Photography skills
OK, it wasn't an exclusive 'hang out with Matt Stuart day' but the next best thing - a Street Photography workshop in conjunction with the Photographers Gallery in London. As postgraduate fees have gone through the roof, I've decided,for now at least, to keep my continual professional development to attending workshops and buying books. And what a valuable day of learning it was!
Read More
Last year I was lucky enough to visit New York and the South of France within the same month. Both trips generated a lot of images as I was wearing the hats of 'intrepid photographer' and family man - sorry that sounds like a first world problem moan...("Oh, you poor thing, how awful for you...") Anyway, I created a mass of images and never edited the French pictures properly, leaving many unseen and unloved.
Read MoreTo paraphrase the great David Bailey, we all have a truly great image in us, but the difference with him is he will have many, many more. It is rare to get as many great images in one life time as Bailey, but we can aim for more than just the one.
Read MoreFrom the Humans of New York to the discovered photographs of Vivian Maier it seems that more and more people are getting interested in Street Portraiture.
Read More#1 of 5
I've avoided reviewing equipment or books, but recently I was reminded of the ideas, exercises and ways of thinking in the book, The Photographer's Playbook. It's a great book to get you thinking about the creative process of image making, rather than focusing on the how to, instruction type stuff. Anyway, on this particular occasion , I was drawn to a particular corner and patch of light in the city centre, but only had 5 minutes of spare time.
#2 of 5
Sometimes I have the luxury to spend hours, days or even weeks in a location to build a collection of images. Doing commercial and family portraiture you can easily take 100s of images to later whittle down to a small polished final collection. What though should you expect to get in 5 minutes from one street corner? Could I get 5 'keepers' in such a short time? As I started shooting I became far more focused and direct about what I wanted - so much so I started directing people " Could you just walk there? The light is fabulous that side...thanks".
#3 of 5
Overall people were very accommodating (or maybe slightly concerned about the manic look in my eye) and were willing to help out. Maybe working to tight schedules is the way forward as, overall, I'm quite pleased with how my 5 in 5 turned out.
#4 of 5
Till next time...
Matt Peers
Since the rain forced me to look down for a whole day earlier this year , I've continued to explore the floor for inspiration. "Look up" was the regular instruction from my Dad on our occasional visits to the city centre. I was missing all the intricate architecture above my eye line was his reason, but I also suspect he didn't like the sight of me, head bowed Kevin the Teenager style, traipsing alongside him. It's oft given photographic advice too - without looking up you're missing out on potentially wonderful images. The same can be said for looking down, as there is a whole world of shapes, shadows and detail that are easily over looked. Here then are just some of the types of images you can capture by just gazing past your feet.
Road markings, curbs and natural detritus can create some wonderful abstracts if you look beyond their normal functions. The unique position of having a birds eye view over your subject enables you to frame images unavailable from a normal perspective. You can even get practice from the comfort of your own home by choosing a google map view and pointing towards different parts of the street.
You can look for shadows at any time of the year, but the low sitting winter sun casts deep and interesting shadows to play with.
If the ideas and images above don't particularly appeal to you, autumn and winter provide more traditional photographic material with fallen and ice frosted leaves.
So, if you're out about with or without a camera, don't forget to look down as well as up. I mean, when you come to think of it how much of the world is really best captured looking forward from head height...?
Till next time...
Matt Peers
The adverts on the side of my email and Facebook account are constantly filled with quick and easy solutions to complex problems. For some reason I'm stalked by the ' a simple trick to a flat belly' advert ( I have no idea why...?) and although eat less, do more is simple enough, I've yet to find a way round that simple rule.
Photography is no different. Composition, light and technique are all straight forward subjects, but they can only be improved with consistent learning and practice. There's no app, life hack or short cut tips that will change that.
But if I were to offer just one piece of advice above all, it would be to simply ask yourself:
" what do you want to say?"
I've used this question in academic terms over the years to untangle my thoughts when writing essays ( without it I would write fact upon fact without actually qualifying the point of them),and I think it is just as relevant for image making as it is for the written word.
On a trip to Alderburgh this year, I immediately felt there was an atmosphere - formal, familiar and sensible - but I was struggling to express it. Then reviewing some of my initial images, I knew what it was: the whole place felt like John Lewis. It was neat, orderly and a place where the population seem to occupy their own space rather than mixing and mucking in. If Alderburgh was John Lewis then by definition Blackpool is Primark.
But it's not only for artistic and academic situations this question is suited for; it can just as easily be applied to showing a good time had at a party. Wedding photographers for example are a good example of wanting to tell the viewer about the emotions and key events at one of the most important times in a couples life.
