Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

So it's been far too long. I feel like I'm seeing an old friend for the first time in years, where nothing has changed and yet somehow everything has! The reason I haven't visited this place for a while is really because I haven't had much to write about. It's odd. I like to write about things I find interesting but it seems as soon as one settles into the humdrum of a job, things one may have found interesting previously become the norm. I expect this is the same for almost everything in life. Whether that is being a business man and the enjoyment of putting your first suit on before you start work, akin to that of the first day at school, having the pride of the uniform. To being a fighter jet pilot. Without a doubt the coolest job there can be. Careening through the sky faster than sound sonerates (yes it's a word - it's the way sound moves).

Much has changed. The main thing was that I graduated university. Goodness knows how much I managed an  2:1 BSc degree in Forensic Science (yes I do think it's a ridiculous degree and so I shouldn't be taken seriously in life). The reason I find it astonishing is because I spent probably a considerably larger amount of time playing the amazing XBox360 game Borderlands than I did revising for my finals. Albeit Borderlands was spread over the course of the year whereas the finals revision was spread over four weeks. 

The other change is my career decision. Those of you who know me and frequent this blog regularly know that my other passion is photography and as of about January I decided that this was exactly what I want to do with my life. As I have followed the blogs, tweets, videos and any other internet communication of some of my heros Joe McNally, Scott Kelby, Joey L, David Hobby (Strobist), Drew Gardner and many many more, I have learnt outrageously large amounts, I have spent my student (when I was one) budget on books by these guys, instructions, software all sorts along with the obvious - equipment. Although I often remind myself that buying new gear does NOT make you a better photographer! Getting out there and taking photos does. Or as Ansel Adams said "You don't take a photograph, you make a photograph".

So that leads me on to where I went next. As of the 7th August I started a job with a wedding photographer. When I think about it this strikes me as something quite extraordinary. I was most fortunate and somehow managed, after a couple of trials, to get a job with a wedding photographer based in London. This has been quite a whirlwind tour of weddings. I've ended up photographing 7 weddings in 5 weeks (including a having a weeks holiday). These have been good, although it has definitely told me that weddings are not what I want to end up doing! That is a topic for another time. I thought I would share a brief collage of some of my weddings photos from these weddings should you care. If not why are you reading this?

(Click for a bigger version)

There are definitely perks to being a wedding photographer. One is the wonderful experience of showing a couple wonderful photos of their day. Others include: Canapés, free Champagne, often a very good meal, seeing some great location, picking up tips for great (and awful) speeches (I wish I had heard some of these before I did my best mans speech!) but really it's just the opportunity to take some photos, to make some people happy and to make a living while I'm doing it. 

As I mentioned earlier I don't intend on doing weddings for the rest of my life but I shall not go into too much detail now. I was recently doing some contract work (where I was the contractee rather than the contractor (I'm sure there's a more apt name for this that my trade-orientated friends would know)) this was a nice easy few hours work for earning a little bit of extra pocket money while helping out another photographer. More importantly than that though, I made a contact. Contacts are remarkably useful things to have as in this profession along with many others it is often (to start with) more who you know that what you know. He has offered me more work helping him with a number of tasks (some admin, some photography) but also said that if I'd like to use his studio I may! Now this is wonderful as my space or budget doesn't really allow for a studio at the moment (one day I think I'd like one!) so being able to use a fully functioning studio for my own personal projects would be amazing. I had big plans for this Summer. I had two or three photoshoots I really wanted to do before Autumn came. Sadly the people I wanted to be involved were never free at the same time as me so they haven't (yet) come about. But it doesn't mean they never will!


Talking of personal projects, I've recently been reading (again!) of the aforementioned Joe McNally as he did a project just after 9/11 called "Faces of Ground Zero" where he photographed some of the people involved in 9/11. Fire-fighters, families, volunteers, and Rudy Giuliani the mayor of New York at the time. This wasn't just a standard set of pictures though. He used the worlds largest polaroid camera. Imagine the (now vintage) polaroid cameras where you take a photo then watch it develop. Well this camera was exactly the same. Although the prints it creates are life size! The camera is as big as a garage and takes 3 people to operate it. (For those more techy minded at f45 it has a depth of field of half an inch!) 
I recently read a blog post of Joes where he spoke of how he speaks to one of the familys he photographed that year. It was heartfelt. I fully encourage a read and it can be found here. 




Well that's really it. I know where I am, I know where I want to go, and I know an awful lot of work needs to occur before I can get there. But when you're doing what you love it's not quite as challenging!


People often end blogs with a question vaguely related to the blog topic.But I have no intention of doing that. So I will end with a witty statement.




I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

First time is a charm...

I have a love-hate relationship with titles of blogs. Is it a titles prerogative to be odd and potentially pretentious, luring you in to a blog post, or should it be straight to the point? Who knows! More importantly, who cares!

This weekend was a first for me. I had my very first pre-wedding photoshoot. It was for some good friends of mine (and Beccas (well, actually they were very much Becca's friends first!)) who's wedding I am photographing in July.

Pre wedding shoots are a great idea for photographers. They allow the couple to get used to having a camera around and the personal/professional manner of the photographer. It also allows the photographer to get used to the couple(!) and learn a little about how they tick! It gives also gives the couple (hopefully) a great set of images away from the formalities of the wedding. Many if not most photographers offer this "service" as a complimentary part of the wedding package. If you're getting married soon (which I know some of you are!) and your photographer hasn't offered this, it may be worth asking him or her why!

I had been looking forward to and planning (as much planning as I do (which isn't much!)) this shoot for a while. Often the couple have a favourite place that means something to them or somewhere that's just nice nearby that would make a beautiful backdrop.

For this shoot we had two locations. The first was the couple's local church that had a recently put up/made a delightful wooden gazebo. The second was the magnificent Royal Holloway University. Unfortunately the weather was very much not on our side! It was raining fairly constantly all day so we were unable to use the outside of the elegant late 1800's red brick building. They stayed under the gazebo and I stayed under a tree at the church, then we tried to avoid the outside at the university.

We had really a really lovely day. It certainly made life easier that I knew them before so there was already that personal connection. It was also aided by the fact that Becca was there so she kept the mood light and came up with some wonderful suggestions and even held a flash when I got in a little bit of a sticky situation! We also discussed all the necessary things for the actual wedding day. Becca and I had been to Nandos the night before and written copious thoughts on a napkin so we managed to get through all of that before we all needed to go our own separate ways.

