Chris George's Photo Journal

Portra 400 Film Test

2012-01-10T11:59:00.001-08:00

Dockands Cranes

2012-01-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

Legacy Thames

2012-01-06T03:57:00.000-08:00

Fuji Acros in Emofin Film Developer

2012-01-06T03:50:00.000-08:00

I've found that shooting on black and white film gives a very nice look and feel that cannot easily be replicated with digital cameras. So for the last couple of weeks I've been playing around with film and developer combinations that I can confident on using. My favourite film is Fuji Acros, but unfortunately it's a relatively slow film and using it in existing light can sometimes be problematic. However I've discovered a two bath developer called Emofin which substanially increases the speed of a film without decreasing tonality or increasing grain. If you look at some of the contrasty images you can still see detail in the darkest shadows so I'm now very happy to use this film developer combination for assignments. I'll be experimenting with Kodak Tri-X in the near future for situations where the lgiht levels are very bad indeed.

Shooting on Medium Format Film

2011-12-28T03:57:00.000-08:00

Over the Christmas break I thought I'd take a few photographs on some out of date black and white film and process the results myself.
I think the results are difficult to reproduce using digital cameras and converting to black and white. Certainly it was great fun to process the pictures and see the negative hanging in my bathroom and was relatively inexpensive. I've decided to do a lot more pictures using black and white film.

Recording Audio

2011-12-23T06:46:00.000-08:00

My latest gadget purchase is a Tascam DR-05 personal handheld audio recorder.

My current personal project of 'The Industrial Thames at Night' involves standing around in the dark late at night or very early in the morning. The camera exposure times are sometimes very long and I feel a significant component in the whole experience for me are the sound of the Thames i.e. the sound of the wading birds, lapping of the water, the noise from the passing ships and general river sounds. I thought it might be a good idea to record these sounds for future reference and as a personal record.
The device will not only be useful for this project but for taking meeting notes, audio reminders and documentary work.
So far I've been very pleased with the recording quality and I've even started to experiment with editing the audio using Audacity. Perhaps sound recording will become a new hobby!

Moonrise Over the Blackwall Tunnel

2011-12-20T05:13:00.000-08:00

Old Pier Erith

2011-12-18T05:26:00.000-08:00

Near the Dartford Road Bridge

2011-12-10T08:34:00.000-08:00

Sleeping by the Thames

2011-11-30T12:14:00.001-08:00

Petts Wood - My Morning Walk

2011-11-29T14:16:00.000-08:00

Torso

2011-11-23T14:39:00.001-08:00

Steam Fair Gang

2011-11-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

I'm really missing traditional Black and White Photography

2011-11-10T05:24:00.000-08:00

Tales of the Riverbank

2011-11-10T04:46:00.000-08:00

Fire at Nymans Gardens

2011-11-10T02:42:00.000-08:00

British Council Artists Project

2011-11-09T12:22:00.000-08:00

Action Sequence Plastic Bags

2011-11-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

Medium Format Film Vs Full Frame Digital D700 Nikkor

2011-11-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

I've had a box of Mamiya 645 Pro Kit sitting around (essentially redundant) for the last few years and it seemed a shame as I've always considered this equipment to be extremely reliable and good quality. The film kit I own is quite comprehensive with two Mamiya 645 bodies with prisms, several backs and a wide assortment of lenses including a 35mm, 45mm, 55mm, 80mm, 150mm and a 200mm F2.8 APO.

Since the introduction of digital cameras I've found it far more practical to shoot digitally especially for commercial work; but I've always had the suspicion that the quality of medium format film might perhaps be superior to my Nikon D700 outfit. So today I decided to do a comparison between shooting film and shooting digital on medium format on a less subjective basis.

This was not a particularly scientific test but it did give me a good indication of resolution of film vs digital.

The film was shot on Fuji Provia 100 and scanned using a Nikkor 8000ED.

I used a 35mm, 45mm, 80mm, 150 and 200mm APO Mamiya lenses all shot at F8 against Nikkor 14-24mm, 28-70mm and 70-210mm lenses also shot at F8.

Based on my findings for resolving power then quite frankly there is not a great deal to choose between the Nikon or the Mamiya. The results from digital are grain free and superficially the file sizes from film are much bigger, however the actual information contained within the pictures is very similar. For higher print enlargements it would be trivial to 'res-up' the digital images to a similar size as the film images and still retain the same information. So in terms of print sizes from each medium then I would say that you can get prints of at least 20inches x 24inches with superb quality.

