Welcome to my blog!
I’m a photographer in mid-Wales in the United Kingdom and I’ll be blogging my photographic journey… I’ve decided to start this blog for a few reasons. Firstly, I’ll be travelling aboard soon for a while and wanted a way of documenting my experience. Secondly, having a photo blog will force me to keep focused on taking photos, hopefully good ones!
So what do I write about in my first post? How about… how I started down this photographic road? Yeah.. that sounds like a good idea! Let’s go for it…
How did it start?
I’ve always enjoyed taking photos, but I never knew anything technical and used Nikon point-and-shoot cameras for everything. The camera went everywhere with me (on my belt buckle) and got the occasional lucky photograph that was really worth keeping. Well… it all came crashing down on October 26th 2007. We had put on a surprise 50th Birthday party for my brother and all of us took pictures all night with our point-and-shoot cameras. On the Saturday morning, we looked at all the pictures and they were all crap! I simply said, “that’s it! I’ve had enough”. That very morning, I found an article on the Internet that spoke in laymen’s terms (but in enough detail) about Canon lenses. I spent a few hours reading the article to ensure I really understood as I didn’t know anything about lenses… (here is the link) I reviewed my choices over the next few days with my cousin Barry Johnston in Australia who is also a photographer (and has shot many sporting events professionally – including cricket matches such as South Africa vs. Australia). With Barry’s guidance… I was happy with what I was about to purchase. Exactly a week later, I received my first delivery of £1,900 worth of camera equipment on November 3rd 2007. This is what I got:
Canon EOS 40D Body
EF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM lens (with Hoya Pro 1 UV filter)
EF 28mm F1.8 USM lens (with Hoya Pro 1 UV filter)
My next steps was to get some general guidance on all aspects of photography. A friend in work lent me his Scott Kelby book titled, “The Digital Photography Book”. This was immediately useful and I bought my own copy. My next purchase was “Understanding Exposure” by Bryan Peterson. This was the corner stone for me as it really introduced me to some useful metering techniques. The next book was “Learning to See Creatively” also by Bryan Peterson. These books set the foundation for all my next adventures. I have bought many books since then. Most have been very useful…
Also at this time, I started following professional photographer blogs. Scott Kelby (link), Joe McNally (link), David Ziswer (link) to name a few… This was a hugely rewarding exercise!
So what happened after you started taking photos?
You are so happy when you take your first few photos! I can say looking back in time, they were not that great at all… but… it’s a necessary step to getting better! The first 7,000 frames was about getting to know my camera and its settings. I would shot anything! The camera was with me at ALL times. I’d stop off on the side of the road and take a picture of something, or some swans in a river, a landscape, friends and family down the pub or on an outing somewhere… I tried taking photos in as many different lighting conditions as possible. The real key was having a mentor! I have a lot to thank Barry for… the number of appalling photos (which I was quite happy with at the time) that Barry must have received during that time! He always took the time to explain in detail how I could have taken the shot better. His mentoring is always inspirational and never demoralizing.
The next step forward was flash. I purchased my equipment when I thought I was ready for the next step. Around March/April 2008 I purchased a Canon 580EX Mk II speedlite. This changed everything! From knowing nothing about flash, you realize how hard it is to work with. Even with books, I was going nowhere fast. Frankly, I didn’t really understand what they were saying and more importantly “why?”. So I purchased David Hobby’s DVD seminar (8 DVDs) which was the best thing ever! He’s goes through the theory of flash light and he often repeats what he’s trying to say in different ways until you understand it. What I learnt from these DVDs I carry with me always. In case you’re not aware, David Hobby started the “strobist” community of working with small flashes.
I took around 5,000 frames using flash to understand it better… to the point I could take a reasonable picture (well… at least by my early standards of my ability).
The gear?
Well… once I started getting better, you buy a whole load of equipment!!! Stands, umbrella’s, backgrounds, support systems, reflectors, well… let’s just say simply, you tend to get everything (almost – within reason). You try it out and get some nice results. You try different things and you learn a lot!
By the summer of 2008, I was getting infinitely better results! I’m sure my mentor Barry must have been relieved! I was reading books everyday, reading blogs everyday, and trying stuff out everyday! You could say it was studying full time (except I was actually working as a software engineer during the day). But the evenings were packed with studying…
By November, I purchased a Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM lens and a Canon 430EX Mk II speedlite (my second flash). You could say that getting this batch of equipment was when I decided that this was a commitment and a move towards my goals of going “pro” at some point.
The Lovegrove moment!
