Beyond the obvious

Dear faithful readers, I am away photographing and won’t have easy access to the internet, nor the time to write my blog. I’ll be back mid August. I’m sure that my travels will inspire new articles and I’ll of course share any interesting stories. This mission will be a good test for my new EOS 5D. So far I’m very impressed with the quality and performance of the camera. It’s one of the best I’ve ever used; a real pleasure. I particularly like the way the 5D draws its images. The images look like medium format film. The camera is also a lot lighter to lug around than for example a Mamiya RZ and the quality when RAW files are processed correctly is certainly on a par. There’s a funny thing about the whole process of comparing cameras. I know I’m not the first person to point the following out. Scientific tests give you dry academic figures often highlighting such miniscule differences that you’d need a powerful magnifying glass to see what they’re talking about, which is certainly not t...

I see hundreds, maybe thousands of images each week. The work ranges from top professionals through to people just starting out on their photographic journey. Individual photographers from both sides of the above spectrum can make images that are really special and stand out from the crowd. I can't describe the pure joy it gives me to discover an image that has that extra special something, that moves me. Few photographers consistently produce work that I admire, time and again hitting that sweet spot. I'd like to introduce you to a photographer who consistently creates outstanding images, Jeanette Hägglund. She's not famous, not a big name in the world of photography, just someone out there who's work I particularly admire. Check out her site www.jeanettehagglund.se for yourself. Cheers, Paul

Well I don't know about you but a lot of professional photographers are now spending far more time manipulating pixels than they are on anything else. A few do outsource all their Photoshop work so they can spend more time photographing but in reality a professional photographer probably spends around 10 per cent of the day on average with a camera in hand. There are plenty of amateurs who have more time to take pictures than professional photographers do. Add to that the fact that a lot of pro work is rather unglamorous and not spent actually photographing things the pro would really like to, and you've got to ask yourself what the whole dream of turning pro is all about. Is it a romantic illusion? Well, yes and no. There are pro photographers who love their work and get to do and see the most amazing things. And then there are the rest, fighting to make a living, struggling with government bureaucracy and spending long hours hunched in front of a computer screen. If you'r...

Well here's the news I promised in my last blog. We've completely revamped www.indigo2photography.co.uk I'd love to know what you think of the site now. It's been steadily growing in success and my wife and fellow photographer, Magda and I thought it high time to revamp it again. This seems to be an ongoing process at least once every six months. But you can't afford to sit still these days. The internet is proving to be one of the most successful methods photographers have ever had to publish their work to a world-wide audience. I am also now selling my prints through a superb online gallery service, which is fully e-commerced. So wherever you are in the world it has never been easier to own one of my prints. And I'm keeping prices low during this introductory period. It won't last forever so if you see something you like please don't hesitate, visit www.photoboxgallery.com/paulindigo . 'Printing methods and paper types For those that are technical...

Thanks to my friend Alper Tecer in Turkey, articles from my blog will soon be appearing in Turkish. There's also been interest in translating articles into French and Dutch. Needless to say, I'm delighted with the interest from readers around the world. If you would like to translate articles into your mother tongue please get in touch. Also a gentle reminder that all content on this blog is strictly copyright protected . You may not use any information, article or part of an article without my written permission. However please feel free to link to my blog from your site. I would appreciate knowing about it though. I'll let you know more about the translations in due course. Cheers, Paul

Today I posted my last upload on fotolog. The quality is just too poor and it pains me to see what the automatic resizing and compression software does to my images. You're still welcome to visit and see what's on the site but nothing new will be added. However some exciting new developments are on the way. I'll keep you posted. Please note this article refers to fotolog.com NOT my blog. This blog will continue to go for a very long time I hope... Cheers, Paul

Zoom lenses are by far the most popular choice for photographers using digital SLRs and I don't think any prosumer or consumer digital cameras are made that don't have a zoom lens these days. How is this affecting creativity? When I studied photography, in the beginning, we had to use a camera fully manual with one standard fixed lens. We were taught to look while moving around the subject. Having regularly observed other photographers at work I have noticed that when they see something they stop dead in their tracks, zoom to the appropriate focal length to frame the composition and take the shot – without exploring the possibilities that open up by moving closer or further away from the subject and choosing the optimal focal length. But here's the really interesting thing that photographers seem to be missing, and it is something that could enhance their creative expression. Each focal length has its own unique characteristics which can be explored creatively. This will so...