Luck and the Landscape photographer

I was talking to another photographer the other day about Jon Gibbs winning shot in The Landscape Photographer of the year competition. And they were of the opinion that he was just "lucky to be there when the lightning struck".

Storm over Scroby Sands wind farm, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
by Jon Gibbs

Well to an extent it was true had he just happened to be there at the right time. A landscape photographer has no control overt the lighting or the weather, so it must be down to blind luck....

...or is it? How many times was Jon out on the shores of Norfolk when the lightning didn't turn up? How many times did he walk away with no images worth printing? In landscape photography there really is no substitute for perseverance. As someone once said - "The more I practice the luckier I get".

The Landscape Photographer of the Year 2008 competition is now open to entries, so its well worth seeing if you too can be lucky by being in the right place at the right time.

Labels: philosophy, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 08:00 2 Comments Links to this post

Are you talented?

Talent is a strange concept really, is it "god given" (pick your own god) or is it just the result of hard-work and dedication?

People seem to use the word talented as though there is no effort involved "she's a talented singer" seems to mean that the person in question was born able to sing anything put in front of them instead of having spent years of dedication, determination and practice to get to the stage she is at.

At exhibitions I have been called talented (yeah I know..go figure) and it always throws me to know what to say about in response. I mean it's easy enough to get similar pictures: learn how to use your camera, learn what images work, take an interest in your subject, practice, get to the right location at the right time with the right weather, compose the image, take the picture, learn how to PP and print it....simple - if you are motivated to do it.

Ginger Smiles

No one is born knowing the relationship of aperture to shutter speed, the first time you use a macro lens or a wide angle a new world is opened up to you that you had never seen or imagined before.

If you are interested in a subject and you really want to get better and you are prepared to work hard and practice - you will get better. Natural talent doesn't really enter into the equation. Craig M. Tanner sums this up far more eloquently than I do (well he is a naturally talented writer) in this article entitled The Myth of Talent (click on the pdf link on the right - of course those who are naturally talented with web pages will have worked that out).

Since I took up photography I notice so much more in the world from butterflies to gingerbread men. Are my eyes talented or have they just been trained?

Labels: London, philosophy, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 09:39 0 Comments Links to this post

Despondency and Depression

One of my favourite things is just chatting to other photographers about life and image making. it's always interesting to share views and news from the world behind the lens.

One thing that seems to come up from time to time, is a crisis of self confidence. It's often surprising to hear photographers ,who's work you really admire, to tear their latest creations apart or listen to them despair that nothing they have taken lately is any good. This is often followed by talking about giving up completely or deleting their websites and portfolios.

I think this is an inevitable side effect of striving for perfection. If you are lucky enough to create an image you are completely happy with then your own personal standards go up in accordance with it. This new standard becomes your new target for every image. Landscape and outdoor photography can be particularly harsh in this respect as one day you can have fantastic lighting and every shot is a winner.Then a whole week of drab grey skies can appear to completely destroy your mojo.

Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment.

Ansel Adams

Sunset at Strawberry Hill Ponds, Epping Forest
(Click to view large)

Unfortunately real life intervenes and most of us don't have the luxury of waiting a whole week at a location till it all comes right like David Noton or Joe Cornish seem to. As an aside I visited David Notons stunning exhibition a while back with a friend and decided that he must be one of the most unlucky photographers in the world. Every image seemed to have a description of how he had waited days for the light to be right or trekked for miles to get to the location - by the end of it you willed him to say "I opened my hotel window…to be greeted by this scene". Still his dedication has been duly rewarded by some amazing images.

So if you are despairing of your images at the moment it is important to recognise the reasons for this:

• Your standards are high
  
• Your previous images were good
• You are striving for perfection

I think these are all good things so there is really no need to be so down in the mouth - just get out there and take some more pictures.

Labels: Epping Forest, philosophy, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 08:00 2 Comments Links to this post

Photographing Shops is Illegal...

posted by Chris Shepherd at 07:10 0 Comments Links to this post

London Terror Posters - The Remix

Yesterday I blogged about the new London anti terror posters. Now its time to see the reaction on the web.

Here are some good ones, some more here though this is my favourite:

by illegalphotos on Flickr

This is a great little video that summarises our rights on the matter.

