Put on your sunglasses. It’s laundry day in Jamaica!

photo copyright Jim Lockman/Click! 2012

Imagine with me. People are walking or running in your neighborhood. Some are skinny and some are overweight. Some are men, some women, and some children. Others are strikingly beautiful, while some are barely noticed. Fashionistas are present along with those who are wearing grubbies. The imagination can be better than a photograph.

I am fortunate to live within a few blocks of a “greenway” which has been transformed into a park with a number of pathways for exercise. Even though I don’t utilize it as much as I should, you will often find me walking or running through nature’s hiding places, working to get the body in shape.

On a fall day, the park is more arresting than normal. With its majestic leaves, clean air, contrasting colors, and quiet stillness, the greenway becomes more of source of inspiration, than a place to burn calories.

Passing other runners or those walking at their pace, I am struck by the number of exercisers who fail to respond to a smile or a friendly greeting. After all, isn’t this activity akin to belonging to a club or something. Whether walking or running, these folks are a small group compared to the massive number of people who fail to exercise because they are too busy, have health issues, lack discipline, or are just couch potatoes.

When I make the slightest gesture to smile or say “hi!” or “How are you?” and get no response, it diminishes the magnificence of this junket through nature’s landscape. Even though it shouldn’t effect such a valuable endeavor, it almost always takes some of the wind out of my sails.

How difficult is it to respond to meager portion of kindness? Do they see me as a threat to their daily routine? Are they afraid they will get mugged by this mini doughboy? Is it belittling to speak to a walker as you jog by at breakneck speed? Or is it just a macho moment where it is not cool to acknowledge anyone else exists in their personal cosmos?

Whatever! A smile can turn the world around. Kindness is the oil that greases the wheels of relationships, whether momentary or more permanent.

I once read that you should smile while you are recording the out-going greeting on your cell phone. I tried it and it wasn’t very easy to talk and smile at the same time. I had a number of people respond very positively to the recording on my voicemail. Could callers actually see my smile through the telephone?

When I was a kid, I watched Joey the Clown on WSOC. He always closed his show with the statement, “remember, all we really have in this ‘ole world is each other.” I never forgot that phrase. And neither should anyone else.

Photograph copyright 2011 Jim Lockmman/Click!

Education opens the door to opportunity. In a land where the majority of children are poor, what we consider as insignificant can be the spark that becomes a burning fire.

For children who have never owned a photograph, having their picture made is always a thrill. “Take my picture” is not as offensive when you realize that small things are sometimes huge!

Whether the ministry is a parochial school or a school for children left behind to fend for themselves, these kids have an opportunity to conquer the future.

Hero Day provides an opportunity to celebrate your uniqueness and bask in the beauty of a national celebration.

copyright 2011 Jim LockmanClick!

A dedicated group of women, the Sisters of Mercy provide  ministry to the sick, poor, and uneducated of this world.

For over one hundred thirty years, the Sisters have provided ministry in Jamaica, beginning with the boys school at Alpha. With forty acres purchased by Sister Ripoll with her own money, the ministry has grown to include infant and primary schools, a high school, Trade Training Centers, and two residential institutions for homeless and delinquent boys.

Much of the ministry in Kingston, the capital, takes place in what I would call compounds, separated from the crime and desperation that is so prevalent in this complicated city.

copyright 2011 Jim Lockman/Click!

copyright 2011 Jim Lockman/Click!

Travelling to a foreign land is an opportunity many people never experience. It never loses its awe, whether visiting on assignment or for personal enjoyment. My curiosity is peaked as I leave the comfort of homeland and venture to the unknowns of a foreign location. Even the act of flying alone has the symbolic manifestation of leaving the known and traversing to the unknown. Beam me up, Scottie!

Jamaica is a beautiful land! The roads are terrible. They make Monroe Road seem smooth as silk. If they named the potholes as they do in New York, they would have to buy baby name books from all over the world. At one point, I actually thought my teeth were falling out.

I was told I would see poverty worst than I had ever experienced before. “See” is right because I was not allowed to get out of the car unless we were in a secured area. Crime in Jamaica is unimaginable. Except for some of the homes in the countryside, every business or house I saw, whether in the poorest areas or the dwellings  and shopping venues of the wealthy, was behind a fence or wall and was gated. These people have made “gated communities” a national heritage; gated communities of “one.”

I tried to get my head around the socio-economic plight of these paradisiacal islanders. There is no middle class. Jamaicans are either rich or they are extremely poor. Unemployment is high and has been as much as 25% during the last twenty years. Jobs are not being created and many who have employment cannot survive on what they take home. Their largest industry is from “remittances.”  Sending money home to Jamaica accounts for over 20% of GDP. No wonder crime is high. There is a sense of desperation wherever you go in Kingston, the capital city. Known for their exclusive resort experiences, Jamaica has a dark side most never experience during their visit.

Visiting Jamaica was a thrilling experience for me. Words aren’t adequate to express the dichotomy that exists wherever you go.

It’s complicated!

copyright 2011 Jim Lockman/Click!

Physician’s practices are a huge part of the hospital business today. Many doctor’s practices ae owned by hospitals and healthcare systems. Marketing these practices requires images that depict the “personal touch” that occurs in the office setting. Most doctor’s offices are bustling  and the staff is usually on a hurried schedule. Providing photography in this setting can be complicated.

Most of the examining rooms are much smaller than a typical hospital patient room, making it difficult from a lighting standpoint and making it challenging from a creative standpoint.  Such small spaces limit  shooting angles, viewpoints and other technical considerations.

Instead of having your photographer moving from office to office, lugging his lights and stands from room to room, have the doctors and patients come to him. Block out the schedule for one of the examining rooms for the shoot and allow your photographer to set up his lighting in that room. Doctors and patients (or pretend patients) arrive at your “studio” for a quick shoot with little interruption to the flow of patient treatment. Doctors will appreciate the effort to minimize the interference to their working routine.

By scheduling the doctor for his “appointment,” he can arrive for his shoot and within minutes be back in his own examining rooms with his patients.

One of my clients uses this technique regularly and the shoots make “going to the doctor” a pleasant experience!

photography copyright 2011, Jim Lockman/Click!

I love architectural detail. Elements of design are all around us if we stop to “look”. But there is nowhere I have been that is easier to see striking components of architecture than Charleston.

copyright 2011 Jim Lockman/Click!

Photographing CEOs, doctors, or high level employees whether in the hospital setting or any corporate environment can be a very challenging experience. These are busy people with a premium on their schedule and availability. My experience indicates that most of these execs really don’t like to take the time to be photographed. Frequently,  they will only allow a few minutes in their schedule for a portrait that could be a very important “image” for the hospital annual report or other highly visible corporate brochure.

Next time you have such an important photo op in your hospital, try to get use of the executive’s office or whatever location you will be shooting at least forty-five minutes prior to the actual shoot. This will allow plenty of time to scout the site, choose the best angles for the portrait, place lighting in the proper location, make tests so there are no surprises, and be ready when the subject arrives to have his picture taken.

Scheduling the shoot first thing in the morning, right after lunch, or after a meeting that takes the exec out of the office, will make the whole assignment flow much easier. Having a set-up time without the executive or doctor present will take some pressure off of the photographer and marketing representative, and will result in a more relaxed experience during the actual shoot.

While most corporate leaders understand the value of good photography, sensitivity to their schedule and the demands on their time will go a long way toward creating a successful corporate portrait.

copyright 2011 Jim Lockman/Click!

Ah, to be that robin today!