Photography Challenge - Week 8

Photo Challenges

Welcome to week 8 of our challenges - mine being shoot buildings and Daz’s being mirror image.

My challenge - Shoot Buildings

There’s not much to say about this week. After the horrific events in the community over the past few days, I’ve not wanted to venture out. I did manage a street shot of Drake Circus, however photography - and for that matter everything is completely insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

Reflections

I’m not going to do my usual ‘what did I enjoy’ - nothing has been enjoyable this past week and I think of everyone affected by Bobbi’s tragic loss.

Darren’s Challenge

Darren’s challenge was mirror image which he has completed in both Plymouth and Horrabridge.

Light Reflections

On a boat

Sunset

The Weir

Perfection

Skyflection

In Daz’s words:

Even though I was away for the week visiting family I still wanted to really give this theme a go, as the last couple weeks motivation was one of my issues.

I managed to grab a few captures before I went away which definitely gave me a head start for the week. Whilst being away I managed to get out a couple days with my camera visiting the local village, and grabbed some photos. I also wanted to be a little creative with this as well as you will see in the photos that have been posted.

What did Daz enjoy?

Despite a couple weeks where I have struggled a little mentally / with motivation, I definitely felt a lot better this week. I really wanted to give this weeks theme a real go, and being away visiting family helped and it gave me an opportunity to get out of my hometown.

Lessons to learn

There's a few good and creative ways to explore when doing a theme like this - from using your phone reflection to a simple mirror and reflection in puddles. It's another fun theme that has a good few ways you can play with.

Next week…

We have our themes for next week - and shall be revealing them when we post our next set of photos. Keep an eye out, and we can’t wait to see what the next week will bring.

Photography Challenge - Week 7

Photo Challenges

Welcome to week 7 of our challenges - mine being reflecting on nature and Daz’s being alternative postcard. Daz also opted to take his wildcard, which was save the environment.

My challenge - Reflecting on Nature

This week’s challenge was reflecting on nature, and has not been something that I have been focused on at all. I have had some photoshoots during this past week, so these challenges have had to take a back seat.

Reflections

I wanted to get a shot with a reflection of wildlife to really fit the brief, but the only one to fit this was from day 1 of the challenge. As I say, after that the challenges had to take a back seat.

What did I enjoy?

I enjoyed getting out and doing to photoshoots for people - and not thinking about the challenges. They are still something I am interested in taking part in, however sometimes other things take priority.

Lessons to learn

Make the most of every opportunity when you get chance.

Darren’s Challenge

Darren’s challenge was alternative postcard and save the environment.

Rough road

Eerie Street

Draining city life

Annabels

Top of the tower

Green

Powered by Nature

Young Tree

In Daz’s words:

Where to begin! Another very difficult theme for the week, which at the halfway stage of the 14 themes was to be expected. At first it took me a good while to actually get the motivation to even want to tackle this theme, but as I've learnt in the 6 years I've been doing photography, days like these can and definitely do happen!.

The challenges I had on top of this continued… mostly how to actually go about what I wanted in my head to look like on camera. In the end I started looking at the idea of places or buildings that perhaps you wouldn't really see on a postcard, whether it was from a much closer angle or a completely different perspective. Eventually on the very last day of my theme I came up with another idea - looking for the name of my city in an area you wouldn't really expect on your normal ‘Welcome to Plymouth’ sign.

Most importantly despite the challenges and even motivation certain days, I did get what I was looking at for the theme.

What did Daz enjoy?

I was feeling a little low the last few days hence the lack of motivation with this theme. After getting a few shots it did get a little easier but as always the whole point in these themes and photography in general is to have fun with it, which is the most important thing.

There isn't really anything difficult regarding this theme as it's all how you decide to incorporate it and there are ideas you can certainly play.

Lessons to learn

There isn't really anything difficult regarding this theme as it's all how you decide to incorporate it and there are ideas you can certainly play.