What I can say though is that I enjoyed shooting film considerably more and certainly I seem to get a higher hit rate of pictures that I'm proud of when I shoot film rather than digital. The wide choice of film emulsions (even nowadays) means that if you know and understand their characteristics then you have the ability to produced outstanding images straight out of the camera rather than spend endless hours at a computer.

Of course there are lots of advantages in shooting digitally including cost and convenience and also if you shoot digitally then you can learn very quickly and at considerably less cost. Learning the characteristics of film emulsions and how they react to certainly lighting and processing conditions is very much a trial and error process and overall can be extremely expensive.

In terms of image making then I would still say that you cannot beat using film rather than digital as the image results have a distinctive quality that is not easily replicated in Photoshop. This is such a competitive industry and if you want images that have an edge over the competition and are more unique then I would still consider shooting on film.

The Thames and Docklands at Night

2011-10-31T05:02:00.000-07:00

Misty Dungeness

2011-10-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

Campfire in the Woods

2011-10-16T04:05:00.000-07:00

Thames Barrier - Civil Engineering

2011-10-15T06:08:00.000-07:00

Twilight Pictures

2011-09-29T04:05:00.000-07:00

I was at this place from 3pm to 7pm - it was magical to see the light change. By about 4.30 the sun was relatively low and all the cobwebs in the trees were glimmering in the sun and then in the twilight a flock of parakeets landed nearby. It was a bit like fishing, just waiting for my catch of the day. I managed to read quite a bit whilst waiting. Almost a spiritual experience. If the pictures are successful (I think they will be then I'm going to enlarge to over 50inch and print onto an aluminium base)

The Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place

2011-08-30T09:58:00.001-07:00

Holiday

2011-08-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from a family holiday in Spain. I took the opportunity to take a few pictures whilst I was there for my picture library Arcangel - here are just a few I took.

Vegetation

2011-03-05T06:40:00.001-08:00

Fun on the Beach

2011-03-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

Jumping for Joy

2011-02-22T09:13:00.001-08:00

The View Out of the Office Window

2011-02-22T09:12:00.000-08:00

More London Pictures

2011-01-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

Alternative View of Lloyds of London

2011-01-25T10:04:00.001-08:00

London 21st Century Skyline

2011-01-24T09:53:00.001-08:00

Children's Portraits

2010-11-05T14:24:00.001-07:00

Recent Shoot for TeamSky - Children's Portraits

2010-11-05T14:21:00.000-07:00

Dedicated to Making the Mundane Magical

2010-10-14T03:15:00.000-07:00

Photographic Prints to Sale of Contemporary London

2010-10-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased to say that I'm now selling framed acrylic prints of some of my pictures of London

Mario Vargas Llosa - 1986

2010-10-07T05:31:00.001-07:00

Simona Brhlikova

2010-08-23T05:16:00.000-07:00

This particular image was made in 2006 whilst doing some test shots for a personal portfolio. I was trawling through some older images this morning and rediscovered and decided that the image had some potential after post production. The impact of digital imaging depends so much on post production rather than choice of camera.

Out of Season

2010-08-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

Recent Magazine Work

2010-08-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

Dad Dance

2010-07-06T06:55:00.000-07:00

Paper Plate Girl

2010-07-06T06:52:00.000-07:00

Screensavers

2010-06-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

Available to anyone who visits this Blog

Shall I Become a Child Photographer?

2010-06-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

For all you proud parents out there. I'm thinking of becoming a child photographer ;-)

Demonic Boy

2010-04-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

Picture Library - Rights Managed Pictures Now Available

2010-03-20T03:34:00.001-07:00

Three hundred and thirty new Images by Chris George now available on Rights Managed license basis at http://www.arcangel-images.com
Search term 'Chris George' Now the tedious task of key-wording starts!
Lots more new images to follow in the near future

Gothic Springtime

2010-03-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

New Links

2010-03-04T11:43:00.001-08:00

Facebook Profile

Model Mayhem Profile

Hazekeal Rage

2010-03-04T04:14:00.000-08:00

First Day of Spring in the UK

2010-03-03T05:45:00.000-08:00

It really felt like the first day of Spring yesterday. Although it was cold the sun shone throughout the day. Sometimes I think myself so lucky not to be stuck inside an office on days like that.
Early in the morning I set out for the Kent Coast to take pictures of this charming young lady. More pictures to accompany this entry throughout the day - as I'm still learning about beauty retouching!

