Beyond the obvious

Portrait of Amitabh Bachchan. Click on the image to see larger version. Every portrait is different but there are also elements which are the same, whether you’re shooting the famous or the locally famous. Fame is of course all relative. It depends on profession, accomplishments or media celebrity status. Whoever the ‘famous’ individual is there are millions of people in the world who will never have heard them. For example I photographed the legendary Indian Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, who amongst his many accolades was awarded the Legion d'Honneur, the highest civilian award of France. But I’m positive that many people in North America will not have heard of him – although he has more fans than Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro put together. I find that however well known a person is cracking through egos and insecurities is really important when it comes to getting authentic strong portraits. However I hasten to add that when it came to photographing Amitabh th...

For many years I have admired Victor Habbick's creative genius. He combines tremendous skill in photography, the digital darkroom and graphic design to come up with extraordinary images. Victor has finally given in to the constant requests for information about how he achieves his images and decided to share his wisdom in a book, CD and as a download which you can buy here . He describes his book on his website: "The first collection of work by Artist and Photographer Victor Habbick, including chapters covering the first 10 years as a conceptual stock artist for The Science Photo Library. Candid biography of his early years and articles providing a fascinating and insightful look into the creative processes involved in the creation of his art and photography. Featuring a cornucopia of ideas and styles, science, technology, space, the human condition, fantasy, wildlife and so much more. Includes articles dealing with presentation and typography and a large selection of before ...

A couple doze peacefully on an English beach during a bank holiday weekend. The title of the blog, where's the passion, has got nothing to do with the image, although I admit the juxtaposition amused me. The question is really addressed to other photographers but I suppose it could apply to anyone in their career. Photography is one of those jobs that requires passion and care. As the years go by I have encountered many professional photographers who sadly have lost their passion. It's usually replaced by a cynical attitude, cutting corners, going through the motions and often hidden behind a massive ego. These photographers use a tired formula that hasn't changed in years, get paid and move on to the next routine job. Even more sadly they frequently don't realise that they've lost that wide-eyed passion and enthusiasm they had when they first started. Yes, life can wear you down but when it does you've got to do something about it. Fortunately some photographer...

Leeds is a vibrant city for of life and diversity. I love it. A big thank you to everyone for their emails and messages. I'll be back soon, April I hope. In the meantime I'll keep uploading the odd bit here and there. Cheers, Paul

That's life. We all know the feeling. Spotted this chap doing a bit of contemplating in the street in Leeds, UK. My life seems to revolve around unpacking boxes and sorting stuff out at the moment but I'm not complaining. Just wish I had more time for the blog and my own photography. Till soon, Paul

Star and moon. I'm sitting in my new studio/office having just gone through the trials and tribulations of moving. Everything is up and running but there's still a lot of work to be done. I've got quite few ideas for new blogs so stick around. More soon. I've noticed that quite a few people are reading older articles including assessments I made about RAW software back in 2006. Things move on at quite a pace in our digital world, so if you are doing research on the net it's always handy to check when an article was written and then try to find the latest information. Sounds obvious, I know. Of course some things don't date as quickly, like editorial viewpoints. On the subject of RAW software; I use Lightroom and am extremely happy with the results. I also use CS3. I think the last time I wrote about RAW conversion software I was using DPP from Canon, which is fine for what it does. I've also tried the latest version of Capture One but don't see any rea...

Locked ship's hatch. I thought I'd best upload an image in case you were wondering what had happened to me. I'm working on a big project at the moment - which leaves me with barely a spare minute. The decks should be cleared in about two weeks and I've got some cracking ideas for articles in the near future. See you soon, Paul www.indigo2photography.co.uk

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

What tags would apply to you as a photographer? It's a fascinating question. In a sense the tags are your photographic DNA, or in marketing speak your brand. People who know how diverse my work is may wonder what tags would apply to me as a photographer. I wonder too. Different editors and art directors will no doubt have their individual set of tags depending on what they use my work for and how they perceive it. I don't think that I can be easily pigeon holed. But maybe I'm missing something. There's a very interesting article on one of my favourite blogs which you should read if you're interested in how photographers are perceived by photo editors. I've had a go at picking my own tags: color black & white digital available light location portrait photojournalist fine art captured moment quirky real people I'm curious to know how you would tag my photographic work. Please leave a comment or send me an email . Many thanks, Paul