On the wildcard… save the environment

As myself and Phil arrived at the halfway stage of our 14 week theme assignment, the idea was made about mixing it up a little..so a wildcard/bonus theme was introduced.

Now we could either choose to play the wildcard if there was a theme remaining we had that week we didn't want to tackle and in it's place the wildcard would come into play… or it could become a bonus theme. This would be if you didn't want to replace a theme and just wanted it as a bonus theme on top. I decided I would use it as a bonus theme along with my theme for week 7. I was tasked with the theme save the environment, which wasn't as easy as the title suggested.

As I mentioned regarding my Week 7 theme Alternative postcard..my BIGGEST problem was motivation, but I gave it a go. I felt I could have done more regarding this theme and perhaps I chose to tackle it at the wrong time - but most importantly I got a few photos that I felt matched the theme title.

This theme could actually be a fun one to do as a stand alone one. Whether it's solo, grouped or even getting the family involved in! It's got many ways you can tackle it, so definitely don't be afraid to get creative with it.

Next week…

We have our themes for next week - and shall be revealing them when we post our next set of photos. Keep an eye out, and we can’t wait to see what the next week will bring.

Photography Challenge - Week 6

Photo Challenges

Welcome to week 6 of our challenges - mine being worm eye view and Daz’s being photograph a tree at sunset - which he was thrilled about (sarcasm!). We also threw a bit of a spanner in the works, adding a wildcard that we can play if we don’t enjoy the challenge we have. Daz has opted to take his straight away which will be posted here next week. he will be doing this up until the next theme finishes as he took it on in addition to his assigned theme.

My challenge - Worms Eye View

For worms eye view the objective was simple, get lowwwwww. I didn’t want to have to think too much, so went for a low shot of the underside of Daz’s shoe. A bit dark perhaps, but I imagine if there’s one thing worms see a lot of, it’s the underside of shoes right before they get squashed!

The Wrong Side of the Shoe

Other than this shot, I wanted to get some looking up slightly at Smeaton’s Tower. They don’t 100% fit the brief, but the size of the structures still give a sense of scale.

Smeaton’s Tower

What did I enjoy?

I already had the idea for my shots, after mentioning the shoe shot to Daz when he was doing this theme. I opted for black and white to give it a nice bit of contrast of light and dark.

Lessons to learn

There weren’t any lessons to learn really. I pushed the ISO a bit, but with modern cameras it does not really make as much difference as it used to.

Darren’s Challenge

Darren’s challenge was photograph a tree at sunset - and from the offset the weather forecast showed it was going to be tough!

Warm Tones - The warm tones of this shot help give a sunset feel, and perfectly silhouetted the tree.

Multi-shot

Sunrays

Growth

Framed

Cloudy Sunset

Sunset Reflection

In Daz’s words:

Oh, how this theme came at the wrong time for me!

From the get go I knew this theme could be a problem. The weather mostly played a part in this, as the outlook for the week was overcast with occasional showers. I had to think long and hard on how I could manage to get photos for this theme in a week!

I chose to get creative and look at the theme differently to how it actually would normally be done. On the occasional day or two the clouds broke enough for me to get some photos and in truth they didn't look too bad.

This is the point in doing these photography themes weekly, it's design was to test the skill and creativeness of a photographer and 100% it lived up to it here!

Lessons to learn

I would be lying if I said I enjoyed this weeks theme, because I didn't! But that being said it was down to the unfortunate weather conditions that really played its part.

The best advice I can give is try to plan ahead (and keep an eye on the weather conditions) - however that shouldn't stop you from thinking or attempting something creative and outside the box.

Next week…

We have our themes for next week - and shall be revealing them when we post our next set of photos. Keep an eye out, and we can’t wait to see what the next week will bring.

Photography Challenge - Week 5

Photo Challenges

Week 5 of our photo challenge - Alternative Postcard and Get Close!

