Castle Combe Water

The second picture posted from Castle Combe in a few days, this one is actually very similar to a picture I posted a few years ago (here is the link). Although that picture was well received, I always felt it was a bit too  'warm' and bright, so always wanted to create another version of it.

The emphasis on this version is very much with the water, as the angle I took this one at was much closer to the stream. I have processed it in similar way, though with more clarity, less warmth, and dimmed the brightness down.

Inside Castle Combe

Perhaps the latest I have ever blogged, but not going to budge from my set blogging days of Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Today's photo is from St. Andrew's Church, in the village of Castle Combe. As a couple of my recent photographs have been, this was actually taken more than 2 years ago in July 2011. Castle Combe is a very old English village, and as such has been used for many film and TV productions, one of the most recent being Steven Spielberg's War Horse.

From a processing point of view, this is the first photo I have processed using the new version of Photomatix - Photomatix 5. I am impressed with the different processing options available, but yet to explore it fully yet. I have also used High Pass sharpening for this picture. My normal method of sharpening is to use the sharpening tool in Lightroom, with the masking slider, to make sure it only sharpens the relevant aspects. I also like the Smart-Sharpen filter in Photoshop, but I find that High Pass sharpening works really well for interior pictures like this one, where you do not have to worry about sharpening aspects (such as clouds) that do not require sharpening.

I have another picture planned from Castle Combe to display on this blog, so that should be ready on Tuesday!

The Country Life of the Cotswolds

Often seen as one of the most desirable places to live in the British Isles, the Cotswolds is an area of land that mainly encompasses Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, and is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There are 2 villages within the Cotswolds, Bibury and Castle Combe, that I have posted photos of for well over a year now. The villages that you find in the Cotswolds are largely untouched by time and architecturally date back hundreds of years. For this reason they are very often used as sets in period movies and TV programmes. There are many villages to be found in the Cotswolds though, and include the subject of today's picture, Lacock, which was the latest of the Cotswold villages I have visited.

This is an HDR shot, though rather than use bracketed images, I sometimes just use a single RAW file, such as today's picture. This arguably (tediously as well) means it is or is not an HDR image, but it really doesn't matter. I like to put photos through the Photomatix works, as I still find that whatever you are trying to achieve, it helps the picture come to life a lot; adding superb colour and detail.

I'm now back from my busy couple of weekends abroad, but expect to be busy still for over a month, as the days begin to count now until my wedding in late September. I may take a break for a couple of weeks around that time, to get my priorities right (and take a break for taking a break's sake), but until then will continue to blog as usual 3 times a week.

How much are you learning Photography?

I've discovered a new joy recently. It seems quite a lazy pursuit at first, as it involves sitting in front of my TV but it has a massive plus side to it. I've figured out how to watch YouTube clips through my TV in glorious HD (else it wouldn't look that good). This is something you can do through the TV service I have, which is Virgin Media, but I'm sure is available on all the other platforms in some way. Anyway, the great thing about this is I don't have to watch 'normal' TV! Of course, I have programmes that I like and I watched a huge amount of the recent Olympic games, but there isn't much I try to 'catch'. There is even less I find to watch when I'm flicking through channels. But the opportunity to watch endless photography seminars and technique videos (and as I mentioned in HD), now you're talking! This is literally what I do when I sit down to relax now, put on a photography video on YouTube. I've never been one to sit at my computer screen and watch loads of YouTube clips (I just lose focus after a while) but watching them on my TV is much more how I like to do it. I've been watching seminars recently from Scott Kelby, Trey Ratcliff and Rick Sammon to name a few, as well as tips & tricks videos etc. This is entertaining and highly educational for me, as I am picking up lots of little nuggets of information every time I sit down to watch a new 'programme' on YouTube. The picture below for instance is one I processed after watching a video clip by Rick Sammon, giving out some helpful hints about processing with Topaz Labs:

The top picture (of Lacock village) was created using the Portrait Drama preset in Topaz Adjust, something I rarely if ever used, because I normally only used Topaz Adjust in company with HDR pictures (and normally only to bring more detail or 'pop' as some like to call it). The below picture is as you can guess the RAW file before being processed in Topaz Adjust. I love how the Portrait Drama brings out the colour of the sky and brings the picture to life somewhat. It's just learning to use little things like this that make watching these clips on YouTube a great new tool in my development as a photographer.

