I can’t remember where I got this from. For a typical assignment at the old Life magazine, the editors expected the photographer on location to shoot at least eight basic types of photos to ensure complete coverage of the situation and to guarantee enough good pictures for a layout. 1] Introductory or overall – usually…
Category: Technique
#41 – the beauty of twilight
In my eyes, the best low light photography isn’t done in darkness, it’s done just before, just after the sun has set, but before the sky goes it’s inky black. It’s for that brief period of time when the sky goes a lovely cobalt blue colour, and you can really make a feature of the…
#39 – Industrial Lines
Taken on a recent tour of a steelworks. I deliberately underexposed, and then did a bit of masking and curves adjustments to get the image I had in mind when I took it. I think they used to call it ‘previsualisation’ in film days.
#36 – cold war victor
Trying to photograph people using long exposures is nigh on impossible, as it’s difficult to stand absolutely still for more than about, 1/30 sec apparently. It’s not too bad if the person is at a distance, as any movement is less noticeable, but even so there is a limit. I’d taken most of the pictures…
#19 – Compact Cameras Part 2 – Top Tips
Compact Camera Tips 1) Find out how to activate the macro focussing. This is normally a flower logo, and will enable you to focus as closely as 2cm. 2) Buy a mini tripod. This will allow you to take pictures at night, and will help you to keep the camera steady when you’re using macro…
#17 – Compact Cameras, Part 1
What have all the above photos got in common? Well, nothing visibly, other than the fact that they were all taken with a small £150 Fuji compact. You don’t need an all singing, all dancing SLR to take a nice picture, it’s only when you want to start doing more complicated things that an SLR…
#5 – ARCHIVE December 2008: Proper Use of HDR
A quick tour of any of the Urban Exploration groups on Flickr will show you how many explorers murder their pictures in post processing. Sorry, and I’m not trying to blow my own trumpet here, but in my opinion, the best way of using HDR is with a degree of subtlety. This photo of Grove…
#4 – ARCHIVE APRIL 2009: Subtle Applications of HDR
Having visited Ivy Bank Mill once, I somehow felt compelled to return. Given the appalling state of the building, this was arguably a rash decision, but the place had something about it. I also wanted to return with a tripod as I had, in retrospect, unwisely left it in the car on my first visit….
#3 – ARCHIVE MARCH 2008: Composition
Whole volumes have been written on photographic composition, which will explain things far better than I can. Not being artistically trained, I’ve tried to read a few, but I’m not sure how much has sunk in – I think I’ve learned more by looking at the work of others and seeing what works. I tend…
#2 – ARCHIVE MARCH 2008: Selective Colouring
http://www.theviewfromthenorth.org/photo2926587.html I’ve been asked a number of times how I created this image, so I thought it was about time to explain. It’s quite easy really – here’s the steps I took in Photoshop CS2. 1) Open the image. This started off as a full colour image. 2) Duplicate the layer (Layer > Duplicate Layer)…
Mechanical Landscapes 