My challenge - Alternative Postcard

Where to begin?! I started the week just getting shots completely unrelated to the theme. Then I decided to not risk going anywhere due to being close to COVID, and having a lot on with work. So here I am again, 11pm on deadline night finishing off edits of tonight’s pictures and doing a type up!

The Abandoned - The abandoned and haunted ‘Reel Cinema’.

It’s not too often you see an abandoned building on a postcard is it? With that in mind I decided to go for something a little unconventional. I was initially drawn to it due to the green lights being on, despite the building being empty for years.

The Church Font

The shot above is a different angle of the bombed Charles Cross Church, with Gydnia Fountain in the foreground. The church is captured a lot, but with the fountain now restored it has created a new perspective.

What did I enjoy?

There was nothing to enjoy or not enjoy in all honesty. The challenge was set, and completed without a great deal of thought. I know that sounds really half hearted, but there will always be opportunities to get themed shots.

Stumbling on the fountain was a stroke of luck, but the careful looking at composition helped to make the shot a little more than just a typical long exposure.

Lessons to learn

Have fun! That’s what life is all about, the moment you take that element away is when the pressure will start to mount.

Darren’s Challenge

Darren’s challenge was Get Close.

Fallen Leaves - The close up helps you to really appreciate the texture of the leaves, and you can almost hear the crunch of them under your feet.

Dewdrops

Moss

Bokeh - The contrast and colour is stunning in this shot, and the little rings of bokeh in the background create a great sense of depth of field.

Texture

Autumnal

Not Mush-room for Growth

In Daz’s words:

For my theme this week I got tasked with Get Close.

A theme that on paper should have been easy, however things that should be fairly straight forward on paper can at times not turn out to be the case.

My first challenge with this theme was getting my ideas on camera, which became harder than it should have been. In the end I chose to (as I've done with other themes) simply take a step back and re-think my options. I did originally consider going down the macro route, but then thought that may be what the majority of people would do - and I wanted to look at ways that would be different. I began thinking of different perspectives, with both low and high angles whilst remembering to still get close to my subject. I also wanted to consider textures, patterns and anything that would make my captures stand out a little more.

Lessons to learn

This is one of those themes that sounds simple, but can also have challenges. That being said if you can take the time to think outside the box and take a step back when needed then this theme is definitely an interesting one to consider doing.

Next week…

We have our themes for next week - and shall be revealing them when we post our next set of photos. Keep an eye out, and we can’t wait to see what the next week will bring.

Photography Challenge - Week 4

Photo Challenges

Week 4 of our photo challenge - and I got the wonderful Mirror Image, and Daz got A Taste for Vintage. Daz had a different set of hurdles to overcome for this challenge, and I had to overcome the challenge of laziness and zero motivation.

My challenge - Mirror Image

Mirror image? Easy! I’ll get some reflections, take mirror shots or whatever! Oh how wrong I was. With Daz out of Plymouth, I really could not be bothered to go out and about looking for shots. One reason is because of being tired after work or having other plans, another reason is just zero motivation.

So, it’s Thursday night - deadline night, and I have just got back from standing under a shelter at the train station in the pouring rain - stuck for what to shoot. But - I managed it. Don’t get me wrong, in any kind of professional setting or serious photography, I am a stickler for deadlines. Everything is done thoroughly and in plenty of time, but for a hobby photography challenge? Pffft, let’s put some pressure on and see how we get on!

Number 1 - I used my phone to reflect the number 1.

It turns out reflections in the rain are difficult. The raindrops hitting the puddles distorts them, so it’s hard to get a clean shot. To overcome this, I used my phone to reflect the image, held it close to my lens and forced the reflections.

Rainflection

I used this technique over and over, and got some practice in for when a train came. When it turned up I was prepared, and used the phone technique to reflect the light trail.

Train in the Rain - The reflection is entirely captured in the reflection of my phone, but is positioned to look as though it is part of the puddle.

What did I enjoy?