She suddenly realised. Carefree. Out on the streets with my camera I find that I am often hunting for something which I call "the expressive moment". The expressive moment is not the same as HCB's decisive moment. I also do not use it in the context of the writings about the expressionists. To me it is simply the moment captured through the lens when there is a clear expression of mood, emotion and feeling which can be easily read by the viewer looking at the image. In contrast the decisive moment can be an image which captures something which is simply visually in perfect balance and harmony but does not have a powerful inherent emotion. I see a lot of street photography which to me looks haphazard and I can't help wondering why the shot was taken as there's nothing special about it. The two images above capture the expressive moment for me. The emotion, feeling and mood are clear. To use another phrase: the images speak to the viewer. And that is ...

Boys playing on a sea-saw in South Africa. This shot has been in my portfolio for a long time. It has won numerous awards and been in exhibitions all over the world. So now as I glance back over my shoulder at where I've come from it seems an opportune time to show it here. Best Viewed On Black EPUK has published a great article which ties in with my previous blog . The article asks ten top photographers, "What do you wish you'd known when you started out ?" I wish I'd known that things are not always fair and that taking good images is not enough. I also wish I had known how kind and wonderful people are all over the world. It seems the less people have the more generous they are, and often happier. I also wish I had known that I didn't need to buy most of the cameras and lenses that are sitting in my studio. I would have saved a fortune. I highly recommend reading this article . Cheers, Paul

I am not against amateurs and semi-professionals selling their photography. It's a great way to earn some extra cash. However I am concerned about the level of high quality published work and the standards that clients and the public accept these days. It seems that just about everyone is a photographer. The line between amateur enthusiast and professional is fuzzy to say the least. Photography enthusiasts are selling their images through stock libraries and microstock websites, directly to magazines or through their own and third party sites. They're accepting commissions to shoot weddings, being hired to shoot for magazines and selling fine art prints from their websites. They're teaching photography on the weekend and guiding photographic holidays and safaris. Photography became accessible to the masses with the first non-expert cameras and the famous Kodak slogan"You press the button, we do the rest." The digital camera age has taken the whole thing to a ne...

Have you got 20 minutes, well better make that a few hours? Take a look at a relatively new site ( www.rank.aphotoeditor.com ) that features the work of many top professional photographers. Anyone can sign up. You don't have to submit your own work, you can vote for the photographers who have submitted their portfolios or act as a photo editor and submit your own favourite professional photographers. I've submitted a portfolio of my "most interesting" images on Flickr and I will be submitting my website once it's had a revamp, which it definitely needs again. Got to keep things fresh in this fast moving world. So go on, check it out and have fun. Cheers, Paul www.indigo2photography.co.uk

A canal near Damme, in Belgium, provides the perfect landscape to create a strong design statement in photography. I've written two articles on using design in photography, here and here , and I said I would be adding to the series. Unfortunately I never got round to writing more but I hope this image illustrates several of the points I made in the earlier articles. There's a rather strange phenomenon that happens. I look back at what I've written some time ago and somehow it seems fresh and I discover things that I'd not thought about for a while. This is exactly what happened when I re-read my articles on design in photography this evening. As the readership of this blog keeps growing, at a quite phenomenal rate, I'm sure that some of you will not have read these articles and hopefully you will discover something of value in them that can be applied to your own photography. So in the best tradition of TV re-runs here they are once again: Design in photography 1 De...

This couple came to our studio for a portrait and I just knew something special was going to happen. She was very bossy. If you've ever seen the English TV sitcom Hyacinth Bucket , well that's exactly how she was. The real Hyacinth. Everything had to be the best and most expensive. Eventually she fell under the spell of my irresistible wit and cracked up with laughter, and I got my shot. Actually come to think of it it was probably Magda's wit as I tend to go fairly quiet during photo-shoots. Her dress was very expensive but didn't quite fit, which she was really annoyed about. So Magda used washing pegs on the back of the dress to make it fit, an old fashion photographers' trick. Oh by the way the flower thing was 'Hyacinth's' idea. Credit where credit is due... Hope the image makes you smile. Cheers, Paul