Composing the world through a lens

So the time has come, you've seen the view, person, building, skyline whatever it is you want to take a picture of. you lift your camera to your eye, frame the picture and click. There you have it, or have you. You get home, hook up the camera to your PC, the image comes on screen and..... Disappointment. What went wrong, it looked fine through the naked eye, it looked fine through the view finder. So what went wrong. 

This is a question that all photographers have asked them selves at one point or another. What does go wrong. 

I wish I could tell you but I'm still trying to work it out. 

Is it the lens, the light, the camera or am I just rubbish at photography. I refuse to accept the last option so it must be one of the first three. After all I do get compliments from time to time on my photography. I've even patted myself on the back on occasion and while these moments are getting more frequent with practice I am still confronted by the above question over and over again. It looks good to me and yet my camera just doesn't get it. 

Of course at the start it didn't help that I photographed anything and everything instead of concentrating on a particular subject. Now, I am happy to say, I think I have found just what it is that truly interests me. Portraits. I find this to be far more rewarding than anything else. I still like shooting buildings and landscapes, sun sets and close ups (who doesn't) but its in the field of taking someone's portrait that I am truly getting satisfaction. Capturing the beauty of someone's smile, especially a child, is really rewarding. you can really feel the moment. 

But even with this there are times when I think I've got it and yet when the picture is on screen it just isn't the same. A lot can be done in Photoshop of course and a good lens does help. But, I am at the point of realisation that it actually is the fourth point and not the first three that is important. Practice makes perfect as they say and there is really no substitute for it. No matter how good you think you are, no matter how good the equipment is, confidence and equipment will only get you so far. Raw, naked skill is the essence of photography and this is achieved by one thing. Practice and focus on one given field. I need more weddings, christenings and just days out with people who don't mind me sticking my lens in their face from time to time. Luckily I have some friends like this but how do I get people to let me invade their weddings and other events when I'm not an established photographer. I guess I just have to volunteer my services for free and hope I get some takers. Not too many and not too soon I may hasten to add. Patience and time are of the essence, better to walk before I run and run slowly before I charge. Once I am capable of charging then maybe I can start charging, if you know what I mean.

This my good friends is my next challenge.

To finish off, a picture I shot while on holiday in Majorca of my wonderful wife.

Till next time....

The Voice has spoken

Down In The Park (Then the Pub)

So we thought we would make the most of last weekends warm weather by taking a drive out to a park with Kara. As always my trustee camera was in the bag. The park we chose to go to is down near Earlsfield, Garratt Park. It has a nice playing area for the kids and a good amount of greenery.

After the park we drove down to Abby Mills at Colliers Wood and had a drink in the William Morris by the river Wandle.

Till next time....

The voice has spoken

Christening Photography

A while back we were invited to the christening of a friends baby girl. As the day came closer they asked me if I would take pictures at the wedding. While nervous at the prospect of shooting pictures of a special occasion I was also excited at the challenge. Being guests at the Christening presented me with certain problems, like managing to mingle with friends as well as having to give direction for pictures. Trying to take shots while my own daughter was begging for my attention.

The Christening was a trial by fire for me as a photographer, for starters we managed to turn up 5 minutes late (thanks to a troublesome toddler) so I didn't manage to ask the priest if I could use the flash. This led me to try and use the camera with only natural light, a mix of small tungsten spots, sunlight from the open main door and the light from the stained glass windows. A White balance night mare. Any way, without boring you all too much I present for you some of the pics that were shot that day. I haven't included many from church as I don't want to upset any of the guests by putting their picture on here. But there are pictures from throughout the day.

I am truly grateful to out friends for giving me the opportunity to try and shoot a Christening. As I said it was a bit of a trial by fire but it was good practice and has helped me a lot to understand the problems of photographing within the confines of a church. I just hope I can get more chances to practice. 

As always comments are always welcome.

Until next time....

The Voice has spoken

Nature By The City

The other week I had to look after my daughter for a week as the nursery was closed. We did many things through the week but the highlight was a trip to Mudshoot by Canary Wharf. She had a chance to feed some horses and see other animals such as pigs, sheep and chickens. While there she also tried out sitting on a WWII anti aircraft gun. Of course my trusted camera was by my side so check out the pics below.
As always comments are more than welcome, even bad ones :o)

If you ever get the chance I would recommend visiting as it is a great little place for children and only a short walk (or DLR ride) from a river boat stop so you could take a trip back into London up the Thames. We did and Kara loved it.

Till next time.....

