Gig photos: The Drawingroom, 19 Dec '09

(Photo: Rebecca Rosier from Bim)

Last night was The Drawingroom's last gig for 2009. And what a gig!? It was the perfect conclusion to a year of amazing music at this intimate venue. Find gig photos here.

The following three acts performed: singer songwriter Treana Morris (http://www.myspace.com/treanademos), blues-man Jack Garratt (http://www.myspace.com/jackgarratt) and electro pop act Bim (http://www.myspace.com/bimmusic and http://www.bimmusic.com).

Foggy London

Recently I've been making some Holga photographs again. I was experimenting with long exposures and I like the gritty feel of this one. This scene remains one of the classic vistas in London, but the long exposure blurred out all the tourists.

Not-a-crime: Police U-Turn

This following message was circulated by Andy Trotter (Association of Chief Police Officers) to police forces in England and Wales (quoted from the Independent, 5 December 2009):


"Officers and PCSOs are reminded that we should not be stopping and searching people for taking photos.

There are very clear rules around how stop-and-search powers can be used. However, there are no powers prohibiting the taking of photographs, film or digital images in a public place. Therefore members of the public and press should not be prevented from doing so.

We need to co-operate with the media and amateur photographers. They play a vital role as their images help us identify criminals.

We must acknowledge that citizen journalism is a feature of modern life and police officers are now photographed and filmed more than ever.

However, unnecessarily restricting photography, whether from the casual tourist or professional is unacceptable and worse still, it undermines public confidence in the police service."

Read the full Independent article here.

Jack played until his fingers bled

On Saturday night 5 December 2009 Ashley Jane Welberry (find her on facebook), Maxine&Mandy (http://www.myspace.com/maxineandmandy), and Jack Garratt (http://www.myspace.com/jackgarratt) played live at The Drawingroom (http://www.the-drawingroom.co.uk) in Chesham.

Find photos of the gig here (http://www.fotoshoota.com/drawingroom051209).

There's only one more gig left for this year at the Drawingroom. Get in touch with Richard asap if you want to attend the Christmas Party on 19th December - featuring Bim (http://www.myspace.com/bimmusic), Jack Garrat (http://www.myspace.com/jackgarratt) and Treana Morris (http://www.myspace.com/treanademos).

Lensbaby: call for submissions

Lensbaby has opened a call for submissions. If you own a lensbaby, this is a fantastic chance to get published in a new Lensbaby book due out in the summer of 2010. Check out the lensbaby website for guidelines on how to submit. The submission window closes on the 31st of December 2009.

Kif James

Kif James has recently overhauled his website (http://www.kifjames.com/). I am honoured that this talented musician has chosen some of my photographs to use for his new site. Have a listen to his new material on myspace (www.myspace.com/kifjames).

not a crime

not a crime
Originally uploaded by fotoshoota.com

In the United Kingdom "the police routinely invoke anti-terror legislation to prevent photographers from carrying out their work, and photojournalists are constantly filmed at public gatherings and their details kept on an ever-growing database." And this police activity is also no increasingly being used against tourists and amateur photographers.

Yesterday the press reported yet again of another high profile photographer that was stopped and issued with an anti-terrorism stop and search form - this at St Paul's Cathedral, a London landmark photographed by thousands of people every day.

Gig photos: The Drawingroom, 21 Nov '09

Treana Morris, Kif James and Jack Garratt performed last night at The Drawingroom in Chesham.

Click here or on the image above for more photos of the performances.

Gig photos: Michelle Shocked

Michelle Shocked
Originally uploaded by fotoshoota.com
My friend Schalk Joubert is an amazing bass guitar player and multitalented musician. He's currently in town and last night performed with Michelle Shocked on what was their last night of their UK tour. Supporting act was Jont. They performed at The Drill Hall in London. And wow! What a night!

I am very happy with how the images of the night came out considering the venue didn't allow me to bring in my professional gear and that the images were taken on a Canon G9.

Gig photos: Party at The Drawingroom

Find images of last night's party at The Drawingroom in Chesham here.

Performances included Lisbee Stainton, Jack Garratt and Grammy Award winning Amrit Sond.

"Getty Images Call for Artists" Flickr Group Announced

Some interesting developments are taking place on flickr. Getty Images created the Getty Images Call for Artists group, giving Flickr members the chance to join and submit a portfolio of 10 images for consideration.

