Beyond the obvious

Mowing down everything If you look back over the last month or two I've been sharing the stories behind some of my portfolio images. I will continue this series of articles, dipping into my work every now and again. I hope you find them interesting and if you want to know more just leave a comment or send an email . This guy was mowing the grass with tremendous determination. The shot was taken on a Cambo 4x5" technical camera with a super wide lens. A large technical camera on a tripod is not exactly made for capturing fast action, and believe me this guy was moving at quite a speed across the lawn. Although it looks like he is in full action, I had to pose this shot. The film was Ilford's beautiful FP4 100 ISO. I printed and developed the negative in the darkroom. The image won praise at exhibitions and I have sold a number of prints. I've kept a print in my general portfolio ever since and it has always had a good response. A few years ago I scanned the full large ...

Photographers are concerned their images posted to a group of social photo-sharing sites will be sold without their consent following a change in the site owners terms and conditions. Internet Brands which acquired Trek Lens , Trek Earth and Trek Nature has used its Terms and Conditions to cynically grab the rights to sell and adapt the work of photographers who upload images to its photo-sharing sites. Here is the relevant paragraph from their T&Cs : By displaying or posting content on the Site, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive global license to publish the content submitted by you to the Site. You also grant us global nonexclusive adaptation and resale rights over any content and material submitted to the Site. These nonexclusive publishing license and resale/adaptation rights extend to any materials submitted "for publication" within the Site, including both message board postings and content submitted for uploading and subsequent publishing within non-message board...

Click on the photo to see large version. Railway worker - Grahamstown, South Africa. This is another image that has remained in my portfolio for many years. I took it while I was a student studying for my Postgraduate Higher Diploma of Journalism at Rhodes University. I was crossing the railway bridge when I looked down and saw this worker walking along the tracks. Immediately I saw the potential for a graphic composition using the structure of the bridge railing. Then it was just a matter of waiting for the worker to walk into the right position in the composition. All I had time for was one shot. My heart jumped when I pressed the shutter and I instantly knew I had captured something worthwhile. It's a good example of anticipating the moment. Famous South African photographer, Obie Oberholzer, my teacher and mentor at the time, praised the image when he saw it. He suggested I print it on a high contrast paper to add more impact, which is of course exactly what I did. I followed h...

Keeping an eye on you , originally uploaded by paul indigo . I photographed this fish eye in the studio using my Horseman 4x5 technical camera with a 6x9 film back on Fuji colour negative. The neg was then scanned and converted to black and white in Photoshop. It looked a bit grim in colour with the blood in the eye. This way it becomes more abstract. I used one overhead softbox with a Godard flash head. Luckily the job was completed relatively quickly and after opening the windows the smell of fresh fish soon left our studio. I know I've not been around for awhile now. I've been swamped with work. However, I'm ready to take up the blogosphere again and normal service will resume. Cheers, Paul www.indigo2photography.co.uk

To all my blog readers I would like to say thank you for your continued interest in my writings. Your comments and emails make the effort worthwhile. I wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year for 2009. You may have noticed that I’ve been quiet lately. I’ve covered numerous topics over the years from photographic technique to the thought processes behind creating strong images. Looking back over my stats, I see that thanks to Google searches many of my earliest articles are still being read on an almost daily basis. I see no reason to repeat myself. There’s a handy search feature on my blog. Feel free to use it if you have any specific subject you’re interested in. You may well find I’ve covered it in an earlier blog. Failing that you can always send me an email via my website with a specific question. What will 2009 bring? On the technical side we’ve already seen the integration of HD video recording into mainstream DSLR technology in the Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D90 camera...

Willem Vermandere telling it like it is during a solo concert in Flanders, Belgium. Willem Vermandere is a great raconteur, able to tell a story so that you hang on his every word. Take an everyday experience, add a keen mind, sharp perception, insight into human nature, wit and a deep harmonious voice and you've got Willem keeping his audience enraptured. Willem Vermandere is one of the most influential and well respected modern Belgian artists. He refuses to be pigeonholed as one or other 'type' of artist. His sculptures are in private collections and galleries, his folk music concerts are invariably sold out, his latest book of poetry is on the bookshelves and his paintings and drawings adorn the walls of public and private spaces across Belgium and beyond. Willem lives in a small Flemish village, a humble man and a wonderful friend who enriches the lives of everyone around him. Cheers, Paul www.indigo2photography.co.uk

Waiting for something to happen. People on a bench in Ostend, Belgium. Why should you use a professional photographer instead of downloading an image from a stock library? Well there are many good reasons and I hope that photographers reading my blog find something useful here when pitching for new work and marketing themselves. I've got nothing against stock libraries as such and in fact I contribute to a few. These days though the returns are diminishing and articles keep appearing challenging the viability of making a living as a traditional stock photographer. Enthusiasts and amateurs have swamped the stock library market with images and unfortunately designers and agencies, with pressure increasing on their budgets, all too quickly turn to stock libraries for their picture needs. So it is becoming more important than ever for good professional photographers to differentiate themselves from the offerings of stock libraries. Here goes... When a company hires a pro photographer ...

