Federation of European Photographers/British Institute of Professional Photographers

So quite a week then! I recieved my EP award (European Photographer) marking my entry point into the Federation of European Photographers professional structure, which comes on top of my Licenentateship with the British Institute of Professional Photographers gained a few weeks ago. This is just the start of a journey though, I know I can produce the level of photography to move up through the qualifications structure (and am slightly kicking myself for my initial panel as I went away from my gut instincts of submitting the kind of work I like to shoot and went for a broader spectrum of the work I love and the commercial work I do… if I had stuck with the work I love I may have been awarded the second tier… but not to worry, I may try again next year!)

My plans are to shoot more black and white, analogue, work for the next round of awards that I enter, which may be next year… or may be the year after. It really depends on how long it takes me to build a set of 20 photographs that I love… and I am still working on what film and paper to use too (plus I need to refine my printing still). But this ties in with looking to build the commercial side into more architectural work too as some of the high end architects love analogue photography - they appreciate the art and artisanal nature of such a product.

But back to this week in work. It’s been reasonably good - it would have been an on target week had the rain not come down hard on Thursday pushing me to rearrange a job through to next week! But even so, it was pretty good, especially for November. The highlight was a first job for a new client that is hopefully going to be a blossoming new relationship, they are quite a large outfit so this has a lot of potential in terms of providing that missing link in my portfolio and providing long term stability. I am really looking forward to doing more with them soon, and with the volumes they are looking at, combined with the exisiting volumes, we should be in for a good year once the markets wake up… budgets from Westminister withstanding.

The big drone has been away all week to the repair shop, turns out that the simple fix was not a simple fix after all and so it has now been sent on to DJI for further investigation. Typically my EV charger has also died so my plans of adding a mid tier drone for urban use which was planned for the start of December may now need to be pushed back into the new year… so the Mini 3 will have to take up all the slack and work it’s teeny socks off for the moment. Hopefully DJI will have a fix in place for me next week! I am then waiting for the rule changes to come into effect starting in January and seeing what is complient with each catagory and what is on the market so that I can ensure the highest possible quality of results for my clients flying within the rules for my qualifications (currently I fly under a GVC, but I may decide not to renew this in 2028 and instead slide back to an A2CofC).

Looking ahead to next week… well my car is having some problems which may be a bit of an issue (not so much the car as the charger - so I will have to work around that as best as I can!) Monday is looking pretty good to start off though with the rest of the week currently quite quiet, but this is normal - particularly for late autumn! Hopefully we will be in for a fairly reasonable second half of November though as I am going to have to pay for a new charger and it’s fitting which won’t be particularly cheap!

I am waiting to see what the details are in the upcoming budget too - both from an impact on work perspective and also an EV perspective. Our other car is a Dacia Bigster and, to be honest, it is very good… if the chancellor makes EVs much less attractive I can see myself switching from electric back to petrol and getting a Duster. I love driving electric, but there could become a point that the advantages don’t make up for the disadvantages any longer, which would be a shame - particularly as someone with a background in environmental work and science - but she may make the whole idea of driving an EV entirely impractical, particularly if they bring in a cost per mile system that is bodged and basic (which is what looks like is happening). Having to pay hundreds up front for the year could be the straw that breaks the camels back… and underestimating is pointless as the following years bill will then include the underpayment from the previous adding even more of a burden on for Year 2! Plus what happens if you change vehicles? It’s ill thought through as are most these knee jerk policies from government.