Yoga Expert - Test Shot

2010-02-28T05:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was fortunate to meet an expert on Yoga. He is a Russian guy who used to work for a large Accountancy Firm as a Risk Assessment Expert. But several years ago he decided to devote his life to Yoga and more spiritual matters. He impressed me greatly.

Trapeze Rope Artist at Circus Space

2010-02-19T03:03:00.001-08:00

Trapeze artist on a rope.
This is an experimental shot that I took using a relatively long exposure time. The venue was lit in very low light (Circus Space in Shoreditch) so I had no real option other than to use a long exposure time.
Fuji Finepix S3 Pro at ISO 1600 taken with a kit lens at 65mm at 1/2 sec at F4.5 (the largest aperture)

Distressed in Elevator

2010-02-19T03:01:00.000-08:00

Taken in a lift at a West London Housing Estate. The young lady is actually very attractive ( normally) but by the magic of lighting and post production I managed to turn her into a deranged hag! I don't think she'll be using this for her modelling portfolio do you :-) - I like it though!

Winter Weekend in Wales

2010-02-17T05:54:00.000-08:00

I've just returned from a relaxing weekend in Wales. Although I went with the family I did take along my digital camera and took a few pictures on our walks along the heritage coast of Glamorgan.

Twenty Years of Photoshop

2010-02-12T05:13:00.000-08:00

Apparently Photoshop is twenty years old http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/feb/11/photoshop-20-years-old-verb

I remember first seeing it when I worked as a Photographer at NAAFI my colleague was a graphic designer of the In-House Magazine and he was using it for Page Layouts. I knew when I first saw the box that this was something special.

Personally I still prefer film as you'll never know what you'll get and film can produce some very happy accidents which you can learn from. Here's another photographer who is the same vintage as me who thinks that medium format is still magical!

Smokey Portrait

2010-02-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

This portrait was taken on one of my walks around London near to an Old Pub in Holborn.

I like it but other people are uncertain.

New NEC Monitor Arrives - Engine Room Picture

2010-02-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

My replacement monitor arrived and it's much better than the older Samsung XL|20 (which developed a fault). I'm delighted.
This is my setup for retouching - now I just need to get to grips with the Wacom tab

let!

2010-02-05T05:25:00.000-08:00

Taken late March last year - We'd spent a family day on the North Kent Coast at Reculver. This picture was taken towards the end of the day as the sun was setting over Reculver Church. One of the great things about digital photography is the data imprinted in the file - so you will know exactly when the picture was taken precisely (presuming the camera has the right time set)
This picture was taken at 16:30 on the 21st of March 2009
Nikon D700 ISO 200 with a 14-24mm Lens 1/500th sec at F11.

Met Office
15th to 22nd: High pressure brought settled conditions. The days were often sunny in many areas, although it was dull and cloudy at times, especially near eastern coasts. On some nights locally-dense fog patches formed, particularly early on the 19th across the West Midlands and the west country, although the fog dispersed by the afternoon. In general the nights were chilly, with frosts occurring in many areas. The afternoons, on the other hand, were warm where the sunshine broke through, particularly across southern England where the temperature regularly peaked at around five degrees above the March average. Maximum temperatures approached 17 °C in the south during this spell, with 16.7 °C at St James's Park (London) on 16th and 16.6 °C at Chivenor (Devon) on 17th

Headshots

2010-02-04T08:01:00.000-08:00

A great deal of my paid work is corporate headshots for annual report and accounts and public relations work.

Below is just one of the twenty corporate portraits that I took yesterday.

Michael Ridpath

2010-02-02T04:53:00.001-08:00

Michael Ridpath is a writer who is very well known for financial thrillers. He is now concentrating on writing on a series of novels based on an Icelandic private detective character.
He was looking for a new set of pictures for usage primarily to promote his work.
I like these pictures as they are straight head shots with a twist that would look interesting even when printed small. I was reminded of the Batman Character 'Harvey Dent' when he was posing in a church doorway in Hampstead.

