UPDATED JUNE 2021 Does the smartphone camera have potential for ‘real’ photography or is it solely for taking snapshots and social media sharing? Since it is the camera I always have on hand I decided to investigate its potential. With the numerous advances in smartphone camera technology in recent years the camera in your pocket has become a very capable image-making device and I don’t believe that smartphone cameras can any longer be totally dismissed as being inferior to ‘real’ cameras. Many of the modern phone cameras produce excellent image quality and, additionally, provide many of the opportunities for ‘real’ photography provided by dedicated cameras. Photography purists will insist that only a DSLR or mirrorless camera will provide the quality necessary for real photography, although an increasing number of photographers admit that they use smartphone cameras on occasion. In reality, not everyone will always have a DSLR with its many lenses with them and, ultimately, it is better to have a camera than to have none, particularly if it is one of the better smartphone cameras. Clifford Pickett is one photographer who uses an iPhone to take professional landscape photographs and he has several training videos demonstrating his techniques. These have been instrumental in giving me confidence in using my phone camera and sharing my results knowing that the quality of the images is not compromised because they are shot with a phone camera. How to shoot dramatic landscape photos on iPhone Advantages of phone cameras Apart from the fact that the phone camera is always with us, there are several other advantages of these highly portable devices. Instant storage and immediate sharing Photos are easily stored online. There is no software to contend with, no worries about having a USB lead or other file transferring system to transfer photos onto a pc. Online storage options mean that photos are there immediately on both phone and pc for uploading to a website, sharing on social media or post-processing. Geotagging When travelling around the country I often know the general area in which I take my photographs but I find it is very useful, when I come to share or work on my photos, to have the exact geographical location identified. Lough Owel, Portnashangan, Multifarnham, Co. Westmeath, Ireland I knew the general location in which I stopped to take these photographs as the sun was going down over a beautiful lake, but my phone gave me the exact location. Range of portable accessories to make for a better photography experience Although many recent phone cameras have two, three or even four lenses built in, many need the addition of external lenses to give a variety in focal length. Fortunately, many excellent quality add-on lenses are available, and I find that the macro lens, in particular, is a useful addition to the phone camera repertoire as it makes this interesting aspect of photography possible. Optical stabilisation is becoming more common on phone cameras but for that true photography feel, and a reduction in camera shake, a tripod and remote shutter release give us numerous possibilities such as long exposure (possible with some newer phone cameras) time lapse photography or shooting in low light conditions. Some sturdy but extremely portable mobile tripods are widely available. Discreet tool for photography in variety of situations There are always occasions when you want to blend into the background with your camera. Doing street photography is one occasion when you want to capture candid images therefore need to be as discreet as possible. Street photography often requires the photographer to watch and wait. You almost have to read the future, interpret how the elements are going to line up to make an interesting picture, be in the right place at the right time to catch that fleeting moment, and of course have your camera on hand to capture it. Almost no-one takes any notice of someone holding a phone so you can wander and watch discreetly. Photographing at a family occasion or public event is a time when you want your camera to be as inconspicuous as possible, as are occasions when you are taking natural, candid photographs of your children or grandchildren. A phone camera does not draw attention to the same extent that a DSLR with its large lenses does and children are generally unaware of its presence. Apps available for post processing and various enhancements There is a great range of mobile apps available, from both Android Play Store and Apple App Store, which add interest and various possibilities to your smartphone camera. Many different editing apps as well as apps that allow you to add copyright information to your images, apps that allow you to do long exposure photography with your phone camera or apps that help you achieve bokeh (blurry background) are just some of the apps available. A Google search for best smartphone apps will return lots of results, or for a quick overview of apps available in different categories, check out: https://www.cliffordpickett.com/screenshots-iphone-photography-2019 Easy to learn Perhaps this is the most important advantage of all. Phone cameras are very intuitive, and it is super easy to learn how to operate the camera itself and to master some skills which will elevate your photography to a new level. More on this in the next section. Since I don't have to get to grips with buttons and dials I can concentrate on experimenting with different compositions Creative phone photography All forms of photography are basically about utilising the same set of skills, regardless of what device you use to capture your image. Skills such as achieving a well composed image, displaying a unique perspective, finding and making use of good light and having an emotional connection to what you are photographing are as important, if not more so, than the equipment you use. Creating images with your phone camera not only allows you to experiment with composition techniques but also with focal length, exposure and perspective. You can also inspire your creativity by shooting in different land or seascapes, on the streets, by investigating macro or by taking portraits of people and pets. Depth of field can now be achieved with some phone camera modes and long exposure images are achievable with some newer phone cameras. The lack of real optical zoom is a disadvantage with smartphone cameras, but it does force us to become more creative, to zoom with our feet and adjust our compositions to accommodate this weakness. We may not be able to take a close-up image of a distant subject but finding a leading line to draw the eye to the subject can make for a compelling image and compensate for the lack of zoom ability. With the addition of an ultra wide angle lens on my iPhone 11 Pro I have had many opportunities for experimentation. Conclusion While many people use their smartphone cameras for casual photography and social media sharing, there is a lot more to smartphone photography than just this. If, like me, you are always on the lookout for good photo opportunities, interested in varying your compositions and experimenting with technique, light and colour, the smartphone will allow you to be spontaneous and creative. I find that I am constantly looking around while out walking – for strong patterns, vivid colours and unusual objects or scenes which might make an interesting picture. I often stop when driving if I come across a lake or mountain range, even a country lane, to assess their potential for a photograph. When you begin to look at the world from a photographer’s point of view, to assess every subject for its photographic potential, the mobile phone is immediately available to turn that potential image into reality, and this is where its real strength lies. While the smartphone camera may not replace my dedicated camera just yet, it certainly does have its merits and is worth taking seriously as an important item in the beginner photographer’s toolkit. *** If you are interesting in exploring the potential of the smartphone camera you might be interested in my earlier posts https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/how-my-phone-has-helped-my-photography https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/5-great-smartphone-features-that-most-people-don-t-know-about https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/can-a-smartphone-really-rival-a-dslr-for-the-average-photographer

Photography is the only language that can be understood anywhere in the world. - Bruno Barbey One of my favourite photography quotes is from well-known photographer Dorothea Lange, who said, “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” I have found the quotation particularly relevant during this winter when there have been some particularly dramatic sunrises and sunsets, during which the sky has shown its beauty, its calm and its anger in varying proportions. At some of these amazing vistas I could only stand and stare and marvel at the beauty and magnificence of it all, while at other times I attempted to capture some of that beauty in an image. I discovered that the magnificent reds, oranges, yellows and purples allowed for brilliant contrasts with the surrounding landscapes, so by reducing the shadows on my images I was able to produce some pleasing silhouettes. I recently read a blog post entitled 70 Inspirational Quotes for Photographers compiled by American photographer Tammy Jean Lamoureux. While reading the quotes I tried to visualise how each of them might relate to my own photography practice and I decided to further refine the list by picking out the twenty quotes that I find most applicable to my view of photography. I have also tried to place the quotes into categories and match them with my own photographs and reflections. Photography is seeing “To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” — Elliott Erwitt “The picture that you took with your camera is the imagination you want to create with reality.” — Scott Lorenzo “Essentially what photography is is life lit up.” — Sam Abell “I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.” — Diane Arbus “When people ask me what equipment I use – I tell them my eyes.” — Anonymous Sometimes I like to seek out different subjects or little things that might otherwise go un-noticed. Indeed, I often walk past such things myself unless I make a conscious effort to stop, look and shoot! Observation, and in particular the act of becoming more observant, are important attributes in photography, attributes that we can constantly strive to improve. Using our eyes is surely the best equipment. I particularly like to think of photography as ‘life lit up’. This works in two ways. The act of taking photographs gives value and meaning to our lives, gives focus and great enjoyment and can light up our lives in that sense. In another sense, by photographing a scene or subject we bring it alive to ourselves and others. It is certainly true for myself that, since I started photography, I use my eyes more and see more of the world around me, a world which has indeed become a brighter place. Often on a photography walk I will try to capture images of subjects that are not so obvious. By choosing a good point of view, ordinary objects can be emphasised and highlighted. Photography is feeling “Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.” — Don McCullin “Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” — Marc Riboud “Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth of field.” — Peter Adams Even though I like black and white photography I do love to capture life in colour and am often drawn by the richness of colour in nature. Sunrises and sunsets are beautiful at any time of year but they are particularly amazing in winter. I like to feel something for the images I make. In that way, although they may not be great images, they are of value to me and they show me what it is possible to achieve. I have actually discovered that when I don’t feel anything for an image I almost always delete it immediately. Photography is capturing a moment in time “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” —Dorothea Lange “If you see something that moves you, and then snap it, you keep a moment.” — Linda McCartney “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” — Karl Lagerfeld This is one of the truths that makes photography so special – it can capture a moment in time, whether an amazing sunset or a child’s beautiful smile, a moment that would otherwise be lost. Every photograph, whether it is of a vital action in sports photography or the capture of a gently lapping wave, has this capacity to freeze a moment and hold it forever. Photography is communication “There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.” — Ansel Adams Photographer and educator, Anthony Epes, states that photography is essentially a relationship between photographer and viewer, and that the photographer tries to convey emotion in the viewer through his or her images. As a viewer of photography I don’t always know how to describe how I feel when I look at a fabulous photograph, but I do know that some photographs elicit strong feelings within me. Those feelings may or may not be what the photographer was trying to convey, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that there is a communication between photographer and viewer and both are enriched by that communication. Good photographers leave visual clues for their viewers so that the viewer will have some idea of what they intended their viewer to see and feel. “A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective.” — Irving Penn I think the secret is not to try too hard to control the emotion we want the viewer to feel, but simply to shoot what appeals to us, because those are the images in which we will invest ourselves. They will be more honest, more authentic images and hopefully they will speak more deeply to others. One of our greatest methods of communication is through story. Story in photography can be suggested through a single image or a series of images. Often the viewer makes his or her own interpretation of the story being told, and although this may vary from the photographer’s original intention, it is nonetheless a valid interpretation. Sometimes story is suggested in one image... It is an interesting challenge to try and tell a story in three frames Photography is our record of the world as we see it “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” — Ansel Adams “I wish that all of nature’s magnificence, the emotion of the land, the living energy of place could be photographed.” — Annie Leibovitz Recently, while driving at sunset, I was captivated by the colours of the sky as they unfolded before me. I had to stop and try to capture something of the glory of the changing sky. Although the light was fading rapidly I did manage to capture some wonderful colours and was able to create a few nice silhouettes. I believe, though, that there is truth in Annie Leibovitz’s words when she wishes that the emotion of the land, of the place, could be photographed. The emotion is what we feel and often that cannot be captured accurately in an image. Yet, maybe that image is all the better for having some emotion invested in it by the photographer. Before we compose the beauty we have to see that beauty, and that is what Matt Hardy refers to in this quote: “Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph.” — Matt Hardy Photography is constantly developing and striving for better “I never have taken a picture I’ve intended. They’re always better or worse.” — Diane Arbus “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” – Henri Cartier Bresson “Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow.” — Imogen Cunningham I understand this last quote as it suggests that we are never perfect, always striving to be better. Sometimes, however, it is important to evaluate our work and pick out some favourite images. For me, this exercise gives encouragement and a sense that, while I still have much to learn, I am picking up some techniques that suggest potential and ways in which I can develop. Evaluating my progress provides challenges and encourages growth, and that is what keeps life, and photography, interesting. I felt drawn to this lake one evening recently. What I wanted to capture was the tree silhouetted against the evening sky and reflected in the water below. I didn’t particularly want detail in the bushes so I deliberately underexposed the image. I later pushed down the shadows in Lightroom. Despite the fact that the light was poor I knew I wanted to keep the image and make the best of it. ************************************************************************** “Life is like a camera. Just focus on what’s important and capture the good times, develop from the negatives and if things don’t work out, just take another shot.” — Unknown What is your favourite photography quote?

In October 2020 Adobe officially released Lightroom Classic 10.0, a Lightroom Classic upgrade which removed the familiar Split Toning panel and replaced it with a new panel called Colour Grading. Instead of the familiar sliders which allowed you to add tones to the highlight and shadow areas of your images, you now have colour wheels which allow you to color the tone of shadows, highlights and, additionally, midtones, independently. The Colour Grading tool also has controls for blending and balance. Take your images to new creative heights by adjusting the color wheels in any combination to create subtle, vivid, complementary, or contrasting looks (Adobe Feature Summary) For a comprehensive starter guide to the new Colour Grading panel, check out this video from photographer Mark Denney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HzUXR8V-Qo I enhanced the colours of one of my images, similar to that used in the video, using the Colour Grading tool instead of the HSL panel. See before and after images below. Below is an image from my phone camera. The first image is straight out of camera (iPhone 11) In the second image some experimenting with Colour Grading produced a warmer tone In the third image I simply adjusted the midtones The tool gives plenty of creative control over colour enhancement although it could easily be overdone. Despite this, with some more practise and experimentation I can see greater use for this tool than for its predecessor, Split Toning. ************************************ Adobe provides a step by step guide to the Colour Grading tool here

Colour Grading adds a little creativity to our black and white images One of the great advantages of post processing is that it allows us to really get creative with our images. I have often found that I like the composition of an image yet I didn’t get the exposure right, or I got the right exposure but the subject wasn’t very interesting. These are the times that I have tried to become creative with my images rather than discard them, and colour grading is an easy way to do that. What is split toning/colour grading? I came across Split Toning (now upgraded to Colour Grading) as part of a lesson on black and white conversion. In the lesson, instead of simply leaving our image as monochrome we went a step further and added split toning, adding a more creative aspect to our editing. Split toning is basically the process of adding one colour at a certain saturation level to the highlights and another colour at a certain saturation level to the shadows of an image, then blending them to reach the required effect. Split toning can be added to colour images as well as to black and white but in my examples I converted the image from colour to black and white before adding split toning. There were a few steps to take before going to the Split Toning Panel in Lightroom Develop Mode. First of all, I needed to choose a colour image that I believed would convert well to black and white, that is, an image with strong contrast and some texture. I chose this image and converted it to a black and white image by using the process outlined in my previous post. I then navigated to the Split Toning Panel. In this panel I found a Hue slider and a Saturation slider for both highlights and shadows. I adjusted the highlights to give a yellow hue and the shadows to a bluish hue. The balance slider allowed me to move the line where the shadows transition to highlights, giving me control over the final look. You can experiment as much as you like to get the right tone for your image, then add a vignette if you wish Some colours are more popular for split toning than others. · Orange adds a warm glow and is most often used for the highlights · Blue adds a cool effect and is most often used for the shadows · Brown creates a sepia tone on a black and white image As with all processing, it is important to be subtle when using split toning and not to overdo the processing. Split Toning replaced with Colour Grading N.B. Lightroom Update in October 2020 "Lightroom Classic now offers a robust color grading tool that provides powerful color controls for midtones, highlights, and shadows--plus a Global control that will adjust the overall color of your image. Color Grading replaces Split Toning and provides more control to adjust colors in your image. Take your images to new creative heights by adjusting the color wheels in any combination to create subtle, vivid, complementary, or contrasting looks." Although the Lightroom panel is now called Colour Grading instead of Split Toning its purpose is the same - to allow us to be more creative with our images by adjusting colours. It is, in effect, image toning taken to the next level. In the Colour Grading panel we have the addition of a midtone control as well as controls for highlights and shadows. The split toning sliders have been replaced by colour wheels which can be adjusted in combination with each other to produce the exact effect we want. I used Colour Grading to work on the image below. Why tone black and white photos? Sometimes a b&w photo can look flat. Adding a tone can give mood or depth to the image. This is one of a series of posts concentrating on black and white photography, moving on to colour toning. The first two posts in the series cover the basics of choosing an image for black and white editing and making simple edits. https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/black-and-white-photography-made-easy-part-1 https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/black-and-white-photography-made-easy-part-2 The new Colour Grading Panel in Lightroom offers much more than simply adding tones to black and white images. This new update, which replaces the Split Toning Panel, allows us to enhance the colours in our images and gives greater creative control over working with colour. For a comprehensive overview of the new Colour Grading panel from experts in the field, check out my previous post here.

