Week 20’s challenge is Rule Of Thirds. I thought I’d Start the challenges in this book from the beggining which is the fundamentals. So The Rule Of Thirds is basic composition. Think of your camera or phone like a grid and divide it into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. The Focus of the image should be placed on the intersecting points usually on the right or left hand side but don’t be afraid to break the rules.
Here are a few of my images that show the rule of thirds:
For Week 21 I will be doing another challenge from photocrafty by Sue Veneables. Week 21’s challenge is another of my current back to basics series and is called, Do Your Lines. This is about using lines to lead the viewer into the image. These can be horizontal, vertical, radial and diagonal.
If you enjoyed this weeks challenge join in with next weeks Do Your Lines challenge and tweet or Instagram to @lucyandthelens and don’t forget to #doyourlines.
You may have seen my 8 photography techniques to try in isolation post.
Well as well as trying new things using photoshop techniques on the portraits in my back catalogue I’ve been going out with my camera during lockdown and photographing the places I go on my daily walks. The main place I’ve been to frequently is moor parl.
You have to really think about what we should and shouldn’t be doing on our daily walks. Should we be staying at a safe distance and asking people if they want to be photographed without going near to us. Is it ethical or unethical in this crazy time? How will people respond? Should we try contacting people to be photographed on there porches while we stay on the path? Is this okay or not? Its up to you as a photographer to decide.
So Then I started to think about what else I can do without taking portraits I decided to take my camera with me on some of my daily walks going to moor park 7 days in a row with a different lens every day to see what perspectives I could get with the different lenses.
There is the Petzval 85mm lomography lens which is great for portraits but without the luxury of asking someone for a portrait like I normally what can I do with this lens?
I also used a Nikon 35mm Prime Lens which is a very versatile lens for both landscapes and portraits.
a Nikon 18-55mm kit lens, a Sigma 10-20mm,
A Lensbaby circular fisheye lens which I love to create distorted images with. It seems to create a warped world view in my eyes.
It’s Photo Challenge Friday. Week 19’s challenge is to Get Closer. This challenge is about taking close up pictures of ordinary things and seeing if you can make them look stange and unfamiliar. Using objects and subjects you can find in your own house and garden and experimenting with Black and White.
Here are the results of the challenge:
For week 20 i have chosen a challenge from Photocrafty by Sue Veneables: Week 20’s challenge is Rule Of Thirds. I thought I’d Start the challenges in this book from the beggining which is the fundamentals. So The Rule Of Thirds is basic composition. Think of your camera or phone like a grid and divide it into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. The Focus of the image should be placed on the intersecting points usually on the right or left hand side but don’t be afraid to break the rules.
If you enjoyed this weeks challenge join in with next weeks Rule Of Thirds challenge and tweet or Instagram to @lucyandthelens and don’t forget to #ruleofthirds.
Welcome to the second instalment of monthly Photographer Q and A. My second photographer is Street Photographer: Alf Myers Photography.
How did you get into photography?
That’s a rather simple one to answer – it was holidays. Many, many, moons ago I went on holiday to the Greek island of Corfu. It was in the days of film and I had a little point and shoot camera with me. Nothing amazing, but I took one image from the two weeks that caught my attention and I wanted to make more.
It was the inside of a little Greek church and the colours of the print when they came back just blew me away. It took me back to that moment. I have to say that it was the only decent image. That frustrated me so I looked for ways to get better images but in a foolish way – better equipment. It didn’t work!
Don’t buy equipment and think you’ll get better. You won’t. It is a false economy!
Greek Fishermen By Alf Myers Photography
What kind of gear do you use?
That depends. I mostly do street photography so I like to keep it simple. My current set-up is a Sony Alpha 7mkIII with a Samyang 35mm f2.8 lens. That’s it.
If I’m doing something else, like an event or wedding, then I double it up with my old Canon 5d Mk III with a 24-70mm f2.8 and a 70-200mm f2.8. I have a converter so can use the Canon glass on the Sony body and it works rather well.
What is your favourite lens? Why?
It really depends on the job, but for a long time it has been my Canon 24-70mm F2.4 L series, it is just a sweet lens which I used for about 80% of my shots.
However, since moving onto the Sony a7 Mk III, I’ve switched to a 35mm prime – the Samyang 35mm f2.8. I love a faster lens to reduce the depth of field and for capturing more light which helps at night and in low light situations. The Samyang doesn’t have this but it has a small profile and weighs very little. The whole setup is very easy to carry for the whole day. Not like the Canon 5D Mk III and the 24-70mm which is what I used to use on the streets.
Art Gallery by Alf Myers Photography
So you’re a street photographer? How did that subject peak your interest?
