You gotta spend some time, Love.
You gotta spend some time with me.
And I know that you’ll find, love
I will possess your heart…
Happy belated Valentines day. Here’s a random shot from Borough Market. I was really happy with this shot – I really like the mix of colours, tones and textures. It’s always cool to find a random little detail which can make a really interesting photo.
I got tagged on by Nelly Nero the other day to write some facts about myself. I thought it might be fun, despite me being quite boring. I wrote a list on Flickr, and thought it might be good to post them on here as well, along with a new(ish) self portrait. Anyway, here goes…
1: I have been into Photography literally for my whole life. We used to have a dark room in our loft at home, and I used to help my Dad with printing when I was a kid. I really didn’t utilise it as much as I should have. That’s one of my biggest regrets, but being up there with my Dad is one of my happiest memories.
2: I have a degree in Illustration which I did at Herefordshire College of Art. Best three years of my life – and I constantly miss those days. So much fun. I love Illustration and Graphic Design, and they are both a massive inspiration to me. I still do my own illustration work, and I would love to do some more commissions in the future. Some of my favourite, most inspiring Illustrators include Tim Marrs, Kate Miller and Laura Quick.
3: I am a pretty obsessive music fan as well. I like a whole range of stuff from acts like Tool through to Jurassic 5, but there’s certain bands who I have a maniacal devotion for. My top three would be Manic Street Preachers, The Tragically Hip and Wintersleep. I have gone out of my way to see all three live, which has included travelling into Europe and the US.
4: Other than Photography, Illustration and Music my life and imagination is occupied by climbing. I totally love it, especially bouldering. I love travelling to experience different climbing spots around the world. Last year I went on a two month road trip around America to climb at some classic spots like Yosemite, Bishop, Hueco Tanks and Joe’s Valley. It was incredible, and I really want to go back! I’ve also been to Fontainebleau in France many times – arguably the greatest bouldering spot in the world! I also really hope to get out to Thailand and Rocklands in South Africa in the future. I also run a climbing website/blog with my mate: www.b2climbing.com – We make amateur climbing films of our exploits on the rocks. It’s great fun!
5: I live in South London with my Girlfriend. Her name is Snooky (yes, that is her real name) and she’s great. When I was at Uni I always vowed that I’d never live and/or work in London, until I got a job here. Now I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I love it here. I am also quite fickle.
6: Incase you haven’t already worked out. I have an incredibly obsessive personality. When something sparks my interest I get totally engrossed in it. Some things last, others don’t, but I feel I have to try and learn as much as possible about the chosen subject. I also think this is why I would never do drugs or smoke. I definitely think it’s a good way to be though. Everyone should have something which they feel totally passionate about.
7: My only “phobia” to speak of, is when potatoes get those horrible sprouts in them! I absolutely hate that!
…That’s pretty much me. I can’t really think of anything else which is even remotely interesting. If you made it this far, well done! Thanks for reading.
Hello all. Happy New Year and all that! I hope you had a good one, and 2010 has started off well for you. We took a trip to Fontainebleau in France to see in the New Year. Sadly, we pretty much got rained off on all but one of the climbing days, but we still had fun. It’s always risky heading down there at that time of year, but it was worth it.
So, that’s 2009 dispensed with, and I for one am pretty glad really. Obviously, there’s ups and downs in every year, but looking back objectively, there definitely seemed to be more down than up. The big turning point was (fairly obviously) getting made redundant in March. This basically shook up my life hugely, and I’m still feeling the effects from it hugely. I never expected to still be out of (full time) employment by the time 2010 rolled around, but here I am. I had no idea how hard it would be to get in somewhere else, and it’s a lesson I’m learning the hard way. Although my last job wasn’t perfect, I’m incredibly grateful that I got it. I made some fantastic friends, learned a lot and got some valuable professional experience on my CV. I really don’t know where I’m be without all that. I’d be lying if leaving there the way I did was how I expected (or wanted) it to happen, but sometimes you need to have the rug pulled for under you – and rugless was exactly how I ended up.
