Chasing The Light

As I'm looking to take a new 'angle' on things this year, this is the first of my reviews, I hope you enjoy it.

Chasing The Light - Ibarionex Perello

In an era when everyone writes a book, I'm not often swayed by the latest 'My new book is available' but in the case of Ibarionex it was a must buy.
For those who don't know the name, download an episode of The Candid Frame pod cast and enjoy some inspirational conversation hosted by the photographer Ibarionex Perello. It is rare to find someone so deeply passionate about their art without sounding 'theatrical' and his photographs speak for themselves.
So the guy can hold a conversation I hear you cry, but what about the book?
First of all, it's not a 'how to' book full of do this and do that, it's a creative journey about light and how it influences the photographer and the pictures they take. The photographs are mainly street photography and show a great understanding of light, contrast, shape accompanied by some text that gently explains the 'whys' and 'hows' without reading like a manual.
As I read through the book I had a great feeling of affirmation that what I do (or try to do) is along the same lines and I believe many will feel the same.
Well written, beautifully presented, worth every penny and one book you will refer to time and time again, if only to show others some of the wonderful images it contains.

http://www.thecandidframe.com/

New Year?

So here we are, another year begins and all of us with good intentions no doubt?

I've made a few resolutions, not something I do normally, but what the hell!

First of all is a simple one; take more pictures. Practice makes perfect and it's easier to find excuses NOT to do something so the camera is coming out more.

Secondly; more bloggs and more tweets. With regard to blogging I'm going to start a few reviews, some for equipment and a few books which are essential for any photographer.

I just posted this on Facebook and wanted to add a bit of 'depth' to the picture and maybe pass on an idea or two.

I suppose the whole idea behind making a picture is getting people to think about what they are seeing; that can mean many things to many people, from a shot of someone dying of starvation in Africa to clown holding a bunch of balloons, most images are there to hold your attention and at least ask yourself a question.

That is where holiday pictures often fall down, three or four great shots of where you have been may make someone think 'wow, that looks like a great place to go' where as 150 of some place you have never seen normally makes you think 'please end this now!'

So back to the Dalek needing the loo, did it make you look for a few moments? Did you smile? Did you ask yourself any questions? I'm hoping for a 'yesy' to at least two of those questions, especially the one about smiling. The shot wasn't staged or planned, I just spotted it and let the image speak for itself really, Dalek needing the loo, what more can you say?

So sometimes it's worth looking around or trying a different angle, a great photographer by the name of Ansel Adams once said  'Once you find the shot you want to take, turn around because the view behind you is probably better.' Mr Adams I totally agree.

Regrets, I've had a few.....

Honestly, a few maybe but that's it and I never dwell on them.

Until yesterday that is! Listening to a Podcast while driving to work I heard an interview with a sports photographer who was working in South Africa at the World Cup (it was an old Podcast!). He was telling stories of the excitment in his job, shooting 2000+ images every game, editing and sending the images to his editor at the same time, 400mm F2.8 lenses and suddenly I felt jealous and a deep sense of regret.

Roll back a few years, 1986 I think, and picture a young 16 year old wearing a new suit off to take an elimination exam in Cardiff of all places. The ultimate reward was enrolment at Sheffield University taking a Photojournalism Course, the ONLY course Fleet Street recognised. The train journey, nervous lunch at Burger King and finally a two hour exam.

The result? Well, I'm writing this aren't I so I don't need to tell you. I managed to find a positive from it all, 12,000 applications for only 26 places, I never really stood a chance and maybe I could have spent more time reading the papers and watching the news leading up to it but the killer question for me was, 'Explain the rules of Basketball to an alien from another planet,' really? Are you serious? What got me was my sport knowledge was good, not perfect (obviously) but I could have done the same for football, rugby, tennis, badminton, F1, MotoGP, snooker, american football, table tennis, athletics etc. the list goes on and on. One sport I had never played or even watched, bloody basketball (and I have never done either since).

So whats my regret? Why the hell didn't I push harder, ask more questions? Why did I give it up there and then? Should my parents have pushed me harder? That's an easy one, yes, but they had their own issues to deal with but I should have done it myself. Youth, wasted on the young!

Instead of shooting top flight football, rugby internationals and cricket tests I got a job in a camera shop, smiling at customers, telling them why they should spend all their hard earned cash on the latest gear and taking in Mrs Jone's holiday films for processing. Bugger.

So there I was 25 years later driving my faithful Landy thinking 'What if?' It hit me hard, harder then anything like that has ever done before but then something had to one day I suppose.

Of course if I had known about Basketball and passed that exam (and passed the other two that followed) and been successful on the course and managed to get a job on a national paper (lots of points to fail there I think!), I wouldn't be here now. I wouldn't have the done the jobs I have done, or met the people I have met or most importantly become a father to my two children. I can hear you all cringe but the parents among you will agree I'm sure.

I don't regret the life I've had or the choices I've made, but it would have been a good life as a sports photographer.

Storage, how safe is yours?

I heard a quote the other day, 'Your Hard Drive is either dead or about to die.'

Ever heard that one? Apparantly HDD are prone to just packing up, I've had one do it and amount of messing around by an IT professional got anything back. That tiny little disc is spinning around thousands of times a minute, is it any wonder it gives up the ghost?

So now I have your attention, how safe are your photographs? Do you back them up? I'm guessing the answer is no from a huge percentage of people, it's just too easy to download them and forget about it because it won't happen to you.

The film days were a bit more forgiving, you had your prints but more importantly, you had your negatives, a tangable piece of back-up that as long as you looked after it, was always there if you needed it. Now we have a whole load of numbers squashed together that make up your picture, one dead HDD and it's gone, forever. Or maybe they are on a laptop that you leave on the train, or gets stolen, or falls on the floor........

So take half an hour (miss some crap on TV maybe?) and back them up on DVD's or another external drive. You can get over 1TB of storage for about £75, that is such a bargin and all your photos will be safe. Drop the drive off at a firend or relatives house and if something terrible happens (fire, flood riot!) then all those pics are tucked up nice and secure somewhere else.

It makes sense, so do it.

After all, it's just memories that you felt were worth recording in the first place....

Two posts in one day?!?

This is a shot from a very recent shoot and I just love it.

The reason for the shoot was working with a MUA (Make Up Artist) to promote her work. She brought along four models who sat patiently while the make-up was applied (and while I drank coffee) and then I took a series of images to show off what she had done.

As a photographic job it's relatively easy, but the hard work comes in trying to create a series of images that are interesting ehough to hold the viewers attention (which can be said about any form of photography to be fair). All the models were just friends with no experience so that's also a challenge but it was well worth it and great fun.

So why the image above as my favourite? I think it shows the make-up well, the model is relaxed and there holds a bit of mystery in the single direction lighting. I used a single light fitted with a beauty dish placed slightly behind and to one side of the model, a white reflector just added a touch of light to lift the other side of the face.

What do you think?



Back again

Well it's been a while, best laid plans and all that never seem to work out do they?

I've recently realised that things do go full circle in the end, from fashion to football the ones at the top will work their way down and back up again.

I mention that as I've been doing more nursery and pre-shoots, which is pretty much where I started many years ago. It's a sobering thought when you realise twenty years have passed and you are still waving a teddy around trying to get a child to at least pay attention!

Of course things have changed dramatically, it was a RB67 I was using back then, a monster of a camera that took 100' of film at a time and took all your strength to get it on a tripod.

How does that rate to today's cameras? Well, it's a damn site easier to find out you have 'got the shot' today, often referred to as 'chimping', I call it checking for customer satisfaction because if little johnny isn't smiling, mummy ain't buying.