“A PICTURE'S WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS...”

I'm still not sure who uttered the famous words but I for one have repeated them a thousand times!

I recently had the privilege of hosting our esteem editor on his visit to Malta and made several somewhat negative comments about the quality of the very basic digital camera he brought to this wondrous isle (Sorry Alan!) You can therefore understand my amazement when he produced one of the most stunning pictures I, as a professional photographer, have had the pleasure to see in some years!

Maltese Alley - view Alan Winter's Malta Album
Titled simply “Maltese Alley” this once color shot converted to B& W and edited by one of Alan's friends (Mike Hyde) smacks of the unique atmosphere that is to be found in the tiny side streets of the ancient capitol of Valletta, like no other I've seen. It took me back instantly to the 50's when Valetta's infamous 'Straight Street' was the final destination of every serviceman visiting Malta on leave - yours truly included!.

For those of us engaged in marketing vacations there is no better tool than a portfolio of 'holiday pictures'. Armed with an assortment of snap shots - family and friends- you are instantly equipped to convey the wonderful excitement of beautiful vacations in strange, remote and exotic playgrounds and resorts around the world. After all isn't that what timeshare is truly all about!

And by the way, they need not necessarily be YOUR pictures! Third party stories are what our presentations should be built on! Get together with your colleagues and associates and share you pictures between yourselves. After all it's your guest that you truly want to 'get in the picture'

Years ago when I first started teaching photography at Cambridge I used to have a picture of my wife and baby daughter photographed against the sun with some baby lambs. Unfortunately I no longer have the photograph in question, it was lost along with many precious pictures when my house was destroyed by fire in Australia in 1982, but despite the fact that it was taken on a cheap disposable camera (or its then equivalent) the backlighting highlighted the detail and gave the appearance of a picture taken with a much higher quality lens. I would mix the photograph in with a batch of prints taken on cameras costing Hundreds of pounds more and defy the students to select the one taken on the cheap! I can't recall anyone succeeding!

It is not he quality of the image that counts - but the feeling it conveys that really matters. Forget the American Express Card - it's your Camera you should never leave home without! Till next month..................

Peter J. Shield ARP

(Visit http://GoingGlobalTV.com for a complete update on Peter's activities in Malta.)

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Contact Peter at pshield@onvol.net

Shield International Mkt. Ptrs. (Malta) Ltd - Promoting Malta's Heritage, 72 Triq IL Lampara, Bahar ic Chghaq, Malta NXR08, telephone number +(356) 21382257, Mobile number +(356) 99402956