Another excellent book – this one is a very good read before you go off on “the holiday of a lifetime” – the author discusses photography in general, and all the basics, and then goes into some detail about a number of special types of scene that might come up – sunsets, towns, locals, sacred places and on and on.

I’ve actually got the older edition, the one linked here is the new one that discusses digital cameras, otherwise the text seemed very similar.

Lots and lots of inspirational photos in here as well – good ideas for your own work. Recommended for photographers who want some ideas before going on a Big Trip, or for new photographers who want to learn about photo fundamentals before going on a Big Trip.

This book is entirely about the lighting (the series is actually called pro-lighting), and it does that very well. It’s really an “ideas book” – there’s not so much discussion about the photographer’s decisions, but there are detailed notes about the light setup, and good full-page images.

Well worth a look if you’re interested in lighting techniques for studio work.

I’ve decided to write some reviews of the books that I’ve found helpful in developing my photographic technique, in no particular order. So here we go…

I really like this book. Shaw talks in some detail about the way he approaches an image, and the technical choices that he makes to get the image that he wants. His discussion of exposure is particularly good, with the clear explanation of there being no “correct” exposure, merely an artistic choice as the the exposure that you want.

There’s lots of discussion about the effect that different lenses will have on a photo, which was already familiar to me when I bought this book, but his discussion of the way that he’d choose to deply them was still of interest.

Highly recommended for photographers who would like to learn how to shoot nature (landscapes and “critters”).

Writing about: Testing out the anti-shake & digitqal zoom, 14/02/05, Steve’s blog

The discussion in the post I’ve referenced here made me start reflecting on how using a digital camera has affected my photography – the way I approach an image. The argument is that shooting digitally allows one to not worry about how much film one’s getting through, take more chances etc. This is true, but it comes at the risk that because you don’t need to think about film, you don’t think about the image, and that is dangerous.

I’m usually quite careful with images that I make – I’m not a fan of bashing out a load of film and hoping for the best. I do burn a lot of film, but every shot is considered – the thing that usually takes up quite a lot of film for me is bracketing (varying the exposure a little bit for a series of exposures, so you end up with at least one that you like) Bracketing is something that I simply don’t do when I’m shooting digitally because I can immediately assess the exposure of an image once I’ve taken it.

Using a digital cam there’s a temptation to just press on and shoot a lot because you can, rather than because the images that you’re shooting at have any potential merit in their own right. The images that I take that I end up liking have all been previsualised, and usually I’ve worked for some time to find the shot that I actually like. It doesn’t help to take the pic I don’t want really.

When I’m shooting candid “people photos”, I don’t think that it makes much difference whether I’m shooting film or digital – there’s still only one chance to take the shot that you’ve seen, the “decisive moment” and all that. When taking people photos, you’ve got to take a lot of chances to get anything that you like, and that hasn’t really changed with the addition of digital capture to my arsenal.

So, my notes to myself on what’s using digital I guess would be something like:

• Remember to think about the image. Just because you can shoot it doesn’t mean that you should.
• If you’re shooting something dynamic, don’t review shots as you go, otherwise you will miss the next shot while you’re looking at the last one.
• Be critical about exposure. It’s still possible to use exposure creatively with a sensor – think about what you’re doing. That’s what the spotmeter is for!

• Don’t be too harsh about deleting images on the fly. It would probably be better to leave all images until you’ve left a scene, to make a more sensible comparison. Unless of course there’s something horribly wrong with one.

  That’s my take on it, anyway.

mmmm CSS layout. Last time I worked a lot with websites, CSS was the Big New Thing™, which only the best websites used (like mine!), and browers only just about understood.

Now, I’m battling to get my head around laying things out using CSS. It’s very nice, but a bit random. To make the grey sidebar here float properly, without fixing the width of the main content section, I had to have the code for that sidebar come before the code for the content. Bad for screenreaders, but there we go.

My latent geekery is surfacing again…

Was trying to make the most of the occasional sunny spell this morning, and to get out of the house at the same time. I find it quite hard to find any angles to photograph Kenilworth Castle that really capture the impact of the place. I think I’ll need to go back when there’s a more interesting sky…

So, the best of today’s efforts:

Not bad as a record shot. Not particularly interesting though.

Somewhat better when I moved in a bit closer, and cropped in to a panoramic format

Closer and wider (after wading through a bog). Rather better, perhaps with the right sky this could be a good image.

More of my photography is on My Photography Website

So. I’ve decided to start mirroring the stuff I write on my Warwick Blog here – planning ahead for the time when I finally leave Warwick. There doesn’t seem to be much chance of continuing my blog there once I leave, and since I’m rather enjoying blogging, this seems like a sensible time to start.

I’ve only just installed a nightly build of Wordpress – haven’t even started to customise the look and feel yet. Much geekery will ensue…

I rather enjoy demonstrating, especially to 1st years. It’s hard work, but there’s so much to teach them. Not like the second years who think that they know what’s going on, or the third years that mostly do know what’s going on…

Today’s sport: “annotating” their labcoats. In my undergrad days, everybody’s lab coat was already covered with scrawls by this point in the first year, so for tradition’s sake, I thought that this lot should be too.

So now there are a selection of labcoats proclaiming love for Chemical weapons, southampton (and luton and watford and coventry), a McChemist, A filthy Sergeant,¹ and an enigmatic “A-Ha!”.²

I really like the way that it’s easy to meet people³ on your course in chemistry. I did a year of physucks before swapping, and knew hardly anyone there. I knew everyone on my chemistry year by the end of the first year. It’s the labs. A shared trauma, exacerbated by nutters like me demonstrating :-)

So. It’s been fun. I don’t think I’ll be able to do any more demonstrating this year (and hence, probably ever) – that whole PhD thing getting in the way. Might try and get on the 3rd year organometallics though. Depends on how my catalysts treat me I guess.

<sub>1. But not Jam/Jan, who’s already taken.
2. I realised after the event that “A-Ha!” might not be particularly appropriate given her b/f’s name. Ooops.
3. And more… Chemistry is probably the most incestuous subject at Warwick. And everybody knows everything that’s going on.</sub>

Follow-up to More Assessment from Group IV

So, went to the assessment centre on Monday – all good fun. It was exactly as described in the brochure that they sent me, so no surprises at all. Four parts:

• Group Exercise.


• 45 min Interview


• Presentation


• Policy exercise

I came out feeling that I hadn’t totally messed anything up, but also didn’t feel that it was a brilliant performance. I have no idea if I presented myself to the standard that they’re looking for.

Should find out v. soon – they say it should take less than a week for the results. I’m more nervous about the results than I was about the centre itself :-)