Peter Hung

Neglect

2011-02-10T17:54:00.001-08:00

I've been neglecting my blog for some time now and decided it's time to start blogging again.. Wish me luck.

Structure - Ralph Gibson

2010-07-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

Structure. What is structure in an image? Well to me structure in an image is not the subject content. I believe structure is the way the photograph has been organised. To better explain structure I am going to be following up with blog posts to give examples of different structures. I think that the way we should learn is through example and also through visual means. It's okay if I ramble on about what I believe structure to be but I think it is better for every photographer to have their own views on structure in an image. First I'm going to look at the photographic work of Ralph Gibson. When looking at his images pay careful attention to the way the image is constructed both technically and aesthetically.

Ralph Gibson is an American Art Photographer. He is famous for his photographs and books and has been awarded with all kinds of cool stuff. He has been shooting with a Leica for over 50 years. Check out his work.

Vision Driven Photography

2010-07-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

Friday night, how do you usually spend it? I know I'd be with friends enjoying a cold beer and shooting the sh*t.. Not shooting as in taking photos, but literally talking over things that have no real tangible grip on my true reality. I got the email I'd been waiting for about two hours before it began. The links were all there and I got so excited that I smoked a few cigarettes, drank a lot of water and did some light exercise. By the time the two hours were up it was 7pm here in the UK and the Vision Driven Weekend was commencing.

So what was 'Vision Driven'? Well Vision Driven Photography was a creativeLIVE event which was headlining the world renowned David DuChemin.

Friday's session was 'ok' to say the least and David spoke of the need to have a 'Vision' when coming to take a photograph as well as going over deep intellectual theories such as 'micro versus macro vision'. He had a group of students all with different shooting styles and of course established his personality.

David used to do comedy which to me seemed like an added bonus to his teaching style as he seemed to be very light in his delivery of ideas and didn't come across as all super serious like most photographers that I've met. It was a refreshing experience for me.

Between Friday's session and Saturday's session David took the students on location to two different places where they had photo opportunities any student would only dream of having the chance of going to.

Saturday's session was more intense and was to me the best session held all weekend. David was teaching about how to express your 'vision' and again made references to his theory about 'micro versus macro vision'. It was so good that even in the chatroom on creativeLIVE people were getting involved.

My experience with the chatroom led to one of my questions being answered (YAY!!) in which David discussed his views on taking risks with photography. The chatroom was full of positivity and curiosity and I even made a couple of friends through it.

Another positive experience I had was that of the flickr group. That's right, everyone involved with the 'Vision Driven' weekend had the chance to share photos on flickr in a group designed specifically for David to pick real examples to discuss. But this happened more on Sunday's session.

Sunday's session David discussed and gave advice about workflow and post processing. I made notes about the workflow as David gave useful points.

Vision Driven Workflow.

The vision is primary.

Identify your intention. (Why you made the photograph and how you made it).

Minimize distraction.

Maximize mood.

Lead the eye.

Write it down.

Photography is subjective.

David then ran through his style of post processing using Adobe Lightroom and went on to make the most of the 'Vision Driven' flickr group. The session then ended joyfully with thanks to David, the CL team and the sponsors B&H Photo.

I ended up buying 5 of David's ebooks from the Craft & Vision website using the special discount code given to viewers of creativeLIVE and David answered another question of mine (YAY!!) about which book to read first hehe.

Overall it was a great weekend that I enjoyed fully, and a huge learning experience for me too.

Here is the link to the creativeLIVE website.

Here is the link to David DuChemin's website.

How Photography Connects Us.

2010-07-23T15:38:00.000-07:00

We all look at photographs quite frequently and most of participate in photography. I just found this wonderful video and thought I would share it, it's about 15 minute long.

Wedding Assistant.

2010-05-05T15:56:00.001-07:00

I assisted a wedding photo shoot. I was given a Canon 40D with a telephoto lens and no flash. I think I managed fine. I captured a lot of candid style shots and helped with a few formal photos too.

One event that happened was my boss (old college buddy Brian) bumped his head on his car boot which I didn't open properly. Blood everywhere I thought we would've had to abandon the shoot but it turned out that Brian didn't want to give up that easily so we progressed. I felt like I was shooting the wedding with Don McCullin lol.

Anyway, I still have no copies of the shots I took yet so I won't be posting them.

Happy snapping peeps.

Note to Self.

2010-05-05T15:51:00.001-07:00

Note to Self: Have had a lot of things I've been meaning to do, all I ever do is talk about them and never get them done so I really need to try hard to get things done now.

Besides working on photography at my own pace I've realised I need to do the things I set out to do. My blog, this blog, the one you're reading is one of these things. Somehow I keep neglecting it. I blame the internet. I blame disorganisation, I blame lack of motivation. I must try harder, I must write my blog. I must do the things I set out to do.

So this is my personal statement for effort. I will set out to write my blog, keep updating and keep renewing my blog from time to time. I will put the motivation I need into achieving what it is I have set out to achieve even if I still have not discovered that yet.

Landscape Photographs.

2010-02-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

Landscape work of three different photographers compared in terms of content and style.

Ansel Adams. The content is made up of a natural area, there is water, trees, mountains and everything covered in snow. A winter vista. The style is primarily black and white but looking closer we can see that great care has been taken to display the range of tones from a distinct and pure black all the way to pure white. There are midtones, highlights, and darkness throughout the photo. The composition is somewhat thought out because it shows concern for line and design. As well as this there is foreground detail as well as a clear subject on the horizon line. This image seems to have been taken for artistic reasons as it is nice to look at.

Bill Brandt. The content is mainly of rocks, sea, cliff, clouds and an ear. It is a beach landscape, although the beach does not seemed affected by humans. There is no litter, no boats, no piers but in the foreground is an ear. The style is also black and white but is not only a landscape but a portrait too. The man’s ear in the foreground is a strange foreground to be seen in a landscape image. Although the ear is there, the landscape is still present in the sense that it can be made out clearly by the eye and the photographer has considered technical aspects such as depth of field to include the detail and sharpness of the landscape. There is a full tonal range from pure black to pure white with all the greys between and the composition is well thought out. The image could almost be broken into three segments and considering the rule of thirds this image is near perfect. Maybe Brandt is trying to communicate something about form, shape and texture. At first look it seems like a strange photo.

Joel Meyerowitz. The content is made up of a rural area showing parked cars next to what looks like part of a small motel and there are power lines shown on the left. The style is different from Brandt and Adams because it is shot in colour. Besides this I think it is more in touch with social life than the other two. The nearest car to the camera has its doors open and makes me wonder if this is the photographer’s car. There is a lot of space in the sky but this is because the photographer has considered to include the moon and the power lines. This photograph differs from Brandt and Adams photographs by being shot at night. There is also lens flare from the moon but the image seems compositionally correct and the content makes sense. This photo does not seem to serve artistically as much as it serves documentation as though it is a record or observation of something.

People Photographs.

2010-02-02T11:17:00.000-08:00

In this Blog post I'm going to give examples visually and write briefly about each example and how they differ in function and approach.

