Day at the Museum

The museum in this case being the world famous and historic British Museum in London. This is a photograph I took many months ago, while in the capital for a Christmas bash last year. It is a 3-shot HDR image, but at the very last moment (as I was preparing this blog), I decided to see what it would look like in Black & White, as the colour version just seemed a bit 'normal'. I began processing it further in Silver Efex Pro 2 and thought it's best look was this drawing-type, vintage look. I finished it off by adjusting the shadow colour in Lightroom.

I have an announcement to make on Thursday this week, so hope you will all come back to the blog then!

Walking on the Sands

It's probably a slight misnomer to say 'sands', as Hastings beach where this shot was taken is pretty devoid of sand. Pebble/stone beaches such as this are great for photography though, as they tend to attract less attention on a nice day. Not that that was a problem anyway on the day I visited in November last year, but that as well makes the winter months a great time to visit beaches. A good thing considering we are now heading that direction. This was shot as dusk was approaching and was one of many shots I took that evening while trying to get some long exposure shots.

What makes a good Photography Blog....?

Photography blogs do indeed seem quite common these days. As I have said here before, it seems a natural path for the keen amateur/professional photographer to take, to have their own platform to display their images and I think (obviously) they are wonderful things. I very much enjoy visiting photography blogs, seeing all the new photos people have uploaded and thoughts they have shared. I do though seem to have formed fairly strong opinions recently on what makes a good photography blog/blogger and rather than just keep them to myself, thought I would share them all today. So I'm going to look at it in reverse, i.e what I don't like about photography blogs. Please bear in mind that the following list is just my humble opinion. It's one of the great things about having a photography blog. These are not cast in stone rules and are certainly not meant to criticise anyone in particular. I'm very happy though for everyone to share their thoughts or comment on anything I have said.

So here it goes, in no particular order, these are things I think do not make a good photography blog:

* No interactivity by the blogger whatsoever - This is one that seems to have grated me a little recently. It's not that I want a full thank you and critique of my thoughts if I leave them on your page, but to say nothing to anyone who has posted is just ridiculous. I'm particularly referring to 'celebrity photographers' (which of course is only used within photography circles - most people do not know any photographers they can name, which is a good thing), some of them are lucky to get even 1 comment and still they do not acknowledge that comment. I have been 1 of 2 or 3 people to share my thoughts on a particular blog that has interested me, and the author chooses not to respond to these thoughts. It's actually quite illogical to me. You are never too big not to respond to people commenting on your site. The best photography bloggers do acknowledge comments and respond to thoughts shared.

* Infrequent posting - Yes I know, we are all very busy and nearly all of us have commitments outside the photography world. I know it isn't easy. I promise 3 blogs a week and struggle sometimes to find the inspiration to post. So I do understand the other commitments. But the problem you have to face is, if you do not post for a long time, people are going to stop checking your site for content. If you are going to be away for a while, you may as well just let people know, rather than just leave us guessing what's happened. And yes I do worry.....

* Lack of variety - I am working on this one myself. Rarely does someone post great photo after great photo, so it pays to have other thoughts and concepts to share. How about a video you like? Or a slideshow you have created? Or a blog about the latest photography rumours/releases? Again, I am working on all this like the rest of you, I have just come to realise that the best blogs, have something a bit more to offer than just photos.

* Routine comments - Now this one I know might be a bit controversial. I have to get it off my chest though and for good reason. Because I think it hinders you as a photographer rather than helps you progress. What I mean is there are many blogs out there that have the 'I scratch your back, you scratch mine philosophy'. Now of course I am not saying do not share your thoughts or interact with other bloggers. It's great that these micro communities build up and comment on each other's pictures, but again I refuse to believe you like every single picture a particular person posts. If you just comment on people's posts because they comment on yours, you are not really being honest. I'm only saying this is as I said because it's like the 'American Idol' false belief mentality. As long as people who like you, are telling you are really good, you are deluding yourself and won't become any better. I think there is an unwritten rule with my blogger friends that we comment on pictures we particularly like and that way, we know if it's 'a good one' or not. If I get more than a few comments, I know it's probably a genuinely good picture. I'd like to balance this up by saying I rarely look at a photo and think 'I don't like that'. But if you are going to comment regularly on someone's blog, then you should say what you like and what could be improved (some people are good at that) but I rarely see that.

* Having an agenda against a certain photographer/photography company - This is the last but certainly not least element. Again this one you see mainly in the 'celebrity photographer' arena. I'd love to point out examples but then that might seem to be having an agenda of my own. Needless to say there are well-known photographers who have written huge rants about what they think of another photographer's recent actions/efforts and to me it is as unprofessional as you can get. Over criticising one photo company or site, shows to me you have connections or money coming in from opposite sources as well. Again, I'm not saying don't have an opinion, we are all indeed entitled to it, but there is a difference between sharing your thoughts and looking like a petulant 15 year old whose girlfriend left him. Don't make it personal.....

So those are some of my thoughts. Having written this, I will probably think of many more but very happy anyway to hear your thoughts on what makes a good photography blog.

Today's picture is taken from Hever Castle in Kent, at the magnificent lake within it's grounds.

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.

It's Summer so Let's Play!

