Beyond the obvious

Every once in a while someone expresses what they feel about your work as a professional photographer. For me the greatest joy is when a client is really happy. Today I received an email from a client, Hayley, who wanted the say thanks to my wife Magda (also a professional photographer) and me, and she wanted to provide a testimonial we could use on our website. "A wedding day is an important day, and as a bride and groom you want everything to be exactly right. The last thing you want to be doing in the midst of all the excitement is trying to manage a photographer, and worrying that your photos aren't going to be exactly what you want. Luckily for us, our choice of photographer meant this was one less job to worry about and although hundreds of wonderful shots were taken I can honestly say that most of the time I forgot Paul and Magda were even there. In fact, when we showed our album to our friends and family they were amazed to see themselves in a lot of the lovely snaps w...

The two problems I speak of are lack of depth of field and high contrast, particularly in landscape photography. Combining multiple exposures in Photoshop is a technique often applied to the problem of dealing with high contrast, for example to darken bright skies and bring a more even exposure range across a landscape. Some photographers even claim that you don’t need ND filters anymore, just take two exposures and combine them using layers in Photoshop. Job done. However the technique of combining exposures can also be used to solve other photographic problems. A less known strategy is to use two exposures to increase depth of field. Here’s how: Focus your lens so that the area of sharp focus stretches from the middle distance to the horizon. Then refocus so that the entire foreground is sharp. Now combine the two exposure using layers in Photoshop. Remove the unsharp areas using a layer mask. You can find out more about layer masks here in a handy little tutorial here and a more adv...

Rick contemplates the potential for a shot on the beach in Cornwall. Photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world. -Arnold Newman Cheers, Paul

Met this chap in the street in Leeds. We talked about the trials and tribulations of the local football team and he agreed to pose for me. This image is part of my 'street portraits' project. I'm thoroughly enjoying this project. It's great to meet people and learn new things. Most are very friendly and open to chat and have their picture taken. Now you know I don't like advertising stuff and this is not a commercial blog, but I have to say that I think Lightroom is a brilliant piece of software and in combination with Photoshop it gives me the workflow options and speed I need to get through loads of images. Speaking of which, I'd better get on with it. Someone asked me if the tattoos on the chap are real. The answer is yes, absolutely. I'll upload other images from the series in the coming weeks. Till soon, Paul

James and a friend in fancy dress for a 21st birthday party on the street in Bournemouth. I'm working on a series of street portraits and thoroughly enjoying it. These two were part of a whole group and they were having great fun, a bit boisterous but certainly not being destructive or anything. However, when they tried to buy an ice-cream from a stall they were refused service. I can't stand these small minded people who follow a strict policy, applying it to everyone without looking past clothing and style at the actual individual. Granted if you're dealing with real trouble makers you've got to put your foot down but if you can see that no harm is meant then why be a 'jobs worth' and totally inflexible? The following day I went into a pub to enquire about the menu and was told to take my cap off. It surprised me. I certainly don't think that I look like a trouble maker. Well maybe I do look a bit dangerous LOL . In my experience as a photographer dealin...

This is the Chesil Speedster which is inspired by the classic 1956 Porsche 356. I photographed it in Padstow, Cornwall. I'd like to welcome my new readers. I've been writing this blog since March 2005 and am humbled by the interest shown from the four corners of the globe. So far I've written 208 articles. Not bad. Please visit the archive page which has a comprehensive list of articles up to the end of April 2007. It may sound strange but even though I wrote them all when I browse back I discover things of interest which I'd not thought of for a long time. And I think, did I really write that? I always see room for improvement too. One of the joys of writing is that you can put down arguments and analyse complex issues in a way that leads to discovering new ideas. Every article is a bit of journey and I rarely know the full story until I've written it. And when I read those articles years later I rediscover things that have slipped away into the subconscious....

Spring is in full bloom here in Yorkshire. Rows of trees with their delicate blooms line the park as you enter Harrogate. This close up shows some of the opulent display. It's been awhile since my last blog. Just incredibly busy. At the moment a lot of my time is spent on sorting out our computers but I hope to be back in action and writing something that will get the creative juices going again soon. In the meantime I hope you enjoy the image above. Cheers for now, Paul

Shell fish on Cornish rocks wait for the incoming tide to return. The premise for this article is that there are three basic elements which affect our perception and therefore appreciation of a photograph. I arrived at this conclusion during a typically philosophical breakfast conversation with my dear wife, Magda. Never mind breakfast, I hear you say, what are these three elements. Well the first is obviously the image itself. Secondly we have the viewer’s personal life experience which filters the image and influences the way they perceive it. The third ingredient is for me the eureka one, and a rather slippery customer to pin down. I’ll call it visual fashion or probably more accurately ‘learnt perception.’ Number one, the image itself is self explanatory really. Here I mean the subject matter but also the visual presentation (colour, black and white) as well as objective technical aspects, including saturation, sharpness, composition etc but excluding any interpretation or jud...

There's a eerie feeling around the Wheal Coates cliff-top mine buildings. A sense of history hits you in a place like this where few miners were fit to work past the age of 40 and many died young. Woman and children younger than 12 years old worked above ground. Despite the crowds of tourists wandering around I wanted to capture something of the atmosphere of the place. It was a bright sunny day with a haze hanging over the horizon. I saw Magda walking off toward the next building, her dark clothes contrasting with her sunlit hair. She seemed in that moment almost like a spirit of the past. The new piece of wall brings the image up-to-date and besides creating an interesting piece of contrast prevents the image from being contrived. I used the walls to create a sense of depth, hopefully pulling the whole composition together in spite of how small the focal point, Magda, is in the frame. Ultimately I hope the image show something of the scale of the place and conveys its atmosphere...