If Getty like what you submit, they might invite you to become a contributor to their Flickr Collection on Getty Images. Up to now one had to be invited along to the Getty Images on Flickr group to get your Flickr images onto Getty Images.

Latest chillies

Check out my latest chillies images on iStockphoto.com - first I grow them, then I photograph them, then I eat them...

Camden Town Tattoos

Camden Town Tatoos
Originally uploaded by fotoshoota.com
Holga FN 120mm Fujifilm 400

Blue skies in Camden Town. Before the tourist crush. Early. A second cup of coffee. A stroll along the canal. Stare at the locks. Into the stables. Some places crawl under the skin. Camden Town tattoos.

SPI Seminar: Wildlife Photographer Steve Bloom

Last night I attended a seminar by wildlife photographer Steve Bloom. The seminar is the second in a series hosted by What Digital Camera and the School of Photographic Imaging in celebration of Amateur Photographer's 125th anniversary.

Steve Bloom showed some of his amazing wildlife and people photographs and shared many stories behind the images. It was a fascinating glimpse into the career of this celebrated photographer.

The top five hints and tips I took away from the seminar are:

• Experiment and be unconventional;
• The best zoom lens is a pair of legs;
• Research your destination thoroughly before departure;
• Look for patterns; and
• Keep it simple.

Chance to be photographed by Jillian Edelstein

61 members of the public will win a once in a lifetime opportunity to have their eyes immortalised by the world renowned and London based photographer Jillian Edelstein (known for her portraits of Amy Winehouse, Simon Pegg, Woody Allen, Nelson Mandela and many others). The event will be taking place during the first week of December at a flagship mobile phone store in London to celebrate the launch of a new handset.

To enter all you have to do is head over here and upload an image of your eyes.

Gig photos: The Drawingroom, 3 October 2009

Four acts performed last night at a private party at The Drawingroom in Chesham. See the photos of the gig here.

The acts included:

Tom Greenwood, Anne Cunningham (no website yet), Jack Garratt and Juju (from Little Fish).

Spread the word people! These artists are absolutely amazing.

Gig photos: The Drawingroom, 19 Sep 2009

Photos of the gig at The Drawingroom in Chesham on Saturday 19 September 2009 is available here.

The line-up included:
Rokshan Haydari,
Fraser Broadfoot (supported by Craig Broadfoot), and
Tinlin.

First UK solo show for Ryan McGinley

"Alison Jacques Gallery announces the first UK solo show of acclaimed American artist Ryan McGinley with an exhibition of 24 new colour photographs shot in caves across North America. Over the last year, McGinley and his crew explored huge caves underground, venturing into unknown territory, seeking out spectacular natural spaces, some previously undocumented..." (Read full press release here.)

This is a rare opportunity to see the work of this iconic photographer. The exibition runs until the 8th of October.

Also check out the Guardian's online gallery for a preview.

Find the Alison Jacques Gallery on Google Maps.

Lomography Gallery Store London - Grand Opening Party!!!

Fantastic news to all fans of lomography! Read the announcement and RSVP for the Grand Opening Party here.

New Open-source Camera Could Revolutionize Photography

ScienceDaily (2009-09-04)
Computational photography researchers have built an open-source digital camera. Anyone will be able to create new features for the camera by writing aps that will control all the camera's functions -- focus, exposure, shutter speed, flash, etc. Cameras could be taught new tricks with downloadable apps, analogous to iPhone apps. No longer will camera owners be limited to the features installed by the manufacturer. Sky's the limit... (read full article)

Framed prints for sale

I am very excited to announce that a small selection of my Holga photographs are for sale as framed prints from redbubble. Make sure to check back regularly as I will be uploading photographs on a regular basis.

18 Tips for Being a Photography Original

This article by Paul Melcher first appeared in Stock Photography on 24 August 2009: 18 Tips for Being a Photography Original.

Southwark sunflower

Southwark sunflower
Originally uploaded by fotoshoota.com

I am not sure yet whether I like shooting colour with Holga, but I love how this photograph has come out. It was a grim cloudy day, but just as I walked past a row of sunflowers on the edge of a housing estate, the sun came out. I just had time to grab the camera from my bag and capture this composition.

