Thursday's Phrase (Feb 24)

May try and do this every Thursday as a bit of fun.

This one is from last year

Have a good day!
Richard

Walking the dog

As my profile says a lot of my time is spent walking my dog Alfie. Its a great time to take the camera too, especially if your in the woods. Everyday can be different, with changing light, animals, interesting people, weather, seasons and much more.

Even if you walk the same routes there is plenty to snap away at. The dog himself is a great subject and I've taken hundreds of Alfie. I love trying to capture something a little different with pet shots, something that makes me think about what was going on at the time. In a previous post I talked about perspectives, it applies with pets too. Get down to their level and try a few shots, it really boosts the impact. I generally always wear waterproof trousers so I can kneel (and have been known to lie)

Below are a few images of Alfie from the end of last year. All were taken in the same area and no editing applied.

Here Alfie was searching for a snowball I threw. Needless to say he didn't find it but his expression and face made me smile

This image took a bit of work, mainly with Alfie. I wanted a shot of him running & bouncing through the ferns. I took him into the fern and made him wait whilst I went back to the path. I knelt down low and fixed onto a spot I hoped he would run through. He ran exactly where I hoped and this was the result. 

I like this one, mainly because it makes me smile with all the sticks. Again its very low with lots of foreground. You can make out the ferns in the distance where I took the image above.








We don't all have dogs to walk, but its certainly no reason not to grab the camera and go for a stroll. With the seasons seemingly changing quickly there is plenty of natural opportunities. Best time on a sunny day is just after sunrise, or just before Sunset "The golden hour". This light is soft giving a warm and gentle feel to photographs. The middle of the day is fine but sometimes the sun can be too strong. Currently I don't think we need to worry about the sun coming out and being strong however. Wet days can offer good images too, with water droplets, reflections in puddles, steaming paths after the rain, even people walking along with their umbrella's.

If you have the camera, you have a chance of that great photograph. If its at home then there is no chance.

Happy Snapping

Richard

Newbie

Gave myself a couple of weeks Paternity after Samuel was born. Apart from lots of newborn images I've not snapped anything else although I have a few interesting shots coming soon.

Here is the boy himself

This type of shot is known as "High Key", lots & lots of light needed. It eliminates shadows and gives a "happy" feel to the image. It works well with portraits but also flowers, and anything with good contoured lines

To take this shot get lots of light on the subject and find a white background. Its good fun to play with and you can get some great results. You can also take it one step further and use some editing software to further enhance. I use Adobe Lightroom to fine tune and tweak some of my pictures when needed.

If you want to know more let me know and I'll help out.

Lots of catching up for me now, more updates soon enough

Have a good weekend
Richard

Thursday's phrase

A while ago a good friend told me this phrase. "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there"

Today I was walking Alfie and I was walking across this path . For some reason this phrase popped into my head, which was odd as I knew where I was going. Anyway I took this image, which I quite like and added the phrase. Think they work together.

Quite fun doing these sort of images, done a few recently which I'll add at some point.

Richard

Get in close.....

"Fill the Frame". This is a term I use a lot when giving tuition. When you are photographing a subject, get in close.....fill the frame.

The images below are examples of this. Its quite easy to take a picture of something in its entirety and that may work (no right or wrongs here). But before you walk away from the subject thinking you have captured all there is to offer try one more time. It doesn't matter is some of the subject is outside the frame, it makes the view ponder the bigger picture.

The Gauge of a fuel filler

Norton motorcycle

Valves on a V12 engine

Concentrate on a particular area of the subject.......maybe some text, a logo, a feature, an eye and make this the focal point.

Mountain biking - Photographing hobbies

I love it! I've been a MTB'er for 18 years and still love it as much as ever. This year I really want to spend more time photographing this sport and different angles of it. I read a book recently called Privateer and the images are inspirational. Trying to adopt my own flavour now and I hope to spend a lot more time out with the camera and bike. Here are some close ups of my primary bike which I custom built over time.





 

No point taking photographs if your not really interested in the subject.

Also like I said in the post "Dusting off that camera" try different angles and perspectives

Richard

I have lots of new ideas and look forward to getting them uploaded. Its also a good place to start if you have a camera but unsure what to take pictures of. Pick a subject you enjoy and are passion about. You find you'll take great pictures because you have some knowledge on it. Also look for idea's or inspiration in magazines or online say at http://www.flickr.com/