---

Related Posts
U.S.A. Photographers Rights
Public Photography and the law
Strictly No Photography

Labels: Candid Photography, law, London, Taking Pictures

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

Eeek! I'm a potential terrorist now

I see that the Metropolitan Police Service - Counter-terrorism advertising campaign asks:

Thousands of people take photographs every day, what if one of them seems odd?

Ho hum, I wonder how they define odd? I should think taking a picture of a handrail would look pretty odd to most people:

Handrail
(Click to view large)

I look forward to a trip to Guantanimo Bay real soon.

Labels: Candid Photography, law, London, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 13:57 1 Comments Links to this post

Friends Weddings 3 - Some Experience

Hi I'm Nisha - Chris asked me to write up my experiences of shooting a friends wedding.

Really it is a good idea to get a professional to do it!

Preparation

I charged an extra battery and packed 2 spare memory cards (just incase) the night before the wedding and also formatted each memory card in the camera, as I had heard that sometimes they can get corrupted and I didn’t really want anyone’s hands around my neck!

Before the Wedding

I got to the brides house an hour before she was due to leave for the venue to get pictures of her getting ready and her family. This actually proved to be quite useful, because I now have a start to the ‘story’ and some really good shots of the bride when she is looking fresh. I should however have planned my time a bit better and gone to the grooms house as well, just to get a shot of him putting his tie on, or something of the sort. This was also a good time to get pictures of the 'details' such as the brides outfit, bouquet and accessories.

There was no way that I could have taken the pictures without a flash at the brides house as my lens's min aperture is f4.5 on a 70mm focal length and because I wanted those candid shots of her getting ready, I couldn’t use a tripod. Also shooting in RAW, with continuous mode and flash on was a little slow as I guess the flash needs a bit more time to recycle.

The Bride - by Nisha Patel

The Wedding

When I got to the venue, I found out how much time we had in the venue and the grounds after the ceremony was finished, so I could plan where to take the various family group and couple shots. It turned out to be a pretty wet and windy day, so having checked the forecast, I brought large black umbrellas with me, but they never got put to use and no-one wanted to go outside to get their hair messed up. This meant I had to find spots inside the venue to take family pictures and ended up using two different locations, but having looked through the photos, wish I had picked at least two more locations inside, so that there is some variation in the backgrounds. This isn’t so much of a problem when looking through the photos on the computer, but I’m making a photo album and the same background starts to get boring after a while!

I was shooting in Program mode with flash indoors, and cranked up the ISO to 400 as I didn't have an external flash, which is definitely something to invest in!

I didn't get much of a chance to shoot outdoors and when I did, it was pitch black and this was for the couples shots so I had to push up the ISO again! I had compiled a list of shots that I wanted from the couple so got these out of the way first and then just let them be natural around each other and 'do their thing'!!

What I Learnt

For a complete beginner like myself, who got thrown in the deep end, the first thing I would say is RELAX! When taking the group shots, people aren't always smiling, relaxed or comfortable (sometimes having to stand close to other people!) so you have to interact with them and make them smile. I kept an eye out for the couple giving each other 'looks' and just general candid shots of the guests enjoying themselves. Having looked through my shots, I have to say that I did focus mainly on the bride, so should have also got more close up candid shots of the wedding party in general.

---

Part 2 - Some Hints and Tips

Labels: Taking Pictures, Weddings

posted by Chris Shepherd at 08:18 3 Comments Links to this post

Friends Weddings 2 - Some hints and tips

OK so we have established that wedings are tricky and best avoided, but recently I was approached by my good friend Nisha as to what advice I could give her as she had been asked to do her friends wedding. For what it is worth - here is the advice I gave her

• Get a professional to do it.
• No seriously, get a professional to do it.
• Can't you feign some sort of illness?
• Oh O.K. well if you must.

Before you start:
Create a Packing List of everything you will need for the day and use it to pack the night before.
Make sure you have a spare battery and that all your batteries are charged.
Format all your cards and pack them somewhere you can get to them quickly
Check the camera settings: White Balance, exposure, metering - you really don't want to be shooting the whole day on the wrong white balance
Set the camera to raw as this will give you a bit more lee-way with the exposure.
Or you could ring round see if there are any professionals who have had a cancellation.

