Just do it!

Just do it!

No, don’t wait until you’ve read this. If it’s important or transient, do it now, and come back to read this later.

I must admit, I was scratching around for a topic for the day, and as I headed downstairs to make the tea, I saw some blossom across the road, lit by the fairly-early morning sunshine.

That’s a classic ‘shoot it now!’ subject: if you walk away from it, the chance is most likely gone for this year. Later today, the light will have changed. Tomorrow, it will be cloudy, or you’ll be busy. The day after, the blossom will have started to fall.

The same with people. A little over two years ago, I was depressed by circumstances, and recovering from ‘flu. The weather was cold and there was half-melted snow on the ground. But there was a group shoot at a studio I’d never been to with a model who looked very interesting, so I booked. The wisdom of driving 25 miles on a foul evening to a place I didn’t know was debateable, but I’d paid a deposit by then, and I was determined.

The studio and owner were not reassuring, but the model was wonderful. She’d had her hair cut since the picture used to advertise the session, and she was – and is – bewitching. But she has an alternative and highly professional career, so she doesn’t model much.

I’ve photographed her once since then: any further opportunity will be taken! But jumping at the chance delivered some wonderful and varied images.

With family and friends, you never know what will change or when. Certainly, tiny baby hands with tissue-thin nails grow rapidly, and current troubles make it very clear to everyone that life is uncertain: familiar faces we don’t see up close just now are worth recording…

So maybe my takeaway suggesting is to take a through-the-glass portrait of someone today: someone you would usually greet with a hug or a handshake, but can’t now, or for weeks to come. Photograph them with their hair long and untended – but photograph them, and share the picture.