The Voice has spoken.

Fun in the Sun at Wimbledon Park

Sunday we wanted to take Kara some place new and my lovely wife though of a paddling pool. So with the help of the all knowing Oracle that is Google we headed out to Wimbledon Park to see what it was like. To our great joy we found that the park was great and the paddling pool wasn't just any ordinary pool. With water jets galore it was a real treat for Kara, running over the water jets, hiding under domes of water all the children there were clearly loving being there. If you can get to it then I suggest you give it a try, your kids will never want to go any where else.

As you can see it is more than just a paddling pool. Kara loved every minute of being there and we are definitely going to go back.

Till next time....

The Voice has spoken

Flying The Flag

Till next time.....

The Voice was silent.

Chilling By The Tower

On a trip round town recently I grabbed this shot of the steps by the Tower Of London. A few touches in CS5 to rid it of an annoying Crane in the background and its a clean casual shot of people chilling by the tower.

Till next time....

The Voice has spoken

Go Ahead Punk Make My Day

There we were, fresh from nursery and through the door by a fist full of seconds when Kara spotted her bubble gun on the window ledge, the next thing she goes all Clint Eastwood on the balcony. She even holds the gun sideways as is the trend in Hollywood these days.

Check it out.

I know what your thinking, did I fire 6 bubbles or only 5?

Go on punk, make my day.

So there you have it, gangsta bubbles.

Till next time....

The Voice has spoken.

London And The Olympics 2012

So as all the world and I'm sure a few aliens know all things sporty have been going on here in the big smoke and it's been quite a success according to those in the know. But I'm not going to bother you with sporty things because apart from the sports the Olympics have changed the look of London too. So with my trustee camera in hand I headed out to see what I could see.

First off Canary Wharf has been given a make over of the floating kind. Like this one...

If the good ship Stad Amsterdam doesn't do it for you then how about this one....

This one was parked just around he corner from the Amsterdam but was completely out done by the Germans next door.....

This was a floating hotel brought all the way from Germany to be used as a hotel for many of the visiting Germans.

Not really that fancy is it so how about these couple of private boats?!

So as you can see Canary Wharf became a bit of a ship yard during the Olympics but these weren't the only changes to London as I'm sure you can imagine.

Even the Mayors building got in on the act

The white figures are a light show of olympic activities from running to diving. It really is quite a thing to watch. And then finally you have this guy and his mate scattered all over the place...

So there you have it, a glimpse into the Olympic face of London.

just to round it off, heres the flag flying proud.

Till next time....

The Voice has spoken.

Swan Lake (Tooting)

Now then fine peeps.

On this weeks thrill ride of a post (?!?!?!) I will reveal to you a fine photo that I shot today at Tooting Common. As some of you will know this is a regular haunt for me and my family. Last weeks pictures of Boogie were taken in the park there and this weeks shot is from the pond. Using my Canon 70-300 IS USM lens I was able to get up close and personal with one of the swans that live on the water there.
I took many shots but this one is my favourite as it is a nice close up with just the right amount of background blur.

As usual I welcome any comments you may have, good or bad.

I welcome your judgement.

Till next time.....

The Voice has spoken.

Photography In The Park

Good evening and welcome to the show.

Today we had a break from the Olympic madness thats has gripped the city and escaped to the park. Of course, with me, I had my trustee Canon EOS 450D. The morning was a bright and sunny one but as usual the clouds crept in by lunch time but luckily we managed to avoid the rain by seconds as we headed back to the car.

After attending a talk, on how to improve your photography skills in regard to portraits, on Saturday I was inspired to try something a little different from what I was used to. I tried to get as much light in the lens as possible and opened the aperture as wide as possible. I had the ISO set to 400 and ,using full manual mode, I set the shutter speed to a relatively slow speed of around 1/200 of a second. This resulted in the images looking washed out and over exposed. But this is what I was chasing. I would have preferred to use a lower ISO but the light was so unpredictable that I was forced to compromise with these settings in order to avoid constantly fiddling with the settings every time the sun disappeared behind a cloud. One last note, due to lack of space on my card I was forced to shoot in L instead of L / RAW that I usually use. New card needed I think.

Once home I opened the files up in photoshop and tweaked with the Brightness, Exposure and the Hue / Saturation settings to bring out the picture I was looking for. This has resulted in the backgrounds being bathed in light along with certain points in Kara's hair and skin but the colours being vibrant and powerful.  For the first time I am very pleased with my days shooting. Personally speaking, I think my skills are improving.