Cecil Beaton, Marilyn Monroe.
This image is of the late Celebrity Marilyn Monroe. She is portrayed as a loving human being in touch with nature as she is holding a bird on her hand. Functionally this photograph could be used along with words in a story for a magazine. The approach seems somewhat informal, non intrusive and is quite an intimate portrait in the sense that the photographer seems to be almost ‘friends’ with her subject. Shot in Black and White.

Diane Arbus, Twins.
This image of a pair of twins seems to portray the strangeness of human beings. The odd pair of twins is an example of the weird and wonderful that human life encounters. Functionally this photograph could be used in a scientific journal or some kind of documentation concerning twins or something in relation to human offspring. The approach seems somewhat direct and formal . The photographer has used these twins as some kind of subject that would be useful to a collective meaning. Shot in Black and White.

Yousuf Karsh, Pablo Picasso.
This is a photograph of the famous artist Picasso. He is portrayed as a ‘thinking’ man and is sat down, head on hand next to what looks like a painted vase, which has probably been painted by himself. Functionally the photograph is also useful to illustrate a person along side a piece of writing that involves the artist. The approach seems quite formal compared to Cecil Beaton’s photograph of Marilyn Monroe but much more informal than the portrait of the twins by Diane Arbus. Yousuf Karsh seems to have designed this photograph for a purpose but at the same time kept it casual in the sense that the portrait communicates about Picasso and his achievement as an artist. Shot in Black and white.

Dorothy Lange, Migrant Mother.
This image is of a mother and her children. They are portrayed as somewhat in depression, fear and dismay. There is a lot going on in the photograph. Functionally this photograph is a piece of documentation that communicates the state of living these subjects are in. The approach seems almost informal in the sense that the subjects seem comfortable with the photographer. None of the subjects are looking into the camera and so it gives me the impression that the photographer didn’t acknowledge that she was going to take the photograph. On the other hand the children have turned their heads almost as though they are in shame, they are shy, or they don’t want to be in the photo. The mother seems oblivious to this although the children have moved their heads near her for comfort. Shot in Black and White.

Elliot Erwitt, White/Coloured.
This is a photograph taken during the era of when there was division between Caucasians and African Americans. It portrays a time that was different to modern day and somewhat shallow in respect to race differences. Functionally this has become a historical reference to times passed. It also shows differences in how culture behaved during those times and a definite division. I don’t know the story behind this photograph but I know that it serves purpose even today. There has always been an ongoing debate about the difference in race and racism. The approach seems to me to be of ‘a fly on the wall’ type approach. It is although the photographer was not there. The man in the photograph although, not the whole of the subject is captured as if with no knowledge that there is a photographer there, let alone an observer. Shot in Black and White.

Julia Margaret Cameron, Man with two young Girls.
This photograph portrays the close relationship between a man and two young girls. Could they be his daughters? Functionally this would seem like a very high quality family picture but in this sense makes a fine art photograph. The approach seems informal although the poses the subjects have adopted communicate that a lot of thought has gone into their arrangement. It seems dreamy that thee subjects would behave normally in this way so I believe that the photographer has instructed them with a vision of them in mind. Shot in Black and White.

August Sander, Young Farmers in their Sunday best.
This photograph portrays three young men, walking somewhere on a country path. Functionally this serves history and fashion. I do not know what purpose the photograph served when it was taken but in terms of fashion and history it communicates a lot. The approach seems friendly in the sense that the photographer has asked them to look at the camera whilst making the photograph but has not gone to lengths of making them pose or rearrange themselves. The cigarette is in the mouth of the subject to the left which seems to communicate this. Shot in Black and White.

Martin Parr, Handbag, Robes and Summer Dress.
This photograph portrays a social happening between two people, a man and a woman in the background and a woman which I’m assuming is using a mobile phone. Functionally this works as a documentary photograph because it shows mixed culture and also shows normal everyday life. The approach seems similar to that of Erwitt in the sense that the photographer seems to have taken the photograph with the subjects oblivious to the camera. Truly a candid moment but the subjects are not aware or not uncomfortable with the camera. Shot in colour.

Cindy Sherman, Woman in the Kitchen.
This photograph portrays a woman in the kitchen. She is seen with an apron on and near kitchen supplies. Functionally this works as a piece of art in the sense that it is compositionally near perfection. I know Cindy Sherman makes self portraits and in this image she has gone to the lengths of portraying herself as a cliché of a ‘housewife’. The approach is obviously down to preplanning and then compositional design taken into account, photographed. Shot in Black and White.

Arnold Newman, Man in office.
This is a photograph that portrays a man in his office who seems happy. Functionally the photograph seems to work as a portrait. The approach seems quite informal despite the clothes and the setting. This is communicated through the mans facial expression, he is smiling. He seems to be holding a pen though, so maybe it was more formal than I assume. Shot in Black and White.

In the Pits

2009-12-29T05:50:00.000-08:00

Since just before christmas I've had equipment damaged and not been able to consistently make new imagery. This has been a real downer on my attempts to progress with photography. On top of this a week before christmas my laptop broke down and I've been meaning to get these things fixed.
As far as I can realise, these are things that have put me in the pits. The new year should be a year to ammend and improve. On that note, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. Lets make this a good, productive and fun year!!

Sebastiao Salgado

2009-09-16T14:16:00.000-07:00

Sebastiao Salgado is one of my favourite photographers. I don't know his age but I know he's still alive and still shooting magnificent photographs to this day. He is a Brazilian photographer and some would say he is a photojournalist although I don't know if he's actually done any definate journalistic work in his career. He is however a documentary photographer in the sense that he documents specific visual themes and this makes his work very interesting.
His photography is not your bog standard photography that you could see on facebook. It is not even the type you'd see in a local newspaper or magazine tabloid. Salgado's work is much more than that because it contains controversial content.
I sit here with a Thames & Hudson Photofile book about Sebastiao Salgado and I sift through the content looking at the photography and its greatness. All the photos in the book are black and white. I am unsure what medium he is using now whether digital or film, but I know he used film for taking the photos I am familiar with. The introduction of the book does Salgado justice as it is written by Christian Caujolle.
Some of the photos are taken in Brazil, others in Mexico, Indonesia, India, USA , Great Britain, Bangladesh, Cuba, Rwanda, Ukraine, France, Azerbaijan, Kuwait, Cambodia, Thailand, Mali, Ethiopia, Sudan, Ecuador and Bolivia. That's a lot of different places in one collection of photographs by a single photographer. Global awareness is shared throughout the book.
It shows humans in all kinds of conditions, and only by an innocent press of the shutter Salgado has captured these conditions in order to share and exploit the state of the world. Some of his subjects are seemingly oblivious to his presence as though he turned up with a camera to do the will of God.
Some of his images have slight religious implications like the photograph of Serra Pelada goldmine, Brazil, 1986. There are men labouring, working in the picture and one of them is leaning against a post reminiscent of the cross that jesus died on. It is as though there is a Christian connotation fed throughout the situation that he photographed. A certain aura.
Other images with this quality may include the ones involving death, there is one at a burial ground or cemetary, another with a statue of the Christ where a woman lies in grief. There are also truthful photographs that show things we may never have experienced before. Men on makeshift operating tables and the smile of a child working at a Tea Plantation in Rwanda which signifies the depression of other countries.
The reason I like Sebastiao Salgado' photography is because of the content being so truthful and also of high aesthetic stature. The composition and lighting in his photographs is near immaculate and would only take a serious critic to find something wrong. I also find that Salgado makes his photographs from a humble position, he shares the fact that he is also human towards his subjects and communicates the problems of humanity through his photographs.
If anyone adds more value to photography as a medium, Salgado does exactly that. His images are powerful and truthful. He is passionate about his subjects and this improves the state of photography to be sure that it will always be a useful tool in sharing ideas, values and information.
For more information about Sebastiao Salgado either do a Google search or read about him on Wikipedia. He is also listed on the MastersofPhotography website.

