Mr Britain

This is Mr Britain 2000, otherwise known as Andy Bell from Morecambe. Following injuries that put him in a wheelchair for four months he recently came back to competitions and was runner-up in the Mr United Kingdom competition 2009.

These photos were taken on Friday 6th November and it was fairly easy for me to move some furniture (that's because Andy did it). The background is nothing more special than a set of curtains. As for the difference between the left and right photos, you can see the closer cropping and the monochrome. As well as this I made the photo a little darker which brings out the definition of the muscles in much the same way as tanning does.

Happy snapping

The answer is take a lot of photos

There are some advantages to being near the back of the cathedral with a pillar behind me. I wasn't going to disturb anyone by taking photos. I did take a couple with flash and one of them is on the left. The advantage is that the aperture is open for only a short space of time which means that blur from movement is much less obvious. The great disadvantage is that you light up the backs of heads near to you and this means that the exposure is affected and the background is much darker.

Just compare the exposure of the altar on the left with that on the right. The image is transformed, but if you want to use the ambient lighting then you have to use long exposures and this means you have to use a tripod. Even then if anyone moves they become a blur. Look at the two people on the right. They were obviously clapping their hands but the person in the middle also moved his head. What's the answer? Take a lot of photos and they may even stop clapping.

Happy snapping

A more typical pose

I described yesterday's pose as traditional but this type of photo is more typical of a portrait. Get the subject to dress up, look at the camera and have something significant in the background. As I also mentioned yesterday, the background is Chester Cathedral where the degree ceremony had just been held.

The photo on the right is one of the common changes that I make when I like a photo. Some people like sepia and a vignette. It is not to everyone's taste but it's my blog and I like the changes.

Happy snapping

This is a blog

A blog is a word which is short for web log. It's a diary so here is what I was doing today. My youngest son graduated from Chester University and the ceremony took place at Chester Cathedral today.

It is traditional to throw the mortar board in the air so this must be a traditional photo. He hasn't put too much effort into the throw because it is expensive headwear and it was caught off camera. If you don't recognise it the background is the cathedral and the photo on the right brings the emphasis to the foreground. The techniques to change this photo are fairly basic. Mask the area to be changed to monochrome and change it. A little work had to be done to 'feather' the border between the colour and the monochrome. Too much feathering blurs the boundary and too little means the boundary is not accurate and is obvious. This applies particularly to areas like hair. So it's not all about snapping - I should tell you how a great deal of skill is required rather than finishing with...

Happy snapping

The French version of Girls Aloud?

I should have linked this photo to the one from the Trafford Centre in the blog on the 17th October. There are connections with artificial light and photographs were already being taken in both photos. This time it is a French television crew on the most ornate bridge in Paris, the Pont Alexandre III. It is worth taking photos of the bridge itself but the beauty of the bridge would be seen much better in daylight and you can't see much of the bridge in this photograph anyway.

So apart from the lighting the main reason for taking this photo would be the group of people. They may have been the French answer to The Spice Girls or Girls Aloud. I'm afraid I don't know who they are but if you do know them then please get in touch.

Happy snapping

Spot the senior presenter

When I played rugby I played on the wing and my preference was for the number 11 shirt which is the left winger. My thinking was that I kick with my right foot so it is easier for me to find touch on the left wing. I also thought that most people are right handed and it is slightly easier to pass to the left than it is to the right so the ball would get to me a little quicker on the left wing. Now it is obviously a generalisation. Not everyone is right handed and not everyone passes the ball quicker to the left. So let's talk about my generalisations about photographic composition.

On the 16th August of this year I wrote about composition and I mentioned how we read from left to right and generally our eye wanders from left to right in a photo. Well I can add to this by looking at the hierarchy of news presenters. See if you can spot it yourself but for me it is quite clear. The senior presenter is on the left of the screen.

Even if you didn't have an opinion when you started as a TV presenter, you would definitely see where the senior reporters sit. I wonder if a presenter looks at photographs differently.

Happy snapping

The importance of the background

Yesterday my ever-willing model, my dog was the subject of the blog. Here is another willing model. Well he didn't complain to me.

Today's subject isn't going to move so the variation has to come from my movement. Whenever you get running water it is worth thinking about shutter speeds and choosing to get the water moving almost like a fog. However in these photos I have isolated the water in a moment of time. The reason for these photos is not to consider shutter speeds but is about the importance of the background.

On the left there is a lack of greenery. It's not a particularly nice background and I am sure the fir tree looks better as it gets higher. On the right we have a green background and the use of a telphoto lens has decreased the depth of focus. The backgrounds are out of focus and this draws attention to the statue.

Happy snapping.