The Photographer Blog

Calumet Going Strong After 70 Years!

Mandy — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:37:11 +0000

I went to the Manchester Calumet tradeshow last thursday to celebrate 70 years of Calumet Photographic. I really enjoyed the day not least for the goody bag that I received for being one of the first 100 visitors through the door, or for the free sensor cleaning that they were offering. But also for the range of support that they could offer. I liked the sound of the seminars and workshops that they run, which appeal not only because of the subjects available, but also because of the hands on experience and the chance to meet like minded photographers.

I also enjoyed the day because it reminded me how good it is to go to a proper photography shop and not just shop online all the time. Shopping online is convenient and quick when I know what I want, but there is nothing like going along to my local photography shop to have a good look around and try out what I’m looking at buying. Not to mention the chance to chat face to face with the staff as opposed to the rather more inpersonal chat via email online.

Obviously Calumet had their staff on hand during the day to help give advice and answer any questions. But there were also reps from Nikon, Canon, Sony, Lowepro, The Societies, Bowen, Hasselblad and Epson to name but a few. This was a great opportunity to pick their brains a little and try out the new gear. For me The Societies, which is a growing worldwide association for the professional photographer was the most interesting of the trade stands, because I’d never heard of them before and what they can offer their members. And in this current climate it’s good to know that there’s a dedicated society to helping the professional photographer get the most out of their business.

So don’t forget your local photography store next time you’re looking for something, they may have more to offer than you think!

Mandy

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Calumet Going Strong After 70 Years!

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How to Create a Photo Book Part3

Mandy — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:37:21 +0000

I only heard about SoFoBoMo 09 a solo photo book in a month, when it was already half way through the month. So I had a bit of a rush on to get mine finished in time and that involved a very steep learning curve, but I finished on time and the challenge was worth it. I’ll be ready for next year though…

In previous posts in this series I looked at how I planned for my photo book and also how I laid out my photo book. Now I’m at the easy part, creating a pdf of my photo book and uploading it to, in this case the SoFoBoMo site so it can be easily viewed and downloaded.

And it really is that simple because a lot of the layout programs available have an option to export to pdf. For me I used Adobe Indesign for designing my photo book, and that has an option to create a pdf and it also allowed me to choose the quality of the pdf.

So all I had to do then was to upload the pdf to my page on the SoFoBoMo site and now it’s available for anybody to view or download. Please follow the link and see the finished product and let me know what you think?

I really enjoyed this project and the challenge and will definitely be participating next year – I hope you will too…

Mandy

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How to Create a Photo Book Part3

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Calumet Celebrates 70 Years

Mandy — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:13:12 +0000

Calumet Photographic is celebrating 70 years in Photography

And to celebrate this anniversary they have been putting on mini tradeshows at their Manchester and London stores, with a wide range of product demonstrations from major manufacturers. I will be going to Manchester Calumet who are having their anniversary tradeshow on Thursday 8th October from 10am – 8pm.

I have used Calumet online before while looking for wedding and portrait albums and found exactly what I wanted, but I have never been to one of their stores. If I’m looking at buying photographic equipment then I obviously look for a store with a wide range of cameras and accessories, which Calumet obviously have including a rental option. But also as an amateur photographer I look for a store with good photographic knowledge and who are willing to give advice. That’s sometimes easier said than done!

But I’ve seen online that Calumet stores have experts running calendars of seminars and workshops that they make available to everyone. So I’m really looking forward to the tradeshow and checking out their Manchester store, and what they have on offer. I’ll report back what I find…

I know this post has gone out with a little bit shorter notice than I had hoped, but maybe I’ll see you at the tradeshow?

Mandy

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Calumet Celebrates 70 Years

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Calumet Going Strong After 70 Years!

How to Create a Photo Book Part2

Mandy — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:23:22 +0000

As I have mentioned before I am creating a photo book for SoFoBoMo 09. This is the first photo book I have created so there has been a bit of a learning curve, and I still have a lot to learn. What I want to do in this post is explain how I put the layout together for the book.

When I worked for an advertising agency as a apple mac operator I used Quark Xpress extensively for layout work, but it comes with a hefty price tag and I can’t afford to use it. So for this project I used Adobe Indesign which I had never used before, but the basic principles of layout software are pretty much the same, so my Quark experience helped a lot.

Where to start with the layout for a photo book

It seemed a daunting task when I sat down at my computer with a blank screen in front of me, ready to start my photo book. And it was hard to know where to start. So below I’ve listed the steps that I worked out and went through to achieve a finished layout for my book!

