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1956. The Suez Crisis plunges Europe into a fuel crisis, petrol is rashioned and sales of new cars plummet.

Germany responds by creating the Gogomobile and three wheeled cars. President of the British Motor Corporation, Sir Leonard Lord is unimpressed and asks his chief designer, Alec Issigonis to create a “proper miniture car”.

To make it more challenging he also sets him strict design restrictions. It has to measure four feet across, four feet high and 10 feet long, provide for four passengers and their luggage and use only existing parts.

Issigonis and his team of eight engineers set to work and four months later Lord gives the go ahead for this new small econonic British car and the Morris Mini Minor is born.

The car used a conventional four-cylinder water-cooled engine but it was mounted transversely and drove the front wheels. This innovation allowed much increased passenger space in a small body. The result was nimble, economical and inexpensive. Almost all small cars built since the 1970s have followed this mechanical layout.

In 1959 the first model rolled off the assembly line for a mere 496 pounds ($1,200).

By 1964 sales were approaching 500,000 and the open top Mini-Moke was released to poor sales apart from the military and Australians who’s beach culture perfectly suited the open top style.

In 1969, The Italian Job, starring Michael Caine, turned the Mini into a star when 3 Mini Coopers were utilised as the perfect getaway cars.

Sales were helped along the likes of the Beatles and Peter Sellers publicly acknowledging their love of them but slowly fell off in the 70’s and 80’s until it seemed the little British Icon was headed for the scap heap.

Rover’s takeover in 1990 lead to a relaunch on the Mini Cooper and in 1999 it was voted the European car of the century by a panel of international journalist.

But the real second coming of the Mini and the Mini Cooper in particular came in 2001 when BMW took over ownership and created the Mini Cooper the world has fallen in love with again today.

The 2003 remake of The Italian Job, this time starring (Marky) Mark Wahlberg, became a massive advert for the new ultra hip Cooper and sales soared again.

Even Madonna featured it in the lyrics to the title song from her 2003 album American Life.

The Mini Cabrio launched in Australia in January 2005, and unlike the Mini Moke of the 60’s, is now primed as a much more luxurious and hip car.

And with an Italian Job 2 (well, 3 for the purists) in the works and sales continuing to soar, it seem the Mini still has a lot of mileage left in it yet.

Peter Shuttlewood is the author of webzine freshread which contains articles on Popular Culture with an Australian slant. freshread - the everyday in a fresh way.

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So a gorgeous yellow daisy mesmerises me, swaying elegantly in the light afternoon breeze, bathed in the warm light. Mmmm…emotions gently bubble to the surface, excitement foremost, followed by the deep satisfaction that I’ve been able to make time to return to this spot to revisit my yellow daisy. I’ve already shot her once…but…now another chance to create another feel, another image worthy of my wall.

As before I dispense with my tripod. An odd decision? Perhaps… but here’s my thinking on the subject. Firstly this is a decision which individual photographers need to make for themselves and secondly, and please understand this clearly, there are no rights or wrongs when the intent is artistic creation.

A tripod slows the process down (a good thing), it allows for greater reflection on composition and it creates the freedom necessary to style the shot without losing the angle of view one has chosen. It also has the added benefit of helping to steady the camera considerably so that camera shake is avoided. Actually in practise that bonus can rapidly become nullified - add a little spring zephyr to the mix and suddenly movement becomes an artistic must have, with or without the tripod!

Easing swiftly on to my preference…

Shooting fashion was my world for a number of years and even though I used a tripod a lot in the studio, more often than not on location I preferred to hand hold my monster of a medium format camera (GX680). Luckily it has an autowind so cranking to the next frame wasn’t a bore, but the freedom to be able to approach all shots by circling the subject to see how the world looked from that perspective was hugely stimulating. Good stuff! And oddly now that I’m shooting my mostly inanimate gorgeous yellow daisy and the like, I feel incredibly fettered when using a tripod. Don’t ever let anyone dictate that there is only one proper way (ironically almost always their way - strange…). Discipline is in your approach and consistency of approach rather than just the tools.