This is not an expert guide to Lightroom, nor is it even a beginner’s guide. There are many online guides produced by those who are more knowledgeable about Lightroom than I am. This blog is simply a sharing of tips that I have picked up and would like to pass on. While I have a lot still to learn about all that Lightroom has to offer, and am not yet delving into its advanced tools, what I am describing here are 5 steps that I use on a regular basis and that always enhance my photos to some degree. Apart from using the native phone camera editing function or an app such as Snapseed for phone camera editing, I usually do post processing in Lightroom. As well as realising that images are always better when they undergo a bit of ‘development’ in the digital darkroom, I also enjoy the creative process of trying to achieve in my final image the vision that I had while shooting, The camera does not immediately show you all the detail that it has captured, it just presents its basic image and editing helps you to bring out the detail. While I enjoy the creative aspect of this side of photography, I am by no means knowledgeable in this program and am continually learning more about the features of Lightroom so that I can get the best out of it. For now, I have familiarised myself with basic adjustments and I enjoy revealing the detail in an image that suddenly makes the image pop. #1 White Balance The first thing I do with each photo once I import it into Lightroom and bring it into the Develop mode is to check and adjust the white balance. Although in most cases, particularly in higher end cameras. the camera auto white balance setting does a decent job of getting accurate colours in images, it does not always work out correctly. Since the camera doesn’t see as we do I often feel that our eyes are best at determining what colours should look like, so if you are not pleased with the colours out of camera you can adjust the white balance. You want to get the whites and greys looking as neutral as possible. You can do this by eye using the Temp and Tint sliders in the basic panel or by using the white balance selector tool. This tool is the dropper tool on the left side of the basic panel. TIP: Often our eye is the best judge of how the colours in our images should look. Use your eye to help you determine what is pleasing to you. #2 Crop and straighten Although I make every effort to get my horizon straight in landscape photos, or to ensure that buildings don’t look slanted, I don’t always succeed so this tool does a good job of straightening the image and cropping slightly if there is any unwanted distraction on the edges of the frame. TIP: There are different options for cropping. If you are not intending to print your images a free crop is sufficient but for printing images it is better to opt for a standard size crop. This image looks better cropped #3 Basic Panel This is where most of the basic editing happens. The first thing I do in the basic panel is check the exposure of my image. While nothing will save a very badly exposed image, an image that appears to be slightly too bright or slightly too dark can be adjusted by using the exposure slider. You can adjust the contrast here also, which is worth doing to most images but is easy to overdo also. Other sliders in the basic panel can adjust whites and highlights, blacks and shadows. Reducing highlights and bringing up shadows reveals a lot of detail in a photo, but the sliders can be adjusted in numerous ways until you achieve the effect you require. Further down in the panel are the clarity, vibrance and saturation sliders. I usually make only slight adjustments with these sliders and I favour vibrance over saturation as it helps to bring up colours that are not very vibrant whereas saturation affects all colours, even those that are already vibrant. TIP: The letter “Y” is a shortcut key to show before and after images, which is useful to compare as you go along. Doing this often helps me to see if I am beginning to over edit my image. #4 Tone Curve While the exposure slider adjusts the exposure of the whole image at once, curves allows you to adjust lights, darks and mid tones separately. When you hover over the tone curve with your mouse you will see which part of the graph that part represents. It is divided into four parts – highlights (the lightest part of an image), lights, darks and shadows (the darkest part of an image). Adjusting the tone curve creates contrast between the tones. This can work well on a sky, for example. I used only tone curves to brighten this image TIP: I didn’t find curves easy to use initially but it is worth taking time to explore this option to see how it affects your image. Once you master curves you will find it to be a useful tool to quickly enhance your image. You will find a good tutorial on using tone curve here. https://digital-photography-school.com/understand-lightroom-tone-curve/ #5 Hue, Saturation, Luminance (HSL) After making basic adjustments I sometimes look to these tools to enhance and fine tune the individual colours in my image. Instead of adjusting everything at once, as in the basic panel, the HSL panel allows you to work on one colour at a time and adjust the hue, saturation and luminance of each colour separately. Each option in this panel has a different function. Hue, as the name suggests, changes the shade of the colour, for example you could change red to pink by moving the slider in one direction. Saturation boosts or tones down the colour, while luminance adjusts how light or dark to make the colour. If you choose the All option you can, for example, pick one colour and adjust hue, saturation and luminance together. This is a good option if there is a prominent colour in your image that you want to adjust with all three sliders. It is well worth spending some time exploring this panel as it can make a significant difference to some shots. TIP: This panel is great for converting a colour photo to black and white as you can use the saturation sliders to take away each colour and see which ones have impact on the image. You can use luminance to adjust the impact of tones. This results in a black and white image with good contrast, especially an image which has a lot of similar tones. When I started to explore the saturation and luminance sliders, I began to appreciate how a black and white photo is more than just a colour photo with the saturation removed. Below are some images. The image on the bottom has been edited to some degree and I have included edit details below the image. I brought down the highlights here and adjusted the yellow in the HSL panel My eye saw my cat silhouetted against the sky, but the camera image didn’t quite turn out as I had intended so I pulled down the shadow slider in Lightroom to create the silhouette. I also cropped the image slightly to reposition the cat. My main adjustments here were to the yellow and green in the HSL panel. There are many more advanced editing tools offered by Lightroom, many of which will result in even greater enhancements, but for now I tend to leave those to the experts. The biggest problem for me in using post-production software is the temptation to over process, which will not look well, so I tend to go easy with post processing. However, I still think that a little work on images can make a big difference. Not only that, but it is also an enjoyable, creative, even an addictive part of the craft of photography. In my opinion, photography as an art form would be much poorer without image processing. Further reading I hope this post has given you some reasons to consider post -processing, and maybe a few ideas to help you get started. If you would like further information on using Lightroom, I recommend the following articles: https://digital-photography-school.com/post-processing-tips-beginners/ https://photographylife.com/post-processing-tips-for-beginners (This is a comprehensive guide which is divided into easily accessible units. For example, clicking on how to use the basic panel brings you directly to that tutorial) https://photographylife.com/mastering-lightroom-how-to-use-the-basic-panel Creative live ultimate guide to post processing https://www.creativelive.com/photography-guides/post-processing

Post processing of images has always been a topic of much discussion in photography circles, with many people claiming that image processing is cheating while others assert that it is a fundamental part of photography. Personally, I don’t believe that post processing or small amounts of editing our images is cheating, but I am willing to consider the argument. Firstly, let me say that I do see a difference between deliberate manipulation of a photograph to alter the meaning or story that it tells and simply straightening an image or adjusting colour and contrast, but essentially the former applies to photo journalism and documentary photography where truth is paramount, and there are ethics governing this type of photography. However, processing of images by adjusting white balance, exposure, saturation of colours or contrast, or slight editing by removing an unwanted item from the edge of the frame is, in my opinion, part of the process of ‘making’ a photograph. A slight colour adjustment on this image enhanced the autumn colours that my eye saw and that the camera didn't reveal, but I resisted the temptation to over-saturate the colours Those who reject this viewpoint would argue that any enhancement of a photo, anything that changes the image that comes directly out of the camera, is in some way deceiving the viewer. Yet if we think of a painting done by an artist, don’t we accept that the artist might have ‘finished’ the painting yet still go back at a later stage to add another touch. If we see photography as an art form, and the camera as merely the tool by which we capture the original image, then it is natural that we would want that image to look as good as possible. The process might be different to that of the artist’s use of the brush, but since photography is a digital process, and so much processing is already done by the camera software, it is not cheating by the photographer to extend this process with his or her own creative touches. Why would we only allow camera software to process our images, and process them incompletely, when other software is available to allow us to have greater creative flexibility? Ultimately, whether enhancements are done by an artist’s brush or a digital imaging processing program, the real work in enhancing the picture before us is done by the artist, in our case the photographer. Phone camera images often don't need any, or just minimal, adjustments in post processing. I think it is important to just make necessary adjustments and not to overdo post processing Another argument that I would make in defense of post processing is that, regardless of how much processing we do, we will not turn a bad photograph into a good one. Post processing will only have a minimal effect on composition and if we don’t get that right in-camera we would be better off learning where we went wrong and trying again. Post processing will not ‘rescue’ our photographs; it will allow us to make some important enhancements that, rather than turning a bad photograph into a good one, may turn an already good photograph into an even better one. In that sense I like to think of post processing not in terms of ‘cheating’ but in terms of ‘honing our