Pet Portraits - from the front and from behind

I enjoy taking photographs of pets. In fact pet photography is something which I hope to specialise in longer term.

Photographs showing the animal looking towards the camera can give an insight into the animal's character. The German Shepherd dog below, for example, looks alert and inquisitive. His gaze conveys the nobility and wisdom which tend to be associated with the breed. I used a small depth of field for this photograph to blur the background and keep focus on the dog.

The puppy in the following picture also looks inquisitive and alert. You can see from the size of her paws that she has some growing still to do! This picture was taken on my mobile telephone and I was pleased with the result. Mobile technology is so good these days that many 'phone cameras produce lovely pictures (and there is an impressive range of photo processing software available too).

Having pets looking directly at the camera can create a connection between the viewer and the animal. Sometimes though, as in my 'Best Friends' photograph below, having the animals turned away from the camera can be equally effective. 

In this picture the dogs were on their way back to the car after a busy day exploring together. The image conveys a sense of togetherness as they walk alongside one and other. You can feel the companionship between the two as they stroll. They do not appear to be alarmed or distressed but are heading purposefully towards somewhere they both want to be. In this case, car, home and tea time.

I hope to share more pet portraits with you as I continue on my journey. Until then, enjoy your own photography journey and I will post again soon.

Creative Photography Workshop at the Natural History Museum

Last Saturday, I spent the morning at the Natural History Museum in London. The museum is always a fantastic place to visit but on Saturday I was there to participate in a creative photography workshop run by the extremely talented Chris Gomersall.

Chris has been a wildlife photographer for a number of years and in 2007 he won the prestigious title of European Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Who could ask for a better tutor for the morning!

As well as sharing a number of his own images, Chris talked us through some of the creative photography techniques which he, and other photographers, use very effectively. The message was that we shouldn't be afraid to try new ideas, and experimenting by breaking the 'rules' can lead to some interesting pictures.

The examples which follow are my attempts at rule breaking:

1. Shoot into rather than away from the Sun.

2. Move the camera vertically or horizontally while the shutter is open. The image below shows vertical movement; the shutter was open for 1/4 seconds and the exposure compensation was set to -5 points.

3. Using the flash even in bright sunlight.

I will continue to experiment as my journey progresses and will be looking out for future courses at the Natural History Museum; based on this experience I can recommend them very highly. 

I'm sure you can find plenty of other ideas to work on in creating your own unique pictures. It's about learning from others and not being afraid to try your own thing - as always, have fun!

Maternity Unit Photographs

Earlier this year, the Maternity Partnership at Warwick Hospital invited mothers and photographers to submit photographs of babies born at the hospital to display in the Maternity Unit. The photo initiative was set up by the Partnership with the aim of enhancing the existing facilities in the Maternity Unit and improving the experience which new parents have when using the Unit. 

There was a fantastic response to the call for pictures, with over 150 being submitted by mothers and professional photographers. Having photographed a relative who was born at the hospital towards the end of last year, I sent in three of my own images for consideration. I was absolutely delighted when one of the pictures was selected. 

The picture (below) shows the baby sleeping peacefully at home. I didn't want to use flash for the image so set a high ISO, and used the natural light falling through a window . I used monochrome for the picture to highlight the different tones and draw out the contrast between the textures in the picture.

And here is a picture of the photographs which were selected for the display (I'm at the front on the left). It was a pleasure to be involved in the handover event and I am grateful to the Partnership and to Warwick Hospital for the opportunity to have my work displayed alongside some other beautiful pictures in the Maternity Unit.

Edouard Boubat Quote

"Over a lifetime I have noticed that everything is woven together by chance encounters and special moments. A photograph gives you a deep insight into a moment, it recalls the whole world." More on Edouard Boubat

Patience!

I recently spent a weekend in Hay-on-Wye trying to resist the temptation to spend hundreds of pounds on books ... this really is very difficult when surrounded by such wonderful shops full of literary treasures!

When not perusing bookshelves, I took some time to explore along the River Wye. Finding a quiet spot I spotted a heron fishing and proceeded to spend the next couple of hours observing and photographing the bird. Just over 700 photographs later I left the river behind and returned to my hotel to begin processing the pictures.