As shocking as all this was, it did of course mean that I got to go to America for two months, which is something I wouldn’t have changed for the world. That trip for me was the very peak of the year, and maybe it’s because that was so great that the low points felt even lower. I’ve spent many a rainy Wednesday afternoon at home, staring ta rejection emails and wishing I was back in Bishop or Hueco Tanks. All good things have to come to an end I guess, and I’m hugely grateful to Snoo, Ashby and especially Benny for making the trip so great and giving me someone to share it with. It was definitely a trip of a lifetime, but I just hope that it is actually possible to have more than one trip of a life time. I hate to think that I’d never be able to have something like that again…
I have made a decision about where I want to take things though. It’s becoming increasingly apparent to me that I should be doing photography for a living. I shot my first wedding in September, and I loved it! I was really nervous, wasn’t sure how I’d get on with it, but it turned out to be great. Big thanks for Lee & Chloe for taking a chance on me on their big day, and luckily they seem to be as happy with the results as I am. I have a couple more lined up for this year, and I’m really looking forward to them – I’m certainly keen to do more as well. I need to get my act together and become better at the gritty world of self promotion now – something I’ve never been good at, but it’s time to start.
It wasn’t a terrible year by any stretch of the imagination, but in all honesty I am glad to see the back of 2009, and sincerely hope that 2010 is better. Aside from everything I’ve mentioned above, I do have a few resolutions which I’m actually quite excited about. I’m looking to get myself a new fixie bike once we’ve sorted out where in the flat we can store them. This is partly to get around town easier, but also to try and lose some weight and body fat to help with climbing. I’m still trying to finalise a tick list for 2010, but I’m more psyched than ever to really try and push myself with my climbing this year. I’m still unsure of the specifics, but I’d definitely like to get some classic Font 7a’s ticked, as well as some stuff in The Peaks. There’s also routes at Bowles which I can’t wait to get back on when we get some good weather. I’ll keep you posted.
So, there you go. Sorry for the self indulgent post, but it feels good to get something down in writing. It’ll be good to look back on this come this time in 2011. If you read this far, I applaud you! But, enough about me: How was 2009 for everyone else? I’d be interested to know. Have a good one!
Recently, I’ve been getting rather obsessed with printing websites like Moo and Blurb. They are pretty damn addictive! Its exciting to be able to order really high quality business cards, postcards and even hard back books(!!) whilst still retaining a very large amount of creative control and all for a reasonable price. Blurb especially is my favourite. I’m a sucker for nice, well designed, image heavy hard back books, and will lovingly pour over them for hours in bookshops. So, when I photographed Lee & Chloe’s Wedding a couple of months back, it seemed like the perfect time to test out what Blurb could do. They certainly didn’t let me down! Within two weeks of starting the project, I had in my hands a great, 7 inch square, 52 page book documenting the day. I ordered a copy for the happy couple and they were totally blown away by it (which was very flattering). So much so in fact that they asked me to order them another three copies for the family! Since then, I’ve really gone into overdrive trying to get the book from our America trip sorted. I’ve done a shorter version for my good friend James who was with us for the first two weeks, which (at the time of press) I have ordered but have yet to receive. You can see the preview of it on the Blurb website though. I really hope he likes it! The full version will hopefully be finished before too long – it’s going to be a monster!
A few days ago I received a box of postcards from Moo which are really nice. I thought it would be good to have something which I could as self promotion and compliments slips etc, but which were a bit more exciting than just cut down A4 paper. I’m very pleased with them, but I have to say, the business cards I ordered from them are superb! Really great, thick stock and with a mixture of designs so you can tailor which ones you want to give out to different potential clients! All for around £15! Bargain! These sites really are playing on my love affair with stationery – I just have to watch I don’t get too carried away…
It’s getting cold and dark out now. Winter is upon us once again. I’m currently uploading some shots from our trip to America. I’ve got some I’m really pleased with. The one above is possibly my favourite from the bunch though. It’s weird considering it was one that I just snapped as we were wandering through the park in Boston. Sometimes that’s the way it goes – You get an off-the-cuff shot which you pay no mind to at the time, and it turns out to be the nicest due to the spontaneity which caused it. A happy accident.
