JPEG remains one of the most widely recognised and easily viewable photographic file formats in the world today. However, to truly understand its value, particularly in the context of luxury portrait photography, we first need to appreciate the importance of RAW capture. A RAW file is exactly what the name suggests: pure, unprocessed data captured directly by the camera’s sensor. Much like undeveloped film in traditional photography, this data must be carefully developed befo

The initials ISO stand for the International Standards Organisation. Of which I am sure we have all heard of, because they set the standards for so much of the modern world! When camera film was being developed, each company set their own standard, by this I mean the sensitivity to light and the way the film reacted to light. And of course, this was only monochrome film, colour film took a long time to develop and become popular. A guy called Oskar Barnack, who worked for Lei

The Importance of Hyperfocal Distance Sounds complex, but it is not. Hyperfocal distance is a crucial concept in photography, particularly in portrait and brand photography. It refers to the distance from the lens to the focal point that is in focus, as well as the distance beyond that focal point that remains in focus. Understanding this concept can significantly enhance the quality of photographs. When creating a portrait, the choice of aperture plays a vital role. For inst

Understanding the Editing Process Editing a modern digital photograph is akin to developing an analogue photograph. The process requires precision and attention to detail to achieve the desired outcome. Initially, I capture a photo as a RAW image. This format allows the digital file to retain as much information from the original exposure as possible. The RAW format is essential for high-quality editing. The First Level Edit The first level of editing is performed on the RAW

I bought my first camera in 1974. It was a cheap Russian camera that took standard 35mm film, what we now refer to as full frame. This camera had the absolute minimum of controls. To adjust the aperture, I used a ring on the front of the lens. There was a small dial to turn for the shutter speed. To focus, I used another slightly larger ring on the lens. On the top of the camera was an eyepiece with a prism inside, allowing me to see the mirror. What I could see appeared to b

Exposure! Exposure is probably the single most important concept in photography! The use of the word comes from the origins of photography where a light sensitive material was exposed to light to make the image. The process has gone through many iterations of glass plates, light sensitive chemicals and materials, to the present day sensors. The exposure of a photo is the combination of three basic components, all to do with light. That’s why its called “photography” writing o

The Warm Embrace of the Aegean She lay in the warm Aegean water, basking under the hot Grecian sun. The gentle swell rocked her back and forth. She felt a sense of happiness. Occasionally, the old man would come to row her out to sea. He would sit on the little bench seat, reading while the boat gently swayed. Sometimes, he would bring his fishing tackle and catch a fish. Upon returning to shore, he would excitedly scurry up the stony beach, taking his catch home to his famil

This is one of my favourite bits of photography, being able to isolate the bit of the subject that I want to. It is inexorably...

I had not properly conceptualised this, it works for photography and every other field of business. “A customer is someone who purchases...

B – Bokeh Bokeh is originally a Japanese word “Bokeru” to become befuddled or confused. It gradually evolved, until in the 1990s it...

A – Aperture. The aperture is quite simply the hole that the light comes through. The bigger the hole, the more light reaches the...

Photographing the Emerald Ball for Kemp Hospice . I have done a number of events for Kemp, mainly providing first aid cover for their...

Somewhen in December 2021, I was doom scrolling through my Facebook when I saw a post, "Help" it said. A local theatre group had been let down by their photographer at very short notice. So I replied "Me", within a few minutes Jack contacted me. So I went to Tenbury High School to meet up. I think its called happenstance! Jack and I immediately got on well together. I think that this first shoot, was for Matilda. Since then I have photographed 38 session for Ludwig Theatre A

Choosing a wedding venue is a very difficult thing to do, some people get married at home, some in a church, a hotel, a tent, etc, etc...

The idea for this has slowly been germinating for nearly four years. I have known Susie for about 20 years. In 2019 she rang me to say...

For most of us, our parents are pretty wonderful people. They brought us into the world, and I feel that our children are the most...

My intention is to make a fabulous photo of you! There are three interdependent factors involved in this. The first and perhaps the most important is emotion, without the emotional part, the image, is nothing like so good. The second is the "listening", I'll explain later, then the technicalities. The most important part of making a photo is the emotion it portrays, this is what make's it a good photograph. It's the emotion that enables the photo to stir our memories, weeks,

From the Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford film, "The Way We Were" and composed by Marvin Hamlisch. I can just about remember going to...

The body is a highly complex multi-cellular organism which has evolved to its present form over a very long period of time. This paper...

On a rather dull Wednesday morning a few weeks ago, at the beginning of November 2021, I got an "messenger" message from an unknown...