I guess you could say that I’m more known for my street photography than anything else. For the most part I like people photography, but for street, well I’ve always been a bit of a people watcher and I like exploring different cities. Both of those and a camera, lead naturally to street.
I hope each image I make triggers the viewer to build their own stories in their heads. That’s what I like. That’s what makes a good image.
Baker Street by Alf Myers Photography
What settings do you typically use for your street photography?
It all depends on the available light and subject but generally I’m hovering f8 at 1/500+ shutter speed. That will mean a relatively high ISO for most of the time in the UK.
That way you get a good depth of field and reduce the chance for camera shake, although you have to adjust for the light and for your intended image.
Are there certain shots you like to get when doing street photography? Or do you just go with the flow?
For me street photography is all about going with the flow and adapting to what you see/find as you wander. That said, you’ll find each street photographer’s images will have reoccurring subjects, styles and approaches that they subconsciously gravitate toward when they’re out on the streets. Whilst I don’t specifically go to shoot a picture of x or y, certain situations will inevitability draw my attention more than others.
I do tend to follow given ‘routes’ which I like to explore at different times of day and year. You notice how things change yet at the same time stay the same.
Evening Walk By Alf Myers Photography
How do you usually post process your work?
Again, it will depend on the image in question. What is it saying? What mood does it portray? Have I taken it with mono in mind or is it a celebration of colour?
However, I will generally start in Adobe Lightroom. I’ll import the images from the camera with a base setting that will look to apply some meta data, camera/lens correction and a few settings that I’ve come to regularly apply.
From there I’ll confirm if I’m going monochrome which is mostly how I see and shoot, but from time to time the colour pixie will have whispered in my ear and colour it must be.
In Adobe Lightroom, I’ll apply all the global processing such as cropping, correcting wonky horizons and verticals, exposure and tones. Then, it depends on the subject…
If it is a street image, I’ll stay in Lightroom to dodge and burn etc., to help draw your eye.
If it is a portrait or something creative, or for a club comp then I’ll go into Photoshop where all bets are off. There will be lots of layers.
Board Meeting by Alf Myers Photography
What makes a good photograph in your eyes?
One that triggers an emotion in the it’s viewers. It doesn’t need to be technically perfect, in fact the more perfect the less an image tends to trigger an emotion.
Folk And Blues Festival by Alf myers Photography
Are there any other styles of photography you enjoy?
Mostly anything to do with people. I regularly support as a second shooter at weddings and do various events, ‘Born Survivor’ being an example. Getting involved in the action is key here. Street photography really helps with these, it opens one’s eye to the potential of a scene and enhances your skill of a quick reaction when you need it. I also like doing studio-based work, especially head shots.
I love viewing nature and landscapes but find the process of making them isn’t for me. I really want to get up to explore and experience the moment.
Born Survivor 1 by Alf Myers PhotographyBorn Survivor 2 By Alf Myers Photography
Tell us the story behind your favourite picture.
I suspect I haven’t taken it yet.
That said, of the images I have taken, in the too many years to mention there are a few that jump out and that I have on my wall in my office
One image that I keep returning to is ‘Journey Home.’ I wouldn’t call it a happy image but it has lots of feeling in and I love the lighting. The expression on the man’s face crossing the road, and the crowd in the back waiting for the green man before they cross – it could almost be from the Walking Dead.
The location is London, Euston Road just outside of the station with Prezzo behind us. We were heading back to our hotel after a long day exploring London.
Here is the picture in question:
Journey Home By Alf Myers Photography
Have you done any cool projects recently that you’d like to discuss?
Currently we’re in a strange place, what with being socially isolated as a result of COVID-19, so a lot of my plans are on hold. However, at the start of the year, I joined a group of other photographers on Twitter in a project, the aim being to share a new image everyday for a year. Look up #365aroundthesun and you’ll see how we’re doing.
I was hoping it would be a new image I’d taken on the day, but it has turned into just new images that I haven’t shared before. Although I suspect one or two may have got past that filter too.
When you go travelling what do you take with you and why?
It used to be a lot! But now, I generally take my Sony A7 Mk III with the 35mm Samyang lens, plus a 50mm too. Alongside that I have a little Fujifilm x70 which sits nicely in my pocket.
All of this is carried in a ThinkTank Retrospective 7 v2.0 Why? Well, unless I know I’m going to a specific location and I’d be after certain shots that require something a little more specific, I like to keep the weight down and for the most part this setup covers everything I like to do. There are occasions when I regret not taking a longer lens but they are rare.
One thing you learn quickly is how to make a bag look light when checking in at the airport.
