Sunday 22 February 2009

Printed Portfolios

I was talking to a fellow photographer a few months back about printing. In order to illustrate a point I grabbed one of my printed portfolios from off the shelf.


Six years worth of portfolios sitting on my shelf

The point was instantly forgotten as he looked through the portfolios and exclaimed "what a simple and obvious idea". He immediately resolved to start printing out his images and saving them in portfolios. It's such an obvious idea that I thought I would share it with you, dear reader.

Landscape images fit just as well as portrait, though it helps if you turn the book round

I print each image on premium gloss paper at A4. In Qimage I have set up a job that sizes them, adds a small Key-line round the edge of each image and uses the IPTC metadata to print a caption at the bottom right of each page.
The process is really quite simple: Every six months (yes there is a reminder on RTM), I pick a set of images from my archive in iView Media Pro and create a catalog set. I then send the entire lot to the QImage queue and hit the print button.


A print is so much more satisfying to look at then a screen

I store my images in A4 Panodia Prinitbooks, which seem to be getting quite hard to come by. You can buy the book on its own as well as a refil pack, I find one refil pack split between two books is ideal.

It's an interesting lesson to look back at old portfolios, to see now you have developed and progressed in both technique and style.

Friday 13 February 2009

Happisburgh Location Report

As regular readers will know I am the Photo Locations Editor for Ephotozine. The idea of the Locations Section is for people to share their favourite photographic location with other photographers, whether it is ideal for Landscapes, Architecture, Wildlife or anything else.

I have just uploaded a report for Happisburgh - a fast disappearing gem on the coast of Norfolk.

Remains of the Day - Abandoned sea defences Happisburgh
(Click to view large)




Related Posts

Thursday 12 February 2009

Exhibition Extended

I have just been informed that the Exhibition at RSPB Dungeness with Darren Chaplin, Martin Eldridge Kevin Goodchild and myself which was due to finish on february 14th has been extended, due to popular demand, for another two weeks.


Snow and Gate


So if you are down that way then you have until the end of February to visit.

Wednesday 11 February 2009

A Snow Day

I have said it before and I will probably will say it again: I really do like snow. Last Monday the south of England ground to a complete halt when snow hit in a big way.

We don't get snow very often and snow that settles is an even rarer beast, so road and rail chaos ensued. The schools were closed as the teachers couldn't get in. Millions of people couldn't get to work, so instead they had to stay home and build snowmen or go tobogganing with their kids. Where is the bad in that - snow really is brilliant stuff.

Fun with Mum
(Click to view large)

Being the intrepid and hard-working photographer I am, I had already made a note of the weather forecast and had my bags packed just in case the weather men were right. Being unable to drive anywhere the only option was to take my gear & get out there and walk.

First I headed to Roding Valley Meadows, as per usual I found it difficult to avoid a shot of my very favourite tree when it is covered in snow.

Snow at the Gate
(Click to view large)

After that it was back home for a snack and then a long walk through Epping Forest. I started at Baldwins Hill by The Foresters pub where a big hill leads down in to the forest. Hundreds of people had turned up to go sledging and were throwing themselves down the hill on sledges, plastic bags, barbecue lids and even the top part of a wheelbarrow.

Weeeee!!!
(Click to view large)

I stayed there for ages, enjoying capturing the action and the sheer sense of fun with everyone smiling and having a great time.

Hanging on
(Click to view large)

From there I headed across the forest to the Iron Age hill fort of Loughton Camp high in the forest. It snowed all the time I was walking and it was a constant battle to keep the camera lens and my glasses free of snow. Then a strange thing happened...I got lost!

Normally I have no trouble finding my way around the forest. I know where the tracks go and if I follow a new track I have a pretty good idea where it will go to. This is all well and good if you can see the tracks, but the heavy snowfall had covered them all and I was walking where the only footprints were mine and those of some passing deer.

Aat times like this I can usually orientate myself by the noise of the traffic on forest roads, but the snow had bought traffic to a halt. So I worked myway into a valley where I found a stream and followed it downhill to where it met a second stream but I still didn't recognise the area at all. I spent ages racking my brains but couldn't work out where I was as I was expecting to see the juction of 3 paths with 2 bridges over the streams. I finally realised that the streams & bridges were almost invisible under the amount of snow on them, so with much relief I infereed the path I wanted from some flat areas in the snow and headed for home.


I made it home after 5 hours of wandering in the snow with my camera. All in all a great day...I love snow.

Monday 9 February 2009

100 Things

I was just browsing the blog of a talented wedding photographer James Burns, he had come accross it on the blog of Zoe Richards , and I came across this list . Zoe had found it on another website: , Shawna at Pattycake Photo . Simply copy the list, paste it to wherever, and bold up the things that you've actually done. Leave me a comment & a link here when you've done it, so I can see your answers!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Italy
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland Paris
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Gone on a hot air balloon ride
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a cheque
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Princess Diana Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Scottish Highlands

75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

Saturday 7 February 2009

Thorpe Bay

As I may have mentioned once or twice I am the Photo Locations Editor for Ephotozine. The idea of the Locations Section is for people to share their favourite photographic location with other photographers, whether it is ideal for Landscapes, Architecture, Wildlife or anything else.

I have just uploaded a report for Thorpe Bay near Southend in Sunny Essex.

Dragging the Chains - Thorpe Bay
(Click to view large)




Related Posts

Thursday 5 February 2009

Photograph the Police and we will put you in jail

On the 16th of February, the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 becomes law.

The law is expected to increase the anti-terrorism powers used today by police officers to stop photographers, including press photographers, from taking pictures in public places.


Yet again the threat of terrorism is being used to head this country further in to Authoritarianism. Speaking of which Mike Johnson has a great article on that very subject.

It seems that barely a day goes by without "the war on terror" eroding the rights and freedoms we are supposed to be fighting for.

Sunday 1 February 2009

Bronek Kozka is Photographer of the Month for February



January 27th was Holocaust memorial day, so it seems very appropriate to make Bronek Kozka my Photographer of the month for next month. The Auschwitz Revisitied exhibition is very moving.



Previous Photographers of the Month