Violin man

I thought summer would be long and fairly relaxing in between leaving college and starting university. That was before university gave me a holiday project to carry out!

I won't bore anyone with the details of the brief here. To cut a long story short, I decided to produce a series of photos of a violin-maker in Sheffield. And yesterday was my first visit to his workshop.

Stefano was wonderfully accommodating and gave me free rein to take whatever shots I wanted. And I came away with more than enough strong ones.

I do have one dilemma - and it is one I have faced before. The university wanted to see a test shoot before a final shoot, but Stefano is a long way from home and although he is happy for me to visit again, the 'test shoot' turned up so many decent shots I am quite happy to use them as final images.

Cadiz

Cadiz at dusk

 I'm back after a long break, which included touring Andalucia in southern Spain by train. One of the highlights was a stop for several days in Cadiz, which I have never visited before.

It's a lovely city with a historic area that is a maze of narrow streets, and these open out onto wonderful squares. Such is the labyrinthine nature of this old town that some of the squares can remain a secret for days, if not weeks. One day, you might miss your normal turn and suddenly find yourself in a plaza you never knew existed.

Here is a photo taken in Cadiz at dusk. It was shot in Plaza de Mina, which we discovered only on our fourth or fifth day. Each square has its own distinctive character - Plaza de Mina is very green, with lots of trees and bushes, although you obviously cannot see that in this image.

If you are looking for somewhere in Spain that is a little less touristy and a little more down-to-earth, with friendly people and good food, Cadiz comes highly recommended.

New project

I have been asked to take photographs of a local venue and today was the first shoot. I think it went pretty well.

I am not under any time pressure to get the pictures done. It is rather like the steam railway museum project, featured elsewhere on this blog, in the sense that I can keep visiting the venue to focus on different aspects, compiling photos as I go.

I took on board some of the advice given out by Mike Browne on his tuition videos, mentioned in the previous post. I used only natural light and a narrow aperture for a deep depth of field, which meant quite slow shutter speeds. This was fine, though, because I want to feature motion blur for pictures that do include people.

I also took advantage of the live view feature of my camera and found this extremely useful - particularly for addressing converging verticals. I could alter the angle of the camera with one of my tripod adjustment handles and see on the screen how it affected the distortion introduced by my wide angle lens.

Recommended tutorials

I am always on the lookout for good quality photography workshops, ranging from paid-for versions that require being taught face-to-face by an expert, to the free YouTube tutorial sort.

It has to be said the quality varies whichever kind you opt for. But if you are looking to spend money on workshops, I wholeheartedly recommend Calumet's courses, which are sensibly priced and well worth the money, while the online videos at Lynda.com are high quality and offer a great range of material for different ability levels.

But I was delighted to find free tutorials on YouTube by the British photographer Mike Browne that were some of the best I had seen in terms of the clarity and breadth of explanation. One thing I liked about Mike's videos was that when he encountered a problem, he didn't shy away from it or even delete it from the video, he found ways to tackle it. I like that honest approach.

Cristina de Middel's best shot

Jambo, from the series The Afronauts by Cristina de Middel (www.lademiddel.com/)

In my last post I mentioned Cristina de Middel's 'fictive' photography. Lo and behold, just a few days later she has featured in the Guardian series asking leading photographers for their best shot. And the picture above, from The Afronauts, is the image she picked.

The interview accompanying the photograph is well worth a read because it explains her thinking behind the series. Here she is, depicting the ill-fated Zambian space programme by shooting images in Spain, using a Brazilian model and sometimes incorporating old photos taken in the US and Italy.

But her motivation was to confront prejudice - Africans couldn't possibly consider going to the moon, could they? Well, yes they could. And she wanted to highlight the 'beautiful' attitude of the space programme's leader, Edward Makuka Nkoloso, who 'tried and believed it was possible'.

Spanish treat

I was delighted to discover in the past couple of days that the PhotoEspana international festival of photography will still be taking place when I am in Madrid later this month.

Described as one of the most important arts events in the world, it features scores of exhibitions, along with talks and workshops.

As ever, when my time is limited, I like to visit something old and something new. So I have earmarked a show called P2P: Contemporary Practice in Spanish Photography for my investigation of new work, while the first-ever retrospective of the late Spanish avant-garde photographer Antoni Arissa will offer me something from the past.