craft’. Post production is nothing new. My first camera was a film camera and I remember posting the completed film off in an envelope to a lab where they would work on my images to produce a set of photographs from my negatives. What we have today is the equivalent of the darkroom, our own digital processing lab, in which we can edit our own images to bring out all the detail that the camera captured. RAW vs JPEG As part of my learning about photography, and indeed about post-processing, I had to discover the difference between RAW images and JPEGs, as these terms kept coming up in tutorials. I now understand that the processing of the JPEG images is mainly done for us in-camera while shooting in RAW gives us more raw information with which to work in an image editing program so that we can do our own processing. It therefore also gives us more creative choice. In fact, if you shoot in RAW, as most professional photographers do, then editing is not optional, it is essential, because RAW images straight out of camera are not ready for use. While with RAW images we have more information to work with it is still true that some editing can be done to JPEG images, and this does improve these images. When using my camera, I often shoot in RAW+JPEG to give myself experience in using editing software, however, I also like to do a little touch up to my JPEG images and camera phone shots from time to time. This is a JPEG image straight out of camera This is the same image having been given the Lightroom treatment. The images hasn't fundamentally changed but it is closer to the reality of what I saw with my eye In an image like this, I could bring up detail by slightly processing the image (bottom) or I could leave it with details hidden. In reality I couldn't see the details very well so on this occasion so leaving the image without processing is my preferred option Conclusion In the past I was someone who was guilty of dismissing image processing, asserting that a digitally enhanced photograph is not an ‘honest’ image, but thankfully I have been proven wrong by those with superior knowledge on the subject and I now accept that post processing of images is adding the finishing touches to an unfinished image or adding your own creative style. I think there is a strong argument to say that by post processing our image we have actually made an image that is much closer to that which our eye originally saw. Rather than seeing image processing as cheating, I see it as an essential part of the photographer’s toolkit in creating the best possible image using all the detail that the camera captured and which it does not immediately reveal. For this reason, post processing has now become a matter of choice depending on what I want to say with my image. Before processing. The colours look washed out and not as I saw them After processing. The colours are closer to reality You might be interested in some other viewpoints on this topic. Here are two that you might find interesting: https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/dsusv/is_photoshop_and_postprocessing_cheating/ https://wildartistic.com/post-processing-cheating/

What are leading lines and how can they improve our images? Using leading lines to improve photography composition is a technique I have encountered over and over in my photography learning and it is something worth dedicating some time to as it is a technique that really can make a difference to the look of an image. I realise that I am using leading lines more and more often and have found that it is useful to have some knowledge of how leading lines work in order to know how they can be used to improve images. What are leading lines? Leading lines are lines that are used by the photographer to lead the viewer’s eye into the frame, towards a subject or point of interest. They can also create depth in a photograph and are often considered to be one of the most effective compositional elements in photography. The strongest visual impact is achieved when the lines draw the viewer’s eye towards something that is in the scene, in other words, when there is a person or object at the end of the lines. There is, however, merit in having lines that lead off into the distance, where it is left to the imagination to decide where they are leading, although these may be more accurately described as paths rather than leading lines as they don’t lead to a specific point. The road and the clouds both seem to lead the eye to the sea The path leads the viewer through the frame to the people at the end The road conveys a sense of movement down towards the sea This line may be more accurately described as a path rather than a leading line as it doesn’t lead to a specific point Why are leading lines an effective aid to composition? Leading lines are effective chiefly because our eyes are naturally drawn to lines, and they are often the element that pulls us towards an image. I have often found my attention drawn to an image with powerful lines, whether in photography or art, even from a distance. In the environment I find my eye led by a fence, a railing, a bridge, to what is in the distance, and am naturally drawn to incorporating these lines in my images. Another reason that leading lines are effective is that they create a sense of movement in the image as our eye moves from one point to another. This sense of movement gives more interest to the photograph. What makes a good leading line? Almost any type of line can become a leading line. Common examples are roads, paths, railway tracks, bridges, a row of trees or a winding river. In fact, it is possible to use almost any type of line as a leading line if it serves to draw the eye towards a certain point in the frame. Parallel lines can provide even greater impact as they create a sense of depth in your image as well as drawing the viewer’s eye into the distance. It is almost as though, caught between the two lines, you have no choice but to follow where they lead. Curved lines, S shaped lines, diagonal lines and wavy lines are good choices as leading lines, as is shooting down from the top of a spiral staircase or shooting upwards from the bottom of a vertical line. Your eye will naturally follow the spiral all the way down to the bottom or the vertical line upwards. The only way the eye can go here is up S lines and diagonal lines convey a sense of motion and depth. Lines can be inferred also; a person gazing out to sea can lead the viewer’s eye in the same direction. These two images might have what are referred to as soft lines. They are not definite lines but they do lead the eye through the frame to a distant subject, the sea Curved lines encourage the viewer to stay a little longer as they weave in and out through the image. The interaction of light and shadow can produce interesting lines. I think the curved line leads the eye around the shoreline and out to sea The curving line of the rooftops leads my eye into the frame, although there could have been a better composition to the shot A change in perspective, such as getting down low or shooting up high, can change the impact of the shot. Clifford Pickett explores this in his video How To Compose Your Photos With Leading Lines This video gives a good example of the use of a leading line in landscape photography. Landscape photographers often use foreground to create interest, and when a leading line starts from the foreground of the image it can create depth and perspective and give a focus for the viewer before it leads the eye into the distant interest, which might be a mountain, a tree or a rock. Clifford Pickett suggests starting the line at the corner and allowing it to run right through the image, also taking the viewer on that journey through the image. Conclusion I have a lot to learn about photography and about the use of leading lines as a compositional tool, but my intuition tells me that this technique can improve my photography so it is something I try to experiment with and use as often as I can. From reading and watching those who use this technique well I realise that just snapping a road or railway track does not make a good photograph. I need to know exactly where to shoot from, what perspective to take and how to frame the shot so that I use the leading line to the best advantage. Further reading and some examples of the good use of leading lines https://expertphotography.com/how-to-use-leading-lines-to-improve-your-composition/ https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-use-leading-lines-for-better-compositions/ https://iceland-photo-tours.com/articles/photography-techniques/how-to-use-leading-lines-for-better-compositions-in-landscape-photography

Are you new to photography? Are you thinking about starting photography as a hobby? Do you have some questions and are not sure where to find the answers? I invite you to read on and you just might find the information you are looking for. Recently I had a conversation with someone who is thinking seriously about starting photography. Just as I had when I came back to photography, she has a background in photography from many years ago, but her skills are rusty, and she has not kept abreast of new technologies except for smartphone technologies. She was interested in finding out about my experience of returning to photography, so she decided to ‘pick my brains’ on the topic! This ‘commonly asked questions’ post is based on her questions and my answers. Q. Why do I need a ‘dedicated’ camera? I have a good camera on my phone. A. That is true, and I have used my phone camera on many occasions when I didn’t have my DSLR with me and I was pleased with the results. However, I don’t regret having bought my DSLR as it pushed me to learn photography - to get to know about aperture and shutter speed, to know what ISO means and when to use it, to have choice concerning shooting modes. If I wish to, I can shoot in fully automatic or semi-automatic mode or I can go full throttle and use full manual mode where I make all the creative decisions, rather than letting the camera decide. Also, I can experiment with the results obtained with different lenses. To sum up, the smartphone is convenient and does a good job in many situations but, in my view, it doesn’t give us that real photography experience. Q. Ok, then which camera do you recommend I buy? A. Not an easy question to answer. Initially, I went for an entry level camera as I was not sure how committed I would be to photography in the long term. I did a lot of research and settled on a Nikon D3400 (recently replaced by Nikon D3500). The deciding factors were great battery life, not too heavy to carry around, great image quality for an entry level camera and it comes at a good price. I wrote the following blog to describe the decision-making process: https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/starting-point-which-camera It’s not a perfect camera. There are a few obvious omissions which I would like to have now that I know a bit more about photography. This camera has no touchscreen, the screen doesn’t tilt and Nikon doesn’t provide weather sealing on this camera, which can be a disadvantage for landscape or travel photography, but overall, the D3400 is, in my opinion, a good beginner camera. I might even suggest an upgrade to the D3500, which reportedly has a battery rating of 1500 shots, compared to 1200 shots which the D3400 can capture, and is a bit lighter without much increase in price. Image taken