One day in mid-November 2008, a friend in work pointed out this blog that I might find interesting –
http://www.prophotonut.com. This changed everything!!! A lot of the photos I wished I could take were taken by photographers in the America. I hadn’t actually found a photographer in the UK whose photos I desired… Until this moment! AND… this chap Damien Lovegrove did training!!! I knew instantly I wanted to go on a workshop with him. But… I believed I was not ready for such training by a photographer such as Damien Lovegrove… that’s when I decided I had to get even more serious which (in part) lead to my decision to get the 70-200mm F2.8 lens and a second flash. My evenings were already packed with studying this stuff, but I doubled my efforts and I literally went as far as books could take me. I needed that special ingredient…
To be very honest… I was very excited and quite nervous by the time the 28th April 2009 came round. Damien usually takes 4 delegates on his workshops and I was not a professional photographer. I was nervous about being in the company of 3 other professionals and I would look like a desperate wan-a-be amateur photographer. Damien says on his business website “Maintaining the gap between the professional image makers ability and that of the keen amateur has never been more important”. I completely agree with this statement. It offered reassurance of what I was getting into, but it was also a little frightening…
The 28th April started out by meeting up with everybody in a coffee shop in Bristol. Damien was very friendly and so were the other 3 delegates. By the time I had my coffee, I couldn’t see the fuss about being nervous! Everybody was very friendly and we got on just great! We walked out of the coffee shop and not even 4 meters out the door, Damien quickly pointed out an aspect of lighting. I knew that the day was going to be packed with information! I can’t remember how many different setups we photographed that day, probably 20 different setups around the Bristol Harbour. I can remember one of the other delegates, Rory, saying after he took a frame with Damien’s guidance, “yeah!!! that’s what we paid £400 for!”… If Rory didn’t say it, I was going to! In fact, I had many such moments through the day.
The biggest impact that I got from this day was learning to “see”… This is something that cannot be taught through books. Damien shares his camera techniques and is very generous with information. This is why I will go back again and again for more of his workshops. His Prophotonut blog makes much more sense to me now that I’ve been on one of his workshops. My photography is obviously influenced by what I learnt both in natural lighting and flash.
Out of the 4 delegates, 3 of us are in constant contact sharing each other’s experiences since the Urban Portrait workshop. You can see Ian’s website here ().
This is the link to the shots that Damien took on the 28th April on his prophotonut blog.
What’s next?
I will soon be on my way on some overdue travels to see my cousin and mentor Barry in Melbourne. Then on to Brisbane to see my brother and family. Then finally to Boracay Island in the Philippines.
Although I’m still fairly new at this (just 2 years)… I feel that I have come a long way forward and feel that I can hold my own. And hope to turn “pro” at some point, hopefully in the not too distant future…
Welcome to my blog!
I’m a photographer in mid-Wales in the United Kingdom and I’ll be blogging my photographic journey… I’ve decided to start this blog for a few reasons. Firstly, I’ll be travelling aboard soon for a while and wanted a way of documenting my experience. Secondly, having a photo blog will force me to keep focused on taking photos, hopefully good ones!
So what do I write about in my first post? How about… how I started down this photographic road? Yeah.. that sounds like a good idea! Let’s go for it…
How did it start?
I’ve always enjoyed taking photos, but I never knew anything technical and used Nikon point-and-shoot cameras for everything. The camera went everywhere with me (on my belt buckle) and got the occasional lucky photograph that was really worth keeping. Well… it all came crashing down on October 26th 2007. We had put on a surprise 50th Birthday party for my brother and all of us took pictures all night with our point-and-shoot cameras. On the Saturday morning, we looked at all the pictures and they were all crap! I simply said, “that’s it! I’ve had enough”. That very morning, I found an article on the Internet that spoke in laymen’s terms (but in enough detail) about Canon lenses. I spent a few hours reading the article to ensure I really understood as I didn’t know anything about lenses… (here is the link) I reviewed my choices over the next few days with my cousin Barry Johnston in Australia who is also a photographer (and has shot many sporting events professionally – including cricket matches such as South Africa vs. Australia). With Barry’s guidance… I was happy with what I was about to purchase. Exactly a week later, I received my first delivery of £1,900 worth of camera equipment on November 3rd 2007. This is what I got:
- Canon EOS 40D Body
- EF 24-105mm F4 L IS USM lens (with Hoya Pro 1 UV filter)
- EF 28mm F1.8 USM lens (with Hoya Pro 1 UV filter)
My next steps was to get some general guidance on all aspects of photography. A friend in work lent me his Scott Kelby book titled, “The Digital Photography Book” (link). This was immediately useful and I bought my own copy. My next purchase was “Understanding Exposure” by Bryan Peterson (link). This was the corner stone for me as it really introduced me to some useful metering techniques. The next book was “Learning to See Creatively” also by Bryan Peterson (link). These books set the foundation for all my next adventures. I have bought many books since then. Most have been very useful…
Also at this time, I started following professional photographer blogs. Scott Kelby (link), Joe McNally (link), David Ziser (link) to name a few… This was a hugely rewarding exercise!