What’s not to love about standing in the rain at 9pm? Ok so I’m being a bit negative, but what I did enjoy was overcoming the challenge. There is no way normal puddle reflections would work, so thinking on my feet to get results was quite rewarding.

Lessons to learn

Always prepare for every eventuality. I hadn’t even thought about the fact it may rain. I had ideas of where I’d go for reflections, but the rain completely ruined those plans. Always check the forecast and prepare accordingly!

Darren’s Challenge

Darren’s challenge was A Taste for Vintage. As he was visiting his mum and sister on the edge of Dartmoor, he was limited by only having his immediate vicinity.

Vintage Car - This shot of an old style car was Daz’s first shot when leaving for Dartmoor.

Postbox - This timeless classic really represents the classic ‘old school’ genre.

Rustic Bell

Faded Daisy - This daisy in front of a faded looking background gives a washed out effect.

Honey’s Bakery - Is a classic village type of shot.

Jag Tower

Reely Abandoned

Time After Time

Timeless Classic

Old Clock Tower

In Daz’s words:

My theme for this week saw me take on a taste for vintage.

When I first got given this assignment for the week I couldn't decide whether I wanted to go for the typical old vintage style (looking for old buildings / monuments or anything that wasn't modern) or the idea of a modern spin (trying to take something modern and incorporating it into something vintage in the editing process). In the end I just went with the flow and chose to do both and merge both modern and old together.

All in all, I really had fun with this theme! I enjoyed the whole idea of scouting out things that would be classed as vintage. If you’re like me I generally like getting out there with the camera more than the editing process - but even with the editing it actually made me consider different styles to match the theme.

This was a theme that is definitely fun and if you want to consider a different style and feel, then I would definitely recommend giving this a go. Even if you can't get out and about with your camera (whether that's down to poor weather, work etc) this is one of those type of themes you can actually look at doing at home as well. Look around for something that may be passed down in your family or something old - or even taking modern things and making them into a vintage edit.

Lessons to learn

When it comes to trying to get the vintage look for your photos, photographers will always have their own way of editing. The way I chose to do this was to look at 5 different characteristics.

• Low colour saturation - Quite simply lower your saturation level down.
• Low contrast - Decrease the contrast while slightly increasing brightness to create a haze effect.
• Noise - Old photos have a high level of noise, so use a film grain noise or HSV noise.
• Yellow tint - Adjust the colour balance by favouring yellow & red. Use other tools such as colour temperature, curves & colour mixer.
• Vignetting - Darken the edges of an image while keeping the subject brighter.

Next week…

We have our themes for next week - and shall be revealing them when we post our next set of photos. Keep an eye out, and we can’t wait to see what the next week will bring.

Photography Challenge - Week 3

Photo Challenges

Week 3 of our photo challenge led us both to a new theme, with me getting ‘It’s a small world’ and Daz getting ‘In the frame’. Throughout the blog you can see how we tackled the theme, along with our thoughts, tips and hurdles.

My challenge - It’s a small world

When I was given ‘It’s a small world’ I thought it would be really easy, and decided to go down the route of macro. After I got one macro shot, I thought it may be a bit of a cop out, and decided to wait for clear skies instead.

‘Hang in there’ was my first shot. I loved the one piece clinging on and the background separation.

Although I am really happy with the shot, macro seemed like a simple solution to the challenge, and my idea behind wanting clear skies was to shoot the stars. The whole concept of ‘It’s a small world’ is really emphasised by staring into the endless skies.

This solo tree made a good foreground element, contrasted by the large landscape behind and the even bigger landscape in the stars above.

The clear night came on deadline night. Luckily for me we also realised it was the Orionids meteor shower as I was taking the above image. We headed to a dark skies site, and whilst the moon was still low on the horizon I managed to get a shot of the milky way, something in the foreground, and two meteors on the left hand side. I intentionally kept the foreground elements small in comparison to the large sky.

The meteors on the left hand side were a slice of luck, but I like to think of luck being preparation meeting opportunity.

