Kevin Casha

Island Photography

Kevin will be talking abut how he got in the the photographic business and how the Maltese photographic industry is like the UK.

He also be covering his favourite subjects portraiture and fashion.

He will be also using 3 slide shows:

About Kevin

My business is photography, my life is photography, and my love is photography.

I have now been deeply involved with photography for over 23 years and sincerely consider myself lucky to have been able to tackle virtually any aspect of this fascinating medium.

On a small island like Malta, (380,000 inhabitants with more than an estimated 400 declared photographers and an undeclared multitude of other part-timers), work is not so easy to come by. It is very difficult to specialise in only one or two spheres. In Malta, to earn a decent living out of photography, one must pull up one's socks and be prepared to tackle any job coming one's way.

So one can only imagine the antics I have been up to! Shooting from light planes and helicopters, at times without even a harness and with my feet dangling out! Having to climb on top of super-cranes in the dockyards. Shooting 'Mad Max' style from moving motor-bikes as well as being near enough to blazing fire to have lens filters nearly melting! Deep down in water bore-holes where flashguns start firing by themselves due to high humidity, from yachts and boats with not a very solid stomach. Being in charge of the horse racetrack’s photofinish with the camera always working perfectly except when the result is in doubt!! The list is endless.

I have also had some near scrapes with my camera in my hands – one time I was so engrossed with taking pictures at an athletics race that I got run over by a car! Luckily I escaped with a few stitches. Another instance I had to run for dear life whilst in Egypt from a knife-wielding butcher who did not take kindly to me taking his portrait!
Another close scrape came whilst shooting a tiger circus act-someone forgot to shut the tiger’s gate properly and I found myself in the middle of the ring with a fine example of a Siberian tiger running amok and attacking an unfortunate attendant just three yards away from me! Yes, I do have the unfortunate knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
On the “normal” front, I have also done a lot of big weddings – weddings regularly having 400 to 500 guests – in Malta, weddings are a big ritual-as well as some important ones with over 1000 guests – such as the weddings of the Maltese Prime Minister’s and the President’s sons.

Publications are also one of my main money earners, and I am at present working on my twelfth book. Most of these books are commissioned work where I have to shoot to a strict brief, but my pride and joy is a recent book I have managed to publish under my own steam. This book, Reflections on Life contains most of what I consider to be my best personal work to date. The financial burden was not easy, as I did not want to include any sponsors at all. This had to be a collection of my favourite images and I did not want sponsors to interfere with what went into the book. Nevertheless, I had to “prostitute” myself for quite some time doing obnoxious work to be able to afford doing this book on my own.

Still, I really do not grumble about my job. I love it to an extent that my whole day revolves around photography. In fact, I am not an easy person to live with as photography nearly rules my lifestyle. As I said, I have gone through the whole cycle of photographic subjects – from trying to do close-up nature photography with nothing better than a normal lens, to being commissioned for jobs in places like Cologne, Paris and Corsica! A far cry from my first shaky days in Photography!

Although I had a natural talent for drawing and painting, and studied Art under some of Malta’s top artists, I always felt I was not cut out to be a painter. Up to the age of 20, I had even managed to get some steady clients who where commissioning me to paint for them. This made me some welcome extra money which helped supplement a not-so-good income as a clerk in the Government Civil Service – a job which saw me steadily being promoted to compile the Maltese Agricultural Statistics! No guesses that I hated the job and this situation helped further convince me that my future was not in finding out how many pigs where bred and consumed yearly in Malta!

Anyway, after 10 years of this, I decided that I had had enough. I had already bought my first “real” camera, a Canon AE1, and was already busily using my huge amount of relatives and friends (I am the youngest of a family of eight!) as guinea pigs. At some stage or other, they all had to pose for my early photographic experiments, and although today I shudder when I see some of my early pics, the “clients” seemed to like them. With such a large family pool, the occasions were always happening thick and fast for me to get invaluable “hands-on” photographic practice. In those early days I also had to charge base prices to further entice clients. The practical work experience I got in these early stages helped me to learn and improve as well as earn valuable cash to enable me to start upgrading my equipment.
To cut a long story short, I was well and truly bitten by the photographic “bug”. I had realized that this job was cut out for me. I have always been bored quickly with doing the same thing day in, day out, so the different aspects of photography suited me perfectly. One day I was doing interiors, another fashion and on another day a wedding! What was more varied and exciting than that? Furthermore, it made me go out and meet people from all walks of life and see more of the world beyond my little island. It was surely much more inspiring and exciting than sitting in a room by myself, smelling paint and trying to create something with a blank canvas.
So I took the plunge of going full time at the age of 27 with my own company “Impact Photographic Services.” I eventually found out that I was competing with myself as, on an island like Malta, most people knew me by my name and could not immediately connect me to my company name. So at a later stage, I started doing business under my own name – something which I believe every freelancer should do.

I worked very hard at my new job. I had to prove to myself and those around me that I had made the right decision. I had to build a name for myself and I did this by really taking care of my clients – trying not to let them down and keeping them happy. Many a time I had to swallow my pride, smile and re-do a job which I thought was good enough, but which my clients (who usually knew more about needlework than photography) thought was not up to scratch.