Well I hope the weather in England, indeed wherever you are, is fantastic today because it's less than a week now until the end of August and the beginning of autumn. Not that autumn isn't a great time for the photographer, indeed some rate it as the best season. As I said on Thursday, I am currently in Poland this weekend, returning tomorrow. In fact, I'm writing this on Wednesday, so it wasn't really said on Thursday at all. This has gone all Back to the Future, so I'll quit while I'm ahead.

This another picture I took within the grounds of Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire. No one including myself can resist picking up a Croquet mallet, should it be lying on the ground waiting to be played, and indeed it is what I did after I took this picture. Croquet is such a uniquely summer game, that it seems a shame looking at it now, knowing that the on/off (mainly off) summer we had in England is shortly to be gone. Oh well, here's to what's left of the summer, hope you had a great one!

Mary's Church

Yes I know, the title should really be St. Mary's Church but I thought that was a bit boring and obvious. But this is indeed St. Mary's Church in Shaw, Newbury. In fact, next door is the historically famous Shaw House, the scene of the 2nd Battle of Newbury, one of the turning points of the English Civil War. I took this picture on Tuesday night, when we had a spectacular sunset in the sky (if you know of anywhere else we have them, then please let me know...). I wasn't planning on going out and taking pictures but the light was too good to resist, so made my way towards Shaw House, hoping to capture it in some evening light. Shaw House turned out to be fairly shielded from the best sky, so I had a look at the church next door to see if that would work and voila! It is actually the first original HDR I have posted since the beginning of August, so hope you have all enjoyed the standard shots and discussions since then!

I am in fact travelling to Poland today for the weekend, so might not be able to visit blogs or comment on comments on here. But, henceforth I shall return (he says like some kind of medieval war hero) on Monday, ready to engage with you all again!

Travel Photographer: The Ultimate Dream?

There are many different genres and subjects of photography but it is travel photography that often gets mentioned as the dream job. I think this is because for a lot of people like myself, it is what got them started in photography in the first place. Paris is the city that sparked my interest in photography, and the lack of any kind of camera apart from my phone was very frustrating, something I immediately sort to rectify when I got home.

Since then, photography has taken over my life and like so many of us photography bloggers out there, would love to make a living from photography. I was never that much interested in travel throughout my 20's and it was only once I got into the photography that I also acquired the ambition to travel to many places and picture them. It has taken me to a few places I would not have imagined visiting before, such as Venice (as today's pictures show) but I am still yet to go back to Paris. The nature of travel photography does seem a gold mine for photographers. If you travel enough, your portfolio will offer endless variety whatever subject you choose to picture. And of course everybody loves seeing pictures of foreign lands, perhaps being inspired themselves to visit places they see in a photograph.

There must be a downside to it though and the obvious one has to be the time spent away capturing those pictures. I watched a video on YouTube yesterday about a travel photographer (and regrettably I have forgotten his name) who spent 6 months travelling the world taking pictures for his new book. Now I applaud the dedication to his craft but surely that is a lot to take on a family should you have one back home? If you are a single person then I guess it isn't a problem, but even I who is getting married very shortly would not want to spend that much time away from home, there are more important things in life.

I guess the key as always is balance. Professional photography normally relies on more than 1 revenue stream and to be working locally as a full time photographer, whilst going away to foreign land for a few days to capture some pictures every now and then, seems like a great way to earn a living. Travel photography is often the dream for many aspiring photographers and like the artists of many years ago, will probably inspire people for hundreds of years to come yet.

Washing lines in Venice

Statue of Baldassre Galuppi in Burano, Venice

Lady of Murano

Better late than never today! I've just got back from my stag weekend in the beautiful city of Malmo in Sweden, which is why today's blog is very late. I'm tired physically and mentally but I have survived, always a good thing after your stag do! Anyway, I have no thoughts to share regarding photography now but obviously could not have left the day blank. So here is a photo I took last year of this superb glass sculpture from the island of Murano in Venice. This is one I had printed for my exhibition last autumn and now adorns one of the walls in my living room. A new photo and plenty of photography thoughts to come on Tuesday!

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?

Postcard from Liverpool

One of those pictures from my blog last year that has yet to make an appearance on this website. It is from a trip I made to Liverpool in September last year where the Liver Building was something I took many pictures of. I deliberately try not to post too many pictures of the same thing but with not being a well travelled photographer and promising 3 pictures a week, similarities do occur here and there. I processed this shortly after another picture of the Liver Building, so I wanted to attempt something different with this one and give it more of a postcard feel. This meant processing it in a vintage fashion, largely achieved in Nik Color Efex Pro. I never did decide which version of the Liver Building I prefer but this was well received on Flickr, so have always kept amongst my portfolio.

Blogging is not going to be easy over the next couple of weeks as I am for the first time this year travelling abroad, in preparation (legal stuff) for my wedding in Poland in September. Unfortunately, I won't be taking my D700 along with me this time, mainly because with nearly 6 weeks to my wedding, I have to get my priorities sorted for once and put the wedding first. Ironically, when I do travel over for my wedding in September, there will be plenty more time for pictures, as we are over there for much longer and taking a car. So I will set blog posts up but am struggling for pictures I want to post, so I'll be the first to admit, it could get interesting!