Lead in lines- tips for good Photography - Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

When composing a picture look for the edge or line of an object to make a strong link to the main subject of your picture whether that is a person, another object or a landmark. For example in this picture the chain and rope are obvious foreground features leading to the main object in the middleground.

This is particularly important in landscapes where the eye can be drawn from one part of the picture deeper into the image if it is well composed. Here the sinuous stone walls lead the eye into the bridge.

This can also be true of pictures of people where the surrounding objects can be used to focus the attention of the viewer. It may also make your portrait shots more interesting and unusual. This picture of Oona playing uses the line of the flute to lead the eye in, and because of the angle it becomes a profile portrait.

Any comments on these 'helpful tips' greatly appreciated.

I hope you have a happy New Year!

Richard

Explore those settings - tips for good Photography - Have a very Happy Christmas!

Want to take more interesting pictures?

Want your images to stand out?

If you get a camera for Christmas or already have one, then spend some time exploring the automatic settings; or even try to get to grips with the manual controls if you want to be more creative and have pictures that make people go 'Wow' when they see them.

One camera I have, a Nikon D90, has 9 different possible settings other than fully automatic. My wife's Panasonic DMC-FZ38 has 11, and sub-settings include a setting especially for taking pictures of food!

 
Where to start? One setting which I use a lot is called 'aperture priority', usually indicated by an 'A' on your cameras controls. The aperture is a hole in the lens the size of which can be altered which allows a controlled amount of light into the camera.  If I want the background or foreground really blurred, like in these two pictures, I use a large aperture. Aperture is prefixed with the letter 'f' - so f2.8 is a large aperture with a strong blur, whereas f22 is a small aperture which will leave almost everything in focus. Professional photographers use low 'f' numbers all the time to make portraits 'pop', or for special effects.

Why not have a go? Christmas decorations and lights look really cool at f2.8. Read the manual for the camera and take control.

Have a very Merry Christmas, and happy photo taking.

Richard

Using a frame - tips for good Photography - Merry Christmas!

Images can be made more interesting if we use other objects to frame the main interest in the picture. The following snowy garden and bright red door are an obvious example. In this case the gate and the holly actually compete for the attention of the eye but it works for me, making me feel Christmas is close.

The next picture uses the the dark trees on the left to frame the bridge and the canal. I could have cropped the tree out but this would also have affected the balance of the composition. The arch of the bridge frames the narrow boat and bridge in the distance. The tow path also acts as a 'lead-in' line, helping the eye to focus on the main point of interest. More on lead-in lines in a future post.



Such pictures could make great Christmas cards adding a personal touch. Lots of photograph based websites such as Flickr via Snapfish give the opportunity to turn your pictures into such cards. You could give the money you would normally spend on cards to charity.
Merry Christmas!

Christmas parties - how best to photograph family and friends? - tips for good Photography

Candid party shots can look brilliant with the participants not aware of the camera. It was a privilege to photograph a Company's employee children's party last Saturday.

The children are mesmerised by the entartainer and throw themselves into games- I caught them off guard and it made for some excellent portrait shots. Remember the previous posts about getting the eyes sharp and getting up close. Thanks to the parents that gave me permission to use the following pictures.

Take plenty of photos and choose the best to make into special Christmas cards, etc.

Add a bit of text to give your picture context and to ensure a a photograph to remember, especially if Father Christmas is about!

The eyes are the window to the soul - tips for good Photography

Time for the weekly tip and this one is about the importance of eyes in a portrait. If nothing else is in focus make sure the eyes are, most cameras have autofocus so make sure when reviewing a picture in the screen on the back that the eyes are crystal clear. The eyes on this young dancer are stunning.

I almost always use a flash outside and one reason is to make sure there is an 'eye light', this is that sparkle that we see in moist eyes. One more thing, get in close, it almost always improves the image and we can see the detail in the eye which again brings them to life. Again most modern quality cameras will allow you to get closer to people to bring out their character.

I hope this proved helpful. Very happy shooting!

Keeping it simple - tips for good Photography

Hi readers. Each week I will publish one handy tip for making your photographs even better than they are. I will offer up one of my own photographs which I think helps to illustrate the learning point being made. Feel free to comment on whether you thought it useful.

This week it is 'keeping it simple'

This picture was taken at a wedding recently. It was not a posed shot but taken candidly as people were coming out of the ceremony. The bridesmaid was standing in line which made it easy to get into the right position. There are no distracting details and one is drawn to the face, particularly the eyes. I have cropped (cut the picture) to a square format to improve the composition and reduce even  more any distractions. Making it black and white simplifies the image even further, although it looked great in colour too.

Even very simple photo editing programmes should allow you to 'crop' a picture and the simplest way to turn them black and white is to 'desaturate' (takes the colour out).

Happy photography!

Staffordshire Firefighters receive long service medals and awards

It was a pleasure to photograph these people as they were honoured for their long service to the community. As  with most public servants they are probably facing cuts, but can we afford to run down vital parts of our society? We may end up paying more in the end if we don't support and invest in quality people like this, and that cost may be in lives and quality of life.

Musicians - picture the sounds

Enjoyed listening to a Flute Choir called 'La Flûte Harmonique' at the weekend. The concert was extremely entertaining.

Russell Gillespie is the conductor of the Choir and his personal playing was brilliant.

Portraits, portraits, portraits!

Getting to grips with the new lighting, enjoying every minute. So lucky to have this beautiful woman for a wife.

SWPP training day - Tom Lee gave brilliant advice on how to pose and use lighting

I attended a SWPP training day recently where Tom Lee showed 10 enthusiastic photographers how to pose people professionally, and how to get the best from available, flash and studio lighting. Vivienne the model almost made it too easy, knowing what we wanted before we did!

Cannot wait to use my new studio equipment!

Elements Studio Lighting has arrived!

New lighting, backgrounds and support system have all arrived as I refurbished my studio. It is now  a priority to get it all installed and open for business! Really looking forward to increasing what I can offer clients and the greater range of creativity a studio will give me.

Beautiful Wales

Worked in North Wales today. Despite the rain I really enjoyed the countryside. The hills and mountains of Wales were my first experience of upland landscapes and I have really enjoyed photographing them recently.

Advertising, Advertising, Advertising!

I have had so many approaches from different people offering to help me advertise my business. The tough call is how cost effective it all is, and which package to go with? Word of mouth is great once you are started, but what catalyst do you have to use to start the reactions? I have had nothing but positive feedback from the people whose pictures I have taken, but getting a network going and getting known is a challenge.

Which new lighting equipment to buy?

I spent part of the day looking for a new set of studio lighting. Needs to be portable bit also bright enough for most portrait and small scale commercial work. Cannot decide between Interfit, Bowen and elemental? Still, I am looking forward to getting the lights and doing some portraiture. Got some bookings, but want more. If anybody reads this and has any suggestions about the lighting I would be pleased to receive an email.

Firefighters of the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service in action in Stone.

New Commission secured today

I am looking forward to working with the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service at their presentation evening on the 16th November. I saw them put out a fire in the village of Stone and thought them incredibly brave and professional. I have never begrudges paying taxes for their work or health, education or local services.