The Bride
(by Nisha Patel)

Create a Shooting list:
Work with the bride& groom before hand to get a list of all the groups they want shots of.
Add a shot of the rings, the signing the registrar, and the bouquet.
Keep this list with you and check each shot off on the day.

On the day:
If shooting indoors watch for flash shadow if people are too close to the wall behind.
Check your backgrounds, you don't want Aunty to have a telegraph post popping out of her head, or have to spend hours cloaning an ashtray out of each shot as I f did.

Be confident in moving people and stuff about to get the shots you want, much better to ask everyone to move across the room than produce a load of images you need to Photoshop the life out of.

In group shots tell everyone to smile, and take multiple shots as someone will always have their eyes closed when the shutter goes off. Take lots of shots plenty of candid ones will help to document the day.

Final Advice:
Are you sure you can't get a professional to do it?

---

Friends Weddings 1 - "Your pretty handy with a camera - can you do my wedding?"
In Part 3, Nisha tells us what she learnt when she did her friends wedding (apart from no t to do them)!

Labels: Taking Pictures, Weddings

posted by Chris Shepherd at 08:16 1 Comments Links to this post

Friends Weddings 1 - "Your pretty handy with a camera - can you do my wedding?"

"We would like you to photograph our wedding?" - Is just the most terrifying thing a friend can ask you, if your a photographer who doesn't really do people shots. There is no expression like it for putting the wind up your average landscape photographer -my advice is "just say no".

Ever wondered why professional wedding photographers charge such a lot of money for taking a few snaps? Do a wedding yourself and their charges will seem entirely reasonable! It is a job that requires a special blend of skills:

First you have the technical challenges like a bride wearing white and a groom in a dark suite, this is usually combined with a bright sunny day that can make for an exposure nightmare. Alternatively if the weather is grim you need to be able to shoot indoors and have sufficient lights/flash to cover the groups you need.

Then you need to be able to deal with a wide variety of people, from precocious small children to boisterous grannies. Coral them into various groups before they disappear into the bar.
Satisfy the mother-in-law who wants lots of formal group shots with all the family in, whilst producing the relaxed reportage images the couple want.

The most important issue with weddings is you only get one chance, mess it up and the day is gone.

The Bridal Chest
(what happens when you let me loose at a wedding)

You need to do all this without upsetting anyone and ensuring the wedding doesn't end up as one long photo shoot.

I have only ever done one wedding and I have to say its not something I would be rushing to do again! In short - get someone else to do it.

---

In Part two I give some advise for those of you who feel it might be a good idea to shoot a friend's wedding.

Labels: Taking Pictures, Weddings

posted by Chris Shepherd at 09:36 0 Comments Links to this post

Considering Composition

Lately I have got round to reading one of my Christmas presents. The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos is an interesting book that deals solely with composition and has already given me plenty to consider when creating photos.

Somerset House
(Click to view large)

The curving stones provide a lead-in to the main building with the figure on the thirds to add interest.

Many photography books cover composition but this goes into much more depth than many of the more general books. The information here is not just the dreaded "rule of thirds" or "stick a rock in the foreground of your wide angle landscape shots", its much more detailed than that.

It covers using shapes and contrasts, the effect of colours and intent, plus a whole host more.

I would recommend reading it in one pass to get a feel for it. Then going back and studying a small section and attempt to use it in making your pictures.

Gas Light

A rusty gasometer lit by a setting sun makes for an interesting abstract. Tilting the camera utilises the rectangular frame to gives a composition made almost entirely of simple geometric shapes.

All in all a highly recommended book.

---

Related Posts

Composition

Labels: Composition, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 20:11 4 Comments Links to this post

U.S.A. Photographers Rights Guide

posted by Chris Shepherd at 14:18 0 Comments Links to this post

Microsoft adapts Outlook for photographers

I don't know you come up with a simple idea like an equipment checklist for photographers and what happens your idea gets pinched by Microsoft. What don't tell me I wasn't the only person to have that idea, I knew I should have patented it!

Don't Forget your Keys
(Click to View Large)

Well anyway Microsoft have adapted Outlook for photographers:

"Microsoft has released a free Outlook plug-in to help photographers remember which equipment to bring to photo shoots they've scheduled with the calendar and contacts software."

---

Related Posts

Landscape Photography Pre-Fight CheckList
Bill Speaks Detailed Packing List

Labels: Equipment, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 11:03 0 Comments Links to this post

Do you suffer from TAM?