Evolution Of Man by Alf Myers Photography
Is there any photographers work that has influenced and inspired you? If so who?
There are indeed, but some of my biggest influences are film and art galleries, just observing the visual, composition and ideas. I absorb them and in some cases their influence inadvertently rubs off.
I have shot both but these days I’m exclusively digital.
However, I do look back with fondness to the days when I used to develop and print my own monochrome images. Maybe I’ll try again at some point.
Where do you expand your photographic knowledge?
There are lots of ways, including reading around the topic. I’m currently reading Bystander by Joel Meyerowitz and Colin Westerbeck which is giving me an interesting and in-depth history of street photography. It is however a heavy read in many ways.
There are courses and lectures which can educate and inspire. Matt Hart’s, “Learning to See” workshop was a real turning point for me.
Then you have YouTube – which has something on just about everything. I can recommend popping by Sean Tucker’s channel.
However, you can’t beat trying and failing – it is said that it is by failing that we learn. So shoot, look, and shoot some more. Or practice, practice, practice.
And finally – helping others. You learn so much by helping others with their photography.
For more of Alf’s work visit his website at Alf Myers Photography. You can also see Alf’s work on Instagram @alfmyersmono and twitter @alfmyers.
I hope you enjoyed something a little different showcasing and discussing the work of Alf Myers Photography: Street Photographer. Stay Tuned for the next installment.
I feel as a photographer you should not just photograph subjects you like or things you enjoy. You should also be photographing things you fear.
I was terrified of dogs since I was about 7 years old when I went to worden park and I was chased by one until I climbed up a tree which seemed to deter it.
So, a few years ago as whenever I saw a dog, I would cross the road and the owner would follow me across and tell me their dog was okay but when you’re afraid of something that’s the last thing you want. You have to confront your fear yourself.
I eventually decided to choose to photograph dogs for a domestic animal’s competition. Also, when I went on a trip to Ireland I was around dogs for a weekend and managed to get photos of them. So, here’s a selection of Dog portraits:
Although I still flinch if a dog jumps on me, I think photographing them has pretty much conquered my fear.
Is anyone else afraid or has previously been afraid of something they could tap into and photograph. Does photographing the thing you’re afraid of help you to ease that fear?
Week 18’s challenge is Blur The Boundaries. This challenge is about getting super close to your subject such as flowers so they partially obscurre the lens and create blurry blobs. Play with your focus and see what happens in a familiar location.
Here are the images I took for this Challenge:
For week 19 i have chosen another challenge from Be A Super Awesome Photographer by Henry Carroll. Week 19’s challenge is to Get Closer. This challenge is about taking close up pictures of ordinary things and seeing if you can make them look stange and unfamiliar. Using objects and subjects you can find in your own house and garden and experimenting with Black and White.
If you enjoyed this weeks challenge join in with next weeks Get Closer challenge and tweet or Instagram to @lucyandthelens and don’t forget to #getcloser.
Every season at Preston Photographic Society we have themed competitions. So, in the summer I take my special Lucy and the Lens notebook with the seven competitions written down so I can think about what I want to take and whether I can take a couple on holiday.
Sometimes this is easy because the themes fit perfectly with my holiday however other times, I can only manage one during my trip.
Sometimes I’ve been working so much I find it hard to find time to take images for a competition at that moment. So, to prepare I look through photos I’ve collected over several years and see if anything fits if I know I won’t have time to take new ones or as a backup plan in case I don’t have chance to get out.
I will do the same for any external competitions. I also have to prepare for print competitions which I send off to be printed so I have to give myself enough time to send them and get them back in time to enter.
But whatever the theme I make sure I take the photos for me and not just for the competition. What I mean by that is that I make sure my personality is reflected in the photos as well as the theme as I won’t take a photo if it doesn’t stay true to me as a photographer.
When you are looking for a theme or any competition entry you need to evaluate your portfolio or back catalogue and choose your best image. Try to pick original images and there you have it your first entry.
Don’t expect your first entry to win the competition right off the bat it will take many attempts to achieve that. Also remember that photography is subjective one judge could love your image and the next could hate it. I wouldn’t worry as long as you are happy with it that’s what matters.
Once you have decided on your image if you haven’t previously edited it go into lightroom and photoshop and make adjustments until you are happy that its competition ready. I’m predominantly a portrait photographer and I like to adjust highlights, exposure, contrast and shadows slightly. But in editing remember to always make the image reflect your own style.
Finally, always make sure your images are resized to the correct competition standards and that you have read the competition rules beforehand. There’s nothing worse than entering it to be bounced back having not been judged.
