Lessons with Love

I love photography, I love the technical side to it and I love the artistic and creative side to it too.



I love being out there with my camera and love being in here remembering good days out and looking at photos and, above all, learning from them! Every step I take in this journey is a step that's been thought about and worked on and analysed and crafted. It's also a journey that's fun, exciting and promising to keep on moving and changing and challenging me as I go forward.

That's why I love it so much. I'm still really new to it all, but I am learning so much along the way, and one of the greatest of all pleasures is to be able to share that learning and passion and pleasure with other people!



Helen and Mick have recently purchased their first DSLR and asked to come out with me on some photography tutorials to find out how to use it and how to get images that they will be proud to say are theirs... photos they've actually taken, rather than simply allowing the camera to take the pictures for them!



We've had three afternoons out and about with the camera so far, covering everything from manual exposures to composition and creative exposure.



We have three more afternoons planned before they head off up to the west coast of Scotland for their annual holiday, where they will be ready to take photographs in any light and still be happy with the results!!

The weather has actually been a bit of a problem on these first three sessions, as it has been dull, wet and decidedly unalluring for landscape photography!



We've managed though, and had a bit of fun into the bargain! Which is always good!! Thanks for your hard work and patience so far, here's everything crossed that the sun might actually show for the next three sessions!!!

Rebecca, X

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk
www.rtphotographics.co.uk

Film Fanatic?

Well, I have the results of my first foray into film and, probably much as expected, I have mixed feelings!

I enjoyed the experience of using the film camera, and will undoubtedly be going out with it again and doing more, but I was (as expected, really) rather underwhelmed by the prints.



The negatives have all the detail I wanted, but the person who processed them took out every bit of detail in the sky and left it a bland, burned out white. Humph! Now, I did expect that, especially because I took this first film into a high street developers and I know full well that they aren't going to try very hard at all to get a great looking print... they do have the word 'Snaps' in their name after all and pride themselves on that. But, I thought it was only a first film and I knew that it'd be less than good and I have absolutely no idea how to go about developing the film myself... which is where the mixed feelings come in again - I WANNA KNOW HOW TO DO IT!!!!!!!!



My goodness, I'm so excited at the prospect of getting back in control again, as I do in the digital world.

I may process my digital images in a totally different way to how you might do it, but that's the point. We are each in control when we sit by our computers and work our images the way we like them to be. If that way pleases other people too, well that is obviously so very much better, but at the end of it all, your image needs to please you. By handing my film over to a chap in a shop, I handed over any control I had over the way the images turned out.

I know that there are people out there and labs out there who will work with you to get the results you want... but let's face it, this was a first time foray into film and I wasn't about to go spending wads of cash on something that was only ever going to be viewed as a rather shaky platform from whence to begin.



The images without sky were ok, I suppose, and, bearing in mind these are from scans, I'm quite happy that I can take some kind of a photo without the aid of an LCD and histogram! It's all a start and I fully intend to continue - albeit as a hobby, for fun only; the control of digital processing still reigns supreme as far as I'm concerned!!!!

Rebecca, x

Forays on Film!

When I first picked up a digital SLR camera, I set myself the challenge of learning how to use it in manual mode because I always had it in mind that one day I would have a film camera again and wanted to be able to use it in manual mode too.

I've had film cameras before, in fact I've had many over the years, but I always used the automatic settings. As much as I loved photography, I didn't have the first clue about manual exposures and what all those f-stops and what-nots were!! I never thought I'd ever be a photographer, it just never occurred to me as I was heading into my career with the ambulance service, so I didn't worry about manual exposures and I didn't even think to worry!

Well, time changes many things and time changed the direction I was travelling in and I really, really wanted to know how to take a photograph. I wanted to learn how to actually do it myself and not rely on the camera to do it for me. Even then it wasn't about being a photographer. I was still a paramedic and I didn't think about doing anything else, much less breaking away and working for myself! But I did need a challenge.

I needed to set my head to something... time to find out about what all those numbers and symbols and funny phrases were all about!! I could tell you what ventricular hypertrophy was, I could bore the backside off anyone with all there is to know about hypertension, but what the heck was hyperfocal distance? That was something I wanted to know... as well as everything else I could find out about taking a photograph.

So, the challenge was to be able to pick up a camera, assess a scene or a situation and be able to choose the correct settings myself, to take the photograph myself. I wanted to be able to pick up a film camera and be able to keep all the images off the roll... or at least 90% of them!

Setting myself to the task has been incredible. I've learned so much and come such a long way on my journey and I've still only just scratched the surface!! I'm having the time of my life and those night shifts and that dreadful uniform are nothing but a distant memory! Blimey!!

Now is the time to step forward again though. Now is the time to go back to film... not completely, I'm still very much digital, but now I've started again with film. I've just bought a second-hand Minolta Dynax system, light and easy, bright and, well, quite frightening actually!



The pint is indeed a pint of 'Purity', but I also see my new challenge as a step towards purity. It's a test, a real test to see how much I've learned and how far I've actually come. It's taking away the safety of the LCD; the prints will be a representation of my technical decisions and ability... it's pure photography to me!