There is another factor in the mix - DIGITAL…A little rant last time, a repeat now…Freedom! To me digital spells freedom - access, creativity, lack of stress about mundane matters like money i.e. cost per frame “wasted”. If you like to shoot a lot of each view as I do, this would get prohibitive real quick on film. I urge you as a budding or even a relatively experienced photographer to shoot lots - life is too short to stuff a mushroom (if you get that you get my point), and shoot at the highest res possible. I cringe at sad sack stories of the one that got away.

Be disciplined, shoot smart. Make yourself a checklist, mental or written, of things to check and use it every time you go out to shoot. It’s the little things…you try explaining to a client that you forgot the charged batteries at the studio or even worse, a whispered aside to assistant “Herm where’s the film?” And then even worse the reply “I thought you packed it….” Checklists rule okay!

So to the gorgeous yellow number…Another decision, another choice. Shoot the natural view or create an instant outdoor studio background with flags, fills and scrim. Me, I like the control of creating my own environment as far as possible. I like the deep orange fuzzy card in the background with my model languishing, exotically garbed in yellow organza, in the foreground. Daisy perfection!

Now for some forward planning…don’t ever restrict your ability to shoot by not planning ahead. Take a few extras with you…

I grabbed a series of different colored cards before I left, A4 sheets as the work is close and my subjects mostly small, and I cut a slit down the vertical centre line to 1/3 into the page, then carved out a small round hole (a keyhole in effect),a perfect fit around the stem of most flowers, without doing any real damage. Don’t worry about the slit, Photoshop will clean that up! For the purists out there sorry if that’s cheating in your book, but hey if you’ve got it, use it, is my feeling.

I also stuck a bit of foil, white card and black card in for good measure. A tiny mobile studio - flag and fill! Do it properly if you’re going to do it at all. The foil can be well used to create pattern or glitter on an otherwise dull surface, the white card to fill in the shadow areas and the black card to define edges on white/light subjects. On really bright, sunny days it’s worth adding a sheet of scrim to the mix to soften the light over the subject. Diffuse light created by a cloudy day or by a decent piece of scrim is so much easier to work with - color saturation is deep and satisfying without huge loss in shadows or highlights. Be prepared!

BUT…

Do not rule out the harsh directness of full-on sun. It can be awesome to work in direct sun - huge drama, brilliant glitter. Give yourself a break - luxuriate in choice. Never loose site of the point…GET THE SHOT…the shot that’s beautiful enough to grace the wall…any wall!

See the beauty!

Copyright 2005 Patrick Heathcock

Sometime commercial photographer London, fulltime flower art photographer and web designer living in the southern semisphere, soaking up the sun. Visit A FLower Gallery to view the yellow daisy and more!

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For starters, take a crash course in writing press releases and putting together a media kit. Numerous online articles detail press release writing presenting something newsworthy about your business in one or two pages. Include the who, what, where, why and when of the story and select news that is of interest to your target audience.

Piggyback your release onto a major news story related to your business. Also, think like a news reporter and avoid sales lingo and superlatives. Consider what will grab the attention of an editor or producer and encourage them to do a story on your business. Make a list of media contacts and send press releases on a regular basis.

Other means of generating free publicity include:

Viral Marketing (or word of mouth marketing): There are several ways to launch a viral marketing campaign, including an online newsletter, online discounts or even e-cards from your Web site.

Visibility: Free samples or free service demonstrations can also start a viral marketing campaign, especially with a unique or new product.

Awards: Create an award and present it to someone who is notable to your demographic group and has some connection with your industry.

Barter: Make deals with other small business owners to display one another’s products, advertise on one another’s Web sites, and so on.

High-Profile Individuals: Send, or give, your product to people with high visibility in hopes that they will wear it, carry it or eat it in view of other people and/or the media.

Groups: Start a discussion group, seminar series, book club, wine tasting club or other type of group that can meet to talk about your products or services.

Business Gatherings: Hand business cards and/or press kits out at trade shows, industry events and other gatherings.

Speaking Engagements: Offer to be a speaker at seminars, conferences and other functions. You can even teach a class.

Affiliate Partnership: This is a great way to expose your business(online) with zero liability. Partner with online businesses that have products similar or cross sell.

Annette Thomas is a freelance writer and professional marketer. She has recently launched her online retail store, Giftboxedbaskets.com. Giftboxedbaskets.com is an online retailer of handmade gift baskets, gourmet food baskets, gifts, corporate gifts, and more. You may visit at, http://www.giftboxedbaskets.com.

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