Industrial London by Night Project Continues

2010-02-02T03:28:00.000-08:00

Some Pictures Over the Holiday Period

2010-02-02T03:15:00.001-08:00

The Rise and Rise of Bland Photography

2009-12-23T04:53:00.000-08:00

I've stopped buying most magazines and newspapers simply because I find very little to interest me and the photography used is so mediocre. The British Journal of Photography recently published the following article.

Gregory Sams

2009-11-28T03:39:00.000-08:00

I recently had the pleasure of meeting and photographing one of the rare people who think outside the 'box' and who has a unique and fascinating mind.

You can learn more about his exciting and interesting life at

Or buy his most recent book at

More Book Covers

2009-11-23T04:50:00.001-08:00

Stock Photography

2009-11-03T04:57:00.000-08:00

Shooting stock is a long term investment. For example today I received notification of payment for pictures that I'd taken many years ago and completely forgotten about. They are been used for book covers. The payment is motivating me to go out and shoot lots of new pictures and submit to the same agency www.arcangel-images.com

Lucky People

2009-10-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

The Four Principles and Twelve Sub-Principles of Luck

Principle One: Maximise Your Chance Opportunities

Lucky people create, notice and act upon the chance opportunities in their life

1. Lucky people build and maintain a strong ‘network of luck’

2. Lucky people have a relaxed attitude towards life

3. Lucky people are open to new experiences in their life

Principle Two: Listen to Your Lucky Hunches

Lucky people make successful decisions by using their intuition and gut feelings

1. Lucky people listen to their gut feelings and hunches

2. Lucky people take steps to boost their intuition

Principle Three: Expect Good Fortune

Lucky people’s expectations about the future help them to fulfil their dreams and ambitions

1. Lucky people expect their good luck to continue in the future

2. Lucky people attempt to achieve their goals, even if their chances of success seem slim, and persevere in the face of failure

3. Lucky people expect their interactions with others to be lucky and successful

Principle Four: Turn Your Bad Luck into Good

Lucky people are able to transform their bad luck into good fortune

1. Lucky people see the positive side of their bad luck

2. Lucky people are convinced that their ill fortune in their life will, in the long run, work out of the best

3. Lucky people do not dwell on their ill fortune

4. Lucky people take constructive steps to prevent bad luck in the future

When I think of Summer 2009

2009-08-14T00:17:00.001-07:00

This summer we did a lot of driving in the countryside of Kent and South Wales. The picture above will remind of the fun times we had driving on country lanes.

Image Workshop - Practical Photographer

2009-08-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

Ubuntu 9.04

2009-07-22T02:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend I decided to install Ubuntu onto a very tired, old computer that had been gathering dust. I must say I'm very impressed indeed. It's probably just as good as Apple OSX and certainly a lot better than Vista. If it ran Photoshop or Lightroom natively then I think I might just get rid of Vista and run my main computer using Ubuntu.

I can certainly see what the fuss is about - the OS is very stable, very fast and totally free and the applications that were installed by default are excellent.

An English Pastoral Scene

2009-07-08T03:50:00.001-07:00

Dartford Road Tunnel - Air Inlets

2009-07-07T07:13:00.001-07:00

Dartford Road Bridge at Night

2009-07-07T07:04:00.001-07:00

Scary Night Time Shooting

2009-07-06T13:26:00.001-07:00

Below is a picture taken on my mobile phone of my camera set-up to take night shots underneath the Dartford Road Bridge. I had to walk about half a mile along a footpath to get to this location.

I waited from 10.30pm and with the long exposures required of 30 mins each - I was there until 12.30am.

I thought I'd be on my own and whilst watching a large ship turning underneath the bridge I turned around in the darkness to find someone just a few feet away curious what I was doing. Needless to say I jumped out of my skin!

It was a really spooky experience walking back through the darkness hearing the sound of lorries thundering overhead with owls screeching and the grass dotted with glow worms. Walking through the night is a really strange experience and I found it very exciting in the warm summers night and hopefully will be repeating the experience in other industrial locations along the Thames.

Large Format Portraits at Dungeness

2009-07-06T12:48:00.001-07:00

I'm getting a little more confident in using my large format camera for portraits. Here are a unretouched pictures that I recently took at Dungeness where I only took a few minutes to get a total of three settings. Practice makes perfect as they say. I'm in the process of refining my night photography using large format and hopefully I'll be able to post a whole load of new pictures in the next few weeks.

