Are you in denial? Is Cairo just a pretension?
Thankfully my day job is not as a comedian. Sorry! The “de-Nile” joke is pretty over used isn’t it, but its late and I needed something for the title. I bet Google would have preferred something different too! Last week, I announced the launch of the Cairo Photo Tours, part of a new and active [...]
I took that image – inspiration or plagiarism?
One of the challenges that I guess many of us face on a photo workshop is finding the unique angle or shot that allows our own style or approach to be translated into a compelling image, especially when 8 other of your new found photo friends are standing next to you trying to create the [...]
Jodphur, Burano and a Nubian Village – how color overcomes the desert sands of Egypt
One of the facts about Egypt that is hard to ignore is that the sand gets everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Heaven help you if you leave a window open, or a door ajar. It is that incredibly fine sand that seems to be able to permeate every nook and cranny, but also leaves a calling card of fine yellow dusting across everything it touches.
If you can imagine the world covered in sandpaper – slightly abrasive but ensuring that everything else is beautifully smooth -then this is close to what it is like living in Egypt! In fact, on second thoughts, it makes me wonder why Egypt’s main export is cotton and not sandpaper!
Heat, luxury and a land of opportunity – How Egypt offers great workshop potential
At 50c, a Canon 5d Mk2 becomes too hot to handle! Literally and figuratively. The L series lens with their metal fittings burn the hands and the camera body itself is uncomfortably hot. Sweat gets into the eyes and onto the palms making it difficult to see the settings or make any adjustments.
But, despite this, we are striking a rich seem of cultural images.
The clash of culture and tourism in Upper Egypt
The scene is almost biblical. The earthen streets, the half naked child peering out of the mud brick house or the old man resting on a simple wooden bed against a bright blue wall. Right up to the point where the child runs out and says “Hello. One dollar. Baksheesk”. Not even the usual “Welcome [...]
Unplanned and Overwhelmed – Behind the scenes with the Household Cavalry
It is good to be back home, with time to sit down and blog after what has been a manic 3 weeks of work and travel. Nearly 3 weeks ago we launched Focus or Humanity – a not for profit aimed at helping aspiring photographers build a career in the Travel and Humanitarian field and [...]
Announcing Focus For Humanity – helping photographers focus on helping humanity
We are delighted to announce the launch of an exciting new Not For Profit Organisation, FOCUS FOR HUMANITY that I have co-founded with Santa Monica based Loren Roberts Focus for Humanity (FFH) is a US based non profit foundation that supports amateur and professional photographers throughout the world to focus their work on telling cultural [...]
How to create order from disorder through split toning
I am slowly – all too slowly – working my way through the 5000+ images that I took in Italy earlier this month during the Italy Within The Frame workshop with David duChemin and Jeffrey Chapman, and one thing is for certain is it has helped me to optimize my Lightroom workflow! Most of the [...]
Italy Within The Frame – Day 9 – Burano
Burano is a small island on the outer reaches of the Venetian Archipelago that few people bother to visit. The nearer and more famous island of Murano with its tradition of glass blowing and the manufacture of its distinctive colored glass objects d’arts, seems to be more of a magnet for the tides of tourists [...]
Italy Within The Frame-Day 8-Venice
Venice is a city in trouble. Few of us will have failed to read over the years the stories that Venice is sinking. This once grand trading city state, that dominated merchant trading for centuries, and yet has manged to retain much of its medieval and renaissance character today, is fighting a losing battle against [...]
Italy Within The Frame – Day 7 – To Venice by Train
Crossing Italy by train today as we move from Camogli to Venice has given me the chance to catch up on a preliminary sort of the nearly 5000 images I took last week. It is odd to review a body of work taken over such a short period of time and to begin to see [...]
Italy Within the Frame – Day 6 – Portofino
The Italian Riviera has for years been a playground for the rich and famous. The once quiet fishing villages where time and modern convenience had for so long passed by without the most casual of glances, have been transformed into chic resorts, full of designer boutiques, restaurants and bars advertising or sponsored by a leading [...]
