about MY life. I'm not documenting others life. These are photos I wouldn't put on my main Liverpool photoblog because they are not documenting Liverpool. If the street scenes fit another style then I will post them in another style in another place because they are things I've documented. See here for example.

It was dulled...etc

Did you say something? Fairly sure I said I won't be discussing that here.

 

[foodpoison]

But Pete, your opinion is wrong!

 

[petemc]

Monday 28th July

Popped over to Liverpool to drop off a print. I found they were filming something but I was told I couldn't take photos. I had a discussion with some random crew guy who moaned about the culture year not offering enough for locals, to which I said that I've seen plenty and our book has documented plenty of it. But no, according to him and his mate there was nothing. After I went for a Starbucks and a drive round Toxteth which is such a culture shock compared to Liverpool city center.

Tuesday 29th July

In the hottest week of the year so far a big storm hit Merseyside. While I was out taking photos I noticed huge puddles appeared in minutes. You can just about see a man in this photo. He had been out with his son cycling over Thursaston when it hit. He said it was amazing to watch and yet a little worrying as they were on one of the highest points of Wirral.

Wednesday 30th July

A bad day. Having had 2 productive days where I completely cleaned my room and got a lot of work done naturally things went tits up. Such a small thing again but I decided to take a risk and look forward to something. End result is I get abuse, I'm the bad guy and I'm left feeling like crap. All because I wanted to go to the cinema...