When I saw the proposal on top of the Rockefeller Centre in New York this summer, the answer to the question was clear; can I capture a true reflection of the proposal, it's location and impact? Without some questioning motive I could have easily just waited for a posed snapshot.
Capturing children and families can present a number of potential scenarios to question; from how to capture and naturally posed group shot to capturing the enjoyment of play. My favourites to look for are the quiet, 'in between' moments, when the camera has taken a seemingly unknown peek in to their inner thoughts.
What then, if your images don't match what you have attempted to say? It can be for a number of reasons depending on your image and what you want to say, but by having that idea in the first place, means you have taken the first step in exploring how it could be better next time.
* practice and time still required
Till next time...
Matt Peers
I think it is fair to say that I am not going to achieve a level of fame where the weekend paper life style sections want a pithy one page interview with me and thoughts on photography. But if they did, it would be something like this...
In other words, get to know their genre, current and back catalogue. It's not only enjoyable, it actually starts to feed in to and improve your own images. To get started, go through the Magnum photographers' galleries and feast your soul there. Alternatively, you could enjoy the images of musicians taken by John Morgan
Image courtesy of John Morgan
The majority of the images you look at will be on some sort of screen, which is understandable. A book however, gives you a tactile, closer relationship with the images the screen just can't match. A real beauty is the recent Martin Parr compendium if you want to put it to the test.
It's like going to see them live and listening to the CD later.
Or in this case just visit the exhibition...
I've spent so much time and money expanding my optical options only to come full circle and realise for street and portraiture work, I only need one lens - a 35mm prime. If I need to get closer or further away I now move my feet.
Two very different images but both taken with the same 35mm prime lens
To improve in any activity, practice, practice and more practice is required. It's heartening to read books like Matthew Syed's Bounce and Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers argue 10,000hours of practice leads to greatness rather than just innate talent. To practice more I needed to stop thinking photography as an appointment hobby , i.e. weekend after next I'm going out to use my camera, to one where a camera is with me most of the time. For some that might be a smart phone, for me it meant buying another camera small enough to carry but still high in image quality.
I've noticed for some people when they get in to photography they aim for techniques such as light trails and slow shutter wire wool burning shots for their wow factor ( I hold my hands up - I was no different). Yes, they can look spectacular, but after a while they just become , well, a bit boring really.
Can't tell which one of the 17 near identical images you like the most? Well, don't display them all for us to decide. Hard as it might be choose just the one, as for every near identical image you add the original impact decreases dramatically.
...its easy to spot and nobody leaves feeling great. An honest expression will always make for a better portrait compared to a forced grin.
Till next time...
Matt Peers
There's an image by photographer Siegfried Hansen where white tape winds round a lamppost, blending perfectly with the white painted line on the road. It's a clever play on composition that, I argued in a group discussion, was definitely set up. Not that being set up is such a bad thing, but it does make you question as to what is real and what is constructed or digitally manipulated. The reason why it is so good, I was told, is the very fact it wasn't set up. Much as I still admired the image, I still would have bet the house it was set up - I mean, how often do you see things like that in the everyday world?
The very next day I was dining on humble pie, as I spotted this yellow tape and double yellow line combination in Shoreditch.
I don't think it's anywhere near as good as Siegfried's but maybe it's taught me not to be so cynical in the future.
Till next time...
Matt Peers
At a similar age my two boys hated having their hair cut, and so wandering past a local barbers I recognised that young cry only too well. Sometimes the only weapon a parent has is distraction - mine was my camera, his Dad, however,decided on an ear tweak instead...
Till next time...
Matt Peers
Me & I Photography
Since writing the ‘Do you mind I am smoking a fag’ blog, I’ve gone through my images and realised that themes, rather than planned projects, bubble away somewhere in my subconscious. They must, I mean, I’m no twitcher, fancier or spirit channeller for Jack Duckworth, but pigeons seem to regularly appear in my images.
I’m not sure why, but maybe it's because they can add some drama, grace and even a little comedy to an image.
This, of course, might just be a passing flight of fancy, but you never know, it might just take off.
Till next time...
Matt Peers
* A Tracker bar is in the post to the first person to get the title reference. :)
Probably more often than some photographers would admit, the image you want to take doesn’t happen. Technical failure or good old fashioned human error, it doesn’t matter; it’s way off what you intended. Once you’ve noticed an error, it is very tempting to quickly delete it and move on. Indeed, you may be short of memory... but before you do, hold off and try and see what it looks like on a proper screen.