It seems like we just missed the best of the Autumn colours in Massachusetts by a couple of weeks. This was just a mere hint of what is to come. It’s making me feel all wintery and Christmassy just looking at it. Time to go into hibernation…
There’s been a new addition to the Grubb family. It was my Dad’s birthday yesterday, and sisters, Auntie and I clubbed together and got him a Hermann’s Tortoise! He is (at time of press) unnamed, but he provided an huge amount of entertainment over the course of the weekend. He’s deceptively quick, and therefore, very tricky to photograph, but I still managed to rattle of a few decent shots which you can see on Flickr. I’m impressed at his climbing ability and his Harry Houdini-esque ability to escape from pretty much any enclosure we could construct for him. We left him tucked up in his hemp and soil filled box while we went off to Brighton on the Sunday. We returned home a few hours later to find him sitting pretty in the middle of the living room. Heaven knows what he’d been up to, but he’d certainly been having a good explore of the house. Bless him.
I’m looking forward to watching him grow up, and I dare say there’ll be many more photos of him featured here.
This weekend just gone, Snoo and I attended a little soiree in Wolverhampton. Two of our friends, who we know through Manics fandom/Forever Delayed, were celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary with them renewing their wedding vows. And, of course, a little party and drinkies afterwards. As is only right and proper. It was a really lovely event. The ceremony itself was only short and understated but beautiful all the same. I was very honoured to be there and I really had a fantastic time. Especially as there were a load of people there who I’d not seen for a long time, so it was really nice to catch up with everyone!
I designed a card for the happy couple which I thought I’d show here. The market for Congratulations-on-your-twentieth-anniversary-and-on-the-renewal-of-your-wedding-vows card market is pretty small (and dare I say it, niche) so I didn’t really have much to go on. I wanted something which not only reflected the anniversary side of things, but also the fact this was, in effect, a second wedding. And of course, trying to be a little different. This is what I came up with. I think it does the trick. I hope you agree.
Hopefully, I covered all my bases here. I was quite pleased with how it all came together in a relatively short time. I really need to try and push my colour pallet thought!
El Capitan, originally uploaded by Ben Grubb.
The time is approaching! This Friday is the start of the epic roadtrip for 2009! It still doesn’t seem real. I don’t think it ever does until you get there. This time next week we’ll be in Yosemite, staring up at the enormous lump of rock above which is El Capitan. I cannot wait! Since we’ve had this trip booked, I’ve been going through different phases of being excited about specific areas on locations along the route. Hueco has probably taken up the most daydream time since September, but Bishop, Moab and Yosemite have all had their fair share. I’m currently going through my ‘Yosemite Period’. That place is so beautiful!
In preparation for the trip, Benny has been working hard to get new B² Productions website together! I’m really glad to say that it’s now live here: http://www.b2climbing.com – We’re gonna use it (internet access permitting) to report back on our antics, and hopefully put together some video blogs of what we’ve been up to. I’ll still be up dating here (on more photographic based matters) where as the other site will be more climbing based. At least, that’s the plan! We’re also on Twitter as well, which we’ll hopefully be able to keep more regularly up to date! I hope you’ll swing by and check ‘em out!
So, that’s it then. I’m now officially redundant. I still don’t think it’s quite sunk in. It’s Thursday morning, and I’m sat at home desperately trying to sift through all the rubbish which I collected in the office, which now has to be rehoused here. I’ve been pretty ruthless, but there are still bags of stuff which, at the time of writing, remain untouched. Attached to this post is the back of my fantastic leaving card which I received from my lovely friends. It’s good, as it also doubles up as the first part of my biography! Excellent! Click on it to see the larger version, and have a read – honestly, it’s worth it. It’s scarily accurate as well. To everyone who signed it: Thanks for that! I really appreciate it, and it means a lot to me. It’ll be treasured.
The big question now is, where does all this leave me. It’s been two and half years at my “first proper job”, so I think it was about time to move on. It was a huge shock, but sometimes you need your hand forced to make a change. But what will that change be? That’s the big question, and to be honest, I really don’t know at the moment.
There’s only one way to deal with this problem. And that is a big ass roadtrip round America for a couple of months. Obviously. On May 8th I’ll be flying off to America with my wonderful, and very understanding girlfriend and two other friends for the first part of what was initially meant to be a mere two weak jaunt stateside. As situations and feelings have changed, this has now morphed into a mega-holiday! Oh yes! This trip, unsurprisingly is a largely weighted as a climbing trip (with a healthy dose of Photography thrown in) which’ll be taking in the big name bouldering spots in the American west: Yosemite, Bishop and Hueco Tanks to name a few. At the end of the first two weeks, myself and fellow B2 producer (other) Ben will continue on an epic 3,000+ mile trip covering Colorado, Moab, Las Vegas and the coast road back to San Francisco where we’ll fly to Boston and drive to NYC. It’s going to be pretty intense, and I CAN. NOT. WAIT. Below is a map of the bulk of the trip. It’s pretty much a huge figure of 8.
