Monthly Archives: August 2011
Today I took some outdoor group shots of family, as a kind of gift for Helen’s Grandparents, who are back over from Greece for a few weeks to visit. I think it had been a long time since the family had a full portrait together.
It started off pretty nerve wrecking with cloudy skies, a hint of rain and lots of people squinting. But once I got into it a bit, I enjoyed it a lot, which I knew would. l really really enjoy taking photos of people. You actually get to see the effect of you photos on a person, and their reactions right there in front of you. Making people smile with your images can’t help but make you smile too.
I took all variations of couples, individual families, all the grandkids etc as well as the big group photo above. It was a whole lot of fun, but certainly a learning experience. I wasn’t prepared for how quickly the fundamentals of photography leave your brain when you are under a bit of pressure! I know what I’ll change next time to make things go a whole lot smoother.
- Find somewhere with consistent lighting. Having to wait for clouds to move into position was a real pain. It also made getting consistent exposure difficult.
- Get some sandbags for my light stands so they don’t fall over in the wind!
- The background should just melt away behind the subject, so they take centre stage. I was so stupid I forgot to look out for this, so some of the couples shots have got awful messy backgrounds. I think it was just nerves that made me forget this time. But I know for next time to look out for this before even taking a shot.
- Oh, and next time I should concentrate on making sure I smile in the photo too!
…
Oh dear. I’ve had my very first camera equipment related accident.
Helen dropped the Nikon D3100, face down onto a tiled floor. Luckily it was only the 18-55mm kit lens on at the time, and the damage is only cosmetic. It’s now has a dent on the front of the lens and a small scratch on the lens cap. As you can see from the photo, we were pretty lucky that it didn’t actually damage the glass.
On one hand, it hurts to see something you’ve spent a fair bit of money on get broken. But on the other, I am so releived it wasn’t one of my other lenses, like the 24-70mm or 105mm. Those things cost a lot lot more, and I would have been devastated had they been damaged.
But these things happen.
Sooner or later, your camera or lens or both will get damaged or stolen, no matter how careful you are. Which is why it makes sense to have decent insurance for your camera gear. Just a tip.…
I visited Bath with my other half Helen today, to soak up the sunshine and do a bit of shopping. Bath is such a characterful, beautiful city, and the streets are always full of musicians and artists. It’s a great place to capture a few candid street portraits.
But I chose to avoid all of the usual touristy photo spots, including the street artist surrounded by people with cameras. I just used my 50mm f1.4 and aimed on capturing everything else that other people weren’t necessarily seeing. I concentrated on capturing interesting people, in interesting moments. I also had to capture some of Bath’s famous stone architecture, including the Abbey, but again, just with my fixed 50mm.
It was pretty good day, I enjoyed having the time to look for things happening, and capturing what I saw. I also enjoyed not feeling out of place, I was able to blend in my camera and capture what I wanted to without the funny looks and grief I usually get in my own local city centre….
…
I’m all for the future. I always concentrate on improvement and my progress towards my goal. I want to grow and become a better photographer. But sometimes, it’s useful to stop and take a look back at far how you have come. To better see where you are going, you need to be clear about where you’ve come from.
Photography has been my hobby for about 3 years now. But, it was only 8 months ago that I made the decision to take it a bit more seriously. And I’ve done so much since then. I’m almost proud of myself.
8 months ago and 16,000 images later…..
- I have written myself a 2 year photo plan and draft business plan.
- Set up and networked, my own facebook page, youtube channel, tumbler blog, twitter account, Flickr account and 500px page.
- Self taught myself WordPress, and with a lot of help, made this this website and blog.
- Designed my own logo and business cards.
- (Tried) to do regular, useful entertaining entries on my blog.
- Learnt my first hard lessons in SEO.
- Bought my first Macro Lens,
- Purchased my first pro grade f2.8 lens
- Purchased my first and second Speedlights
- Purchased my first off camera lighting setup.
- Set up my own home studio.
- Taken my first studio portraits. Taken my first portraits full stop!
- Obtained over 2000 views on my Flickr Photostream, including 2 images on the “featured page”
- Submitted and had accepted my first images to Getty Images.
- Reached my goal of a photo a day for a 365 days.
- Taken headshots of nearly 500 complete strangers for work.
- Entered my first photography competitions.
- Read 9 assorted photography books and countless magazines.