The small proportions and lower resolution of an in-camera screen is not as honest a reflection of the image as you may think, so you could well be throwing some pictural babies out with your digital bath water. Out of focus blurring, for example, can add rather than detract from the impact of the image. Would Robert Capa’s D Day landing image have the same impact if it was pin sharp?
Of course many mistakes aren't worth recovering, but once you rescue a beauty, what then? Have a look at the image meta data - i.e. what was the aperture, exposure time, lens focal length? By understanding that and what went wrong you could now have a technique to add to your repertoire that you can explore again and again. However, If you can't for the life of you fathom how it was done ...well, just put it down to kismet and enjoy the results.
Till next time...
Matt Peers
My first 'proper job' was as a sales assistant for a well known hi - fi retailer. This is of course from a pre internet, pre iPod age when hi-fi separates were highly desired household items and specialists shops were the only places to get them. Over night it seemed I was a local celebrity; access to nightclub guest lists, concerts and discounts in favourite stores were all suddenly offered by people I barely knew - as long, of course, I could somehow sort out a 'great deal' for them. This is all well and good, but what's that got to do with photography I hear you say? I'm getting there, I'm getting there ...
In my experience my old hi fi hunting regulars were roughly categorised in to 2 camps. The first was the harmless music loving, music buying, gig going types who just wanted to get the best kit for their budget. The second was the 'audiophile'who was willing to separate with a vital organ if it meant a " less splashy top end and more realistic sound staging between the mid and low range". Apart from needing a sound engineering degree to have a meaningful conversation, the people in this group (100% male in case you were wondering, and forever clutching a fistful of magazine reviews) always seemed pained by the perceived limitations of the big ticket items they had only recently purchased. If I'm honest, I used to consider myself immune from this costly cycle of misery; I knew my limits and was generally happy with my audio lot.
Can you see where I'm heading with this..? Now when it comes to camera bodies and lenses I have found myself thinking in exactly the same way as my old, pained faced customers. It's so easy to drool over product reviews or someone's work and think if I buy one of those my work will look as good as that. I follow photographers who regularly discuss the merits of equipment that costs more than a family car. What's worse, I've stopped recoiling at the prices and started to work out how long it might take me to get the piece in question.
Kit upgrades do improve your images and types of lenses will change the types of images you create i.e. If you want a wide angled look or a fine blurry background - or bokeh as it is called - you'll still need the right kit to do it. After that, the real differences are from you, your creative direction and technique.
So the moral is keep learning, make the best of what you've got, right? Yeah...I wish life was so simple. The two images below best illustrate my conundrum when it comes to the quest for better images and better equipment.
This image was taken on my Mum's 81st birthday, and I'm really grateful I had my newly upgraded camera to capture this very poignant image.
And below is my attempted reminder that kit isn't everything. I saw this scene set in my all time favourite place but with only an iPhone 4s to use.
However, if you like this image, is it now diminished in your eyes now you know it was taken on an iPhone ? To be honest, it is for me. I love it and the memories it conjures, but eating away inside is the thought of what I could have achieved with my real camera.
I would be foolish to say that I'm not going to lust after new kit in the future, but if I'm to learn anything from the past, I've got be clear about what's it really going to do and why I need it.
Till next time...
Matt Peers
I suppose the sensible advice is to not get your camera out in the rain or wait till it stops. Trouble is that makes for a very short and boring blog. What then of the situation where you have planned to take pictures, but the heavens have opened for the day? It happened to me very recently; a much needed day off was booked, my gear packed, batteries charged, train ticket purchased and a day of wandering in London with my camera was all going to plan...except for the weather. Usually I'm considering the quality and direction of light, but for most of that day I wasn't even able bring the camera up to eye level for a couple of seconds without my lens being soaked.
Even if I was a glass half empty type of person, the rain would have filled to the top... so the question was, how can I use the conditions creatively and not bemoan a lost opportunity? I simply looked down.
Ok, with this one I was able to look up for a moment.
Hopefully you'll agree it paid off. As my dear old mother used to say, if you make the best of a bad situation, you might just be pleasantly surprised.
Till next time...
Matt Peers
Going in close... I wasn't really going to be hit...honestly.
....Gilden. A few weeks ago I was lucky to see a talk by the Magnum celebrated street photographer Bruce Gilden. Not only was the event inspirational, it was held in the lovely new Library of Birmingham, through their photographic enterprise GRAIN and cost the unbelievable amount of £3! His work focuses on the people he finds ‘interesting’; many are on the margins of ’normal’ society, and his work is often considered shocking for the in your face confrontational style. Ironically, for a man who has traded blows on the tough streets of New York, taken candid images of real Russian and Japanese gangsters and witnessed voodoo rituals in Haiti, the people that scared him most were the ones he met on the West Bromwich high street!
