Flower Photography and the Wimberley Plamp

I have been promising to get back to my blog for some time and to get round to reviewing some of the kit I use on a daily basis. Trouble is, life always gets in the way. But here I am, almost a year after my last post, finally getting the time to return to …

Women in Photography

Big subject. I find myself thinking about the representation of women in photography and why it is not as common to see women's work in some of the bigger magazines. Is it because their work isn't good enough? I would definitely dispute that as a fact: there are some phenomenal female photographers out there. Then …

Motivation – buy a class?

Motivation. There's a big word! And we've all needed it at some point or other. I wonder how you find your photographic motivation when it has packed its bags and taken to the hills? I am recently back with my camera after a six week break. During that six week break, I have had a …

You Know When I Said You Don’t Need Lots of Gear . . . . ?

Oh dear. Almost straight after I had completed my previous blog post in which I talked about whether you need all that gear to take the photos you want to take, my partner bought me a Fuji X-T20 for my birthday. Of course, I could have said, 'No, Rob. I don't need that camera for …

Camera Gear – what do I really need?

So what camera gear do I really need? All of it, of course 🙂 Seriously though, what do you really need? As camera manufacturers and developers scramble to cram the most megapixels possible on to a sensor, or offer a ridiculous amount of multiple exposures in-camera, or tell us that we need to go mirrorless …

Lensbaby Velvet 56

This week, I gave in and got my hands on the Lensbaby Velvet 56. I have debated back and forth with myself on this one. I had the Composer and Sweet 50 for a while but sold that one because I just didn't use it much. However, I kept hold of the Single Glass optic …

Take it – or make it?

Thanks to the incessant rain, I am in a ponderous mood today. I believe it was Ansel Adams that said: “You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you …

Spring – I hope

I love trees. Well, who doesn't? Visiting Clumber Park again recently for a few days reminds me that there are good reasons for the oak to be held as a symbol of sturdiness and might. Clumber Park is very close to the heart of Sherwood Forest, and very close to Major Oak, the tree that …

Textures

If you've followed my page at any point, you'll probably get that I love using textures on my photography. Although I do buy textures from other artists, making them for myself seemed like a logical, creative process. My textures are now for sale at my brand new Etsy shop and I'd be thrilled if you'd …

Youtube Tutorials

At the request of several people, I have uploaded some screen recordings to explain my use of textures. The first video shows the basics of how to add a texture, and the second expands on that to show how to add more than one texture, and how to use a layer mask to remove texture …