30 Day Photography challenge

Each link will take you through the challenge for the day. So, let’s get started!

Day 1: Self Portrait

We all know how to take selfies. But this photo challenge will teach you how to do one correctly and with plenty of creativity! Multi exposure i have shown of with before.

 

Day 2: Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds can be hard to grasp for absolute beginners. But we designed this little photography challenge to show you how simple this composition guide is to use.

Day 3: Black & White

It’s easy to take photos in colour. But do you ever wonder how your images would look in black and white? This photography challenge will certainly answer that question.

Day 4: Texture

Taking photos of textures is a great way to study how light interacts with surfaces. Now I challenge you to create dramatic pictures of highly-textured objects.

Day 5: High Angle

Are you tired of shooting at the same angle all the time? Take a high-angle photo of a subject that would otherwise look boring at eye-level and surprise yourself.

Day 6: Low Angle

I like this one as every one can do this, find out what awesome images you can come up with taking photos while on your belly!

Day 7: Silhouette

We often take silhouette shots on accident. For today’s photo challenge, your task is to take silhouette images on purpose. I know its for a phone but i am sure you can make it relevant to your camera too

Day 8: Sunset

Everyone takes photos of sunsets. Now let’s see how you can step it up a notch as a photography creative.

Day 9: Bokeh

This is one of the easiest and most fun photo challenges you can do. Time to open up your lens aperture and capture incredible bokeh shots!

Day 10: Lens Flare

Take photos in front of the sun and surprise yourself with beautiful lens flares.

Day 11: Landscape

Personal fav
ourite of mine, explore places and take breathtaking landscape photos.

Day 12: Portrait

Get out of your comfort zone and take portraits of people in different situations.

Day 13: Dynamic Tension

Look around and look for patterns that induce a certain mood and create a better photo.

Day 14: Light Painting

This is one of the most useful photo challenges you can do at night. It involves lighting up the dark parts in your frame to create interesting exposures.

Day 15: Colourful Water Drops

Now i have tried this one and it will take a while. Breaking out of the traditional and experiment with conceptual photography!

Day 16: Balanced

Photography is all about symmetry. Go out there and train yourself to look for balance in various scenarios.

Day 17: Unbalanced

So this is similar to the last one but something that looks like the other side of the photos but not exactly the same. Asymmetrical elements you can incorporate in your photography.

Day 18: Frame within a Frame

Improve your composition skills and try the frame-within-a-frame technique. You see lots of these images in advertising i am sure you can do this at home, get the ideas flowing.

Day 19: Panorama

Are you bored with regular landscape images? Now is the time for you to learn how to take panorama!

Day 20: Depth

If you continuously suffer from images that look flat, then this is one is perfect for you. It’s the best way to learn how to create dynamic pictures that appear to pop out of the frame.

Day 21: Water Splash

Ever wonder how to freeze water splashes in your photo? Well, you’re in for a treat because this photo challenge will teach you how to do it. This again is a difficult one i have tried this my self and found this a tough one.

Day 22: Slow Sync Flash

You don’t need fancy equipment for this challenge. Just your camera and a few techniques you’ll learn today when you click the link.

Day 23: Panning

Need work with your action photography? Then you’ll find this easy technique helpful. And it’s quite surprising how easy it is to do! I did this once and liked the result.

Day 24: Harris Shutter

This is a funky photo challenge involves using red, blue, and green filters to create psychedelic effects. 

Day 25: Shallow Depth of Field

Knowing how to use your aperture is a crucial skill you need to learn in photography. And this photo challenge is what you need to practice what you have learned.

Day 26: Light Graffiti

Time to take out your colourful flashlights and do some pretty artwork at night! Good for bonfires.

Day 27: Street Photography

Walk around and train your eye to capture interesting moments make them black and white, grainy??, would be ready for a magazine something hard hitting, get consent..

Day 28: Architecture

For this photography challenge, you’ll learn how to take pictures of buildings like a seasoned pro!

Day 29: Night

This photography challenge is a great way to test your skills as a photographer. Taking photos at night requires you to know how to use your equipment correctly.

Day 30: Creative Reflections

Celebrate your last photography challenge – Using a mirror

Bubbles

Its not about michael jackson's pet monkey.🐒

So more weeks of photography, i decided to take some images of bubbles made the mixture and tried to take some shots, outside, inside and in the darkroom where i decided on the lighting.

So i tried and tried and tried, its certainly not as easy as you thnk, or its just me may be using the balck background was the bad idea, i will try again today in the sun.

Any way i used all the ideas from this site, bubble. 

I dont think that the images are bad, i know they arent the greatest, as you can see i used two light either side of the camera to make them as bright as possible. Then blew my own bubbles, without dripping on the camera.

