Seeing the light, the freelance way.

I think it’s time to post something a little more lighthearted! Looking back over my recent posts I’m struck by how serious the subject matter is in some of them: being mistaken for a child molester, being thrown out of pubs, challenged by security guards and so on. Anyone reading them would get the impression I have a life full of deadly serious and profound happenings and looming disasters.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is I inhabit a universe where it’s quite often either utterly hilarious or totally unremarkable, and more often than not, the former. Although to be fair in the pursuit of images I have driven into a terrorist ambush in a VW beach buggy, been held hostage by a dog’s hairdresser (male), and hit by lightning, although thankfully not all at the same time, but there’ll be none of that kind of silly nonsense in this post. Naw, this post is about something that was even more daunting…..

“Would you consider running a photography workshop for about 16 women on a hen party weekend in a lighthouse on a very remote west coast cliff please? My friend Cerian is getting married and I think it’d be nice to do something different and creative for a day!”  said the email.

Why yes, says I without hesitation, of course!

Hands up all who want to photograph lighthouses. © The Hens

And we had a lovely time. All that was required was a big bag of digital cameras, three tripods, a laptop and extra monitor, too many wires and lots of warm clothes. I’d free rein to do whatever I felt might work for the group, all eager to hone their photography skills, so I decided that EVERY image they took must include two things – a lighthouse and a person. Now the lighthouse was obvious, but the lovely thing is that the interior of the lighthouse is littered, decorated, filled, nay overflowing with lighthouses – appearing as, or on, ornaments, etchings, tapestries, stencils, carvings, pottery, candlesticks, jugs, mugs, photos, carpets, doors, windows, books, t shirts, mirrors, light switches and so on – so lots of scope for indoors as well as outdoors pictures for the group.

Cerian snapping a lighthouse as she gets snapped by other photogs snapping a bigger lighthouse. © The Hens

And the inclusion of a person – well these events can come and go, but they’re all about people, being surrounded by your friends, so I felt it would be a really nice thing to have everyone photographing everyone else (as they photographed other people!) as a record of the weekend and their collective participation.

Surprisingly none of the eager young women had noticed that to choose a lighthouse for a hen party was to have selected the largest phallic symbol in the district. This raised a few giggles and at least one red face when I pointed it out shortly after I arrived. And elicited even more giggles when I suggested this was the reason why I thought it should feature in ALL the images taken at a hen party!

Cerian, the chief 'hen' does a flashing Lady GaGa turn outside in the wind and rain at dusk © John MacPherson

It was a frantic but fun and very creative morning photographing, downloading stacks of images over a late lunch, doing some more twilight images as the lighthouse lamp came on in late afternoon when the weather turned manky. And then presenting a short slide show culled from the hundreds and hundreds of images taken by ‘the hens’, accompanied by lots of  laughs before I packed up to leave them to their night-time revelry. It was a very nice creative day. Followed by many well-earned sore heads (for them) and a long drive home for me.

Cerian & lighthouse picture on my laptop as her pals watch the final slide show on the monitor. © John MacPherson

Freelancing anyone?  Sometimes it is a very serious undertaking fraught with difficulty, deadlines and nerves, but on many occasions its just about pure fun.

That’s why its worth doing!