With 7.888 billion people in our world it shouldn’t be hard to find someone interesting to photograph. Yet, among so many, how do we find the ones that stand out from the crowd? Which are the faces that speak to us? Which seem to tell a story that can be captured in a single shot? Perhaps it’s their clothing, their expression or what they are doing?
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When I first started visiting in the early 1980s Newcastle did seem like a city in black and white. Once a great industrial hub it had been hard hit by the closure of the shipyards and coal mines of the region.
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Have you ever watched an artist at work and seen them hold up their hands, using fingers and thumbs to create a rough rectangle? They are considering how best to frame their subject; what to include and what to omit.
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In photography, triangles add dynamism to an image, leading the viewer's gaze towards a focal point or important element within the shot. They can also create a sense of balance and stability, depending on their shape and placement.
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Unfortunately summer seems to have deserted the UK this August, as it did in July! We’re told it’s the jet stream to blame. In July it shifted southwards, flowing directly across the UK and Ireland. This is close to its usual winter position and carries low pressure systems directly towards us. It also meant that warm air was contained across central and southern Europe, creating a severe heatwave, while dragging in cooler air over us.
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Autolycus is a peddler and pickpocket. No one’s possessions are safe when he is around! But what he regards as ‘unconsidered trifles’ may be of great importance to their owner. In the same way what many might see and dismiss as insignificant, a photographer may spot and deem worthy of an image. A photographer too therefore is often a ‘snapper-up of unconsidered trifles’.
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By ‘looking over’ the places we visit with our cameras, that is properly looking at and seeing them, we are less likely to ‘overlook’ a great photo opportunity.
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Hummingbirds are among the hardest of birds to photograph, I find. So even though it’s not perfect I was happy to get this shot of one in Costa Rica last year.
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The writer, the painter and the photographer have the power to ‘shake up a familiar scene’. Through their eyes we often discover something anew even though we may have seen a similar scene many times before.
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There is something about a reflection that draws us as photographers. Is it the illusion of seeing double? Or the fact that we can capture double the beauty?