I'm not running digital photography down, there's still huge challenges ahead for me there and I will carry on with it for sure... the photos here are taken on my mobile phone and that in itself is still a challenge! I'm not the least bit snobby about cameras or kit, just fascinated and interested and still actually somewhat frightened!

After years with digital systems and all those years before that on auto settings, I was absolutely terrified when I picked up the camera last weekend and went to buy my first roll of film.

I was in Warwick on Saturday last with an old pal from university who, rather fortuitously, happens to be a very good photographer and was really supportive as I took my first faltering steps and my first few frames! As the day went on I started to relax a bit more with it all and really started to enjoy the challenge. All I've got to do now is wait for the film to be developed! Yikes!!

Cheers John, it was a smashing day out and I'm really glad you were there to see me through it!



I look forward to seeing you again sometime soon... but I'll probably leave the oars to you next time, lol ;-))

Rebecca, X

Mobile Musings

There have been a few discussions lately between friends about the merits of various cameras, image quality and useability. But, after all the discussion our good friend Annie summed it all up with the line "the best camera is the one you have with you at the time".

Yep. Gotta agree with that!

The main camera I use for work is without doubt better in terms of useability and image quality than any other camera I've ever owned. I have no interest in Nikon v. Canon debates, or which is the best DSLR or the best camera phone. I am firmly in Annie's camp on this one... the best camera for you is the one you have with you at the time.

My camera phone is clearly not as good as my DSLR, but what good is my DSLR when it is sitting at home and I am faced with a sunset or a scene or a snap that just has to be taken?

Everywhere I go I see potential photographs, but I don't have my big camera everywhere I go.

I have just very recently been dragged into the 21st century though, so I do sometimes have a camera phone. Not always. I don't carry a phone around with me unless I really have to... I have a very real and very strong aversion to phones, but that is probably a whole nother story!!

Anyway, twice recently I had my phone with me and saw a few scenes I wanted to shoot. No big camera, just a mobile phone.

At that particular moment in time, the mobile phone had the best camera for the job... well, it was the only one I had so there was no competition was there?

The images are extremely poor quality in comparison to the DSLR. Noisy shadows, blown highlights, blur, ridiculously long shutter lag... heck, I could've made a cup of tea in the time between pressing the shutter and the image recording!! But for all that, I actually quite like the results. They are no use whatsoever for printing or blowing up to any size other than web-size, but there is a certain quality (ok, poor quality), but a certain quality nonetheless that I actually rather like!

The images have a slightly documentary feel to them. They aren't prizewinners or works of art for sure, but there is something appealing about them. They are snaps, and they do what snaps are supposed to do, remind you of happy times or moments; they are a visual record of a moment in your life that had some particular meaning at that moment. They have soul and meaning, maybe only to me, but that is why I like them.

There's a different quality to a high quality, clear and thought-about photograph, but it's not necessarily any the less for being a snap.

Sometimes we need to step back and remind ourselves of what it's all about... I love creating images and photographs, I love making people feel special and better about themselves, allowing them to escape to fantasyland for a while if they need to, but I also love the plain and the simple things in my life. Sitting on a bench on Brighton seafront with John, watching the sun set behind the pier.

Or walking the dog on another grey, muddy, slightly frozen, slightly thawed January day and laughing at him as he splashes through the mud, then inwardly crying at the mess and the stench of wet dog for the journey home...

...and grinning a bit at the thought of John's face when we both appear at the back door and Hogan shakes himself before wagging his tail to be let in!!!

These are moments for snaps. They may be poor quality, but they are top quality in terms of emotion and feel. Can't grumble at that ;-)

Rebecca,x

http://www.rtphotographics.co.uk/

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk

Take Control!

Digital cameras are amazing. All that technical wizardry and genius in a little box you can hold in your hands. Auto settings mean you just need to pick up the camera, point it at your subject and fire away... but that's not always a good thing. It's fine if you want quick snaps and aren't interested in photography or taking photos that make people go "WOW!!!", but what if you do want stunning photos? What if you don't want snaps, you want photographs? Learning to take control of your camera is the first step.

Learn how to take the photos yourself, manually... not letting the camera make all the decisions for you. I had a wonderful day out on Saturday showing a lovely lady how to do just that.

Having just bought a new DSLR camera, she wanted to know how to actually use it to get more creative photos... to get photos that make people say "wow!!!" We spent a few hours at Drummond Castle Gardens, where she learned all sorts of new tricks with the camera, before heading down to the river in Crieff for more fun and learning in a totally different environment.

Blurry backgrounds, sharp backgrounds, low light, lots of light, close-ups or far-reaching views, these digital photography tutorials are designed to get you started in photography in a way that you can understand.

If you want to learn about photography in plain English, with no need for a degree in maths or physics, I can help you. Split over three sessions, we go out and learn how to use the manual settings on your camera, how to get great pictures, and how to work on the computer to enhance your images and give them the extra 'wow' factor!

If you are interested in one-to-one digital photography tutorials for beginners, either for yourself or for someone you know, get in touch by e-mail rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk and we'll discuss all the options to suit you.

Rebecca, x

www.rtphotographics.co.uk

rebecca@rtphotographics.co.uk