We often notice only those things we choose to notice, and zone out thing we inherently dislike. Although I love sunny flowers, I am not generally a fan of bright yellow. So I went in search of it, and found so much waiting for me.
What is your least favourite colour? Where can you see it around you now?
Come back tomorrow for more tips!
Often we have a natural inclination to try to fit an entire object in the frame, however big that might be. Try to resist that sometimes (especially if photographing something quite ordinary), and go for bits of an object instead. Sometimes the results can surprise you – and end up much more artful. The image above is of part of a beautiful ceramic serving dish I found in Greece.
What ordinary things around you have beautiful parts?
Come back tomorrow for more tips!
This is one of the oldest ‘rules’ of photography, but it is so powerful when you consciously try to use it.
Imagine your viewfinder split into a 3×3 grid of nine same-sized rectangles. Try to place the subject of your photo along one of the dividing lines (above), or in a place where the grid lines intersect (below).
What rules do you like to break?
More tomorrow!
For the next two weeks this space will become a place for celebrating photography – and I hope you will stick around for the party!
I love photographs. Memories captured, beauty preserved, promises unspoken.
My Dad is a trained photographer and apparently one of my ancestors was the first ever photojournalist! I have been taking photographs for years, with all sorts of different cameras. In the Do What You Love e-course go out and about in search of beauty and explore what kind of photographers we are. This has made me reflect more on what kind of a photographer I am. I am fascinated by the way the subject matter of my photos has changed hugely at different times in my life.
When I was younger I used to take pictures of everything (and often process them in my Dad’s dark room in our garage, marvelling at the magic as the images emerged in the developing solution). In my early twenties I travelled a lot on my own and lived abroad for several years – in this period I mainly took photos of landscapes and buildings.
Then I spent several years working for UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) and found myself drawn to people’s faces, especially those of children in developing countries – and food (in street markets etc).
More recently I seem to take more random pictures of details – my feet, textures, the sky – and I can’t stop taking pictures of flowers lately. Funny how it changes over time.
I am drawn to simple photos that show raw beauty – whether in the subject, the colour or the feeling of the image.
In the next two weeks I am going to share some of my favourite tips, along with interviews with fantastic photographers (Roxanne Krystalli, Christine Boyd and Xander Neal).
I hope you will also join in and share your own tips and tricks. And if you fancy getting out and about a bit more with your camera this month, why not join Susannah Conway’s ‘August Break’?
So tell me, what kind of a photographer are you?
PS If you want to start seeing the world in new ways, why not join the Do What You Love e-course. Registration is open now!
When I woke up this morning I had this really strong flashback of my time as a student in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan (and my favourite city in the world). I was sat in my homestay family’s kitchen some 15 years ago making cheese on toast in their strange grilling machine, using the delicious squidgy doorstop bread I have only ever found over there. I had this incredible sense of joy in the moment, as I went through my breakfast ritual in this foreign land, before heading off to school past rice fields and bamboo forests, a whole day of adventures stretching ahead of me.
I keep feeling a very strong pull to Kyoto these days. It comes in waves and my mind keeps wandering East. And when I woke up this morning it struck me what an incredible sense of freedom I had at that point. I was virtually alone the other side of the world, with very limited money but a whole year to savour all for myself. I was picking up the new language piece by piece, with mini triumphs every day as I managed to converse with the old man selling sweet potatoes, or read a new roadsign or sing along with a festival chorus. I went to school in the mornings, and spent the afternoons exploring. My time was my own, to spend how I chose.
And then I realised it is not that dissimilar now. I have a business to run and bills to pay, but one of the reasons I made the leap away from the corporate world was to have that freedom to choose how I spend my time. Sometimes you find yourself working so hard that you forget that it is completely up to you whether you start your day on the computer, or in the park, or in the studio… So I’ve started a new routine for my mornings – tea in the garden and half an hour with a book about Japan before the day begins, and a moment of thanks for this freedom.
What about you? What is your morning ritual?
[Image courtesy of Jessica Swift]
I love happy people.
And Jessica Swift is definitely one of life’s happy people (see here for the Do What You Love interview with her).
Have you heard she is making rainboots covered in her gorgeous designs and carrying secret messages?
We would call them ‘wellies’ here in England.
She needs your help to get them manufactured – and bring puddle-splashing happiness to people all over the world.
Check out her fun Kickstarter video here – only six days to go!
Sometimes I find myself overthinking things when I am trying to create something.
Usually when I find myself stuck, or frustrated with what I am making, it is because I am thinking about it too much. And when I am in the zone, not really thinking at all, it always works out better.
Last week my little nephew – who is five years old – took this photo of me with my ipod. He didn’t think about it at all. Just aimed it at me, moved it around a bit then hit the button. And for someone who doesn’t usually like photos of myself, I love it!
And it really made me think that sometimes we just need to ‘hit the button’.
Have you found yourself overthinking things lately?
Here are a few of the lovely stationery and supplies finds I made at the gorgeous Salts Mill in Saltaire. Just love the way they are displayed…
See here for yesterday’s post about the lovely building that houses all these finds.
This is my kind of shop… what’s yours?
One of the things I love about the north of England is the old industrial beauty of some of its buildings. This place used to be a thriving hub for the textile and other industries, and many of the old buildings have been saved and converted – and are still very much loved. I lived in Manchester for several years, firstly in a converted cotton mill and then in a lovely area of the city by its working canal, where the old wharfs now serve restaurant goers and picnickers. Now I live in Leeds I have fallen for buildings like the Corn Exchange, a 150 year old Victorian building which used to be centre for trade and is now a beautiful home for independent shops, delis and cafes. Today I wanted to share another gorgeous building with you – the Salts Mill in Saltaire, which has been converted into an art gallery (featuring David Hockney) and huge open space selling paper, books, stationery – all things I love!
I love the way they use a hotchpotch of furniture – from this designer sofa…
… to this old school desk
… and even a garden bench.
Their displays are wonderful, with everything laid out as if it is in someone’s home being shown to friends.
They sell all sorts of things – from artists’ palettes to potted plants.
If you ever find yourself near Leeds it is definitely worth a visit, and if you are feeling energetic it can be reached by a lovely long cycle up the canal towpath…
Pop back tomorrow to see what gorgeous papery finds I discovered…
Is the blue paint peeling away or being revealed? Depending on how you screw your eyes up, either could be true. It depends which way you look at it.
Ahh perspective. Been thinking a lot about this lately, and how important it is to seek out and listen to other people’s perspectives, and then make your own call on things.
There is so much wisdom all around us – and so much inside. It sometimes just takes a few words from someone else to make us think about things in a different way, or from a different angle, and that can be so valuable.
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What about you? Have you found someone else’s perspective helpful lately?