My Goals for 2012
I’ve set photographic goals of one form or another for myself each January for several years now, though more often than not I’ve just kept these to myself and haven’t really broadcast them. This time though I thought that if I shared them, not only would it give me a reference point to look back [...]
Snappy Tips for Better Photos – part 5 – Composition
For this fifth and final post (for the time being in my Snappy Tips series), I’m going to focus on composition and some simple do’s and dont’s. Learn the rules and then learn why and how to break them. Rule of Thirds Imagine splitting your frame into 3 equal horizontal strips, and then 3 equal [...]
I am now Neil Alexander QGPP
I don’t sing my own praises too often, so on this rare occasion indulge me…… A couple of months back I joined up with the Guild of Professional Photographers over at www.photoguild.co.uk for several reasons; to join in their community, to aim for their accreditations, and for access to some of the marvellous discounts that [...]
Snappy Tips for Better Photos – Part 4 – Landscapes
For part 4 of this series, I thought that after the basics of camera control, The Holy Trinity and portrait tips the next logical step would be to focus on landscape photography but there are so many possible tips I could mention that I could well get 2 or 3 posts out of this topic. [...]
Snappy Tips for Better Photos – Part 3 – People pictures
Hopefully, having been enthralled by my two previous Snappy Tips posts on Snappy Tips for Better photos and Snappy Tips for Better Photos – Part 2 – The Holy Trinity, you’ll now have been brave enough to venture out the safety of automatic even if only for a frame or 2 and see where you [...]
Snappy Tips for Better Photos – Part 2 – The Holy Trinity
For part 2 of my Snappy Tips series, I thought I’d write an article on the basics of any camera. These are the Holy Trinity of photography; shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Photography is the “language of light”, and these three are the tools you use to vary the amount of light hitting your camera’s [...]
The key to long exposures
I enjoy shooting long exposures. The longer the better, unless that is you’re stood on a very noisy motorway bridge in a very cold wind. I’ve posted on shooting long exposures several times over the years (for example “Silky Water Shots” and “Breathtaking examples of long exposure photography“) but as it’s something I really [...]
Using Lightroom catalogs on different computers
A slightly more in depth tip today….. I’ve seen a couple of different solutions lately for sharing Lightroom catalogs across multiple computers, but in my mind they’ve all felt a little clunky (like this and this). I don’t mean the ability for different users to work on the same catalog at the same time, because [...]
Snappy Tips for Better photos
I’ve had quite a lot of interest lately from people wanting to know how to get the best out of their camera, and with the holiday season rapidly approaching I thought I’d try and save you a little money by encouraging you to explore your existing gear a little more beforehand. The next few Tuesday [...]
4 Photography Apps I couldn’t live without
About a month or so back, I decided for one reason or another that it was time to change up my mobile handset and after careful deliberation discarded my trusty iPhone 4 and bought a Samsung Galaxy SII running the Android OS. One of this particular handset’s biggest selling points for me was the camera. [...]
No post today, sorry
As a result of contracting a particularly virulent strain on man flu, there will be none of my usual humour or insight to keep you entertained today. Normal service will be resumed as soon as I’m released from the contagious diseases unit.
4 Photography gadgets I couldn’t do without
A productive weekend’s shooting up in the Lake District got me thinking about 4 gadgets / tools that no landscape photographer should be without and that I consider to be invaluable to my craft. The first is a right-angle finder. It’s a little gizmo that clips onto my viewfinder and allows me to look perpendicularly [...]
Beacon Fell, Forest of Bowland
Yesterday morning I made an early morning trip up into the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire. I’d visited the area the previous day though it was a grey and drab evening and was barely worth getting out of the car for, but at least I knew where and when I was going the next morning, [...]
Updated galleries
This last couple of weeks I’ve been working feverishly on completely re-factoring my online galleries, adding a whole bunch of new images and galleries and removing some. It’s been a rather time consuming exercise, and I still have a few areas to tweak, but the bulk of the content is up and sorted. So I’ve [...]
Can photography be considered Fine Art?
The topic of this post was inspired by a brief encounter I had last week with the owner of a new Fine Art gallery in Altrincham. Not a particularly big space, but quite well stocked with some very nice pieces; everything from oil colours and water colours to some brilliant sculpture, all accompanied by price [...]
No post Friday….
I’m currently away, and the week running up to travelling was so hectic that I just couldn’t find the time to prepare a couple of posts, which is thoroughly reprehensible I know. I do apologise. I do however have a recommendation and it’s Steve Simon’s book The Passionate Photographer (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Passionate-Photographer-Toward-Becoming-ebook/dp/B005EFKH5O/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1312555607&sr=1-1). It’s proving a very interesting [...]
Interview with One Stop Poetry
On Sunday I had an interview with One Stop Poetry magazine go live. Read it here It’s quite a lengthy piece but a great deal of thought and effort went into it, so I’d highly recommend you nip over there and take a butcher’s. That’s all from me today I’m afraid. See you Friday.
Maltese motors
Another Maltese based post… Friday’s topic will not be, in case you’re getting a little sick of them….. Whilst out there on my last trip I was asked to shoot some cars. Not just any old cars mind, but three classics. The Maltese are big to the point of fanatical on old British motor cars. [...]
Maltese streets
One of the most important aspects of travel photography is maximizing your shooting time, especially if you’re only there for a short time and it’s a speculative trip rather than an assignment. It all comes down to planning and on this last trip to Malta I had one, sketchy in places, but a plan nonetheless. [...]
LowePro S&F Modular Carrying System – quick review
In the past I’ve generally used all sorts of different methods to schlep my gear around, but mainly assorted rucksacks (depending on the amount and type of gear required) and an old cotton Hasselblad photography vest (which I’ve dyed to make it look slightly less khaki). But I’ve never really hit upon a solution that [...]
Looking up in Manchester
The other morning I went for a stroll around Manchester city centre again, but this time I set myself a slightly different constraint; I could only shoot up. So no street shots, macros of handrails or puddles, and generally no people either, unless they were sporting a blue and red cape.
Lena part 2
A couple more images from a recent shoot with Lena in Old Trafford. Another manic week so another brief post….. Both images using natural light only. Have a great weekend TTFN…..
Another trip to the Bollin Valley
Once again, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time around my favourite haunt, the Bollin Valley around Hale and Altrincham in deepest Cheshire. I find shooting down here really relaxing and it always produces inspiration of one kind or another.
How I moved my WordPress blog.
Hopefully you won’t have noticed, other than the post the other Friday, but I recently moved hosts with this blog, and before you go any further – this is a nerdy post so if you popped by looking for some new inspiring imagery and corresponding elegantly written “how to” today, then move down the [...]