What did I enjoy?

I absolutely loved getting to do more astro shots. By being completely relaxed about the challenge I was able to enjoy it a lot more. Opportunities will always come up, it’s just a matter of being prepared for when they do.

Lessons to learn

The lessons to take are to stay true to what you want. I could easily have gone back to macro, however I wanted something a little outside the box which is what I was able to achieve.

Darren’s Challenge

Darren’s challenge was ‘In the frame’ which was initially something that was proving to be a bit of a pain. On our first evening out it seemed a bit deflating, with no shots feeling right.

Daz then got off the mark by using his camera to create the frame.

This waterfall was nicely framed through the leaves.

As was this pathway.

The curved lines of the leaf perfectly frames the walkway and also shows the fallen leaves on the ground.

Baby Groot framed nicely between a blurred foreground and blurred background.

Plymouth’s highest building between figures of Scott of the Antarctic and Charles Darwin.

A solitary flower amongst the greenery.

Nature’s framing around a pathway.

The trees nicely framed Beckley Point from another perspective.

This beautiful autumn scene was framed through a side window of a shelter.

Beckley framed through a fence.

On a wet and windy day, Daz was able to make the use of framing in the doorway to get a shot without having to leave home!

A different perspective from the shelter from a couple of shots up.

A unique angle of Beckley.

A long exposure of a train passing through the window frame of a metal shelter.

Another long exposure of a train passing through the frame of the shelter.

In Daz’s words:

I asked myself ‘how did I want to approach this?’ To some I know that may sound like a silly thing to say, but as I've learnt people will always have their own style and spin on certain types of photography - or in this case a theme. I decided I would look at this theme as a way of taking a subject/s and try and frame them within another type of frame.

My biggest challenge came in the first few days. I had the ideas in my head on how I would like to accomplish photos for this theme, but I just couldn't get those ideas onto camera. I decided to take a step back and had a chat with my best mate, that person being Phil. He threw some ideas of his own at me and it gave me that little extra spark I needed to crack on with getting those photos I wanted.

In all, and despite the first few days I actually enjoyed this theme. It definitely made me consider a subject/s and how to perhaps capture them in a much different way.

Lessons to learn

If I had any advice for someone who would consider taking up this type of photography I would, as always, say when you get to a spot or location have a good look around your setting. Look at angles and perspectives. If needs be don't be afraid to ask someone else for advice and perhaps get new insight as well.

Next week…

We will have our themes for next week a little later on today - and shall be revealing them when we post our next set of photos. Keep an eye out, and we can’t wait to see what the next week will bring.

Photography Challenge - Week 2

Photo Challenges

At the beginning of October we set out to complete a 14 week photo challenge, with each of us covering off the topics in the picture below. This past week, Daz drew number 6 for me - meaning I had ‘Birds in flight’ - the topic I was most looking forward to. I picked out number 1 for Daz (sorry mate!) meaning his subject was ‘Worms eye view’.

My challenge - Birds in flight

After the challenges of ‘Into the blue’ I was determined to hit the ground running with birds in flight. Feeling much better after recovering from last weeks cold, I felt refreshed and prepared to tackle my favourite photography subject.

Birds in Flight - Cormorant

I spotted this cormorant hurtling towards us, and put the ISO to auto, to enable me to use a fast shutter speed. Using zone focus on the eos R meant that I was able to track the bird as it flew through the frame.

A gull in flight

The gull above was one of many that was being fed by people walking along the lake. They were throwing bread to the swans when suddenly a load of gulls swooped down - giving me a perfect opportunity to get shots for my challenge.

A buzzard flying overhead

The circling buzzard

The final image is of a cormorant coming in to land. 3 of them had been darting up and down the river, stopping to dive for fish on some occasions. This one hurtled in at speed, and crashed into the water below.

Crash landing

What did I enjoy?

In a word, everything. I absolutely love taking pictures of birds in flight, whether it be a robin or a peregrine falcon. The wingspans, eye colours and feather details are brilliant to capture.

