Alien Landscapes

Alien Landscapes

Reading Time: 3 minutesKodak Ektachrome Professional Infrared EIR Film has become a bit of a holy grail for experimental photographers, and I have seen it command prices of over £100 on ebay. I was lucky enough to get hold of a roll in a mixed bundle of old films (along with 2 HIE Black and White infra-red rolls for about £14 – I guess the guy didn’t know what he had!).

EIR is a ‘false colour’ technical film, coated on an Estar base with a sensitivity from 380-900nm – this covers the full visible spectrum and some of the near-UV and all of the near-IR range. Near Infra-red wavelengths are rendered as a deep visible red, and due to the ‘Woods Effect’ (reflection of n-IR wavelengths from foliage) this means that foliage comes out in this colour creating strange and bizarre visual effects.

White Balance (It’s largely a matter of taste)

White Balance (It’s largely a matter of taste)

Reading Time: 6 minutesWhite balance refers to how your eyes identify colour in an image. What I aim to show in this tutorial is that sometimes, there is no ‘correct’ white balance, it is a matter of taste and creative vision. I am going to try and avoid 

Photocamp 2013

Photocamp 2013

Reading Time: 6 minutesIt’s been a busy weekend here. I must confess I was a little apprehensive about all this. Not really by choice, but simply because I haven’t really found many people as obsessed as I am with taking pictures , much of my photography has been 

ISS Flyby

ISS Flyby

Reading Time: 2 minutesAs a photographer, like anything, there is always a possibility that nature will not play ball. I think this rates highly as one of those. The International Space Station actually passes quite frequently and visibly, but this was supposedly a good show, where it would 

Focal Length, Depth of Field, and Field of View

Focal Length, Depth of Field, and Field of View

Reading Time: 12 minutesFocal Length, Field of View and Depth of Field… These all sound very exciting. Or maybe not. Perhaps they just sound slightly frightening. They are the sort of thing that you can delve into in quite some complexity, or try to avoid as much as 

How to fuel your GAS – A buying guide for second hand cameras

How to fuel your GAS – A buying guide for second hand cameras

Reading Time: 10 minutesI have come to accept that I have GAS and I cannot control it. GAS? Gear Acquisition Syndrome. I had to put this in because it is the oldest puerile joke among photographers, but now it is out of the way I will get on 

Nuclear Implosion

Nuclear Implosion

Reading Time: 5 minutesThere has been a bit of a buzz recently about this new film produced by Adox. This promises ‘Imploding Colours, Bursting Reds and Toxic Grain’. I have read that it was in fact a dud batch with one of the layers incorrectly coats. It is 

Families, Flu, and Extreme Photography – Part 1

Families, Flu, and Extreme Photography – Part 1

Reading Time: 7 minutesI have recently got back from my first family holiday since my son was born, staying in a lovely cottage managed by my mother in the village of Cwm Penmacho in rural Conwy. This little village lies at the head of the Machno Valley, about 

Streaks of Light

Streaks of Light

Reading Time: 4 minutes…I have been discussing this work with another photographer, Andreas Andrews, who also uses light trails and long exposures in his work, though often in his case with a very steady set up so that the background is rendered sharp and the trails very clean.  I think that both styles have their appeal – there is a definite calm to clean straight trails, but sometimes the atmosphere of a place is better rendered with some chaos and confusion…

Mending my Ricoh 500G

Mending my Ricoh 500G

Reading Time: 4 minutesI recently got hold of a little Ricoh 500G from the local car-boot sale. The shutter and lens were all in good nick, but there was a crack to the viewfinder covering, and when I opened it I was met by sticky black pile of 

Abstract Impressionism – Part one: Motion

Abstract Impressionism – Part one: Motion

Reading Time: 5 minutesInspired by a recent article on Digital Photography School I would also like to present some ideas for shooting beautiful impressionist images. Often in photography we strive to create realistic images, which are super-sharp and capturing what the eye actually sees. Of course, what the 

Image Rescue…

Image Rescue…

Reading Time: 6 minutesOne of the benefits of shooting black and white film, is its latitude, the range of contrast it can reproduce. I am not going to go into great detail about this here, as for the purposes of this tutorial it is not necessary, read up