I haven’t really got to grips with photo editing yet apart from a bit of cropping or brightening/darkening on Picasa (which I really liked!) It is one of my aims to learn how to use Lightroom to add a bit of ‘finesse’ to my photos, but in the meantime I have been investigating the Snapseed app, free on Android phones. Part of my reluctance to use post-processing is the amount of bells and whistles to be navigated on these programs and I think a dedicated training course is required. This was my fear as I approached using Snapseed also, as initially I was faced with an array of styles and wasn’t quite sure how to use them to improve my photos. I began to feel overwhelmed by choice so decided to take one step at a time. Snapseed offers a number of tutorials for those using the app for the first time, which are worth exploring. I decided to start with one called ‘Frozen’ and to experiment with the particular technique described here. Firstly, I took my camera out to capture some winter tree images that would lend themselves to this technique. I decided to work with this image. I found the Snapseed app fairly easy to use and enjoyed playing around with the different tools. As a first step, the 'rotate' tool straightens out any slanting horizons and there is obviously a 'crop' tool, which I use a lot especially since I no longer use digital zoom on my phone camera while taking the photo but zoom in later and crop to size. There is a range of tools for use, such as an Exposure and Saturation tool, and a Dodge and Burn tool brightens or darkens an image as required. In this example I used 'Glamour Glow', then 'Tune Image' and finally 'Vignette'. Making adjustments is fairly intuitive by using swiping and pinching movements. ‘Tune image’ offers a menu of useful tools, for example in Tone tool you can swipe up or down to select from among Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Ambience, Highlights, Shadows and Warmth, then swipe left or right to increase or decrease the intensity of that effect. Image can be darkened or brightened, different effects can be added and details can be changed. Some of the other tutorials in Snapseed cover 'Mastering Vignettes', 'Seventies Fade' and one called 'Grandma's House' which creates a 'cosy vintage look' with three filters, 'Vintage', 'Glamour Glow' and 'Lens Blur'. Snapseed has a good range of exposure, color and reshaping tools, brushes, and filters and it is worth experimenting with different settings. I haven't explored the app fully yet, nor do I have enough expertise to write an expert review, but for a beginner like myself it does give a good introduction to photo editing on mobile phone.

What do you need to consider before buying your first camera? Here are some of the things I considered. If I was serious about learning photography I needed to move on from my phone camera, but what to choose? Bridge camera, mirrorless, DSLR - I needed to do some research... I asked myself some questions. What type of camera do I want? And more specifically, what do I want to do as I embark on my new hobby? Do I want a good 'point and shoot' that I can use to share images online? Do I want to get out and about and take more landscape photography or become the 'family photographer' as I perfect my skill in portrait photography? Or am I up for a completely new challenge, willing to embark on a steep learning curve and master the 'art of photography' in all it's glorious forms? The real answer to this question will decide the next steps. Doing the research One of my favourite pastimes - doing research - yielded some pros and cons of each camera type. 1. Bridge camera Firstly I considered bridge cameras. They sounded like a good compromise. With their good zoom abilities they offered more than 'point and shoot' and they still gave options to share and use images. Verdict - too similar to point and shoot/phone cameras, without offering enough opportunities to develop photography skills. Most reviews suggested that image quality from bridge cameras did not match that of mirrorless or DSLR cameras. 2. Mirrorless camera The next option to consider was the mirrorless camera. I have to confess I hadn't come across these cameras before and didn't think they would offer a 'real camera' experience. Verdict - after discussing this option in a camera shop I realised that the battery life was short in mirrorless cameras and they were also a tad expensive for my budget considering that I wasn't sure that I would keep up the hobby. So they were out! Which left the inevitable choice - 3. DSLR camera I liked the look and chunky feel of these cameras, they had good battery life and there was a good choice of lenses available. There were still lots of choices to be made - should I go for entry level or more advanced? Canon or Nikon? Sony or Pentax? Verdict - numerous reviews, both professional and user, listed some 'cons' to every option and on balance I opted for the Nikon D3400, a reasonably priced entry level DSLR, with generally good reviews and 'cons' that I could live with. The real learning begins. I have answered my question, what do I want? I want to take good pictures, to learn new techniques, to challenge myself as a photographer by experimenting and using my own techniques, to be creative and to enjoy wherever this new journey takes me. Camera bought, battery charged, the adventure begins...