This image of a seagull was processed out of RAW using UFRaw and Gimp, running under Ubuntu Hardy Heron (Linux). I've been using Linux OS and free Open Source software to process my pictures on and off for a week now. There's a lot to learn and I've only scratched the surface. My early impressions are that it takes a lot more effort and fiddling about to get the results that I want. Using Lightroom and Photoshop is like driving a Bentley to get from one place to another. Everything is comfortable, fast, smooth and easy. The Linux image editing tools I've used so far are more like driving a very basic small car (not naming brands here). It will get you to your destination too but you are going to feel the potholes more, you're going to have to top up the oil, the windscreen wipers aren't great...well I am sure you get my drift. Sadly from a professional photography workflow point of view Linux is too cumbersome. It is possible to use and to generate high quality ...

Taking the plunge. It's good to know that some of the best things in life are still free. Free Linux software, digiKam was used to tweak the above image and prepare it for upload. Free photo software that delivers image results as good as you get from Photoshop or any of the other paid for packages. Sounds too good to be true. Well I have been researching the possibilities here's what I found for the cash strapped photographer. Very topical, I'm sure you will agree. The image above of the Sand Piper was processed using digiKam, UFRaw and Gimp. My mission started two weeks ago when my shiny powerful PC had a hardware malfunction over the weekend. Our other PC was being put to full use so I hauled out my old laptop, 2003 vintage. It worked but was very slow despite a Gig of RAM. It had software driver conflicts and all sorts that needed sorting out. I got more and more frustrated with Windows. Suddenly I had a light bulb moment. It had been a while since I looked at Linux a...

Jumping for joy. Today my wife Magda asked me what have been my photographic highlights over all the years I've been photographing. Now that's a tough question. I thought about it for a few minutes. Several images and sessions popped into mind and of course I could not choose the ONE. "It's impossible." I said. But something interesting started to emerge. My all time favourite photographs are not necessarily the most perfect photographically. Instead the images and photo-sessions that stand out for me are the one's that have been made special by the people I photographed and was with at the time, by the circumstances and by the whole experience. Naturally when you show your work other people don't know what you experienced when you took the image so they judge your work on its technical merit and there's usually an emotive element too. People looking at your image connect it to their own emotional world and experiences. I've warned photographers i...

I watched this chap going up the stairs after I spotted the conspicuous white strap, which I just knew would link wonderfully to the architectural structure. I kept taking images until he was in the perfect position. I love these little visual nuances in an image. Click on the image above to see the large version. I know some of you must have wondered what had happened to me as it's been a while since I last posted a blog. The thing is I've been incredibly busy again and very focused (if you'll pardon the pun) on getting a number of projects completed. And I'm off on my travels again next week. In the meantime do please visit my online show with more images from the British Museum, which show my exploration of the phenomenal atrium space. Please let me know what you think. Cheers, Paul www.indigo2photography.co.uk

A young girl plays amongst the pillars at the King's Galleries, Ostend, Belgium. Strong simple clear composition, clean colours, sharpness and good exposure are all elements of something that I call 'photographic clarity'. Good capture techniques and fine tuning in an image editing program will deliver professional results. More than enough has been written in magazines, books and online to provide everyone with all the information required to produce the highest quality results. So why do we see so many unsharp, strangely manipulated, grungy and distorted images? I think that in a way history is repeating itself. We have entered a new era of pictorialism and photographic enthusiasts have fallen in love with digital filters, effects and the heavy manipulations offered by image editing programs. Open most pages on a site like Flickr and you will see images dotted about that are unclear, weirdly coloured, 'over hyped' and distorted. And yes I have done my fair share o...

Glass artist and painter, Ivan, enjoys a cup of coffee. I used two medium sized softboxes and a flash with a honey comb to rim light the black beret so that it separated from the black background. You've heard it so many times before. Photography is about light. It seems obvious but I still see photography enthusiasts obsessing about cameras and equipment rather than concentrating on the one simple element they can use to improve their pictures - lighting. Yes, studio flash costs a fair amount but as the Strobists demonstrate you can use off camera flash and get amazing effects. Light modification devices abound, anything from a piece of foam to a Tupperware container will do. I've seen fabulous portraits created with just one naked light bulb. Then there are thousands of ways to modify daylight from using reflectors to black panels that absorb light (subtractive lighting). It's not equipment that is a limitation, it is rather a lack of imagination and creativity. So I ur...

