Have you ever been tempted, when you come across a beautiful landscape, to take out your camera or phone and turn it into an image? Most of us have, and despite my belief that landscape photography might be an area of photography best left to professionals, or at least to amateur photographers who have invested in expensive camera and lenses, when I see a beautiful area in my country, I just want to make some images. Ireland is full of beauty spots, many of them largely unknown. They are not on tourist trails, and they do not feature on any visitors’ brochure because they are tucked away on side roads, off the beaten track. They might be close to where tourists travel, but not quite there. They are an even more hidden part of an already hidden Ireland. These are the spots I like to find and photograph. I don’t have many views of our most iconic landmarks, but I do have images of places that are beautiful and special to me, and that is what my photography is all about. This is an image of a monastery ruins in Fenagh, Co. Leitrim. It is not an image seen in many books of Irish landscapes but it is an image of an important part of our history I am passionate about taking a more mindful approach to photography, and landscape photography lends itself to a mindful approach because if we are going to capture good landscape images we need to move away from the busyness and noise of everyday life and spend time in a quiet space, connecting with the place, being aware of our surroundings, being in the moment. It is this connection with place that helps bring part of ourselves to our photographs. On the day I took these images I spent some time wandering, looking, being. I was attracted to this leading line, and genuinely wondered where it led. I followed the path and it brought me to a rest spot overlooking a beautiful mountain vista. It is in the grounds of an ancient church and visitors are invited to sit awhile and be still away from the busy world. Anyone who has read my earlier posts, or even my About Me page, will know that I returned to photography after a long absence, so in that sense I am still a beginner, with much to learn. I have built up some basic equipment but do not have the type of professional lenses required to do proper landscape photography. Yet I haven’t allowed that to stop me. In fact, I am not alone in the belief that we can do landscape photography with a phone camera, and there is a very popular landscape mastery course to prove it! Even with basic camera equipment, there are ways in which we can make successful landscape images, images which, while they may not win any awards, will be images that we are proud to say are ours. Through some of my photography lessons, my own experimentation, and a lot of learning through failure, I have come up with some tips which will help you to make better landscape photographs, even with basic camera gear. Here goes. 1. See with your eyes before seeing with your camera. Observation is key to good landscape photography, and it is a skill that improves with practice. I have recently come to appreciate the importance of spending time observing a scene before I take any shots. I admit I have been guilty of arriving at an amazing scene, getting my camera out and snapping away, hoping that the scene will make the photograph for me. It doesn’t. You have to work hard to make the most of any scene in photography, otherwise you end up with nice snapshots rather than good images. Finding a good location for your landscape photography shoot is the first consideration. I always look for a location I like, somewhere in which I can feel a connection to the environment around me. It is then that I begin to browse around, without a camera, to get a feel for the place, to appreciate its beauty and to become aware of any potential opportunities for image making. I might sit or stand for a while and ask myself, Why this scene? What is it about the scene that will give me the image I’m looking for? When making the images below, I stopped at a parking space and took a walk around the area, travelling around the road by the side of the lake, watching how the light was forming reflections in the water, discovering standing spots which might give me a good view, and making some mental decisions about the images I would try to capture. I took a few images with my phone then went back for my camera and set out again. On this occasion the distance around the area was short so it was possible to walk along without my camera at first. On other occasions, when I need to walk far away from my car, I take my camera with me but I still do a lot of looking before I take my first shot. It is often said that if you are too quick to pick up your camera you risk seeing nothing, and I tend to agree with the statement. Indeed, I have often left a scene after walking around for some time because the light was just not right, or the area didn’t yield the opportunities that I had expected. I went for a walk along the beach on the evening of my arrival at this location. It was too late to take good photographs, but I observed what was around with a view to making some images next day. 2. Take your time and make lots of photographs. One of the advantages of digital cameras is the fact that you can take as many photos as you want, bring them all home and evaluate them later. Cloud storage options mean that we do not have to delete immediately but we can give ourselves time to really consider whether a certain image is what we want. I usually sort my images into three groups. The first group consists of images that I like and will import into Lightroom straight away, the second group has images that have potential and that I won’t discard just yet, the third group will be images that I won’t keep. These images may be blurred, badly composed or images that I just don’t like. The main point is that you should take lots of photos to give yourself plenty to choose from. It’s always better to delete photos you don’t want than to regret the ones you didn’t take. 3. Shoot from