Territorial Artistic Myopia (or TAM) for short. Is a terrible disease that can affect the photographer when he/she leasts expects it. This informative article by Harry Nowell allows you to identify the symptoms and administer the treatment to stop TAM blighting your life.

Personally I have found that my Friday Lunchtime Project has gone a long way to alleviating the symptoms of TAM. Here is the result of last Fridays trip and a strange attraction to air conditioning vents:

Going Up
(Click to view large)

Keep looking at the world anew and you should be able to banish TAM from your life.

---

Related Posts

Life Round Lloyds
A New Years Resolution
In the City
The Friday Project Update
Another Friday Project Update

Labels: News, Taking Pictures

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

Take a few snaps on the journey

What is this life, full of care, we have no time to stop and stare

William Henry Davies

Get the best shots you can, but don't forget to take a few snapshots on the way

Chris Shepherd

Just a reminder to all you photographers out there who obsess about exposure, filters, getting the right light, raw, lightroom, HDR, photoshop, equipment, etc, etc. That its always worth remembering to take some snapshots of those you love and events that happen as you move through life.

It's great to sell fine-art photos to the public, but in 10 years time you are going to spend a lot more time looking at snapshots that aren't technically perfect than any of your "greatest hits", just because they have the power to remind you of your life and those you love.

There is no real excuse not to snap away with digital as the cost of a few extra shots is not even noticeable. By all means use your skills to produce a good image, but almost any image is better than no image when you look back at your snaps.

So in the spirit of taking snapshots I would like to introduce you to Bernie (now renamed Harvey). He was left at our local RSPCA rescue centre on Saturday morning, he is only 14 weeks old, but some friends of ours have given him a loving new home.

I thought I would try to get some snaps of him...but he was quite keen on playing tug with the camera! Still at least they will have a reminder of his first day with them.

Camera Tug
(Click to View Large)

---

Related Posts

In Praise of the Snap
What's Important?

Labels: Dogs, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 13:15 0 Comments Links to this post

Strictly No Photography

Ahh, the lure of the forbidden.

Last week I was out photographing in Canary Wharf with my good friend Steve, when a security guard informed us (well Steve...I don't look like a villain apparently) that we can't take pictures of the buildings. I wonder if they think it will wear the buildings out if too many pictures are taken of them?

I didn't even want a picture of the building, but now I had been told it was forbidden...I couldn't resist! It seems I am not alone in this rebel tendency as there is now a whole website devoted to like minded people/anarchists/criminals/libertarians/trouble makers/ne'er-do-wells* called strictlynophotography.com.

No Cameras (Kensington Gardens)
by 19 Pearls - via StrictlyNoPhotography.com

Their mission statement makes for an appetising read:

Strictly no photography is a photo-sharing site for photographs taken where you are not allowed to take them. From the inside of the Kremlin to Kensington palace, from art galleries to war zones. Here you can see everything you've ever wanted to see that you're not supposed to. There are pictures that range from the ordinary to the profound. Whatever the content or the quality though we think that each one stands as a little piece of art in itself, as a little expression of personal liberty.

* Delete as applicable

---

Related Posts
Photography in public places wallet card
Public Photography and the Law
Jobsworths and not-so-jobsworths

Labels: Candid Photography, law, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 13:05 0 Comments Links to this post

UK Landscape Photography Location Guides

One of the greatest skills a Landscape photographer can develop is the ability to read a map and find new locations that may just bear fruit.

But this is the 21st century and the web allows us to share our favourite locations, so If you are looking for a location for landscape photography in the UK then here are a few really useful resources I have found that should help point you in the right direction.

Sunrise over Northey
(Click to view large)

Chris Maddock has produced The Lazy Photographers Guides which cover many great locations less than half a mile from road access.

If you are looking for a location Wales then take a look at the guides on LandscapePhotographyUK. Simon Kitchen has done a great job by creating a whole series of Location guides to North Wales and Anglesey.

I should also mention the ePhotozine locations section that is edited by yours truly. This has guides to many locations in the UK and the rest of the world.

Are there any other Photo location guides out on the web. If you know of one then please add a comment and let me know.