Italy Within The Frame – Day 5 – San Fruttuoso
There is something magical about arriving at a new place by boat. I am not sure whether it is the stirring of an evocative past of transatlantic steamers voyaging to the New World or the throwback to family holidays where the ferry – however rusty and battered – magically transported us from reality to vacation [...]
Italy Within The Frame- Day 4 -Camogli
As we left Monterosso for Camogli this morning it seemed that we were leaving behind a landscape of opportunity, color and precariously perched towns that seemed to be just a momentary lapse away from sliding into the rocky Ligurian coastline. How wrong can you be – well about the color and opportunity at least! As [...]
Italy within The Frame – Day 3 – Manarola and Vernazza
Day 3 of our Italy Within The Frame with David duChemin and Jeffrey Chapman began at our now customary leisurely pace, with a short train ride through the tunnels and along the dramatic Cinque Terre coastline, to the second of the Cinque Terre towns that we were visiting, Manarola. The tiny train station sandwiched precariously [...]
Italy Within The Frame – Day 2 Monterosso
We are using the quaint seaside Cinque Terre town of Monterossa al mare as a base for the next couple of days as we explore the beautiful National Heritage coastline, of Liguria. Inevitably the weight of expectation is beginning to impact most of us. The frustration of being drawn to something initially appealing, but then [...]
Italy within the Frame – Day 1 Genova
The threatened rain had disappeared to leave a warm spring morning as the Italy within the Frame group set out for our first full day of photo workshop, in Genova, Italy. David duChemin and Jeffrey Chapman are organized a very gentle paced walk around the old streets of Genova, helping direct us through the narrow [...]
Italy within the Frame – Day minus 1
The months of waiting for the chance to spend a week in Italy, immersed in exploring my own personal photographic vision “within the frame”, have finished and we are now in Genova, with David duChemin and Jeffrey Chapman. This morning – before the main group arrived – I went out with Jeffrey Fielding to wander [...]
Giants Causeway within the frame
With only a fortnight to go before I head to Italy to participate in a week-long workshop with David duChemin and Jeffrey Chapman, it was important for me to start thinking about landscape photography again. The workshop, although called Italy with in the Frame, promises to be a healthy mix of street portraiture and landscape [...]
Whirling Dervishes in Cairo
Every Saturday, Monday and Wednesday night the Al–Tannoura traditional dance Troup perform their spectacle of music and whirling dervish dance to 250 lucky guests shows in the Wekalata el-Ghouri Arts centre in Cairo. The tickets for these are free as both the location is owned by and the Troup employed by the Egyptian Ministry of [...]
Why location, luck and gear is not enough
When I first started taking photography seriously about 18 months a go I naively thought that taking a powerful portrait – particularly travel or street portraiture – was really just because the fulltime photographer was always in an exotic place, with a great camera and of course in those type of locations you really just [...]
How to make Blurb Bookshow widget work in WordPress
I was invited to trial the about-to-be launched Blurb BookShow widget – a great little application that allows you to embed a preview of your Blurb book in your blog or website page, thus helping to raise that book’s profile and also in providing the opportunity for up-sell. I cut and pasted the code as [...]
Finding the Light with Manny Librodo
Whilst I was in Bangkok, I managed to meet up with Manuel J Librodo (Manny), who currently lives here but originally hails from the Philippines. Manny’s unique style of image making and post-processing have given him an amazing brand and reputation – particularly in Asia and the Middle East. His workshops sell out in days, [...]
More panning tips from a day with Mr Panning
I blogged a few weeks back about my attempts to master panning, and of course as part of the 1 on 1 workshop with Gavin Gough that I blogged about yesterday, I took every opportunity to quiz the master – Mr Panning himself – on some more tips! I felt a little indulgent standing for [...]
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