A Trip To Spain And Pleasant Surprises

Note: I was supposed to publish this a month ago…better late than never!

Well, it’s been nearly four months now since I last wrote a blog post on here, so I’ve not been doing great at keeping things up-to-date. Best laid plans and all of that…so let’s put this right and put together at least one blog post for summer 2023.

I’ve not long been back from our annual two week holiday in Seville, and aside from the usual complaint that the holiday just wasn’t long enough, we had a great couple of weeks and I managed to get out to do a lot of photography. Better still, I got to do a lot of photography and didn’t once get shouted at for doing so. Long-term followers/readers will know this is an unusual experience for me when I go to Spain.

Unusually for me, I went out and did a lot of solo trips into the city centre. Both during the mornings and in the evenings for some evening golden hour/sunset shots. I’ve always been a bit hesitant about doing this, partly because of carrying expensive camera equipment around in the city centre, but also because, well, we are supposed to be on holiday as a family, so…

For whatever reasons this time it worked out that I had more time to go out and shoot and so I took the opportunity every chance I could. Before we went I bought a couple of additional 64gb SD cards and I obviously had to fill them to capacity before we returned. And so I did. Which on the flip side meant a lot of photos to edit but it’s better that than having nothing to work with.

Prior to this trip I had also invested in an iPad Pro M2. I’d been mulling this over for a while, because I really wanted more storage and more processing power. Not just for editing photos but for other tasks too (editing video for example). For the past few years I’d been using a 2019 iPad Air, which I’d been really pleased with, but the small storage space and some other limitations (not compatible with the new pencil for example) finally got me to the point where I felt an upgrade was in order. With my recent promotion at work too, I felt I could justify the outlay as it would benefit me at work as well as at home. So far I’ve been really pleased with the investment and it’s been a dream to edit on. So that’s been great.

Photography-wise, I got some nice shots whilst I was away. Probably not much in the way of absolute bangers, but some shots I was at least happy with. Of course the light was great (if you want strong shadows obviously) whilst we were there…because it was just blue skies and sunny every single day. However, it wasn’t without its challenges. Once it got to late morning, the heat became unbearable. Whereas in the UK I’d be happy to stand at a composition and do a bit of “fishing”, in Seville I tend to find standing around for more than five minutes in the sun very uncomfortable, particularly if you need to stand in the sun to make the most of the composition. I also struggled with golden hour street photography as I very quickly realised you have time for probably one or two compositions and that’s your lot. You don’t have time to wonder around and find something. You either decide on a composition and stick with it, or inevitable end up getting nothing at all. On more than one occassion I got nothing at all.

Anyway, I’ll post some shots below in a gallery…

Now for the “pleasant surprise”…

Before I went away I took my shop offline. I wasn’t going to be in a position to process orders and figured rather than have delays for people, I’d just take it down altogether. Seemed a sensible move…at least until I frantically tried to put it back online using just my phone and a data connection…

Some time before we went, I decided to send a copy of my zine to Ted Forbes of The Art of Photography. I’ve followed Ted for sometime and he’s been quite an inspiration as I’ve got to figure my way around photography. Whether it be technical tips, theoretical discussions or sharing the work of others, there’s been much that I’ve gained from his channel.

Anyway, Ted regularly does a round-up of some of the books and zines he’s been sent in by viewers, which I find to be valuable in terms of seeing the work of others and also in providing some additional motivation to get those photos off the computer and into something much more tangible, something that feels more…real. So I decided to send mine in and…well…he picked it out for showcasing and critiquing on his channel which absolutely blew me away. I mean, of course I sent it in hoping for such an outcome, but I never imagined it actually would get on the channel.

As for Ted’s thoughts on the zine itself, I was pretty chuffed with his take, and it’s certainly not dissuaded me from honing what I learnt from the first zine and putting together a second. I particularly liked his comments about the colour palette (I’ve developed a preset which I use across my night images). His criticisms were entirely fair (and something I had actually been thinking a lot since publishing the zine), and will certainly help me when I’m looking across my images and trying to pull something together. Anyway, you can view the full video here (my zine features from 11:04 onwards):

Thanks Ted, much appreciated!

And so…back to that gallery of Spanish photos I mentioned…although admittedly it’s going to make me wish I was back there, enjoying beer and tapas. Ah well…

Decisive Lucky Moments

There are days where I wonder around with my camera, taking photos on the streets, feeling that…I’ve not really got much. Just some bog standard shots of people walking past a fairly interesting building, or just standing on a street corner. Ok shots, but nothing that makes me feel “wow, that’s a portfolio” image (some might say even the ones I consider portfolio images…really aren’t). I come home, load the SD card into my iPad, and expect to be just flicking through a series of fairly standard images, 99% of which will end up deleted.

