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Ardnamurchan in the Rain
Only three and a half days of photography but a wonderful experience. The biggest learning from this trip for both of us was how the rain enhances colours and even at this time of year when things can get particularly dull, there is still wonderful colour to be had if you can brave the rain. more
The Skirrid Hill Project
For many landscape photographers it is the project, either based around a specific area, subject or theme. I’m a big advocate for working on projects they add not just breadth, but depth. more
Give some Praise where Praise is Due
I've read a couple of blog posts recently that asked photographers to give a bit of praise and I thought I'd pass this request on. Next time you see a website or a photograph that moves you, spend a few moments to send the photographer an email or use the contact form on their website. Most photographers don't make much money out of their work an the boost that the praise from another photographer can give is so much more
Chris Goddard
This week I asked Chris Goddard from the south of Wales to send a couple of pictures of Mewslade to me to 'critique'. I'm not a huge fan of the term critique - hints of criticise but that is far from what I want to do here. The two photographs are wonderful interpretations of an area of the world that I visited and found very difficult. If you want to see some more of Chris's pictures, take a look more
Elemental Landscapes & The Photographer at Work – Harry Callahan
My interest in Harry Callahan was piqued when Joe Cornish showed me some of his work and I also saw him mentioned in relation to Minor White and Steiglitz. I saw a book called 'Elemental Landscapes' whilst searching on Alibris and had to buy it. I also bought 'Harry Callahan - The Photographer at Work' from Amazon. more
Hindsight – Scotland
A shot that is a bit different from Richard's usual modus operandi - taken with a medium format camera at the start of setting up his business in Scotland more
Harry Callahan
Harry Callahan, born 1912, was a photographer many of us could relate to. He wasn’t a graduate of any particular art school or a rich family who could support a creative life. Harry, an engineer by training, worked for Chrysler during the Great Depression and only started photography as a hobby during a ‘mid life crisis’ in 1938 (sounds like an early life crisis to me). He was going to buy a movie camera but couldn’t afford one so more
Which ‘Self’ do you Take Pictures for?
When asked ‘who do you make photographs for’, a very common answer is ‘myself’. However, given recent discussion, I started to think about what this means. When I started my photography, I didn’t know who I was doing it for. I did know that I wanted to show people what I was doing though; I wanted to share the buzz that I got from seeing these scenes with other people my wife and family seemed to bear the brunt of more
Tilt / Shift Photography
As people quest for more resolution and sharper pictures, they invariably encounter someone singing the praises of tilt-shift lenses. Most commonly used in close up product or architectural photography, these lenses allow the photographer to choose where the plane of sharp focus lies and also choose to correct or to manipulate perspective (to a limited extent). It is the ability to control where the plane of focus lies that we will cover in this article (we will come back more
Colin Campbell
In most photographers lives there are 'epiphanic’ moments where things become clear, or new directions are formed. What were your two main moments and how did they change your photography? The idea of a narrative existing within a photograph intrigues me. A successful image can be as much about atmosphere and storytelling as about the subject and the composition. The novels of Neil Gunn, a Highland author best known more
Sunsets?
Joe Cornish, Flow of Light I've just read an article in a popular outdoor photography magazine that was written in defense of shooting sunsets that I can't help but write a reaction to. He does say in the article that he knows many photographers who think that "capturing a sunset as a creative end in itself is a waste of time". Well I think I probably fit more
Hindsight – Family Holidays
A bit of a departure for Joe here as he takes his family off to New Mexico for a holiday more
John Blakemore
Unlike many of the photographers we have discussed in our ongoing Masters section, John wasn’t a photographer from childhood, being more obsessed with drawing wildlife. His passion for photography was inspired when his mother sent him an issue of Picture Post when he was in Africa when serving in the RAF as a nurse. This edition had some extracts from ‘The Family of Man’, a pivotal photographic exhibition that was put together by Edward Steichen which featured the work more
Spirit of Simplicity
Dark and threatening clouds hang over Great Gable's impressive southern flank. Representations of landscapes throughout western art history have taken a back seat to works depicting the dramas of human existence. In many cases landscapes were reduced to a stage set in a historical painting or a stylised backdrop for a portrait. This is unsurprising as for much of our history the more
Black and White Photographers Workshop – John Blakemore
John Blakemore has taught photography for over two decades and has worked as a fine art photographer for that period also. This book tries to distil his teaching into a single tome, covering technical and artistic bases along the way. The fact that this isn't just a technical tome or an art philosophy tome works very well in my opinion and reflects the fact that these two aspects of photography cannot really be separated (however much many photographers would more