Music at The Drawingroom.

Check out my photographs of last night's party at the Drawingroom in Chesham.

The following artists performed during the evening:

Treana;

Simon Stephenson;

Lisbee Stainton;

Jack Garratt; and

Mark Hole.

Holga focussing distances

Everyone into Holga photography should know of the fantastic resource called Squarefrog. Recently I revisited this site to demystify the focussing distances of my Holga FN and found some fantastic information here and also a link through to Squarefrog's focussing distances experiment on flickr.

Armed with this new knowledge, I created a reference label roughly the size of the top of my Holga's flash compartment. The resulting label I stuck to the top of the camera and I now have a quick reference when out in the field.

I've also placed below two versions of the label for you to download: one with distances in feet and the other with distances in meters. This won't work if you've got one of those fancy Holgas with the coloured flash filters (which has got a dial on the top), but you can also fix the label to the back of your camera.

Charlie takes a break

Charlie takes a break
Originally uploaded by fotoshoota.com

Last week the sun was out for a change - which is always an opportunity to check out what's up on the Southbank. I shot this one from the hip without stopping or looking at the two gentlemen. The photograph was taken on a Holga FN using Fuji NCN 400 black & white film.

Going upstairs

Going upstairs
Originally uploaded by fotoshoota.com

I found this one in the archives. It was taken with a Holga FN toy camera on Ilford HP5 Plus 120 film. The photograph was one of my first experiments with a Holga and was taken a few years back in our flat just of Blackheath in London. The texture was created by photographing the negative on a lightbox with some textured photographic paper as a background. Basic processing and adjustments were needed in Photoshop.

Found one of mine (1).

The chickens in the background are from one of my images on my iStockphoto portfolio. Have a look at the original image here.

Concert at The Drawingroom

1/80 sec at f/2.8, ISO 1600, 100mm, Canon 40D

Another amazing concert took place on Saturday 18 July 2009 at The Drawingroom in Chesham. Four acts took to the intimate stage hosted by Richard Elkington. 

Artists in order of appearance:

Kadesha (on tour from Wales)

Anne Cunningham (no website yet)

StrangeWorld

Maxine&Mandy

Photos of the evening are available here.

Photographing windmills

1/320 sec at f/4.8, ISO 80, 44.4mm Canon G9

My lovely assistant, Sarah, took this shot of me in a barley field near Pitstone Mill whilst photographing the oldest windmill on the British Isles. I've uploaded a few windmill images to my istockphoto portfolio and hopefully all of them will be available to download within a week or so.

Here's a taster...

1/20 sec at f/22, ISO 100, 17mm (EF 17-40 f/4L USM), Canon 40D

Pitstone Windmill is near Ivinghoe Beacon in the Chiltern Hills. It was built around 1627 to grind grain although it is no longer in use.

Music at The Drawingroom.

1/80 sec at f/2.5, ISO800, 50mm

Last night The Drawingroom in Chesham hosted yet another spectacular evening of live music. Mark Hole headlined and supporting acts were the amazing Jack Garrat, Drawingroom regulars Tinlin and Norwegian band Vanity Vanished (playing their first venue on their UK-tour in Chesham).

View my images of the evening here.

Kitchen adventures

1/2o sec at f3.2, ISO 100, EF 100mm Macro on a Canon 40D.

Got the idea from a magazine and experimented a bit with shadows formed by natural light through the kitchen window.

Charlie Waite SPI-seminar

Yesterday afternoon saw the first in a series of photography seminars held by Digital Camera and Amateur Photographer magazines in conjunction with the School of Photographic Imaging. The seminar provided and opportunity to meet fellow photographers and hear from landscape photographer Charlie Waite how some of his greatest images were created. It was a thought provoking and inspiring talk, followed by a show of his images and the stories behind these images. Charlie is one of the UK's premier landscape photographers. Find out more about him on his web site (http://www.charliewaite.com/).

