Once a month, I have a magazine delivered, Black and White Photography. In my view one of the best photography magazines out there on the UK shelves. It is a magazine that talks mainly about photography and does not get too hung up on techniques/projects. Don’t get me wrong there are certain sections of the magazine that relate to this but they manage to keep it straightforward and rather then tell you what to do, give you a prod with some suggestions/ideas.

One of these in particular is the section written by Tim Clinch, his Smart Guide. In the articles he discuses the use of mobile phones as a camera and which apps he uses and how he uses these to get the look that he is after. I enjoy reading these and in one recent article he suggested, leaving your main DSLR at home and just using a mobile phone.

That coincided with a small trip i was making with my wife to the city of Liverpool, so I thought well why not. the big bag was left at home, making a change, so just with the mobile phone off i walked. Unfortunately , the weather was against us, so I only managed a few images, but the experience has left me hungry for more.

November 13, 2017 0

7 day challenge

Just over a week ago, I was challenged by a friend to take one picture a day and post it on Facebook.

Only a few rules, one, it had to be black and white, there could be no people, and the final one, it had to reflect where I was.

Up for it, I set about the task in hand. I must admit that I found it a refreshing change and one that made me think about the environment I was in, and what i could take images off, that needed little explanation. For the challenge I only used my mobile phone, and then converted the images into black and white using the brilliant app, Snapseed.

So below are the 7 images from the weeks challenge, well worth doing, really enjoyed the week, thanks Rowan.

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November 6, 2017 0

End of an era……..

One a month, myself and few fellow photographers attend a small but informed club run by David Rann. David works hard at organising guest speakers, and some have been of the Richter scale in the talks that they give. Sadly though as much as tries , he is often let down my speakers failing ti turn up, cancelling. at very very short notice or not even bothering to return calls.

David also runs courses with approach to improve peoples photography techniques, and having been on several of these I can say that he hits the bulls-eye every time, from models to locations to advice. As with the club, he is often let done by no-show models and is left running around at the last minute to arrange replacements, who, occasionally also let him down.

David has now decided to call it a day on the courses and the club, after the end of this year.

David will be missed as I am sure that all the people that have been on his courses, myself included, have seen their photography improve significantly.

David, all the best for the future and thanks for your support over the last years…..

October 30, 2017 0

An afternoon in Birmingham

Just a few weeks ago I was at the media launch of the new Birmingham Conservatoire, now the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

This is the new home of the music school of Birmingham City University, the old one being demolished as part of the Paradise Circus rejuvenation works.

Living my DSLR at home, I used my mobile phone for the afternoon, easy to carry and less intrusive.

The Conservatoire consists of one main concert hall, one purpose built Jazz space, a recital hall, organ room and a project space, in addition to countless rehearsal and practice rooms scattered around the building.

The interior of the building is impressive and is a high standard, this is just the first class facility that the city needs. Looking forward to seeing it well used, and visiting myself as a customer, looking forward to watching some Jazz, and sampling their new beer.

October 16, 2017 0

A day with Phase One

A short while ago I was lucky to attend an event organised by the Flash Centre at a local studio in Worcester. The event was a hand on session with the latest Phase One camera, the impressive sounding IQ3 100MP Trichromatic, rather a mouth full.

After a talk by the product manager from Phase One explaining all of the new features, we managed to get our hand on them, not quite a scrum but a well organised wait, typically English.

Not having used a Phase One camera before, the weight of the unit took me by surprise, a very heavy beast, can see why they are used in studio and on tripods, you would not want to carry one of the beasts around taking holiday snaps….

The camera itself, was very easy to use, no manuals on hand but a after a few minutes of pressing the buttons on the top, soon got used to the controls.

Was very nice using it at 1/2000’s with the studio lights firing and no black bar evident in the images.

So on to the shoot, there were different situations already set up, one was a Lamborghini, very nice and as you can image, the queue to use the cameras in this area was long, so after grabbing a few shots with my phone, I based myself in the studio where a couple of motor bikes had been set up. Much less hassle and I was able to take my time and walk around and get up close.

