It’s fair to say that the Covid 19 Pandemic has affected each and every one of us in one way or another; be it with the loss of a loved one, a friend, or how the restrictions placed upon us have affected our everyday lives.

I can only talk about how it’s affected me, or rather how it could have affected. Now I say ‘could have’ because I know what I’m like and I know, that even with no pandemic to contend with, I’m the kind of person that gets restless and agitated if I’m not constantly working on something new.

As a Portrait Photographer, pre March 2020 it was easy. I had portraits to take and I had my 39-45 Portraits Project which in all honesty, I’m happy to say, consumed a large proportion of my time.

Enter March 2020 though and…

Stay Home. Protect Lives. Save the NHS

As a working Photographer I was permitted to be out and about, however, taking portraits was a definite no. Even if I could have, I wouldn’t have wanted to…for the safety of the subject, my nearest and dearest and me. The whole situation was just shrouded (and still is) in the unknown, so why risk anything unnecessarily !?!?!

However, I’m also a Content Creator. I create videos. I create tutorials. I write books. All this (having checked with the relevant departments) meant I could be ‘out and about’. More about that in a moment.

Lockdown 1

One of the best bits of advice I was given when starting out was to always be working on a Personal Project. There are so many benefits to this such as keeping you excited, and keeping you in the learning zone, but also how they help to develop your own unique, identifiable style. When Lockdown 1 kicked in though I just knew I had to find something to ensure that I kept the tools in my hands and kept in the creative zone.

So what does a Photographer that has been working on a World War 2 Portraits project, touring the UK photographing Veterans for the past year and a bit, do? Well…a World War 2 Aircraft Airfix model making and photography project that’s what…

This was exactly what I needed although it very quickly made me realise why I had never done this when I was a lot younger; tiny pieces, using way too much glue and painting that left a lot to be desired, but no worries there because I could tidy that up in Photoshop.

The idea was to create my own Wartime Aviation (Digital) Paintings, but not with bullets flying and flames, but peaceful, majestic pictures of Wartime aircraft flying amongst the clouds.

Once painted, I would then blu tac the model to a table top tripod with my 2nd monitor behind containing the scene. I did this, not so that it was an instant photograph but rather so that I could position the model correctly. I did have some folks suggest that I use fishing line and hang the model from the ceiling to photograph it but that would have been too fiddly trying to get the height and angle correct by constantly adjusting the length of the line; with the model on the bullhead I just had to quickly loosen it, reposition and then tighten.

For the lighting I would use a combination of the video light that I have for when doing LIVE broadcasts and a opening and closing blinds in my office window (to the right of the picture)

Doing this was so incredibly therapeutic and would send me completely away into a different place. Sounds crazy but was imaging all kinds of things; the sound of the engine, the pilot, the scenery…total escapism. It kept the tools in my hands. It kept me creative. It kept me learning. It made me come up with new techniques such as how to make propellers, working with shadows and so on, and yes I did on occasion make engine noises.

Not being able to see my dear friend, Squadron Leader Allan Scott DFM, a former Spitfire Pilot during World War 2, motivated me to create pictures depicting some of the stories he told me of combat he’d experienced…

I also made a model of a Tiger Moth; the aircraft that Allan flew after the war and crashed in due to controls seizing in mid air during an airshow in Scotland. He of course lived to tell the story despite such was the great man…Born to Survive!

I also experimented photographing model aircraft outside to capture the real outdoor shadows. I purchased some fake grass from an online model making supplies and set about creating a picture of a Spitfire at rest…

Final image…

Here’s a couple more pictures I’ve made so far…

My interpretation of a HORSA Glider (Chalk 93) coming in to land at 00.20am on D-Day, 6th June 1944 for the taking of Pegasus Bridge.

Chalk 93 was piloted by Jeff Barkway who happens to have been the father of my friend, Jane Barkway-Harney; the person responsible for introducing me to Laurie Weeden (a former WW2 Glider Piloted).

Laurie was the first WW2 Veteran I photographed at the very beginning of my 39-45 Portraits Project, so without Jane, the project may never have grown as it has.