Did he or did he not play football for West Bromwich Albion in the late 70s? The Secret Footballer by Me and I Photography
What struck me most about his talk was not his desire of the dangerous or the exploitation of the certain members of society, but to talk to people and listen to their stories. In doing so, his images are challenging, thought provoking and at times, down right hilarious.
Walking past a city centre building site presented me with a marvellous portrait opportunity.
Permission was granted before this shot was taken.
There are a growing number of online photographic and sociologic projects such a people of new york and the people of soho , capturing real people and their stories. Now, I can only dream that my efforts one day get close to Mr. Gilden’s work, but I’ll continue to talk to people and hopefully take a good image or two...
The lit advertising board was a great impromptu lighting set up.
In the food Market by the Festival Hall, South Bank, I looked like any other tourist with a camera.
For some reason it's aways easy to get a portrait by the National Portrait Gallery...
His eyes seemed to look straight in to my non religious soul.
Till next time...
Matt Peers
Although colour photography is generally considered a default choice, black and white photography has arguably never been equally more in demand and misunderstood. Even though digital practically killed off the Kodak empire, their iconic TRI-X film has just reached its 60th birthday and is still in strong demand. Software and mobile apps can offer a number of different black and white effects, but in too many cases they don’t tell you why the image looks different. Some name the different effects by names such as 'Ansel', 'Tonal' and 'Classic’ but offer no further explanation as to how and why they differ. Many people, to be fair, don't care - black and white is just considered what’s left when the colour has been taken away. And yet, colour plays a massive part in the look and feel of a black and white image. So, using variations of the same image, I'll attempt to make a little sense of those settings and show how differnt colours change the tones and effects within a black and white image.
Colour: Kodak Portra 400
When looking to see how a colour image will render in black and white note the complexion and background colour tones. In this portrait we have predominantly subtle red and earthy tones.
Black and White: Silver Effex Pro 2 neutral setting
It's a nice immediate black and white conversion, although there's a lack of contrast between her features and the background.
Black and White: Silver Effex Pro 2 neutral setting + red filter 50% value
By adding a red filter it will lighten red or pink areas and darken blue or brown areas. Skin appears lighter and eyes darker. This can be a nice approach for pale complexions as it allows the eyes to really shine.
Black and White: Silver Effex Pro 2 neutral setting- Green filter 50% value
A green filter/ mix of film is my preferred starting point for black and white as it has a rich warming effect to skin tones.
Black and White: Silver Effex Pro 2 neutral setting - Blue filter 50% value
If you remember your paint mixing as a child you'll remember blue darkening anything you added it to. In black and white it's no different - it will create deep, dark tones for areas red, green and blue. Eyes will darken as will lips, so be careful how much you add.
Black and White: Silver Effex Pro 2 neutral setting + yellow filter 50 % value
Similar to the red filter the yellow will lighten red tones and darken blue and green areas. This is another popular filter to present smoother skin and contrast to allow the eyes to draw the viewer's attention.
Black and White: Silver Effex Pro 2 Tri X film emulation + adjustments
For this I've tweaked the colour channels based within the Kodak TRI-X film recipe. I've attempted to balance between tone and contrast and the spark of her eyes. If my recent poll on social media is anything to go by, opinion will be divided as to which is preferred.
This of course has only scratched the surface of the differences in black and white photography, but hopefully has answered (and raised) a few questions.
Till next time...
Matt Peers
One of the biggest for photographers is the fear of a lack of inspiration and boredom with what they are doing. Many put this down to being in the same place for too long and not being stimulated by the challenge of somewhere new - preferably exotic. In the late 90s I attempted to hold on to my youth and decided to go around Australia till my money ran out ( I know, it was a cliche even then). Sitting in a pub in the middle of the outback, I shared life stories with a leather faced, alcohol fuelled local. As a rural Aussie born and bred, he thought my living in London was the height of adventure. I ,on the other hand, revelling in the outdoor life of hiking, campfires and dawn till dusk sunshine would have happily swapped my rain filled, cramped commuting life at the drop of a hat. The reality, of course, is the grass always looks greener - or in this case, outback orange.
