Like most people, I find it difficult to detect gradual changes. For example, when you don’t notice the change in people you see everyday, but you notice the changes in those you don’t see often. The same can be said for things such as the movement of the sun, clouds, tide, flowers which open and close with the sun and other such phenomenon.

One way to make these gradual changes more visible is to record snapshots over a longer period of time and then review them over a shorter period. Like drawing a line on a wall to …more

Watched this?

Pete saw this and was insistent we have a whiteboard installed during our exhibition. So, we did!

Whilst Clay Enos found his subjects on the streets, we engaged the people who came to visit the exhibition. This might seem like shooting fish in a barrel, but it really wasn’t. Getting your portrait taken is probably one of the things you’d least expect to happen at a photo exhibition. After all, the idea is to go and look at photos. Right? So, the process still involved approaching a stranger and asking them to stand in …more

Fellow Fab photographer and shogun of high dynamic range imaging (HDR), Pete Carr, has co-authored a brand new book on HDR Photography.  Pete’s been instrumental in helping to bring HDR into the forefront of popular photography and this latest book of his, which is already amongst the best-sellers lists, promises to be an essential read for anyone interested in creating images with HDR.

Get your copy of HDR Photography: Photo Workshop at Amazon UK.

How we expose a photograph for a given scene can make the difference between it heading for the trash and being mounted on a wall.  Modern day cameras can automate the process with a degree of success, but understanding the basic principles behind exposure can provide you with the knowledge required when it comes to trickier lighting conditions that built-in camera metering systems often can’t cope with.

When taking a photograph, there are three primary factors determining how it is exposed; aperture, shutter speed and ISO.   Aperture refers to the size of the opening through which light is transmitted through a …more

Damien Lovegrove has released a couple of new wedding DVDs; Lighting Winter Weddings and The Big Day – the Lovegrove Way.  I’ve received a copy of each from Damien to review and after watching them both several times, I have to say they are excellent.  Full reviews to follow!

Here’s a link to my review of one of Damien’s earlier DVDs – Using Natural Light on Location DVD by Damien Lovegrove

It’s a phrase that I often find people smuggly stating about their photographs and I often wonder,

Does that make the photograph any better?

After all, it’s not as if image files coming out of a camera are untouched by any form of processing as each digital camera will carry out its own manipulation of the image before it’s spat out.

As far as I can recall, I don’t think I’ve taken an image that couldn’t be improved with some post processing.  What does that say about me?  What does that say about my camera?

The whole point of me shooting in RAW is …more

There’s nothing quite like the drama of a sunrise or a sunset to really bring a landscape photo to life.  If only there was a way to know exactly which direction the sun was going to rise or set when planning a shoot.  Well, you can do just that for absolutely free!

All you need is:

A copy of a sunrise/sunset chart
A compass
The sunset/sunrise time
A timepiece

With these handy charts, you can see exactly which direction the sunset and sunrise is going to be all year round.  Print one off and stick it in your wallet, purse or keep a copy on your …more

As a photographer, there are certain times when you might want to use a relatively slow shutter speed in order to increase exposure time. An example of such an occasion is when photographing a scene containing moving water and you want the movement of the water to be captured as a milky mist for dramatic effect.

An interesting question recently came up in a forum regarding one of my HDR composite Buttermere landscape images,

Why choose HDR?

High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging techniques aren’t new. They’ve actually been around since the 1930s, but have only really become accessible in mainstream digital photography relatively recently with the release of HDR software aimed at the amateur and professional market.

I took part in a poll recently that asked a very similar question to this post’s title, but it was asking whether or not I captured images or created them.

At first, my response was very clear; I was someone who captures images whether they’re portraits of people, animals, wedding shots, macro shots of plant life. My logic was that you couldn’t create images without there being something – already created – to capture. Taking photos at a wedding you’ve got to create sounds like a lot of hard work!

More recently, as I’ve spent more time and effort in …more

Based in Bristol, UK, Damien Lovegrove originally trained as a BBC cameraman and lighting director. He took the world of wedding photography by storm with his own unique style of photography back in 2000 and has since become one of the biggest names in wedding and portrait photography.

Alongside a range of exclusive photography services, Damien also lectures; offering workshops, seminars and even mentoring. As well as face-to-face sessions, Damien’s teachings are available in two tutorial style DVDs; Using Natural Light on Location and Using Flash on Location.

In his DVD, Using Natural Light on Location, Damien talks through a …more

The weekend just gone was the first opportunity I’ve had to shoot a wedding with my new digital SLR gear and boy was it a lot of fun! I didn’t have the responsibility of being the couple’s main photographer. Instead, that role was filled by a couple who were friends of the couple getting married. However, since they were only asked to cover the formal shots in and around the ceremony I more or less fell into the role of reception photographer.

If you’re the type of person who would judge a book by its cover then you’d probably never buy a copy of this!

Check out the invisible elbow underneath the Aces…

This week, I’ve taken delivery of a new Canon Speedlite 430EX flash gun and a Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce flash diffuser. The purpose of the Omni-Bounce is to provide a bare bulb effect. This means that light will be scattered in almost every direction with some reaching your subject after having been reflected off another surface. This ought to provide similar results as bouncing a bare flash, but throwing light directly onto your subject can help to distinguish it from the background as well as provide a catch-light.

Today, I set about testing different flash photo set-ups with my helpful …more

Imagine losing all of your photos, videos, music and documents stored on your computer

At right this very moment, your data is at risk from any number of different ways of being destroyed, lost or overwritten. In an ideal world, computer hardware would never fail, laptops would never get knocked onto the floor and burglaries would never happen in your neighbourhood. In reality, these things can and do happen, often with serious consequences.

Fortunately, making back-up copies of your important computer files is easy and having a back-up can mean the difference between days of lost work and a few …more