I do enjoy reviewing images and it takes me much less time these days to sort my pictures. Perhaps I am more self-critical than I used to be but whatever the reason, I appreciate having a bit of extra time to take more photos. The picture below is my favourite from the shoot. The heron was moving between fishing spots and I was fortunate that on this occasion it moved towards me, and I had the camera ready!

  
I was using a polarising filter to bring out some of the contrast in the heron's plumage and the water so I increased the exposure by plus 5 points. I wanted to freeze the motion by using as high a shutter speed as possible, but I did not want the image to be too dark so I took several test shots to find the right balance between shutter speed and exposure compensation. 

The full details behind the shot are: Canon 7D with a +5 exposure bias, ISO 3200, 1/1500 second shutter speed, f/5.6 aperture and a Tamron AF 150-600 lens.

I was very pleased with the final picture. I'm never going to complain about spending hours nature watching but patience really is key to capturing any pictures of nature. As animals are patient in their endeavours, so a photographer must be patient in theirs.

My First Photo Book

I've just finished creating a photobook comprising a selection of pictures from across the three main strands of photography which I am focussing on:

- Animal portraits
- Natural landscapes
- Mystical images

It took longer to choose my photos and design the book than I had anticipated it would - a lesson which I will learn from next time I do something similar. 

I always worry about the layout and presentation so I asked someone to proof read the book before I submitted it for publishing. Seeking help from others is something that I am notoriously reluctant to do. However, with experience I have come to value constructive comments about my work (it doesn't matter whether comments are good or bad, being constructive is the main thing I ask for). I find that comments about a piece of work often lead to other trains of thought as well and set me off on new ideas for future projects which can be very helpful.

I'm dedicating this book to my wonderful husband for his continued support, belief and encouragement. You can see the book here.

A Creative Technique in Photoshop

In my previous post on Photoshop, I talked through the step by step development process for a sample image.

In this post, I will go through a step by step tutorial to teach you to isolate some of the colour within an image, while leaving the rest of the image in black and white.

I took the photograph I'll be working with in the Lake District and as usual, I had my trusty prop, Bob the skull, with me. Here is the original picture, Bob lying in a bath of water which I found while exploring. I'd like to create a black and white image which leaves only the skull in colour as contrast to the rest of the picture. 

So, the first step is to open your photograph in Photoshop.

With the image open, you need to create a copy of the image, known as a duplicate layer. Highlight the background image line (highlighted in the screen shot above) and right click to get the drop down menu shown in the screen shot below. Select duplicate layer.

An options box should pop up on screen and simply select OK to this. 

You now have a duplicate image. Keep the duplicate image selected and go to the top menu then select layer, new adjustment layer, and black & white. These selections are highlighted in the screen shot below.

You should now have another selection box on screen (as shown below) and as before, click OK. 

You will now have a black and white version of your original image. Make sure this is the image you have selected to work on (ie. it is highlighted in the layers box as shown below), and we can set about reintroducing the areas of colour which are going to be put back into the picture.

Firstly, select the eraser tool from the vertical left hand menu.

Then from the top menu, select the size of eraser you would like to use. To begin with I tend to use a large size (sometimes up to 120) and I reduce this when I move onto the finer tuning of the picture.

Now use the eraser to paint over the area of the picture to which you would like to add colour. You can see in the screen shot below that the original colour of the skull is returning.

When it's time to fine tune the picture, zoom in a bit to make sure you don't go over the edges. The zoom tool is towards the bottom of the left diagonal menu bar. (Tip - use your left mouse button to zoom in, use alt and your left mouse button to zoom out).

Zooming in is useful for colouring the edges of the skull. You can see from the screen shot below that I need to use the eraser again to fine tune around the top of the skull in particular.

When you have finished colouring, you might consider using the adjustments tool (lower left box in the shot below) to enhance the brightness and contrast of the picture. This can help make the image much more noticeably black and white with a bit of colour.

And my final image looks like this:

Although this technique has been used for a number of years, I feel it can be very effective. It is probably a case of less being more, just a small patch of colour is more eye catching than having a number of colours added back into a black and white image. I considered colouring the reflection of the skull when I was working but opted to stick with just colouring the skull as I felt this had greater visual impact.

I tried the technique with a misty morning scene as well. In this case I added the colour of the daffodils back into the image. The final photograph is below and I was really pleased with this one as the yellow is a good contrast against the dark gate and grey stone wall. I will definitely be experimenting more with this technique.