Focus on Imaging

The annual photography trade show that is Focus on Imaging has come and gone for another year. I went along on Tuesday to a look round and to get one or two bits of new kit if the prices were right, and to chat the the manufactures, try their products and listen to some of the experts who give of their knowledge freely at various seminars.


Three seminars by eminent photographers were planned; the first, with David Clapp at Imagine Publishing's stand, was interesting and gave some new ideas for future pictures. Paul Gallagher gets a link from this blog (see the links on the right) so any chance to listen to him, see his work and listen to how he gets the effects in his wonderful monochrome landscapes is a must do. He didn't disappoint. Paul really does have a minimalist approach to image editing! After scanning large format negatives he sets about enhancing them with small selections using the lasso tool and curves in Photoshop. What he achieves is quite remarkable and, in his words, it's little more than dodging and burning he would do in the darkroom. Finally, and in a change to my programme, I sat in on a macro photography lecture from Heather Angel on the Nikon stand. Wow! What fabulous images and such simple techniques.


In between seminars I wandered about looking at new toys to add to the wish list, played with a few bits and bobs, made a few purchases and picked up a few freebies - calendars, pens and the like. 


I've been looking to get more into monochrome photography and had been looking at Niksoft's Silver Efex Pro, recently updated to version 2. Well, dear reader, I bought a copy and having only briefly played with it I can tell you that I'm very impressed with it. I've only tinkered with one picture so far, which is the bicycle picture from Bridlington posted a few entries back. I thought when I took the picture that it might make a good monochrome image and I'm not disappointed with the results. Only a tad of additional tinkering was made and the addition of Kodak's ISO32 Panatomic X emulsion, a lovely black and white film that I used in the past. Here's the updated picture:

Click the image for the bigger picture

I'd appreciate any comments about which image readers might prefer.


All in all, a very good day out.

Come Watch the Sun Sink Away...*

After attending the premiere of 'The Insatiable Sun' I had a few days away in North Yorkshire visiting Scarborough, Whitby, Bridlington and surrounding places. The first two days were damp and cold so photography was limited to a few snapshots for future reference. Despite the rain, the iconic pier at Whitby had a goodly number of visitors so even a rainy black and white shot was out of the question. No matter... we were having a great time. 


The final day was completely different, weather-wise. Bridlington with its harbour and long sandy beaches was the target and by late afternoon is was pretty clear that a half-decent sunset might be had. I took a few pictures around the harbour before wandering along the sand to the south of the town. Strolling along the sand was really nice collecting pebbles and shells, keeping a close eye on the sun and taking a few pictures.Walking back towards the harbour I took photographs of  some beach huts and a bicycle. Here's the images:

Click the image for the bigger picture

Click the image for the bigger picture

Both were quite difficult pictures because of the tricky exposures involved. Elements has helped a little particularly with the bicycle picture. The sea and sky in this image was pretty much burned out but adding a graduated filter in ACR5 helped initially with selections on the sky and sea lifting out the highlights. I also like the composition of the bicycle shot; it almost conforms to the Law of Thirds - at least horizontally! The image is cropped to 5x5.


Please feel free to comment.




*The Magic Hour - Andrew Peterson from the Album "Counting Stars"