Running a Business

2009-06-30T01:59:00.001-07:00

A new photographic blog has been started that looks interesting. 'Seeing Money'

Rather than focusing on how to take better pictures this one concentrates on how to run a successful business. It's written by Doug Menuez who is a respected photographer who writes beautifully and with passion.

I'm bookmarking this and will be avidly reading.

http://blog.livebooks.com/category/contributors/doug-menuez/

Dungeness Landscapes

2009-06-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

Dungeness in Kent is a weird, beautiful and sinister place. Fringed on one side by a nuclear power the shingle is dotted with cabins inhabited by mainly reclusive people. I tried once to photograph some of the inhabitants of this place but failed miserably, however I'm still attracted to the landscape and I've returned a couple of times to try and capture the atmosphere of the place.

Below are some of my recent attempts, it's my intention to take many more pictures that hopefully will invoke the mood of Dungeness. I feel that this place may lend itself to night photography and I'm experimenting with long exposures on my large format camera.

Kids

2009-06-04T05:05:00.001-07:00

Negotiation in the Creative Industries

2009-05-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

This is hilarious because it's so true!

Unsustainable

2009-05-28T09:45:00.001-07:00

Interesting article in this week's British Journal of Photography at http://tinyurl.com/nc5fq3

Office Bound - Freedom is Not Far Off

2009-05-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

That's it, from the end of today (once I get all my paperwork done) then I'm out of the office and back shooting with my large format camera.
All of this month I've been marketing, organising and scheming - my morale is rapidly waning and I need to take pictures. Especially as the only pictures I've taken recently are for money www.corporateheadshots.eu
There are a stack of things I'll be photographing and hopefully I'll be getting some material for a number of competitions on the horizon including the Taylor Wessing Award, Fuji Distinctions and Travel Photographer of the year.
I wish I could afford to do what this young man has done but I'll be staying in the UK to do my travel photography due to budget constraints.
http://www.joeyl.com/blog/index.php/rss

No Trousers

2009-04-30T04:32:00.000-07:00

I'm reminded of this quote working in the photographic industry

A recession is when you have to tighten your belt; depression is when you have no belt to tighten. When you've lost your trousers - you're in the airline business.
— Sir Adam Thomson

There is a danger of spending £10,000 in this business to earn £1,000.
I've had several emails from large corporates in the last few weeks saying they very much like my work but have no budget and can they use X image for no fee in exchange for some dubious publicity! It seems that even large corporates are trying to take a leaf out of what editorial have been doing for years. I sometimes wonder if this is the start of the end of professional photography. Here's a great piece by the very talented Simon Norfolk from the World Press Photo Site Link about the future of professional photography

A Blackbird Singing

2009-04-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

This reminds me of growing up in the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales.

http://tinyurl.com/cg87qm

RS Thomas is such a fine poet

Music

2009-04-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

I adore Music, always have and probably always will.

Late at night working in a darkroom in the old days listening to the Doors 'The End', driving down a rain soaked motorway listening to Robert Wyatt 'Alifib', lying on the beach of Southern Turkey listening to Milton Naschimento 'Anima' - all those wonderful memories

Today I heard an amazing song by the Artist Karen Dalton 'Katie Cruel'. I'm amazed that I'd never heard it before as it's a masterpiece I had to do a Google search about her - a very sad story indeed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Dalton

No Excuses for Marketing Today

2009-04-27T02:33:00.001-07:00

After glorious weather in London for the past couple of weeks - today is pouring down with rain. Just when I decide that I'd like to take some new pictures! I never seem to get my timing right.

So I suppose I have no option but to get down to some serious marketing. Probably just as well really as the telephone has infrequently run for paid commissions recently ;-(

Keeping a Balance – Marketing or New Pictures

2009-04-26T04:16:00.001-07:00

I'm struggling with what to do – marketing or taking new pictures!

