Ducks at Sunset by Vittoria Gallagher
Well hello there blog fan! My dear friend Vitt (short for Vittoria - two t's, no c, i.e. not 'Victoria' if you please) said that she missed my blog, so I thought I'd better get my fingers into action and type some nonsense.
Just to warn you: I am suffering from severe man-flu just now, so anything here that is even more obscene or peculiar than normal is purely down to the adverse reaction I'm having by mixing Lemsip with my usual daily cocktail of Class A drugs.
Now, Vitt has recently celebrated her 30th birthday. This means that for four months, like some kind of freakish astronomical alignment of the planets, we are both in our thirties. Therefore I felt the need to get Vitt a very special birthday present to mark this occasion. Something different from the 'Toby Love Tokens' that I usually give but, for some strange reason, had never been cashed in.
Unfortunately I couldn't find anything decent, so instead offered to share with her my greatest passion in life - photography. Many people ooh and ahh at amazing pictures on the internet, most likely thinking that to produce such works is beyond them. But I have always felt that isn't true at all.
Vitt takes to a bench to get the best shot, like some kind of stunt woman
I am of the belief that if I can do something, ANYONE can do it. With the right conditions, anyone can produce photographs that they are totally satisfied by and completely proud of.
The key is simply to bring those aforementioned conditions together.
Here's what I think you need:
* A half decent camera - it doesn't need to be the very latest or greatest by any means, but a DSLR or mirrorless interchangeable lens camera is preferable as it most likely has:
a) a larger sensor than the one in a compact, bridge or phone camera, which is key in producing nice clean images.
b) a range of lenses that again will most likely produce better results than those in a fixed lens camera
(although please note that neither of the above is always the case - please see my future post on choosing the right camera for you when I finally haul my arse into gear and write it - but for now, check out something like the Fuji X100S that is a fine example of proving that a) & b) above are not always true)
For Vitt's lesson I gave her use of my 5 year old Nikon D5000 DSLR, together with a 40mm prime lens (which equates to a focal length of around 60mm in old 35mm film camera terms - basically a very short telephoto length, slightly beyond the normal viewing angle of the human eye).
The total cost of this equipment if you bought good second hand versions, I'd estimate at around £300.
* An inspiring location - Anywhere that gets you in a snappy mood (as in the mood to take photos, not as in the mood to bite at people like a crocodile). As you can see from the pictures, we were blessed with a gorgeous sunset in a local park.
* Someone to teach / instruct you - Obviously, given it's a photo lesson. Although there are a million and one resources on the internet for taking good pictures, there's nothing quite like having a real life mentor to show you what button does what on the camera, what the effect of certain settings will be and the best spots to capture a good image.
* Careful post-processing - my philosophy is that when you're taking a photograph (at least one that you want to be a work of art, beyond a casual snap), at the initial image capture stage, you're merely recording as much information as possible. The ingredients for a good picture if you will. I consider it a dreadful waste to let the camera do the cooking for you and decide what bits of information to keep and discard, which is essentially what you're doing if you shoot JPEG instead of RAW.
By shooting RAW files, you have all the information that the camera's sensor saw at the time and can then mould this as you see fit by using software such as Photoshop and Lightroom.
Check out my earlier blog post for a more in-depth view of shooting RAW.
My experience is that even the most half-hearted, lamest shots can be saved and turned into something quite pleasing with careful post-processing.
Thankfully, Vitt thoroughly enjoyed her lesson and said not only was I the best photographer of all time, I was also far and away the best teacher. Of anything. Ever. And that she thinks I must have a really, really massive...no wait, this is from the dream isn't it?
Having a good time? Duh, obviously!
Forget all that. But we really did have a lovely evening (helped even more by the second part of my present - a meal with lots of drinks and pudding) and Vitt produced some thoroughly marvellous shots, just like I knew she would!
To conclude, here are a couple of the pictures that Vitt produced from that evening.
Oh and please feel free to take a minute to follow her on Twitter and check out her hilarious blog about what's going on in the popular culture of our great nation - both very funny (ha-ha, not peculiar) ways to spend your time.
Sunset Willow
Cathedral Hiding Among The Reeds