Update of Online Activity.

2009-08-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

Facebook, I'm addicted. I've been on facebook ever since my sister asked me to join while I lived in Malaysia, it was like a form of communication just like postcards and letter writing. Now I play on games, take quizes, upload photographs and I've even begun to make a few attempts of starting out business wise through this social site. I have a business page titled Hung Photography with the copyright logo and so far have a few hundred fans. One of the bonuses of having this page is it makes me lok more professional and I've even set an application called "Networked Blogs" to post blog updates from various photography blogs whenever they're updated. It runs automatically.
Besides facebook, I'm still lurking on deviantart adding favourites regularly and posting a photo every month in the hopess that people will add one to a collection or favourite it maybe even comment on it. I really don't make enough effort with deviantart as compared to users I see posting regular deviations. It's a shame really because its a really good site. However I'm still a member and plan on staying that way.
I've started using Picasa 3 more often in the last couple of days because it uploads photos to facebook quicker than the facebook uploader. The only problem I'm having with it is the fact that when I upload the photos from Picasa 3 to facebook, they only go into my profile albums and not my Hung photography albums. I guess this is still a good thing.
I have three email addresses that work and I check these everyday. They're a little unorganised but I know what I'm expecting to get from each. My email addresses are bittahgenious@hotmail.com p_k_hung@yahoo.co.uk and peterhung81@gmail.com
I'm working on new ideas for this blog and hope to add more information about some of my areas of interests concerning photography, its history, greats and some of my own personal touches. For now I'm just treating this blog like a diary. I am in the hopes of getting more followers and also in the jopes of getting more people reading.... soon.
I want to make more use of my flickr account but find that I have to sift through lots of JPEG files to find what I want to post on there. This is something I need to commit to once a month.
All in all I think my online activity is improving as a photographer because I'm paying regular attention to stuff I need to be reading and the websites I need to be contributing to.
I just wish Lightroom wouldn't make so many copies of photos because its eating the space on my laptop.

Time to Myself..

2009-07-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

Being in the position where my photography has been compromised by broken equipment I've had more time to myself. I'm currently cleaning my laptop and moving files to external hard drive in order to achieve more space after finding issues due to space requirements.
This means I am looking through old files, looking through old photos and it gives me a chance to blast them through Lightroom and give them a makeover making them look more appealing. This photograph is actually quite recent but I wanted to post an example of the things you can do in Lightroom in the space of five minutes.

Need to be a Diligent Blogger..

2009-07-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

I need to start using my blog more often and post the photos I'm working on. As of late I've been working on more fundamental things due to my break from college. As I will no longer be attending college and be working on personal projects I'm sure that I have enough time to write a blog at least once a week. That is my aim for now.
I want to incorporate my life into my photography as a photographer even though it sounds subjective in the sense that a photograph is recorded in the moment the photographer presses the button. My aim is not to exploit anything but to merely record, or document whatever it is that I'm taking a photograph of.
More recent developments with my photography have been to go back to the roots of taking photos and look at things with a fresh eye. I've simply been 'snapping' away without any attachment to the outcome and simply taking photos of what catches my eye.
I began reading 'On being a photographer' by David Hurn from Magnum and Bill Jay. It is a dialogue of conversation between the two of them and concerns matters that every photographer should consider. I found the language academic in nature but easy to understand and I want to read the rest of it.
I'm also reading a book by John Ingledew called 'Photography' which is also very interesting. It covers a lot of basic stuff that photographers should consider also.
I might have my first model shoot by the next weekend so I have my fingers crossed and will do some research into what works well for that type of shoot. I hope it happens and that I have a good shoot with good outcomes. One can only pray.
In my personal life I've currently hit a low and found myself in debt amongst problems with my health and needing a new lens. I'm managing and now find it useful to pray and learn about faith in Christ. Although I have a general interest in many aspects of religion, I was born and raised a Catholic and nowadays only visit church once in a while. However, I watch the Crflo Dollar Ministries podcasts and read the bible to keep learning more.
Another thing I've been meaning to do is go through my old photos selecting ones that I find particularly interesting and begin rethinking my portfolio.
Tomorrow I will try to post another blog and include a photo or two.

Current Update

2009-07-08T07:26:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm no longer participating in the BA Photographic Media Top Up as I decided I wasn't diligent enough to continue. After a few meaningful discussions with my tutor I finally 'saw the light' and cut my losses fast. Although I don't have a degree I can still confidently say that I have a HND and that I have a bit of experience as a photographer. In fact I would still like to be a photographer and have been trying to get jobs in photography.
Lately I've been trying my best to get my life sorted out. I started by improving my spiritual life, reading the bible, watching podcasts from Creflo Dollar (which I highly recommend) and continuing in prayer. I thought that the basic foundations in life were what I need to concentrate on. After reading "The Mystery Method" I learnt that I need to improve three vital areas in life; Health, Wealth, Love.
It is important that you take care and improve each of these vital areas to improve not only your Survival and Replicatory value, but to feel better about yourself on a whole.
As some of you might of noticed from my blog posts, I started doing the Style Life missions. I wanted to improve my success with women. What I've come to realise is that I need to concentrate on myself first. One of the biggest tips I can give to improve your success with the opposite sex is to learn how to take care for yourself first.
I gave up trying to make money online because 'lets face it' the work you have to put in is tremendous compared to how easy you originaly believe it to be. Currently I'm in debt and unemployed. This means I need a job and that its going to be a while before I buy any new photographic gear.
I went out last Thursday and took my camera with me, after a few drinks a few friends were asking me to take a shot and unfortunately my camera came back with a broken lens. Even though that was the case I still shot a dance music event on Saturday through to Sunday.
So I need a new lens and it will cost me 300 GBP for a replacement.
I'm guessing that my blog will take on a really personal journal type form for a while but I don't see that as a downfall. It will be a good record of steps that I've took to improve my life.

Mistakes

2009-06-01T17:43:00.000-07:00

I recently got an unpaid job shooting a dance music event and turned up on time and shot a few good photos. Pay attention to what I just wrote... 'a few good photos'.
To be honest the genre of the photography is still quite new to me and isn't one that I particularly enjoy. In the long run I could end up with potential clients from meeting new people and getting my reputation around but this could have its downfalls as well.
What I'm referring to though is the 'few good photos' problem. You see, that is what is wrong. There are only a few. I shot over three hundred photos and only two hundred are usable. The majority of the ones that went wrong are blurred out of focus, and some are due to smoke machines. Okay so I can't get away from the latter, its an obstacle many photographers cannot overcome. Perhaps there was no point in taking photos when the smoke machines were filling the room with a haze that destroys the opportunities of potentially good moments of capture. The main problem I was not even dealing with was that of a non proper focus. That was a mistake. I know that some photographers believe that sharpness is overrated but in this case sharpness is essential.
With all this in mind I think its important to address the fact that even though a job may be unpaid and seem like to much hard work for nothing, you should still make an effort to getting your photos right in the first place. Something I'll have to bear in mind.

