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.