I have always kept three words in my mind during this time – professionalism, reliability and creativity. I think these three words can make you or break you. I have always tried my utmost to be professional in everything I do. At times I have been unsuccessful, but I have always had the guts to try again. Reliability and keeping a promise to your clients is also very, very important. I have spent many a sleepless night in order to meet a job deadline. Also, I have always maintained a pride in my work, and even though the job might not have been paying enough, I still tried to do my utmost to produce the best images I was capable of giving my clients at that stage.

I retouch and edit each and every print I sell to this day – and that even includes press work and passports! Although a photo might look unimportant to the photographer, it is important to the client – he would not have ordered it if it was not.

Another thing which has given me a sound and loyal client base is that I handle any job they need – no matter how small it is. One day a client might just need a passport. If he is happy with it, he will remember and recommend you for bigger, more lucrative jobs. Proof of this came when I was laid up on my back in bed for about a month after a motorbike accident (yes, motocross was another one of my mad pastimes!). Many of my repeat clients refused to work with another photographer and waited until I could hobble around and start working again! To me, that proved that my attention and patience towards detail had paid off.

Throughout my photographic career, I always felt that marketing of oneself and one’s product was important. Talking about myself, especially in those early days, I could not afford to splash out hard-earned cash on advertising and fancy brochures so these limitations made me seek out other ways of building a name for myself. I quickly realized that I was steadily but surely building up a stock of photographs which could be put to better use than just letting them pile up in a box. So I started approaching small clubs, newspapers and the like who usually could not afford to buy photography. Striking up a bargain with publishers, I managed to barter pictures from my stock with advertising and editorial space. Today, my stock library reaches about 15,000 selected images and besides making me money from normal stock sales, enables me to keep “advertising” my services and pictures for free. In fact, I think this strategy has been very influential in my success.

I also realized the potential of good client recommendation, especially on such a small island like Malta, where it seems that everybody knows everybody else. Thus, I have really endeavoured to please my clients by being flexible and trying to satisfy their whims and fancies. I am not known for my pleasant, easy-going temper, but I have managed to control a lot of stinging replies that I would have loved to dish out at some impossible clients! I think people are tending to become more demanding and spoilt, so a little patience and resignation as well as diplomatic skills come in handy. Take care of your clients and your clients will take care of you. Ninety per cent of my work comes from client recommendation and not from direct advertising.

Finally, being creative and original always helps. People are impressed when you show them something different. Although little is original in today’s world, do try and introduce that different angle, mood or humour in your images. Creative posing and attention to detail always improves a picture. Try to plan your photoshoots. Instruct and brief your clients properly. The more focused you are on what you are going to shoot, the better the pictures will turn out. Planning also helps to eliminate possible mental blocks and awkward moments during your photoshoots.

Although, as I stated before, one cannot really specialise in Malta, I have been lucky enough that during these past years I have had enough work that I am now able to concentrate more and more on working with people, both in the studio as well as on location. I have always had a preference for doing portraiture, fashion and model portfolios, and my efforts have paid off as I now get a lot of work from my favourite sphere of photography. Working with people keeps one on their toes. I like to keep informed on what is happening around me so that I can be able to communicate intelligently with people from all walks of life. One of the secrets of good portraiture and people photography is to manage to get the sitter relaxed – and what better way than to be able to talk on the client’s favourite topic? All right, one can never know enough, but a little general knowledge and tact goes a long way to making your sitter comfortable. I shudder when I see inexperienced students or even not so inexperienced photographers just hiding their face behind their camera and snapping away without even talking or instructing their model! How can a sitter know what you want from him if you do not even communicate?

As my work today consists of a lot of fashion and model photography, I get to mix and meet with the young age group associated with this type of photography. Talking and working with them really keeps my mind young and fresh, and, let’s face it, what better stimulation is there for good photography than having a beautiful model in your camera sights? Yes, I admit, this is one of the bonuses of photography and for me beats taking pictures of some inanimate bottle in a studio or an unwilling groom at a wedding!

To my mind, another important aspect of a good photographer’s armour, is his willingness to keep learning, especially in today’s competitive, ever-changing world. I do not believe that photographers should keep pining away regretting the loss of their darkrooms and their chemicals. Look forward to the future and realize the potential and freedom that digital photography has given us. It has definitely raised photography on two important fronts – that of again making photography easily accessible to the vast public – perhaps even more so than Eastman’s invention of the Box Brownie – and also to have raised further the standards of professional high-end photography. Today, the sky is the limit and a creative photographer and artist has all the tools needed to create masterpieces.

Digital photography has perhaps initially lessened the gap between amateurs and professionals. It is now up to the professional photographer to improve, his product and open that gap again. High prices and fancy marketing talk is not what’s important – the quality of the end product, client satisfaction and value for money are what matter.

Perhaps our only limitation today is time – but as the saying goes, no pain no gain, and one has to make the time. It has always been like that – give a piece of work to a lazy person and he will find all the excuses not to do it – give it to a busy person and he is bound to make time and conclude it.