Rules of the Game by Neil Strauss. Day 1.

2009-04-22T17:33:00.000-07:00

Mission 1. Evaluate Yourself.

1. Write 1 or 2 sentences describing how you believe other people currently perceive you.

I believe other people see me as scruffy, lazy, drink too much, always skint,
loves to take photographs, is actually studying photography, not doing very well on
the degree course and not of high value.

2. Write 1 or 2 sentences describing how you'd like to be perceived by others.

Neat, clean and well presented. Hard working, sensible and constructive.
Well off, good at photography. Doing well in degree course. Of high value and respectable.

3. List 3 of your behaviours or characteristics you would like to change.

a. Laziness.
b. Responsibility.
c. Expectations.

4. List 3 new behaviours or characteristics you would like to adopt.

a. Enthusiasm and motivation, not being so lazy.
b. Self control and determination.
c. Concentration and self value, self esteem, self confidence.

Mission 2. Read and Destroy. (I made a few notes to self)

Limiting beliefs are what's holding me back.
I need to ask myself reframing questions in order to make real accounts as
to whether the belief is limiting me or not.
Most of the beliefs we gain about women are not true.
Look up the word 'psycholagnic' in context to female orgasm.

Mission 3. Operation Small Talk.

Speak to 5 strangers, small talk. Talk about wheather, sports or entertainment or whatever.

Results:

1. Talked to some guy about his piercings.
2. Talked to another guy while he was smoking, took his photograph.
3. Talked to another guy friend of number 2 and took his photograph.
4. Talked to a woman with a beard.
5. Talked to another woman, with summer dress on.

Nikkor 50mm D series lens from film days..

2009-04-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

I placed the 50mm Nikkor 1:1.8 on my D80 for tonight to play with whilst I went to visit a friend. It's the lens I keep on my Nikon FM2n 35mm film SLR camera. I just wanted to experiment. It was fun and the lens added the feeling of all manual controls to my camera. Focusing was manual and aperture was controlled by a ring on the lens not by the camera. Metering was done manually with no indication of whether a shot would be under or over exposed. I had to guess the settings basically.
I found that I was better at guessing the settings than I had expected and although I only changed the aperture a few times it only took a couple of tries to get my exposure to anything I valued as decent.
Whilst I normally use my zoom lens (18-135) the manual focus on the lens I had attached seemed a bit retro to me. I think I've been tainted by the auto focus that digital has offered. I know there was auto focus on film cameras, I even own an auto focus film camera which I no longer use (although it is quite a nice camera) and it was my first SLR.
The fun thing about attaching this 50mm lens to my D80 is that it is a D series lens which is compatible with the dSLR systems that Nikon have been manufacturing. The 35mm film lens equivalent on digital I'm not sure of.
Check out the pictures, the EXIF data doesn't add the aperture value though.. most of the time I was making use of f1.8 due to the low light conditions but I was surprised how well this lens coped with the available light.

Going Out photography...

2009-04-15T09:04:00.001-07:00

Well I like to have a social drink.. I'm 27 and have been out with friends for a night out several times. Lately I thought it would be a good idea to take my camera and flashgun with me. Turns out that this is a sure way to make friends and have fun doing what I love.
I consider drinking as a way to let off steam and a way to relax. By taking my camera with me it just made things more fun and also introduced a nice way to talk to people. I found that people enjoy having their photo took and are more than welcome to have a photographer around.
Just a word of warning.. NOBODY LIKES A WOBBLY PHOTOGRAPHER.
It's fair to have a drink or two knowing your own limits and not taking it too far. But when you're photographing people while having a drink it is even more important that you do not get too drunk.
As far as controls are concerned when you have a flashgun you don't have to worry too much about your shutter speed too much.
With the photography I've done so far I found that leaving the aperture wide open is an easy option and seems to get results that are by my definition reasonable. To be honest I haven't really experimented with depth of field while taking photographs whilst out with friends in bars and clubs.
The atmosphere is different to the street to a studio (unless you work with loud music) and different to a butterfly park. You are surrounded by lots of people in a crowded place with drinks flying around everywhere. In fact I've had a fair share of drinks spilled on my camera whilst being out. Luckily (my camera being digital) I have not had them seep into the insides of the camera. I found I had a sticky lens cap lol.
You have to keep your camera next to yourself at all times. But be ready to shoot at awkward times, even if you're in the middle of conversation. What happens you see, is people actually approach you to take their photograph. This seems strange at first as you're normally approaching people on the street or not asking at all.
I found that this kind of photography is quite popular amongst young people of both genders and serves as a functioning social canon. I posted my photographs on facebook and was bombarded with friend requests, photo tagging and other stuff such as personal messages and potential job offers. I believe that this kind of photography is a perfect way to get started in a photography world.
It boosts your confidence, makes you quicker with your camera and makes you hardworking when it comes to sorting through your photos. The amount of time it took me to upload 500+ photographs to facebook after putting them through Lightroom 2.3 was a whole afternoon stretching into early evening. I wish I had a faster computer to work with but for now I'll have to settle with my Laptop, just like I have to settle with my dSLR instead of a rangefinder.

Dream Camera..

2009-04-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just discovered the Leica M8.2 and I'm in love with it. Just the look and build are turning me on. It's an amazing piece of equipment that I would love to have and own.
I've never used rangefinders before but have used traditional 35mm SLR and love the way they feel, you know how everything is manual and you have total control of your photography?
I saw the pictures of the M8.2 and instantly began to realize the the similarities of the way the camera is more manually controlled compared to my Nikon D80 dSLR. I mean I shoot manually on all of my cameras except a few compact film cameras that I play around with but it's not the same.
At the moment I'm doing a project for college and I've decided to shoot black and white film, Ilford HP5 400 to be exact but I'm not a purist. I want to use the consistency you get with film for my exhibition print so that's what made my decision for me. I had an open choice of photographic genre and as much creative skill can be applied but I'm only going to do what is necessary and stick to what I know. The only thing I might do differently is cross process the film instead of working in the darkroom. Like I said, I'm not a purist.
The controls on my Nikon FM2n which I use for 35mm are all manual, focusing is manual too so all the work has to be done by the photographer except the light meter. But if that fails due to battery drainage then I'd have to guess the exposure which I'm half confident about. At one point in time I could guess the exposure within a stop difference before even looking at the light meter but I don't use the camera often enough to do that anymore.
With the Nikon D80 I can guess the exposure within a few stops difference which is harder to do though because there are more shutter speeds and allows for more accuracy on exposures. I'm still getting used to it even though I've owned it for nearly two years.
I was reading an ebook that I downloaded through using torrents yesterday.. I know I shouldn't but everyone does it nowadays. It was called "Street Photography for the Purist" by Chris Weeks. I read every single page and felt the need to learn more about rangefinders. I knew Henri Cartier Bresson used a rangefinder and ever since I saw a Leica M8 in a second hand shop I wanted one. They're just too damn expensive. Within 5 minutes of searching Google I stumbled.... correction, was bombarded with reviews about the Lieca M8.2 and happily so.
The controls look like they're in logical positions and the camera body looks strong and easy to get hold of. I went on YouTube and searched for the M8.2.. I found a video of someone opening and unboxing the camera and was amazed at the quality of the packaging and the camera itself.
It is definately, at this moment, my dream camera. I guess I'll have to save up lol.
The shutter speed dial seems to be more appealing to me than the one on my D80. You see on my D80 the shutter speed dial rotates infinite amount of times in either direction. It has no markings on it and I have to look through the viewfinder at my light meter to find out if the exposure will be correct. Either that or estimate the exposure then set my shutter speed by looking at the panel near the shutter release. I'd rather know by looking at the dial itself like on my Nikon FM2n or like the Lieca M series.
Well I hope to one day have a rangefinder of my choice, and as I'm not a purist, I don't mind if it's digital.

