I was just having a look through my photography group's page to check how I'd performed this year, and honestly, I got a bit of a shock... which is good, so I thought I'd share.

It's not terribly prestigious or anything, but there are a bit over 5,000 members in the group and most are either pretty serious amateur or full time pro photographers, but in the last 6 months or so, I have now won 25 bronze, 2 silver, and 1 gold medal in their photo competitions. You have to win a bronze to enter a silver comp, and silver to enter for a gold, but I've only entered two gold comps so far and a handfull of silvers, so fingers crossed I can pull a few more medals before Xmas... providing I can find the time to put in my entries - half the battle at the moment, but that's good in certain respects too :-)

Anyway, enough bragging for today :-) I've got to go and shoot another event :-( | :-)

I hate doing "club-type" photography, but this... works!

Honestly, in my opinion, trying to do club photos is the pits. Trying to move through a crowded nightclub on the lookout for the shots on your brief.... that are going to best promote your client in the marketing etc - whether that be the venue, a sponsor, or an actual one-off event - is nigh on impossible with my usual event setup.

Two full-size canon DSLRs packing 24-70mm f2.8L and 70-200mm f2.8L lenses respectively all connected to me via my blackrapid double harness straps (and by the way, if you photograph anywhere near any moving people, and you even sometimes have two cameras on the go at once... get a set - because watching $10k slip off your shoulder is, well heartbreaking http://www.blackrapid.com/products/double), but having said all that in parentheses those cameras will bump into every person in the vicity and straight back into you, all night long. Then you have to worry about your flashes being knocked off too... Nightmare situation!

I did some shots for an Xmas party last night - yes, Xmas, at Easter... whatever haha. But rather than going to them, I set up some lights and let them come to me.

Here are a few of the shots. What do you think?

http://www.haydencharles.com.au has a number of my best photo galleries from over the years if you want to see more. Plus, it's also got really, really easy print ordering in all sorts of sizes and finishes... 3 or 4 clicks through, with a few of your details, select what options: canvas, thick acrylic, vinyl stickers, plus heaps of paper types and cotton rag, plus frames, mounts etc etc etc). You hit "go" and they'll deliver to your door (I think that's right - maybe in the wrong order, check it out and see what you think).

Enjoy!

Photographers looking for SEO tips? Apparently it's time to desert Facebook and move your stuff over to Google+

I've just been lucky enough to move into a new creative studio work space in St Kilda and the buzz is definitely that everyone is sick of facebook deciding it knows best about what your fans can see. Everyone knows that www.google.com makes a bucket load of cash from on-line marketing, but they seem a little more honest about it that Facebook. Read more about what's happening here:
www.strategyinternetmarketing.co.uk/google-plus-for-business-essential-for-2014/

 And by the way, I have to admit, I'm definitely enjoying my black and white photos at the moment - I'd love it if you let me know your thoughts

Hayden Charles - Featured Front Page of the Sunday Herald Sun

Picture credit and thanks go to Tania Sullivan, who had images stolen via social media during the night.

Last week, St Kilda unfortunately lost one of it's iconic beachfront restaurants, as The Stokehouse burnt to the ground.

I was fortunate enough to be one of the only professional photographers on the scene with proper gear. After thinking I'd missed the whole event and everything was controlled, tweeting / facebooking as much for St Kilda News' via my phone photos, I had to very quickly correct the details when fire erupted from the roof. I literally ran home to get my kit, with the expectation that this old, wooden structure, without any hoses dousing the flames yet and despite many trucks on scene, was never going to end well. I had to get the shots.

On the return journey, as I went passed the St Kilda triangle site, I could hardly see more than a metre in front of me, and I inhaled a lot of smoke. I made a futile attempt to breathe cleanish air through my t-shirt, my eyes stung, but I had to push through.

When I arrived on the boulevard, I was shooed away from any areas where I could get a good shot, so I repositioned to the beach side and found very easy and safe access to see what was happening. And as I looked around the mix of diners, drinkers, and locals (in their PJs in some cases) gawking and gasping, it was very evident this was a big deal, but from a personal stand-point, while there were thousands of phones pointed at the inferno, there was no sight of news reporters anywhere so I had a chance to be the one.

At one stage, on the beach I was approached by a Channel 9 producer and told that all their crews were up in bushfire zones and if I could shoot video footage, there was a very good possibility they would buy my exclusive footage. I snapped and filmed from about 11.40 - 2.30ish trying to get some stand-out vision. I'm pretty sure I did.

Channel 9 decided that they would like my footage but would only offer a credit - apparently a Cameraman turned up on the other side of the building at some point, and all networks received some footage but boy did they miss out.

As I returned in the morning to review the damage, I ran into a photographer whom I know from the Spring Racing Carnival, and she informed me there were no good shots of the fire from the night before... there was my chance! But social media images were being stolen left, right and centre, often without payment or credit, so while I had to get the word out, I had to protect myself too - this involved some of the most heavily, and honestly quite offensive watermarkings I've ever done:

Hayden Charles' Flickr - Stokehouse Set

Horrible aren't they?! But it worked, and the Herald Sun requested three images for a reasonable price.

I did get an email later that night that made me skip a heart beat - roughly it said "thanks for the images, but we're now only going to use one..."
pause
"but it's going to be the cover of tomorrow's paper, I hope you don't mind?" haha... not at all!

Not too shabby for my first photo in a publication of over say, 100,000 (I think the other newspapers and magazines I've been featured in would top out at 20-30,000 odd). I believe the readership of the Sunday HS is actually over 1 million so it's quite a big deal.

Anyway, there's my little "pat myself on the back for the day" - thanks for having a read.

I will put images up on my proper websites soon without watermarks, so please have a look at:
http:www.haydencharles.com.au and http:www.eventsmedia.com.au if interested.

H