So my thoughts were about re creating the apple bubbles, I have previously taken images while there where in a sink bowl and could take the images and get real close in with macro but there would be lots of other bubbles like in the bath.

So floating bubble is not easy, focusing on the bubble is speed critical falling bubbles and getting the correct speed of shutter in a dark room with a aperature to just less than focus on everything behind. That was part of my problem my background is smooth and shiny so capture the reflection of the light so i tried to have the background with no relfection and the lamps facing me blinding! me.

With multiple tries and fails i eventually got this one. 

So i got the simplicity of the bubble and plenty of blank space to the writing to be placed for marketing and it could be manipulated further.

You can have some real fun with bubbles next frozen bubble.

On another note redbubble and other print on demand servies have not done me any good getting me plenty of follows, thats nice but follows doesnt convert to purchases, similar to fineartamerica and artpal. putting my photos on these site i am hopeing to get noticed and have the chance of selling more photos.

Food

 So missed a month on the blog sorry. 

Been loosing my mind a little trying out different thing and being dragged down by covid similar to some otheres out there.

Any way as you can see i have been playing with photoshop to learn some new manipulation skills and recreating the avengers movie style dispersment effect on my self cause that is what i feel like a little.

Other than that, I have been eating and cooking more than i would usually creating new dishes that are simple like tuna-pasta-bake, which i enjoyed and i took me a few days to eat pretty big to eat all by myself but healthy and to make this more photographic i took some food making shoots as i did the cooking, bonus!!

Tasty, not really done much food shots before i am not one for istagramming my dinner before i eat it, this though was interesting but i may need to get some relfection help with the shot as this is all natural light so not bad from the kitchen window. On another not i made some dessert with a rhubarb-crumble having one rubbarb plant in the garden i have been able to make some nice crumbles my only slight issue i have is sweetness.

Oh yeah we have rasberries in the garden too, which being the house chef on this week i too the photo i though would be nice to add in. good shot?

following on with the food photography  when on to photo the other heath minded food we have and some blueberries.

so all this without any props and take on the fly would be nice to have some more props though i think make it look more stylish and have some depth any way after doing this i looked more into the food photography, seem interesting and worth checking out as we all eat, and keep the mind fresh and interested make food, prepare, style and shoot that food.

so finishing off the first show used an action for photoshop, which did the job but i had a go manually and this was my attempt all to show how i feel at the moment, business not working redbubble not selling. On way and up ward smile and stay in safe.

Lochnagar

So i have been to aberdeen now as you seen in my last post and i was...

Good really the town is known for being the granite city, and that is so true each building is grey. But the building are an acritectural wonder looking like a scene from a fairy tale some time. 

Being right next to the sea i though well it going to be cold. WRONG. I was warm and worn shorts all the time is was there, nice tanned legs you see now. 😀

Anyways i have been looking at questions again to answer then i will get to showing some of the shots i took.

So i have been seeing alot of questions of when will there be a photography show avaliable well there is one i have been a couple of times before when i was able to visit being local and its the birmingham NEC photography show. https://www.photographyshow.com/ well this year due to all hte problems of covid-19 we arent able to got physically but virtually you can and its FREE. join view and enjoy the toys you can buy.

What photography magazine is best, well this is more what information do you want to read about really i just use the internet nowadays to learn what i want at a particular time, like last time i wanted to leanr how to do multiple exposures so i found a page that i understood and tried it out, couple of week back i wanted to do some work on a cinemagraph so again i found a article that was understandable and i tried it out with some of my own images. 

So this was after listening to a pod cast and so i ran with it and this is one of the attempts that i made what do you think, i like it cause its even more like i am there again taking the photo and loving the country again, which also make me sad.

Anyway

aberdeen i went up Lochnagar it took 8 hours walking in total, but there was also the drive there and the drive back so add 2 hours each way, long day. You need some cash with you for the parking and in the current time a postable toilet or beable to hold for 10 hours the toilets were closed.

in all it was an enjoyable walk and fresh wow windy time but there were some great views and i was so lucky to see 

This was a great find by my partner she saw them and told me, it was great being able to see, may be a once in a life time capture. Long telephoto lens and 

Aberdeen

Hi all,

It seem like i am geeting a few people reading from looking at the statistics of the site, hopefully i am interesting and more of a normal person who does photography, any comments on the multi exposure image it created the other day?? please do contact me and i will have some content to add into the blog.

I found some more myths of photography,

People believe a good camera makes a better photographer.

The camera is a too, the person (photographer) is great because of the skills they have.

everyone learns in their own way but the vision is created by that person too. You can create a image with a single use camera and as the trend is heading back to film camera that are cheaper than the new digital cameras (you can get bundles camera and lenses) on ebay when i just looked a bundle can cost £40-50.

