A beginners guide to taking better pictures part 1

When it comes to taking pictures we all have to start somewhere, I remember getting my first camera. It was a Canon AE-1 film camera, it was love at first snap but also intimidating as all hell. There were so many buttons and so many functions, how would I ever learn them all? However with time and practice I was able to start taking the pictures I wanted and the freedom that came with it was amazing.

Its for that reason that I wanted to do a blog post on how, if you've recently picked up a DSLR camera you can take better picture. Now for the purpose of this blog post I'm using my camera the Canon 700D so some of the functions may be labelled differently, so if you can't find what i'm referring to and your camera is a different make, then you may have to google it.

Choose manual focus over auto focus:

This is such a simple thing that most people just don't take advantage of, but remember when you have your camera on its auto focus settings, it and not you will be choosing the images it takes. However by flipping the little switch on the camera lense that say AF to MF, you will be suddenly free to take the picture you want. Now in order to manually focus once you have flipped this switch, you will need to  manually twist the focus ring on the camera while looking at the image (I would suggest using the view finder to manually focus as its easier to gauge by eye what is in and out of focus this way).

It may take some practice to get the art of focusing down pat, but if your having problems one good tool is to use your camera's focus points. These are the small dots arranged in a circular pattern which you can see through the view finder. If you hold the shutter button half way down while focusing, certain dots will flash red and the camera will peep to tell you which parts of the image are currently in focus. Its a great tool to begin to get a feeling for when an image is in focus.

Use the rule of thirds:

In photography this is one of the biggies, when viewing a picture the human brain is naturally drawn to images that are composed in a certain manner and the rule of thirds uses this to its best effect. Put in the simplest way possible we are more drawn to images where the subject of the photograph is place off centre and in a way that aligns with certain points on the image (the picture to the right shows where excately to place the subject in order to create the most visual impact).

 I've placed a second of my images below so you can see the practical effect that comes from following this rule. As you can see it creates quite the visual impression.









In my next blog post I'll go into the holy trinity of photography, shutter speed, aperture and ISO. And how these can make a massive difference in the photos you can take.

To fly toward a secret sky

“This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.”  - Rumi

For me the sky, birds and clouds have in later life taken on a religious bent to them. Whether it be their slow sailing passage across a clear sky, or a savage journey across a grey and stormy horizon. The moment of clouds and birds across the dome above us has in time brought out me a deep and religious awe in me.

The sky reminds me of my own smallness in the divine scheme of things, it brings a peace to my mind and allows me to to gaze enraptured at the objects that sail across it. I imagine that we like the birds and clouds that float across it are guided to fly towards God and his or her servants on a sometimes peaceful, sometimes fraught journey. Guided to one day fly towards Love across a divine and secret sky.

The silhouettes of summer

Now and again I like to push myself to explore new styles and ways of taking pictures. I do like a more abstract style but there are times when it find myself getting bored of the same subject again and again. It was in this mood that I set out to the park.

I remember when I was younger playing a video game on the library computers, it was a simple click around the room game but one of the bits in it had me entranced. There was a painting in one of the rooms showing a barefooted lady outside silhouetted against the sky at dusk. When you clicked the image classical music played and she began to run as behind her the seasons changed from autumn to winter to spring. For something so simple it was utterly enchanting.

It was a sequence that stayed with me and actually inspired me to create this series of images. I wanted to recreate that feeling of wonder, of magic to the world. I wanted to paint vivid silhouettes against a vibrate sky. And is often is the case with my photography I wanted to create something utterly lovely and moving. A chance to create the silhouettes of summer forever running against a painted sky.

Cornwall Part 2: Polperro and the sea cliff walk

 After a day spent lazing on the beach me and my camping buddy decided it was time to do something a bit more active. We had had the sea side town of Polperro recommended as being an excellent place to visit and so we decided to take the cliff side walk to reach it.

It was a good ten mile walk all round from where we were camped and so we started early. The views themselves were stunning as we passed dramatic rock formations, beautiful blue waters, waterfalls and stunning beaches.

The walk was also great for nature spotting as we spotted diving birds, butterflies and dramatically coloured flowers and a bird of prey hunting high above the cliffs.

The walk itself took a little bit longer then expected and we arrived in the late afternoon. The town itself was as picturesque as expected and we spent some time exploring the lovely local shops, eating ice cream and topped it all off by having an exquisite lamb stew at one of the local pubs.