with Nikon D3400 My second camera is an Olympus E-M10 Mark 11. Again, I did a lot of research before buying this camera. I was taking a trip to Italy and wanted something lightweight, but which could take good pictures, particularly in low light. I looked at a range of ‘point and shoot’ options but to get the features that I wanted, such as viewfinder and good image quality, I had to look at the upper end of the market and realised that most of these cameras could soon be surpassed by advancements in smartphone cameras. I reckoned that going for a mirrorless camera might be a better option if I wanted to ‘future proof’ my camera kit, since these cameras can take a range of lenses. The Olympus has a few advantages over the Nikon such as a touchscreen and image stabilization, which reduces blurring due to camera shake. On the downside, though, it only captures 320 shots before the battery runs out, so carrying a replacement battery is highly recommended. I am happy with my choice as it is fairly compact and has a sort of retro look, which I like. Image taken with Olympus E-M10 Mark 11 Q. What about lenses? A. Most cameras come bundled with a kit lens. My Nikon came with 18-55mm, while the Olympus came as a camera deal with two lenses, a 40-150mm zoom and a 14-42mm. Kit lenses are designed to give you some versatility and, since they don’t add a huge cost to the price of the camera, they let you get a feel for what the camera can do. I did move on from the Nikon kit lens to a prime lens and a zoom lens. I’m not by any means expert at using lenses so would refer a beginner to some of the many sites that provide expert reviews, such as https://www.dxomark.com/category/lens-reviews/ . Reviews by genuine users are often as helpful as expert reviews, although they can vary a lot. While the kit lens does offer some versatility to start your photography journey, buying your next lens might depend on what it is you like to photograph. Landscape lenses will differ from lenses for close-up work, while certain other lenses might be considered best for street photography. Even when shooting the same subject, different lenses will give different results. A wide-angle lens, a telephoto and a prime lens are the three lenses that seem to cover most of what we need as beginner photographers, so these are the lenses I have opted for. I recently published a blog about my camera set up and the lens selection I find useful as a learner at photography. You will find the link here I like using the 50mm fixed lens as it allows me to experiment with bokeh (blurry background) Interesting fact It is reported that Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of the greatest street photographers of all time, frequently used the 50mm as his lens of choice. Q. What else will I need as well as camera and lenses? A. A camera bag is a must. I thought I could use a regular backpack but soon realised that it was neither safe nor convenient. After a lot of research, I found a bag with numerous sections, the main section containing padded inserts. These provide adjustable compartments to hold camera and lenses as well as space for a spare battery, lens cleaning kit and other accessories. The bag also has a waist strap which gives added back support. Camera bags vary enormously in price but with a bit of research you can find the one that suits you. Most photographers will suggest that you invest in a tripod, particularly for landscape photography. While it will help to avoid blurry pictures due to camera shake, a tripod is not always easy to carry with you. So far, I have not invested in one although many photographers will claim that it should be your number one accessory. A spare battery is a useful item as there is nothing worse than being out on a photography shoot and realising that you have forgotten to charge the battery (it has happened to me!) As I said previously, the Nikon D3400 gives around 1200 shots on a battery charge, which is pretty impressive and will easily give me a day’s shooting, but the Olympus mirrorless camera only allows me to shoot a fraction of that number so I always need to have a spare battery handy. Q. Cameras today have a lot of buttons and dials. Did you have difficulty in getting to grips with them all? A. Short answer, yes. Ever since I got my first SLR camera, many years ago, I have loved taking pictures, but hated all the technical stuff. For a long time I tended to stay in auto mode, but this time around I decided to learn properly. That’s not to say I liked it any better initially, but this time I have given myself time to get used to different settings, to experiment a bit more and to take the camera out to practise all I am learning before moving on. I can see the value of learning about the main shooting modes (namely, ‘Auto’ mode, ‘Program’ mode, ‘Aperture Priority’, ‘Shutter Priority’) and when to use each, and to avoid the ‘scene’ modes which are basically just allowing the camera to decide how to shoot. I can even say that I now enjoy knowing how to use those buttons and dials! I took the following images on Auto mode when I first started back to photography. While this mode does help you get a feel for the camera again, it is important to move beyond this mode if you want to learn photography. Auto mode turns your DSLR into a point and shoot camera, and DSLRs are much more than this. I would recommend this post from digital photography school, which really is an ultimate guide to learning how to use your first DSLR. Q. You obviously need some photography skills to get out of Auto mode. Did you go to a photography class to learn the skills you need? A. I started my journey with an online class which gave me a good grounding in the basics. I also found lots of useful and knowledgeable articles suitable for beginners, like the one mentioned above from https://digital-photography-school.com/. I supplemented this with some YouTube videos on specific topics. I gradually got to know the photography teachers whose approach I liked and took some of their courses and workshops online. I did one face to face workshop on street photography, which I enjoyed and found to be very beneficial as I picked up a lot of tips from the one-to-one interaction that can be missed in online courses. In addition, it was good to get out ‘in the field’ with other learners, to share problems, get advice, have questions answered and feel part of the photography learning community. I intend to do more face to face workshops in the future. Another feature of the learning process is having my photographs critiqued by others and there are opportunities for this in some online communities, particularly those run by reputable photographers who have an ethical approach to online interactions. One of the most important things is to get out and practice what you learn. Sitting in front of a book or computer reading about photography only gets you so far. You need to get the camera in your hand, get out and take plenty of photographs. Practice may not quite make perfect, but it does make improvement. Q. I hear photographers talking about post-processing. Is it necessary? A. There are some who feel that any type of processing is wrong, that it somehow leaves our image less authentic, that a digitally enhanced photograph is not an ‘honest’ image. I have been guilty of thinking in this way in the past, but I have been proven wrong by those with superior knowledge on the subject and I now realise that every image is digitally processed to some degree. Some of this processing is done by the camera (or phone) software, over which we have little control, and some is done by the photographer in what is called ‘post production’, which gives us a degree of creative control over how we want our final images to look. Regardless of whether we have a strong opinion on this topic or not, the truth is that, while the camera may not lie, it does not see as the human eye sees. Ultimately it is a machine that processes what it sees and produces the best image of that. As the photographer, we know what we wanted to capture and how we wanted our vision to turn out, so we can try to achieve what is close to our vision by using an image processing program. I use Lightroom and enjoy the post-processing part of the photography art. For a quick edit on my phone I use Snapseed. There are many other popular (some free) programs which allow us to make small changes to our images which make a big difference to the final result. This is a photo straight out of camera This photo has had some minor enhancements in Lightroom Q. Do you prefer a particular style of photography? A. I get asked that question a lot. I started doing landscape photography as I seemed to be drawn to that but I quickly realised that it was difficult to get a good landscape photo without spending a lot of time travelling to find the right location and having specific lenses. I still enjoy doing landscape photography when I can and continue to learn ways to improve my landscape images. As I wrote in a recent blog, I particularly love coastal landscapes and doing photography is an added incentive for making a trip to the coast. I have to confess, I didn’t think I would like street photography so I challenged myself to take a face-to-face workshop last summer. That gave me a whole new outlook on this genre of photography which I can now appreciate more than I did previously. Street photography is about the art of capturing candid moments and natural human interactions, it is about storytelling through photography and as such it has its own special appeal. I’m glad I opened my mind and made that discovery. Overall, I think most of my photography falls into the category of nature photography. When I look back over my images, I find that a lot of them are nature photographs of one kind or another. I seem to be naturally drawn to this genre of photography, particularly as it can encompass most of what I want to do in photography. Nature photography has something for everyone in that you can capture great images in nature with whatever equipment you have at hand, even a smartphone camera, and you can adjust your images to suit whatever gear you have available rather than having to buy specialist equipment as may be the case for landscape photography. I wrote a blog called 10 tips for better nature photography which I think sums up why this photography form appeals to me. Q. Why do you enjoy photography so much? A. I think the answer is that to me, photography is such an all-round pursuit - and it has benefits in many areas of our lives. It supports our mental health by keeping our mind alert and active; it involves learning new skills such as making choices and decisions, working with different technologies and communicating with others, all ways in which we need to be mentally alert. From a physical health point of view, the very nature of photography means that we will be out and about, walking and taking in the fresh air. I often find that I walk far further than I intended to walk and for a longer time than I intended to spend as I lose myself in the art of finding and making my images. I believe that photography ticks the box regarding emotional health also as it is certainly a pursuit that grounds us in the present moment and, for me, the very act of heading out to capture some images has a calming effect. Some people go for a run when they are stressed, some do yoga or mindfulness, so people go the gym or participate in a sport. I take my camera and head out to the park, the coast, the countryside, even into the city streets. If my camera is my companion, I leave stress behind. The topic of the importance of photography as a hobby but also as it contributes to a healthy way of life is one that interests me and I have written a few posts on this theme, which you might like to dip into on my blog. This is a recent one: https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/why-i-believe-photography-has-sustained-me-through-troubled-times

