Business as Usual: A tribute to an old friend

This morning I learnt that an old friend, Harry Gilroy, had passed away. I'd already known he'd been given a limited time left to live, but preparing myself for this news still didn't make hearing it any easier. Harry used to coach me in athletics, but he is also the person who got me first interested in photography, so as a way of dealing with the news I thought I'd reflect on the lessons he taught me in that regards.

If you're passionate about something, then it deserves your time and effort

Harry had two main passions above all others; athletics and photography. Coaching the younger members of the club gave him the opportunity to mix the two on a regular basis. For both, he was largely self taught, but that never held him back. Harry had a strong work ethic, which he tried to instill in those he coached. If he didn't know how to do something, he'd find a book and teach himself what he needed to know. This was 
with a film SLR as well, so without the instant feedback that I've grown to rely on from my DSLR. 

With both, Harry never let bad weather or his limited mobility get in the way of them. Even if it meant he had to stay in his car at a race, he'd still take the time to talk to the team, give advice and coach us. If the photos he'd wanted to take couldn't be because of other conditions, he'd adapt accordingly and try something else.

It's something I could certainly improve upon the next time I decide it's a bit too chilly to go out with the camera or sulk because a shot I've taken didn't quite worked out. I've started reading up more on photography and I certainly want to put more effort into not only taking photos but learning how to improve.

Don't limit your knowledge to yourself, learn about others as well

One of the things that made Harry great was his knowledge of each team member's abilities, strengths and weaknesses. He may set an overall training session for everyone on a given night, but he'd then adapt it to each kid, depending on what would get the most benefit out of them. For each kid, he had a plan and knew what sort of times they were capable of (even if they weren't capable of them yet). Hearing him rhyme off the various PBs of everybody and how much they could improve them by in a year was fascinating stuff.

When it came to photography, Harry applied the knowledge had of his team to get the best photographs. He'd position himself in ideal places (rather than just where he decided to stop), taking into account if somebody would be struggling or striving at that point.

Thinking about others when photographing and using that knowledge is something I'm trying to do, because the few times I've pulled it off (such as getting a kid's favourite toy or their team in) it has added so much to the photos. Photography is still a very personal thing, both to the photographer and the subject. I just need to make sure I consider the subject as well

Seeing how appreciated a photo is can be payment in itself

One of the highlights of training with Harry wasn't just the knowledge he passed on, but the photos he took. My family and friends only had automatic cameras, so I was used to generic shot that roughly captured moments. In races, photos had amounted to me being 'somewhere' in the shot, blurry at best. Harry, on the other hand, had an SLR with zoom lenses, meaning he could fill the frame. He'd also pan as well, so that whilst I was sharp, the background was in motion, adding dynamism I wasn't used to seeing in a photo of me. He'd also attempt to time the shot for maximum effect (one of my favourite was of me and a friend side by side trying to outrace each other).

The first training session after a race usually would mean crowding around Harry as he dished out the photos from the weekend. Like coaching, he was never paid for this, not that he'd have accepted money had it been offered. Helping people achieve their full potential was payment in itself for coaching, watching as he'd help shape kids into better people. With photography, just seeing someone light up at the photo he'd taken was all he asked for,  knowing that is efforts were appreciated.

These days, everybody (myself included) wants to try and make some money from photography, to the point we can get overly precious about our work. At times I've been frustrated when I've put so much effort into photographing an event I'm at, only for people to not fully appreciate the time I've invested. In reality, looking back, they massively appreciated the photos I've taken, as evidenced by the number of photos that subsequently became facebook profile pics. 

Maybe one day I will reach a stage where people are willing to pay for my photos, but in the meantime I'm going to try and treat it the same way Harry would; the appreciation of the photo is payment in itself.

Business as usual

As I mentioned before, Harry had a strong work ethic, something he instilled heavily on those that he trained. After every training session or race, he would say to me "business as usual?" which I'd return back. This was a reference to the second World War, where people would put signs up declaring 'business as usual' despite being bombed. It was Harry's way of instilling the idea that we wouldn't let minor problems get in the way of training, that even when I got injured or wasn't performing as well as I'd like, we'd still work together to get over that problem. Even when I no longer trained and my meetings with Harry were reduced to quick catchups or letters, we'd still sign off with "business as usual" (one of the things that makes me smile now is knowing the last words were shared with each other were those).

How does this relate to photography? Quite simply the fact that sometimes things don't work out. Sometimes the weather is against you, or your battery dies, or your cards all fill up. Sometimes the shots you wanted to get don't work out for whatever reason; maybe you set things up wrong, mistimed it or just don't know why. But this is when it is just as important to say 'business as usual', and work to resolve that for next time. The more hours you put in to your photography, the better you'll get.

I definitely plan to keep on investing the time in my photos, so that one day I can produce results as great as Harry did.

Make a difference

“When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there. ”  - Jim Henson

The quote above is one of my favourites, and it immediately sprang to mind this morning when I heard the news about Harry. When it came to athletics, both Harry and I knew I'd never be running for team GB or competing on a major stage. That didn't detract from the time and effort he put in to helping me achieve as much as I could, and looking back on my athletics achievements (including representing my county and winning a county team champions medal), I know I owe that to him. When it comes to photography, he is the person who first got me interested, and I'm grateful that I can now honour his memory by continuing that hobby. As a quote, it perfectly encapsulates my view on him; he made a massive difference in my life and my world at least was better for him having been there.

Farewell, Harry, until we meet again it will be business as usual.