As well as an insane amount of climbing, I’m also hoping to develop my photography portfolio with the addition of some more climbing photos, and no doubt some new landscapes as well. I’ve been toying with the idea of upgrading my camera body to a 40 or 50D. I’ve been looking at the difference in image quality between that and the 400D which I’m currently running, and it certainly is significant. I’m sure it’d be a wise investment, and one which I could recoup in enjoyment and hopefully money, relatively easily. He says. I just don’t know if my budget can extend to another big layout before the trip. Gah! I hate these decisions.
This brings me back to my original question: What will I do with myself when I get back? I have made initial progress into finding a new, full time job, but opportunities are fairly thin on the ground currently. Plus, other than knowing that I don’t particularly want to work for an Architects again, I don’t really know what’s available. I’d like to continue the design route, but more geared towards the publishing/magazine fields. I guess I just need to see what jobs are around (and indeed, what positions even exist) before deciding whether it’s an avenue worth pursuing. I may have to take a leap into the dirty world of cold calling…
Also, I’m wondering if I could market myself as a photographer (or perhaps, a photographer-come-illustrator-come-designer if such a thing exists. I’d probably need a snappier title than that as well). Since living in London, I’ve definitely found the passion and drive for photography that I hadn’t really had since I was studying it at A-level. I definitely have some strong shots, but I’m not entirely convinced I could cut it as a professional as its always felt like a hobby. It’s worked well for Amy though, and she’s definitely not looked back. Her recent successes certainly give me confidence that it can be done.
I’m thinking that perhaps freelancing is the way forward. I’m really inspired at the moment to try and further my illustration work. I feel I’m in a situation where I can explore more, and I think that my work has finally reached a level which I’d be happy to put on show, and hopefully, get paid for. Working full time where I was definitely had its advantages. I learned and awful lot, and feel I have a lot more to offer now. The nine-to-five was nice for a while as well, but I’m not sure I want to continue in that routine again straight away. Ideally, I’d be able to get some semi-regular, possibly in-house agency freelance work which I could supplement with some personal work as well. Again, I stress “Ideally”. I don’t see why it couldn’t work though. The work must be out there somewhere, surely.
I’m hoping the trip away will help clear my head and help me decide (although, I am worried that I’ll just return wanting to be a climbing gypsy for the rest of my life – we can only dream, eh?). Sorry for the long, self indulgent post. I felt I needed to get this off my chest, and this felt like the logical place. If anyone could shed some light and or opinion on this they’d be gratefully received. Anyway, in the mean time prepare yourselves for (hopefully, internetz permitting) a wealth of climbing related posts in the near future coupled with photos from some of the most beautiful locations the US has to offer! You’re excited aren’t you? I thought so. I can tell. Ohh, I’m so excited I think I need a lie down…
Now that I’ve given it to her, I can show the Valentines Day card that I made for Snoo this year. It’s actually a full bleed image, which folds into a square format just to the left of the text (if you see what I mean). It was one of those nice pieces which came together quite nicely – don’t you just love it when all the elements of an image just fit together nicely, and end up looking like you pictured in you mind! It makes the job so much more satisfying I find.
I think personal touches are important for Valentines Day. I have to say (and I mean this without sounding like a total kill joy) that I’m not really down with Valentines Day. I agree with the sentiments behind it, but I really don’t think that showing someone you care about them shouldn’t be limited to one which is determined by the greetings card companies. Surely doing something nice – like going out for dinner/cooking/buying a card or present – would mean a whole lot more if it happened on a random day in April for example when your other half isn’t expecting it, instead feeling obligated to do something because it’s February 14th.
Ok, I’ll get down off my soap box now. Like I said, I agree with the sentiments of the day and I hope whatever you’re dooing to today you have a lovely time. I know I will. And, to accompany your Valentine’s Saturday here’s a beautful new song, ‘Morning Moon’ from The Tragically Hip. (Sorry you have to listen to it through that dog of a website, MySpace, but it’s worth it!)
Have a great day. Love ya. x
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