How a background can make your photograph
Blurring or removing a background can give more impact to the subject. When creating a photograph it is all too easy to get caught up in your subject at the expense of something equally as important: the background. So many times we are frustrated by unwanted elements only noticed after loading the image onto our [...]
Movement and Energy
A busy intersection in Shinjuku District, Tokyo. f11 @ 2 sec. The blurred motion captures pedestrians hustling to their destination. Nothing conveys the bustle and energy of a big city quite like putting the camera on a tripod and setting the exposure to 10 seconds or longer. People merge together in crowds, car headlights stretch [...]
When Less is More
When I look at images from other photographers as well as my own, the ones that continue to appeal most to me are the most simplest in terms of composition. These are the images that focus on their subject and remove all unnecessary distractions to leave the viewer in no doubt of the story they [...]
A photographers greatest skill?
Shinjuku Dirstrict, Tokyo. After walking around the area for a little while, my overriding impression was how busy and past paced life was here. This is what I tried to communicate in the image. There are many different skills a photographer needs to create a meaningful photograph. Technical ability, timing, planning. But one skill I think [...]
Things I want to learn from Photography in 2012
This isn’t a new years resolution post. It’s a bit early for that and I don’t make them anyhow, but I came across an article online this week that asked the question: what do you want to learn about photography in 2012? Not: where to you want to take your business, or how much money [...]
Wrestling with auto focus
Confession: I have trouble with focus. No, I’m not talking about any type of ADHD condition (although that might also be an issue, but beside the point here). I’m talking about the act of making sharp photos. About what seems like the never ending struggle to make the camera’s focus system behave and see what your seeing. There [...]
Matt Brandon and the importance of light
Matt Brandon’s blog is well worth a read I came across this blog post recently by Matt Brandon on his Digital Trekker blog. Matt talks about photographers perception, or misperception, of what is “good light” or “bad light” and this post struck home with me because I often speak to other photographers and come across many [...]
The DNG Debate
There is a quiet debate that continues amongst the photographic community regarding the preservation of RAW image files and their compatibility with image editing software. The discussion centres around the many propriety format of RAW files used by different manufacturers and by different cameras within each manufacturers range. This means that third party software needs [...]
Contrast
Been thinking a lot about contrast lately as I shuffle through the post processing of another few hundred images, and I’ve been drawn in particular to the contrast within an image and how if effects the image. There are two types of contrast within an image- visual contrast and conceptual contrast. High tonal contrast in [...]
dpBestflow
dpBestflow is a web resource run by the American Society of Media Photographers (similar to our own AIPP) focusing on digital workflow issues including hardware and software considerations, colour management, storage and backup and offering guides to setting up and streamlining a post shoot workflow that works for you. The resource includes screen shots and videos [...]
International Back Up Your Stuff Day- Part 2
Following my recent rant on the importance of backing up, I thought it a good idea to put my money where my mouth is so to speak, and outline the backup strategy I have been using (albeit not vigilently enough up until now). This is not meant to be a post about workflow, just a discussion about [...]
International Back Up Your Stuff Day
Technology is our friend. Apparently. I had not one, but two hard drive failures recently. My main drive and a back up drive. Luckily, I have a second back up drive that I keep offsite that I was able to retrieve all of my files from and all that was lost was the time that [...]
A Note on Keywording
One of the most time consuming and laborious tasks of preparing your images for the marketplace once you’re done with the fun part of taking the photos is to attach keywords so that your images can be found by people who may wish to license them. Occasionally I get asked how I go about it, [...]