Photography
The pleasure is in the process
What I get out of taking the time and effort to take landscape images with a proper camera, and printing them to make proper photographs you can hold in your hand.
Under an Arctic Sky
Before “Under An Arctic Sky” was even an idea or a film it was a love affair with surfing in cold water.
One man, one camera, 6,000 miles
The Perimeter is a photography project by Quintin Lake, based on walking 10,000km around the coast of Britain in sections. The journey started on 17th April 2015 at St Paul’s cathedral.
The Quest for Inspiration
This is the trailer for “La Quête d’Inspiration”, a documentary film by Mathieu Le Lay about the experiences in the wilderness of French landscape photographer Alexandre Deschaumes. You can purchase the full-length film at Reelhouse.
Using your shoulder as a camera rest
A tip I passed on to a participant at a photo workshop last weekend was one I learned from Joe McNally: not on how to light your subject or how to interact with them, but how to manage your heavy camera. By holding the camera in one hand and…
In Memoriam – Kodachrome
When digital photography went mainstream, it was the death knell to Kodachrome, even devout Kodachrome enthusiasts migrated from the venerable film to their DSLRs, providing the photographer a level of control that would have been unimaginable with good old Kodachrome. Kodachrome was a victim of advancement, and as the years…
Taking good photographs is a skill with a value
It continues to surprise me that so many people blankly refuse to understand that even the most simple photographs take a modicum of effort to create. Sure, the act of pressing a button on a camera takes just a moment, but the skills of knowing when to press it, how…
The Bigger View
A trend I’ve noticed in the past couple of years, particularly when travelling or photographing weddings, is the ubiquity of the iPad as a camera. It took me aback a little the first time I saw an iPad in the wild, but the more often I see it, the more…
Studio workshop
I ran the latest of my photographic workshops last weekend and chose (mainly because of the time of year) to hold it in the studio. Thanks to the ready availability of the studio space at Satzart in Bern, we were able to use the spacious room to cover basic introduction to the Elinchrom equipment and lighting in general, before moving on to more specific setups in the afternoon.
Studio training course in Bern
I ran a course earlier in the year on the subject of portraiture and lighting, which was very well received by the attendees and which I really enjoyed organizing. I’ve been planning to run a similar photo course for a while now, and have decided that the next event will…
I wish you would let me take your portrait
I love taking portraits of people; whether I know them or not. I do it because of my passion for the image, not for financial gain, and I really wish more people would volunteer to let me photograph them. Here's why.
Inspiration: Gregory Crewdson
Whilst presenting my One Frame Movie photos at the Open Show in Lausanne this week, I mentioned Gregory Crewdson. I first became aware of his work in 2008 via David Hobby’s blog and have admired his process ever since. He’s technically more of a…
Free photos, and why I’m making them available
Any photographer offering free photos should have a good reason for doing so. This is why I've chosen to make a large portion of my photographic archive available.
I do (wedding photography)
Repeated good feedback on my photography and a recent equipment purchase have convinced me to start photographing weddings more regularly.
Interview in Czech photo blog Odcloneno
I was contacted a while back by the editor of Czech photo blog Odcloněno, Michal Fanta: Michal asked to interview me and use some of my photos on the blog. The interview was published this morning; here's the English transcript. Many thanks to Michal for the exposure and, as he's mentioned; please do get in touch if you'd like to volunteer for this year's continuation of the One Frame Movie series.
New galleries online for Brienz and Spiez
The extensions and improvements to the Permanent Tourist website continue apace, with new galleries in the Photography section.
Presentation at Photo 10
When visiting photographic exhibitions, I am often struck by how little thought is given to presentation, when so much time and effort has obviously been given to the photographs themselves.
2011 calendar now available to order
The 2011 edition of my annual photographic calendar, featuring travel and landscape photographs from Scotland, England, Switzerland and Italy, is now available to order via the Lulu.com website.
The precision of traditional landscape photography
A view of the river Aare at Unterseen, next to Interlaken, and some thoughts on the meticulous detail of traditional landscape photography.
Images Festival in Vevey
The Images Festival of Visual Arts is the only open air photographic festival in Switzerland, which takes place in the picturesque town of Vevey, on the shores of Lake Geneva, every two years.
Take the tourist shot
When I first planned to hike to Bachalp above Grindelwald, I had envisaged not taking the photo above. However, the reception which the photo has received since posting it to Flickr has made me glad that I did.
Studio fun
I return to the studio this weekend, to use full studio lighting for the first time in many years and share experience and ideas with a number of colleagues from the Swiss Strobist group.
The eye of the beholder
I learned an important lesson in portrait photography last weekend: that of how ready the subject is to see themselves in an honest and detailed image, when they may be seeing themselves this way for the first time.