A walk in the Old Cemetary with my SB 800 Flashgun

2009-03-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

This photograph was shot about a week ago. I went out with my flashgun to the old cemetary to take a few horror type shots. The flashgun was artificial looking but gave a nice effect for the headstones. I thought it was quite easy to use the flashgun off camera on remote setting as it was easy enough to find somewhere to prop the flashgun up on something.
Actually the hardest part that I found belonged to the tripod head and angle or orientation of the camera angle. It was hard to see what I was framing because it was so dark through the viewfinder.
As well as using the remote function, I also used the flash manually with long shutter speeds sort of 'painting with light.' This I found was a lot of fun and gave me the feelings of unexpectancy with regards as to how the photos would turn out. I believe that if I had a powerful torch I would use that.
Overall this experiment went well. I was only there for a half hour at most and managed to shoot a few photos. I got one or two good ones that I liked and so I've posted them on http://www.deviantart.com
For this particular photograph I developed it through Lightroom 2.3 in order to try and get a HDR image outlook. I don't think this went very well but it still looks okay.

Mental..

2009-03-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

Paroxetine, they're killing me, can't go with the side effects, can't feel normal without.
Risperidone, I have to take these drugs to keep me sane.
A life without drugs would be better for me, but this is my curse. I have to keep taking these.
My child hood was relatively healthy and normal. However when I reached my twenties I went weird.
I don't know what happened but somthing took over me. I ended up in prison and then after that I thought everything would be okay.
I was wrong, I went on a downhill spiral for the next couple of years.
Going to Malaysia was the best thing I could do for myself.
I was under consultant psychotherapy and was diagnosed. Bipolar mania and schizophrenia.
I now had found out what was wrong.
I could search the internet and find information about the illnesses I encountered.
It was the reading that I couldn't simply invest time in. My photographs were my remedy.
Me and my camera.
I took a camera with me everywhere and shot anything I could see as a visual resemblance of humanity and reality.
Since I moved back to England I've left my camera and not taken many photographs.
This has to change. I must take my camera with me everywhere. Become obsessed again.
It is therapeutic to do something productive.
The last five days I went without my medication. Besides the side effects I had a couple of strange thoughts, like I used to have.
Not as many as before but a few, less intense. But I needed the meds.
Now I've took my medication and feel 'normal' again, I want to get out with my camera.
I want to explore what is out in the world.
Photography has too much knowledge to learn in a life time. I want to learn more. I want to be more involved.
I'm struggling with my BA (Hons) in photography but I still keep trying. I want to pass.
I feel as though I should get a full time job and forget the photography gig, just keep it as a hobby.
Its not as appealing though is it. Working a 9 till 5 doing some labourious job?
I see the benefit of having more money at my dispense if I'm working. I could still photograph at the weekends.
I know my photography is good, but I know it's not super good. I know that it doesn't have an overall professional appearance.
To be a famous photographer would be nice, to work for National Geographic would be nicer.
I suppose I just want my work to take on a bit of respect in the photography world.
Maybe it will some day but for now I call myself an enthusiast. I'm enthusiastic to take photographs.

Nikon FM2(n)

2009-03-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

The Nikon FM2(n) is my favourite 35mm SLR camera. It is a nice size and weight built from good robust materials. I bought mine second hand from a photographer on my HND class in 2005. When I first got it I was impressed by how it looked along with the fact that it has interchangeable lenses. However when I bought the camera it came along with two lenses. There was a 50mm f1.8 with a UV filter and a Nikkor AF 75mm - 240mm 1:4.5 - 5.6 D series lens.
At the time I never knew I would become a brand loyal photographer and opt for a digital SLR by Nikon two years later. After using the Nikon FM2(n) I found that it was comfortable to use with the control dials in practical places. Its fully manual and although I did get an auto focus lens with the camera during purchase, there is no auto focus function on the camera.
A couple of features that are built on the FM2(n) which I found to be handy are things such as the DOF preview, the built in light meter, synch lead and self timer. TBH I never made use of the self timer but I did attach a cable release for night shots which I forgot to mention.
Film is easily loaded in the back of the camera by opening the back and placing the film in it's required seat. Then all you have to do is align the film with the winding mechanism and shut the back. Once the film is in though, it is required that you take a few shots and wind it on to get to the part of the film that has not been exposed by the light when you had the back open. This is usually two or maybe three shots.
The ISO/ASA dial is built into the shutter speed dial which you can access by slightly lifting the shutter speed dial and then turning it to your desired setting. It is a film camera so if you like to push or pull your films then this is the place to start. Don't forget to check the ISO/ASA rating of your film first!
Once all this is done, you a ready to start shooting. The aperture is chosen on the lens, the shutter speed is chosen on the camera. The viewfinder is in a nice place and the wind lever is just to the right of it. If the wind lever is set to the locked position then the camera shutter will be hard to press and the camera shouldn't capture an image.
All in all, I think it is a great camera and every photographer should try using a film SLR no matter what level they are at.

Dissertation deadline.

2009-03-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I got most of my dissertation done. The afformations I decided to use, helped. However they never gave me the boost I needed. I think that's because I needed to get down to the work and do less thinking. It would be better to just take action.
As for afformations in general I think they need to be worked at daily. They probably take a certain amount of time to work but when you need to get things done afformations won't help. A positive mind and a bit of eager determination is what you need to get you through your problems. That isn't to say that I'm writing off afformations, in fact I'm still going to use them to help me through things on a personal level.
Anyway, the dissertation deadline was today. I managed to get the work done but still needed to get the book binding done to two copies of the dissertation. I've come home after discussing some work with a teacher and I've got nothing more done to the dissertation.
As I have shared with my tutor that I have schizophrenia and bipolar mania he took precautions for me to be eligible for mitigated circumstances. In this respect I can get the rest of my work done. I've got extra time for three assignments but just need to be sure I hand in the others.
All of this is too much for me. I just hope that I'll be able to pull through and finish the assignments but for now it's a struggle.