This is where your skill gets real, you will have to wait and see what you have shot no checking the viewfinder or monitor to see if the shot was good. Bit of anticipation more exciting than digital and when you get that shot better feeling.

Now manual camera also means you learn why there is different ISO film. A high iso means a lower amount of light is needed to get a image on the film so 1600 mean low light.

ISO 100 mean sunny days, bit difficult in the UK and may mean you need different cameras if light changes.

Next the aperature now this is how much the eye of the lense controlling the amount of light passing through the lens, of which 

So smaller number then more focus on the subject you want to shoot, smaller number then more objects are in focus

Shutter speed is the amount of light that will be seen by the frame on the film.1/500 and bigger, you will have matrix style skills and beable to freeze time and the image, 1/4 and lower then the image will blur.

A High ISO is bad

This is subjective, i personally learn that a low iso is better as i mentioned. The brighter the day the cleaner the image will be, if you want to shoot with a ISO100 at night then you will need a tripod or a steady hand, unless your a robot it wont work or you will like that type of image. personal choice.

A tripod is always needed for clean shots

Again subjective, i normally shoot without a tripod and i am fine. you want to take a night shot with trailing lights then you will need a tripod, anything long exposure the closer you get to one second exposure, more likely you will need a stable place to mount your camera, a bean bag, tripod, monopod, wall or fence.

 this image didnt have a tripod

Only bright light make good photos

guess, subjective but it is true sometimes above image was in bright light and on a beach, i really enjoyed having the trip but below is a low light image taken in the lake district

without a tripod either.

 So answered some myths moving on soon i will be taking a trip to Aberdeen few hours driving but i will be taking some time to shoot. in the mean time take a look at wish or redbubble and buy some merchandise

Multi exposure

Ok i am preparing to do the multiple exposure today, in the mean time i am having a little difficulty as i will be taking the photos of my self little trouble at the moment as there being no models around.

Been looking at the trends in the search engines and seeing some questions like i will answer myself.

When was phtography first invented

1826 was when the oldest surviving photograph made using a camera taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce around 1826/1827 originating in France, so the camera and all the invention must still be before that how long do things take to be designed and tested?

Can photography be art

Personally i think anything that people produce that someone else is willing to purchase or admire then yes i would say its art, remember that all of us can make art. If you think about it will all write and that is art

Can photography help depression

I would say so if you dont get all technical then yes, walking around your own home you take think but with a camera you can also think about taking different photos.

Where to focus when taking a photograph

Well this one is more subjective than a straight forward answer, it all depends on what you are focusing, there are many type of ways to create a image, you can have out of focus and bokeh when the lights in the image are circles bit like lights at christmas when you squint.

Most tutorials talk about the rule of 2/3rds, 

Where the focal point can be middle, left or right but most of the image is open space so you are drawn to the subject of the image.

Photography shows 2020

Well this one is simple at the start of this year being a complete wake up call for the world and the pandemic happening, No, simply. But as i have just looked through the UK has one near to me i have been to before and that is the photography show at the NEC, birmingham UK. They are happening mostly virtually and why not you can still buy and learn virtually only thing that you cant do is test products and get the nice reductions, while at the show.

shutter speed

Wow, this is a good question. I have always like being able to freeze a subject in mid-air like a dog running, my first camera was a digitial samsung, it took ages to switch on and be ready for me to take a photo I missed so many shots i would like to take. That was the reason for me to upgrade to a dslr camera.

So shutter speed, well again it depends on what you want to capture if its a landscape image then a slow speed, say 1/50 would be okay. but if its windy then you might get blur in the trees moving. Bascically you need to know how you want the image to look.

You want to capture a moving subject the you need a faster shutter 1/500 may be higher, in the image above be able to pan the camera at the same speed to get the background blurred and the subject frozen.

Ok question time over moving on back to the merchandise, so this week i have been progressing with  more images and products on the sites Redbubble and Wish. To which i have had my first sale (ta daaa) great feeling that some liked it, Thank you for purchasing.

So after doing some work on multiple exposure images i have had a go, not as diffcult as you think with the right tutorial and this is my second go but first with my own images and i think its gone well, if you want to have a go this was the link that i follow multiple exposures

POD - Print on demand

So i have been populating the websites i previously mention and i have done quite a bit of merchanise production. Wish is the image below 

Wish Shop front

I have also learned more about the Google search console, meaning i can now follow who is looking at my site, so many of these analysis pages one for twitter, linkedin every page you connect to pretty much has a section to show you traffic.

Wow, i am looking at marketing but i am not paying for the traffic as when i first tried this i never got anything from it apart from a emptier pocket.

So after doing all this of opening website and self  marketing. I have also found crowdfireapp again i have looked through a host of applications to populate my linkedin, twitter feeds and pinterest pins, but this one came out the best for me i can link the previouls mention pages all together.

