Travels or a Telephoto?

Once again I’ll be heading off over the holiday season and once again it’s to what some may not think of as a typical tourist destination – Beirut, and more generally Lebanon. However as a photographer I think it’s important to push ourselves and experience new things whenever we can. As such I would generally prefer to spend my money on travel to go photograph something new, rather than equipment to photograph potentially the same thing is a slightly different way.

As David duChemin is always preaching, gear is good but vision is better. Whilst I still have kit I’d like to buy (anyone care to send me a Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM for Christmas?) I’m now at the stage where I think I have (most of) the basic kit I need. As a result its time to focus on my vision. Experiencing new things and challenging myself to come back from a trip with engaging shots is far more appealing. Doing this will invariably lead to you taking better photographs.

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What’s the Collective Noun for Santas?

So what do you call a collection of Santas? A sleigh of Santas? A gift of Santas? Of course traditionally there’s only one but each year in cities across the UK (and probably across the world) a {insert collective noun here} of Santas get together to run for charity.

The Leeds Santa Dash, in aid of St Gemma’s Hospice, was today and despite the wet weather there was a large turn out. I grabbed this shot of two young girls at the front of the pack during the warm up session before the run. I’ve no idea who won, but then that’s not really the point is it. I guess the winner at the end of the day is St Gemma’s and the money raised to support them.

The Life of a NatGeo Photographer

Oh the life of a National Geographic photographer! Visiting exotic locales. Getting exclusive access. Being where the action is. Seeing wonders rarely seen. Well perhaps not!

The Photo Society, an advisory board for the photographers of National Geographic magazine recently polled its members to get feedback on the risks and hazards they’ve experienced whilst on assignment. The result is a rather off-putting table of figures covering injuries (streaming blood while hanging from harness at 1500 feet, venomous bites), accidents (seat belt releases with helicopter tipped over volcano, paraglider crash) and political and war-related issues (tear gassed, stoned by religious group, held at gunpoint).

Alongside this are a series of vignettes where photographers talk about what they have encountered in the field:

…In Lebanon I was stopped at gunpoint by a 14-year-old with a rifle who tore the photo out of my passport…

(NP: A bit worrying as I’m off to Lebanon later this month!)

…I had to beat a black bear off a guy who was drowning while being held underwater by the animal…

So for a real taste of what it can be like to be a National Geographic photographer check out the links above and decide if its still something you’d like to do!

Early Christmas Present – Free Book!

You know how much I like the Craft and Vision series of eBooks setup and run by David duChemin and I know you like them too from the clicks through to their site I see. So today I’m happy to say they’ve given us all an early Christmas present and released a completely FREE (yes free!) new book – “Craft & Vision: 11 Ways to Improve Your Photography“.

We’re not talking about a small thin give-away here either. Its 67 double page spreads of tips, tricks, ideas and insights from a large range of photographers designed to help you improve your photography (and as with all the C&V books, to improve your skills without buying new kit).

So what are you waiting for? Go get it now! And don’t forget to come back here frequently to find out about all the new Craft & Vision books they publish next year.

It’s cool to be square

Andrew S Gibson has been busy of late. As well as running a great website, organising workshops and travelling he still finds time to produce great eBooks packed full of tips. Hot on the heels of his most recent Craft & Vision book “Beyond Thirds”, he’s followed up with a new book, available on his own site, exploring the often overlooked square format/crop.

Within the rectangular frame, the eye is directed from side to side (or up and down in the portrait format) and that has a powerful effect on the way the viewer’s eye moves around the photo. The square format, on the other hand, has an inherent sense of balance and geometry that rectangular formats lack.

Building on the comments in, and direction taken by his previous book “Beyond Thirds” Andrew this time focuses on the square format. From its origins in the world of medium format photography through to the current craze of Instagram (a pet hate of mine). As mentioned in the quote above he also covers the difference between the normal 3:2 format and some of the benefits a 1:1 format can bring.

The book branches off in a few of places – there’s a couple of case studies from photographers who predominantly use the square format and whose work he admires, alongside ideas for creating square-er shots, such as stitching two landscape format shots together into a “vertorama”. He wraps up with a few appendices covering the basics of cropping in various post-processing packages.

Overall I wouldn’t say this is Andrew’s strongest eBook (compared to those he has already published on Craft & Vision). However if you like the square format already and want to know how better to compose for it then it’s still a worthwhile read.

Until Wednesday 30th November, 2011 23:59 GMT (check your timezone here) you can buy Square for just US$4 by using the code square20 when you checkout. After that date it will cost just US$5