The P2P exhibition, at Teatro Fernan Gomez, Plaza de Colon, 4, includes work by Cristina de Middel, whom I encountered during my studies for a photography HND. She is a leading participant in the field of 'fictive' photography, which is a form of documentary photography that involves re-creating scenes for the camera. She hit the headlines with a photobook called The Afronauts, depicting the ill-fated Zambian space programme, for which she was shortlisted for the 2013 Deutsche Borse Photography Prize.

Show success

Well, the end-of-year show is over and despite my misgivings in the previous post, I think ended up a big success.

The work throughout the exhibition (which also included illustration, art, graphic design and interactive media) was of a very high quality and plenty of people came along to view it.

There is a real rollercoaster of emotions as an exhibitor. When someone chooses to look at my work there is almost a feeling of shock, followed by fear that they might loathe the photos. But the longer a person spends viewing the images, the more those feelings turn to pleasure.

And the show finished on a very satisfying high note. I don't like blowing my own trumpet, so please excuse a rare departure from the norm.

First of all, one woman spent a considerable amount of time looking through all 60 pages of a book of photographs I had prepared for the show... then went slowly through the entire book a second time. Which was pretty encouraging.

Then one of my tutors introduced me to a visitor who had sought him out to say how much he had enjoyed the exhibition.

Shaking me firmly by the hand, the visitor said: "I just want to say how wonderful your pictures are. It was worth coming to the exhibition just to see your photos."

It couldn't have ended any better.

You live and learn

The learning process goes on... even at the very end of my course.

A part of me wishes that the day will come when I have learned much of what I need to know about photography and exhibitions, but another part tells me that a lot of the fun comes with finding out new things. Well, let's just say say that I'm still having fun!

We are in the middle of our end-of-year show at the moment - an event for which I had prepared well and which I began with the hope that my photographs were (a) interesting for the viewing public, (b) good enough to pass the relevant course module and (c) were a decent representation of my work.

But over the past few days, having watched the reactions of visitors to the exhibition, I have come to realise that I still have a lot to learn.

I'm back

Well, I have broken the golden rule of blogging by failing to post an entry for weeks. I will send myself to the naughty step in due course.

In the meantime, here is what I've been up to. My HND course is coming to an end, and the final flourish is an exhibition in Swindon featuring all the courses from the college School of Art.

I have been preparing for this for much of this year - planning my project and taking the photos, of course, but also writing up the background notes, designing and printing business cards, designing a portfolio book and sending out invitations etc.

The past week has involved mounting the exhibition - work that has the potential to be disastrous (requiring, as it does, precise measurements and some DIY skills), but which actually went remarkably smoothly. Some of the results can be seen in the picture above. Please ignore the rubbish-strewn floor!

Great to meet you

One of the best things about photography is that it provides opportunities to meet wonderful people.

I spent most of today in Birmingham taking photographs of members of a Christian community. They were great hosts, treating me to a delicious meal, and made every effort to accommodate my (sometimes demanding) photographic requests.

They even agreed to go out onto the streets of Aston and carry out a litter-pick so that I could get pictures of them working in the community.

But while we were doing this, we met other local people, who were so warm and friendly. The chap pictured above actually called me away from what I was doing and asked me to take his picture with a buggy-load of items he was taking for scrap.

I returned home boosted by the day and with a lot of strong pictures for my end-of-year show.

Hair we go...

I had to rig up a temporary studio today to take some photographs and ease the pressure on a colleague shooting in the main studio. It was all good experience.

I had to photograph models who had been adorned in whiskers and wigs by media make-up students. It was fairly straightforward, although I did find it slightly problematical working with continuous lighting rather than flash.

I had a couple of Bowens lights, but they were not exactly the most powerful ones. It meant that I had to increase the ISO to a level that was uncomfortably high for my liking.

But the images came out well and I was really pleased that I could approach something like this with far more confidence than in my early days on my course. Setting up the equipment and managing the shoot was actually an enjoyable - rather than slightly stressful - experience!

Multimedia

If there's one piece of equipment that has repaid the original outlay umpteen times over it is my 10-20mm lens. It has been so handy during the past few weeks and has turned some unpromising scenarios into decent final shots.