So that's that done and am pleased with the results. I look forward (with nervous trepidation) to doing a shoot with a couple I have never met before. It will obviously have a different dynamic but I think (/hope) I am a person who can get on with strangers!! We shall see. As I have this job interview I haven't been advertising as a wedding photographer to strangers as I'm assuming I won't be able to do weddings on my own if I'm working for a wedding photographer! So I don't have any of these types of shoots with strangers planned.

I apologise for the potentially poor use of apostrophes. It's one of the (many) grammatical issues I have.

Here is a nice little slide show of some of the photos from the shoot.... I hope you like!



I'm also seeing if I can get my website MacMac Photography to turn up on google by adding little links like this!

Outside that metaphorical box.

I write this evening in the middle of my scariest exam week, after a few glasses of wine and an evening to myself. So bare with me (especially the spelling and grammar!

It's been quite some time since I last blogged and I've been meaning to so why not do just before bed time!

Lots has happened recently! And I don't really know where to start!

Firstly exams. I am coming swiftly to the end of my exams. I have had two that have gone remarkably well, and I have two more that I fear won't go quite the same way. The first is the day after tomorrow (Wednesday) and the second is on Friday. 

It's quite bizarre knowing that everything I have worked at for the past four years is coming to an end! I've loved uni. It's been an awesome time and I shall be sad for it to end, but it has to at some stage and post grad work doesn't really interest me at the moment!

In terms of photography I have been given a wonderful opportunity. I had randomly been emailing wedding photographers in the local (Hertfordshire) area to see if any would give me any experience or would like a second shooter. I hadn't had many replies until one guy rang me.

He said that he used to live in Berkhamsted although has moved to Vauxhall (London) since. He said he was looking for a second assistant to help him in his wedding and fashion work.. Amusingly he was just about to send out an advertisement asking for a second assistant but my email got in just before he did, and I assume that he thought that it would save him sifting through lots of cv's and images so he invited me for an interview the day after he rang me! So I scooted up to London and went to the interview which was quite scary! We had a chat about various bits and pieces relating to photography and life. I also discovered that not only had he lived in Berkhamsted for 5 years (where I grew up) but he was born and grew up in Hebden Bridge (West Yorkshire) which happens to be 3 miles from where my parents moved to a year and a half ago (hasn't time flown!). So that was a happy coincidence! 

I then had to do a photoshoot with him as the subject. This was the bit I was most scared about. I had thought out lighting situations and gone through various scenarios in my head about how I would go about it. But all of these flew out when I got down to it. Fortunately he didn't really care about that! He knew I could take a good picture because I sent him a link to my portfolio. He said that you can learn lighting, you can learn camera techniques. What he cared about was personality! What he was looking for was how relaxed and fun I can be. The first half of the shoot was a bit rubbish and I thought it was not going well (and it wasn't!) but after he had given me some tips then the second half went much better!

He didn't offer me a job there and then. He asked for dates that I was free and unfortunately (job wise) I am busy for 4 out of 5 weekends of July I am busy (stag-do, wedding, photographing a wedding, best man at a wedding!) But he has offered me two trial dates. One in June which is a pre-wedding photoshoot with two separate couples, then in August to assist with one of their weddings. Should they go well, I may have a full time job! 

I was a little annoyed because he asked me if I was free the weekend of the wedding I'm best man for. Obviously I am busy, which he thought was a shame because he asked if I could help with a wedding that's taking place on centre court of Wimbledon! Talk about your once in a life time chances! It's the daughter of the chairman of the LTA! 

I've been thinking about ways I can expand my photography and apart from just getting out there and "doing it" one of the things I picked up from this guy was something as simple as cropping "outside of the box!". I almost always crop to 2"x3" just because that is the format of my camera. The standard photo you see when you print photos is usually 6"x4" (so a ratio of 3:2). He was talking about doing something a little crazy. "Unlock" the ratio and just try something different. So that's what I've been doing! 

I did a quick photography "gig" (I'm sure that's not the right term but I seem to be using it a lot recently so I shall continue!) for the Kent Music Matters blog (which should be going up in the next couple of days) of a workshop run by the conductor of the fantastic Ronnie Scotts Jazz Band. I tried to think out of the box, putting my photos into odd proportions rather than the standard 3x2/6x4. Here are a couple of the results:

The photos are a little average if I'm honest. I didn't want to get in their way, and the room was awful! It was in one of the bars. Bright sunshine outside thus blowing out the windows, a mixture of tungsten and fluorescent lights inside! Ah well. Joe McNally always says something along the lines of "As a location photographer you never get an ideal situation!".

But it was a good experience!

The other amusing and so far very fun experience I've had is doing a calendar shoot. The second year drama students here at uni have decided they want to raise money for breast and testicular cancer research by doing a "Calendar Girls" style calendar. It's been such fun so far. The shoots have been divided by two of us photographers. So far I have done two. We had a great guy open up the library 2 1/2 hours early just so we could get in and take (semi) naked photos without lots of people trying to survive! That was a 5am start! And then using the nightclub we have here! The people involved have been such good sports, they haven't complained, and they have all been such fun and the photos (in my flawed, self-indulgent opinion) look great! I can't put up the photos here. But the calendar will be a 2011 calendar so if you want a copy let me know (they should be cheap, between £3-£5) It's for a very good cause! I may well try and flog you some in November/September anyway! 

So that's me! That's where I am, that's what's been going on. 

To sum up. Exciting photography opportunity. Thinking outside the box, and cool calendar. (This is the only bit of this you really need to read! But if you're reading this you've probably read the rest! Sorry about that!

Awesome times. My degree finishes in 4 days. AMAZING!

Next Phase... Ideas come in twos (or more!)...

So the last post I posted had two aspects to it, a bit of sport and a bit of photoshop creativity.

This time I think I have three things.. (Although one is the same as last time...)