Dissertation

2009-03-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

I've been working at my dissertation now for a while but I have a few days to finish it and get it handed in. I have to have two copies book bound an electronic copy and I have no money to do this. I'll have to get it book bound from the internet and also pay for it out of the last existing money I have in my overdraft. The rest of my classes and stuff will have to be paid for from borrowed money as I'm going to have to ask my mum to borrow money to make sure I turn up for lessons etc.
I've got to write another half of a chapter including illustrations and reference it all using the Harvard referencing system. I know I can get it done but still can't help getting worried about the deadline which is Tuesday next week.
In my worries I resorted to a few things I remembered about positive thinking and I came to the conclusion that I would use affirmations. In using these I hoped that I would improve my work but found that it wasn't as fast as I expected. I did a search for affirmations and found quite a lot of stuff. However I was on twitter and found a twitter profile for the Law of Attraction. I followed them and then did a search. Through searching for stuff related to the Law of Attraction I came across Afformations. They are similar to affirmations but instead of saying something like, "I am passionate and enthusiastic" you ask yourself the question "Why am I so passionate and enthusiastic?"
In doing this you set your mind to research the reasons why your so 'passionate and enthusiastic. Isn't that a good formula.
So before I go to sleep tonight I'm going to quietly use afformations to send myself to sleep in the hope that tomorrow I will get my dissertation finished and prepared for binding.
I'll post my results tomorrow.

Making Money Online

2009-02-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

I've been reading up and joining up to anything about making money online. In fact the nearest I've got to making any money online is to pay money online. I guess it takes money to make money. I've not finished researching how to make money online and my new ambition is to make money online.

PUA Mentality

2009-02-18T15:23:00.000-08:00

I've been going on the internet now for some time. I noticed a trend in the Seduction community and fell victim to their dogma. I read ebooks and downloaded products from various sources and studied it but never put it to practise. It all seemed like a marketing tool. However the times I did try out their methods, of what I learnt from them, I always had better success with women.

Top names in the field of seduction are David Deangelo, Ross Jeffries, Mehow, Neil Strauss, Hypnotica and many more. Some of them practise hypnosis, NLP or Neuro Linguistic Programming and Social Sciences amongst other things like Magic or Journalism.

I found that these guys all had a successful approach to life in general and they all take their jobs very seriously. I'd like to take that kind of mind frame and use it to make money with photography.

My aims are what I'm going to right about in another post although I am not going to write every single aim down. That would take hours. I'm just going to post about a few aims I have regarding to photography. And then I'm going to try and approach them with this PUA Mentality that I will succeed no matter what.

Click Here!

2006

2009-02-18T06:37:00.000-08:00

Looking back through photographs I shot in 2006 I'm starting to get the impression that I enjoyed taking photographs of anything. As far as the photography is concerned I'd say that it's not bad. In fact I've been sifting through it with lightroom and found photographs that I quite like. The camera I was using back then was a bridge camera, an Olympus C8080 Widezoom. I found it very comfortable to hold and control and tried using it's full range of abilities. I thought it was good for macro and close up photography, the photography that usually bores me nowadays.

As I mentioned it was a bridge camera, otherwise known as a prosumer camera. It was not an SLR type but not exactly a compact. It was 8 megapixels and I liked it very much. I took it with me almost everywhere. Actually if I had not taken it to an old friends, it wouldn't have been stolen. It was a shame really because I enjoy shooting digital because you can review your shots and save them for viewing on the computer, even post your photos on the internet. When it was stolen I had to return to film photography for a while. It didn't bother me too much but I started growing accustomed to the digital style.

Now I have a Nikon D80 and it's the best digital camera I've owned. I'm not exactly in an abundance of wealth so if anything ever happens to it I will be very upset. However I still have my film cameras and I believe that film gives consistent results so I will shoot film for as long as I possibly can.

The Olympus C8080 was a good camera but I think that by the time I had it stolen I was already in need of a better camera. A DSLR would have been the choice for me but I couldn't afford one. Problems with the Olympus were things like pixelation and limited lens capabilities. I think by moving to Malaysia to sort my life out was the best thing I did. And I ended up with a Nikon D80 too. I got the Nikon D80 in 2007 but before that I borrowed my father's Canon Powershot Pro1 which was also a prosumer bridge camera like the Olympus. To be precise me and my dad chose the Olympus and the Canon on the same day.

The Canon was like the Olympus only it took me a little while to get used to. The good thing about these types of camera is that it has everything built in and you can still shoot manually. I always shoot manually as that is what I've been taught through college.

If only I had that Olympus, I'd still take it everywhere.

Photography

2009-02-17T16:40:00.000-08:00

The meaning of photography is drawing with light. Photography can be known in contemporary practise as taking photographs. It is the act of taking a photograph as much as it is a whole spectrum of education, science and art.

Photography is made up of history, theory and practise. There are different types of photography also. There are fashion photographers, landscape photographers and everything in between. Photographers take photographs of portrait subjects, still lifes and much more.

Photography has been globalised and has been around since the 1820's. Photography has been interspersed through the media and has it's place in justice and travel documents. The importance of photography is pretty much here to stay.

Although photography has serious overtones it is also fun. Photography was introduced to public use over a century ago and people frequently take photographs to keep for memories amongst a whole bunch of other stuff.

Photography can be informing, meaningful, emotional, political and artistic.

Photography Artist.

2009-02-16T15:07:00.001-08:00

Sure I have favourite photographers. I like the work of many photographers. Sometimes I look at my own photography and feel as though there is not enough substance to match other photographers. By calling myself an artist, I am declaring that I am answerable to no one but myself. As a photography artist I must shoot subjects that I choose. I am living in a new world though. I am not referred to as an artist but rather a photographer. I am an artist with a camera.

Uploading

2009-02-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

Currently I'm uploading a photograph for the competition on Photography Monthly's website. It's a travel competition so I have a few shots I can post on there. I'm not very happy with the speed of uploading photographs but as a photographer I have to bear through it and post my work on many sites. That's if I want people to view my photography, critique my photography and so on.

I already have a DeviantArt account, a Flickr account and I post photographs whenever I get round to it. But I'm thinking that I should be spending several minutes a day uploading photography especially if I want people to see it. I think I'm going round in circles here.

What I'm actually trying to point out is that although photographers go out and take photographs they have to go through the process of getting the work onto their computers (digital photographers) and then post process the photography before doing anything with it.

Photoshop was the main program I used for everything I did with digital images. I found that using it made things better in the long run. I would keep my files as they were and create copies instead of ever changing the original. I think this is an important part of a serious workflow.

I've just installed Lightroom 2.2 and have used it ever since. I can not only work on one photograph at a time but a batch of photographs at a time. This means I get an overall finish on all the pictures I post process.

I'd like to work in RAW format but unfortunately need some more hard space to do so. I don't think this is bad though because I am using JPEG to it's full constraints. That's just a note to myself.

Confined Loneliness.

2009-02-11T08:25:00.000-08:00

I've been on my own in my room doing nothing but surf the internet. I decided that I should take a photograph to illustrate what I've been doing. Here it is.

Cyber Blag.