To be successful I'm learning that you have to keep a balance. For the first two and half years of my struggle to establish myself - I believed that to be successful, that concentrating on marketing should be my primary focus and that the commissions I'd get as a result of the marketing would generate good pictures. Only problem was that the commissions I got were relatively low grade and mostly involved headshots of business people. Hardly the stuff of my dreams; although it was interesting to meet smart business people this did not generate exciting photography. However if you spend all your time generating interesting pictures it will be of no use if you do not go out and show them or try and win new clients! I've spent the last month or so on two new websites at http://www.chrisgeorge.net/ and http://www.corporateheadshots.eu/ and finding out about SEO etc. The task of marketing is only just beginning but I'm desperate to leave my garden office and go out and take new pictures, especially now that the weather in London has considerably improved. Next weekend I'm spending four days taking pictures for my folio but I'm tempted to go out and practice using my large format kit at night.

Here's a picture that I did some time ago in the evening and I was pleased with the results. I'd like to experiment a bit more with these types of images and I have a few locations in mind.

The Association of Photographers has a great discussion from two photographers who undertook personal projects and received huge benefit as a result. Well worth downloading the MP3 file and listening all the way through

Iwo Jima - Iconic Image

2009-04-25T11:38:00.001-07:00

I've just watched the film 'Flags of Our Fathers' and did a Google search on the Island. On the image search I came across the 21st Century Version

Self Employment and Work Routines

2009-04-23T13:29:00.001-07:00

Now that I've been freelancing for about three years I developed odd working hours. Often I'll just laze about in the mornings browsing the web and gathering thoughts and trying to think creatively. The afternoon and evenings are probably my most productive times in terms of getting stuff done. I found this site rather interesting about how creative people spend their daily routines.

Various Voices London Sings Out

2009-04-22T05:22:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a voluntary basis at the Various Voices event throughout the weekend of the 1st of May to the 4th at the London Southbank Centre. I'll be taking pictures on my large format camera and hopefully getting images for my personal portfolio. If you attending the event or in the area then please come along and say Hi :-)
This promises to be a wonderful weekend and I'm sure a lot of laughs meeting some interesting people.

Post Production of RAW Files - Danish Judge is Not Happy

2009-04-20T12:17:00.001-07:00

This interesting article reinforces what I said about digital imaging on April the 7th 2009
http://www.pressefotografforbundet.dk/index.php?id=11708

Twitter chrisgeorgeuk

2009-04-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

Note sure if it's a waste of time or not but I've set-up a Twitter feed at chrisgeorgeuk
Feel free to subscribe . Helpful suggestions on what I can use it for are welcome?!

I don't get it?

2009-04-20T03:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a blog entry that I completely agree with http://www.keenpress.com/blog/?p=626

Am I just and old fart who's not kept up with the times?

Settling for Mediocrity

2009-04-20T02:43:00.001-07:00

The Easter break is now properly over and my daughter returned to school this morning. We had a very good holiday and I took the family to my home town in Wales where the weather was very good and we had some wonderful days on the local beaches and surrounding countryside. The holiday gave me plenty of time to think about things and future plans.

I come from a working class background and therefore it has proved very difficult to raise working capital in order for me to establish myself as a photographer; consequently I've had to do quite a few paid jobs in my time. The last work I did for about 10 years (before going freelance) was as a corporate salesperson in the Internet and Telecoms Industries; I was pretty good at this work and I was paid very well because I met or exceeded targets. In most years I was paid three or four times the national average wage. Despite the money I was not really happy and it always felt that I was frittering away my life when I should realise my real ambitions of been a photographer. However now I have my freedom to pursue my dreams I certainly do not have any sort of financial security and I often find myself worrying about how to meet the bills. Sometimes I'm tempted to pack it all in and return to paid employment and not have the financial woes I have now. Generally though something comes along to make me reconsider or I read something that makes me think again. Two recent journal entries that have been inspiring are by Doug Menuez and also a speech by Steve Jobs. If you are in the same place as me on this one then I urge you to read these entries.

Doug Menuez

Steve Jobs

As one lady recently said to me 'you have one life live it to the full!'

Film Vs Digital

2009-04-07T01:25:00.001-07:00

I learnt my photographic skills using film. I learnt the characteristics of each film choice and how it affected the overall look and feel of an image, I learnt complicated darkroom techniques (in Black and White), I learnt how to coax an interesting picture from a picture that looked unpromising on the negative or on the contact sheet, I learnt how the choice of format ultimately affects the tonality and smoothness of the image. It took several years of experimentation and a great deal of money in film and processing costs before I became more satisfied with my pictures and could start achieving consistent results rather than accidental gifts!

