I have just finished reading this book by the Shutter Sisters . It gets 10/10. Absolutely brilliant. My Masters Photography project is tapping into gender issues along with conversations I am having with women photographers and this fits in there nicely. I am rapidly coming to the view that society is patriarchal as are is it's systems and attitudes. Even the way women photographers take pictures is done in a male way. This book is different. The images, explanations, motivations for taking the images are very tender, nurturing, thought provoking, very female. The attitude and approach is completely different from the way things are written that I have read. It's beautiful, a work of art. I would highly recommend it to women and to male photographers especially as a way to add depth to images taken in their accompanying narrative. It also provokes thought as to why your images are as they are, and, generally speaking, offers ideas as to how to approach and record subjects in the future.
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
Happy New Year and New Year resolutions.
Happy New Year to you all.
My New Year resolution for photography is to take myself out of, my comfort zone even more. To continue to improve my confidence by asking more people to take their pictures. To have more goes at studio and portrait images. To spend more time on worthwhile images and to develop a faster eye to eliminate poor and not to bother with images. If I find other resolutions, I will add them.
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Photoshop colour management workshop
On Monday this week I attended a full day of tutorials on colour management in Photoshop. I have done this before and sent off for profiles, fitting them into Photoshop and Lightroom and using them. But it explained a lot of things I use but didn't understand. It was really valuable.
Michael Grecco-"Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait" review
I have just finished reading this book and its good. There are plenty of hints and tips. He had an idea, a vision in mind on how he wants to light a subject and lights it as per his vision. He is not a "45°-lighting-to-the-side-and-above-the-model" kind of guy. He lights as he wants and it looks good. Evidently an artist. But I don't know what it is, and this is purely personal, I can't get on with it. I have learned that lighting doesn't have to be a cult kitsch kind if thing with standard lighting arrangements, but I don't know what it is. Maybe its the way he writes. I don't know.
Thursday, 13 December 2012
An enlarging experience
Yesterday (Tuesday 4th December) I had a brilliant time in a colour darkroom at Uni! I have done black and white work before but this was my first colour. I really enjoyed it. It took me a long time to produce my first print with recalling the workflow, but once I had that sussed it took seconds to expose the image then into the machine with the print. I can see how creating a first class print is an art in itself. You could tinker with the colour for hours if you wanted to. Expensive, but you could do it. Dialling in the filtration is easier than using Lightroom. Its something I really want to do again with negatives from images taken next time though......I need some time in the studio!
Saturday, 1 December 2012
Book Review-self-portrait photography
I am reading this book called "Self Portrait Photography, The Ultimate In Self Expression" by Natalie Dybisz (isbn 978-1-907579-16-5 Ilex 2011) and it is really good. I an about a quarter of the way through it this, morning and really enjoying it. It has covered the history of portrait photography and the reasons why people did it, into kit and now into shooting. They aren't just single portraits there are multiple images of the same person composed within it and they are surprisingly more interesting than I thought they were going to be. They are very tasteful and the history of the shots is fascinating. After this chapter she goes on to talk about processing, individual self portrait artists showcases and marketing. So, a lot to read and back to it!