• I started by getting all my images together that I wanted to use. I then put them into groups of similar themes e.g. veg, eggs, bread etc. So I could see exactly what I had to work with when it came to page layout, and weed out the ones I didn’t want to use.

• I’m a great fan of the use of good old fashioned pen and paper. And I used them to draw a storyboard of how I wanted the pages to look and where the images were to be layed out on the pages, this also told me how many pages I would need.

• Next I went to Adobe Indesign and created the document for the photo book, setting the background colour and the number of pages. I then inserted the frames for the images into the positions I had on the storyboard. At this point I also inserted the text boxs where I wanted them.

• Then came the fun part of inserting the images into the frames and getting the first glimpse of how the book would look.

• This of course meant some fine tuning, as once I saw the images on the pages I wanted to move a few around, that obviously would look better in a different position, and get the look for the book that I wanted, and that I had in my mind.

All in all this porcess took about a week to complete from start to finish. Some of that time was taken finding my way around Adobe Indesign, and a fair bit more of that time was ‘fine tuning’. It can sometimes be hard to know when to stop…

Mandy

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How to Create a Photo Book Part2

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8 Great Photo Sharing Sites

Mandy — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:55:19 +0000

I know I’ve spoken recently about how to increase traffic to your photography site by improving it’s SEO, so it only seemed logical to look at some places where you can create your photography site (maybe these posts should have been the other way around!).

The list below contains what I feel are the most popular of these sites (it’s not a definitive list). Ranging from sites that provide professional looking portfolio sites where you can sell your work, right down to sites where you can simply just share your photographs. Most of them offer free accounts but with limited useage and restrictions, and they give you the option to upgrade to a pro paid for account. So in no particular order:

1. PhotoShelter

You’ll see some well known professional photographers on Photoshelter as they cater for everyone by creating powerful portfolio websites. They also give you the ability to sell those images as prints through your site as well. Photoshelter is run by photographers so they understand what you need and how you need the site to run. Their simplist account is free, and then they offer a range of pro accounts with different benefits.

2. SmugMug

Smumug is another site that will cater for the whole range of photographers. Like Photoshelter their sites look attractive straight off and they are committed to helping the photographer succeed. They don’t have a free account though, but they do have a range of paid for accounts with a ‘pro zone’. Having said that, if you’re looking for a professional looking photography site to promote and start selling your images from, then I think you would find it hard to choose between Photoshelter and Smugmug, I know I would.

3. RedBubble

Redbubble is primarily a community site where you can upload and sell your images from, in a wide variety of formats and even on t-shirts. They do have a free account and give you a free ‘bubble site’ with your account, which is a basic portfolio type site – take a look at my bubble site to get the idea. The bubble site can also be easily integrated into a blog, as you can see from the ‘prints’ tab in the navigation bar of this blog.

4. Shutterfly

This is where the sites start to change a little, from a portfolio site to display your work and promote yourself as a photographer, to a site that’s more focussed on prodcuing and selling your images as an end product eg. cards, calendars, photo gifts, prints etc… They still provide a website to share (which is the focus) your images, and the account is free it just has a more ‘relaxed’ feel to it.

5. Flickr

What more do I need to say, probably the most well known photo sharing site out there, and I’d guess the largest. They have free accounts and the option to upgrade to pro when you get to 200 images, they also give you the option to make prints, framed prints and photo books etc… If you want you can view my Flickr photostream and take a look around, there’s a very strong community feel to Flickr and I enjoy having an account there.

6. Zooomr

Zoomr is more of a Flickr type photo sharing site and looks to have some very similar features, with pro and normal accounts. A true photo sharing site, I love the way their home page is just a ton of images that you can search through easily within different categories.

7. AdoramaPix

This is a new site to me anyway, that I came across recently. Actually until then I thought they sold photographic gear (which they do) only and didn’t know they had a print side. And that’s what they seem to focus on, although they do offer photo sharing (or photo galleries as they call them) and storage they pride themselves on producing the finest quality digital prints. I think they’re a very interesting site and I’ll be looking into them deeper.

8. ImageShack

This is a site that I’ve heard a lot about and it’s been around for a while but I have only found it recently. It’s hard to get a feel for what the structure is like and how it works without joining though! Simply because it’s not as visual and informative when you reach the home page as the others, that’s not necessarily a bad thing but when you’re working with visual people like photographers…

Their service is free and gives you good control over your images. Which they have a lot of and they are obviously a popular site, catering more towards the ‘relaxed’ Zooomr photo sharing end of the market.