When I first came back into photography after an absence of many years I adopted digital for my paid work as I knew it was the future and it was something I needed to learn. For several years I used digital for my corporate work and made a living producing competent but quite frankly unimaginative work (which is what my clients wanted anyway); but I never 'pushed the boat out' on creating more interesting pictures with digital. I thought that maybe the results I were getting from digital were because my digital camera were not good enough (Fuji S5 and Nikon D700) I looked at other photographers who did produce interesting pictures and assumed it's because they used medium format digital, cameras with digital backs such as a Hasselblad, Phase One or Leaf. I dreamt that if I owned these cameras that my work would immediately benefit and that I would once again produce pictures similar to what I used to produce using film.

It was only recently when my corporate work volume was significantly reduced because of the recession that I started to think about been creative again. To work on this new folio I started taking pictures for myself once again (rather than corporate portraiture). First of all I took pictures using my old medium format camera and also a large format film camera, but this was proving very expensive in processing, so to economise I picked up my digital cameras and taking pictures. Frustrated that the pictures I was getting from the digital not been anywhere close to the images I had in my mind I decided that I needed to work on them in Photoshop. After a few weeks of working on the images and transforming them into what I really saw in my 'mind's eye' I realised it was the same for everyone, regardless of what digital camera you use the results straight out of the camera digital are normally boring.

The secret about digital photography workflow is in the post production. Obviously choice of subject, the choice of light or your lighting techniques affect the image but when you adopt a digital workflow it's so important to concentrate on Photoshop and other software tools, to get so skilled that when you shoot the image that you really see how the image will look after you've done the 'post'. To me now this sounds so obvious as it was true for a film workflow (it's just the tools are different) – however been isolated and working from an office at the end of my garden, rarely meeting other photographers it's difficult. The reality is that learning the important stuff is difficult and that trial and error is not the best way to go about things. Sometimes I wish I had a real mentor or guide, someone who is a very good photographer, an excellent businessman and who is incredibly generous with their time and knowledge.

The web is a great source of information to learn our trade but you have to know where to look. The interviews with professional photographers that are featured on the web or in magazines rarely give a real insight - they normally only give away the less important stuff, it's not important what digital camera you use or what lens you use. The real secrets are in the post production, the pricing of your work and how you market yourself. So any aspiring professional photographers should take with a pinch of salt what the successful photographers say in interviews as they rarely give away any information of real value!

Here is one guy that really has made a difference to my work and who is very generous with their technical knowledge Joe McNally . His latest book 'The Hot Shoe Diaries' is thoroughly recommeded for young photographers with limited budgets for lighting equipment.

Search Engine Optimization for Photographers

2009-04-05T03:25:00.000-07:00

The last day I've been pondering what I'd put in this blog - maybe a few things that have happened in my life, perhaps what a struggle it is to establish yourself as an emerging photographer?

I personally read a number of other photographer's blogs that I find of interest such as Perou, Mark Tucker, Thomas Broening, David Bowman but quite frankly I'm not sure I want to be so 'public' so I think the emphasis will be more on new pictures that I've taken or websites that I've found of interest or techniques that I'd like to practice.

I did some research yesterday on the reasons to have a blog and one of the articles that I found of most interest were by the founder of Photoshelter Allen Murabayashi entitled 'How to Fail as a Photographer' . Also on the Photoshelter site there is a very good presentation about Search Engine Optimization

As a result of reading this information and research I've decided that I'm going to be concentrating my attention on keywording my images and correctly labeling; so despite it's a Sunday and despite the good weather in the UK I'm going to be office based. Fortunately my office is at the end of my garden and I'll be able to watch my daughter play in the sunshine whilst my wife mows the lawn ;-)

My Website is Almost Complete

2009-04-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my first new blog, this is where I hope to keep anybody who is interested up-to-date with my struggle to establish myself as a photographer.

It's now been three years since I quit my sales job and it's been a very frustrating time with many false starts and a tremendous amount of trial and error learning, however I'm now starting to think that I've got a much better understanding to what works and what does not.

I've been making a living doing corporate portraiture but it's now my intention to start expanding into other fields including architecture, editorial, photography for print design and possibly advertising.

I'd welcome any constructive criticism and advice from already established photographers or from people who might have made the same mistakes as I might be just about to make!