- Became a “strobist”
- Did my first on location portrait shoot.
- Discovered the world of Macro Photography
….And I’ve enjoyed every single second of it.
I have learnt a lot, and photographed a lot.…
As I write this I am perched on a bench in my local high street, clutching my latte in one hand, iPhone in the other.
And as I look around, perhaps in search of a great candid moment to capture, I slowly realise that I am actually being bombarded with photography just sat here.
Adverts, leaflets, shop window displays. Photos are everywhere. There are lush colourful photos of tropical shores adorning the window of the travel agent. I look down at my feet to find a crumpled up discarded flyer for…something. I can’t tell. But it has the lovely, happy smile of a pretty but otherwise generic woman on it. It’s probably a stock photo. But it’s a photo nonetheless. It’s a photo someone had the creativity, planning and ambition to take. It might be advertising. But it’s still photography.
What’s odd to me, is that on this busy Monday lunchtime, nobody really seems to be bothered about all of these images. On a normal day even I fail to notice most of them. We are all inundated with photographs in every part of our lives. And nobody even cares. They have just become visual noise.
Even the 40ft high image of a young woman advertising this years most popular/weirdest fashion trend on the side of a building which still fails to stand out in this visual hustle and bustle.
Looking at all of this now, sipping my coffee, I make a mental note to myself. My photography, my images, from now on, have to really scream and shout. They have to cut through the visual noise we’re accustomed to and get people to actually look at them.
I want me, and my photos to be noticed.…
I just had to share this video.
It’s about storytelling, and how you can feel when you are just starting out at something creative, whether that be photography or music or whatever.
I feel just like this right now. And it’s so comforting to know that it’s completely normal.
[vimeo id="24715531"]…
I’m not afraid to admit it, but I hate Flickr.
It has great community of photographers, and has become the defacto website for sharing your photos online. But apart from that, I absolutely hate everything about it. The huge numbers of images makes it impossible to search for anything. The website is clunky and unfriendly. And don’t even get me started on “groups”. But I’m happy to say, I think my time on Flickr is nearly coming to an end.
500px is absolutely full of jaw dropping and inspiring photos, it’s almost unfair. In my first 24 hours on 500px I found more talented photographers and superb images than I have seen in 12 months on Flickr. The standard of photography on 500px is so high, it can do nothing but inspire you to be a better photographer. Which is exactly what I want.
On Flickr I can see thousands of images just like mine, but on 500px I can see hundred of images that I dream of capturing. 500px is also a cleaner, faster, nicer to use website, and has better integration with social media like facebook and twitter.
The only thing stopping me from dumping Flickr right now, is that 500px is missing just a few of the little extras I would like. Mainly, an iPhone/iPad App and embeddable images.
If you are are a photographer, and you haven’t already looked at 500px I really suggest you do. It has completely changed my opinion of what is a “good” photograph.
(Click below to goto my profile on 500px)
…
Photography is easy. All it takes is a bit of technical knowledge, a basic camera and a whole bunch of creativity that we all have within us. It really is as straight forward at that. I think anyone can take fantastic photos, just as long as they are prepared to put in a bit of extra effort and hard work to get them.
To the average person, or beginner with their first camera, truly great photos seem to be almost unobtainable. You know the ones I mean, those almost unreal depictions of exotic landscapes or beautiful women in almost every single magazine, book and website. Those photos that make us go WOW! It can feel like there is some special trick that all the pro’s know, that you will never be able to learn. It feels a little unfair.
But photography is not an exclusive club for geeks and creative geniuses. It’s more like a club for people who can actually be bothered to take photos. The one thing all working professional photographers have in common is the sheer amount of hard work it takes to get them where they are. That’s the secret sauce.
And that’s something I’m starting to realise myself. But that’s such a good thing. I like improving myself, I like keeping busy, I like having goals to reach, and I like learning new stuff every day.
Most of all, I enjoy being able to talk about, write about, read about and do the thing I love doing the most. Which is taking pictures.…
ABOUT THIS BLOG
This is the blog of Chris Scuffins, a hardworking, creative photographer from Gloucestershire.
With years of experience in landscape and commercial still life photography, his focus now lies on capturing creative, natural and beautiful fashion and lifestyle portraiture, as well as a fun, relaxed approach to photojournalistic wedding photography.
FEATURED POSTS
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