Do you remember that?

As mentioned before I have been in and out of photography for many years, both as a hobby and as a profession. In this time I have taken many, many photographs and I have not only large hard drives but also stacks of negatives from the days of film.
For those of you who never used film it's hard to explain just how easy using digital as a format is now, the art of photography is not easier but the process of capturing an image is. I was generally criticised for taking four, five, six shots of the same thing with film, people would say it was a waste, but it meant I always got something I really liked, now digital makes that easier. Also sending off a film for processing or dropping it in at Boots was such a drag, waiting four or five days to see if your pictures came out was terrible, especially when after photographing someones wedding!
So the other down side of film was the negatives, fragile things that needed looking after in case you wanted more prints made or even enlargements. You could argue digital is even more fragile, at least you could physically hold a negative, where exactly are my pictures now?
Well the reason for this post was to say that I have been looking through these negatives, some in special pages to protect them and others still in packets stuck together!
And what have I found looking through these? Well, some are pretty good really but I'm shocked to find so many weddings, I just don't remember doing so many but then one seems pretty much like another after a while. The other thing I found was a lot of stuff on Black and While film, the images have a certain 'punch' that is so hard to achieve in digital which is why so many photographers still use film (in fact new film is still being released even today).
Now don't get me wrong, digital is way better, the freedom and control is fantastic but like I said when I started this, the 'art' hasn't changed. Any fool can spend anything from £50 to £5000 on a digital camera but 'seeing' the picture is whole lot harder, the sad thing is so many people pick up a camera, especially a DSLR and say 'I'm a photographer'. Good luck with that.......

Don't try and be helpful

So here I am again with these very occasional blogs, I plan to make these at least bi-weekly or maybe even daily to try and keep me on my toes.
Well I think it would be nice to pass on some snippets of information every so often, not just for the photo people out there but for the very random snapper also. This is aimed at both categories maybe as I see so many people getting it so wrong.
The basics for a good picture, amongst other things, is making it sure it is in focus and sharp. There is nothing worse than a great picture being spoilt by an easily avoidable error such as not holding the camera steady. Today's 'Point and Shoot' cameras are just asking for camera shake as the lack of a viewfinder (or little hole to peer through) means everyone holds the damn thing at arms length, the result is zero stability and really poor picture. So the simple rule is not hold it out so far, keep your elbows in tight and bend your arms, make that camera so solid it will be great every time and not just once in a while. If the opportunity is there, put the camera down on something solid or press yourself against a wall, or car or your other half, anything to hold it still.
Now you may wonder why I bring this up? Well, while out shooting some pictures of Churches locally (DSLR on a tripod, time delay etc.) a total stranger walks up next to, takes a picture and steps back in all the space of 1 second. I turn and smile, say good morning and he tells me he needs a new camera because this one just doesn't meet with his high expectations. Being helpful I have a look at the picture and see it's blurred, so I tell him it's mainly down to him not taking his time and holding the camera closer to his body. He turns to me, frowns and walks away as though I had just insulted his parentage.
So would I do the same again, of course I would but sometimes I wonder why I bother......

Told you so

After everything I said yesterday, here we go again.

Another day, another shoot and this was tough. Model shoot again at what was described as 'a studio' but sadly no, it was a front room! Now there are one ot two things you can do when faced with problems like this, the first is to spend two hours pulling your hair out and the second is to go home, sadly I chose the former.

So I have half-decent lighting gear already there but no space to use it in, the place stinks and the model isn't exactly what I expected. Having decided to stay I try my best to get some pictures but it just isn't working so I spend more time chatting than I do pressing that shutter release. After one more go I call it a day and pack up, dissapointed not to have got anything decent but glad to be leaving.

Back home and reluctantly view the images on the PC, the aren't great but I knew that already. With some tweaking I realise one or two aren't too bad and after an hour or so I have six images I would be happy to show the world.

I've a learnt a lesson today and I seem to be learning them all the time. This one is simple, never walk into anything with your eyes closed. I wouldn't do it for a wedding so why risk it here? The risk is lower but ultimately it's about getting the shot so from here on in it's plan, plan and then plan some more.

Now just a minute...

This is just a quick one, I promise. The reason it's quick? Well simple really, I'm going to have a quick moan.

Many people think that photography is a glamorous game, taking pictures of scantily clad women all day but obviously it isn't all about that (in fact it's rarely about that but those days do help). What you don't realise is the 'scantily clad women' are sometimes difficult to deal with and can be more trouble than they are worth.

Now don't get me wrong, models on the whole are great people and do a really tough job, us 'togs can think up some pretty crazy ideas and these normally involve the minimum of clothing in the strangest of places, so god bless 'em for putting up with us.

But then every so often up hit a problem and I hit one last week. Two models eager to get time in front of the camera ask to be in a shoot, I agree, book a studio and let them know a rough itinerary for the shoot. The result? They don't turn up!

So let's recap, they request a shoot, I do all the hard work and they don't come. Fickle or just plain bloody rude, you decide?

Where does that leave me? Well, sat twiddling my thumbs if I'm honest, wondering what the hell goes through their heads.

So the morale of this story is.......

.....I have no idea, sorry.