I used it again today for the latest in the series of photoshoots for the college prospectus - this time featuring multimedia students.

Again a fairly difficult situation greeted me because it was a room mainly taken up with computer screens. But the students had rigged up their version of a 'green room', with a film camera, microphone, lights and reflector, so I focused on this.

The extreme wide angle managed to include the whole of the team... and introduce a little drama at the same time.

I'm glad to say I've seen some of these recent shots already being used by the college in the 2015-16 prospectus, so it's all very worthwhile!

More prospectus

There's nothing like a 'proper' job to get the creative juices flowing.

In the past couple of weeks I have been part of a small team taking photos for a college prospectus. Some of the locations were pretty dull, so we had to think quickly to get eye-catching shots.

And we had to work fast because the photos were needed by this weekend. But all went well, and I have learned useful techniques for shooting interior scenes without flash.

Textiles

I was given another excellent challenge today - take photos of the textiles students for the college prospectus... without making the students identifiable.

It was difficult to preserve the anonymity while making the photos attractive to look at. But slowing the shutter speed to introduce some motion blur did the trick.

The picture above was one of the most successful of the series. The tailor's dummy and the trays of implements let the viewer know this is a fashion and textiles department, while the student on the move adds some drama to the image.

Light fantastic

I took this shot of my college for a new prospectus. Hopefully it will be used in the final version.

I was pleased with the way it turned out because I had never experimented before with light trails and it took a fair bit of experimentation to get it looking right.

My tutor showed me the best way to tackle it. And when I say that, I don't mean simply the exposure times and the art of getting smooth light trails. He also remembered to switch on all the lights in the college building and open all the blinds so that we didn't have to carry out hefty Photoshop work afterwards.

That's what I call covering all the bases. Incidentally, the picture was shot through a 10-20 wide angle lens, at an aperture of f22 (ensuring maximum sharpness throughout), with an ISO of 200 and an exposure time of six seconds.

Festival action

I went to a race meeting for the first time in my life today. Not any old race meeting, mind, but the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival.

I've lived in Gloucestershire since 1990 and it has become something of an embarrassment when I've had to own up to never having seen its number one sporting event. I put that right today.

And what did I make of it? Well, people wax lyrical about it, but I thought it was a bit of a curate's egg - good in parts. Yes, there was a good atmosphere and the event attracted all sorts of characters. It was also wonderful to get close to the racehorses themselves - slightly smaller than I imagined, but such lean, super-fit creatures. But there's lots of booze, lots of money being frittered away, lots of pushing and shoving, extremely expensive food... and I didn't actually find it hugely exciting, even though I had wagered money on all the races.

I went there also hoping to get some good shots with my camera. I saw a number of press photographers, bedecked in cameras with massive lenses. It's only when you start taking your own shots that you realise why they need such heavy-duty equipment.

Future imperfect

I took a trip to a nearby pub that was featured last week on a TV programme, in the hope that I might be able to start a new photography project.

The programme told the story of the Spa Inn at Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, which its brewery owners wanted to shut and sell off to housing developers. Pub regulars wanted it saved... but then were filmed leaving a council meeting and heading for a completely different pub for an evening drink. I think that just about summed everything up.

I trawled the internet to find out if the Spa had closed down in the four months since the programme was filmed, but none of the three local papers had followed up their reports on the planning battle.

So I had to find out for myself. Alas, when I arrived, I discovered it was well and truly closed. But I enjoyed a little gallows humour when I spotted a blackboard outside advertising a clairvoyance evening in months gone by. I wonder if the pub's fate was seen in the crystal ball?

Oh no, not again....

I think I'm going to have to write a list of things I have to check before pressing the shutter.

I took another trip to the William Tyndale Monument at North Nibley, Gloucestershire, today and climbed to the top of what is a rather tall tower on a very high hill.

But I discovered later that the photos I took from inside the top of the tower were shot at a very high ISO. It's an old mistake that I keep on repeating and I'm just kicking myself that I've done it yet again. The problem, of course, is that I get a lot of noise in the final image.

I just wish the camera would re-set itself to something like 100 or 200 ISO every time it is switched off. Instead, it retains the ISO setting from the last time it was used.... and then I forget to check it when I pick the camera up again.