So after the large enjoyment of the rugby I photographed, I decided to get more involved in sport photography. I find it very satisfying to see that great action shot that kind of sums up the game. I posted all the best shots on my website (www.macmacphotography.com/sports/falcons). Interestingly the one photo I really liked of a touchdown didn't appear to be everyone elses favourite photo! Looking at it now (it's here if you would like to see it) you can't really tell it's a touch down, there are no posts, there's no line, so really it just looks like someone's making a catch.
What I am most proud of is that one of my photos from the game has been published on the back page of the uni newspaper. A small achievement but an achievement nonetheless. The original photo is here and the photo of it in the newspaper is here. So I am pleased about this. I've also been asked since then if I would photograph the Kent Ultimate Frisbee team which I plan to do next week :)

The next thing photography related I did was go to a wedding last weekend. It was a delightful wedding of my girlfriends cousin and fiance, and although I wasn't officially photographing the wedding they provide wonderful opportunities to take great photos.

It's all good practice and wonderful fun :) Weddings are (generally) such happy relaxed(ish) occasions!

The final thing I did was go for a drive.
Simple I know but something I rarely do! I love to drive in the countryside and wherever I have happened to live the countryside has never been far away. (Basically I've never lived in a city!) I got in my car this afternoon and after having checked google maps' satellite view for anything resembling a field I got in my car and drove. The sun was shining, the music was on and I was constantly on the look out for a good landscape to photograph! Albeit not the best technique when you're driving at 50 down country lanes. Turns out I didn't find any amazing fields, but I ended up in Whitstable a place I have been to a few times before and found very little photographic inspiration! It's kind of a bland sea side town, with stony beaches and plagued with groynes! (remember that GCSE geography?!)
Anyway I took some photos that aren't particularly earth shattering but really it was nice to get some fresh air! I wanted some time to think to myself but I think if I want to do that again I shan't take my camera, because all my mind thinks about is camera type things and not the more relevant topics of todays life, all of which sound really pretentious! (Like: What is my purpose? What impact can I make on the world? Etc etc!)

But it's been a good week or two (and now my dissertation is in, and I've defended my expert witness report in court (as part of my course (the scariest part I might add!)) life seems relatively fun and I can go out and do these things without thinking I should be stuck in the library!

I have also realised that ages ago when I started reading blogs, many of them had their "signature" sign off! I realised mine was "Done for now". This is rubbish. Why do they all need to end the same way. It's a little too much "Dear Diary" for my taste. So now I shall be ending in whatever manner I feel!

This one shall end:
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh (in a relaxed sigh sort of way!)

ps here are a few of photos from my whitstable adventure today click for a bigger version

Step 1. Give it a go!

After my last blog about not entirely knowing what kind of photography I wanted to go into I had a bit of a think.

This week is "Varsity" week. This basically entails a whole series of grudge matches between UKC (University of Kent in Canterbury - my university) and CCCU (Canterbury Christchurch University). Two universities in one town is bound to draw up some rivalries! I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try out some sport photography. I managed to get myself on the side lines for Varsity Mens Rugby match.  The problem however was that it was a 7:30pm. This means it was dark. The pitch was flood lit which was fine for the spectators (quite a good crowd turned up!) But in terms of photography it was dark. After having done some research I learnt that I'd need a shutter speed of about 1/1000 of a second to ensure that I froze the action. Looking back I think I could have brought this down to somewhere between 1/350 and 1/500. But never mind. However this meant that I had to use an ISO (film speed) of 12800. This is very high. High ISO means you get grainy photos. Grainy photos are horrible (unless they're "artistic"!). 

The match itself was ok. But I didn't get any "killer" photos, But experience is experience. Something I do have is called "noise ninja". This is a plug-in for photoshop that does wonderful things to remove the grain from "noisy" images. Below are two versions of the same photo. One using noise ninja and one without:

No Noise Ninja

                                                                                    




















Noise Ninja

You can see there is definitely a difference although the noise ninja-ed(?!) image does lose a bit of detail.
I would never consider using an image like this professionally but it's an interesting test and noise ninja could be very useful on images that don't have quite so much noise.
So the sport experience was good, and depending on how much time I have I may well try and go to other varsity events to photograph as well. Although I have serious amounts of work to do. (and yet I'm still writing this :S!)

The second completely different thing I did to procrastinate in the library yesterday was to create a "fantasy scene". This is not something from my own mind unfortunately but I followed a step by step photoshop tutorial  to try and create an image. Just like following a recipe and trying to get your food looking just like it does in the book! This is the first "complicated" tutorial I've followed and I loved it! I shall show you the image...

This image obviously isn't real but it's a long complicated mash up of different images to make a cool fantasy style image. This is the first time I've successfully followed a tutorial of this kind and I learnt quite a lot on the way! Now all I need is the creativity in my own mind to come up with this in my head and then try to get it out on the computer!

There you go. Two entirely separate events and experiences. Both I thoroughly enjoyed. And both I plan on doing again soon.

Done for now.

Which branch of that metaphorical tree next?

So. I have finally worked out what I want to do after university. Photography. Excellent. Most of my friends and family are getting used the idea now (although some are making sure I'm being realistic about the likelihood of it happening (it's good to dream (and conveniently I have one (I also like brackets)))).

Now the question seems to be coming along that says "Cool, what sort of photography are you into?"
Ummm,
Errr,
Good question.

The obvious answer, and the one I seem to give at the moment is "Well, wedding and portrait photography mainly".
It seems every man and his dog is doing wedding photography now (well maybe not his dog, opposable thumbs are quite important). It's easy to turn up to a wedding and take lots of photos. But there is definitely something that sets apart your average wedding photographer from your world class photographer. David Ziser is a one of (many) world class photographers and although his website is less than inspiring (weirdly!) His photos are astonishing. He probably doesn't need a website to advertise. I think he's that in demand!

Portraits? Well I've tried my hand at portraits and I like what I see but again there's a huge difference between normal portrait photography and world class photography. Check out Joe McNally or Blair Buntings website.

These seem like the obvious ones to get into because loads of people are getting married and want family portraits (even in the recession) and still pay the money for them.

But what about the other aspects? Wildlife, Sport, Travel, Photojournalism, Fashion, Commercial.

How does one go about getting into those catagories?

Again in my mind it spans that huge chasm between being a photographer and being a world class photographer and I think the guys who fill that gap have found the ultimate combination:
Skill, Luck (right place right time), People, Experience, Natural Talent

You can gain experience, you can (sometimes) meet the right people, you can gain skill. But you can't do anything about luck or natural talent.