All of these sites are good so it’s down to personal taste as to which one to use. I’m looking for more of a portfolio type site that I can promote, partly because I already have a Flickr account. And that’s why I created my Redbubble site, and in the future I’ll look toward Photoshelter or Smugmug to take it to the next level.

Have I missed any photo sharing sites that you use? Let us know below in the comments…

Mandy

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8 Great Photo Sharing Sites

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How to Create a Photo Book Part 1

Mandy — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:48:32 +0000

As you may have read in a previous post I am participating in SoFoBoMo 09, which means I have to create a solo Photo Book between the beginning of May and the end of June 09. I’ve never produced a Photo Book before and I’m learning a lot, so I thought it would be helpful if I wrote about the processes that I’m going through to create this ebook, and here they are:

What is a Photo Book?

As it’s name suggests it is a book containing mainly photographs with little or no text. Whether you’re putting together a book of holiday snaps, a wedding album, a collection for a client or simply displaying your best work to use as a portfolio anyone can, and should create a Photo Book. Why not! after all they look great, they’re easy and fun to produce and view, and can be made for free.

Choosing a Subject

The first step is obviously to pick a subject or theme for my Photo Book. In this case I have decided to make my Photo Book about food, mainly because I am a fan of food photography after discovering it’s lure recently. But also because I want to celebrate simple and healthy grown food and produce. It’s great to get out and buy food from the source, rather than going to a supermarket all the time and buying more mass produced food. You can taste the difference…

Planning the ‘Story’

Like any other book my Photo Book needs to tell a story. Just because I’m not using a ton of words to explain my message it doesn’t mean I can’t tell a story. Photographs are brilliant for doing this. So I am planning to shoot differnet types of food, but I want to group them together to tell a story or to follow a process, for example vegatables or fruit. Also I want these mini stories to follow on from each other or at least have some kind of link, to pull together the individual mini storiaes to give an overall picture (or story) as well.

Taking the Photos

Finally for this part of the process I need to create the images to go into the Photo Book, I need at least 35 as set out in the rules for SoFoBoMo. I am taking some of the photographs at home using my own setup and doing my own food styling. But I also wanted to get out and shoot fresh produce in situ. I thought an organic farm would be a great place to do this, and I knew of a farm close to home that would fit the bill nicely.

Church Farm Organics in Thurstaston is a great place to buy fresh organic food and I popped into their farm shop last week. After doing a bit of shopping (well I couldn’t resist), I asked if it was alright for me to take some photographs for my ebook. This was the very first time I had ever done anything like this, so I was wondering what they would say. But I thought the worse case scenario is they would say no, and I’d be back to square one. But they were lovely and said yes, they also thanked me for asking. As some people have popped in to take photographs without asking and admitted (when asked) that they were taking them to steal ideas!

When asked I just explained I was making a Photo Book about food. While walking around I was aware of the other customers while shooting, as I didn’t want to get in their way, or upset Church Farm. When finished I thanked them for letting me shoot, I also said I will credit them in the book, and send them a copy via email so they can see where their images ended up.

Mandy

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How to Create a Photo Book Part 1

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13 Resources for DSLR beginners

Mandy — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:21:55 +0000

I know it can take a while to adjust when moving from a point and shoot camera to a DSLR. So I’ve put these tips and resources together (in no particular order) for photographers who are just starting out with DSLR’s, although I’m sure they are a good reminder for all of us. 13 resources – Lucky for some!

1. 10 tips for Digital SLR beginners – useful and simple tips for anyone starting out with a DSLR.

2. 10 tips for the new Digital SLR photographer – I love to see different photographers views when asked what their top 10 tips would be?

3. A guide to the ins and outs of a DSLR camera - If you want to become familiar with all the buttons and what is what on your DSLR then this is the place to go.

4. 10 tips for people photography- 10 simple tips and techniques to create amazing portrait photography. If you’d like to try out portrait photography then this is definitely worth a read.

5. Find the best DSLR lens – Not sure which lens to buy, prime or zoom, which focal length is best? This is a 6 step guide to help you choose the right lens for you.

6. Rule of thirds – Would you like some help with composition? Then use the rule of thirds to create eye catching photographs.

7. Learning about Exposure – the Exposure Triangle - Learning the basics of exposure is essential…there’s really nothing else to say on the matter!