different perspectives. One of the best pieces of advice I have learned from photography tutors is not to take all photos from the position of a standing adult. I try to incorporate this advice into my photo shoot by getting down low and shooting from that perspective, finding a high point and shooting down from there or pointing the camera upwards. The main aim is to have at least a few images taken from a more unique position than we are normally used to. I often stop and look up while walking through a woodland area. There is always an interesting world up there that we seldom see. 4. Make use of natural framing. Using natural elements that are in the location to frame your subject is a technique used in landscape photography to add emphasis to the subject. Trees, flowers, rocks, even clouds, can provide a frame. I use this technique when it seems natural to do so but it’s important not to overuse it or your images will begin to look too similar. I think a photograph of this house on its own might be less interesting than seeing it framed naturally by the branches of nearby trees. 5. Have a focal point in your image. A wide vista can be beautiful to look at in reality, as your eye can wander to any part of the scene, but with a photograph you have to choose which part of the scene you want your viewer to focus on, so it is important to have a focal point in your image. This could be a building, a tree, a person or animal in the scene, an unusual rock, a reflection, or an interesting sky. If you ask yourself when taking your photo, ‘what is my focus?’ it helps to ensure that you include a focal point on which the viewer can focus. In this image my focal point was the boat and the surrounding landscape provides a context. 6. Make use of leading lines. Leading lines are used to lead the viewer’s eye through the image to the main point of interest. They can help to add depth to an image that might otherwise appear flat. They may be actual, visible lines or implied lines. For example, a group of rocks or stones may be arranged in such a way that they lead the viewer’s eye to the centre of the image. A shoreline can act in the same way. When I spent some time observing this scene, I noticed that the stones in the water made a curved shape which created a line leading the viewer’s eye along the shore to the land further along. 7. Add some foreground, middleground and background interest. Your aim in landscape photography is to try to convey a sense of depth in your images, to make them appear as close as possible to how your eye sees the scene. If you concentrate only on the background of your image it will lack depth and look rather flat, so it is important to have some interesting elements in the foreground and middle ground of your image. This is what is known as layering and it can add a sense of depth to your image as your eye is led beyond the foreground subject, through the middle to the scene behind. Having a distinct foreground, midground and background in your image also helps you to convey the scale of the location to your viewer. You can also create variety in your images by using a large aperture when focusing on a foreground subject, which will then blur your background scene. To some photographers this may not technically count as a landscape image, but you can be the judge! Which brings me neatly to the next point… 8. Make the images you want to make. I often feel under pressure when photographing landscapes to make images that will withstand criticism. I think that since my equipment is not top notch and my techniques are still in the infancy stage, my images will not come up to standard. Yet, I need to ask myself, whose standard am I using to judge my images? The only person I should judge myself against is the photographer I was last week or last year. When you make the images that you want to make there can be no judgement. And often, when you take away the expectation and pressure to make certain kinds of images you will allow your curiosity to run free and you may end up with some wonderful shots. 9. Give your images a little love (aka do some photo editing). Some photographers will argue that the authentic image is the image that comes straight out of camera, without any enhancements, while others will contend that no image straight out of camera is the finished product. I tend to agree with the latter view, and while I don’t like to make too many changes to the original image, I do believe that some enhancements in a post processing program are necessary for the majority of images, particularly when we shoot in RAW format. Even JPEG images are not fully processed by the camera and some adjustments to white balance, exposure, contrast and colour vibrancy may be required to produce images that are closer to what our eyes actually saw. In the images below you can see that I made only minimal adjustments, but the image looks richer and more vibrant. I don’t overdo saturation and try to keep my images as true to the look of the original scene as I can. While it is obviously better to pay attention to your horizon and to the edges of your frame while shooting, editing does give you the chance to straighten and do any necessary cropping to improve minor details before sharing an image. Conclusion These are a few tips on how to make better landscape photographs, even without having top of the range gear. But even on those days when you come home with disappointing images, all is not lost. You have spent time in nature, enjoying the beauty around you and being creative. You have learned by doing and hopefully you have enjoyed the experience. Review your images, look at where they have succeeded and where they could have been better. Build on what you see; learn from the good and the bad and bring your learning with you to your next location. Remember, photography is a marathon, not a sprint. It is about progress, not perfection. It is about the journey rather than the destination. Enjoy the ride. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ If you found these tips useful, please share them. You might like to read my previous post One Small Sentence That Completely Changed My Perspective on Landscape Photography