If I'm honest I don't know what I would like to do. I think I would love to do any combination of Wildlife, Sport and Travel, Weddings and Portraits. Greedy I know.
But the first three? How do you convince someone to pay you to travel and take photos. Sport photography is a very expensive hobby and it seems like a vicious circle. You can't get the jobs without the kit and you can't get the kit without the jobs. Obviously you could get other jobs to get the kit but it's a steep investment if you don't know if you're going to make it or not! (£2,000 - >£10,000 for a lens).

So where do I go? Who do I speak to? What's the way forward? How does one go about taking the iconic images we all would recognise in a flash. Marilyn Munroe and the floaty skirt? The naked girl running from the Vietnam napalm attacks? The man blocking the tanks in Tiananmen Square?

I'll figure it out. I've decided not to be happy with mediocrity.

Done for now.

Obligatory Photo opp

With all photographers when they get a new piece of equipment they have to try it out. Immediately. If it's a flash you start flashing people, if it's a battery you charge it. If it's a bag you pack all your stuff in it and go for a hike!

I got a camera so I had to take photos. Obviously. I was in the lab all day yesterday so I didn't get the day to play but when I got home (after walking in the monsoonesque rain) I thought it was about time to get "creative". I am disappointingly uncreative. I wish I had more crazy thoughts and ideas that I could then try and photograph.

Anyway, I found a bottle of slightly bizarre wine and thought I'd photograph it! Here's the result

It didn't take long but I thought it was quite funky with fairly minimal post processing.

Done for now

Scam News Websites..!

So in the fine art of procrastination I thought while I was looking at facebook I would click a random rubbish advert on the side for some amusement!

By chance I randomly clicked on an advert saying something along the lines of "Lose 14lb in 2 weeks". I clicked on it and it took me to this website:
http://www.news7daily.tv/ft/index.php?t202id=2246%26amp;t202kw=728

Now I read this webpage and what it appears to do is have a "News Report" where "Julia Miller" the "Health and Diet Writer" talks about how skeptical she was about these acai berries and the stories she has had and so goes on to try them and WOW! they work wonders and she loses 25lbs in 2 weeks.

I am always a little skeptical of such things (as I believe most people are) however this is one of the better attempts I've seen!

The first give away clue is that at the top it has a picture of "Julia" with a little text below saying "Julia investigates the Acai Berry diet to find out for herself if this super diet works". It took me a moment to realise is that this picture of Julia is actually a photo of the rather good-looking french anchor woman - Melissa Theuriau
http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&rlz=1C1GGLS_en-GBGB358GB358&um=1&q=melissa+theuriau&sa=N&start=84&ndsp=21
I just googled images of Melissa Theuriau and on page 3 there is the exact same image!

Don't ask how I knew it was Melissa Theuriau, let's just say I recognise anchor-ladies when I see them!
I wonder if she knows her face is being used to promote such a thing!

Second giveaway - Slightly more subtle,
The comments section has "conveniently" been closed due to spam. (The site should be closed due to spam!)

Third Giveaway
I googled Julia Miller and came up with nothing of any relevance

There are endless giveaways really! Including at the bottom in tiny font "This website, and any page on the website, is based loosely off a true story, but has been modified in multiple ways including, but not limited to: the story, the photos, and the comments."


Anyway enough of that. I wonder how may people have been scammed by such a thing!! 


Done for now!

Photoshop - Saint or Sinner of the photographic world?

I've been pondering recently the joys of photoshop. It can take a distinctly average photo and make it rather wonderful. But does that mean that there's no skill in photography any more?

Photoshop 1.0 was officially released in 1990. It's been around for sometime! And since then newer versions have (thankfully been released (although even if you gave me the very first version of photoshop I probably wouldn't know how to utilise all of the features it had!)). CS4 is the most recent release and is the 11th major version of the program. (Yes all this info is coming from wikipedia!)

It's important to note however that even before photoshop (and digital photography) came about genii in the darkroom were slaving away doing very similar sorts of things as photoshop does now. Techniques such as exposure control, dodging and burning (making certain parts of images lighter or darker) and colour correction. Considering there huge wide spread use of digital photography instead of film photography (almost everyone has a point and shoot camera or at least one on their phone!) photoshop gives them the opportunity to do the things they would have done in the dark room if they developed their own photos. I say this with a sense of (I'm not sure irony is the right word but I'll use it anyway) irony considering it costs just short of £630!

So photoshop methods are not new! Airbrushing has been done for years!

A number of years ago I skimped an ancient version of photoshop (6.0) and my delightful brother taught me the basics. Colour correction, levels, curves, and most usefully layers! This taught me different ways of manipulating images to get them to look how I want.

I thought I would let you (very few) readers into some of the secrets that I use in photoshop. I almost feel like I'm breaking the magic code about telling people how it's done but I want people to understand that my opinion is that there is both a huge skill in taking a nice photo. There is also huge skill in doing things with photoshop (neither of which I have to any great lengths) but put them together and you have a killer combination with some awesome (in some people cases) results.

So example number one.

I "took" this photo at while before Christmas when it snowed at uni.

This photo is actually a combination of two photos:

What you can probably see already is that I've taken the top from the second picture and "overlayed" it on the bottom from the first picture. If you're feeling especially observant you'll notice that the tree on the left of both original photos has been "trimmed" in the final image. This is because it was particularly challenging to "paint" (with a layer - if people care about layers I can chat about them in another blog post) around the branches to get the dark sky to show up only behind the tree so it was easier to remove it altogether. Now there is a way of doing this purely using the camera and that's by using something called a graduated filter. This is a filter you physically put in front of the lens that is darker at the top than at the bottom. So in effect you get a dark sky and a normal ground. But I didn't have one so I did it in photoshop on my own. Does this mean that the final image isn't a good photo? No I don't think so (please forgive my apparent boasting, I don't mean to I just need to explain the difference between what in my opinion is a good photo and what isn't!) But I knew I could get a good photo out of an average photo so I exposed twice (at least!) and was able to create the final image.

Example no 2

This is the "world famous!" (Ha!) BBC News photo, again taken in the snow, of my delightful girlfriends home. Again very similar principle to last time of having a darkened sky and a normal foreground. I only took one photo here because I knew there was detail still in the sky:

Actually this is a cheat... This isn't the original at all... This is:

In case you're distressingly unobservant the difference is the footsteps in the snow! My girlfriends mother (understandably!) needed to get to her greenhouse at the bottom of her garden and so walked through the snow. But no fear! The "clone stamp tool" is to hand! This effectively takes an area you choose and clones it where you want which works great with snow!!

