Another photo in the "Real Life of..." series for Piping Today magazine, but quite a change of style from the previous photos in the series. The piper is Glenn Brown, a top class piper who is a Gold medal winner and is currently pipe sergeant of the well known Shotts and Dykehead Pipe Band. He is also Canadian, but you probably guessed that, eh?
I was planning to shoot Glenn in black and white, but Glenn suggested a more colourful approach would be more in keeping with his larger-than-life personality. I was happy to try it, and on the day of the shoot I set up my lights and bang on time in came Glenn looking as if he had walked right out of The Great White North.
He was a riot of colour and character, and I simply had to say: "Just stand there, hold your pipes, smile", snap, snap, snap and the photo shoot was done in 10 seconds. Of course, we tried other poses, but the simplest approach was best.
In many cases good photography is just about being in the right place at the right time, and with a bit of planning and creativity (from you or your client), you can create your own right time and right place and the photo makes itself.
