Here is a tip I learned whilst working with Charlie Waite (I know it’s name droppy but I really did) when I was a leader with Light & Land Photographic Holidays and it has never left me. I thought I should share it with you. This original advice particularly referred at the time to arches on a long spanned bridge, the point being made that an arch cut in half looks messy whereas there is a ‘thought through’ element if the arch is all included. This involves looking very carefully around all four edges of the frame when taking the shot […]

Sunsets – now, the sun generally sets at far more sociable hours and that is why, I have little doubt, there are so many more sunsets than sunrises bouncing around the photo world 🙂 Again, similar to sunrises, sunsets can be photographed for their own beauty or for the amazing light they can cast on the landscape. For example, I live near a beautiful stretch of coast, The Glamorgan Heritage Coast, which has stretches of yellowy, orangey oolitic limestone cliffs. This is a photography heaven as we now have choices of ‘into the sun’, and ‘with backs to the sun’, picking up […]

I am sure that there was a song named Sunrise Sunset? Who sang it I have no idea! Answers please, on a postcard….. I was asked just last Thursday by a good photo chum (Mark, you know who you are) about sunrises and sunsets. There is, and has been for a while, an opinion that these are just becoming so cliched that interest is waning. To a point I tend to agree – not with the quality of the photography necessarily, but with the sheer volume now ‘out there’. So, how can we shoot either or both of these beautiful […]

I have today returned from running a Freeespirit Images workshop in the depths of Mid Wales, timed to catch the autumn tints at their best. It would be true to say that the weather wasn’t blue sky or sunshine. In fact it was overcast for most of the time, but the group were very happy and we all got stuck in, with me showing them how best to capture the essence of autumn. This then got me wondering. Do we REALLY need sunny blue sky days to capture autumn at its best or can we make a decent fist of […]

During my workshops/1:1’s etc I habitually remind clients not to forget trying an upright or portrait version of what they are photographing. Without wishing to replace aesthetic values with commercialism, it is a fact that of all the stock photos I have sold repro rights in, the portrait photos are ahead in the order of 60% to 40%. That apart, sometimes the portrait format can really strengthen a photo (oh, ok then, image!) by concentrating the viewers eye on the specifics, especially if, off to the sides, are just trees, lake, sandy beach or nothing really strong enough to make […]

All right minded photographers I know just CANNOT wait to set the alarm for ridiculous (or as a good friend of mine would say, ludicrous) o’clock, leap purposefully out of bed, stub their toe, and race to their chosen spot in pursuit of a sunrise photo. More often than not the sun will be lurking behind clouds, laughing its head off but sometime it does play ball and we return home happy chappies/chappesses. I was, for a long time, guilty of shooting a lovely sea with the sun rising out of it  – hey presto. But…..recently, on my latest Scillies […]

Just not long back from leading a one:one photo workshop with a great client and friend in that beautiful part of Wales known as Gower (NEVER The Gower, as I once found out!). The weather was favourable and the subjects he wished to photograph were there in abundance. We were, however, particularly blessed with interesting skies and clouds – especially clouds. Clouds are those funny things that can elevate a photograph from being ‘nice’ to being something rather special. Why? Well, in my view, a rather special or unusual cloud pattern or formation, apart from an additional eye catching interest, […]

but it is not that far away. I often struggle for inspiration through Spring which may seem a bit odd. After all, it is the time of year when all the new growth is bright and fresh, farm animals are all cute and cuddly, and all seems well with the world. Trouble is it is an annual event and tends to, er, repeat itself. So, our challenge is to think differently. What can we do? Well, maybe get down and dirty with snowdrops? Lie next to them, throw the aperture wide open and place them in their environment. Maybe open […]