Why would you waste your time doing landscape photography? This is a question I have heard asked a few times. The argument goes: After all, · You won’t sell your images often, if ever. · You’ll need expensive equipment to get good shots. · No one wants to look at photographs that don’t include people. · Most of the best landscapes are already ‘taken’. Despite this, landscape photography is a popular genre, and it is also an extremely rewarding type of photography in many ways. So what is in about landscape photography that appeals to amateur and professional photographers alike? Over the last few months I have found myself increasingly drawn to photographing landscapes, in particular ‘hidden landscapes’. I have a particular fascination with driving off the beaten track and finding some hidden gems – beautiful lakes, mountains, forest areas or small coves which lie unspoiled and bypassed by ‘mainstream’ landscape photographers. Being in these places brings me closer to nature, alive to beauty and appreciative of all that the natural world has to offer. And because I am capturing images for myself, in my own secret places, I am not in competition with 'proper' landscape photographers. Will I sell these photographs? No, but they have given me precious moments that are worth more than money. Do I need expensive equipment? No, but I have made the most of the equipment I already own and have even taken pleasing landscape photos with just my smartphone. What I do need is a good subject, an understanding of how to compose my image well, some technical knowledge, good light, a bit of artistic vision and a love of the location in which I am shooting. I often take out my phone camera if I see a view worth capturing Will anyone want to view my landscape photographs? They may not have general appeal, but some people will like them for the beauty of the places they show. For others, they will be a reminder of other landscapes they have loved. Still others might see them as images that spark reflection on the beauty of nature. Are most of the good landscape images already taken? Most of the world’s most iconic landscapes are indeed already immortalised by good photographers, but the world has a never-ending supply of beauty to reveal, a bottomless resource that can always be tapped into by new photographers. Is landscape photography worth doing? Absolutely. Rather than waste your time, you would spend your time wisely if you chose to photograph landscapes. The rewards are manifold, as I have discovered. Landscape photography has encouraged me to get up at an unearthly hour to view an amazing sunrise. It has brought me to various locations to witness stunning sunsets, fantastic cloud formations, rugged cliffs or wild seas. It has enhanced my appreciation of breath-taking views while driving, without needing to stop and take a photo. All I need to do is to breathe deeply and take it all in. In short, landscape photography has brought me to many awe-inspiring scenes that I wouldn’t have the skills to turn into good images. Most of all, landscape photography has brought much pleasure and joy as I indulge in an activity that has opened a world of sights, sounds and emotions, and an appreciation of the world around me that previously eluded me. To landscape photography, and all the hidden landscapes I’ve found, I owe a debt of gratitude. What is your experience of doing landscape photography?

With the rise in popularity of mobile phone cameras in recent years has come a growing range of resources to help us make the most of our mobile camera technology. Below I have outlined 6 main areas in which I have found useful resources for getting started as a mobile photographer and/or discovering how to make the most of your mobile phone camera, which I hope you will find useful. #1 Online course iPhone Academy offers an online course which starts with basic, but sometimes unknown, tips for getting started with mobile photography and moves gradually to more advanced techniques. Each video lesson is explained clearly and there is an opportunity to comment or ask questions after each module. While the lessons are applicable to all smartphones, the Facebook group, where participants can post their photos in response to each challenge, is confined to iPhone users. The blurb for the course promises that, “within a few hours, you’ll be taking better photos with your iPhone than most people can take with their big cameras!” It’s a lofty claim, but the comprehensive set of lessons do deliver what they promise. Improving the composition of our phone camera images is a strong focus on this course What I like The course is a great introduction to mobile photography. It covers the main aspects of photography such as composition techniques, different photography genres, becoming a creative photographer with iPhone, advanced tips for using the iPhone camera and other camera apps, an introduction to editing on iPhone using the Snapseed app, as well as giving a number of bonus modules including one in which the instructor Emil looks at participants’ images and does a photo analysis, which I found to be very useful. The course was recorded a few years ago but has been updated to include the new features on the latest iPhone models, and the comments section is up-to-date and is moderated daily. Emil’s teaching style is easy to follow and he explains each technique in detail while not appearing patronising. iPhone Academy is part of iPhone Photography School, www.iphonephotographyschool.com, a site full of tips and techniques related to iPhone photography, ranging from tutorials on getting started with mobile phone photography to more advanced techniques. Almost every aspect of iPhone photography is covered, and the site really is a one-stop-shop for anyone wishing to develop their phone photography skills. #2 YouTube video How can we improve our image just a little bit