I then darkened the exposure (kinda) so the sky became dark:

But thought the whole thing looked a little dark and so lightened up the lot to get the final image:

Again I could have used a graduated filter had I had one, but sadly I didn't.

My final example is a portrait shoot. Many of you know I did my first studio shoot last week which I really enjoyed. I had great fun experimenting with studio strobes and getting lighting right. The shot I shall explain is this one:

This is a shot from my shoot with Hannah. I like it. However it didn't always look like this!

The original photo was:

The original is still a nice picture but not quite as nice. As you can see there are a few spots on the chin and at the top of the nose, as well as some dry skin around the mouth. I'll let you find any others if you care. So the first step was doing that. The wonders of the "clone stamp tool" (again) and the spot heal tool. Here's what it looked like after those had been removed:

The next thought I had was with beauty shots (which is what I imagined this to be when I shot it) there is a lack of definition/faint blurring of the skin. This is the airbrushed look that everyone sees in magazines! So I won't tell you how I did that because I've already told one person this month and we can't have it getting out now can we!

However this is what it looked like after the skin blurring:

You can see that any bits I missed originally have now been nicely smoothed out and the skin just looks softer.

The only thing left to do was the eye colour. Hannah has lovely brown eyes but I thought they needed filling out (colour wise) a bit. And so the final image was created:

I loved doing the photoshoot I really did, but I also loved doing the photoshopping! (not shopping for photos!) I loved seeing a good photo (in my opinion) become great (in my opinion!).

(Quick self plug if you didn't see them originally the other shots from this shoot can be found at www.macmacphotography.com/hannah)

I'm not going to lie I also love natural untouched shots, and I do use them. But it all depends on what the medium is. I wanted this shoot to be a beauty shoot. Like magazines. This is the sad (in a way) truth. Every single photo you see of a model in any beauty/fashion magazine has been photoshopped to one degree or another. I can guarantee it. I was speaking to a friend a while ago about photoshopping and she said "I want to look like the photoshopped people without being photoshopped!" But even the photoshopped people don't actually look like the photoshopped people! There is a strong argument for photoshopped models being part of the cause of low self esteem in teenage girls (and adult girls!) because they strive towards a body that's only created digitally! You can shrink things, enlarge things, make things disappear etc. It's an unrealistic physical goal to set. However the power of photoshop can also be something to be embraced. It allows more creative freedom to really create the images you wanted to create!

However the start is in the camera. You can't make something out of nothing. (Well actually in photoshop that's not entirely true). This I made out of nothing a couple of nights ago and it's not too bad. Not great either though:

But when editing photos the happier you are with what you have in camera, the less you have to do in photoshop. A good example of this is the photo I shared ages ago:

Final

Original

This guy (Blair Bunting) has got it to a t (tee? tea?) well he's got it to a fine art! He knew what he was aiming for and he only had to do a little photoshop work to get it done. (He did have 11 different light sources and got a GREAT result from every one of them!!)

I would genuinely love to know what you think about photoshop and photoshopped photos. I like what photoshop can do, and I only hope my skills will keep growing when it comes to using it (the genuis of youtube tutorials!)

Done for now.

Let it Snow, Let it… Hold on! Stop it now!

This past week has been an astonishing meteorological event. Britain has had snow before Christmas, not only have we had snow but we have had Big snow (as Mr McIntyre likes to put it). The most shocking factor of all though is that it has stayed for more than 48 hours!

There are two distinct ways to view snow, largely separated by age. On the one hand there is the child like wonder, the absolute sheer joy of looking outside the window and knowing that with the outside sprinkled and your persuasive powers there is no way your mother is going to make you go to school. The snow day is the holy grail of bunking off! You don’t get in trouble but you get to skip school and have snow ball fights/go sledging/make snow angels/do whatever ones heart desires. Snow is the bringer of joy (in a non heathen way). On the other hand there is the adult way of looking. In some cases they can be pleased knowing they won’t get to work, but more often than not they need to and this causes stress. Cars slipping and sliding, hours of queues on normally rapid roads. The fear of making it to work, not making it home, having to sleep in one’s car. These two extreme opposites can cause quite a tension in the country as children often throw snowballs at stressed adults. However there is also something beautiful about many adults in a similar stuck position. That is community. Very rarely do you see complete strangers helping each other out, but when snow appears it brings people together. Strangers will push cars of people they don’t know, people will often offer man power to help out others in need. This I love. I left university on Saturday and drove to my grandparents. They live in their very own weather system. They live right on the coast and right between the north sea and the English channel so they get a mixture of weather often entirely different to the rest of the country.

So when I went, Canterbury had had snow the day before but it had disappeared by the time I had left. Thirty minutes of my journey were flawless, vague traces of snow about but nothing to stop you going 70 on a dual carriage way. Then you hit Margate and it’s accompanying blizzard! The council decided gritters were silly so the roads were suddenly a nightmare! The last 6 minutes of my journey took 30! Anyway my father and I then left for Yorkshire which took about six and a half hours with no issues.

Going back to the age thing… I am in a fortunate position. I am effectively an adult. However I have no responsibilities (really), I don’t work, I don’t need to leave my house. This means that snow warms my heart. I love it. I climb the snow laden hills around my house and admire the white (not in a racist way). It also makes a lovely photo opportunity. I took one while at university.

Since I have been in Yorkshire I have not really had to leave my house, although my parents have . They’ve needed to preach and go to carol services and shopping etc. From what I have gathered Yorkshire is doing rather well in the snow. Amusingly though there is no chance of getting cars up and down my drive. My father has not tried so his car is at the top. My mother did try, her car is now stuck halfway up! I decided not to try so my car is sitting at the bottom. Fortunately however we have our Gator. This is the most wonderful all terrain vehicle ever. It looks like a glorified golf buggy. It is. With a massive engine and huge tyres.

Like this but with bigger tyres!

So when my parents need to go anywhere I act as their all terrain chauffeur. I take them down then pick them up when they come back. When they’re not in it there are a couple of great corners for practising power slides! It’s a riot.