8. Lighting 101 - If you’re feeling a little more adventurous and would like to learn more about lighting, then take a look at Strobist’s Lighting 101 series.

9. Photoshop tips and tricks for beginners – Post processing digital images to some degree or other is common place these days. But learning how to use the software can be time consuming and have a steep learning curve. So if you’re feeling lost with Photoshop one of the most popular pieces of software, then this could be a good place to start.

10. Using focal points in photography – We are all looking to improve and create more interesting photographs that draw the viewer in, knowing where and what you want your focal point to be is an important part of the process.

11. 18 bite-size photo tips – if you’re just looking for a quick tip or two, then take a look at these tips from Neil’s twitter page.

12. Depth of Field simplified – This is a quick tutorial that easily explains what DOF or Depth of Field is and how it is achieved.

13. 7 bad habits of Digital Photographers – If you don’t want to fall into bad photography habits as a beginner, then take a look at these. I’ve noticed one or two that I fall into – ooopps.

Do you have any more tips for photographers just starting out with DSLR’s? Feel free to add them in the comments below…

Mandy

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13 Resources for DSLR beginners

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Do you want your Photography site to have better SEO?

Mandy — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:40:13 +0000

I know I do! I want to increase my website traffic and grow my search engine capabilities so more people can see my images, and read my articles. Lets face it a photography site has to be well optimised these days because there are so many quality sites out there.

What’s the point of having a photography site to display your images if nobody can see it?

One of the most important parts of any type of website, never mind a photography one is SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). There is a host of information on the internet about SEO and how to use it, but I’m really excited because I’ve just found an ebook that is specific to Photographers and optimising their Photography sites with SEO.

It’s called the SEO for Photography Websites Free Toolkit and it includes the SEO Cookbook, videos and a bonus What Buyers Want PDF. It bascially is a step by step guide for photographers to help them improve their photography sites whether they have a blog, portfolio or website using SEO. I’m reading through it at the moment and so far I’m really pleased with it. I think every photographer that wants to build a ’site’ and grow their online presence should download this as it’s a really good resource, and it’s free so there’s no excuse!

Mandy

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I’m Making a Photobook with SoFoBoMo 09′

Mandy — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:44:29 +0000

Have you ever thought about making a photo book?

I’d never really thought about making a photo book before now, but I’m going to try it out using SoFoBoMo 09. What on earth is SoFoBoMo? That’s what I said!

SoFoBoMo is short for Solo Photo Book Month – a group event where a bunch of photographers all make solo photo books start to finish, in 31 days, at more or less the same time. It’s modeled loosely on NaNoWriMo, where participating writers all write novels in a month, and NaSoAlMo, where musicians write and record solo albums in a month.

Sound interesting? I thought so and that’s why I’m giving it a go, it sounds like it could be a lot of fun and I’m sure I’ll learn a lot along the way.

Where did I hear about it?

I heard about SoFoBoMo 09 from Neil Creek, when he mentioned he was taking part and making a photo book on his blog inviting his readers to take part – so here I am.

What am I going to do?

As you may have read in my last post I have recently become interested in food photography, and I thought this would be the ideal opportunity to put my new skills to the test. So my photo book will be about food.

Stay tuned to find out how I’m getting along!

Mandy

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I’m Making a Photobook with SoFoBoMo 09′

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My Introduction to Food Photography

Mandy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:17:10 +0000

I‘ve brought my two passions together recently, photography and food. I don’t know why I haven’t thought of it before, it seems so obvious now!

They make a perfect pair for me. I’m a home cook, that loves to cook for my family and friends, and trying out new recipes on them. And I love digital photography and want to try something new. But I’ve never thought of photographing the food I make before, proberly because the food didn’t stay around long enough to be photographed!

Until I was inspired by this post on DPS: Getting started in food photography. Besides the photographs making me feel hungry, the article just jumped out at me. And the video was a great way to show an insight into what is involved in food photography.

So I had a look around on Flickr for some food photography groups so I could learn some more, and meet other like minded photographers. I found Still life With… a blog dedicated to food styling and photography, they set a monthly challenge to remake a photograph of their chioice (see link), and you can see my 1st attempt at a remake above.

Besides the fact I haven’t photographed food before I think lighting is my main challenge. I have no lighting gear as such, so I’m using natural light and home made reflectors at the moment. There’a a bit of a learning curve but I’m really enjoying it!

Look out for more food photography on my Flickr Photostream!

Mandy

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My Introduction to Food Photography

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