Amitabh Bachchan - Bollywood Superstar. See my black and white portraits portfolio . Just back from a trip to Cornwall in England, hence the quiet period on my blog. Got loads of shots, so there's a lot to process. I've updated my portfolios on www.indigo2photography.co.uk , using a nifty piece of software which integrates with Picasa (Google's free picture management program). It all works a treat. The portfolios contain new and older work, a selection of my best images. Hopefully I'll be adding a new portfolio with my Cornwall images soon. Your comments in our guest book are very welcome. See you soon, Cheers, Paul

Magda Indigo in a Flanders field during a visit to the area where she grew up Magda has launched her own blog to share her wisdom, which is considerable with her many years experience as a professional photographer, her informative viewpoints and her philosophy. She is a great story teller and her images and words combine to convey her irrepressible sense of life with all its poignancy and humour. Click here to visit Magda's blog and don't be shy about leaving a comment. Cheers, Paul

There's a perception that photojournalists are emotionally detached, fly on the wall observers, taking their pictures, high on the adrenaline of the moment. All they care about is getting the image at any cost. OK you can't heap everyone together in the same pile and yes there are photojournalists that seem detached, that would do virtually anything to get the shot. Paradoxically they're never really good in my experience. The photographers that rise above the rest, that produce images which define our perception of a historical event, the really great photojournalists are people that care passionately about life, justice and human rights. They are not detached but they do know how to deal with their emotions in the heat of the moment so that they can continue photographing. Over riding almost everything else is the need to tell the important stories around the world. The photojournalist holds a mirror up to our collective conscious and says with his/her images - this is...

A couple enjoying the park and fountain despite it being a cold winter afternoon. My motto as you know by now is to go beyond the obvious and here I tried to do just that by using the fountain in the foreground to create extra interest and add to the design of the image. Often a foreground can be used to frame an image and add depth. Cheers, Paul

I'd just like to draw your attention to a new blog written by friend and fellow photographer Jill Coleman. She describes with great sensitivity her photographic journey and the people she has met which provides a unique insight into the thoughts of this talented documentary photographer. I highly recommend a visit to her blog Freedom to Dream . Cheers Paul

Worn tires, each one the result of thousands of miles of travel on our roads, lie in an ever growing mountain of waste. The challenge here was to make an attractive image from an ugly subject. As photographers we have to look for the beauty in everything, even ugliness and human misery. Paradoxically the first challenge of the photographer is to make the image attractive for the viewer to look at, no matter what it contains. An image that no one wants to look at will fail to communicate. More soon... Paul

A young lady checks her latest text message. Just about everyone has a mobile these days. It's part of life and the streets are full of people using them. Yet in society people don't seem to be able to really communicate and meaningful conversation is a dying art. "Hello, I'm on the train. Yes, it's snowing." Nothing beats a face to face chat. All of which has got very little to do with this picture, which I hope you enjoy. Cheers, Paul

Today I was interviewed by a group of student journalists. All respect to them. They asked tough questions on difficult social issues. It is often journalists who raise awareness and help set the social and political agenda. They are in a privileged and powerful position because they can turn the spotlight on important issues. Journalists can play the role of social conscious. However all too often the media is a fickle beast, refusing to cover important stories. Unfortunately commercial pressure from advertisers who do not want to see their brand on display next to a grim picture and story dictate that magazines and papers stay away from the harsh realities that used to be covered in magazines like Life. Now the pages are more often filled with celebrities and gossip. I hope these young journalists realise the importance of what they are doing and the role that they can play in helping to shape our social conscious. What I've said here is not new but it is important. Journalists...

Magda has been through a rough time with her health over a period of several months. She is now starting to recover. On Sunday we went for a walk in the local park. Naturally we had our cameras with us. A photographer's portfolio is the most vital marketing tool he or she has. If you would like to know more about building a successful portfolio then I recommend buying John Kaplan's excellent book, Photo Portfolio Success. Here are some of the tips from leading figures in the industry that he shares in the book: "Show your work and get feedback. Don't ever pass on a good opportunity." - Ruth Adams; photographer, educator. "Develop a personal vision, not just a style. One is just aesthetics and the other is a coming from the soul and the heart." - Tom Kennedy; Director of Photography, Washington Post Newsweek Interactive (Former Director of Photography at National Geographic). "Show the world through your eyes. It's as much about the real world ...

A grandmother sits on a wall at the Canal Gardens in Leeds, patiently waiting for her family. She looks like a strong and determined woman and I wanted to bring this aspect out in the photographs I took of her. As photographers we touch on many people's lives, our images a testimony to the passing moment we bear witness too. But the images can be so much more. They can be a metaphor and a symbol of someone's life, a tribute to them. I for one do not treat this responsibility lightly. I hope this image also bears witness to the respect I feel for the people who's portraits I make. More soon... Paul

Young lady in the city. The above image has done rather well on a website where photographers share their images for critiques and points. Obviously I like it or I would not have uploaded the image. The thing that makes it stand out is the digital manipulation that I applied to the image. It literally took five minutes to do. The thing that bothers me though is that while I'm grateful for the recognition from other photographers I have produced far more meaningful images that have received virtually no attention. It seems that for the audience on this website the key point of interest is not the story a picture tells or the emotion it evokes but rather that a technique has been used. Any artist or creative is happy and flattered when their work gets attention but I think it is rather sad that so many images in the world by photographers who genuinely capture emotion or communicate something important are ignored by the photographic community. Their praise then rings rather hollow a...