2009-02-11T07:25:00.000-08:00

With all this online time I think it's due that I start to make record of all the stuff I've joined up to and all the places with my photography. Websites and websites. So obviously I'm gonna make a record of my Flickr and my Deviantart, might as well add my Facebook, and Vampirefreaks too.

So here goes.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nocturnatum/

http://nocturnatum.deviantart.com/

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1147523749

http://vampirefreaks.com/Nocturnatum

More may be added.

The Return of a Ghost.

2009-02-10T15:30:00.000-08:00

Besides getting my ass back round to reality I've been considering that I need to shoot more, more often. I'm gonna spend some much needed time doing photography, everyday if possible. I've been reading more which has got me more inspired to take photographs of almost everything. Of course photographing nude women would be the first choice and recommendation, I'm sure people want to see other things than naked people. I'm setting myself the task to go out and shoot street photography for the next week. I haven't sorted out a start date but I'm gonna do a week of non stop photography in public. My aim is to build a up a bulk of photographs that I can select some photographs to post here. As for my tastes to media I think I'm going to watch movies instead of sitcoms and concentrate on the photography aspects of the films I watch. Other than watching movies I'm going to read this John Ingledew book about photography. I'd like to read the whole book and do this before I have to take it back to the library later this month. My internet searches have changed from seeking out non constructive things to mainly searching for photography related material. In fact I've been making a collection of videos with my www.youtube.com account all to do with photography bar a few music videos. I've also been making a collection of stuff that has anything to relate with the Nikon D80 and the SB800 CLS speed light. Just two days ago I downloaded a collection of three videos about Henri Cartier Bresson. Very interesting. I've watched one and a half of them and will definately refer to them in the future. All in all, photography is back in my life.

Chapter 1

2009-02-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

I just handed in my first chapter for my dissertation. My teacher said it was alright and writing 3000 words or there abouts is quite good. His advice was to finish up this chapter and wait for his feedback before doing any more work with it. He said to move on to my next chapter and work on that.

I played with a Nikon D2X today and found it to be a very good piece of equipment. I still really like my D80 but the size and feel of the D2X was amazing. The owner was thinking that she had something wrong with it and said that it didn't focus properly. I thought that there was nothing wrong with the beast.

Anyway, till next time, peace.

In the Dumps.

2009-02-05T14:56:00.000-08:00

Well, I've not been posting anything for quite a while now. I had a few more important matters I had to take care of. For one I've been homeless for the past few months and two I've not had access to the internet.

Now I'm living back at my mums so I have no excuse to post something at least once a week. I've been shooting less due to distractions so I haven't really got anything to show for now. I'll try and get something up on my next post.

Today I've been meaning to write a chapter for my dissertation, well finish a chapter off. I've missed the internet so much though that I've been posting on forums searching photographers and looking at free porn all day.

Behold the devil in all his glory, the internet. I think being in the dumps is actually being stuck on the net all day doing absolutely nothing constructive with our time. Nothing beats a good surf though does it?

What I ended up doing was making a shopping list of equipment I want for photography including a Mac Pro with terrabytes of hard drive space which I definately cannot afford. Oh well, at leasst I can dream. What else did I wind up doing? Oh yes, I wrote down a few names of my favourite photographers which I plan to write about in the future. When I've finally compiled my list I'll post it so you can read it.

Anyway, thats me for the day.

Till next time, ciao.

A Spot of Night Photography.

2008-10-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

After I went out with my flash experimenting I decided to take a few simple night shots. And because my blog is only new and doesn't have that many posts I thought it would be fun to add a post here.

The pictures you saw from my little flash photography session are of my mum. If you see her hands on the second photograph you can see that they are deformed. That is because my mum has arthiritis. She still manages and does a lot for me. Sometimes I take her for granted and wish I could give her more.

Trying Out My Flash Gun.

2008-10-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

Tonight after college I decided I would try out my flash gun. I bought it a couple of months ago and haven't used it much. I shoot on a Nikon D80 and the flash gun that I have is a Nikon SB800.

I started off by taking a few portraits of my mother to find out what it is like. I used the TTL BL setting and left everything else automatic. The results I found were not that nice but manageable and tolerable. I always prefer natural light and so I tend not to like the look of flash photography unless it is used well. I like the look of fill in flash on certain photographs and also flash photography used in studios. The thing I don't like about flash is the washed out colours and brightness it produces where there are not normally those levels apparent in the real visual scene. I think flash can add to a picture where it is needed to emphasize something or where it is used creatively so these are the things I thought I would begin to grasp a hold of.

The first thing I noticed about the SB800 when it is attached to the Nikon D80 is the weight difference. It makes the camera heavier and for someone with small hands it is a bit of a strange weight distribution. I found if you turn the camera too much one way or the other that the weight would shift my hands and add to the movement. However with flash photography you need not worry yourself about camera shake as you can set your camera to a faster shutter speed to benefit from shooting with the flash. Of course if you want a more creative approach to shooting with flash you can try panning a subject with a slower shutter speed and still have the flash pop during the exposure.

I shot three exposures of my mum before going out to try making long exposures with flash. The third image I took of my mum hasn't been shown here because my mum asked me not to post it.

The photographs you can see were shot manually with flash and the second had a longer exposure. If you look closely there is movement that has been recorded by the camera.

Weekend

2008-10-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend I ended up going to the bookies with my friend Ben. He played on the roulette and won just under ten pounds. He was placing bets on the football scores with my other friend Gray whilst I decided to shoot this photograph.

We also went to the fish shop because Ben's fish tank has problems. After a few fatalities he found out that there is something wrong with the water. So we went to the fish shop to find solutions. I shot this picture without permission of the staff and was later asked not to use my camera in the store.

Bridging Unit

2008-10-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

‘Sunny Snaps; Street and Beach Photography in Britain’.