Also, a Lancaster Bomber flying at night across the ocean illuminated by the moon…

Paratroopers jumping from a Dakota…

Easing of Restrictions

Soon we experienced an easing in restrictions which meant we could go out and socialise outdoors in limited sized groups, and later (following another lockdown) be amongst limited numbers indoors but of course being careful. This gave me the opportunity to take some portraits and other images amongst people; personal work and client work…

Again, keeping the tools in my hand and keeping creative, I tried something different and met up with my dear friend Brian Dukes and photographed his incredible Ford Mustang…

I got to see our dear friends Tom and Al on their farm and photographed their gorgeous dog, Betsy…

It felt great getting out taking portraits…

Here I met up with my close friends in Wales for a long overdue catch-up and whilst there we organised an outdoor portrait shoot with Simon ‘Foxy’ Fowler playing the part of a Welsh Sheep Farmer…

On another trip to Wales, I photographed a real Welsh Farmer…

The Military Portrait below came about from the subject having seen my 39-45 Portraits Project and wanting a portrait taken before he, himself left the military; proof yet again of the benefits of personal projects…

On the Move

As if living with the worry and uncertainty of a world wide pandemic wasn’t enough, we also sold our home and relocated. This was a move 15 years in the making and certainly didn’t come without its stresses, BUT we finally made it to Devon.

We did the whole move ourselves doing numerous trips up and down the motorway and covering some 2500 miles in 10 days, but before the final journey I just had to take a portrait of Paddy; a great character who ran a coffee wagon near to where we used to live…

Now in Devon, it seemed like the perfect time to re-start a Landscape Photography Project I’d tried to get off the ground back in 2018.

I’m not a landscape photographer but I’ve always loved the outdoors and wanted to be able to take a picture I was proud of and could hang on the wall in our new home.

At the back of our house are fields and in the field is a lone tree so I started by photographing that…

The pictures were nothing special, not by a long shot, BUT it got me out, it got the kit in my hands and it got me in the creative zone, which is THE most important thing.

I’ve kept at it and have been loving it. More time outside in the fresh air. Early starts being there as the day woke up. Listening to the sounds in the forest. Just so incredibly peaceful and just what I needed as we continued to live with the pandemic…

It almost sounds wrong to say this but I actually think the restrictions we’ve all been living with have actually made me a better photographer.

Before Covid I was a Portrait Photographer and if I had no portrait to take on a particular day then my camera would have stayed in my camera bag.

Now though, restrictions have forced me to try new things and I’m so glad. For me now there is always something to photograph and I need that because Photography is escapism.

I got myself a Macro Lens and started to see the world at my feet…

If the weather wasn’t / isn’t the best then I can do something indoors with a simple set up…

When the weather is good I don’t always need to go further than my back garden…

I’ve made friends with a great guy by the name of Doug, a landscape photographer, and we’ve been venturing out together to some great locations within a short drive away on the coast where I’ve tried my hand at seascapes…

On one occasion I was heading out and stopped off in Lynmouth to grab some lunch, only to change my plans when I saw this scene literally opposite the Esplanade Fish and Chip Shop over the other side of the sea wall…

Final Image…

Timelapses

I’ve started doing more Timelapses. These are great because even if you don’t get the photograph you want, there’s always something creative to do.

This is one I made of the rising tide at Lynmouth…

Here’s one I made in my back garden…

A Little More Freedom

As time goes on, restrictions allow for some normality to creep back into our lives, and so for me as a photographer, inspired by where I now live, this has meant I can get out and start taking some different portraits and trying new things…

Working with the Walking on Waves Surf School at Saunton Sands in Devon is something I’m really excited about…

The Future

So that has been my Covid Restrictions Photography Journey so far, and I don’t for one minute think it’s over yet.

Like I said earlier, it sounds strange to say this but the restrictions have actually done me a favour. It’s forced me to open my eyes to other genres of photography. Not to do them instead of my portraits but to do them in addition to. I’m a portrait photographer through and through, but ultimately I love photography. I love the process. I love the escapism, so now I’ve been motivated to try other things, I always have something I can do. Great for me mentally, Great for me physically as I’m out and about, but also great for me creatively. As a content creator I now feel I have an endless stream of new content and that excites the heck out of me.

But what about you? Have you tried new things or have you found it challenging to get motivated? That’s something we’ve all struggled with I’m sure but something I couldn’t let take hold of me. I know myself and I know what not creating something would do to me and make me feel.

I liken the process to when I used to be a Competitive Bodybuilder. There were times when I didn’t want to get up at 4.30am to be in the gym for 6am, BUT those times ended up being my best workouts.

The times I didn’t really want to go out with my camera but did, ended up being so incredibly beneficial even if I didn’t get the picture I wanted. I learned something new. I was using my eyes. I was using my mind. I was breathing in fresh air. I was simply enjoying the moment.

Creativity is like a muscle; we need to keep exercising it or it gets weaker.

Keep creative. Keep enjoying the process, and when normal returns, lets hit the ground running.

Best to you,
Glyn