Working in a small limited island like Malta is not all plain sailing. More so when your job is photography – a job that is becoming ever more competitive and demanding. The trick I think is to keep abreast of what is going on in the business and adapt. If this means closing down your High Street shop and working from home (to cut down costs and have more time to service your clients) then so be it. Do not stay tied down to convention and sentimentalism. There is little space for these commodities in today’s photographic world.


One last note which I would like to leave you with is that each time I pass through a bad moment I always ask myself the question of whether I would change my job. The answer is an unwavering and decisive “No!”.
If one does not have passion and love for photography one he is definitely in the wrong business!

Kevin Casha FSWPP FMIPP AMPS AMPA

SWPP & BPPA

6 Bath St., Rhyl LL18 3EB

Tel: 01745 356935

www.swpp.co.uk

info@swpp.co.uk

Professional Imagemaker

6 Bath St., Rhyl LL18 3EB

Tel: 01745 356935

www.swpp.co.uk/mag.htm

info@swpp.co.uk

Ultimate Frame Design

7 Bilton Industrial Estate Lovelale Road Bracknell Berkshire UK RG12 8YT 01344 383033 01344 317574

www.ultimatmounts.com

info@ultimatmounts.com

theimagefile

P O Box 241 Chertsey Surrey  KT16 OYZ

0870 224 2454 0870 224 2455

www.theimagefile.com howard@theimagefile.com

Memory Collections

113 Soho Rdd Handsworth Birmingham Midlands B21 9ST

01215510520

01215516897

PhotoArtistry Limited

Unit 5 2 Pennard Close Brackmills Industrial Estate Northampton Northamptonshire UK NN4 7BE 01604 700608 01604 763834 www.photoartistry.co.uk  anne.herbert@photoartistry.co.uk

Nikon (UK)

Nikon House 380 Richmond Road Kingston-upon-Thames Surrey UK KT25PR 0208 541 4440 0208 541 4584

www.nikon.co.uk

John.Macdonald@nikon.co.uk

iView Mulimedia

30 -40-Elcho Street Battersea Park London UK SW11 4AU

020 7223 8691 07223 8712 www.iview-multimedia.com  mark@iview-multimedia.com

Sim 2000 Imaging

Churchill House Stirling Way Borehamwood Hertfordshire UK WD6 2HP

020 8736 0585

www.sim2000imaging.com

 lee@sim2000imaging.com

Olympus

228 Honduras St LONDON LONDON EC1Y0TX

 020 7253 2772 020 7251 6330 www.olympus-europa.com

 parker@olympus.uk.com

Queensberry Albums

Queensberry Group
P O Box 20-314
Glen Eden, Auckland
New Zealand
64 9 813 9160
64 9 813 9170
sonya@queensberry.co.nz 

www.queensberry.com 

Photojunction
P O Box 20-688
Glen Eden, Auckland
New Zealand

0800 032 3246
64 9 817 0121
64 9 817 8817
anthony@photojunction.com www.photojunction.com

J P Distribution

Hempstall Lane Newcastle-under-Lyme Staffordshire  ST5 0SW

01782 753372 01782 753399 www.johnsons-photopia.co.uk  paulr@johnsons-photopia.co.uk

Winsover Howden

 Unit 7a Winsover Centre Winsover Rd Spalding Lincolnshire UK PE11 1EJ

01775 714424

01775 714425

jennie@winsoverhowden.com

Adobe Systems

3 Roundwood Ave Stockley Park Uxbridge Middlesex UK UB11 1AY

020 8606 1100 020 8606 4004 www.adobe.co.uk
http://www.adobe.co.uk

jbedford@adobe.com

Kodak Ltd Kodak

House Station Road Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire UK HP1 1JU 01442 844880

www.kodak.com

david.kitchen@kodak.com

Albums Australia

Unit 17/993 North Road Murrumbeena, Victoria Australia 3163

 613 9563 7099 613 9563 7056 www.albumsaustralia.com.au  dave@albumsaustralia.com.au

Fuji Photo Film (U.K.) Ltd

Fuji Film House 125 Finchley Road LONDON LONDON UK NW3 6HY

020 7586 5900

www.fujifilm.co.uk

info@fuji.co.uk

Noble Fine Art

Unit 9 Home Farm Business Centre
East Tytherley Road
Lockerley
Hampshire
SO51 0JT
+44 (0)1794 344760

info@noblefineart.co.uk

www.noblefineart.co.uk

Calumet UK Administrative Office
Promandis House
Bradbourne Drive
Tilbrook
Milton Keynes
MK7 8AJ
01908 366344 (telephone)
01908 366322 (fax)

website@calumetphoto.co.uk.

Imagicam Online Albums

24 Pyegrove Chase Forest Park Bracknell Berkshire UK RG12 0WE 01344 643087

www.imagicam.co.uk

info@imagicam.co.uk 

Productive IT (UK) Ltd
75 The Campions
Borehamwood
Hertfordshire
WD6 5QG
England

0845 128 4020

info@productiveit.co.uk

www.productiveit.co.uk