Chiaroscuro is the technique employed by many of the old masters in their paintings, using a single light source to illuminate the subject, creating mysterious shadows and beautiful highlights. It can be used in photography too, and my friend and teacher, Frank Van Riper, teaches a class in Washington DC called “Lighting like Caravaggio” in […]Read Post ›
I was a bit dubious about the idea of Project 52 to start with, all those lists of saccharine themes on Pinterest (“love” “childhood” etc) set my teeth on edge a bit. But I finally decided that having a weekly target to go out and take some photos wasn’t a bad thing and at the end […]Read Post ›
Well, this is it, post 52 of 52 and the project is complete. I had hoped to come up with something spectacular for the last post of the year but alas, I haven’t seen any giraffes silhouetted against an African sky at sunset or early morning mists over Buddhist temples in the past week so […]Read Post ›
I suppose the title of this post is hardly what first springs to mind when you think of Paris, but visits to Notre Dame de Paris, Père Lachaise Cemetery and the incredibly moving Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation respectively produced this set of images which all relate to remembrance and mourning. The first pair […]Read Post ›
This is the second group of shots from a recent trip to Paris. We got some great skies and lovely Paris-by-night views down by the Seine on a couple of our long walks around the city and these are the best of the shots I took on those nights. I think they show promise but […]Read Post ›
One thing I discovered when doing photo workshops with the wonderful Frank Van Riper and Judy Goodman is that I absolutely love working to make the best of the available light. These photos I took today, on a dreary afternoon at Dover Castle, in a medieval keep with not a lot of modern lighting and […]Read Post ›
I’ve just returned from a week in the gorgeous county of Norfolk, the home of big skies, bleak marshland, seemingly endless stretches of sandy beach and fabulous seafood. The week started with poor weather but then a heatwave hit us so most of my outdoor pics look like they were designed with a holiday brochure […]Read Post ›
Something I only recently discovered is that I love low light photography. I enjoy the challenge of trying to squeeze as much out of the day as possible and using the lack of light in interesting ways rather than resorting to flash. In the spirit of my new-found enthusiasm, here are some shots I took […]Read Post ›
Photography, of course, is all about light. That doesn’t mean though that the best pictures are taken in full midday sun. I generally favour a dark, verging on under-exposed shot over a fully lit one, so I really enjoy shooting when the light is low, although it does bring challenges of its own, not least […]Read Post ›
