Len Heath - British Expeditionary Force 1939-40, D-Day Veteran This week sees the VE Day 75th anniversary and celebrations are planned to mark the end of fighting in Europe (the war continued in the Pacific for another 3 months). This has led me to look again about a project that undertook 20 years ago, exhibited [...]
Photography in Lockdown: Photographing Birds
Like many a frustrated photographer I have been looking for ways to exercise my creative urges whilst observing the very important guidelines to stay at home and maintain social distancing. In my previous post 'Photography In Lockdown: Motivations & Limitations' I suggested that one possible outlet might be to attempt photographing the birds that come [...]
Photography in Lockdown: Motivations & Limitations
What extraordinary times we find ourselves in. The the threat from the global covid-19 pandemic is a serious concern for all of us and it doesn't look like the 'lockdown' is going to be lifted for some time. The photography business like many areas of the economy is effectively on on indefinite hold and teaching [...]
(Leica) M is for Motorsport
However desirable and functional the Leica M might be, it is perhaps not the first choice of camera for a motorsport assignment. As both an avid M shooter and a devotee of motorsport, especially classic/historic events, I thought I might offer some insight into my experiences of shooting with an M at the track, and [...]
Working with Starburst Arts
I recently completed a series of workshops for ‘Starburst Arts’, a group of artists with learning difficulties based at the Wrenford Centre in Chichester. This was the second workshop series that I have hosted for the group, the first was over the summer of 2016 in which we explored a number of experimental photographic techniques. [...]
Sarah – Artificial Insemination Technician
Sarah is an artificial insemination technician. An unlikely profession perhaps for someone living in the suburbs of a large costal city, which might make you wonder how this came to be. First off, this is not Sarah's only link with agriculture. In fact she has extensive experience of working with dairy cattle having spent many [...]
Less is More – Leica M & Leica Q
Leica is not like other brands. Most manufacturers boast about the sophistication of their technology and the latest features that help you take pictures with greater proficiency. Bragging rights come from more autofocus points, the number of frames per second, the sophistication of the in-camera processing. Not Leica. Here the emphasis is on simplicity and [...]
Assessing Auto ISO
Whenever asked about Auto ISO I have always dismissed it out of hand. My stock response has invariably been "I never use it", but more recently I have noticed that many photographers do, often as a default setting. This seems especially true of documentary and 'street' photographers and I have been wondering why. This has [...]
How to Buy a Camera
This time of year (January/February) often sees the launch of new products from the leading brands and 2016 is no exception. We have already seen models released by Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Fuji and Leica offering ever more sophisticated features and improvements in technology, tempting us into thinking that somehow our existing cameras, which at the [...]
Soth and Cameron at the Science Museum
Earlier this month I visited the Science Museum, London, primarily to see the Alec Soth (pronounced as in 'both', I believe) exhibition, 'Gathered Leaves'. This is the award winning American photographer's first major UK show and brings together a decade of work covering four projects. The exhibition opens with 'Sleeping by the Mississippi', a series [...]