Labels: Photographic Locations, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 20:00 0 Comments Links to this post

Photography in Public Places wallet card

In a discussion on the Ephotozine forums about Phil Smith being stopped by Ipswich police and requested to delete his images, one site member, Dave (going by the pseudonym of Mad-Dog's) detailed a card he carries summarising the law concerning photography in the UK.

I have created my own version of the card and you can download it as a jpg from here.

Click for large version

Printed at 300dpi this should produce a credit card sized document that you can easily carry with you and may help you challenge any over-zealous police officers you may meet.

---

Related Posts

Public Photography and the Law
Jobsworths and not-so-jobsworths

Labels: Candid Photography, law, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 19:35 0 Comments Links to this post

Check your Gear..even if you think you don't need to

Sunday morning I got up early (4:30am) and headed down to Heybridge Basin to see if I could get some dawn shots. Heybridge basin is where a canal (the Chelmer Navigation) meets the tidal estuary of the river Blackwater. A sea-lock connects the two, when there is a high tide.

The river itself is surrounded by high sea walls and for most of the time the tide is out. So it is not an easy location to shoot, but I had planned my shoot for a time when high tide coincided with dawn.

The night before was the Saturday nearest to Guy Fawkes Night, which means an awful lot of fireworks. I'm sure this is a lot of fun for a lot of people but for us it's a pretty retched time as you try to comfort two terrified dogs, who get really stressed out by the bangs and occasionally throw up with the stress...which is nice. In the middle of this mayhem I was trying to pack my gear for the following morning.

I packed carefully, following my checklist, but when it came to the point of checking if the batteries were fully charged I looked at the camera and it said 3/4 full plus I knew I had a spare battery in my kit so, with all the rest of the hassle that night, I didn't bother....big mistake!

Things started off well with me perching on the edge of the lock to get an image as the sun started to rise over Northey Island.

Heybridge Dawn
(Click to view large)

Then the most remarkable thing happened, as the tide started to rise the place burst into life, the lock keepers appeared & started to open the lock, boats started to move and even the pub opened..all at 7 o'clock in the morning!

Obviously high-tide is the only time that boats can get in and out of the basin and so people have to build their activities around it. Realising that it wouldn't be long before a boat made it's way towards the lock I positioned myself on top of the rear lock gates and waited till the boat came in to the exact position I needed it to make the composition I had set up complete.

Waiting to Lock
(click to view large)
If you look carefully you can see a lock keeper on either side of the image, helpfully balancing the composition

Now all I needed to do was wait for the boat to come in to the lock and I would get a nice series of pictures of the boat locking in fantastic light. At precisely the wrong moment my battery ran out. So I quickly opened my pack and got the spare out...which was flat too!

I had no choice but to pack up and walk away, muttering to myself about the one that got away. Lesson learned - always check your spare battery has charge. I hope you can learn from this and don't suffer a similar fate yourself.

Labels: Equipment, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 08:23 2 Comments Links to this post

The Friday Project - Another Update

Autumn in the City (Southwark Cathedral)

Being a successful blogger is all about giving your readers what they want. Hardly a day goes by with out an email arriving asking how my Friday Project is going. So for all of you who need to know here is an update.

Wood and Glass (Near City Hall)

I'm no longer heading out into the city on my own as I am now often joined by my friend Steve. Steve is new to photography and it's great to go shooting with someone for whom it's all new. Also Steve is a security guard magnet so whilst he is explaining to the security guard that he is not a professional/terrorist/pervert I can get on with the business of taking pictures.

Ropework (St.Katherines Dock)

The exercise of creating images in harsh lighting with limited time is still very stretching and pushes my creativity much further than turning up somewhere that is very photogenic and having all day to shoot it.

Instrumental (Royal Festival Hall)

---

Related Posts
Life Round Lloyds
A New Years Resolution
In the City
The Friday Project Update

Labels: Abstract Photography, Architecture, News, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 13:00 0 Comments Links to this post

Public Photography and the Law

Chapter Thirteen is becoming a real "must read" site for any UK photographer (that's why it is up there on the top left under recommended blogs). David Toyne is producing a set of articles on the legal aspects of photography and like everything David does it is well crafted and extensively researched.

Part 1 deals with Covert Photography
Part 2 deals with Stop and Search

both are very illuminating and go a long way to dispel some of the myths surrounding the law in the UK. I'm looking forward to reading a few more in the series.