I’m loving the snow because of my lack of need to go anywhere. However I do understand that it is causing chaos for many people. I’ve heard of many of my friends getting stuck on roads for hours. Abandoning their vehicles and cancelling plans.    Obviously there are the issues with the channel tunnel and people not being able to go abroad or come home. Snow is not ideal for everyone. What I would like is for the country’s snow just to fall on my house(!) then everyone else would be ok! I hope you all get where you need to go. I hope the snow doesn’t cause you stress or fury.

I leave you with a photo of the pub opposite my grandmothers.

Done for now.

Melanie Update Dec 09

I realised I hadn’t updated this for a while so here’s the December update:

Dear Prayer Partners;

This is a great season for reflection. I am sitting here listening to some of my favorite music and knowing that the God of the Universe sent His son so that I could be in relationship with Him. What a gift. My favorite Christmas Carol is “O Holy Night”. I have a compilation of that song and each track is different and the same; the same words but with different inflection and tone that makes each track unique, and yet the same.

I think that God looks at us, made in His image, and sees the same thing – each one of us is unique and different, yet the same – each of us has hopes and dreams and needs, wants and desires and objectives and goals, different words, inflections, tones and yet the same, His son or daughter. This season is one of Hope – Hope that the world can and will get better – Hope that healing will happen, sooner and more often – Hope that our dreams will come true – Hope that Peace will reign – Hope that you and Melanie and I will once again share a meal. The things hoped for are never in vain, and we wait until those things come to pass. We wait with Hope.

Each of us have battles and victories, some won in public and some in private -- yet it is in the battle that we find His presence the greatest.

So the update on the medical front:

Melanie needed a rod placed in her right femur because of a tumor there. The doctors were concerned that the leg might break and it is easier to be prepared than repaired. So the operation was a success. She has a titanium rod, inside the bone, from hip to knee. The doctor is very pleased and now Melanie is on to radiation on the femur. That treatment will last 10 days and will end on Friday Dec 18^th. The results of the radiation will not be known for several weeks since radiation is accumulative and the effect will take time to notice. This still goes under the heading of “Who thought this one up….?”

Because of the above detour, Melanie’s oncologist is anxious about the other tumors growing in the rest of her body. The ones in her liver and neck are the most noticeable. So with that in mind, and wanting to attack the cancer as soon as possible, Melanie will be starting on a new chemotherapy on Tuesday Dec 22^nd. She will have a treatment a week for at least 4 weeks, with a review at the end of that time.

We will have scans in January to determine the effect of the Gamma Knife, the radiation on her femur and the new chemotherapy. What a way to start the New Year – however we are still confident that Melanie’s healing is close. We might have a great celebration!!

This is the difficulty we all face -- we know things that are supposed to happen and haven’t yet. We wait and are not discouraged because we really trust God in all things. We trust Him to know when, where, how and through whom or what, that thing we wait for will come to pass. The goal is to know Truth and not worry, fear, doubt, be discouraged or hopeless. The goal is to hang on to Him at all times through all seasons. We know that all seasons end -- and then we will be facing something new. And facing that something new, we will be faced with the same difficulty as before. Will we be good reflectors of Jesus, or not?

Our circumstances will not dictate our response to life, our hearts will. And as for me and my house we will Trust and Serve our God in all things, good or bad.

We wish each and everyone of you a Very Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year.

Serving a Big God,

Dennis, Melanie, Autumn & Jacob & Jet and Monica

From Melanie: If you are on this list, then it is absolutely true that I am hoping to see you again, and share 100 stories and a meal! I am so grateful for the cards and notes that come from y’all.

AND, some of you have come here to be with us!! To help me walk, feed me soup, get me into the bathroom (double and triple THANKS) You get trophies from me….!

I am 4 weeks past the bone surgery, and graduated to walking with a cane. While the surgery came as a shock to us, we are really grateful for it. It’s not that long ago that I was sleepwalking, and banging into corners and door frames, and we see how easily I could have shattered that bone…..YIKES!! (If you’ve ever had bone surgery, you know how difficult it is to “be grateful for it…”)

GOD WAS WATCHING OUT FOR ME, and doing something He often does, GOING AHEAD OF THE NEED!!

I LOVE YOU ALL, AND MISS YOU – HUGELY!

Melanie

That's what I'm to do?! Seriously?

So weird things have happened recently. Both myself and my dearest, have had minor inspiration about what we want to do with our lives! Both within about 2 months of each other. This is having deliberated and stressed and laughed at how little of an idea we both had before this time.

She shall tell you what she wants to do in her own time.

I however shall mention it in some detail here!
After having completed three years of my course I realised that at the end of this year university will stop (unless I decide otherwise (post-grad rather than failing! (hopefully))). I will be out into the world blah blah blah I've heard this alot from different people. It's something the relatives and estranged family friends ask frequently. Either through poor memory or general poor conversational skills it comes up alot! I realised it was time to sit down and work out what I could do. I had a chat with my brother-in-law who is relatively wise in such things (and is facing a relatively similar dilemma himself) and we discussed the possibility of further education or going back to where I did my placement, it was a useful chat but inconclusive.

So I was thinking, "what is it that I enjoy?" Well, I rather enjoy people and being sociable, I also rather enjoy taking photos of said people! This led me on to the possibly obvious conclusion that I would rather like to become a photographer! I've realised that I have been surprisingly fortunate in three different ways (when it relates to photography). In chronological order the first of these is my brother. I put it down to his influence that I picked up a camera in the first place. His appreciation for it (and his willingness to teach me) helped me start. Obviously at first it was something I did rarely as I didn't have a camera but as he got better and moved into the realms of the DSLR he gave me his previous camera, my first digital camera, a sony cybershot "bridge" camera. (Bridge meaning that it wasn't a small point and shoot compact camera but it wasn't an SLR, a nice "bridge" between the two). However over time I grew out of it and longed for a camera that would take a photo when I pressed the shutter button rather than 2.5 seconds later! I then received a Canon 400D for a birthday/Christmas present which I still have and use frequently. Not only did my brother give me my first camera, he also engineered my second camera (purely by ensuring it was a Canon) so that any accessories and lenses that he bought and I bought would be interchangeable between his cameras and mine. Often I will ask him if I can borrow a specific lens or a specific piece of equipment and more often than not it won't be a problem! So that is fantastic opportunity no. 1.

