Photos wot I wish I could took #1

© Louis Flood

Every year my sister and I have a studio portrait done of all our kids for my Mum’s Christmas. She layers them in a frame and occassionally gets it down and hauls them all out so the kids can have a laugh. We got to a local photographer Louis Flood, and what always stikes me about the photos is they represent exactly what the kids look like. No faffing around. When we started doing this I think he was still working with film, we certainly got hard copy proofs rather than the weblink we get now. When we only had 4, children that is, and they were little enough, we used those franchise photographers you find in shopping centres. But once the oldest 2 reached 5 we needed more space than these folks could offer. Louis’s dad (Louis) is a professional photographer too, so I guess he’s grown up doing this. Can you imagine the pressure of using film? Having to get it right at the click? No covering up crap photos with editing software? I think that’s why we go there, we know he can take photos “for real”, even if he has gone digital.

Decent photos are a matter of luck over design with me. Very much so. Every Thursday I trawl through the entries at iHeartFaces seeing if what I think is fab corresponds with what the guest judge thinks is fab. It’s all a question of taste I know, especially with all the post production work and differently calibrated screens. I’ve never picked the winner. I rarely pick more than one of the top 10 and that’s always From Chaos to Grace. She’s just got a permanent place in my “Photos wot I wish I could took” list. I don’t know if I’ll ever develop an “eye” for this, but to be able to look at a photo and say “now that’s a brilliant photo” and have an independent professional agree would be a start I think!

So applying my humble opinion fwiw (notalot!), my iHeartFaces Week 14 “Photos wot I wish I could took ” list in an attempt to predict the winners…. looks like this.

1. My Favourite Endless Light Creations
2. Bees and Butterflies (7th)
3. Carrianne Photography
4. Christie Archer Photography
5. Fizzie Lime Photography (9th)
6. Silly Silly Goose
7. From Chaos to Grace (2nd)
8. Karen Schneider Photography
9. Life By Bec
10. And Babies Make Four

OK, I need a points system or something to see if I can measure this prediction thang. I’ll take 2 points for each of the photos on the list that actually appear in the top 10 and a further 3 points if I get the winner right. The only one in any “order” is the winner, the rest are random. That’s a maximum score of 23. Maybe I could predict my score on my predictions. Maybe that’s just getting silly. I’m off to peruse the amateurs now. Oops no I’m not, I’m off to take Poggy for his swimming lesson.

Update – The Result

6 out of 23 – pretty pants predicting methinx. Maybe there’s not much to be gained from trying to train my  ability to recognise a good photo this way if it requires me to predict how the judge is gonna feel when they see a photo. That’s impossible. Mind you, having said that, photos of children with snotty noses or dribbly faces usually make me feel quite pukey (even if I did breed said children myself) so I’d be unlikely to go for that sort of shot! Personally speaking.