Nikon D90 Specifications Revealed

I see the Nikon D90 Specifications have been leaked. I can't wait to try one, that in-camera editing function may make me switch from Canon.

Union Station Security - Oh Dear, Oh Dear

You've just gotta love this video. Just as a spokesman explains that there is no prohibition on photography in Union Station a security guard turns up and tells them to stop filming - priceless! Looks like this sort of stupidity infects both sides of the Atlantic!

via The Online Photographer

Luck and the Landscape photographer

I was talking to another photographer the other day about Jon Gibbs winning shot in The Landscape Photographer of the year competition. And they were of the opinion that he was just "lucky to be there when the lightning struck".

Storm over Scroby Sands wind farm, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
by Jon Gibbs

Well to an extent it was true had he just happened to be there at the right time. A landscape photographer has no control overt the lighting or the weather, so it must be down to blind luck....

...or is it? How many times was Jon out on the shores of Norfolk when the lightning didn't turn up? How many times did he walk away with no images worth printing? In landscape photography there really is no substitute for perseverance. As someone once said - "The more I practice the luckier I get".

The Landscape Photographer of the Year 2008 competition is now open to entries, so its well worth seeing if you too can be lucky by being in the right place at the right time.

The Romantic Norfolk Coast

Good friend, and fellow Painter with Light John Duckett, has just released his first book "The Romantic Norfolk Coast". Its full of his stunning images from the and well worth a look.

Are you talented?

Talent is a strange concept really, is it "god given" (pick your own god) or is it just the result of hard-work and dedication?

People seem to use the word talented as though there is no effort involved "she's a talented singer" seems to mean that the person in question was born able to sing anything put in front of them instead of having spent years of dedication, determination and practice to get to the stage she is at.

At exhibitions I have been called talented (yeah I know..go figure) and it always throws me to know what to say about in response. I mean it's easy enough to get similar pictures: learn how to use your camera, learn what images work, take an interest in your subject, practice, get to the right location at the right time with the right weather, compose the image, take the picture, learn how to PP and print it....simple - if you are motivated to do it.

Ginger Smiles

No one is born knowing the relationship of aperture to shutter speed, the first time you use a macro lens or a wide angle a new world is opened up to you that you had never seen or imagined before.

If you are interested in a subject and you really want to get better and you are prepared to work hard and practice - you will get better. Natural talent doesn't really enter into the equation. Craig M. Tanner sums this up far more eloquently than I do (well he is a naturally talented writer) in this article entitled The Myth of Talent (click on the pdf link on the right - of course those who are naturally talented with web pages will have worked that out).

Since I took up photography I notice so much more in the world from butterflies to gingerbread men. Are my eyes talented or have they just been trained?

Mark Tucker is Photographer of the Month for June

A friend recently directed me towards the work of Mark Tucker. His website shows some stunning images, I really love the imagination he has shown in his "dreams" gallery.

Rabbit Hole
by Mark Tucker

---

Previous Photographers of the Month