Book Recommendations


Colour Correction and enhancmentt made simple


The Workflow Book


Landscape photography and philosophy

The book on Exposure

Guide to great Photography Book

Great photography and how to do it

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Monday, 12 October 2009 

Overcast days never turn me on*

What a way to spend a Sunday Morning:

Drag yourself out of bed at 5:00 A.M. (A.M. stands for "Arrrgggh Morning" )
Drive for an hour to a very overcast Shoeburyness.
Realise you have bought your wife's wellies instead of your own!
Realise a tide that was supposed to be going out was still in.
Stand on a beach waiting for a sunrise that never materialises.
Decide that the only thing worth photographing is a sewer outflow!

Posts & Pipe
(Click to view large)


Drive home & go back to bed!
Was it worth the trip? - you decide, I'm still too sleepy to care.


*From Raspberry Beret by Prince. Whatever you do, don't google the real meaning of the lyrics - you'll never listen to it in the same way again!

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posted by Chris Shepherd at 08:00 0 Comments Links to this post

Friday, 6 July 2007 

Cloaning and the search for perfection

Yesterday I posted this shot on ephotozine and received the comment that, on the lower landing the floor appears a bit messy and would be improved by a bit of cloning.

Nelson's Apples ~ Somerset House
(Click to view large)

I agree entirely that as an image, the shabbiness of the landing rather distracts from the repeats and curves. But should I get out the clone tool and produce perfection?

The subject of the picture is the Nelson Stairs in Somerset House. The stairs are a very fine piece of architecture, but when I visited them they had quite a worn look and it was really rather difficult to see any part of it that didn't have a bit of damage to them. I composed this shot very carefully to avoid bringing in any of the distracting modern elements - electric lights, fire exit signs and people using the stair case.

But I still could see some of the damage to the staircase in my shot and for me this is the deciding factor on whether to clone out elements of a picture or not. If the image represents what I saw or felt about the image at the time I took the shot then I am happy to leave it as it is. If I take a landscape shot and on examining it later, I notice a coke can in the corner of the shot I am happy to clone it out as it doesn't represent what I saw at the time. For me photography is about capturing a specific moment or feeling and not creating something in the computer afterwards - though if that is what people enjoy doing I have no problem with that.

As another example here is a shot by the great portrait photographer Martin Jordan:

Sanam by Martin Jordan
(Click to view large)

OK, it's a prepared studio shot with a model but to me the fact that there is one stray hair on the side of her face destroys our perception of this being a "perfect shot" yet at the same time roots the shot in reality rather than simply being a "painted mask of ugly perfection"*.

It is so easy to produce a photoshopped version of reality that many photographers become seduced by it but I urge you to think before you reach for the clone tool next time.
What is your personal limit when it comes to manipulation? I'd love to hear some other opinions on this - please use the comments option to add your take on the nature of photoshop & reality.

*Crass - Berkertex Bribe


A New Years Resolution

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posted by Chris Shepherd at 11:19 0 Comments Links to this post

Tuesday, 26 June 2007 

Black and White in Capture 1

As I detailed in my blogs on workflow I use Capture 1 (C1) for my raw processing. I am still waiting for the next release of C1 to compare it against Lightroom 1.1 to decide which one I will use in future but at the moment C1 produces the results I need with the minimum of fuss so I am sticking with that.

Being a fan of doing the development in the raw converter rather than Photoshop I was glad when I came across a technique the other day which details a great way to create black and white images from C1.

It's quite simple really:
  • Download the file, unzip the fie and double click on the profile file to install it.
  • Start Capture 1 and change the camera profile to the new one.
  • Process your images as per normal to produce B&W how you like.
Cool! Here is one I processed earlier:




Moonlight Rush
(Click to view large)

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posted by Chris Shepherd at 11:51 0 Comments Links to this post