Fantastic opportunity no. 2 is also my brothers doing! Although only through coincidence. He lives with a lovely girl called Suzie Fields, who, unsurprisingly for this story, is a professional photographer. From the first time I went to stay at her house for a weekend we got on well and talked cameras and photos (you should check out hers http://www.flashfields.com/) and she gave me ideas. She also took a look at my "portfolio" (http://www.macmacphotography.com/) and wasn't particularly encouraging and said she could find something wrong with every photo if she wanted to, but said that I had potential and gave me some advice that she said was pivotal when she was learning that I have taken on board and crosses my mind frequently. She also said that if I ever was in London and wanted to follow her around (as an assistant) then I could, something I'm hoping to try and make use of over the Christmas. Networking in any job is important, often, as the phrase goes: "It's not what you know but who you know." I think in the photography world this is only partially true as you do have to have some kind of vision and skill but it doesn't hurt to know alot of useful people!

Fantastic opportunity no. 3 has only recently presented itself and is something that I fear I should have made better use of when I could. That is the photographic society and university. I've only just started getting involved with them this year because at times I have met some people from this society and they have seemed rather pretentious and a little up themselves. Possibly a bit judgemental I know, sorry. Also from what I have gathered this year is that there is an upper echelon of "in-jokes". However they have been putting on some useful workshops on different topics, many of which I know about (shutter speed/aperture). Many of which I don't though. The other useful thing they do is link up very closely with the modelling society. I was almost put off this idea before I went along because my ignorant nature thinks:

Pretentious photographers + Stuck up "I'm so gorgeous" models = People I don't want to hang around with.

However a friend of mine who I knew at school (from the year below) who came to my uni is part of the modelling society and although yes, she is very beautiful, she is fun and cool to hang around with. So that made things easier. One thing I did have to do is swallow my own pride (and there is an awful lot of it!) when it comes to photography. Yes I may think I know alot and as of recently I have this idea/dream of becoming a photographer, there are still going to be people who know more technically and take better pictures than me! So I have to take a back seat and admit to myself as well as them that I don't know everything (for those who know me you can appreciate the challenge!)
So not only do I think that I can learn from them if I suck in my big head, but they also have some cool equipment! I've been mind-showering what sort of photography I'd like to do and for the moment I thought I'd go generic and say portrait/studio work (weddings if I get the chance!). I've never done any studio work and only know the basics of lighting. However (again! (talk about a broken record!)) my brother has lent me some flashes, some flash stands, some umbrellas and some remote units to use. I haven't yet but within the next few weeks I will have. The other thing is that the photosoc has some (what I believe to be called) strobes. Basically high powered effectively professional studio flashes. The combination of the two of them and then the two "speedlights" that my brother has lent me gives me a good opportunity to come up with some good lighting effects. Now all I need is some vision and experience!

Well, experience is on the way. My friend, the aforementioned model has kindly agreed to give me an afternoon of her time so I can basically try stuff out. Put lights in random places and see what it looks like! I shall start with one light, then work my way up to four by the end of the afternoon! (Photosoc also has a white backdrop that I intend on stealing so they'll be "high key" photos (hopefully)).

Really these are the three great opportunities that I have been given. Although I have been slightly dented to find that my laptop has had a graphics card meltdown so I get funny purple lines down the screen. I took it in to be checked up on and sadly they've said it's had it, so I may need to delve into my vague attempt at a savings account and purchase a new computer. Bye bye dreams of a Mac Book Pro! Although I am planning on spending a reasonable amount of money on a new laptop so it can run all the necessary photographic software.

The other problem is that I'm petrified. Firstly the idea of being self-employed that sometimes money may not come in :S What if people don't like my work, what if this is like a photographic version of the tripe-factor where people tell me I'm great and encourage me and then it all goes wrong and someone honest says you've no hope in this lifetime to make it!
I've been feeling quite photographically inadequate recently. I've been trying to do research on different lighting techniques and found some stunning images that make me think how on earth does someones mind create that! I want to share with you my favourite picture of the moment. It's done by a guy called Blair Bunting and I found it on the strobists blog (http://strobist.blogspot.com/) the photo is this: (http://is.gd/53wQn) There is also a good explanation of how he did it here: (http://is.gd/53wUt) should you care. In my mind it's a truely astonishing photo!

Anyway! Too much ramblidge.
Priorities: New computer, photography session with model, work out life!

"That'll do donkey, that'll do"
That's what I have in my head about this post!
Sorry, it's very long, and not very funny then again they are just my thoughts!
You're the one who's actually read them!

Done for now.

Long time, no write.

It's been an awfully long time since I last blogged. I'm not entirely sure why this is, I don't know if live is moving so disastrously fast that I'm not giving myself enough time to sit and think.

I think the majority of my blogging came in Newmarket when, in the evenings, I would sit alone and ponder the vastness of my thoughts (if only!) So a quick thought on the things since then.

I finished my placement at the start of July, only with a report to finish. I told my boss that I would get it done before I left. Oh dear, this was the very metaphorically tangible moment when it all started unravelling like a poorly designed and constructed spiders web. Needless to say 2 entire months have whizzed by and I am still plugging away. Yet I am closer, thank the Lord. I am reminded of the quote (bizarrely that I have heard twice in the last week) of Douglas Adams who said, "I love deadlines, I like the whooshing sound they make as they go by". Now I'm hoping not to hear that delightful yet chilling sound. I do have until the 2nd of October. But it also needs to go through the various channels at work to make sure I'm not revealing anything confidential. (I like to think that my work was as important as working for MI5, however, frankly, it's not!) So I received an email from my ex-boss saying we need it ASAP! :S So my plan is to get it finished this week. I'm surprisingly close but I have added a section and I'm not quite sure where it should fit. I also have no idea how to finish. But I shall keep plugging on!

I had the wonderful delight of disappearing to the South of France for a weekend, with two of my most wonderful (and amusing friends). It was a treat for one of my friends' birthday and the dates crossed over with the other friends birthday so the whole thing was a birthday infested event with me as the birthdayless third wheel. But it was marvellous, we swam, we sunbathed (in true pasty white British style). Quick tangent. What's the difference spelling wise between pasty - as in pasty white skin tone and pasty - as in Cornish pasty yummy food thing? Anyway back on track. We spent far more money than we should have but all in all a wonderful lads weekend, (not a lads weekend in the traditional plebby sense of the word of drinking and random distasteful sex more just a group of boys going on holiday).

