Collaboration

Collaboration

Some of my happiest times in my work life were when I was working with other people: and, perhaps oddly, many of the best of those have been when I’ve worked with someone whose style, interests and knowledge are different from my own. Particularly happy memories of the time I spent three hours discussing light-touch controls with an accountant who didn’t think we’d achieve anything – we finished up with the outline of a mechanism that would work efficiently, and the basis for a warm long-term working relationship.

Taking pictures of models is a collaborative venture. I know that some people see it as being like buying a new lens, or choosing a holiday, that one person controls everything, but anyone who works that was misses out on all the best pictures. When you build on each other’s ideas, make use of each other’s skills, and work or talk through possible ways to go you achieve more. Models are not unreflective, and they have brains and instincts as well as looks.



There are many different ways that one can collaborate: for instance, someone new to studio work may find that shooting with another tog who understands lights will allow them both to do highly creative things. A lighting expert may suggest new and different ideas, as well as being able to produce specified effects quickly.

Two recent collaborations at a distance come to my mind in particular. I blogged a couple of days ago about the way that Andy Carter made one of my pictures into a three-dimensional object (which you really need to see, and be able to move around) – he’s got a precise technical mind that works out precise solutions, and he has a degree of patience that I lack in most contexts!



The thing about a collaboration is that it allows each person involved to do what they do best: and it also means that weaknesses count for far less, as the chances are that the other person (or persons) involved will have compensating ability. And some collaborations are born simply of one person’s greater knowledge. Which brings us to Roy.

Roy (who you may know better as kaybee) is a large and gentle man: someone who thinks carefully. If you look at his portfolio, you’ll find carefully shot and neatly edited images. Sometimes, you’ll see something that anyone could have done, but nobody else did. A fisheye self-portrait from inside a washing machine comes to mind. Go and have a look…



When I first started posting pictures on this site, I was a pretty experienced darkroom worker, but very much a novice with digital. But I remember that Roy often commented on my images, back in the days when I could post a really good picture and get five votes on it. And the thing that started what is now a long collaboration was that he commented that I’d been rather heavy-handed with some burning-in: at that stage, I hadn’t realised that dodge and burn could work below 100% opacity…

Roy’s consistently ‘played’ with the images I’ve posted, and along with leo_nid he’s perhaps posted more good pictures that I’ve taken than I have. Often – as yesterday – he’s added finesse and the finishing touches. Completing the job is not something I’ve ever excelled at.



Late in 2019, I met Roy for the first time in reality, and I got a new insight into someone I already regarded as a friend. We took some pictures, and talked a lot. And more recently, he’s done some edits of my pictures from RAW files, bringing further refinement to the output. Here are some results (plus a picture of the man himself).

If this seems like a strange way to go about anything, maybe you should give it a try – enable modifications for a change, and see what your friends here offer you. Sometimes, you won’t like the results – but, I think, you will be delighted more often, you will learn new things, and you’ll find a new delight in sharing resources and skills. And, after lockdown, you may make contacts you’d not thought of before, to everyone’s benefit and enjoyment.