Every now and then, however, I get home and realise…maybe I had something after all without realising it. Sometimes I capture an image and think “well, I could pass this off as intended, but the reality is that it was just chance”. Last week I had one of those moments. An image I was pleased to capture, but had no idea I’d caught something I’d consider for my portfolio until I got home…

Now, when composing this image, I genuinely did not spot the poster in the optician window with a model looking out towards the couple embracing. Genuinely. So I have a mixture of feelings when I look at this image now. Pleased I caught it, but also weirdly annoyed I didn’t really check the full frame before I took the shot. But does that really matter? It’s not as if I could have captured it any better, is it? Is it just a case of a bit of imposter syndrome trying to undermine me?

Ultimately, the main thing is getting the shot. And besides, it would look more than a little wrong to stand across the street and analyse the scene while two people were embracing. It could look…well…a bit intrusive shall we say. And, in all honesty, even taking this shot made me feel a bit uncomfortable, as though I was intruding on their intimacy (but equally I have serious problems with public affection…it’s not really my thing). Maybe I could have improved the composition, but equally I could have ended up dealing with a very awkward situation, accused of all sorts. As it is, it’s in focus and, after cropping it (the original shot was vertical), it works. And, in the end, that’s all that matters.

I always try to remind myself that perfection is the enemy of good. Whether that be a photo that is slightly off focus or not fully exploring the scene before taking the photo. Sometimes it just has to be about getting the shot and that decisive moment. You may not get technically perfect images every time, but you capture a moment and sometimes, not always, that is enough. In this case, the decisive moment was a lucky one.

Street Photography At Night

Ok, it has taken an embarassingly long time to sit down and write another blog post, let alone this blog post. Let’s just say a lot has happened since my last post. The main thing is, I’m writing a blog post. I really should do this more often…not least because more regular writing might mean I cut the waffle. Anyway…

I’m sure I’m no different to virtually all landscape photographers in finding landscape photography in the summer a bit of a chore. Sunrise is too early, sunset is too late, the middle of the day is just harsh light and blue skies (how awful). It’s a challenge, and not in a skill-enhancing way. It is because of this that I’m glad I have dabbled in street photography over the years, as the conditions that aren’t great for landscape photography, make for great conditions on the streets.

I’m still learning a lot about what makes a good street photo, but I’ve enjoyed getting out and about and learning more about a quite different way of shooting. Whereas I often find landscape photography to be quite tranquil and often (although not always!!) a relatively sedate process, street photography forces me to think quicker, to spot opportunities and to pay close attention to details. I feel like, as a result, my street photography and landscape photography have helped each other.

I’m still yet to really figure out my “style”, but the one thing I’ve really enjoyed lately is shooting on the streets at night. And fortunately, given we are in October, there’s loads of opportunities ahead! So much have I enjoyed this, I even treated myself to the 33mm f1.4 Fuji lens back at the beginning of the summer and I haven’t regretted it one bit. The things I’ve particularly enjoyed in the evenings is making use of the street lights and, most especially, the condensation on restaurant/cafe windows. As someone who feels a little uncomfortable taking photos of people, having them obscured slightly not only makes my life easier, but also makes the photos more interesting. And then when you have rain and interesting lights to play with…well, that’s the cherry on the cake.

33mm 1/250s f1.4 ISO 3200

Of course, shooting at night isn’t quite as straightforward as during the day. During the day, I’d happily put headphones on and wander around. At night I’m of course needing to be hyper-conscious of what’s going on around me, whether I’m shooting locally or in a major city. I’d prefer wherever possible to shoot with others in the evening, but if that’s not possible then I’ll still go out but just ensure I’m extra vigilant and avoid any places where there are few people around.

33mm 1/250s f1.4 ISO 320

In terms of my settings, I stick to around f1.4 (obviously) and try not to drop below 1/250th unless I’m shooting something static. I set my ISO to a maximum of 3200 and then leave the ISO decisions up to the camera. My priorities are that I keep to f1.4 and 1/250th for the kind of shots I’m looking for to keep the ISO low and the pictures free from motion blur. To cap off the settings, I go for exposure compensation of anything between -1 to -2 to protect the highlights. These settings largely work well for me, although I do sometimes encounter some strobing outside some shopfronts, which I think is largely due to the shutter speed and the LED lighting. Other than that, I tend to find those settings do the job.

33mm 1/250s f1.4 ISO 3200

With the nights drawing in and more low light conditions to work with (and obviously this time of year is pretty intense with lights up everywhere), I’m looking forward to getting out more often with that 1.4 lens and learning more about street photography at night.