I must be honest here, I had never heard the word 'bokeh' until I followed my desire to create 'blurry backgrounds'. One of the photography techniques which I have always admired is the ability to have a nice sharp image in the foreground with a blurry background. I decided to gain as much knowledge as I could about the subject and to experiment with the technique for myself. I do realise that I am limited by my lenses but am reassured by the number of writers who suggest that this technique can indeed by learned and achieved using only a kit lens. So here goes... First of all I have to learn about aperture. I understand aperture as the opening through which light travels, and the wider the opening, the more light I get. My kit lens is limited to f3.5 while other lenses can go to f1.4. When I have a wide aperture, i.e. shoot at the lower end of the scale, I get a good depth of field - sharp image in the foreground, blurry background. Creating 'Pleasing' Bokeh Part of the journey to becoming better at photography is becoming my own critic. Neither of the images above are acceptable as good photographs but they do provide a source of learning. In photography, it seems, the old adage 'you learn by your mistakes' is certainly true. Each photo provides its own teaching points and my task is to take note of the mistakes and improve next time. What I have discovered is that I do like this area of photography and would like to create pleasing bokeh, therefore some research into an appropriate lens is in order! I enjoy this type of close-up photography but realise that my lens limits how close I can get and how clear the resulting image will be. I have read conflicting advice on lenses. Some writers advise beginning photographers to get to know their kit lens before buying any new equipment, and to concentrate on finding out how to operate the camera properly. Others suggest finding out what type of photography you want to do and buying lenses accordingly, claiming that it is really the lens, rather than the camera, that makes the most difference to an image. It might even be more accurate to paraphrase Hozier and say, it's not the camera it's the photographer that makes the real difference, and no matter how good the equipment, a bad photographer will take a bad photograph! Having said all that, I have spent some time with my kit lens and have explored its possibilities. I can see that it will have a place in my camera gear for some time to come, I certainly have not outgrown it, but I would like to explore the possibilities of zoom. My blog post Do You Really Need To Replace Your Kit Lens? details my first venture into buying additional lenses. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's not the song, it’s the singing It's the heaven of the human spirit ringing It is the bringing of the line It is the baring of the rhyme It's not the waking, it's the rising. "Nina Cried Power" Hozier, 2018

Are your travel photographs usually just snapshots of interesting places you visited? Would you like your travel photographs to show more than just beautiful views? I have come to think of holiday photographs as more than just a memory to show family and friends. Like street photography, they tell a story of a time and a place, and of the people who were present in that time and place! When I look back at my previous travel photographs I can place them into two categories. Category one is the holiday snapshots, lots of them, of people and places, smiling faces, various poses, simply taken to look back on some day and say, 'remember when...?' Then there is category two. Far fewer in number, they are the photographs that tell a story of a moment in time, a moment when the elements lined up to create a narrative that can still be read in those images today. These are the type of shots I want to take more of in the future. I want to experience amazing moments, and if I capture just a small fraction of these moments on camera I will be very happy. On my recent visit to Auschwitz I was struck by the important place which photography played in recording the horrors of that time and place; scenes showing the raw emotions on faces of men, women and children depicting the sheer hardship and misery endured by thousands of people. Through these photographic exhibitions, displaying countless horrific images, a vivid and heartbreaking picture is evoked for visitors of today. It felt right just to let these photographs tell the story without taking additional photos as a tourist. Travel presents numerous opportunities to practise photography rather than simply take snapshots. If you start with a vision, an idea of the story you want to tell with your photography, your travel images will have a purpose and meaning as well as provide memories of the places you have visited.

Not every photo walk will yield even one good photo, let alone a great one. But some will produce the odd gem to be proud of. On one of my early photo walks I came home without a decent photo but with a realisation that I had become more observant, a invaluable skill in photography. It is well worth getting out and about as often as you can. These are my tips for a successful photo walk. 1. Be patient. Patience has never been my strong point, but I realise that I am not going to get the perfect picture first time out (or even hundredth time out!) so I have to cultivate this valuable attribute. Some of my success will come from reading tips from photography writers, looking at how 'real' photographers create award winning pictures and perfecting camera techniques. But most of all it will come from getting out and about with my camera, being patient, and trusting that one day I'll take that picture that will give me a real sense of pride. 2. Watch for interesting subjects, but look past the obvious. Beautiful landscapes make for acceptable photographs, but these views of the world can be seen by all who look around. The photographer has to see things differently, see things that others might not notice, fleeting moments that can only be captured as they happen. The photographer has to feel the 'story' behind the image which makes that image come alive. 3. Be prepared. A great advantage of the camera phone is that it is always available, ready to capture that special moment. It's harder to have a chunky DSLR camera always on hand so I have had to make a point of taking the camera with me on as many occasions as possible, on the off chance that I will be presented with a good photo opportunity. And if that great opportunity does present itself, and I don't have my camera at the ready, the phone camera is better than no camera. It's all about grabbing that picture when you can! 4. Become more observant. Now that I am serious about improving my photography skills I find myself becoming more observant, even without a camera in hand. I am beginning to think like a photographer and look at the world around me as holding countless opportunities for a great photo. While contemplating whether my first 'real' lens would be a zoom lens or a macro, I began to look up more often at what was going on above, and down at the movements on ground level, that had previously gone unnoticed. I am amazed at what I have been missing! 5. Go on your own. This is a piece of advice borrowed from a photography writer but one with which I agree. For walking companions there is nothing worse than someone constantly stopping to take a photo, but equally, for a photographer there is nothing as frustrating as not being able to stop at will, take your time to get the right angle, to compose the best picture, to watch and wait until the conditions are as right as they can be. I like the idea of capturing moments in time. There are lots of photographs of a man and his dog, but not this man and this dog in this place at this moment in time.