If you have any comments (good or bad) then please do put them down as I welcome criticism, it's the only way to improve.

Till next time....

The Voice has spoken

Getting to grips with my big one (Camera lens that is)

As you will know I am a keen amateur (very amateur) photographer. It's something that has always interested me and finally, in the last year or so, I have gotten to grips with trying to actually be good at taking pictures.

I have my Canon450D with standard 18-55 kit lens, a couple of weeks ago I purchased a Canon Speedlite 430EX ll flash and last week I got myself a Canon EF 70-300 IS USM lens. Great I thought, now I'm all set to take awesome (yes America I'm stealing that word back for a while) photos.

So there I was at the weekend, visiting some good friends of ours, when I whipped it out (steady missus keep your curlers in I'm talking about the camera) and started clicking away with the big one. I got some good shots, while wandering around between the garden and the house, but as I tried to get a nice picture of their new born baby girl as she lay in her basket, I hit upon a problem. With my 18-55 lens I couldn't get a good enough frame without going so close that I blocked out most of the light (I didn't want to use the flash so close to the baby as she was sleeping) and with the 70-300 lens I couldn't get in focus without stepping so far back the basket obscured half of her face. I had a problem, yes indeed, I had a problem. And so it was that when I got home I explained to my lovely wife exactly why I would have to get another lens. (You can imagine the reaction) I don't think she was convinced. That is until she tried to take a picture of a meal she had made to put on her blog. Once again, using the small lens she had to go too close and the big lens too far away. Now she understood.

So I've been looking for a lens (I already had the Canon 100mm Macro lens on my list) and yea so it was that I found one, in the shape of the Canon (I'm consistent aren't I) 17-85 f/4-5.6 IS USM. The perfect solution. All I have to do is wait for one to come in stock at the suppliers that I have started using. MPBPhotgraphic, I highly recommend them. Dealers in used but high quality equipment, their prices usually beat just about everywhere else I have looked.

But this led me to thinking, when does it stop? I mean at what point do you actually have all that you need. I have 2 lenses (3 if I include the great lensbaby kit I have) and an external flash, I have a tripod and a kit bag. I want a macro lens and now I know I need another lens as well. I know that at some point I will have to get a reflector or 2 for taking good portraits both indoors and out. then later down the line I may discover that I need a second (of camera) flash or some other kind of studio lighting. And I'm sure a few years down the line the need for an updated camera will pop up. And then I'll have my tea pot and my tea cup, all I'll need is a tea bag. Hmmm, a tea bag, is that something that might interest you my friend? A tea bag.... Sorry I became possessed by Stewie Griffin there for a second. Where was I, oh yes. Photography.

Anyway, I decided to shake myself free of the vices of needing more kit and thought I would see if there were any local camera clubs or something of the like. Just to mix it up with other, slightly less amateurish than me, photographers out there. And what do you know, I found one. Yipee I thought. A chance to get in with some peeps and suck their brains dry (to quote Michael Ironside in Scanners) Clicking on the link that google threw up I found my self immersed in their website. Noooooo, the home page hadn't been updated since 2010. What does this mean, I thought to myself, have they ceased to be. A quick click on the events tab put my worries to rest. They still had things planned for the rest of this year. Ah, excellent I thought. And then it happened, as I knew it would. The great spanner that always makes an appearance at these times made its appearance and threw itself right into the centre of the works. You see, I had decided to check out the galleries on the site created by some of the clubs members. I don't know who these people are or how long they have been taking photographs but the club leader, treasurer, head honcho, the big man, what ever name you want to give him, was there. His gallery was at the top. Good, good, I thought in my most sinister manner, let me see what kind of photo graphical trickery I can pick from their minds. I delved into his gallery.

Now let me just remind you that I am in no way a professional photographer, not even a semi professional, not even an almost semi professional. I am an amature, about as amature as you can get. If there is a scale that has the most Uber Professional at the top of it then you will find me right down (keep going, that's it, further, just a little bit more) somewhere beyond what you can see with the naked eye, there you will find me. So as you can see I make no claims to be a good photographer. Lets face it, we've all done it haven't we. We lift up a camera (thinking, how hard can it be) we point and click. Then we pat our selves on the back thinking, see I knew it was easy. But then we get to look at what we shot and it's at that point we realise, there just might be more to it than we thought. And that's why I attending a photography course last year and why I am still reading, experimenting and seeking advice. I may not be a great photographer but I like to think I am getting better and improving all the time. Hopefully. So now I've cleared that up let me get back to what I was saying.