Was it legal for me to take this picture - read the articles to find out.

On the same subject there is a pdf guide to UK photographers rights available here though it is now three years old so some of the information may be out of date.

Labels: Candid Photography, law, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 13:10 0 Comments Links to this post

Technology Obsession

Whilst away last week I had a revelation*, it occurred to me that I had been spending far too much time concentrating on post production whilst playing with Lightroom and Capture One v4.

I spent a day walking and enjoying the beautiful countryside of the dales. It shouldn't be too hard to create beautiful images in such a lovely environment, yet I found that every time I was taking an image I was looking through the viewfinder thinking things like:
"I'll crop that out"
"I'll clone that"
"I should be able to recover that highlight or shadow detail"
"If I increase the saturation on this, It'll look great"

Once I got a chance to review the images that even I can say quite categorically that everyone of them was irredeemably shite! It dawned on me that instead of working out why I was taking the picture and what it was I wanted to show I had instead become obsessed with the process.

After this I decided to slow down and consider each image as though pressing the shutter release was the absolute final moment of the process. The quality of my images improved dramatically.

West Burton Falls (what happens when you forget about the technology)
(Click to view large)

Maybe it's a good idea to forget about the technology and just concentrate on the stories you wish to tell with the images you create.
*that's when an idea comes to you, as opposed to a revelsation which is what happens when you put a choccy in your mouth and discover it has a coffee centre not peanut.

Labels: Equipment, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 13:55 1 Comments Links to this post

Stile Style

We had a great a week in the Yorkshire Dales. Every day we did a walk around a different part of the Dales. It was great to be out in such beautiful country just us, our two dogs, the views and the weather...lovely

The only downside on our walks was the local farmers obsession with making complicated stiles. The British Standard Stile was nowhere to be seen and were replaced with simple slots in the dry stone walls. Having decide that these were far too functional and hardly made things complicated at all, the farmers seemed to be in competition to add extra complications: A gate, 2 gates, steps, missing steps, extra powerful springs on the gates. The variety was amazing.

At one point we hit 6 different stiles in a little under three hundred yards. This really slowed down our walks because the stiles are designed to keep out sheep but let people through. Our two cocker spaniels are pretty much sheep sized so lifting them through the gaps added a "full body workout" to a simple walk...still it helps keep you fit I suppose.

Rock & Rust
(Click to view large)

In Arkengarthdale we came across the ultimate of the breed; a tall narrow stile that was guarded by a sheet of corrugated iron. Travelling through the wall involved throwing 2 walking poles, 2 rucksacks & 2 dogs over it first! Whilst waiting my chance to squeeze through I became fascinated with the colours in the rusty corrugated iron and its juxtaposition against the rock.

When you are in the right mood inspiration can strike anywhere.

Labels: Humour, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 12:50 0 Comments Links to this post

What's Important?

I was talking to another photographer about their workflow the other day and they said something like "I use raw for important stuff and jpg for everything else". I replied with 2 questions - "Why? and how do you know which is which?".

For me the best thing to do is to stick to one workflow and treat everything as important...

Take 2 workflows into the shower?...I just want to raw and go!

The important part about setting up a workflow is that it should become automatic for you. Once you have taken the time to work out what you do at each point, and made sure you have each part of the process protected from failures, the hard work is done. The workflow should automate as much as possible so you can concentrate on creating fantastic images and not worry about filenames/directory locations/backups/etc.

If you have two workflows, each will be slightly different and you have to think what you are doing - and that's not good. It also adds an extra stage when you come to access the images at a later date as the first thing you need to decide is "did I think these were important?" before you attempt to retrieve them.

So what's important to you?

The thing to note is that the importance of an image changes over time.

Many pictures simply have value through their age - take a look at any of the shops selling old photos of street scenes. At the time they were taken most of the photos were as dull as ditchwater, but now they have a value just due to them representing the time they were taken.

In The Meadow
(Click to View Large)

Pull out an old photo album and shots that had little importance then, seem to have a magic all of their own as you discover long-lost events and friends smiling back at you from the page.