The first striking thing I found about the exhibition was that it showed comic postcards and drawings that were not photography and had significance with regards to the era the images had been taken. A lot that was shown would contain compositions of entertainers and traders, even photographers. This gave me insight to what kind of setting these places had.
A clipping from The Illustrated London News, 6th August 1892 shows three beach photographers trying to take a picture of a small child. They are working as a team. One is operating the camera; one is using a sheet as a reflector for lighting. And the other is keeping the child’s attention. It shows a darkroom in the background.
Travelling photographers set up cameras where people would gather for leisure. Cameras were popular in these places and they were definitely in use. There were many photographers.
In Trafalgar Square tourists wanted to have their picture took with the pigeons which meant that photographers would double up and sell pigeon feed as well as taking pictures. They would try and capitalise from the public there. Trafalgar Square would become home to the ‘While you wait man’ during 1930. He was popular and offered photographic services to the public.
Photographers became popularised not only by their marketing schemes but they were also popularised by media. ‘Sunbeam Photos’ are documented in the exhibition during an interview with Richard Dimbely of the BBC. The radio programme was ‘Down Your Way’ and the photographer being interviewed was Chris Fright in 1947.
Group photographs of staff showed how business for photographers expanded. Two photographs illustrated this and were taken by ‘Snaps’. ‘Snaps’ of Bridlington were founded by W. Foster Brigham FRPS in 1920. This shows how photography became a means of making income from an early time, as early as the 1920’s.
Beach photography was a huge business. ‘Sunbeam Photos’ of Margate employed over 50 photographers. On an August Bank Holiday 1939 they took over 35,000 photographs. Companies paid the local authorities thousands of pounds for exclusive rights to take photographs on particular stretches of seafront. Photographers of Margate 1930 are documented with their big cameras.
The ‘Aptus’ camera was popularised from 1913 even through to the 1950’s. These were ingenious ‘While you wait’ cameras with processing tanks and photographs were shot on plates that would fall into the developing chemicals through the back of the camera. These plates were introduced during the 1890’s.
Photographers had many gimmicks. One popular gimmick was to carry a sign with them saying “Your photo in one minute”. Photo kiosks were popular in places such as Skegness 1925.
There were also postcard galleries. In 1930, every morning, photographs taken the previous day were displayed in frames on the promenade or beach kiosk. Holiday makers would buy pictures of themselves, their friends or family members.
One way of identifying a photographer besides the equipment and gimmicks was invented by the Wrates photographers. They had a photographer’s badge. These were designed to be worn on brightly striped blazers. They were the hallmark of the Wrates photographers.
Photographs soon evolved from the black and white style to the colour image. Beach photographers and street photographers were still shooting photos in both black and white and colour.
A movie was made about a beach photographer called Tinker who uses his job to chat up young girls on holiday. The movie was called ‘The System’ released in 1964 and the director was Michael Warner. This was another media involvement with photography that showed the culture as a photographer during these times. Oliver Reed was the star of the movie and was photographed with his co star, Jane Marrow.
Photography wasn’t just happening with good weather but also rainy, dull weather. Window Shopping, 1969 by Ron Burton shows everyone window shopping with the cold wet weather. The photograph shows couples looking into travel agents ‘dreaming of flying away to the sun’.
Photographers employed assistants dressed as a range of animals or popular children’s characters. They were probably the only people at the seaside who did not want the weather to be that hot. In fact, some of these assistants would have to have regular breaks to drink something to avoid something bad happening such as becoming dehydrated and passing out.
Other gimmicks included animals like parrots for example. One animal was photographed after being found wandering London’s Oxford Street. It was a monkey that would later be taken to the nearest RSPCA office where he was looked after and fed on biscuits, chocolates and apples. When the police traced the owner, it turned out to be a street photographer.
One of the photographs I found quite interesting and other photographers would most likely find interesting was a photograph of a photographer with his parrot. This was photographed by Eve Arnold in 1966 on Brighton Beach.
Another interesting photograph shows one of Norman Wisdom at Brighton Beach in 1955.
The exhibition was a place full of interesting photographs, each documenting Britain’s beach and street photography. I found that it showed much of what photographic businesses are made up of during a less recent time. For instance Blackpool was booming with beach photographers who made money from the general public clientele. Trafalgar Square was also pretty much a busy photography environment. Perhaps what the exhibition was aiming to do was show a depth of what photography was about during these times and included a peek at the processes that were happening during this era. I personally thought that the exhibition was there to show people of the public, the images of countless photographers that had made beach photography and street photography something to be remembered.
Most of the images had been made up through the commercial use of photography and also showed the highlights of the public being photographed. The photographs bring attention and interest to the history of Britain’s beach lifestyle. The images effectively do this because they have documented the culture of Britain at that time, it also shows how the culture is expressed through the beach lifestyle.

2008-10-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

So I've been attending college for a full week now. Well my timetable is quite simple really. Monday 4pm - 7pm. And Tuesday 9.30pm to 4pm.

The rest of the week is left blank in order for students to get the work done. My course is built on course work not exam results.

I'm studying the BA (Hons) Photography. It is my third and final year.

So far I've been introduced to the course and been given my assignments. I have already finished one assignment called 'Bridging Unit' which is an assignment that allows me to be validated for the BA course. For this assignment I had to take three pictures that were inspired by an exhibition.

The exhibition was held at the NAtional Media Museum in Bradford and correlates to street and beach photography in Britain. It was a quite nice exhibition with plenty of interesting stuff to look at.

In my next blog I am going to post my assignment.

Powerzone Gym.

2008-09-25T16:53:00.001-07:00

Tonight I went to Powerzone Gym with my friend and ended up taking a couple of shots with high ISO. It was quite hard trying to find compositiions that looked pleasing to the eye with all the metal and apparatus. However I took a couple of shots that were quite nice and decided that the blog should have a little workout.

Night photography on the lodge.

2008-09-25T16:23:00.001-07:00

The other night I did a spot of night photography quite local to me on the lodge. I simply spent a half hour taking photos in JPEG format for a spot of night photography enjoyment.

23rd September 2008

2008-09-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

Enrolling day at college. I was in college today to enrol for the Photogrqaphic Media Top Up course. It's also known as the BA (Hons) Photography.

Most of it consisted of sitting and listening to the teachers talk about the course and the details of the course.

They went through the timetable, assignments, trips, enrollment and other things a student has to pay attention to.

Overall it was quite a relaxed day. Drinking coca cola, getting accustomed to the other students in the class and of course laughing at the teachers jokes (which is just natural in all respects).

I found most of it interesting apart from an assignment which seems to make me crease over in bouts of anxiety. I'm not going to go into that.

We went for a introduction speech at the sports centre at the college and Helen Mathers spoke of the new start at the college especially being in H.E. (higher education)

I decided I'd take a few shots at the college to see how things look. I know I've been to this college (Blackburn College) and earned a HND Photography but I just wanted to see what it looks like as a photographer.

22nd September 2008

2008-09-23T17:08:00.000-07:00

Today I read about HDR online and found out what it's all about for a general digital photographer. I was shooting in JPEG format up until quite recently and was advised to shoot files in RAW format.
As an enthusiast I simply made the choice that if I wanted to shoot things that look more professional it would take a few changes such as a more serious approach to photography. This involved changing how I shoot pictures. I heard about RAW format for quite a while but was complacent with the quality of JPEGs. I found out off a photography technician from college that 'if you underexpose but the sharpness is still there then you can get the exposure back from a RAW file'. So because I hadn't shot RAW format, I felt the need to see what all the fuss was about.
I shot files in RAW format for a few weeks and I had found that you need to take care of the post production with every shot that you had taken. With my photography level at the moment I decided that I had to take better shots and found that RAW improves your photography especially if your not suited to post production. After all I prefer straight photography with as much truth about the shot as possible.
Anyway, I was reading about HDR or High Dynamic Range photography and wanted to try it out. Here's where the problem arode. To shoot a true HDR image or HDRi, you have to shoot 3 exposures all in JPEG, all on a tripod, all the exact same shot. Sounds like a lot of work just for one photograph doesn't it? The next part is the post production.
I used Adobe Photoshop CS3 to make my HDRi.
You have to:
1. Go to File>Automate>Merge to HDR
2. Choose the three seperate JPEGs exposed differently (of the exact same image).
3. Choose 16bit. Click OK.
4. Let it do the merge.
5. When it's done things look 'blown out'.
6. Choose the correct exposure you deem suitable.
7. Click OK. You're done!
The image in this post is my first HDRi.