The top tips I got from the seminar were:

1. If you're a landscape photographer use a grad filter - because Charlie said so. Charlie's almost always used a grad filter in his work.
2. Experiment with double / multiple exposures. Almost all decent 35mm SLR's have this function, but these days not many new DSLR's come with the function. I work almost exclusively with Canon digital gear (which doesn't have a multiple exposure function at all) and have completely lost sight of this amazing technique. I guess I'll be dusting of the old 35mm pretty soon - and I guess until then I'll cheat a little in Photoshop!
3. If you 'get' 12 images a year, you are extremely lucky. This was the motto of one of Charlie’s inspirations, Ansel Adams (http://www.anseladams.com/). Be strict during the selection process. Don’t accept the mediocre or anything “that will do”.
4. Travel to places with interesting landscapes and go back many times. Namibia to Charlie was a life changing experience, but there are other places including France, Spain, Venice, Australia, and the United States. Or as Charlie put it basically anywhere where the landscape is "knobbly" in order to create "fantastic deep shadows" at daybreak.
5. Find inspiration on your own doorstep. It might be something as simple as a wheelbarrow against a wall, a set of stairs, or a group of local villagers. See the beauty in your immediate environment.
6. Depart from what you normally photograph... sometimes. This way you experiment with other subjects you gain new insights and ideas.
7. Gear is important. Charlie uses 6x6 and 35mm film cameras. Yes, gear is important, but we should not always be chasing the "mega pixels beast". As photographers we need excellent gear and the best optics, but a more expensive camera and optics won't necessarily make us better photographers. Find equipment that enables you to express best what you see. A camera maker that Charlie mentioned is the great
   Gandolfi (http://www.gandolficameras.com/).
8. Always think about what is it that you want to 'say' with each image. Learn from others, but there is a fine line between copying and learning.
9. As a landscape photographer one takes the image before you even brought the camera to the eye. The challenge is to create within the limitations of the camera what you've seen in the landscape.
10. Carry a ladder with you. Hardly anybody else do and it'll allow you to make images of scenes with unusual perspectives.
11. Try not to be a Photoshop fraud. Loose the "you can always fix it later in PS" attitude. It is always better to get it right in-camera.
12. Use polarising filters carefully. I think Charlie's precise words were: "...it's like alcohol, at the time it seemed good, but the next day you realised you used it too much..."
13. Be in control. Are you an out of control photographer or are you an in control photographer?
14. Make peace with allusive nature of finding 'that' image, but be obsessed with the drive to get the perfect image... always!
15. Have a plan and know what you want to do next to progress in your career as a photographer.
16. And if everything else fails, make friends with the farmers as you'll be trespassing on their land.

For an interesting interview with Charlie Waite click here.

Early bird

Canon 40D, 1/320 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mm.

Just came back from a short visit to Namibia. This image was taken one morning early near a farm dam in the Kalahari.

Pinhole experiment (1)

Canon 40D, Lensbaby (Pinhole).

Finally got a pinhole / zone plate optic for my Lensbaby Muse and experimented a bit with the setting sun. Can't wait to spend a few more hours with this lens!

iStockphoto progress

I've been a contributor to iStockphoto.com since February 2008. On the 7th of May 2009 and with a total of 38 downloads from 83 images, I was ranked at 16650 out of 27657 iStockphoto contributors. (http://istockcharts.multimedia.de/)

Bug's life

Canon 40D, 1/4 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100, 100 mm (EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM).

My lovely assistant was out in the garden and found this little creature, called me and I came running with my camera, macro lens and tripod. I'm not sure what type of bug it is, but the red and black on the green of the leave looks good.

Photo planet (1)

One from the archives... I took the original series of images in 2003 with my first digital camera, a Canon Powershot A70. Then stitched it all together in Photoshop and created this photo planet from the panorama.

Chesham Tree (1)

1/640 sec at f/4.0, ISO 100, 50mm (EF 50mm f/1.8 II), Canon 40D. I took this image near Chesham. I absolutely love this place and I go there regularly to record the change in seasons.

My lovely assistant

Meet my lovely assistant (aka wife Sarah). The image was taken earlier today whilst out and about around Chesham.

Chesham is a lovely town with many photo opportunities. Being only 40 minutes from London Marylebone, it is also the perfect base for photographic projects in and around London.

I guess this is the beginning

Holga FN, Fish-eye lens.

From time to time I will keep you up to date on my latest efforts. I will also keep publishing links to some of my favourite photography websites (see on the side bar).

Recently I learned about the great things being done by an organisation called PhotoVoice. Have a look at http://www.photovoice.org/.