A great morning, and the camera well impressive, would I like one, simple answer, yes, can i afford one, no, can i justify one, no, but one has to have dreams and aspirations.

Enjoy a few images from the day.

October 9, 2017 0

An evening with Marra

So another post from me. Continuing the thread of my last two posts, here are some more portrait shot of local model Marra. These were all taken in the studio some using using a single soft box on her right and a white board on the right to bounce back the light.

And before anybody asks/send abusive mail etc. the coat was faux fur. There are still some more images to process, still find it difficult to put time aside for editing. Think a time management session is needed, or more hours in the day…

October 2, 2017 0

An evening with Jason

So if you recall my last blog of an evening spent with Shawna, well during the same evening I was also fortunate to be able to take pictures of local model/actor Jason Seagade.

The studio remained unused for the shoot, instead the corridors and lifts in the building were use, along with a replica fire arm. Jason was superb and was able to bring to the shot a lot more than normal models were able to to. This was very clearly one of his attributes as an actor. He really jumped into and embraced his role, and hopefully from the few images attached you will agree.

The images were all processed using Lightroom, and then converted to Black and White using Silver Efex.

I did consider keeping some them as colour, but with the look and feel of the building, Black and White was the only way to go, enjoy.

September 25, 2017 0

A evening with Shawna

Last week I did a studio/location shoot with a model I had not worked before, Shawna. The location was the Strangetown Studios located in the Telsen building in Aston, Birmingham. This, many years ago was thriving business making radios, under the name of Telsen, hence the link. It fell into disuse, to be reborn as building now housing many and varied business, including several photo studios, Strangetown Studio been one of them.

The venue is a joy as you can easily flip between the studio with controlled light to the building itself, where there are endless possibilities to use natural light or speedlights, to mix in with the industrial look add feel of a building, lets be honest, in some parts has seen better days, but these give a ‘grunge’ feel to shoots.

So, here a just a few, both studio and location images of the evening with Shawna. As previous posts of other shoots, there will be a part 2 and possibly a part 3 to follow.

Hope you enjoy.

September 13, 2017 0

Lacock Abbey

So a while ago, we had a trip out to Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire. For those who do not know Lacock Abbey, it was the home of William Henry Fox Talbot. The building is now owned by the National Trust and has a photography exhibition space, where they display the works on various photographers

The museum, situated in the grounds of Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, celebrates the achievement of William Henry Fox Talbot. Talbot captured the world’s first photographic negative at the abbey in 1835 and invented the calotype process, paving the way for photographic processes on film still used today.

extract from the National Trust Website

The house is fantastic to explore and has been used as location shoots for many films, amongst them Harry Potter. Well worth wandering around the cloisters. The Abbey is located in the village of Lacock. The village is pristine, again being used as location shoots for TV and film. Walking around the village you do feel that you have stepped back in time, very easy to forget that you are in the 21st Century.

So after wandering around with the camera, I had a few images. Looking at them I though the best way to display them would be to try to replicate the method from Fox Talbot’s, so here they are. Originally edited using Lightroom and then converted to Black and White using Silver EFex and the Antique Plate preset.

If you are close or passing by, I would recommend dropping in, it is well worth the visit, and don’t forget your camera.

August 23, 2017 0

More of Cally

It as been a while since the last post, busy with life, doing the daily chore and teh grind of the normal. Not had much chance to do any serious photography. You may re-call that way back in June, when we had the summer, i did a shoot with a local model, Cally. I have already uploaded a few photos from the day. Looking through them on a rainy night, i realised that i had taken quite a few more than i had previously realised, now with a small amount of free time, I have started to go through these. So after a quick look, here are a few more.

There will be at least one more post of her images, possible two.

So enjoy these for now, looking forward, i have a shot planned through the Flash Centre, using Phase One equipment. Not used there gear before so really looking forward to that, not until September so a few week to wait.

August 11, 2017 0