Then my dearest and I went to my grandparents for 3 or 4 days. I love my grandparents. There is possibly no weekend away I would prefer than going down to see my grandparents. They live in Kent right on the coast (near but also far enough away to not be tainted by Margate). They lavished us with champagne and beer and wine and smoked salmon and lobster. The list goes on! But I suppose it's a grandparents duty and (hopefully) joy to spoil their grandchildren.

Then (oh dear starting too many paragraphs with "then"! I could never be a writer) I went to the Spanish coast for 8 days. Sounds nice, and it was, but also very hard work. I went away on an Oak Hall holiday, they do Christian holidays around the world. Basically a normal holiday then in the evenings we have some teaching and music etc. However I was not a guest I was a cook. On a campsite. For 50 people. I've never cooked before. I say I've never cooked before, I pride myself on my cooking for the lonely me, and, at a push I can maybe roll out a meal for 4 on a good day, downhill with a tail wind! Fortunately however I was just the assistant cook. There was a head cook. She turned out to be a lovely 18 year old gap year student who had never cooked and was told that I was very experienced and everything would be fine. There were four of us on the entire team. Me - Assistant Cook. We'll call her Anna (for that is her name) - Head Cook. Bridgit - Leader and Dave - Speaker. Now Bridgit had never led a trip before. She had no idea what she was doing either. Dave had spoken before. He was the only one of us who could do his job properly! Fortunately Bridgit (le leader) had been there the week before and she was the head cook. She was a Very good head cook. So much so she brought her own knives. These were serious, look-at-them-they're-so-sharp-they'll-cut-you knives. To cut a long story short. Bridgit was a hero. Anna and I didn't poison a single person and Dave spoke like a master. We were the most inexperienced trip that went out this Summer but I think it was the best. It was certainly the best trip I've ever helped with (albeit the first!)

I then had the marvellous opportunity, one that doesn't come around all that often, of being allowed to drum. I don't know why I don't do it often but maybe it's because there are many people better than me, either that or I never stay in one place for long enough! Anyway I went down to Egham to the church where my dearest goes when she is at university. They were having a kids club for a week. This was not just just a kids club, this was a marks and spe.... hold on no! It was an astonishing kids club. There were about 70 volunteers and 150ish kids. It was all based on a Joseph theme. Thus we did some Joseph the musical numbers. I had entirely forgotten 1. How much I love drumming and 2. How much fun kids can be. (as long as you can hand them back after :S!) This was a marvellous week of fun, stupidity, and general all round merriment.

(I will not start this paragraph with then... Wahey look what I happened, I started with "I" (or "(" if you want to be hyperpedantic))
So... the dearest and I went to visit my aging and decrepit parents in Yorkshire. I say decrepit, really they're both as fit as a fiddle (odd phrase - how can fiddles be fit? They're instruments, I'm sure someone will one day tell me) they're running around the field, digging, damming (not to be confused with damning), and fixing a leaky cellar (our cellar seems to, if left alone, gather about 2 or 3 feet of water in it. But my father with all his genius cyphons or siphons or sifons(?!) (I'm going with number 2) it off rather successfully). Our main purpose of going up there was to get away from the rush and settle down and do some work (see report stuff at the begging of this rather unnecessarily longwinded message). We did this and we went for walks, climbed a waterfall, saw films and we had a BBQ and it was wonderful.

We are now back in the civilised south (although I am growing to love that place) and I am staying with some lovely friends of mine, finishing my report (he says while writing this instead) and working out when a good time to head back to university is. Hmmm

Yes all inspiration has just ebbed away in a similar manner to pouring water into the moat of a finely constructed sandcastle. So it's time to say Ta-ra.

Done for now.

Melanie's Cancer Update - August 09

Dear Prayer Partners,
If I were to give this a title for a chapter of a book it would be something like this: "Once more into the breech" but that has already been taken - or "Can you believe this..."- but I think that has been over used. So the next thought was "You just cannot make this up".
So, that is where we will start.

Melanie was released from the hospital last Sunday night (after 11 days there.) It seems that she had an infection in her small intestine, which antibiotics took care of. During her stay there was a CT scan taken of her abdomen which showed that the oral chemotherapy was not working and the cancer in her liver was growing. This means that we were looking at different chemotherapy. This new chemo was started yesterday, and will be given every 21 days. There is an additional injection she will take 24 hours after the chemo to assist in building white blood cells. Because the chemo was not working there is some question about her brain, so she had an MRI done in Indy last Thursday that showed some signs of something so small that they want another picture in 8 weeks.

"Here we go again" just seems a little trite to the extent of the battle we are facing and have been through. There are a couple of things that we understand - the enemy is really mad at us and is trying to discourage us in any way he can. The only power he has is when we give it to him.One of his biggest tools is to make life so difficult that we just quit - but that is not going to happen. We know that in the end we win and we also know that this is not the end. It is just another chapter in the life of Dennis and Melanie that will require some strength and perseverance.

Sorry that this did not get out sooner - but we have had a couple of busy days.

Melanie started her new chemotherapy yesterday, it took over 4 hours, premeds, then a 3 hour drip. The good news is that she slept though most of it. She come home and went straight to bed and slept for about 6 hours. Today she is just really tired.

We have been down this road before, however never started chemo this tired. She was on the oral chemo and radiation at the same time -- which made the fatigue factor very large. She was in the hospital for 11 days eating very little which took the rest of her strength and is now on this new chemo which will be given every 21 days.

With out being obvious, the prayer needs are for strength and healing. We know that this is going to be a long battle - on top of the previous 12 years - and we are ready for it - I think. What we don't know is what the long range effect will be, nor do we know the duration of this latest treatment. Until it works.....

We are in it for the duration and will fight to the end - which we think is a long way off. We are holding on to the promises of God and know that we are in the midst of a really good plan (I really don't like this part though), and that we live in the shadow of the wing of the most High God.

We want to thank you all for all the support you have given us over the years and it makes us humble to think that you will continue with us. THANK YOU! From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you and bless you. You are in our prayers each day. We love you all and look forward to the next time when we can put our arms around each of you and love on you in person.

Serving a Big God,
Dennis & Melanie, Autumn & Jake & Jet, and Monica