(I wont connect to facebook as i do not like it and the little part of all images are the websites can be used by them and do you get the recognition, i doubt it. check this link out copytrack.

On that note i can see i have been getting some flow of traffic, which is.. Great more people interested or at least seeing the pages even if they arent reading. so thank you, take a look at the merchandise pages you may buy.

In the mean time i will be doing a double exposure page next want to try and get a metallica album-esk photo down think that may be a good skill, after learning cinemagraphs and getting the lens ball for fathers day.

 

Printful

So i am looking at the print and demand market places and i have found the previous two i previously mentioned fineartameria and redbubble.

But i have now tried another, by the way this is not been costing me any money to do anything or publish the products to the websites, until..

Any way to begin i tried a couple of other website and did work correctly in the UK, but this website has been able to connect me to some good well known website, ebay still hasnt worked but not a problem.

I have two other websites that i am currenlty connected to Esty and Wish, "right" Wow did i hear someone say?? no.

no didnt think so but i have connected and been able to submit 8 products one thing i can say is that wish takes a couple of days to get varified and you need to put in some form of ID, Also Esty yes you will get every product on the website for 3 months for 20 cents/ 16p, which is not bad and if i get one sale then bonus. We will see in the next few months if i will.

Photography Blogging

How often is too much,

How many time a month should I make a diary of what i have been up too. 

Well i would assume i would have to have done something , but having to make a blog would mean i need to do something, bit of  chicken and egg.

Ok since the last time i have been able to take some photos using the lens ball i will upload them next time, really fun. BUT be careful in the sun as you can burn yourself as you would expect big ball of glass and a magnified point of the sun, i didnt burn my self but just a small hot spot on my hand. 

I have been updating the redbubble (RB) redbubble, fineartamerica (FAA) fineartamerica accounts.

I have found another site that i may move towards which is https://www.printful.com/ these are similar to the print on demand sites i have previously mentioned doesnt have all the items i have on other sites that i can see yet but only been on the site for three days.

Having trouble with attaching to ebay accoutn at the moment but that may be because i am in the UK and have a .co.uk ebay account - we shall see.

Alternativly i have opened a wish account so you never know both larger websites to the RB (check above what that means), just waiting to be approved as it take 3 business days.

On another positive note i have been updating the galleries n the old website www.1978photography.co.uk

take a look most of the images are on the purchaseable sites to head over and take a look.

Happy Fathers Day

So today is fathers day, happy day to you if you are lucky enough to be a dad.

I am too and have recieved 

a Lensball                                                     and a simple profile T-stand   

So an ideas of what i can photo, give some idea, I will prceed to do some colour shots bokeh style as i have the lights for it.

Other thing i have tried with my lens that i took apart as it was broken but i will be doing plenty of landscape shots with this in the foreground. So ideas i have found and i think is a good start https://gridfiti.com/lensball-photography/, personally i like the water reflection idea.

Profile stand well thats a new one for me as i dont like photographing people, as you can probably see i all of my images are products, landscapes, nature and animals. So catalogue images are what i will be trying as i develop my print on demand images.

Purchases

Ok through this furlough scheme and period.

I have been looking and developing my phohotgraphy again, while also changing and updating my website.

This meant learning, from reading websites and choosing what worked the best for me.

I have read through many websites... telling me of how to make this better do this differently, yes they are all ok but i have done what i think works for now, (I am sure i will keep changing).

So i eventually got to print on demand sites, great idea but i does mean that the items choosen are a bit more expensive.

But i means that you dont have to print out and hold onto stock in a warehouse, garage at home or piled up in one of the rooms in your house too.

So i have found two that seem to work, by what i mean as simple to set up and you get to see the results quickly, that may mean a limitation in items but its done and it makes me feel like i have achieved something.

take a look.

photography1978/shop

 

redbubble the first i have found, works really well you can select the prices you would like to make on each product, that means like a shirt cost of the company is $14 and then you add on top the price of your image, picture, drawing or logo. bascially what ever you want on products.

Second.

photography1978/shop

fineartamerica is another website i found that does pretty similar job both good a simple to set up. Again they have the value of the basic products and then you add on what you would like to make from a sale. This one is more for the photographers though as you can enter contests and get noticed, seem a bit more socially active which i am not sure about as being on there one afternoon and i have already had some strange email sent to me from a spammer, but i will see where it goes, no news is good.

Blogging thought i would give it a try.

1 Something simple to start off the photography blog.

Being an amateur photographer, trying to learn mainly for myself but i wouldnt say no to earning some money from me work/images.

I like being behind th camera but i am not good at asking model or people to pose in this way or that way.

Just feels odd. I work in an office for my full time job and i dont really interact with people very well there either.

So i take photos of landscapes, nature, the environment. Things that people see every day and walk past not really noticing them.