Thinking about photographic possibilities

And let's not forget Steichen, Demachy, Davison, Sutcliffe, Begue, Henneberg, et al:

http://www.answers.com/topic/pictorialism

for a start.

Apart from any aesthetic concerns let's also not forget that this was a fin de siecle movement. Against the background of the Russian Revolutions and World War One this movement would evaporate in the face of industrialised warfare and social engineering on a vast and uncompromising scale. The Great Depression would follow, only ending with the mobilisation needed for WW2.

Pictorialism, and its latest manifestation, neo-pictorialism may have it's comforting aesthetic and pastoral and romantic charm but enjoy it while you can and wonder what we are in danger of hiding our heads in the sand from this time.

Now, where did I leave the digital bichromate?

Photographic Pictorialism

Mmmm, are things going full circle?

Working definition of art

My working definition of art is:

"an artifact, performance or written expression, which reflects, to a greater or lesser degree, a shared landscape of the imagination."

If you like it use it but please credit me. Thanks

Be a squeezer, not a jerker........

Ok, so you are peering thru the viewfinder and you know this is going to be a great pic.... STEADY... take a slow breath in, hold it and v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y squeeze the shutter button until it trips.

If you are instead jabbing at the button, the camera movement this causes will, chances are, blur the picture (which is OK if that is what you really want).

Think of it as making love to your camera. Enjoy :)

Top photography tip

Please read the camera manual! Yes I know it may be 100+ pages long and even hidden away on a disc but it's well worth the effort. Try it! xx

Top DIY Wedding Photography Tip

OK so times are hard and budgets can be tight....so, having made a few calls and surfed for a bit you have finally decided you really can manage without a wedding photographer...Ahhh!!....quite how you managed to miss my site first time round escapes me....but here goes....anyway, 'uncle Tom' has agreed to 'shot some pics' for you. He's even bought a brand spanking new digital! What can possibly go wrong?

Please do this now, while there is still time! Get uncle Tom to visit the wedding location as soon as possible (with a spare camera, batteries, storage cards, etc etc) and get him to take a few dozen shots. Then ask him to give it his best shot on the pc (if possible) to enhance the images (so that they look something like) and then trot off to have them printed and have a look at the prints. If you fancy a couple of these prints ask him to print them out at the size you want.

If, after all that, you are happy then, at least, you are in with a chance. (here's hoping that Uncle Tom is a 'people person'.)

If you are not happy with the results (and you are getting married in the beautiful Harrogate District of North Yorkshire) then just give me a call 0789 1109 425 and lets see what can be done at a price that will mean you can still afford to eat on the honeymoon!

Wedding and Portrait Photography

At a business meeting yesterday (not photography) I asked another delegate (a professional man, and nobody's fool) "when was the last time you used a professional photographer?" "Forty years ago, for our wedding. We didn't feel that he had done a good job and there was not much to show for all the money that had been spent. And he was supposed to be a pro." Oh dear, I thought, is it any wonder that sometimes photography struggles with a bit of an image problem! Pity I was only 11 at the time and had just snapped a few b&W pics of York Minster on a creaky Instamatic! Oh well, maybe next time! I gave him my business card, just in case.