AR-Graphics

Presets Good or Bad? It's funny how times change. Back in the days of film, manufacturers spent fortunes on trying to develop films with accurate colour rendition, low grain, and good tonal range. At the same time us photographers would have to deal with the cool blues of Ektachrome or the vibrant greens of Fujichrome, all the time wishing Kodachrome was available at higher than 64 ISO! Today it seems all the rage to bring those "faults" back into the image, and a whole market has arisen to do just that, with a bewildering array of software, apps, plugins and presets. It's fantastic that digital gives us the ability to make such adjustments (even non destructively) to an image, and there is probably some interesting underlying psychological basis as to why we wish to add a seemingly analogue element to the sterile world of digital. However I can't help but feel that there are times when the reasons for their use are somewhat misplaced. I know of ma...

Your Photographic Helper Photographers are always looking for accessories to help their photography. However there is one item that most already have, but possibly overlook. I'm talking about the smartphones and tablets that have become part of our everyday life. Most of these have built in cameras some of which are of a high spec, but in this case we are not looking at the photographic capabilities, or the dozens of apps connected with taking and editing those photos, instead I will look at apps that can help you with your general photography. There are a wealth of apps that are specifically produced with a photographer in mind, or which can be used to help with photography. Every persons requirements are going to be different so I'd encourage you to see what apps are available, will suit you best and be most helpful. For example there are numerous apps that help calculating exposures, depth of field, flash compensation etc. Aft...

Where is that picture??? One of the most useful pieces of advice that I think can be given to someone starting out in digital photography is, "figure out how you are going to organise your picture files". I well remember sitting waiting whilst a "professional" photographer tried to find a particular picture to show me. After several minutes it became embarrassingly obvious he didn't have a clue where it was on his computer! The ease and lack of cost with which digital images can be taken means collections of pictures can grow at a very fast rate. What starts out as an easy exercise finding a picture amongst a selection of several hundred, starts to become harder when it grows to several thousand, and a major task when it becomes tens of thousands! That is unless some form of system is employed. It is therefore a good idea to spend some time early on figuring out how you are going to best store your pictures. It's a case of a little extra t...

Are you shooting yourself in the foot? I have, in the past, been asked what the most important thing is for a photographer. Whilst it no doubt depends on the type of photography you undertake, for me, dealing primarily with people, I'd have to say that reputation is probably close to, if not, top of my list. A good reputation can be built upon many pillars such as honesty, reliability, discretion, high standards, moral and ethical stances, etc. All of this can help install trust and respect amongst clients and those you work with. Conversely it can also be used to send a message to those that wish to take advantage. It all seems very common sense, however I regularly see examples where people just don't seem to care about how they are perceived!   First Impressions Count. It's an oft quoted saying that is backed up by lots of scientific research. More often than not, in today's world, a first impression has moved from being a physical meeting, to a virtual ...

  Your three legged friend   There comes a time when a photographer comes to realise that holding the camera by hand is often just not going to cut it! It's then that the search for a tripod starts. Over the years I have accrued several tripods. The one I use most often is probably over 20 years old and has definitely seen better days. It's currently patched up with jubilee clips and cable ties and should really be replaced. However it's as sturdy as it ever was and operates perfectly well. Choosing a tripod generally comes down to 3 things.   Weight, Stability Budget. It's often a case of pick any 2! In that, if you want something lightweight and stable, it's going to cost. Or cheap and lightweight, it's possibly not going to be so stable etc. The type of photography you are interested in will affect the specifications your going to be interested in. A landscape photographer who is hiking to locations, is going to be looking for som...

Looking for a Model?   Some time ago I was involved in a discussion in a group. It revolved primarily around the apparent lack of models and problems getting to work with them, especially on a TFP basis. I personally felt that many of the difficulties were down to the way the approaches to models are made. In particular where and how.   With a number of new personal projects I plan to undertake, I recently decided to seek out some extra new people to work with. Although there were a number I wanted to contact directly, I also decided to put out a general casting in order to get an idea of the interest there may be. I also thought it would be interesting to see where might be the most productive places to do such a casting. Therefore I posted the same casting on 6 Facebook groups (all location specific) and 8 model directory web sites.   Although the original post is now about a month old, I am still receiving new contacts, and so far have well over a dozen ...

Let There Be Light! The other day I stood waiting for my children to finish school and admiring the light. It had recently stopped raining and now the sun was intermittently peeking through broken cloud. Opposite the sky was still dark from the storm. The low afternoon sun coupled with the lack of normal fill from a clear or cloudy sky, gave the light a very rare quality that gave lovely contrast and enriched the colours. The light was constantly changing though, as the clouds varied in their coverage of the sun. I watched fascinated by the subtly with which the shadows and colours changed, before being brought back down to earth by my 8 year old son jumping on my back, announcing school was out!   Light is the most fundamental building block of all the visual arts, without it images cannot be captured. Camera settings, lighting modifiers, etc, are just tools we use to shape the way our subjects are affected by it. It's many forms, whether natural or artificial, can be use...