craftmanship — blog — Peter Tym Photography

When receiving an assignment from a Photo Editor of a newspaper or magazine it is often a good idea to give them more than they need. A good photo editor will give you an idea of what they are looking for in an assignment and usually what they ask for is adequate. Why would you give them more than they need, if they only ask for a simple portrait why give them more? Because you love what you do and the chance to meet an individual or group of people, your subject, is a great thing. You will learn new things, you will broaden your mind, hell you may even become a better person. The minute you start thinking of an assignment as just another job, drudgery, boring or this is not what I was meant to be photographing, perhaps you should sell insurance. It is a hard row to hoe to be a freelance photographer because if you don't work like a possessed person the work will go some where else. You have to be constantly aware of where your next dollar is going to come from and these day's the dollars are harder to find than ever. So if your lucky enough to score an assignment treat it like it is the best thing that ever happened to you, your a lucky person getting to do something you love to do, treat the process with respect because most people are not doing something they love to do. Why not take the opportunity to overshoot an assignment, it's fun to be a photgrapher.

Alistair MacLellan-Book Binder                                                               &… — Alistair MacLellan-Book Binder ©2017 peter tym

Alistair MacLellan is a book binder by trade and works out of his Kitchener Ontario garage and when I was handed the assignment to photograph him for The Grand Magazine my first thought was about the problems I might encounter shooting is such a small space, how would I handle the technical problems. When I arrived at Alistair's business location I was greeted by a young man who was so full of passion for what he was doing it was infectious, how could I not give this man one hundred percent of my effort. This kind of photography makes my boat float, it's so much fun to break down an assignment into segments and tell a persons story, people can be very interesting and what they do can be an learning experience. So go for more than the required portrait, give them more than they need.

Start to tell the story with an overall shot something to establish his environment, were he works.

Here we se the book during the binding process, some good close up shots to see how the books are put together.

Another angle is added to give more options in editing.

Another detail shot of Alistair sewing or binding the pages of his book in red thread.

Here we have an tighter image of the binding process with Alistair making his books by hand, something that is not usually done these day's but it is a pleasure to watch an artisan at work.

Alistair glueing the paper for the book covers all meticulously by hand.

A shot of Alistair with a finished hand made book, something to appreciate in this day and age. It is a nice experience for me to meet a craftsman like Alistair MacLellan, someone who works with their hands to produce a beautiful product, who takes the time to do a good job because they believe in their craft, they feel a responsibility. Good work takes time and effort in what ever craft you practice, book binding or photography it's all the same, take the responsibility for your work and give the people who buy your work more than they need. Now the publication you are working for may never use the extra photographs, they may never see the light of day but that doesn't matter because you will have the satisfaction of doing a good job.

Give Them More Than They Need

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