High point

I've really got the photography bug at the moment, so I ventured out again today - this time to the Tyndale Monument, in North Nibley, Gloucestershire.

The monument was erected in honour of William Tyndale, who translated the New Testament. He is thought to have been born at North Nibley.

It was wonderful being out in the countryside with spectacular views down to the Bristol Channel. Photographically, the expedition was perhaps not so good. I was disappointed with the results of my efforts because the wide angle lens I used distorted the tower much more than I would have liked.

The image above has been adjusted in Photoshop to get rid of the distortion, but when it comes to college projects I'd rather return for a re-shoot than use a heavily manipulated photo.

Showtime

My project involving the steam railway museum is well advanced, but when I was compiling a book of photos I had taken there, I realised that I still needed three or four more shots. So I paid a brief extra visit today.

One thing I have learned during this exercise is that there is always something to learn! And on this occasion, despite going there loaded down with flash equipment and light stands, I realised that experimentation with very long shutter speeds could produce equally good results.

So I took some close-ups of steam engine boiler rivets with the shutter open for as long as 20 seconds and I employed a similar approach for abstract photos of engine wheels and drive shafts.

The picture above was also taken without flash, and with a long shutter speed. It is the inside of a Punch and Judy-type show and I wanted the characters to be largely silhouetted, but the sharpest part of the shot.

...and in black and white

Broadway Tower, Worcestershire

I thought it might be interesting to post yesterday's two images in black and white, so after some quick adjustments in Photoshop, these are the results.

As much as I like monochrome, I'm still not sure they are better than the colour versions, although it is a close-run thing.

I think the deep blues certainly add drama to the Broadway Tower image. But maybe the monochrome sky is better in the Burnham lighthouse shot. Perhaps the latter picture could benefit from a little more contrast - after all, mono work is all about getting the tone and contrast right.

I'd be interested to hear what people think.

Burnham lighthouse

Busy!

Broadway Tower, Worcestershire

To borrow a well-worn phrase, I have projects coming out of my ears at the moment. But I also have some time on my hands, so I have been trying to take full advantage.

Yesterday, I went to Birmingham to introduce myself to a religious community I intend to feature in a project, and to take one or two preliminary shots. I will be returning for a more intensive photoshoot in the near future.

On my way back from Birmingham, I visited Broadway Tower, in Worcestershire, to capture a photo for another project. The result is at the top of this entry.

The busy day inspired me to get out with my camera again today, but I had mixed results. I wanted to get a strong picture of Glastonbury Tor, in Somerset - hopefully with flood waters in the foreground. I have seen this kind of shot in the past and it can look very atmospheric.

Do it your-selfie

I'm not exactly into so-called selfies, but my course required me to take one and then work in Photoshop to produce versions that looked like different Hipstamatic filters/lenses.

So here's one that emulates the Salvador 84 lens, with its surreal look in the style of the eponymous artist.

Actually, while I might not be a fan of selfies, the exercise itself was extremely valuable. I ended up using layer styles, layer blends, opacity, colour balance, colour mode, layer masks, vector masks and so on and so forth.

I was also pretty chuffed to discover that a 100 round brush with bristles is perfect for erasing the border to produce a distressed effect. Useful stuff.

Rock photography great

I was interested to hear Kevin Cummins on BBC 6 Music this morning.

Mancunian Kevin is one of Britain's greatest rock music photographers, famous for pictures of Joy Division, New Order, Oasis, Mick Jagger, David Bowie and hundreds of other stars. Actually, let me just amend that statement - Kevin is one of Britain's greatest photographers.

He was on the Mary Anne Hobbs show. The interview is on iPlayer at the time of writing, but will disappear in a short time, so I thought I'd put a transcript on here for anyone interested. Incidentally, you can view pictures mentioned here on Kevin's website.

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This month it's 35 years since I took the pictures of Joy Division on the bridge in Hulme and when I was taking them I didn't even think the NME would use those pictures because I was thinking more journalistically and I took those thinking in two weeks' time when we use them in the paper the snow will have gone and so nobody will use them - it will date the pictures. 

Portrait tip

I came across this useful video giving advice on which lenses to use for portrait photography.