Lessons to learn

Don’t be afraid of high ISO. With my previous camera 800 ISO was the maximum I could use before photos became unusable. This is not the case anymore, and I feel confident that even at 12,000 ISO I can get a decent shot.

Darren’s challenge - Worms eye view

Darren had the inspiring ‘Worms eye view’ which he was thrilled with. I’m not sure how well sarcasm transcends via this, but just to emphasise that was intended to be sarcastic.

Initial thoughts were to get low and look up, and Daz started strongly. We headed to a local lake which is effectively a graveyard for abandoned ships.

The rope heading to the ship gave a brilliant leading line. Taken from low in the muddy banks, this instantly met the criteria of worms eye view.

Similarly this low angled shot looking up at the dandelion made the blades of grass look huge.

The machinery from a building site gave a interesting backdrop.

The leading lines, geometric shapes and blue tone gave this a really modern / futuristic feel.

The ladybird gave a pop of red in this stunning shot. The large leaf contrasts well with the ladybird, again giving a sense of scale.

The light in this shot really makes the subject stand out.

Looking up at the ceiling of a car park stairwell.

Stumbling across a caterpillar on ‘worms eye view’ week was lucky, and excellently captured. You can almost feel the fuzziness of the caterpillar.

Looking up through the blades of grass at the lone tree, just starting to present autumnal colours.

In Daz’s words:

This weeks theme was a lot trickier than the one I did last week - mostly because of the different challenges it entailed. The main challenge I really had to overcome wasn’t so much the challenge of the theme, but the ideas in my head. Capturing those ideas wasn’t as easy on camera and I felt the best way for me to accomplish the results I wanted was to walk around and look out for certain angles and perspectives.

Despite the initial challenges, I ended up with a few photos that worked and met the theme.

Lessons to learn

If I had any tips or pointers for this theme it would be: Don’t be afraid to get down very low - or even lay on your back and point your camera up.

Next week…

We will have our themes for next week a little later on today - and shall be revealing them when we post our next set of photos. Keep an eye out, and we can’t wait to see what the next week will bring.

Photography Challenge - Week 1

Introduction to Photo Challenges

Last week I picked up Darren, my longest friend who is also a keen photographer - whose Instagram and Facebook I shall link below. He suggested doing photography challenges as an assignment, in order to try either different types of photography, or to encourage us to get creative with themes.

Darren put together a list of 7 ideas, and I did the same, leaving us with a 14 week challenge.

From here, we decided to use a random number generator - I would choose a random number for Darren, and vice versa.

My challenge - Into the Blue

My week one challenge was - Into the Blue. Instantly my mind turned to blue hour, and the idea of trying to get a good kingfisher shot. I wanted to only get one picture. My aim was to simply shoot one and post it, no matter how it turned out - but I came to the conclusion that if I did that I would not be treating it seriously enough.

Hampered by feeling ill and having to await PCR test results (as a precaution), I managed to get a shot last night - 24 hours before the deadline we’d set ourselves.

Into the Blue - a shot of the Tamar Bridge at blue hour.

I had been desperately trying to get a blue boat to stay still, but the movement of the waves was making the boat move - making a long exposure impossible. Darren pointed out these stakes in the water, so I went for a low shot at 24mm, to get in the edge of the Tamar bridge.

The challenge itself proved to be exactly that. I did not enjoy it one bit, as suddenly everything blue decided to be a nightmare to shoot. Had it not been for Daz I would still have been there trying to steady the boat - so I really owe him for his help!

What did I enjoy?

After a few days of isolating as a precaution, I enjoyed simply getting out and about. The challenge itself I felt quite… well… challenging, and quite restrictive. Everything I wanted to shoot suddenly didn’t feel right, so I didn’t take the shot and left it until the last minute.

