Flora: May/June 2019

Posted on by Obscure Thing

I am planning to create a business using my photography, editing, layout and writing skills. It would be lovely to think that I could work on a magazine creation (possibly of my own) and make a living from it, but that would be unlikely. It won’t stop me from creating my own magazine and sharing it with anyone who wants to read it. Selling images as prints for framing or selling images for commercial use or as stock photography is definitely something a photographer can fairly easily do to earn some cash. I need to make a living from this thing I love doing but I’m struggling to see how it’s possible.

How on earth does a student photographer see their way through to selling their work for a living?

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Peaks: February 2019

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One of our assessments for our second semester magazine project was to produce a full advertorial for inclusion in the magazine and marking. We spent a day with Fujifilm in the Dark Peaks at the Derbyshire/Sheffield border taking images with Chris Upton. Some of the images I took on the day are included here. I particularly loved the quality of light at the site, and the wilderness of it. I have since re-visited the area a few times, but must go back again soon to attempt more landscape photography.

Budapest: January 2019

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We took a short break to Budapest, as it is a city I have wanted to visit for a very long time. Obviously, my camera came with me. I couldn’t possibly have left it behind…

My plans are to travel as much as earning money will allow me in the future, after graduating with my Masters degree, but for now I remain a poor student so any kind of holiday is so much appreciated. Equally, any travel is a great opportunity to learn more, and I try to take those opportunities and use them.

On this holiday, although it was short, I used the hotel location with a window overlooking the beautiful train station building and busy roads to try some long exposure shots of traffic light trails at night. This was my first attempt at light trails and I was relatively pleased that the technique worked and with the results.

Wollaton Stags: October 2018

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Obviously, everyone is out taking images of rutting and prancing stags at the moment, as it is that time of year! I have been up to my eyeballs in uni work and actual work, and have been unlucky with sunrise and sunsets. I did get a few images of the very friendly deer at Nottingham’s Wollaton Hall and Park site (and a cheeky crow).

Chasing light: September/October 2018

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At the end of September I started a Masters course in Biological Photography and Imaging. This has meant a huge shift in terms of comfort levels when using my camera. My obsession with AV mode on the Canon EOS 5D Mk III has been fixed!

We have a number of assignment deadlines coming up already, but I have managed to get out and about both on the incorporated field trips and in my spare (haha) time. Here are a few images from our various trips and my own trips out.

 

Calke, Derbyshire: August 2018

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One of the things which always lifts my mood is photography. The other is spending time in wild spaces with wildlife. Combining these two is awesome. I have spent more time in Calke park’s bird hide and attempted to get some slightly sharper images. I have, in the process, come to the conclusion that I need to be using a tripod all the time!

These images are still not sharp enough and, in some cases, the sharpness seems to have become distortion instead, where feathers look overly textured and spiky. I use Lightroom to adjust sharpness in places, where I think it is needed, but I try to keep sharpening to a minimum as it can look awful. I have left some of these without sharpening. I find photography frustrating and confusing at times, and close up bird photography is the greatest source of both of these for me!

Equipment used was a Canon EOS 5D Mk. III with the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5 Mk. I telephoto lens. Handheld. I set the ISO to 400 to avoid too much grain and stuck to using AV mode to gain a shallow depth of field. My shutter speed is often fairly low, and I need to try again using TV mode to increase the shutter speed and capture in-flight images.

Focus

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I can’t decide if I prefer the previously posted image of the lilies where I’ve focused on the petals, or the image here where the focus was on a tiny point on a stamen, and the rest of the image has a blurred quality. I love the colours and shapes. Suspect I prefer the blurred version here, with shallow depth of field, as it feels more artistic and subjective.

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