I know it sounds pretty pathetic, but I've never been too sure about which focal length is best for portraiture, save from knowing that wide angle lenses are best avoided because of the way they stretch the face and distort features like the nose.

The video, by Photoventure,com, says a longer lens is better because of the way it flattens the image for a more flattering look. I have seen elsewhere that lenses from 85mm through to 135mm are preferable - very long lenses might produce too extreme a look.

I was also interested to hear that digital cameras with the smaller sensors (ie. not full-frame) are at an advantage over full-frame sensors because they don't introduce the same amount of wide-angle distortion simply because they are cropping out part of the image.

Roy's got it wrong

I was truly shocked to read a blog entry by the Guardian's Roy Greenslade arguing that the Johnston Press decision to get rid of staff photographers up and down the country "makes sense".

Greenslade said "relying on... citizens with smartphones to provide pictures is far cheaper than having photographers on staff". He added that there was always someone on hand to "snap a picture" and so "newspaper photographers are therefore redundant".

I worked in the newspaper industry for more than 30 years (and still do a fair bit of freelancing). When I took redundancy, I decided to pursue my passion for photography in the hope that I might switch careers.

I didn't pick up my smartphone and start straight away. I've worked with photographers and photographs, so I know there's far, far more to the job than that. In fact, I felt I had so much to learn I enrolled on a full-time course.

Here are just a few examples of why professionals matter:

Another cuppa

This is the second shot in a planned series on roadside cafes (see January 18 entry). They were another great team and Abdullah is a keen photographer himself, so it was nice to share tips.

I had to use a flash to get a decent exposure - hiding it away in the corner of the cafe - but maybe it's a little bit harsh on some of the foreground elements. It's quite difficult getting the right position for the speedlight and strength of light when you have to work quickly.

As I said in my last entry, I have a good feeling about this series and I was very pleased when the chap interviewing me for university yesterday said the same thing. I was even more delighted when he offered me a place on his course!

I haven't got the same feeling about the ill-fated project I mentioned a couple of posts back. The idea was to photograph what are called 'intentional communities', which are groups of people who live together with a common social, religious, political or spiritual vision.

Roadside cafes

Vanessa at Old Sodbury, South Gloucestershire

One important lesson I have learned when planning projects for my college course is that there is no easy route to success. You have to be prepared to work hard for your pictures.

Last year, I carried out a project focusing on Bristol's Spanish community. It involved lots of travelling round to introduce myself to people, before staging several shoots. I lost count of the number of individual visits I made overall.

The reason I say this is because the project I mentioned in my last post has proved extremely difficult to get going. I've been firing off emails to potential subjects, but it looks as though I am going to have to work a lot harder than that to get my foot in the door. The response has been abysmal.

Plan of action

It's that time again - the start of a new photography project. In this instance, I have my eyes firmly on my course and, in particular, work suitable for the end-of-year show.

I have been mulling over a number of ideas and have one particular theme in mind. But I'm keeping that under wraps just for the moment while I explore its feasibility.

I have learned over the past couple of years that this is a hugely important stage. I have thrown myself into projects in the past only to discover that - for various reasons - they have limited mileage.

I have come up with a method to give myself a better chance of success, and I have already put this into action with my new project.

Christmas cracker

Tony Ray-Jones's tips on how to be a good photographer

I have been meaning to write about a pre-Christmas visit I made to the best photography exhibition I have seen in a long time.

'Only in England' displayed the work of Martin Parr and the late Tony Ray-Jones and it was the first exhibition to be held in the Science Museum's new Media Space.

I wrote about the pair's work on this site on September 22 after The Guardian featured the exhibition in its pages. So there is no need to repeat those thoughts.

But it is worth explaining what made this show so special.

First, there was Ray-Jones' wonderful eye for detail and his ability to tell several stories in one complex image. One shot immediately comes to mind of an outdoor cafe at Windsor Horse Show in 1967. The eye is immediately drawn to a man, legs bent, about to sit down at a table alongside a slightly shifty-looking gentleman wearing a trilby and sunglasses and sporting a jacket and tie. Meanwhile a dappled grey pony walks between them and the counter, followed two yards behind by a little Jack Russell terrier. The lady behind the counter carries on brewing tea as if the scene before her is the most 'normal' imaginable.