'Tomo' BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen has written an insightful article describing how war reporters deal with danger as a routine part of their job. I can relate to the things he says having been shot at while doing my job. Few things though are as scary as being chased by a blood thirsty mob that take exception to your presence. Mostly soldiers, and police are under orders not to harm journalists. But of course you never know. And as Jeremy says about his lucky escape, all it takes is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's what happened to my friend Tomo. He was in the SAS so he was very much in harms way. He was extremely fit and had received the best training in the world but he got caught in an indiscriminate explosion. The irony is he had taken the place of someone else on that patrol. So much comes down to chance. Tomo was near the end of his tour of duty and making plans for holidays. He wanted to get his diving certificate. Nobody gets up in the mo...

Every year the Whit Friday Brass Band competition brings brass bands together in a wonderfully traditional event held in villages in the Saddleworth area near Manchester, UK. This year I photographed the evening competition in a small English village called Delph. The atmosphere was terrific. Enjoy. As always, comments are welcome. Cheers, Paul

James AKA 'Tomo'. Rest easy dear friend. 1981-2008. Yesterday I went to James' funeral. There are no words to truly express how much we miss him and the huge impact he had on so many of us. I took this portrait shortly before he left the UK for his first tour of duty. I believe it captures his mischievous spirit and sense of fun. As the pastor said yesterday at his funeral service, "He lit up the room with his smile." But the impact he had was so much more. He was a force of life and wherever he went he left people feeling more cheerful and optimistic. He had a serious side too. Professional, dedicated and calm, he was the kind of guy you knew you could count on without question. Here is the official press release and you can read the earlier news releases in my previous blog . I know my blog is about photography but I had to write something more personal because I feel it so badly. And in a way this article is about photography too because the pictures we have o...

You may have noticed I've been quiet lately. It's a sad time. A friend was killed a week ago in Afghanistan. His funeral is next Friday. He was a wonderful, strong, funny chap and I miss him. I can't believe he is gone. Here are some of the news articles. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol /homepage/news/campaigns/our _boys/article1184685.ece http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk /2008/may/20/military.afghanist an http://www.telegraph.co.uk /news/newstopics/frontline /1989319/Afghanistan-British -soldier-killed-by-explosion -in-Helmand-Province.html Paul

Everyone has to find their own way of seeing the world. I photographed this youngster at a Brass Band festival in Delph, a small village in England. How do photographers get those great shots? Most writers focus on the obvious answers like photographic technique – composition, lighting and enhancing images in the digital darkroom. Obviously these are important but there's something perhaps even more important that barely gets a mention. So let me a share a few 'secrets' about getting 'once in a lifetime' images again and again. It all comes down to luck. You were there and everything fell into place perfectly, just at that moment just as you pushed the shutter button. Look at many of the astounding photographs of our time and what do you think? Yes, that photographer was darn lucky to be there at that moment. Why are some photographers luckier than others? Well there may be an element of pure chance but on the other hand there are several strategies you can use to i...

A man lies collapsed in the street, attended by a policeman who put him in the recovery position and stood by him waiting for the paramedics. Click on the images to see a larger version. This week I came across the event above and took two different images. The first is a clear no frills photo journalistic image. The second image uses photographic language and aesthetics to create an emotion. A friend said of the second image, "I would not qualify it as photo-journalistic as it is too artsy (in the right way) to be published in a newspaper. But man, it does have a strong impact!" I found that interesting. Thinking of the beautifully lit images that W. Eugene Smith made. Would they be considered too artsy for a newspaper these days. Which brings me to the recent debate about the beautifully lit image of the Thai prostitute discussed in Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin's hotly debated article "Unconcerned but not indifferent" , which goes behind the scenes at ...

Ken and his border collie, Pinch, stride through along the Bempton cliff tops in Yorkshire. Click on the image to see a larger version. Man and dog have a centuries old relationship, with dogs working alongside us and earning the title "man's best friend'. I think this image illustrates that special bond with Pinch looking up at Ken waiting for his next instruction. She was so attentive. A typical border collie - fast, intelligent and ever willing to please. This image to me has real emotion. Ken strides confidently along through the field. He looks down at his dog and she spins round to look up. The connection between the two of them is as clear as daylight. The image has space to breath, texture, light and a pleasing composition, all working together to tell us the story of man and dog. I hope you like it too. In the coming months I'll share more of my images and tell you why I think they work. Hopefully my thoughts and pictures will interest you and perhaps even ins...