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More on the High Street

I have blogged before about the need to try to support high street photography shops, rather than always simple buying off the internet. I stand by that, though sometimes it seems challenging. To give a recent example. I have been looking to buy a new camera, and having done some research online I dropped into a nearby shop intending to do the deal. I asked about the particular product I wanted. Out of stock. Not sold one for ages. Not to be deterred, I asked about the [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 17:00:47 22.11.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

The American dream?

I've finally finished publishing the photos I took in the US - a mixture of images from New York City, upstate in New York, and Philadelphia. As I said in a previous post, I tried to find new ways of looking at the sights, many of which have been photographed a million times before. Some shots were more successful than others - my favourites appear here on this site, and there is a wider selection on my flickr site. In general, I think some of the ones I like the best [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 20:49:01 03.10.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

Let someone else do the work

If you love photography, it is sometimes tempting to spend your whole life glued to a camera. Fun as this may be, it is probably not healthy... We recently had a party at our house with lots of our friends and family. I had orginally intended to take the photos myself, but in the end one of our friends who is an excellent photographer offered to do so. I am pleased to say that I took him up on the offer. First, it allowed me to actually mix with our friends and family wi [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 08:40:36 13.09.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

Photographing fabrics

A couple of weeks or so ago, I was lucky enough to be asked to go and take some photos of the collection at the Embroiderers' Guild. This was a learning curve for me in all sorts of ways. First of all, I know virtually nothing about embroidery! It was fascinating to be shown even just a small part of the collection. I had the benefit of the senior curator to explain the history of the items I was photographing. This helped me put each of the items in context, and h [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 21:28:03 20.08.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

New York trip

Just back from a fantastic trip to New York (the city, as well as the countryside upstate). I tried not to spend the whole time glued to my camera, but came back with about 1000 photos which I am in the process of reviewing. The upstate countryside - lakes, mountains and forests - was really magical, and largely unspoiled. The city was more of a challenge - New York City must be one of the most photographed places in the world, and finding new perspectives is really tough. [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 17:54:28 26.07.2009; Comments: 1 Add Comment

Rolling green countryside

After my trips to Kew, I've started to get more interested in photographing nature. My level of success varies, but I enjoy experimenting with different types of shot. I've enjoyed both long shots and some real close-ups too. Yesterday, we went walking in the Essex countryside. Personally, I think the scenery in Essex is much under-rated. We were exploring the countryside round Thaxted, which was beautiful. The area was very, very green - lots of trees, fresh gra [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 18:09:39 24.05.2009; Comments: 3 Add Comment

Kew Gardens

It was my birthday recently (21 again!) and one of my presents was an annual membership of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. I visited the gardens for the first time in years last autumn - the eagle-eyed will have noticed a few Kew pictures in the autumn-themed galleries I published last year. Kew is amazing for just a one-off visit, if you have a spare day. The sheer range of plants and the massive sense of space is really amazing. If nothing else, just take a newspaper [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 11:15:44 04.05.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

A portrait theme

This month seems to have a bit of a portrait theme to it - at least two competitions which I plan to enter before the end of April have portraiture as their subject. As I've said in a previous post, portraits have not been my strong point, though they are improving. I'm finding two particular challenges. One is lighting - it's hard finding a balance between getting enough light to bring out the features, and not too much so as to wash them out. This can be par [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 21:25:19 15.04.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

Candid shots

I'm planning to enter a photography exhibition this month, the theme of which is candid portrait shots - images taken of people going about their day-to-day lives. For me, this is quite a steep learning curve. On the one hand, it is of course possible to approach people you don't know and ask if they would mind you photographing them. Assuming they say yes, you then have to make them feel sufficiently relaxed that they go about their business in a natural rather th [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 22:12:30 16.03.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

Wide angle images

I've recently bought a new gadget to help with wide angle shots. It's called a Digital King and simply screws on to the front of my 18-55 lens. With the lens set at the widest angle, it adds a greater field of vision than I would otherwise be able to photograph. I tried it out this lunchtime during a walk at the local quarry. The scale of the quarry site meant it was ideal for wide angle images, and I was able to capture the sweep of the landscape as well the sky, which had [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 17:09:19 08.03.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

Close-up photography

I've recently finished reading a fantastic book about close-up and macro (life size or larger) photography. Not only did it contain some beautiful images to aspire too, but also gave lots of helpful hints and tips on how to try some of the techniques yourself. Now, I don't own any of the specialist equipment, but I had a go with some of my standard lenses and was pleasantly surprised with the results. Although not up to the standard you would expect f [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 16:40:37 01.03.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

Portrait shots

Until recently, my portrait shots were not great. They are still by no means perfect, but they are improving. The problem has always been clutter - the subject never really stood out from the background, and there were therefore distractions. The big change has been learning to control depth of field. Depth of field is the amount of the photo which is in sharp focus. A big depth of field means that both foreground and background are in sharp focus, and that was why my po [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 19:06:11 15.02.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

High street photography shops

I keep reading in the news about high street photography shops suffering, particularly in the credit crunch. I guess the competition of internet-based stores is a significant factor in this. Which leaves photographers with an interesting dilemma. Do I buy online and save money? Or do I support my local store but maybe pay a bit over the odds? I guess the answer to this depends on the value you attach to your local store. I've had two very contrasting experiences rec [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 19:37:29 08.02.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

Macro shots

When I started seriously taking photos last year, I began with big landscape shots. I'm not sure why - I guess it seemed like an obvious place to start, and an easy way to get some dramatic pictures. As I've tinkered a bit more though, I've discovered that there's just as much fun to be had in detailed close-up shots. A few weeks ago, in an idle moment one evening, I noticed the dog was rather docile and might be a willing model! I took a few wide shots, a [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 11:38:04 25.01.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

Party party!

Tonight will be fun...we have a close friend's 50th birthday party to go to. I am promised the music will be 70s and 80s pop, so I should be right in my element. It won't be all relaxation though. I've volunteered to take some photos, and part of his present will be an album of the best shots, so no pressure there then! I'm looking forward to it though...one or two new gadgets to try out with the camera, so tonight should give me a chance to experiment. A [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 14:48:47 17.01.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment

Ely Cathedral

Between Christmas and new year, we had a close friend visiting from the US. Like us, he had been watching the TV series "How We Built Britain" which included a section on Ely Cathedral, which he wanted to visit. So on new year's eve, we duly headed off on our little pilgrimage. It was a bitterly cold day - even colder on the fens - but somehow the bright, cool light made the building seem even more magnificent as we walked up to it. Now I am not a particular [>>>]

Posted by simongregorphoto 11:56:41 11.01.2009; Comments: 0 Add Comment