Archive for the ‘Discussion’ Category
How I did This…. 5 Photoshop Steps
So you can do most things in Lightroom these days. I thought I'd meddle with this shot of the Royal Armouries to show a few things you can't do in Lightroom.... yet! Start point So to get to this point, you could probably have used Lightroom. Its been through these steps... Capture - 1 minute exposure RAW Conversion using ACR in Photoshop Vertical correction using Lens Correction Filter Conversion to black and white using Silver EFEX 2 Selective sharpen - High Pass Filter method, using masks Selective ...
HDR Photography in Leeds… Armley
Famous for it's monumental prison and a gyratory, Armley isn't the first Leeds suburb you'd go shooting alone in - let alone on an incredibly dull February day. I took to the canal first first, to see how the graffiti artists are doing - these walls change regularly. Then down to the river Aire and over the footbridge for some more shots. All these are HDR shots - which means "High Dynamic Range", where we take a few photos at different exposures (brightnesses) the blend them into one. We run workshops on this - check out ...
The Photography “Kit Obsessive”
Photographers fall into many camps, but one that really stands out is the “kit obsessive”. These tend to:- Talk incessantly about kit – above anything else Buy novelty items they rarely use Are never happy with their current kit Motivated by numbers and specifications Can compare and quote reviews of competing kit items More interested in the tools than the photographic results Are first to hear “new kit speculation” blogs and forums Always think "if only I had a...." rather than "what can I do with ...
Night Photography Workshops in Leeds
The most complete night photography workshop series in Leeds today? Does your camera go into hibernation over winter? Join our Night Photography Workshops in Leeds. Embrace the dark to create amazing images! We've listened to your feedback from the recent survey. People wanted.... a "collaborative" approach, one where we learn from each other to know more about "processing". an end-to-end process - from capturing the RAW file to final edit What you'll learn in our Night Photography Workshops in Leeds We've developed a ...
The 10 Similarities between Chefs and Photographers
10 Similarities between Chefs and Photographers I'm shooting a restaurant later today and it got me thinking about the similarities between Professional Chefs and Professional Photographers... here's a few Everyone can use the tools I'm not a professional chef, but I can use a hob, oven, knife and many other things you see in a professional kitchen.... I can cook a decent curry most days, lots of different thing with mince beef taste lovely.... Most people will have cooked - just as most people will have taken a photograph with ...
Landscape Interview….
Just been asked to do a piece for Ephotozine, on Landscape Photography. Thought it worth sharing on here with you all. It's just 3 questions, with my ramblings on each. How did you get into landscape photography? I'm from the countryside originally, rural Lancashire by Pendle Hill, so was always at home there. When affordable digital came along around 10 years, and petrol was cheap, I used to spend most weekends in the car pottering around the dales and north York moors, places I'd been through but never really seen. Spending time ...
5 Tips – To Pose, or not To Pose?
A few people mentioned to me that they'd like to know more about "posing" people, and in on of the McFade Training Taster workshops last year, I covered some ideas - maybe ones which surprised people. The "by the book" posing techniques will produce just that - by the book, traditional shots of people. They remind me of those Victorian family portraits, everyone looking stiff and uncomfortable. With creative photography, the McFade approach, we're after something a bit more interesting - wanting to reveal something about the person ...
What does McFade do anyway????
What this Leeds Photographer does... Medding with smart phones takes you to some strange places.... ON this occasion I found an app which did little "mind map" type diagrams, which I thought would be fun for the website... I was white flag waving after 5 minutes of meddling on a little phone screen, so hit google and found "XMind", a full blown program which does all this kind of thing. It's free - give it a go... and quick to use. So started off by plotting out Mcfade Photography - see what I actually do, as people do ask from time to ...
5 Thoughts on Off Camera Flash
Off camera flash is a popular portrait technique at the moment, taking speedlite flashes off the camera, onto light stands and using radio transmitters to trigger them. There's quite a lot to take into account and understand to get consistent results - so here are 5 things to think about when setting your lights up... First - understand manual exposure You need to understand how your camera works and "manual exposure". A challenge in itself if you're not used to metering. To control the brightness of the background and the flash-lit ...
Yorkshire Landscape Photographers…. is Gordale Scar Impossible to Capture?
[singlepic id=259 w=700 h=700 float=center] Gordale Scar.... Can you do it justice? Going around "that corner" for the first time and seeing inside Gordale Scar is breathtaking. It's as near as we get to Yosemite Valley in Yorkshire! The pleasant, flat walk along side the burbling stream doesn't really prepare you for cavernous geological marvel that awaits you. It's a huge gouge in the landscape, some think it's a collapsed cave, though that theory has been generally abandoned in favour of the land being carved open ...
Photographers Discussion – Where should you spend your “online” time?
Can't see the wood for the trees? So how many different websites can you put your photos on these days? Don't bother listing them, the answer is "lots", and maybe even "too many" if you're being honest! There are many camps too:- "Fun" social media - casual chat on facebook, twitter, foursquare etc. "Serious" social media - Facebook Business Pages and Linked IN Blogging - share your wisdom Website galleries - show those shots off! Photo community sites - 500px, ephotozine, flickr Youtube and video sites - moving ...
What does Your “Profile Photo” Say?
Everyone in business uses social media - we're all on Linked IN, Facebook and Twitter, and they all allow us to upload a profile photograph. In most cases, the first impression people have of you comes from this shot - scary thought! So what impression do people get from "your" profile shot? Recognise Yourself? Egghead - No Picture Of course, one option is to have no profile picture, this leaves the picture holder empty or with a default grey silhouette. What does this say about you? Having no avatar can give messages ...
