The Importance of Listening

On Monday evening I attended an Evening with Barry McCall in the Gibson Hotel at the Point Village in Dublin.

It was an event sponsored by Canon Ireland and hosted by Dave McCain from the Institute of Photography.

I was a little intrepid about attending, as I was working all weekend and would have enjoyed an evening off.

How and ever, I charged up the Ipod and headed for the Luas...

Upon arrival at the stunning venue, I got the feeling that this wasn't going to be another run-of-the-mill excuse for a top photographer to sell his latest software or training course, and I was right.

Although Barry had his recent book for sale, it wasn't the core reason for the talk, and as it was solely for charity, I was delighted to see many of the attendees leaving with their Brown Thomas bag.

The photos in the book and the quality of the paper were truly astonishing. as a photographer who places a lot of emphasis on the importance of print, I was amazed. Apparently Barry had overseen the entire process from start to finish, including the print and bind process. Anyone who manages to get a hold of one of these books really is quite lucky, as there are years of enjoyment for both photographers and non-photographers alike contained within it's pages

Barry's love for what he does shone through like a beacon, and his attitude was a lesson to us all.

Barry's work, especially, for me, his portraiture in the book, is just stunning.

He spoke of how he has developed a style and how he is constantly evolving and changing, both for his own benefit and the benefit of his clients.

in a world of cynicism (not least my own), this was an oasis of sincerity,

thanks to all at Canon, the IOP and to Barry,


Phil

Venice 2010

So, the only time in the last year that I've really taken the camera out for personal pleasure was last Oct when I went to Venice, Italy, with a few friends from Tallaght Photographic Society.

It's fair to say that I was looking forward to the trip, but maybe putting a little too much pressure on myself ("Here's my "A" Panel!!!")

The trip was just what I needed, although not in the way I thought it would be.

The photography wasn't great in fairness ... Venice is one of the most commercialised places that I've ever been ... famous for it's architecture, but destroyed by advertisement hoardings for the most part...

Maybe another time I'll get a little further from the beaten track, but this time was just the usual tourist shots ... we did get a nice sunrise though ...

But what surprised me was how much I enjoyed not having any "Duty".

That is to say, I wasn't a father, Husband, Son, Employee, Professional Photographer, Friend, Facilitator, Tutor etc.

I revel in my life here, and I missed my family dreadfully, but I had to get over it, as I was hundreds of miles away from them ...

I came home with my batteries fully charged and ready for just about anything ...

One thing I did hope to do was try my hand at "Street Photography" or "Environmental Portraiture" as It's known as well ..

Trouble is, although I could organise 100 guests at a wedding for a group shot, and I'm, in general, good with people ... I find it nigh on impossible to approach strangers to ask for their photos ...

When in Venice, we too a trip to Burano, an island in the Venetian Lagoon, and I spied a character walking the canal banks there. I thought "He'd be a great subject for a portrait", but nerves got the better of me and I let the opportunity pass ...

As luck had it though, myself and a mate were walking around the canals and wonderful coloured residences and we came across said individual in the doorway of his house ... again I panicked, but my mate Paul asked if he could take the man's picture ... the man agreed with gusto ...and I did the decent thing and snuck along to take a shot as well ... :-P

What a face ...

now you can see from this shot ... I made a balls of the processing ... and I will revisit, but I was happy with the shot .... not so happy that I couldn't ask for the shot in the first place ...

anyway, here's another from Burano ... as I said ... every residence was like this!!

I love the colours here, and it's a bit of a glimpse into another, simpler, world ....

So, to finish this post ... I'm gonna post another tourist shot ... the view from Rialto Bridge ...

It was taken on our second evening in Venice.

I wanted to get a slow shutter speed shot of a barge passing beneath the bridge, but when we got there, the adverts hanging from the bridge were so distracting that I didn't bother with that shot...

I went up onto the bridge and captured this shot looking down the canal ...

I was on the steps of the bridge with one leg of my tripod on the ground and the other 2 on the handrail of the bridge ... I used cokin filters to balance the sky and the foreground.

Canon EOS 5D mkII - 24-10mm F4L @ 24mm

F4

ISO 1250

1/20sec

processed in Photoshop CS4 ... mainly levels and curves ... little vignetting added

anyway ... here it is ...

really like this shot ... it captured the hustle and bustle of the area and still managed give a sense of place with the Gondolier in the centre foreground ...

Philip

16th Jan 2011

New Beginnings

So, 2011, a New Start.

As anyone who knows me knows ... I have been launching myself into photography for the last 8 years or so ... I've built up a wealth of experience and discovered something ...



I don't actually know what I'm doing :-P


Not that I'm technically inept, or not in possession of a degree of talent ... I just don't know what I'm going to do next ...


As a result, I ended up doing a few things I was unsure about, to the detriment of my photography ... and my mental health....


So, here goes ... this blog will be made up of shots I like ... I'm not going to overdo the technical details (although there will be some) nor am I going to look for anyones approval .... all I'm going to do is put up ... Pics ...
I ...
like ....


Letting the light In ... It's the new sitting in the Dark :-P

Phil

16th Jan 2011