'Surprise' Gifts

This photo is from yesterday's wedding. It is the same photo on the left and the right and the reason that I am showing you this photo is that I took a 'surprise' 10" x 8" photo back to the evening reception. I also took back some fridge magnets for the couple and their parents and these are 9cm x 6cm so these proportions are on the right. I did print them out in colour but it is an easy click of a button to convert to monochrome and to sepia.

When they collect their photos they will get all the variations in a 6:4 format as they will get so many that this is the easiest format to get them printed. It is also handy as the proportions that work for the photos also work for fridge magnets.

Happy snapping

Joining Two Photos

I don't think you would notice that the photo on the right is impossible unless I explained it to you. The photo on the left is genuine. I took two photos and joined them together for the photo on the right.

It is useful to have a common factor in both photos and that is the floor and that is where the join is made. I have a little room for manoeuvre in that I have cropped both photos a little as both have the floor in the frame.

I did have an idea of adding one floor to the next to the next but it would be a long thin photo. I might go for three floors next time I am there but it will work anywhere you can see the opposite side of the stairs.

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Directing the eye

If I am asking for a photo then I say when I am taking it. There are times like this one when I just wait for the opportunities and this moment is particularly important as it is the first time that the groom sees the bride.

Computer techniques have made photo manipulation so much easier and keeping part of the photo in colour and part in monochrome is one of the easier techniques. As you can see on the right, it certainly directs the eye to the main subjects of the photo.

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Conscious Manipulation

I like this scene. It is only two minutes from the Ashton Memorial but it looks like we are a long way from it. This also happens to be the photo that I took back in the evening as my 'surprise' gift. Unfortunately I did not have time to take out all the weeds but I really don't think this was the first thing the couple thought about when they saw the photo.

There are a few changes that you can see and some you can't. You'll have to trust me on the weeds because I won't show the original. You also get converging verticals when you are too close to a building. This means that because the top of the building is so much further away than the bottom and this makes the top look narrower. The eye corrects this perspective subconsciously but the computer has to correct the photo consciously.

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Sepia Fridge Magnet

I was back in Morecambe taking photos yesterday so I did get chance to return in the evening and take an enlargement with me plus three fridge magnets. Well the magnets protect the photo and it does mean they don't need framing. I usually take three so that the bride and groom can give them to their parents but it is up to them what they do with them.

I didn't have much time to choose a photo and even if I were given plenty of time and I still chose this photo, I would definitely take out the door closure. It adds clutter to the background and sky would be so much better. I knew this couple liked monochrome and sepia so they received the sepia version on the right.

Happy snapping

Colour and Sepia

This is a contender for the fridge magnet photo. I have converted it to monochrome and given it a little more contrast. I feel this gives the photo a little more impact. Back in the 1970s I used to have my own darkroom and I would choose darkroom photo paper with higher contrasts. Paper was numbered one to five (and still is) with higher contrast with higher numbers. You see photographic manipulation is nothing new!

I also converted to sepia and then finally I gave the sepia version a white vignette around the edge - there it is on the right. Sepia toning was a Victorian technique which meant that photographs took longer to fade and it had the enhanced benefit of making the photo look warmer. It looks like the couple have an instant tan.

Happy snapping

Not the fridge magnet yet

This photo is from yesterday's wedding. I usually show the photo that I make into fridge magnets and it is usually a standard pose (not like this photo). However yesterday I couldn't get home to make the magnets as the wedding was in Blackpool. Some of you may recognise the Norbreck Castle in the background.

Much more important than the background is th foreground and that is why I like this type of photo. If the couple are able to pose like this then I can guarantee natural smiles. Tomorrow I will show you the photo that may become the fridge magnet but I still have a few days to choose.

Happy snapping