Which brings me to the question at the top of the page. How much are you learning photography? Youtube clips work great for me and the other great source I use are books. I do read photographic magazines and find them inspiring, but after a while the information seems to get repeated, if you read for long enough month after month (except for new photos of course). I'm also looking into going on a course this autumn because I want to get better fast at the moment. I can't believe that investing time in learning photography would be anything but a huge pay off down the line. Don't you think?

Quintessentially English

You can't really tell from looking at the picture on the net but that's exactly what the shop name in the middle of these buildings reads. I thought it would be a good title for this post. This is another one taken from Lacock village in Wiltshire last weekend and is a single RAW image HDR. I don't shoot too many of them, though don't have a problem either using one for an HDR image instead of the full bracketed set. There is so much unnecessary debate (IMHO) out there regarding what is a real HDR and what isn't. I take the line of photographers who judge it more on what the picture looks like, than the technicalities of production. Everybody knows the 'HDR' look and this is why people love HDR photography, not whether they used proper HDR techniques or not to get the shot. "Oh no, it's a tonemapped image, not an HDR!" they say. Come on, it's all the same really. I once had a guy email me on Flickr saying I shouldn't be labelling my civil war pictures 'HDR' because they were single images not bracketed shots, and that I should therefore be labelling them 'Pseudo-HDR'. Get out of here! Such a boring and pointless thing to address me with, I'm pretty sure he corrects everyone where he lives when they say hoover instead of vacuum cleaner. As I said last week though, it's extremely difficult to do hand-held HDR shots with the weighty D700, therefore more than a few of the images from Lacock (and I have already posted a few) will be taken from single images, whether they are HDR or not.

An old teenage dream died of mine last night, when I finally realised I have no more passion or want to record music. It was my ambition for many years to be able to record music for a living and have always wanted to combine music with photography, since the photography ambition came around. I had planned to create a slideshow for today's blog but a few hours recording music yesterday reminded me of how frustrating it can be and I did eventually give up. I just don't have the burning desire for it anymore and processing today's picture for 20 minutes afterwards was a much happier and rewarding experience. This is truly where my heart lies now. I may still use a couple of tracks I recorded months ago for slideshows but I doubt I will record anymore. Should I want to create slideshows I will just cut together pre-recorded tracks on Logic Express.

Talking Photo with Pete Halewood

You may or may not have noticed a change in the blog title this morning. I have decided to change the name of the blog from 'The Photographic World of Pete Halewood' to 'Talking Photo with Pete Halewood'. The original title I felt was always a bit inaccurate for this blog but didn't really know what else to call it. I love sharing my views on photography as well as posting pictures and find this often inspires readers to comment as well. Therefore, the new title is more reflective of the nature of this blog and makes much more sense. I hope you agree!

Photo details: f/5.6, 0.0005s, 24mm, ISO 200

Finding Salvation

Ever since my blog a few weeks ago about where I want to go with my photography, I've been thinking about going in directions I never thought I would. Since I bought my D700 with a F2.8 24-70mm lens a couple of months ago, it dawned on me that having these 2 bits of equipment means I can become a Nikon registered professional user. I finally did my registration yesterday and am glad to say I am now a professional user but becoming this intrigued me a little. I've spent so much money on my photography (haven't we all!?) and now have professional equipment. Isn't time I started to make some money back? Even just a little? I have always wanted to be good and successful at photography doing what I pretty much have been doing, taking architectural and landscape shots, whilst being creative with them at the image processing stage. I'm in my thirties now and don't live in dreamland (my fiancé will disagree with me on that one), I know that relying solely on this approach could take years to recoup any substantial benefit, though I have sold a few pictures at exhibitions and local shops. But I am drawn now to want to make money from ways I never thought I would such as weddings and events. The idea of wedding photography never really did it for me, but having seen some stunning wedding photography out there (and I particularly recommend Catherine Hall's website catherinehall.net) I really feel that I am starting to get inspired by it. I have taken a few wedding pictures in the past (see my facebook page) but having also seen some local examples of what people pay for, I simply feel that I could offer a lot more. Just thoughts I've been having anyway, I'd be a very happy person to get paid for taking pictures.

