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Not much to say, but a lot to show...

Big smiles all round I think!

Facrifiz'd...

Facrifiz'd: the art of fizzing whilst being sacrificed.

(Taken in St Laurence's Church, Ludlow)

Photographer Friends

I am very lucky (or perhaps destined) to have a younger brother who is keen on photography. I know lots of people who like photography, i.e. they have a vague interest in seeing nice photos, but none who actually enjoy taking them very much. My best mate Eleanor is about the closest I've got, she enjoys fiddling with my cameras but really she likes modelling better... although I don't actually mind since she's gorgeous! (Left: one of the first photos I took of El with my SLR)

So, now that we're living back in the Shire, I'm discovering the fun of having someone nearby who enjoys photography like I do. Unfortunately Alex is at college at the mo, meaning he's pretty busy a lot of the time, but as he's doing photography as a subject he has a great excuse to spend hours taking photos!

I'm always a bit wary of people who do photography at college/uni. I've always thought that photography was something that can't really be taught - something you really need to learn for yourself. And that when people 'study' it, it gets them full of poncy arty-farty ideas that are actually very little to do with photography and much, much more to do with doing art with a camera. Now, I'm all for 'art with a camera', I think there are some amazing photographer-artists out there who deserve serious respect. But I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to photos, and feel that proper photography should be beautiful. Or ugly, raw, emotional. But not, for example, a photo of a disgusting mess of squiggles that is full to your eyes of MEANING.

I find with most modern art (and we are talking modern art, here, not gorgeous Renaissance or anything), it quite often doesn't really seem to mean anything until you read the description. Once you do, it's, "Ah!! I get it now! That's amazing!" Occasionally they're interesting pieces anyway, but only after reading the description does the art really touch you.

I tend to feel that with photography, if it needs explaining to be good, then basically, it isn't. ("Can you guess what it is yet?")

I think that's why I love photography so much. My style is beauty that needs no explanation. At least, that's what I'm aiming for! Renaissance artists need no explanation for their art. And nor does pure photography, in my eyes. For me, it should mean something to the onlooker with or without a caption.

Yes, I love photography that you can't figure out for ages, too. But that sort of thing, if done well, still seems to draw you in. Unlike the 'mass of squiggles', you can tell that there is meaning, and you grasp the emotion, even without understanding.

Where was I? I was saying that studying photography gets people full of poncy arty-farty ideas that are actually very little to do with photography, and much, much more to do with doing art with a camera - well, thankfully Alex - despite studying it, or perhaps because - agrees with me on that one! He says he feels like he's doing an art course. He doesn't mind too much, because he's also a really good artist (unlike me!), but he says that he can hand practically anything in and as long as he can come up with a really good meaning, he'll get a good mark. Obviously this to some extent is unavoidable - the student must explain to the examiner the reason or idea for the photo - but it's evidently way past the mark in reality.

Poor Alex, he feels disadvantaged because his best mate "has a £1000 camera so I've got no chance!" In reality he has a Nikon D90, which would put him at a disadvantage except that his best mate isn't actually hugely talented with a camera - yet. Considering that he's the same age as I was when I got my first SLR, I'm surprised he's not better really, although I don't know how long he's had it either.

In truth, of course, there's only so much you can learn at once when you're chucked a camera far superior to your ability. (This is no praise for the D90, I actually dislike that camera quite a lot...!) There were many things that I just didn't even look at when I got my first, my Canon EOS 20D. Even now, I occasionally pick up things that I didn't know you could do. The reason I didn't learn much at the outset was because, basically, I learnt as much as I needed to know at the time. I wanted (and this was the above-all main reason why I bought my first SLR, perhaps that's why I'm such a sucker for J*'s photos!) to be able to take photos with a tiny F-stop.

That was about it. I feel completely and utterly in love with the romantic and artsy (alright alright) feel that being able to shoot even at f5.7 gave me. Soon after (after discovering more about how to get the effect), I bought my gorgeous Sigma 105mm that lets me go to f2.8 on everything. Mmmmmm yum yum! Needless to say, I am still in love with a small f-stop. My next lens (for, sadly, I don't own it yet) will be a wider-angled lens that'll let me go down to 1 point something. 105mm is brill for portraits and fab for macro but I can't take anything vaguely wide-angle without standing miles away from my subject - of course. So that's my next purchase... (Right: an old photo experimenting with my f2.8)

So yes, that was about the only thing I cared to master. That and how to make my photos bright and attractive. So, I learned f-stops, shutter speeds (and the Av and Tv dials - I still prefer Av to anything else), ISO (though I usually forgot to use it!), something about white balance, and... that was about it! I will definitely have to grill the friend and see just how much he knows. Actually, I'd much rather grill Alex and see how much he's picked up without having an SLR but from having a photography-mad sister.

Today we're going to Ludlow to do some photos for a photography competition that his college is holding. Should be interesting to see what we can get. I'm also going to give Alex free reign over my 20D and see how he handles it! After all, he's finally decided to get a proper camera for Christmas - probably the EOS 1000D as it's not too pricey and decent for newbie hands as far as I can tell. And yes, of course I'm making him go with CANON - there's no argument!