So what happened after you started taking photos?
You are so happy when you take your first few photos! I can say looking back in time, they were not that great at all… but… it’s a necessary step to getting better! The first 7,000 frames was about getting to know my camera and its settings. I would shot anything! The camera was with me at ALL times. I’d stop off on the side of the road and take a picture of something, or some swans in a river, a landscape, friends and family down the pub or on an outing somewhere… I tried taking photos in as many different lighting conditions as possible. The real key was having a mentor! I have a lot to thank Barry for… the number of appalling photos (which I was quite happy with at the time) that Barry must have received during that time! He always took the time to explain in detail how I could have taken the shot better. His mentoring is always inspirational and never demoralizing.
The next step forward was flash. I purchased my equipment when I thought I was ready for the next step. Around March/April 2008 I purchased a Canon 580EX Mk II speedlite. This changed everything! From knowing nothing about flash, you realize how hard it is to work with. Even with books, I was going nowhere fast. So I purchased David Hobby’s DVD seminar (8 DVDs – link) which was the best thing ever! He’s goes through the theory of flash light and he often repeats what he’s trying to say in different ways until you understand it. What I learnt from these DVDs I carry with me always. In case you’re not aware, David Hobby started the “strobist” community of working with small flashes (link).
I took around 5,000 frames using flash to understand it better… to the point I could take a reasonable picture (well… at least by my early standards of my ability).
The gear?
Well… once I started getting better, you buy a whole load of equipment!!! Stands, umbrella’s, backgrounds, support systems, reflectors, well… let’s just say simply, you tend to get everything (almost – within reason). You try it out and get some nice results. You try different things and you learn a lot!
By the summer of 2008, I was getting infinitely better results! I’m sure my mentor Barry must have been relieved! I was reading books everyday, reading blogs everyday, and trying stuff out everyday! You could say it was studying full time (except I was actually working as a software engineer during the day). But the evenings were packed with studying…
By November, I purchased a Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM lens and a Canon 430EX Mk II speedlite (my second flash). You could say that getting this batch of equipment was when I decided that this was a commitment and a move towards my goals of going “pro” at some point.
The Lovegrove moment!
One day in mid-November 2008, a friend in work pointed out this blog that I might find interesting – http://www.prophotonut.com. This changed everything!!! A lot of the photos I wished I could take were taken by photographers in the America. I hadn’t actually found a photographer in the UK whose photos I desired… Until this moment! AND… this chap Damien Lovegrove did training!!! I knew instantly I wanted to go on a workshop with him. But… I believed I was not ready for such training by a photographer such as Damien Lovegrove… that’s when I decided I had to get even more serious which (in part) lead to my decision to get the 70-200mm F2.8 lens and a second flash. My evenings were already packed with studying this stuff, but I doubled my efforts and I literally went as far as books could take me.
To be very honest… I was very excited and quite nervous by the time the 28th April 2009 came round. Damien usually takes 4 delegates on his workshops and I was not a professional photographer. I was nervous about being in the company of 3 other professionals and I would look like a desperate wan-a-be amateur photographer. Damien says on his business website “Maintaining the gap between the professional image makers ability and that of the keen amateur has never been more important”. I completely agree with this statement. It offered reassurance of what I was getting into, but it was also a little scary…
The 28th April started out by meeting up with everybody in a coffee shop in Bristol. Damien was very friendly and so were the other 3 delegates. By the time I had my coffee, I couldn’t see the fuss about being nervous! Everybody was very friendly and we got on just great! We walked out of the coffee shop and not even 4 meters out the door, Damien quickly pointed out an aspect of lighting. I knew that the day was going to be packed with information! I can’t remember how many different setups we photographed that day, probably 20 different setups around the Bristol Harbour. I can remember one of the other delegates, Rory, saying after he took a frame with Damien’s guidance, “yeah!!! that’s what we paid £400 for!”… If Rory didn’t say it, I was going to! In fact, I had many such moments through the day.
The biggest impact that I got from this day was learning to “see”… This is something that cannot be taught through books. Damien shares his camera techniques and is very generous with information. This is why I will go back again and again for more of his workshops. His Prophotonut blog makes much more sense to me now that I’ve been on one of his workshops. My photography is obviously influenced by what I learnt both in natural lighting and flash.
Out of the 4 delegates, 3 of us are in constant contact sharing each other’s experiences since the Urban Portrait workshop. You can see Ian’s website here (http://ianfreelance.com/).
This is the link to the shots that Damien took on the 28th April on his prophotonut blog.
What’s next?
I will soon be on my way on some overdue travels to see my cousin and mentor Barry in Melbourne. Then on to Brisbane to see my brother and family. Then finally to Boracay Island in the Philippines.
Although I’m still fairly new at this (just 2 years)… I feel that I have come a long way forward and feel that I can hold my own.
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