I have always been a Samsung user. My first smartphone was an early version of the Samsung Galaxy S series and I have tended to upgrade to the latest Galaxy every two years. I like Samsung phones and find that they have quite good battery life, an important consideration if they are being used as a camera. I have occasionally considered the possibility to moving to iPhone but have always resisted the attraction and stuck with Samsung. However, my Galaxy S9+ recently came to the end of its life so I was in the market for an upgrade. Once again, the possibility of change loomed. "The best camera is the one you have with you" Over the last two years, since I have become serious about photography, I have increasingly come to agree with the well-used phrase, The best camera is the one you have with you. Since the camera most of us have with us is a phone camera, this aspect of the latest phone has become the most important consideration for me in choosing a phone upgrade. Hence, when faced with upgrading my Galaxy S9+ my research led me to a choice between the Galaxy S20 and the iPhone 11 phone ranges. I did extensive research and discovered that they are both excellent phones with exceptionally good cameras and neither phone was a clear winner over the other in every category reviewed. My choice had to boil down to what I was looking for in a camera. My main purpose in choosing a phone camera was to have a viable alternative to my dedicated camera, one which would produce sharp pictures and give a real photography experience rather than simply producing good snapshots. With the number of iPhone courses and tutorials online I was slightly biased towards going for iPhone, but I did weigh the pros and cons of each in terms of my own requirements. I considered four phones - the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S20 and S20+. (The Samsung Galaxy Ultra has the best camera reviews in the S20 range but it is considerably more expensive). Below are my findings. As these results are based on my own requirements from a phone camera, they may not be useful to everyone, but I hope they will be of help if you are in the market for a new phone camera that can be an aid in learning photography. (You might also like to read my post How my smartphone helped my photography here) The Choice Expert reviews based on lab tests are available from many sources online. My review simply outlines the considerations that helped me make my choice, based on what I required. Samsung Galaxy S20 Pros Triple camera array 128 GB basic storage with options to expand 3x optical zoom telephoto lens Cons Samsung images tend to be over saturated compared to natural look of iPhone images Night Mode not as good as on iPhone Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus Pros Specs as S20, with quad camera set up (addition of depth vision camera) Good battery life 5G ready Cons Expensive Unsure of benefit of depth vision camera to justify extra cost iPhone 11 Pros Images have a natural look Improved Night Mode compared to previous iPhones Cons Dual lens set up (No telephoto lens) 64 GB basic storage option iPhone 11 Pro Pros Triple camera array Images have a natural look Decent battery life Considered by many reviewers to be one of the best smartphones on the market Has optical image stabilisation on telephoto and wide angle lenses Excellent Night Mode Cons Expensive 64 GB storage, no option to expand Not 5G ready I based my choice on the results of several reviews which tended to agree that the iPhone camera produced good, natural, true-to-life images. Some reviewers even suggested that the crisp images and dynamic range of the iPhone Pro can match the images of entry level DSLRs in some cases. There was general agreement that Samsung’s images were slightly more saturated, or look more over processed, which I find to be the case with my Galaxy S9+. Samsung gives more storage, but that is not a priority for me as I mainly use online storage or transfer images to computer. The absence of a telephoto lens on the iPhone 11 meant that I didn’t consider it, as being able to zoom in closely at times gives another perspective to images, which I like. The 11 Pro was the winner between the two iPhones. It was at this point that I was tempted towards the 3x optical zoom of the Samsung Galaxy. However, I moved on to look at the low light images of both phones and as the iPhone was the clear winner here, I felt that this was a more beneficial advantage for my photography development. The Verdict If the phone rather than its camera is your priority then the Samsung Galaxy S20+, with its 128 GB basic storage option (versus 64 GB basic iPhone storage), its excellent battery life and the fact that it is 5G ready, might be the phone you will opt for. However, the tipping point for me is the fact that the iPhone 11 Pro tops almost all the phone camera reviews. With its powerful processor and top specs I know I won’t go wrong with the iPhone 11 Pro in phone terms. Add to that a top-notch camera and the final choice for me had to be the iPhone 11 Pro. See below for some expert reviews of smartphone cameras. https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/buying-guides/best-camera-phone https://www.trustedreviews.com/best/best-camera-phones-3520817 https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/best-cameraphone The Outcome I have been using the iPhone 11 Pro for around two months now. It has proven itself to be a great substitute for my dedicated camera on more than a few occasions, and on some outings I have brought only my iPhone so that I have to use it exclusively. The three lens options provide lots of variety for image creation, images are sharp and look natural, and I find that the camera will do its job well if I do mine. Regardless of how good the camera may be, it cannot turn a bad photographer into a good photographer, but it does give a learner photographer many learning opportunities to produce pleasing images, to capture images from different perspectives, to work on composition, to look for great light and, most of all, to never miss a photo opportunity. These are some of my images so far. All of the first set of images are straight out of camera, with the exception of checking white balance and straightening wonky horizon lines! They were taken on a spontaneous pit-stop as I travelled home recently. I did a small amount of processing on the following images to improve lighting and bring up detail in shadows. As the photos are not RAW files the possibilities for post processing are limited, but small enhancements are possible. I like the fact that I can focus on something in the foreground and have a blurry background These photographs were taken in low light conditions. The Question Remains… While I am happy with the choice I made in terms of smartphone camera I do still ask myself, will it begin to replace my DSLR and mirrorless camera? I hope to answer that question in an upcoming blog.

For most of us, the last few months have been difficult in one way or another. Life as we knew it has changed. Things we took for granted are no longer ours for the taking. Travel (at least outside our own country) is denied to us; attending concerts, festivals and events are literally a non-event this year. Even having large get-togethers with family and friends has been curtailed for the immediate future. Despite the restrictions we are trying to make the best of a situation which we could not have foreseen and would never have believed could happen to us. We have had to find ways to sustain ourselves through this time of uncertainty. I know many people who have started a running regime and who find it has changed their life; others have started to practice yoga or mindfulness, others have created something lasting in their home or garden. Many people have taken up and a new hobby over this time and others would love to try something new, something that will absorb them and take them away from being over-focused on what is going on in the world around them. I have written several posts in praise of photography on this site as I became aware of how valuable it is in my life. When I was starting out on my journey into the world of photography I could not have foreseen that it would be the pursuit that would sustain me through a world pandemic, but that is exactly what it has done. There are numerous articles and blog posts written about why photography is such a great hobby, and these are worth reading. In this post I want to outline the ways that I believe photography has been such a lifeline for me and why I recommend it as more than just a hobby. Although I consider that my real photography journey began just two years ago, I actually first became interested in photography as an 11 year old child when I badgered my father to buy me a camera (with the promise that I would save my pocket money to get the films developed – those were the days!). It was my faithful friend for a few years as I documented our daily lives as children, and I still have some of those old photos! As an adult I came back to photography when a friend gave me his old SLR camera (and manual!) to experiment with. I had a vision of giving up my job to become a photographer, but that vision didn’t materialise, and I never really got to grips with that camera. Fast forward to two years ago when I decided to take early retirement from my lifetime career in education. I wanted and needed a new challenge, and a chance conversation started me thinking about my past love of photography, and so the journey began. This is one of my earliest images on my new journey. I liked the reflection in the water and the little plant in the foreground. I still have fond memories of that first outing with my brand new camera, almost two years ago Why I believe photography is such a great hobby Below are just some of the reasons why I would recommend photography to anyone wishing to try something new at this time. Photography is mentally stimulating This is an ongoing journey of learning. While many people can stop after learning the basics (as I did in the past), there is always more to learn in photography. In fact, I have now realised that I will never stop learning and improving my craft. There are skills to learn and practise, inspirational photographers to follow and learn from, more skills to learn and practise, expert advice to read, always a new perspective to consider from a different teacher, a community of learners to engage with and share with, and then even more skills to learn and practise and so on the journey goes. The various perspectives and angles from which to learn this craft mean that it is forever stimulating and exciting; a lifetime adventure of discovery. Photography keeps the mind active; it keeps us curious. Photography helps us to become more observant, not just when we are out shooting, but at other times too. It can force us to look beyond the obvious, to investigate more deeply. It encourages us to examine life from different perspectives and by putting thought into our photos and sharing the photos and the process with others, we can help inspire someone else Photography nourishes your creative side Photography is an ideal way to inspire and nourish your creative side. I recently wrote a number of blogs addressing this area of creativity: https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/can-creativity-help-in-a-time-of-crisis-and-uncertainty https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/6-ways-to-reignite-your-creative-spark I firmly believe that being creative, no matter what our chosen area of creativity, is a way to support our mental health. Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life. -Daisaku Ikeda To my mind, photography is an ideal creative pursuit. It challenges us to see what is around us and try to document what we see, to look at things from different perspectives, to experiment, evaluate, adjust, improve. Anthony Epes, a photographer and teacher for whom I have a lot of admiration, says that “Taking photos is more than just pressing a shutter…an artist is something we all are inside and photography is our journey/path in finding that inner artist.” Every time I go out with my camera I am looking to find a creative way to interpret a scene or to represent a subject. I will move around, get down low, find a higher angle from which to shoot, look for an interesting foreground or background, frame the subject in the most effective way, look for a leading line, consider how the image will look to the viewer. In short, I will try to capture the most compelling image I can. This is how photography ignites our creative spark - it keeps us thinking, experimenting, assessing what we do and always looking for a better way to do something. I love the creativity which the smartphone camera can give. It adds another dimension to my photography, with the added advantage that it is always available Photography is an aid to reflection and mindfulness During times of trouble and confusion I always find the need to go within, to become more reflective, to listen to positive messages rather than the constant barrage of negativity that seems to dominate the media. Photography has been a constant aid to mindfulness for me. Walking in my local park, by the sea, in the countryside, camera in hand, looking for a photo opportunity, has given me so many wonderful opportunities to slow down, to observe, to be quiet in nature. I wrote the following blog earlier this year, just before lock down, and it sustained me through that time to know that this experience could not be taken away. https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/photography-a-gateway-to-mindfulness Even when I was limited to a 2km radius, I could find a secluded spot, take my camera, and be totally immersed in the natural world around me. It is said that getting into the habit of appreciating small moments of our lives is good for our mental health. Capturing some of these small moments, seeing beauty around us, moves us away from negativity, at least while we are engaged in the pursuit. Taking pictures of everyday moments immerses us in those moments and can change the ordinary to the extraordinary Photography supports physical health It goes without saying that photography is a great support for our physical health. It is largely (though not exclusively) an outdoor pursuit; it involves walking, being in nature, breathing in fresh air and most of the time it takes us away from the world of traffic, crowds and fumes. Over the last few months I have walked on beaches, hiked up hills, trekked across cliffs, climbed mountain paths, meandered along riverbanks and trodden a well worn path through my local park. I have gone out in all weathers and, with the exception of very wet days, have managed to get photographs on all of them. Being outside in nature gives me the opportunity to breathe more deeply of the freshest air, and to move, which must be a help to physical health. After two years practising photography, I have more interests, I am more active, more creative and I have learned so much. I am more knowledgeable about photography, but also realise that I am on an unending journey which has always more to reveal. There will always be something more to learn, something new to motivate and excite you on this journey Photography expands your horizons Photography has brought me to new places in search of a photograph, it has introduced me to new people and provided me with many new contacts to whom I can turn for support. Some of these are online contacts and support groups, but they have proved to be a great resource to enhance my photography practice. One of the most rewarding aspects of photography has been travelling to new places and meeting new people. Whether travelling around the country, stopping off at interesting places and encountering people who love to stop for a chat, or having the courage to approach people on a street photography walk (on the suggestion of the workshop facilitator), I have found that people love to talk about place they are visiting and what they are doing. In travelling around my own country, I have recently stopped at places I have passed so many times without realising the beauty they held. Another aspect of the art of taking photographs is the awareness of the past, of the lives of people who are gone and who left their mark in places that we now visit. I recently did a photography trip with a friend who has a deep love of the history of our country and it was a very meaningful and thought-provoking experience as we considered the lives of those gone before us, their creations that still exist in our environment and how the lives of these people still have an influence on the present. Taking photographs in those places seemed to have an additional special feel. Conclusion There are many more aspects of photography that make it such a great hobby, but I have confined this post to the ways in which the pursuit of photography has supported and sustained me through the last few turbulent months. One of the strengths of photography as a hobby is that it can be as simple or as complex as we wish it to be; it can remain at the level of simple enjoyment and pleasure or it can open doors that lead in all directions and bring us on a new journey of discovery. Photography has opened my eyes to the beauty of the world in a new way and that is something I treasure. I love this quote from Kurt Vonnegut, applying it to photography, as I truly do believe that photography makes the soul grow. "To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it." -- Kurt Vonnegut

Would you like to try photography as a hobby but baulk at the idea of spending so much money on ‘gear’? Have you started with a kit lens but would like to spread your wings? Do you look at the price of camera lenses and decide to stick with your phone camera? These are some of the questions I asked myself, and obstacles I encountered, when starting photography. It can be an expensive hobby, with even ‘ordinary’ lenses costing hundreds of euro. For anyone starting out in photography it’s a big commitment. What if you don’t make it as a photographer? What if you don’t enjoy it, having spent all that money? I did a lot of research into cameras before making a decision on my first camera when starting back to photography after a break of many years. Previously I owned an SLR camera (pre-digital) so I wanted a DSLR, an interchangeable lens camera that would give me that ‘real camera’ feel. In the end I opted for a Nikon D3400. It doesn’t have cutting edge features or technology so if that’s what you want this is not the camera for you. If you want a camera that is relatively light, has a good battery life, is fairly comfortable to hold and produces good quality images for a relatively low cost, then this camera is worth checking out. The D3400 has recently been replaced by Nikon D3500, which has more shots per battery charge than the D3400, and this has resulted in even better offers on the D3400. I wrote an earlier blog to describe my decision-making process. Check it out here What lenses do I need? While camera bodies, particularly entry level, can be obtained relatively cheaply, it is the lenses which can quickly rack up the cost. Most cameras come bundled with a kit lens. My Nikon came with 18-55 mm lens. Kit lenses are designed to give you some versatility and, since they don’t add a huge cost to the price of the camera, they let you get a feel for what the camera can do. Many people continue to use their kit lens for a long time, but I found that it tends to be a “jack of all trades, master of none” type lens and I found that I outgrew it quickly and wanted to discover what other lenses could do. Firstly, I must point out that where lenses are concerned, I am not an expert and have just mentioned the lenses that I find useful. There are many sites that provide expert reviews of lenses, and user reviews are often helpful. The second point I will make is that it does depend on what you like to photograph. Landscape lenses will differ from lenses for close-up work; certain other lenses might be considered best for street photography. Even when shooting the same subject, different lenses will give different results. For example, a wide-angle lens has a shorter focal length and will give a wider field of view whereas a telephoto lens has a longer focal length and will offer a narrower field of view. This variation in lenses is one of the welcome advancements in the newer smartphone cameras and is a setup I would like to replicate in my camera lens selection. The iPhone 11 Pro now offers ultra wide angle, wide angle and telephoto lenses. It's hard to match these exactly with a camera. There are hundreds of lenses on the market catering for the differing needs of photographers. Some of these lenses are expensive and are not necessary to have as beginners. I imagine that if you were to ask one hundred photography enthusiasts to pick their three favourite lenses you would get one hundred different answers. I have ended up with three lenses which I find are sufficient for my needs now. All three are inexpensive lenses but produce good quality images and are good beginner lenses. I hear it said repeatedly that expensive gear will not make a great photographer, so until I improve my photography skills, I will content myself with my current lens range. My Nikon lenses Sigma 17-50 mm The focal length of this lens might not seem all that different to the kit lens but there is a world of difference in the image quality. This is what I consider to be a versatile, ‘walkabout’ lens. It is a solid, well-built lens that won’t break the bank. It is good for landscape photography and, in my opinion, is a good replacement for the kit lens. Image quality is great and, although it is slightly heavier than I thought it would be, it is extremely comfortable to hold. It feels like a ‘real’ lens. This lens is fully compatible with my Nikon D3400. I used this lens on a recent trip to the coast It is quite a versatile lens Nikon 70-300 mm telephoto lens This is a reasonably priced zoom lens which allows you to capture distant subjects and scenes. Image quality is not bad considering its price, it is lightweight and easy to handle and I have found myself using it on many occasions, particularly when conditions don’t allow me to zoom with my feet.  