We left and made it in good time back to the campsite and we stopped for a little while to take in the truly magical sunset that slowly disappeared along the horizon. I spent my final night relaxing and watching the stars. By the time the next day came I was sad to be leaving Cornwall but also glad to be making my way back from camping to the comforts of home.

Cornwall: Lantic Bay and Polruan

I had recently decided that I had to take a break away from work and with the weather currently being nothing short of fantastic I decided that a camping trip was in order.

One of my friends suggested that we take a trip down to Cornwall, to camp near the quaint town of Polruan and sunbath on one of his favourite locations, the majestic Lantic Bay.

We took the train down south from Cardiff to Plymouth and then to Par, before taking a short bus ride over to the twin sea side towns of Fowey and Polruan. The towns themselves were beautiful and displayed Cornwall to its best effect. Full as they were of rustic winding streets, historic buildings, quaint shops and a bay full of brightly coloured boats.

We stopped in Fowey for lunch at Sam's, a fantastic resturant where I sampled freshly caught chilli tempura friend red mullet. Afterwards we crossed over to Polruan to wander and enjoy a refreshing ice cream and a spot of tea at a local resturant. We then headed over to the camping spot to chill out, eat dinner and sleep.

The next day we set out for a day down the beach. Lantic Bay was particularly beautiful, surrounded on all sides with dramatic cliffs, the clearest, most vibrate blue waters and full of multiple coves and nooks to explore. We set down to sunbath and relax for the day and as the sun set behind the cliffs we were treated to the most dramatic sunset as the sky went pink and the waters turned to a milky blue.

We went to bed that day happy and ready to explore the nearby sea cliff walk and town of Polperro.

The woods of strange impressions

It has been a while since I had done any abstract photography. Most of the things I had done recently had been focused on charities, urban decay and brightly coloured skies or objects.

I therefore felt like I wanted to reconnect with a artist subject I am passionate about. The only problem I had was that I had been feeling the need to push myself in new directions. After all this was a subject that I had covered so thoroughly it was actually beginning to bore me.

It turned out that taking these photos at a different time a day was just what was needed to inspire me. It was dusk when I started and the street lights were just beginning to be turned on.

This changed the black and golds I normally worked with into vibrant greens, white and orange. Subtle hints of purples rose from the ground and flashes of yellow came as the evening light hit the trees.

I used a mixture of delicate moments, circles and zooms as well as violent jerks and hard crash pans on subjects to create a series of images designed to evoke the feel of a painted forest of strange and beautiful impressions.

The Rainbow Bird Sanctury

The Rainbow Bird Sanctury is based just outside of Cardiff, in the neighboring town of Castleton. I stumbled upon it quite by accident after wandering the country back roads of the area. What I presumed would be an afternoon of me doing landscape photography therefore became one of me taking pictures of these beautiful creatures.

After getting to know the owners I discovered that the sanctuary was set up with the purpose of taking in ill and unwanted birds. Birds such as Bobby a Moluccan Cockatoo (black and white picture to the left) who was taken in after his owner experienced a change in circumstances and could no longer keep him. He much like his fellow birds at the sanctuary proved to be friendly and charming and gave off a palpable air of intelligence and curiosity.

Birds like these are long lived and clever and therefore require a tremendous amount of commitment and care. If not given the correct amount of attention they can become easily bored which can lead to them becoming destructive both to themselves and the environment in which they live. So its very important that when choosing one of these birds as a pet that the owner careful consider if he can properly commit to keeping one as a pet.

As I wandered around taking pictures of the birds I was thoroughly impressed with the amount of care that the owners clearly put into looking after these animals. Now the sanctuary itself exists though profits raised through selling birds that its mating pairs breed and through a local shop that sells everything from cages to seeds but they always welcome donations from the general public. You can donate through going to the internet link below and giving some money.

The sanctuary itself also gives tours of their birds but because of the sensitive nature of the birds and their breeding patterns these tours must be made through telephoning the sanctuary directly. Again the website link below provides all the information you will need to both donate and to book a tour.

I left the sanctuary happy that I had stumbled upon such a wonderful site set up to care, feed and take in these beautiful animals.

http://www.rainbowbirdsanctuary.co.uk/home.html


The birds in the photos are listed top to bottom: Macaws, Moluccan Cockatoo, Ring Necks, Sun Conures, Rainbow Lorikeet, Celestials , Budgies and another Macaw>