There is an inherent danger in the desire for the new, as it can stop you looking at what is around you in your everyday life. Think of that car journey you do over and over again.The monotonous routine can regularly leave you unable to remember any significant details of it. This state of mind is the photographers' enemy and to combat it last year I started a project that focuses my attention on the mundane elements of life, in particular the building where I work . There's nothing particularly special about it, in fact the building is a poor example of 1960s architecture - all brutal and without the drama and retrospective cool of the period. And yet, like people it has good and bad days, can be full of light and shade and even a touch mysterious. So, here’s to Baker Building; my portrait of a place and to continually looking.
Till next time...
Matt Peers
A couple of years a go I attended a lecture by the seminal photographer Steve McCurry. He's the one that took the famous picture of the Afghan girl with the 'eyes'. To be honest the lecture was pretty dull - a sort of death by power point and greatest hits mixed together - but he did impart some advice that stuck with me; always have a recurrent theme. His was to photograph people sleeping in public ( whatever floats your boat I suppose...) and mine has ,by accident rather than design, been of people smoking. Rather than enter moral or medical arguments about the habit ( for the record I only smoke when I’m rubbed hard enough...), for me it offers a unique window in to the person and their life.
The broad spectrum of people is fascinating; from the cinematic cool looking youngsters to the older generations displaying its long term effects. The lack of public indoor smoking options means it's a great theme for street photography.
Huddled in shop doorways and shelters, the scenes can have a sense of street theatre to them; some dispossessed, rejected by the non smoking world feel to them, others ganged together, laughing and enjoying their nicotine fuelled time together.
Either way, I’m sticking to Steve McCurry’s advice and carrying on my theme, but avoiding people sleeping in public...for now.
Till next time...
Matt Peers
My two boys are now at an age where they want to reenact their favourite TV shows and football matches and it is, noise and all, a joy to watch. Whilst in Cornwall for a half term break I was inspired by their play and imagination to emulate the work of one of my favourite photographers, Tony Ray Jones. In the 1960s he returned to the UK from the studying in US and, taking his experience of New York street photography embarked on a project to show the culture, traditions and changes of the people of England. So, when I had a stolen hour on holiday, I decide to just sit, watch the beach tell the stories and pretended to be Tony Ray Jones.
Till next time.
Matt Peers
This weekend I took my annual pilgrimage to the NEC for The Photography Show ( previously Focus on Imaging). Think car show for petrol heads and sweet shop convention for fat kids and you get the picture (no pun intended). The pixel peepers and lense lusters were definitely out in force salivating at the best the photographic industry has to offer. What was even more apparent than any other time was the availability of exceptional quality aimed at every day consumers. Software vendors promise within a few clicks your images will be outstanding and manufacturers present pocket sized point and shoot cameras querying the notion of lugging around an array of back breaking lenses and camera bodies. If photography is for all, it raises the questions of what value we put on it, and, if we do, what are you actually paying for?
A punter taking a rest from the choice on offer.
I recently attended a conference on school photography, where in the opening address, the chairman bemoaned the current state of the market " where any Johnny come lately who had a digital camera for Christmas think they can do it". This he said was a state of de skilling the work of seasoned pros who are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. These arguments of de skilling can be found regularly in debates such as is the iPhone killing photography? However, I have very little sympathy for the protectionist, elitist view of photography being for the few and not the masses. It's hard to think of any other art form that promotes and fears mass participation in such a way. I wouldn't be persuing my love if it wasn't for the accessibility and advances in digital photography. Access to word processors, pens, note pads, oils and canvases are not questioned when people wish to write and paint. It is about ideas and their application that is key - not the tools themselves. After all, Salman Rushdie wrote the cream cake advert slogan " Naughty but nice" and the Booker prize winning Midnight's Children. It was never about what he wrote them on. For me,photography offers not only to create but also to explore the meaning of what it is to be human in the world ( sorry, I can't get rid of the Psychology student in me just yet..)
It's easy when you know how...
So, if you find yourself wishing to buy an image or the services of a photographer for a special occasion what are you buying? From a technical level you get someone that understands the capacity and quirks of their equipment; why that equipment is right for them; how to handle the light conditions and how the colours or tones of the final image will work. Countless hours will have gone in to answering a multitude of 'what if' scenarios before a single pose has been struck or a button clicked. Ultimately though, it's an ability to share a sense of their view of the world with you and create images that never lose the power to captivate. As the show proves technology will march on,making things easier than ever before. However, the real creativity will always be within the individual.
Till next time...
Matt Peers
OK, it wasn't an exclusive 'hang out with Matt Stuart day' but the next best thing - a Street Photography workshop in conjunction with the Photographers Gallery in London. As postgraduate fees have gone through the roof, I've decided,for now at least, to keep my continual professional development to attending workshops and buying books. And what a valuable day of learning it was!