Photographing close-ups

I’ve posted several photographs taken by my group in Menorca over the last week, but most of the pictures have been of people and places. We also spent some time photographing close-ups and details wherever we went on the island, and I wanted to show you these beautiful shots.

Without any question, Rosemary’s amazing abstract image of jelly fish, below, demonstrates that you do not need top-range SLR cameras to produce great pictures. Rosemary was using a Fuji FinePix bridge camera – and an old one at that. This photograph also shows that great pictures are there to be seen in the most unlikely places, and of the most unlikely subjects – if you LOOK. I like to call this ability to see pictures almost everywhere as ‘visual agility’ You can all do it if you try.

Ande’s two close-ups were taken on a Canon 400D. I confess I have looked at that loading mechanism on the big Vickers gun and never actually spotted its visual potential. Ande did – and a great picture is the result.

Okay, his picture of the door latch is a little more obvious and I would like to think that any photographer worth his salt would have spotted it too. But the fact is Ande not only spotted the picture but he made a cracking good job of capturing it in his camera; it i technically perfect and visually appealing.

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Photographs by Rosemary Warnes and Ande Wick

Disgusting photography

I got an email from a reader about the picture of the naked man I posted yesterday. I thought I should share it with you….

Dear Mr. Dunn,
As a long time supporter of Photoactive and its activities, I have to complain most bitterly about the appalling lapse in good taste recently demonstrated in your blog.
A man's bottom indeed!
I am absolutely horrified!
Disgusted of Sevenoaks

Ah well, Disgusted, all I can say is that you would be even more horrified if you knew what an elegant, beautiful and seemingly pure-minded lady took the photograph of the man’s bottom. But my lips are sealed.

To more respectable photographic matters, here are some more people photographs taken by members of my group in Menorca over the last week. The shot of the little boy in the market, and the one of the lady in the apron, were taken by group member Laura during an excursion to the old town of Cuidetella. She was using a Canon 400D with a small telephoto. I love both photographs. The colour combinations and sense of animation in both pictures really brings them to life.

I also like Peter’s picture of the tough guy with the tattoos. Peter is getting so much reward from his photography, and it is a real delight to watch him improving every time we go out to take pictures together. That’s him taking candid shots from the cover of a bench in one of the squares in Mahon, the island’s capital city.

Oh dear, I’ve just realised – it’s another picture of a bloke. I’m going to have disgusted writing to complain again.

Photography tuition by the sea

My students Tony and Dave with RNLI Lifeboat man 'Tattie'

It’s been a busy week here in Bonnie Galloway. Quite apart from having several hundred photographs to sort and catalogue, I have had students with me for the last two days as well.

On Thursday pals Dave and Tony came for a shared day’s tuition. Dave has been to me before on one of my weekend workshops. This time he and Tony wanted to take things several steps further by doing a mini ‘assignment’ that would present a challenge. They felt they wanted to be ‘pushed’ a little, and could I arrange something.

I spoke to the local RNLI lifeboat secretary and got permission to take Dave and Tony along to the lifeboat station down the river here in Kirkcudbright Bay. One of the lifeboat crew members was able to join us for the morning and he proved to be not only great fun, but a willing and interesting photography subject.

The plan was to treat the morning as an assignment for an imaginary magazine editor who wanted a photo essay on the station and the lifeboat man. After they had got over their initial nervousness, both Dave and Tony did a fantastic job. They managed to find a couple of really good ‘key’ pictures and then set about gathering a whole range of really worthwhile peripheral, or detail, pictures. These included everything from the crews’ lifejackets hung in a row on the wall, to the winch that pulled the boat from the water into the boat shed, the inscribed plaques listing the number of rescues and rescued people, and shots of the boat’s powerful engines. By the end of the morning, they both managed to put together a really comprehensive photo essay, and everyone had a great time doing it. We went through the pictures together and did critique comments and advice during the afternoon

Today I have had Phil with me. He came up from Yorkshire for the day. Although he had taken up photography only 10 months ago, the moment I saw some of his work, it was obvious that he has a really good eye for a picture. He was less confident about composition and the workings of his camera, though. But we could soon help with that.

We spent the morning indoors as the rain lashed the windows and I went through each aspect of the camera controls with Phil. After lunch the sun broke through and we set off to my favourite little beach and cove. The light was truly spectacular, and the place presented a perfect situation to work on composition.

Phil was in seventh heaven shooting away happily. Whenever he had a query I would explain a few shortcuts and tricks. By the end of the afternoon, he was fully converted to the idea of the Manual ‘M’ settings on his little Canon 400D and wondering why he every bothered with the auto settings. I think we might be seeing more of Phil in the future

So another busy week comes to an end – have fun with your camera over the weekend.

Above: My student for today - Phil, at work on the coast near my home here in Galloway.

Below: One of the photographs I took during the afternoon - the light has been spectacular.