Beyond the obvious

Everyone is telling you that you've got to learn the technical aspects of photography. Blogs, websites, books all hammer the message home and if you don't know your f-stops, the difference between a jpeg and raw file and how to use every tool in Photoshop, you're somehow inferior and can't possibly take a good picture. I suppose in our technology obsessed world it's not surprising that the how you do something takes precedence over the why you do it. Technique and the technical aspects of photography are vitally important. You have to have enough technical knowledge and craftsmanship to be able to create the image you envisage each and every time. As a photographer you have to have the skills and technical knowledge of a builder, or you house will fall down, but you also need the vision of an architect to create something beautiful and interesting. Recently on two separate occasions I saw promising new professional photographers at work. They knew their technical...

The image of a 'fashionista' belongs to my on-the-move series but is not included in the web gallery. Let's call it a bonus image for my blog readers :-)) Click on the image to see it larger. In my post on 9 January I mentioned that I would soon publish my on-the-move series. You can see it here on our recently revamped website . Comments welcome. You can also send me an email if you prefer. Cheers, Paul www.indigo2photography.co.uk

We've just launched our new website http://www.indigo2photography.co.uk/ , and we would value your opinion. The old site was getting a bit bulky having grown organically over the years. I hope you like the new streamlined version with bigger images and simple straightforward navigation. Cheers, Paul

For several years I've been working of and on creating a series of images involving the impression of movement . It seems that everything moves faster and faster these days. Except perhaps air travel. They took Concorde out of service. Anyway, people, careers, the supermarket (they keep moving stuff around on the shelves) and especially technology, keeps changing at an astounding pace. I wanted to capture a sense of the dynamism of our lives in my images. When the series is 'complete' I'll post an online exhibition. In the meantime, here's another image as a sneak preview . Comments welcome. Cheers, Paul www.indigo2photography.co.uk

The white cliffs of Dover in gently evening light. How good a photographer do you really want to be? Where should you set your sights? The first rule of setting a goal is that it has to be realistic and achievable within a given timescale. It should also be measurable but that's fairly tough in such a subjective field. How do you measure how good you are as a photographer- sales, awards, praise, response to exhibitions, the opinions of critics or your peers? All of these methods are influenced by factors other than the pure quality and aesthetics of your images. You'll have to to decide on which measure works for you. One traditional way of trying to establish where you are in the vast range from novice to acknowledged master is to actually look at the work of successful photographers in their respective fields. How do your images measure up? If you're interested in portrait photography, find out who's hot and have a long think about what makes their work better...

Magda and I celebrating New Year at home. My blog started in March 2005, so as we enter 2008, and another year of blogging, I would like thank you for your continued interest and support. I very much appreciate your comments and emails, and I must say I'm always a bit surprised to see how many readers from all corners of the earth visit my humble writings. It's also great to see from the stats that many of you continue to delve into the archives to find articles of value. January looks like it is going to be incredibly busy but as always I will endeavour to write regularly. As you know though I only write when I've got something to say. There's enough clutter and noise in the world without me contributing. As always, if you have any issues you'd like me to comment on then please don't be shy, send an email . Wishing you good health, happiness and inspiration for 2008. Cheers, Paul