I have misjudged the importance of an image too many times:

• A simple snap of a friend became very important when that friend died a few days after.
• Some snaps of dogs playing on a beach weren't important to me but one of the owners loved it and wanted a large print.
• Whilst staying at a farm/nature reserve - I just took some shots of the wildflowers to get to grips with a new lens, not important top me, yet the farm has asked if they can use them as 6 foot high posters in their new education centre.

A snap today could be an important historical record today.

---

In Praise of the snap
Workflow

Labels: Taking Pictures, Workflow

posted by Chris Shepherd at 13:35 2 Comments Links to this post

Sometimes a shot just works

Things are looking up:

I finally got my camera back from the menders, I'm a £170 lighter! Lucky it was only minor damage. And I have sorted out my laptop colour matching problems....I uninstalled all the colourPlus software and gave up!

In the mean time I have had a chance to play with some pictures, I revisited this picture:

Light after Death
(Click to view large)

and decided to convert it to black and White. I used The Lights Right Studio B&W conversion actions to convert it to B&W. The thing I like about these actions is they are based on representations of different coloured filters, they also have the option to put all the filters on the image then switch between them.

I ended up with this image:

Death in Black
(Click to view Large)

I feel both images work, the first emphasises the lovely warm evening light, whilst the second is more about the shape of that lovely tree. Which do you prefer?

Labels: Photoshop, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 18:54 2 Comments Links to this post

What a fun Holiday Cottage.

I'm still without camera as it is being carefully repaired due to me throwing it roughly to the floor. So I though I would just show you something that I rather enjoyed. A few weeks back we went to the lake district and stayed in a lovely cottage in Coniston.

What made this cottage special was not it's central - yet quite location, nor its table tennis room, or its pool table room or even the fact that the garden was crammed full of wildlife that you could happily spend all day in with a big lens.

Cute Rabbits on the lawn

No the thing about this cottage was it's garden..it had a miniature village in it! Here are a few snaps of it:

Smudge and the Castle

Another Castle

Robin on the church

The Cottage and a model of itself.

The cottage had once belonged to John Usher who created his own miniature village in the garden, after his death most of his village was moved to the ruskin museum but a few of the bigger buildings still remain where they were built. How much fun is that :)

The Rest of the village in the museum

---

Related Posts
In praise of the snap

Labels: Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 18:55 0 Comments Links to this post

Life round Lloyds

Judging from the constant barrage of emails I receive, for many of you hardly a day goes by without you wondering how I am doing with my new years resolution. Well here is another instalment.

Last week I visited the area around Lloyds of London to get myself a few shots of the new Willis Building. Unfortunately its still surrounded by hoardings at the ground floor level, so I had to content myself with what shots I could get giving the beautiful sweep of this building.

The Willis Building
(Click to view large)

After that I decide to try an abstract of a nearby tower.

Pyramid
(Click to view large)

and then tried to capture the hustle and bustle of the city.

Steps
(Click to view Large)

---

Related Posts
A New Years Resolution
In the City
The Friday Project Update

Labels: Abstract Photography, Architecture, News, Taking Pictures

posted by Chris Shepherd at 20:00 0 Comments Links to this post

Full frame and Cropping

I have been thinking about Paul Indigos interesting article on the almost lost art of composing Full Frame. If you haven't already read it, why not pop over and read it now - its OK I'll wait.

A couple of points strike me about the article that I feel is quite interesting. Paul says:

"Cropping both the longest and shortest sides of the frame is in my book almost sacrilege and to be avoided at all costs."

I have been trying this for a while and have noticed that the viewfinder on my camera actually doesn't show me all of the image that is actually recorded. Sometimes a little all-round crop is needed to get what I actually saw through the viewfinder rather than something with the corner of a leaf poking in.

High Dam - Composed full frame but a leaf on the right cropped out.
(Click to view large)

It seems to me that a lot of photographers are looking for a set of rules to use in taking photos: Subject must be on the thirds, horizons must be straight, no work should be done in photoshop, you should compose full frame, etc, etc. Personally I feel it is quite a sterile idea to tie yourself to a set of arbitry constraints that are dictated by photography magazines and books in the hope of producing a shot that is "perfect".

Instead these disciplines should be looked upon as ways to fire your creativity. Composing full-frame forces you to think more about the image you are producing and exactly what elements you want in the picture. In the same way working with a prime lens increases the amount of thinking you have to do when you are trying to get the picture compared to a zoom. Work full-frame w