Matthew Hampshire, on Flickr

Anyone remember the Que club in Birmingham ?

Matthew Hampshire, on Flickr

Hello GT, thanks for your observations. I quite like reading your posts, you are a thoughtful photographer.

Perspective is a funny thing.

You ever see that TV advert for a newspaper where a skinhead in a bomber jacket is running down a street in DM’s? You see the advert from two angles, one where he is running towards a frightened old lady (to mug her..?) and another from a distance where it becomes clear that he is running to save her from a pile of falling bricks?

My point, though a bit oblique, is that you can look at things two ways. What you see as a strength in my photographs, i might see as a weakness (a lack of singularity of purpose)

If you are ‘serious’ you are told you needed to develop a single style, one that identifies and defines you. To me that means that you keep taking the same picture or variations of it for the whole of your life. I met an artist once that said she did “shitty beach paintings” for tourists cos they sell and with the little time she had left she did paintings that excited her.

I just can’t do that. There are too many situations, genres and interesting lighting challenges that i would have to ignore for the sake of having one style, though i suspect that this is the route to recognition and ‘success’. I enjoy taking photos too much to pass them up, so settle for doing what i like as opposed to doing what would lead to recognition. This is the beauty of being a hobbyist rather than a professional. I like photography too much to make it a career. and why FFS else would i use film (that makes no economic sense and by some is just passed off as nostalgia..) ? I do it because i like it. I have no one else to answer to. I work a day job that i like to pay for the film, i spend my own time taking, developing and scanning the film. I do what i like.

I’m a GP and AED doc, i tell my wife that GP stands for general photographer…

I do have styles, plural, though it all looks rather jumbled from my random posts on here, but if you look at the albums that i arrange them into on flickr there are themes; Eden2, Single figures, Post cards from the coast, Closer to home, Hebrides, People, Landscapes, Alone.

Anyway what i am saying, in my usual long winded way is that what you perceive as a weakness in your photos or technique, might from my point of view, be a strength..

Keep taking the photos, i enjoy them. If you do too, then surely that’s good enough?

Treking high up on the Haute Route.Not a technical image,but I’m proud of it because of the location.

There’s some incredible shots in this thread.

Can I ask how many of you routinely touch up your images? I always struggle to get the exposure and white balance right and I’m not sure if it’s worth trying to save the ones that are almost there or move on and keep practicing.

Here’s a few of mine that I liked, anyway (if the Flickr embed code works):

[url=https://flic.kr/p/26Pw9vy]20180506_151104[/url] by Stephen Gammon, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/248JJVW]20180227_215736[/url] by Stephen Gammon, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/25MYs1y]20180217_144134[/url] by Stephen Gammon, on Flickr

@kelron – none of the photos I post up have been retouched in any way, although some might be cropped slightly to straighten a slightly off horizon or vertical component. I used to do retouching years ago, first with brush and airbrush, then in Photoshop, but I don’t have the time or inclination to phaff around with photos now, I try to compose a photo in a pleasing way, and I might take a number of different photos using portrait or landscape format, and place certain features in different places to alter emphasis, but that’s it. As I tend to use my phone a lot, what I see on screen is pretty much how I want the photo to look; if exposure is off, or the lighting wrong, I’ll abandon the photo, rather than spend several hours trying to save a picture that likely wasn’t worth taking in the first place.

In my ongoing quest for nastiness, have dug out some old phones to grab lofi images to play with.

Was really surprised how nice to use the old LG Viewty still is. Would love a current phone manufacturer to be brave enough to make something similar with more up to date optics and sensors.

Have also just bought a Diana Mini to get grungy with some good old 35mm work. Should be fun to play with.

Matthew Hampshire, on Flickr

Can I ask how many of you routinely touch up your images?

Depends on what you mean by ‘touch up’; if you shoot in RAW then the resulting images almost certainly will need to be ‘processed’, they are not intended to be the finished article (although sometimes the out of camera RAW is good enough).Processing will usually involve correcting white balance, overall colour balance, contrast, sharpness, exposure etc. I would class this as processing rather than touching up.

Beyond that, removing things, adding things or otherwise materially changing the image from what was originally there goes beyond processing and into touching up.

I always do the former, I never do the latter and most serious, documentary, reportage or ‘fine art’ photographers typically draw the line here as wel.

Can I ask how many of you routinely touch up your images?

I resize mine to 72 DPI,screen resolution.& sometimes adjust the levels in PS.

The majority of my photo’s are taken with a Samsung mobile.I use my DSLR for motorcycle racing photo’s but it’s a pain to carry around when I just want to take some snaps.

Sofaking, that’s a lovely sunset picture with the boat in the foreground.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/MBKhep]20180923_122836[/url] by Mike Kennedy, on Flickr

Phone camera shot from my ride up to Buntzen Lake today.

Can I ask how many of you routinely touch up your images?

Erm…

Only a little bit…

As above, even though I take it a fair way I would still describe what I do as processing rather than editing or touching up. As a reformed painter I do it from a place where the camera is just another tool to help me create an image rather than as a ”dumb’ recorder of reality.