I checked out these galleries by the members of this club. There was, I think, 2 photos that impressed me. The rest ranged from average to just down right dull and some were bordering on awful, just awful. And yet these were the guys that went out together, clicking away at this that and the other. They should be bouncing ideas off each other all the time, pushing each other to improve and try new things. And yet here were these pictures that they obviously thought were good enough to display on line. So I clicked away from their website, disappointed and frustrated. Thinking I'll just try to find some peeps my self that are into photography and start my own Photography (and beer. After all it is me) group. Watch this space, you could be watching a long time though.....

One last thing. Just because you make a picture black and white doesn't immediately make it a good picture. It just becomes a bad picture, in black and white.

Does this post make me sound bad, do I come off as a bit of a photography snob. Believe me I'm not. I just want to learn. But  I want to learn from people who actually have something to teach and ideas to share. Not a bunch of folks who just go out and click away without any kind of personal critique. I may sound a little harsh but I'm harsh on my own work so I'm not going to be anything less on other peoples.

One day I will be UBER but for now I'm just a little bit better than crap :o)

Till next time.....

The Voice has spoken

Gone But Not Forgotten (Pic 13)

My eldest sister and Dad
Ernest Stocks 1929 - 2012

Till next time....

The Voice Has Spoken

Shades Reveal All (pic 12)

My pic this week was inspired by the freakily warm and sunny weather were having at the moment. My lovely wife was wearing her shades all afternoon and so I decided to take a picture looking through the glasses.
After a bit of magic via CS5 the result is below.

Till next time....

The Voice has spoken

Boogie Turns 3 (pic 11)

This week my pic is from my little Boogies 3rd birthday party. She turned 3 today and loved every minute of her special day, but celebrating with her friends this afternoon was the peak of her day. As evidenced by this picture. It really does show a little girl having a great birthday.

Till next time....

The Voice has spoken.

Bubbling Bubbles (Pic 10)

This week I had a plan, to try and take some good photos of bubbles. I got the idea after playing with Boogie out on the balcony. I used her bubble gun to create bubbles and she jumped around bursting them. It was great fun and the bubbles looked great as they caught the evening sun. However by the time I got chance to dig out my camera and try a few shots the sun had retired for the evening and all I had left were the room lights and the flash. Needless to say the effect wasn't quite as good as earlier so I decided to play around in Photoshop and just see what I could do with some basic editing. The results were quite interesting. There was no cropping or cutting and pasting just a bit of fiddling with the luminance, saturation, white balance and other similar things. What I finished with are displayed here for the judgements of all, please show mercy......

original

edited

Till next time.......

The Voice has spoken

Waiting At The Bus Stop (Pic 9)

This week I found my self waiting for the bus and as usual it was late. After browsing the web for the travel news it became apparent that the bus had taken a wrong turn and had ended up in the most unusual of places. After spending a few hours trying to track it down I finally stumbled upon it and was as surprised  as Im sure the driver was at just where it had ended up. I quickly grabbed my camera and snapped away.

So can you guess where the bus finally turned up?

Till next time....

The voice has spoken.

The Future Of Crime Fighting (Pic 8)

My picture this week is one that I never expected to post, one I never expected to take. I stumbled upon a superhero?!?!?!
OK, truth is we visited the Baby Show at the London Excel today and while there there was also a comic convention going on in one of the other halls. Needless to say there were plenty of people walking around in costumes, some I recognised and some I didn't have a clue about. But this one was by far the greatest.
Imagine the Wonder Woman as she nears retirement with a bit of Amy Winehouse skankyness thrown in.
The original was taken within the Excel but using the magic of Photoshop and my limited skill with it I managed to place her by Putney Bridge. Outdoors, where super heroes belong.

So without further delay I give you, the working class version of Wonder Woman.

By ecky thump its that there Wonder Bird lass.

 Would you want saving by her? Answer's to the usual place.

Till next time.....

The Voice Has Spoken

Mr Frog Goes To Church (pic 7)

This weeks pic is the result of a desperate man. I had no idea what I was going to throw on here today but then my daughter decided to put her frog under her flannel in the bath and told me he was going to sleep. It was so cute that I immediately got out my camera. I then decided I would try and cut out the image and paste it on another picture. And so I took Mr Frog to church. It took a while as I had never done anything like this in CS5 before and there was a lot of trial and error (should probably have looked for a tutorial on line but I like to do things the hard way)
And so I give you Mr. Frog Goes To Church.

Till next time...


the voice has spoken