Image quality does deteriorate the further you zoom, but this is the case with most inexpensive zoom lenses and is something I can live with. The zoom lens is useful when we can't get close to our subject Nikon 50 mm prime lens This lens has a fixed focal length (no zoom). With an aperture of f1.8 or f2 it is good for portraits as it allows you to produce a nice blurry background or ‘bokeh’. (I wrote a beginner blog on using aperture priority mode to produce bokeh. Check it out here ) This lens is lightweight and produces a sharp image. Because the lens does not zoom you must move closer to your subject, or zoom with your feet, which can actually be an advantage when learning photography. The 50 mm prime lens is often considered to be the one lens that every photographer should own. (It is said that Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of the greatest street photographers of all time, frequently used the 50 mm as his lens of choice). It is not expensive and because it is so popular it can be picked up second hand relatively easily. If I’m honest, this is the lens that stays on my Nikon camera and gets the most use for everyday photography. The 50 mm lens allows you to get close to your subject and achieve a blurry background. I bought some close-up filters for this lens, which allowed me to experiment with close up photography without the expense of a macro lens My second camera choice While the Nikon is itself a lightweight camera, its range of lenses do add weight, yet they are necessary in order to have the right lens for the right shot. I began to realise that I would like a camera that could be slipped into a bag for ease of use when travelling.  Again, I did a lot of research before buying this camera. https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/the-dilemma-of-choosing-a-travel-camera-top-things-to-consider-and-how-i-made-my-decision I was taking a trip to Italy and wanted something lightweight, but which could take good pictures, particularly in low light. I looked at a range of ‘point and shoot’ options but to get the features that I wanted, such as viewfinder and good image quality, I had to look at the upper end of the market and realised that most of these cameras would soon be surpassed by advancements in smartphone cameras. I reckoned that going for a mirrorless camera might be a better option if I wanted to ‘future proof’ my camera kit, since these cameras can take a range of lenses. My final choice was the Olympus E-M10 Mark 11. Being a mirrorless camera, both the camera and lenses are lighter than the DSLR. This camera has a few other advantages over the Nikon such as a touchscreen and image stabilization, which reduces blurring due to camera shake. On the downside, though, it only captures 320 shots before the battery runs out, compared to 1200 shots from the Nikon, so carrying a replacement battery is highly recommended. The camera has a sort of retro look, which I like. Check it out here My Olympus lenses I bought my Olympus camera on a deal including two kit lenses, which received good user reviews. These are a 40-150 mm zoom and a 14-42 mm, both of which I enjoy using and which have delivered some good quality images. I am happy to continue using these lenses until I become more familiar with the camera. Below are some recent images from the camera. Olympus E-M10 Mark 11 40-150 mm lens I took this with the Olympus 14-42 mm kit lens. A few minutes later the cloud had dispersed and the mountain was clear again. Irish weather! Conclusion Photography can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn't have to be. An entry level DSLR, or even a decent mirrorless camera, and kit lens costs much less than most mobile phones and allows for a lot more creative possibilities. When adding to your lens collection, check out second hand lenses in local or online camera shops. I bought my 50 mm lens from a reputable camera shop and it was almost new for nearly half the price. My Olympus camera was part of a deal in last year's summer sale, also from a reputable online camera dealer. In my opinion, photography is a wonderful hobby and you really can get started on a budget. Why not give it a go! For another opinion on the best beginner lenses check out: https://digital-photography-school.com/3-lenses-every-beginner-photographer-needs-video/

Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone starting out in blogging makes mistakes. We are not perfect. Mistakes are not the end of the world (or the end of a blog!). I made a big mistake when I started blogging, a mistake I didn’t even know I was making. Now I have started to rectify my mistake. Here’s how I’m doing it. The beginning I started blogging some years ago in connection with my work, but that was mainly an opinion blog based on topics I was familiar with or about which I had some knowledge or expertise. I enjoyed creating content for the blog and wanted to expand into creating my own blog based on my experiences of returning to photography after many years, essentially the experience of becoming a beginner all over again. I chose the topic because I felt I wouldn’t have to be knowledgeable – I could share my learning journey – yet it was something I felt passionate about and which I felt would lend itself to lots of different blog topics. My biggest mistake was that I didn’t really know anything about creating blog content. I knew nothing about attracting readership or getting found on Google. I knew very little about the wider blogging community and most of all I didn’t realise that if I was putting a blog online I had to create content for others, not just for myself, otherwise I might just as well keep a diary! The blog post below was important to me. It allowed me to articulate my vision for photography. But it didn't attract any readers and I didn't know what i was doing wrong. I now realise that I have some work to do to create content that others will want to read rather than create personal ramblings that mean nothing to anyone other than myself! https://www.wildwillowways.com/post/improving-our-photography How did not knowing about blogging affect me enough to want to change? Well, two things happened. First, after some time I became aware that the number of people reading my blog was disappointingly low, and second, I realised that this would not change just by lamenting the fact that I had no readers - I would have to do something. I began to do some research into blogging and into how some blogs are so successful, and this is what helped me to realise what I had missed in the beginning; that as well as writing in my niche I had to be aware of blog writing itself and of what I needed to do to properly call myself a blogger. Actions I took Step 1 The first step was to look at other blogs and learn from them. I realised that interesting titles aroused my curiosity and encouraged me to read on, and when I looked at my own titles, they were often bland and uninteresting and wouldn’t entice anyone to read any further. Some work on titles was necessary! I read some blogs on topics that appealed to me and came to realise which blogging styles I liked. Through looking at other blogs I was led into a Facebook blogging community. This brought me into contact with other bloggers and I discovered what other bloggers were writing about, how they were writing and what I could learn from them. I even began to comment on others’ blogs and to receive occasional comments on mine. Step 2 Although I was beginning to be more involved in the blogging community, I still didn’t know much about blogging. I knew very little about all that is involved in content creation, even less about search engine optimisation (SEO), and I wasn’t attracting any more readers. I had a subscription to DIgital Photography School because of its excellent photography tips and when I noticed its ‘sister site’, https://problogger.com/, I was ready to take a look and there I found the 7 Day Content Sprint for bloggers, which gave me the impetus I needed to breathe some new energy into my blog. One major benefit for me in taking the content sprint was that I began to understand about readership. Darren Rowse, experienced blogger and founder of Problogger, continually emphasises this aspect of blogging: that we need to understand our readers, know what our readers want and need and be of service to those readers. The content we share ought to be useful to people in some way, otherwise there is no point in sharing it! This brought me full circle and I had to ask myself the question – am I blogging just for myself or do I want to offer something useful to those who might read my blog? By answering yes to this question, I began to see blogging in a new light and started to work on how I could be useful to my readers. I considered all the different types of content which I could produce so that my output doesn’t become stuck in the same groove, even though I don't plan on changing my niche. I looked at improving my titles, at producing interesting first lines to draw in the reader and at trying to think of topics that might answer a need. I will only know the success of my new approach when I see if my readership improves. More to learn In a recent rewrite of a keynote address given at Social Media Marketing World, Darren Rowse names as his priorities in 9 Ways to Grow Your Blog Faster: 1. Engage with your audience and find out what they need 2. Create content that can transform your readers’ lives These may seem to be lofty ambitions for my humble blog, but they are hammered out on the anvil of experience as Darren hosts one of the world’s most influential blog sites. In fact, Darren’s nine points on growing your blog are all variations on the same theme – how can my blog serve others in some way? I have just bought an iPhone 11 Pro, mainly for its camera. So far my photographs have not matched the standard of those shared online so I will need to do some investigating to get the best images possible. Sharing my discoveries will be of benefit to those who read my blog as well as to myself. I recently participated in a second content sprint on http://problogger.com/. As a result I have now planned 6 new pieces of content with many more ideas generated for further posts. I have created an avatar based on a beginner in my niche and will create content accordingly. I have also checked out the website https://smartblogger.com/, which, with over 4 million readers, considers itself to be one of the world’s biggest websites about blogging. From this site I have received some ‘cutting edge advice about blogging’, to quote the site itself. Most importantly, all of this is helping me to think of content creation in a new way. I am continuing to learn and to improve my content and I want to keep growing my blog in ways that might someday reach that lofty height – that of transforming someone’s life in some way. Great content leaves a mark on people – it moves them from one place to another. - Darren Rowse, Problogger Conclusion All of us who are posting our blogs online want to write blogs that our readers will love, and hopefully share. We all need a bit of help from time to time, particularly from those who are expert in the field. If you are interested in giving your blog an injection of energy, or just want to learn more about blogging and you are interested in joining one of the Problogger Content Sprints, check them out here: https://problogger.com/contentsprint/