Lessons to learn

The lessons for me to take from this was not to pressure myself to only take on shot. For me, photography is taking the shots that feel right. You have to feel a shot for the audience to connect to it. Shooting at blue hour greatly helped to get a shot that met the criteria.

Darren’s challenge - Shoot Buildings

Darren drew the number 12 - Shoot Buildings. We’ve been to many locations for architecture photography, everything from bridges, to university buildings and shopping centres. Daz took a different approach, and one that I am very envious of. He started incredibly strong, getting some stunning shots of some of the architectural beauties in our city of Plymouth.

Shooting up at these stunning buildings gave Daz some really interesting perspectives, with stunning geometric shapes. This shows the buildings in all their glory, I imagine exactly how the architects envisioned them.

The clouds make the images really pop, and the sharp angles and leading lines offer a really unique view of something most people would not notice.

Beckley Point, Plymouth’s tallest building.

Looking up at the clouds gave great colour and contrast.

The famous ‘point’ at the top of Beckley Point.

The point to the blue skies.

The rails added a great leading line heading toward the building.

The white clouds bouncing off the windows create a well balanced shot.

A mix of old and new - the older style brickwork really helps the unique colours of Beckley stand out.

Standing tall.

Daz also captured some older style architecture.

This angle shows the ‘steps’ of Beckley, each reflecting additional storeys.

In Daz’s words

The theme I was given for my photography assignment week 1 was Shoot Buildings. Now this was pretty much exactly how the theme says - however I decided from the get go of this theme that I was going to make the photos I captured different from the usual "OK there's a building..SNAP!..there's my shot of a building".

I decided I would take a few hours to take a good walk around my location and look at different compositions and even what the weather was doing as well, and whether I could incorporate any clouds in my shot, or even people as well. Eventually I settled on just getting the first capture and went from there.

Most of my captures I did for this theme I focused on the idea of shooting from a lower level to show off the size of the buildings. On some others I simply zoomed in and only captured part of the building.

Lessons to learn

My advice for a theme like this is quite simply take the extra few hours or so and really take in as much as you possibly can. Walk the area in your location, consider compositions and consider the small details. In the 6 years I've been doing photography I learnt very early on that when it comes to photography its all about your style! It's about what made you decide to capture the image.

What's absolutely amazing about photography is actually seeing those different styles from people, what they were perhaps thinking at the time they may have taken a certain photo, and why did they choose that certain composition? I look at photography as an artist with a paintbrush. They also need to think about how to make the painting they do interesting - and they need to take into account there subject they are going to paint. All these things can be taken into account with a camera.

This theme really did help me explore architectural photography in a different way and the many possible ways you can make a simple building capture look that bit more interesting.

More of Daz’s shots can be found on his Facebook and on his Instagram.

Next week…

We have our themes for next week, and shall be revealing the themes when we post our photos. Keep an eye out, and we can’t wait to see what the next week will bring.

The luck of the draw

The alarm goes off - you get in the shower, pick up the camera and head out to get your dream shot… or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work.

Those of us who have been doing this for a while know that’s rarely the case. There will often be some kind of spanner in the works that we have to overcome for our vision to come to fruition. This is something we all face from time to time, but the unpredictability of mother nature can make wildlife photography particularly challenging.

Although we cannot control certain elements, we can make the most of them when opportunities come our way. Some call it luck, but I like to think of luck being a combination of preparation and opportunity coming together.

I have included the image below as an example of when things unexpectedly come together. For some time I had been watching the kingfishers and studying them as they flew up and down the river. I arrived to one of the spots that I had noticed them stopping as they passed through, and was not expecting to see one straight away. I sat my bag down and immediately heard the high pitched call. He was sat so close, and just within the minimum focus distance of the 600mm lens. Had he been any closer, I would have struggled to get the shot.

In short, you have to get out there. On those days where you aren’t sure whether you want to venture out - do it! If things don’t go to plan, you’ll adapt and overcome - and may even learn some techniques along the way. If things go right, you may just get a moment of magic.