Here are three images that have done well for me in competitions:
This Image Scored 20/20 in the Novice Competition at Preston Photographic Society in 2016 This Image Scored 20/20 In The Mono Print Catergory at Preston Photographic Society Earlier This YearThis Image Scored 19/20 in a Movement Themed Competition in 2018
And three that have done badly:
This One Scored 12/20Another 12/20A 12/20
There should be a distinct difference between my top scoring sets of images and the low scoring set of images and hopefully this will help give you some ideas what to expect.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Stay tuned for more.
This weeks challenge from Be a Super Awesome Photographer was Play Detective. This one is about taking portraits of the things people leave behind after they have left a room. You can do this by observing things that people have left on the street or by observing the things people in your household leave lying around when they leave a room. Or even getting people to guess who you are based on the objects you leave around yourself.
The challenge for week 18 will also be from Be A Super Awesome Photographer by Henry Carroll. Week 18’s challenge is Blur The Boundaries. This challenge is about getting super close to your subject such as flowers so they partially obscurre the lens and create blurry blobs. Play with your focus and see what happens in a familiar location.
If you enjoyed this weeks challenge join in with next weeks Blur The Boundaries challenge and tweet or Instagram to @lucyandthelens and don’t forget to #blurtheboundaries.
Most people will have set goals at the beginning of the year of what they plan to do through the year. A lot of these goals might now be unattainable due to Covid19.
But your year doesn’t have to stop with Covid19 you can refocus your goals changing them up for the current climate. As Dani Barker Media (Social Media Strategist) says “we can then treat post covid as a 2020 take two setting yourself brand new goals when the time comes”.
But first think about what you can do during this pandemic to improve your business. You might be thinking you can’t do anything, but there’s always something you can do.
I think that goal setting is important because:
It focuses your attention on something.
It raises your self-confidence when you achieve them.
It motivates you to do more.
It gives you a sense of purpose.
It gives you more control of your future.
In terms of goal setting I like to set my goals on the last day of every month.
Each month provides me with new goals. Some months I have a week or two set out for a course I’m taking part in. Other months I use a structure I created when I did probloggers 31 days to build a better blog course and sometimes I do both.
If we weren’t currently in lockdown, the first thing I would do in a typical month would be to check what I have booked in and right that down in both my calendar and my bullet journal which I use to create the schedule.
As currently lockdown is the only thing that is happening , I’ve been thinking about what I can do with my social media content and web content as a change of focus because I can’t do photoshoots right now.
In the month of March there was a 7 day content sprint with problogger. But this month looks a little different.
I have a main goal set for the month of may which is to finish the podcasting course I’m doing which is a course on the future learn website called the power of podcasting for audio storytelling. I am also hoping to launch the podcast later this month. So this is what the month looks like for podcasting:
Week 1: Complete the podcasting course.
Week 2: Podcast Wednesday: plan the next month of podcasting.
Week 3: Get podcast platform ready.
Week 4: Launch podcast
The podcast isn’t my only plan for this month though. In March I did a design sprint day which helps you work towards your long term and short term goals. So on the 11th of every month I will be doing a design sprint task day implementing some of the techniques I learnt. I will also be doing an idea generation day on the 15th of every month to help me think of ideas in all aspects of business. I have also scheduled in my zoom meetings in order to work around them.
In the month I usually have one or two rest days per week which I call a do something different day where I do something completely unrelated to photography.
When I’m planning my website content for the next month I have days set to do certain types of post for example a lust or review post. I may also have days to get someone who hasn’t looked at my blog before to analyse it and days to ask readers questions.
I also have goals for everyday some are due to lockdown and others I want to implement even after. These are:
Spending some time on social media to post, comment, share, like and engage.
To do daily walks and workouts most days.
Listen to podcasts most days.
Read for at least an hour.
Finally on the last day of the month I do two things:
Goal setting by planning a schedule for the next month.
Checking google analytics to see how my website has performed for the month.
If you enjoyed this post why not set goals of your own and share them in the comments.
This week for week 16 I did another challenge from Be A Super Awesome Photographer by Henry Carroll which is Hard Light. This challenge is about photographing strong shadows that fall on subjects in hard light using only the windows in my house in strong sunlight as my light source.
This week I decided to use my phone for the challenge and here are the results:
For week 17 I have decided to do another challenge from Be A Super Awesome Photographer by Henry Carroll called Play Detective. This one a about taking portraits of the things people leave behind after they have left a room. You can do this by observing things that people have left on the street or my observing the things people in your household leave lying around when they leave a room. Or even getting people to guess who you are based on the objects you leave around yourself.
If you enjoyed this weeks challenge join in with next weeks Play Detective challenge and tweet or Instagram to @lucyandthelens and don’t forget to #playdetective.