Today's picture is another one of mine from Lacock Abbey that I visited last weekend. Having just mentioned getting my D700 recently, I have also learnt with this that I can't really get away with shots that I used to. For instance, I used to do a lot of handheld HDR (often because I would be out with other people and would not want to annoy them or slow everyone down) but with the lack of Vibration Reduction (VR) on the ridiculously expensive lens I bought and the weight of it all now, I can't really get away with doing handheld HDR anymore. The more exposed images simply come out a tad too shaky, which makes the HDR difficult to look sharp. Therefore, I think more single shot images like this one will come out of my Lacock Abbey collection rather than HDR's. The D700 I think will certainly make me a better photographer, as it won't let you take shortcuts to getting a good picture as I probably have in the past with the lighter weight equipment. I am looking at going on some photography courses as well soon, because apart from reading books, it's probably about time I took it seriously and learnt some proper photography!

Photo details: f/4.5, 0.001s, 32mm, ISO 200

Cloisters of the Abbey

After all the excitement of Team GB's Athletics performance at the Olympics last night, I pushed back writing today's blog until this morning (normally I write it the day before), so that is the reason it is up perhaps a bit later than usual. Amongst all the Olympic hysteria currently engulfing Britain, I visited yesterday the village of Lacock in Wiltshire, in particular Lacock Abbey. The abbey is a fantastic place for a photographer to visit, not just because it's a great place to photograph but because of it's place in the history of photography. The owner of the abbey during the early part of the 19th century was William Henry Fox Talbot and he was enthusiastically into the recent development of photography. The earliest known photographic negative dates back to 1835, which was taken by Talbot at the abbey itself. Today, there is still much information and history about photography at the museum and when I visited yesterday, there was an exhibition of Michael Palin's travel photographer's work, of which contained some stunning images.

The abbey dates back to the year 1229 (I'm guessing that wasn't an Olympic year) and elements such as the cloisters pictured above have survived since around that time. There are quite a few HDR shots on the web of cloisters from various different abbeys and monasteries throughout the world, so I was excited to be able to get a picture of my own. Some pictures have a panoramic view of both sides of the central pillar and though I have taken pictures that could make up a panorama, I'm not too sure I will attempt it yet. Although it shows off fantastic technique, if the image isn't calling for it, then I wouldn't do it for the sake of it. In fact, these are great places to try out a few photographic techniques (not just HDR), so there will probably be quite a few pictures of Lacock springing up over the next few weeks.

Wilton House

When I launched my 2nd photography blog last year, TheNightBoat.com (the first was the short-lived and appallingly named recordsofday.com), pictures of Wilton House were quite common from me, as I had only just visited there around that time. However, I never processed this picture, a portrait like HDR photo of the front of the house. This is indeed the first time Wilton House has appeared on this blog as well.

It's been so long in fact since I posted a picture of Wilton House, that I can barely remember anything about it! So rather than go into various different internet sources now, I will just say that it is indeed a spectacular country house near Salisbury in Wiltshire, surrounded by some spectacular scenery and gardens. Unlike when I visited Hever Castle a couple of months ago, Wilton House was not visited on a sunny day. In terms of HDR, that's not too bad as clouds can be much more interesting than a plain blue sky.

As I said, this is an HDR from the fairly standard 3 different exposures and processed in Lightroom, Photomatix, Photoshop and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

Just a gentle reminder, why not have a look at my new website HalewoodPhoto.com!

Castle Combe Bridge

I was going to post another picture of my local area Newbury today, but with the last 2 pictures being of Newbury, I'm worried they will all start to look a bit deja-veux. Therefore, I've decided to post another oldie from last year.

Castle Combe is a very picturesque and historical village in the Wiltshire countryside. Having a very unique feel to it, it has often been used in television programmes and Hollywood movies, most recently War Horse by Steven Spielberg. In fact, I wanted to get this picture about a year before I actually took it, but when we arrived in Castle Combe, access to the village was closed because they were filming War Horse.

It's fantastic for photography but is also a creatively a challenge to try and find unique angles and aspects to capture. It's probably been done before but for this picture I climbed down from the main path, down to this little stony, weedy area by the river to try and capture a view that encapsulates the bridge (that is a key feature of Castle Combe) and also the medieval houses in the background.