Very rarely do I shoot anything other than BW film so touching up generally limited to using the clone tool to get rid of dust specks / fibres – no different really to using an 00 brush to tidy up the enlargement in ye olden dayes.

Exposure, contrast, crop etc goes without saying.  Though I try to get the ‘crop’ right when I take the photo – if I’ve always got that ‘get-out’ then I’ll never improve!

edit – deleted a pic from my insta as I hadn’t realised it was already 3 months old… will have to get shooting again

Thanks for the responses, I did mean processing as you put it rather than editing/altering the images.

I’m mainly asking as I struggle to capture the light and colours as I see them, though my phone is clearly capable of great photos from what I’ve seen other people do. I think I need to experiment with the camera settings more first.

I’m mainly asking as I struggle to capture the light and colours as I see them, though my phone is clearly capable of great photos

In the right conditions phones are very capable but this leads to the myth that because a phone can take one great picture, it therefore means it should always be able to great pictures. This is where their weakness becomes apparent; phone cameras have a very narrow range of performance and outside of this the results fall apart. Indeed they are much like people in this regard – everyone will take at least one great photograph in their life, but people like David Bailey are famous because they’ve taken lots of great photographs.

You see the limitations in terms of colour saturation, ISO/SNR performance and dynamic range in particular. That typical sunset look where you have a big white blob of burnt out nothing in the image is a good example of this. You’ll also find it harder to control the camera on your phone through settings; you tend not to have anything like the same degree of control as you do an actual camera. So in this instance, I would think you can blame your tools rather than yourself.

Also haven’t posted anything in a little while so here is a recent street portrait:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2b3SgMs]Claire Bryant – Catchacoya[/url] by Greg Turner, on Flickr

And also one that I love just becuase of the light:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/29Erv6e]10893[/url] by Greg Turner, on Flickr

I’ve been mucking about with taking photos for years and years; just hobby stuff really, but always playing about with things which get different and interesting results (like welding glass filters, remote triggers taped to handlebars, different light combos etc..). With a recent purchase of a drone, i’ve inadvertently stumbled upon a cracking photography tool.

I bought a 2nd hand DJI Spark, and i’ve got to say it has totally reignited photography for me; I’m finding the process just so unique (and challenging at times). Thinking what a subject might look like from above, composing shots, having to deal with wind, battery life, the sensibilities of flying a UAV etc…i’m loving it! Definitely still learning, but a heck of a lot of fun. The poor thing hasn’t shot a video in weeks!

All my photos get taken with the Spark, and are then edited via Lightroom Mobile, and stitched where needed with Bimostitch.

Thanks Bustaspoke.

That didn’t seem to go well.

I always do the former, I never do the latter and most serious, documentary, reportage or ‘fine art’ photographers typically draw the line here as wel.

Whilst I totally agree with most of that Greg I do feel there is a significant part of the fine art community that do utilise the opportunities that Lightroom and Photoshop offer. They always have with darkroom techniques. I know most of that happens in areas of photography away from your interest but to deny its presence seems wrong to me. If anyone screws with reportage photos they submit to me I go a bit bonkers, fine art I happily accept, it’s what I see I’m responding to.

on the touching up editing subject.

phone shots have a bit of straightening and levels adjusted but as I shoot RAW on my DSLR I do a fair bit of adjusting. Merging of multiple exposures to remove blown highlights,WB,adjustment of highlight mid tone and shadow levels, lens correction, sharpness, adjust individual colour levels and saturation levels, free transfer to straighten up wonky ceiling and walls and to improve the symmetry of the image, lightening and darkening of areas to improve its look.

Some of you photos sofaking really have mexstupruggling to see where the mirroring occurs end the you just do a simple image if a great scene l look forward to your stuff.

Thanks very much eddiebaby

In English this time (don’t try to post in dodgy cabs with text correct):

Some of your photos sofaking really have me struggling to see where the mirroring occurs and then you just do a simple classic image of a great scene, l look forward to your stuff, and Greg’s and Polarisandy.

I am not a photographer, but I’m quite proud of this photo taken with my budget android phone…

[url=https://flic.kr/p/PhSCk1]2018-09-25_07-08-54[/url]

…because this was the end of a “gravel” ride with Kryton Junior when he attempted this steeper-than-it-looks descent off a grassy bank on his jnr TCX  He took a few goes to go over the top, but once he did he loved it.

it did take me a while to decipher your comment  eddiebaby 🙂

There’s a greasy spoon cafe next door to our office in Parson’s Green that’s been there for years. The people who run it are lovely and the patrons, most of whom are regulary, are such a great bunch of characters. I really want to make this place a specific project and have started to take a few photographs in there (with the owner’s permission of course). The shot above of the table with the sauce bottles is the same place.

Bernard is one of the regulars and real character. He is lovely but perhaps a little lonley. He comes in all the time to chat and drink coffee and is very happy to be photographed.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/29UjY2i]Bernard – Cafe Culture[/url] by Greg Turner, on Flickr

Took this on the phone last night, turned out quite nice!

by Matthew Hampshire, on Flickr

Something quite different from me – a little experiment with the windfall end of season apples, a red table cloth, strong light through a window and a diffuser.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2a9NPDB]Still Life with Apples II[/url] by Greg Turner, on Flickr