more? This is the question that photographer Clifford Pickett constantly asks in his series of YouTube videos, iPhone Landscape Mastery, a series in which Clifford demonstrates simple yet effective techniques for improving your iPhone landscape photography. In the video below Clifford reveals the ‘one more added element’ that completely changes the composition of a landscape photograph. Find out what that is here Clue. While nowhere nearly as compelling as Clifford Pickett’s images, these shots do incorporate the added element that he speaks about. What I like These videos are short yet very informative and the feeling you get after watching them is, I could do that too! The videos are part of a comprehensive iphone landscape mastery course and they give a good taste of is covered in the course. I like the presenter’s easy style, his enthusiasm for his subject and his sense of humour. Be sure to check them out, and look out for regular discounts. #3 Tips and tutorials site A very valuable resource for photographers of all kinds – beginners, improvers and advanced photographers – is Digital Photography School (https://digital-photography-school.com). Described as ‘your ultimate resource for practical photography tutorials, ideas and advice for every photographer’, this is my go-to site for photography advice. There are tips and tutorials on all aspects of photography, on post-processing and camera gear as well as several courses and eBooks. When you subscribe to the site you will receive a weekly email with information on the latest articles as well as an invitation to participate in the weekly challenge. What I like This site has everything you need as a photographer. I have not yet looked for information on any aspect of photography that I haven’t found here. The numerous articles containing tutorials, tips and reviews are all written in easy to follow language and well-illustrated. While the site is mainly focused on general photography, the principles are the same regardless of the tool we use so are easily applicable to smartphone cameras. Having said that, there are also several articles dedicated to smartphone camera use. A simple search for smartphone photography will bring up all the smartphone related articles, or just follow this link #4 Book Books are not the first resource you go to for information on smartphone photography, but the book ‘smart phone, smart photography’ by Jo Bradford is worth dipping into as a coffee table reference guide. While the information in the book has been overtaken by advances in mobile camera technology, this is not as big a problem as you might imagine as all the suggestions for composition and subject matter are possible even on older camera phones. To quote the author, ‘I firmly believe that the key to taking a good photograph has far more to do with understanding how to use your camera, and has far less to do with having all the most expensive kit’. Her aim is to help the reader tap into the potential of their portable digital camera, and this is where the book succeeds. The book is divided into short chapters (mostly a two-page spread) each with a conversational style and illustrated with the author’s own photos taken on smartphones. The author covers every aspect of smartphone photography that you would want to know about, including a section on editing your images. What I like I like the user-friendly layout of the book and the wealth of easy to digest information it provides. If you would like one book to dip into as a quick reference guide, to my mind this is the one. #5 Magazine (online) Mobiography magazine is a digital magazine about mobile photography. It caters to both iPhone and android systems. Describing itself as ‘a leading go-to resource for those looking to make the most of the camera in their pocket – the smartphone’, the magazine’s aim is ‘to showcase, teach and inspire others how to take better photos with their smartphones’. The magazine covers all aspects of mobile photography and is an excellent learning resource. The magazine is subscription based, with some back issues available free. What I like The magazine has a great variety of informative articles and useful advice and it is supplemented by www.mobiography.net which also has a range of excellent articles, tutorials, reviews and interviews. #6 Editing app While I do not purport to know everything about Snapseed, I will say that I have used it often to make adjustments to my phone images and find it to be a quick and easy way to enhance my photos. Now owned by Google, Snapseed is available for iPhone and android phones and is free to download. I include Snapseed in my list of resources as it is my go-to app for improving my mobile photography. There are many other apps available for use with your phone camera. I have not investigated all of these but Clifford Pickett has a section on his website which covers most of the best apps available https://www.cliffordpickett.com/screenshots-iphone-photography-2019, or you can check out https://www.mobiography.net/apps/ for further recommendations. What I like Editing with Snapseed can be as simple or as complex as you wish to make it. You can do a quick edit, such as adjusting white balance, cropping or straightening using basic tools, or you can use the Tools Menu to perform more complex edits. You can convert a photo to black and white or remove an unwanted object. In fact, most of the edits you want to make can be made using Snapseed. There are even tutorials to follow to achieve more creative effects. As the app is free, it is a great edition to your set of tools and will help you create amazing smartphone images. https://www.mobiography.net (mentioned above) gives an excellent Snapseed tutorial https://www.mobiography.net/apps/snapseed-app-tutorial/ If you are interested in making the most of your smartphone photography please check out some of these resources, share this post or share some of your own resources in the comments section. UPDATED JUNE 2021

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.