Behind the image #12

Sometimes the margin between success and perceived failure can be measured in 1/100s or even 1/1000s of a second. I was there like some visual gunslinger ready to draw and be ready for whatever little moment may present itself. And, then quick as a flash, it duly did.

However, I felt so annoyed that I missed this opportunity to make this image sharp and 'technically' perfect that I didn't look at it for months after. I keep it because I thought I may soften my feelings to it and, thankfully, I have. I may even go far to suggest that its imperfection actually adds rather than detracts from the final look and feel. There may also be an analogous lesson about being easier on yourself, accepting imperfections and realising things aren't as bad as first percieved...but I'll leave that to you.

Till next time...

Matt Peers

Standing allowed...this much I know.

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...

Treat photographers like musicians

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 

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Image courtesy of John Morgan

The web is great, but the printed page is better

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.

Better still, buy the book after visiting the exhibition

It's like going to see them live and listening to the CD later.

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Or in this case just visit the exhibition...

Ditch the zoom and get a fixed prime lens

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.

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Two very different images but both taken with the same 35mm prime lens

Try and do something everyday

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.

Don't get hung up on effects

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.

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Edit carefully

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.

A forced smile is like a faked male orgasm...

...its easy to spot and nobody leaves feeling great. An honest expression will always make  for a better portrait compared to a forced grin.

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Till next time...

Matt Peers

Displaced fruit and other New York oddities

Summer's over and so is the travelling for another year. In the last of the New York blogs ( I promise, I promise) I wanted to share a type of image you may not always consider taking. 

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I've seen owners detach their rear wheel to deter thieves before, but I've never seen a selection 5 left waiting...?

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Like the funnels of a pavement passenger liner, I love the way the third one is leaning in for a bit of support.

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Manhattan is all about the skyline until you just look at the midline; then it can be just rows upon rows of vertical lines.

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The big highlight for my eldest son this trip was to see the Statue of Liberty. Not for any historical or cultural reasons you understand, no; it's because it was a giant 'weeping angel' in his favourite Doctor Who episode. I'd discussed it and watched it so many times with him, that when I saw this knitwear dropped on 5th Avenue, I immediately thought of the iconic landmark.

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Although this doesn't capture the grandeur of Grand Central Station, it is actually quite gloomily lit inside. 

Till next time...

Matt Peers

Boardwalk Empowered: An afternoon in Coney Island

To my shame, my trips to New York have focused on visiting Manhattan and the ‘burbs to visit family. It is easy to overlook other areas and surrounding states simply because it is a huge area to cover. However, this year I was determined to break this cycle and explore beyond the usual city haunts and visit Coney Island (If your New York geography needs refreshing, Coney Island is the coastal area situated off the district of Brooklyn).

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Completely devastated by Hurricane Sandy ( I’m not an insurance company and so will call it by its true name), the boardwalk has only just been rebuilt, along with the inclusion of new fairground rides and the promise of an all new and improved Coney Island. I have to admit I was a tad worried that its infamous gritty look and atmosphere would be lost to corporate led gentrification.

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I needn't have worried. With the imposing backdrop of the high rise 'projects' and an atmosphere of uncertain tension, I knew I was in for a good photographic afternoon. My only regret is I hadn't done this years ago.

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Next time...the last from New York - abstracts.

Matt Peers

City of Dreams: New York Street Photography

Thanks to an understanding and long suffering other half I was able to indulge my love of  street photography within our recent family trip to New York. For me New York is the Mecca of street photography, with a look and a feel that is instantly recognisable. It doesn't matter how much of a fan you are, you can't just turn up to Lords or Wembley and decide to bowl a few overs or a have kick about, and yet wondering through the streets of Manhattan I always feel like I have been allowed on to the biggest, most famous photographic set of them all. The noise, smells, the light and energy of people create a place where it feels a great director from above has shouted 'Action!' and everyone is playing their part. Luckily, it is also saturated with camera toting tourists, making it one of if not the most easiest places to blend in and quietly get on with what you want to shoot.

Gallery 1 - Lower and Mid Town

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I'm not keen on the 'mug shot' of thrusting a camera in unsuspecting face, but it amazed me how close you could get without a bat of an eye lid. Unusually for me, my black and white images were few and far between. New York for many photographers is the place where they convert to colour and away from black and white forever. I'm not sure I'm going that far, but that constant vibrancy of life and colour, I can certainly see why.

Gallery 2 - Black and White

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Gallery 3 - Up close and personal

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I've realised over the last year or so that the term and genre of street photography is a contentious one with forums overflowing with arguments about is or isn't included. If, however they provide a smell and a sense of the streets of New York, then I have at least in part succeeded.

Next time: This ain't Kansas now Dorothy... A brief trip, but very memorable trip to Coney Island.

Behind the image #2

This is André and Suzanne and they are engaged to be married. I only know this as I was standing by them on the top of the Rockefeller Centre in New York as he popped the question. Unbeknownst to them I started to photograph the special moment ( it seemed clear that she was overwhelmed with joy rather than an awkward, "I’ll think about it") and allowed the story to unfold. Carefully picking my moment I handed them my card, and since then we’ve been in touch and they are delighted with their candid proposal images. Here’s wishing you a long and happy life together.

Till soon…

Matt Peers